Note: Updated 7/10/2015 I've made some adjustments that make the story more streamlined. It's also part of the reason I haven't added a new chapter recently. It will happen!

I decided to write this a while back when I had a conversation with a few of my friends about Twilight. As much as I loved the books, movies, and the overall universe, there were things I wanted to change, to explore. "Shadows" is my attempt at a rewrite of the Twilight saga - a version that is both a parallel and its own reality.

Everything is based off the canon, but the characters may be a bit different than in the original books.

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Prologue

I've never given much thought as to how I would die; I'm not the type of person to play around with that morbid idea. As for what it would mean when I did die? I'm exceedingly glad I didn't think about that…

How did I get here, anyways? For the first seventeen years of my life, I was a human, a girl growing up in relative comfort, in the turn of the 21st century, with a mother and a father and friends and classmates and crushes and homework and hobbies and an endless craving for chocolate. Now, I was in an unfamiliar living room, with this man standing across from me, and a whole mountain of frustrating feelings and wants and desires and fears. None of them should exist, because almost all of them involved vampires and werewolves. But they did, and now he was revealed as one of them, and the little speck of hope I had for living a normal life was completely annihilated.

I glanced down, away from his inhuman eyes and his pale, perfect face. I saw my shadow, faint and abstract on the soft carpet, and knew in that moment that if I died, right here and now, that it wouldn't just be me who suffered. I hadn't the slightest idea as to why, but it was crystal clear that if my life ended, so would his, and that couldn't happen.

I shifted my gaze back up, leering directly into those crimson irises I had come to despise. I felt my entire core begin to warm up, to tremble, and my hands began to clench into fists at my sides. No, to die right now would not be a good way to go. I felt an unfamiliar grin stretch across my face, and then everything went dark.

Chapter One: Whirlwind

My first impression of Forks was that of dread. Nothing but. It fit the weather quite perfectly, as the atmosphere of my trepidation seemed to be instinctively connected to the dense, ever-present cloud cover. Though my father has been nothing but wonderful – we get along almost too well – there was, at the time, something missing.

It got much, much better with Jacob Black. It wasn't long after I moved here, last September, that Charlie re-introduced me to the boy that I had played with as a child on my visits here in past summers. Jacob was fairly tall and gangly, with a soft russet complexion that showcased his Quileute heritage. He wore his coal-black hair in a ponytail most of the time, just like his father, Billy, did. It was effortless to get to know Jacob, to become his friend, to let him in to my heart. He was such a cheerful guy, and he practically radiated happy vibes. Through Jacob and my other friends, the dreariness of the Pacific Northwest was significantly less bothersome.

It was December now, and the last week of the semester was fast approaching, the finals and holiday anxiety coming with it. Jacob, though he went to high school on the reservation, has been my boyfriend for a little over two months, and my friends very much approved.

"So, Bella," Jessica Stanley, the short, brown-haired girl beside me piped, "Are you spending the holidays with Jake this year?" Of course, she'd be grasping for any information to spread. Gossip was Jessica's favorite hobby, after all.

I nodded, only allowing my smile to grow a tiny bit. "Yes, I suppose. Just Charlie and I? What fun would that be?"

"Oh, yeah," Angela Weber, my closest and most loyal of friends, agreed. She brushed a strand of her light brown hair out of the way, peering at me through her wire-framed glasses. "It must be strange during the holidays, having such a small family. My mother has five siblings, and they all live nearby. It can get pretty hectic over at my place."

Ben, sitting beside Angela – yet keeping a safe distance – spoke now. "I bet it can. Holidays have always been fun for me – not too crazy, not too dismal. I like them." The way Ben and Angela felt about each other was extremely evident to everyone – except themselves. I kept thinking that it was only a matter of time before one of them gathered the courage to take the leap.

"Well, enough about break," I teased, "What about finals? How is everyone coming along?" And with that, angry slurs and anxious chatter filled our table in the small, white cafeteria, until the bell sounded for next period to start.

The next week flew by in a chaotic wind. Seven finals, each with varying degrees of success, were behind me now, and break was upon me. I woke up Saturday in the late afternoon after some much needed sleep.

"Good morning, dad," I shuffled down the stairs to the toaster, popping in two slices of bread. Charlie was on the coach in the next room, and I heard him mutter a greeting back.

"I'm going to Jake's in a bit, I just need to shower real quick," I ate my breakfast quickly, and as I headed back up the stairs, I saw him nod at me. Charlie loved Jake, and thought of the Blacks as family – it was never about asking permission from my father. My information was only a courtesy.

I showered quickly, threw on some jeans, a tee shirt and a heavy jacket, and clambered downstairs to pull on my boots. Once I got into my truck, I paused, breathing deeply, before I realized the obvious – it wasn't raining. A huge smile grew on my face, and I couldn't help but sit back and enjoy the moment. My truck was a monster, but it was my monster, and I found it strangely comfortable to sit in. It was probably made in the sixties, dark, rusty red and loud as could be, but I loved it.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into my usual spot on the side of a small, quaint house surrounded by huge evergreens. As I walked toward the door, it opened, Jake standing there to greet me as he so often did.

