Read After Dark
Ch. 1

I was sixteen finally, of course most sixteen year olds get what, a car of their choice. Maybe a shopping mall, or a purse. What did I get? The biggest wake up call of my life from my parents when they sat me down.

"Iz, we have to tell you something." My mother looked at me.

"What?" I smiled at her, Charlotte Pratt, she was red headed and had gray eyes.

My dad, Peter Pratt blonde and blue eyes, sighed. "You're adopted."

"I thought I had mixed traits, like brown eyes and brown hair from your parents or grandparents, dad. Pale skin from yours, mom!" I looked at them, "you told me that I did!"

"We didn't want you to know until you were old enough!"

I screamed, "I hate you!" I got up and ran out the door.

Sixteen years of lies! I stopped a block away from the school only to realize it wasn't open, I asked a janitor what the deal was and the principal had a heart attack, and was in critical condition at the hospital. I decided to go to the park, it was snowing, which it was pretty early since it was only September, I pulled my Jack Skeleton jacket tighter around me. I frowned at my black commando and black tights, they disappeared under my plaid black, gray, and white skirt that was knee length, I had on a custom white shirt with a red rose in the right corner surrounded by black thorns that climbed up the side. I sat on a bench and pulled out a book from my bag. It was the sixth volume in the Death Note manga. My favorite characters were L and Misa.

I finished the manga and stood up, stretching, before hopping off the bench. I decided to walk father into the park. I sat on a swing and kicked myself higher while humming happy birthday to myself.

I saw the swing next to me move and I turned my head there was a man sitting in the swing. He was tall, pale, super pale like the colour of snow. His hair was blond but there was a dark red tint to it. His clothes had the same dark red tint.

"Are you... are you lost?" I looked around. "Are you okay?"

I heard a hiss then the man turned his head and I screamed. He didn't have any eyes only his eye sockets, his mouth was open in a silent scream. There was blood running down his face that was what was tinting his hair and his clothes, they were shredded. He reached a hand towards me and I fell out of the swing. I stood up, backing away, as it lurched towards me, hissing. I turned and stood up while running, I just ran. I took a quick glance over my shoulder and the thing was gone. I sighed and calmed down.

I noticed I was downtown, the vacant part of it at least. I wandered around, trying to find a way to get home. I heard talking and I peeked my head around a corner. There were people there, one was tall, muscles galore, he had dark hair. There was a girl she was short, pixie like, her hair was short, she was thin. The last was another boy he was lanky, but still muscular, tall but not as tall as the first, his hair was a strange color of brown almost mahogany like her's but with a strange tint of bronze. They seemed to be arguing and pointing in directions, different ones. The girl looked up and caught my eye, before I heard a hiss behind me and I whirled around. That thing was behind me. I looked closer there were red dots in the eye sockets, like embers. I backed up, there were more hisses behind him, I saw more people looking just like him, five more at the least.

I didn't know what to do, when a dagger flew out and connected with a dark haired creature's neck, it was sticking out, but the blade was buried deep. Then she, that girl was there, she jumped on it's back and pulled the dagger to the side, decapitating the head quickly. The other two were fighting, and I saw more were coming towards us, the blonde one that was chasing me lunged on the bronze haired boy's back. I picked up the dagger that fell at my feet and without thinking I ran to the thing and kicked it's leg, it turned and hissed and it sliced it's face. It staggered backwards and I kicked, it tried rising when I brought the blade down and into it's heart, before decapitating it.

I stood up, eyes widening," Oh my!"

"Who the fuck are you?" The bronze haired boy glared.

"I... I-" I turned and ran, I ran faster and towards my house. I pushed open the door and my mom was talking to a woman, one I've never seen before.

"...ran out before I could explain more."

"Oh Charlotte, she'll come around."

"But Esme she's of age, they could come after-"

"Mom!" I ran at her and hugged her.

I heard other voices then a hand grabbed my shoulder and turned me around it was the tall burly boy. He smiled.

"Hey there- oof!" He doubled over when I hit him.

"Get away!" I screamed.

"What the hell!" The small girl screamed.

"Mom! There were these.. these things-"

"Hunters."

"Wha?"

"Sweetheart can we have a long talk, it'll explain why your friends-"

"No! You... lied... what all don't I know?" I glared. "Hunters? One stalked me into the park, it sat next to me, reached for me, he hissed my name. Then I ran into these people-"

"The Cullens? When they were walking over here?"

"No, mom, when those things attacked!"

"Oh poor baby!"

"I want to know the truth. Who. Am. I?" I hissed. My dad came around the corner.

"Charlotte, tell her the truth. Or I will." She shook her head. "Bella, you're adopted, we don't know who your real parents are, we don't even know your last name! But thankfully you got us, we understand that world and this world, we didn't know you'd be, one of us, until when you were five your first mark showed up." He sighed.

"M-m-mark? O-o-one of u-u-us?" I looked around dazed.

"You know that scar on the back of your leg? That's when your mark appeared" My mom smiled.

"Yeah, I fell off Mr. Varnes porch into his wife's rose bush when I was five, then the wound reopened when... when..." I bit my lip.

I saw the small girl smirk, the bronze haired boy rolled his eyes and scoffed, but the big one he looked at me, I mean looked at me. Looked into my heart.

"That night when you were twelve and we had to leave on a business trip so we left you at a neighbor's..." My mom started.

"No! no no no! you promised to never bring that up!" I screamed.

"...and you said you went down to the pharmacy, because you came down stairs and Mrs. Embry's husband beat her and had left her bleeding, on her kitchen floor..."

I covered my ears. "Stop!"

"...you went there and asked where the peroxide and ace bandages were, when you got them and went back, she wasn't on the kitchen floor..."

"Dad! Make her stop!" I started crying.

"...he was there choking her, and you didn't think," I heard someone 'whisper does she ever?'

I turned and glared at the person who said it, the bronze haired boy. "Would you like to see?"

"What?"

I walked up the stairs into my room and stripped down to my underwear and bra. I took a deep breath and walked down, flipping on the main light switch, I knew as they gasped the could see, the scars that traveled up my sides, between my ribs back of my legs, my shoulders. I did a three-sixty for them.

"I didn't think I... I grabbed the pan Mrs. Embry used that day, it was still on the stove, and I hit him, but not hard enough. He loved fire..." I looked at them and I heard a little sob from my mother. I smiled and tilted my head. "Being set on fire was scary, not like push you off the swing scary it had nothing on that, being cut with a hot knife, it was painful but not as painful as a group of girls beating you up your second day of middle school, but thinking I was going to be touched, where I didn't want anyone to go? Nothing prepared me for that, I grabbed onto Mrs. Embry's hand, crying, begging her to make him let me go." I looked down, "I begged and she begged, her little boy came out, he was five. He stared and I knew I had to get him out so he couldn't watch. So I tried to get him to leave, he loved little girls." I looked up quickly and smiled even bigger and started laughing. "But! He loved little boys more! He touched his son, in ways that... he did things that... I grabbed a hold of him, and her, and I got a horrible head ache and passed out and then I woke up in a hospital, five states away, and in the same city my parent's were at, with Mrs. Embry and Collin. I some how teleported." I nodded my head. "I don't think... every time someone thinks a person is killed because the Savior hesitated." I turned and walked up to my room to lay down.

I woke up from a dreamless sleep, early, it was only five in the morning. I padded down the hall to use the bathroom, I came back and got dressed realizing I had school today. I pulled on an Emily the Strange tank top with a black shirt under it. I put on black pants with a hand cuff belt, and black bangles. I grabbed my jacket on the way out.

I sighed when school was actually open, I went to my locker and grabbed my books. I got slammed into my locker by a girl in my English, Jessica. I got to my first class, Chemistry, it was a double period. I sat at my table alone and Mr. Varnes came in.

"Class we have a new student today."

I looked up and the burly boy smiled.

"This is Emmett Cullen."

"Hi Emmett." the class chorused. He took a seat by me and I noticed his outfit it was a dark thermal shirt and jeans.

"I'm sorry I hit you yesterday." I whispered.

"It's okay little one." He smiled. "Your scars were wicked awesome I have some real nasty ones myself. When you come of age the mark appears as a scar, it stays that way till you come of age for it to change into a beautiful exotic tattoo."

"When did you?"

"I got mine when I just turned five, it changed into a tattoo sometime around sixteen about seventeen."

"Oh, so who are all those people?"

"Well the people with me, were my sister Alice and brother Edward. You'll probably have them in some of your classes."

"I don't think they like me, because of yesterday."

He sighed and we started an experiment with chemicals and minerals. Halfway through Emmett looked at me. "Alice is a bit strange, she was mad when you hit me, and she then understood you've never been around another one of us, but she doesn't like you still. As for Edward, he, well, he doesn't like it when others save him. His ego was shot down when you an untrained, inexperienced, girl saved him."

"Oh!" I laughed. When class was over I headed to my next, no new kids in that one but Jessica was squealing to all the other girls how hot Edward was.

"Shut the hell up!" My best friend Rosalie sat down next to me. "God it's he's so big this and he's so hawt that. Oh happy belated birthday."

I laughed and hugged her. We sat through a painful lecture in English, another double period, we had longer classes, only four on Wednesdays and Thursdays our even classes were on Thursdays, odds on Wednesday. Then I headed to American History with her twin brother Jasper.

"Howdy Jazz!" I said in a southern accent.

"Hey there darlin'." He smiled. "Don't be makin' fun of my southern ways, and happy belated birthday darlin'"

We laughed and I smiled, yeah I loved my friends. We finally got to lunch and We saw Rose sitting at a table that Tyler Crowley was leaning over. I snorted and marched over, "hey bird boy!"

Tyler glared at me and then took a step forward. "Hey freak-"

"Look at her wrong and I'll make sure you won't be able to have children." I heard Emmett growl from beside me. Tyler nodded and ran off. Rose was staring at him, mouth agape.

"Oh Rose, this is Emmett Cullen. Em, this is my dear friend Rosalie Hale, and her brother Jasper Hale."

Emmett smiled, "h...h...hey."

He sat down and Jasper looked at me, "total teddy bear."

"Why are you sitting over here?" The small girl came over, "why not with me and Edward and the others?" She looked at me and somewhat glared.

"I'll stay here with the little one, cowboy, and the beauty queen." Emmett smiled. Rose was now glaring at him.

She huffed and turned in her too expensive knee-length dress. She sat next to Lauren Mallory, Jessica Stanley, Mike Newton and Edward Cullen.

"Gross!" My friend Angela sat down with my other friend Seth.

"It smells like," he sniffed. "Not vampire, or witch," Emmett stared.

"Dude..?"

"It's you!" Seth glared, "you're a Shadow Walker!" He hissed. "I know it's not Bella, she's only been one since yesterday."

"Oh hush it mutt!"

Angela grabbed Seth's arm, "he's not hurting us."

"Ang, I know what his kind do to us, forbidden beings, you'll have your magic drained, They'll be tied down and won't be given blood till their bodies feed from themselves."

"Seth!" I hugged him, "Em's different, right?" I looked at him.

"Bella," Em smiled and leaned over to kiss Rose's forehead. "I'm going to take you to the ruins this Saturday, so you understand our history, with the forbidden beings."

I nodded and we just talked, then someone cleared their throat, I looked up and Edward was there.

"Emmett, come on we have class." He glared at me.

"Dick," I heard Em cough. "Edward you need to get laid, maybe one of those stalkers could do it for you." He smiled.

"Emmett," He glared.

"Little bro don't get mad at us just because you're fixin' to blow!"

I grabbed my books and stood up, leaving the table of bickering idiots. I had an out period so I got to leave. I walked to the diner to get some ice cream, when I got it I noticed the napkin had a drawing on it, it was a circle that wasn't closed and a wing on each side barely touching. It was as if someone had drawn on it with black paint. I threw it away and ate my ice cream looking up at the sky.

"Hey."

I turned and Edward was there glaring, "Come on we have to go."

"Where's Em?"

"Getting a talking to by my mom."

"Why?"

"Having a relationship with a forbidden being... is disgusting."

"I'm sorry my friends repulse you."

"No, not me, just most Shadow Walkers."

"What are we?"

"We kill hunters and keep a balance between this world and the forbidden world. Most of us think we should stick to our kind." He laughed. "But, before I get to into this story, lets go."

I walked beside him till we got to the park where I was attacked.

"Where are the others?"

"Emmett wanted me to show you this." He smiled and pulled back his shirt sleeve and there was a black star with a streak behind it. "This is a teleport mark. And this one is a health mark, heals you quickly." He pointed to a ribbon, the kind you see for breast cancer but it was black and on the crease of his arm.

"So you're showing me these marks I'll get."

He smiled.

"Okay lets get this show on the road." I rolled my eyes.

He lifted his shirt and there were marks decorating his sides and the space between his hips below his belly button, my eyes widened before I turned my back towards him. I heard him laugh.

"Never seen a guy shirtless?"

"Yeah my dad," I gulped.

"Anyone not related to you."

"You're the first."

"Oh." He pulled me close, "you're an untouched girl, never had a boyfriend have you?"

"Nope." I pulled away. "So marks, you get them?"

"When you come of age, complete a session, you know. Oh, wait, no you don't!" He glared. "You're going to be in a world of hurt when you get in your first major fight. Hunters don't play around."

I tackled him and glared. "Shut up! You were born and told about this world, I wasn't I was protected!"

"Ooo, poor baby!"

"Jackass!" I got up and stomped off. "I'd rather have Emmett teach me."

That night I helped my mom prepare dinner for all the Cullens, I sat in my room, brushing my hair, after I took a shower, glaring at the mat on my floor that my mom told Edward he could have the joy of sleeping on. I turned the light off and laid down, covering up with a blanket.

My door opened and he walked in wearing shorts. He laid down and looked at me, I looked back before he smiled.

"You have training tomorrow, after school."

"Joy!" I frowned. "How long?"

"Five hours, at the least." He chuckled.

"I wish I had my real parents they would've told me and I could be ready."

"I wish I had my original parents too."

"What?"

"I'm adopted by the Cullens, my last name is Swan, I still have my last name. I'm Edward Swan, not Cullen."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I heard shuffling, and suddenly he was sitting on my bed.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Bella." He smiled and I leaned up.

"How old were you?"

"I was two, my baby sister was barely one. I was lying in her crib with her when there was some screaming, a man came in and picked her up and left, I climbed out and went downstairs, my parents were there dead, my sister gone." He started crying.

I wrapped my arms around him and rocked with him," shh. It's okay you have people that love you."

He looked at me and brought his head close, "thank you." He kissed my cheek and went back down to his pallet on the floor.