"Bella!" His huge, friendly smile brightened my day almost as much as the lack of precipitation. "It's break!" He threw his long arms around me, picking me up in a hug.

"Jake," I squeaked, "Put me down!" After he complied, he rushed me to his bedroom, shutting the door behind us. Sitting together on his bed, he held my hands in his, russet on pale peach, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Bella, there's something I need to talk to you about, it's the strangest thing."

"What is it, Jake? You look…abnormally concerned."

"Well, it's Sam Uley. He's…gone missing." His voice sounded low, and almost shaky.

"Gone missing? He's what, 19?" Isn't that a legal adult here on the rez? I thought.

"No, I mean, it's definitely something weird. I think my dad knows something about it, and he won't tell me."

"Why would you think that?" I puzzled, trying to figure out where Jake was going with this.

"Bella, do you remember those legends? The stories of my tribe…the ones you heard at the bonfire last month?"

"Of course," I sat and looked down at my hands now, still in his, and remembered the events of a Friday night in November. I had made myself cozy near the bonfire with Jake's long arm snugly around my shoulders, surrounded by several Quileutes that were friends and a handful more that I had only met in passing. Billy Black had told us ancient stories involving spirit warriors, a deep connection the tribe had to the nature around them, and most importantly, the story of the cold one. I struggled to recall the details, though I remembered the gist of the tale – cold ones and Quileute spirit warriors were enemies, and the cold ones were fierce, savage beasts that threatened humans everywhere. As grim as this tale could have been, I saw it as nothing more than a fascinating insight into a native people's oral history, and was honored to have been invited.

I returned from my brief reverie to Jake's unyielding, yet nervous stare. "Yeah, Jake. But what about those legends? What does that have to do with Sam Uley? Do you think he turned in to a spirit warrior?" I had to hold back a chuckle, though I knew that it was not something to laugh about.

"Well, I'm not sure, but all I know is that my father is in on it. What if it does have to do with the wolf thing? Or the cold ones?" Jake was trying to stay calm, but I could tell that he was paranoid on the inside.

"Jake, those are legends. Even if there was once truth to them, that was years ago. Who knows, this could be totally unrelated! And if you're that concerned, talk to Leah, or Sam's parents."

"They all just…look so stern," Jake was looking down the whole time now, his voice growing quiet. "And the worst part is, I feel like they keep looking at me behind my back. Like I had something to do with this, or something."

"Obviously you didn't. Anyone would realize that if they looked at you now. Let's shake this off and go do something for a few hours. Let's bring some sandwiches down to the beach or something. It's not raining; it's an early Christmas miracle!" I stood, trying to pull on his hands to signal him to follow. He hesitated, but after a long sigh, stood with me and walked me to the small kitchen.

After preparing our picnic, we walked the trail down toward the beach. Once the ocean was in sight, Jacob let out another sigh, stopping in his tracks. I followed his gaze out to our left – Leah and another woman around her age were lounging in the spotty sunlight, giggling and murmuring to each other.

"How can she be so happy? For God's sake, Sam is missing, and Leah has time to gossip with her cousin?" Jake sounded furious, but his edge was somehow dulled by the overtone of despair in his voice.

"Jacob, really, are you sure you're not taking this too seriously? Or maybe just out of the loop a bit? Hey, I'm going down there. I'm going to talk to Leah," I began to walk again, and he kept hold of my hand, trying to get me to stop. "This is going to help. Just give me a sec." He finally decided after a pause to let me go, but he stayed put. I was the only one descending the steps onto the beach.

"Leah," I called when I was near. "Can I have a sec?"

"Bella!" She looked up, smiling her white teeth that contrasted beautifully against her dark skin – especially in the sunlight. She stood, waiting for me to reach her, and embraced me.

"This is my cousin, Emily. Emily, this is Bella, Jacob's girlfriend. She's great," She kept her arm around me as she spoke, and Emily smiled up at us, waving gently, but staying on the ground.

"Nice to meet you, Bella. I live up on the Makah reservation, but I visit here once in a while. It's nice to get out, you know?" Emily was every bit as pretty as Leah was, but with considerably longer hair – Leah's was shoulder length at best.

"Oh, definitely. Especially on days like today," I let out a desperate-sounding chuckle. "Leah, can I have a moment?"

"Of course. Excuse us, Emily," we walked some paces out toward the water, just out of ear sight of Emily; though, if was being honest, it might not have mattered.

"Leah," I began, "Jake is really worked up about something. About Sam," I looked her in the eye – she stood maybe an inch taller than me. "IS there something wrong? Is he right to worry?"

Her eyes seemed to drop a bit, but she smiled. "Well, Sam is fine, physically. And he's not in trouble or anything. But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. In fact, that's all they'll tell me."

"Really? So you don't know where he is, or what exactly is going on, either?" This surprised me – I had really thought Leah would have the answers I needed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. All I can say is that I am not worried. I know his family well enough that, if anything serious were going on, the mood would be different. This seems…private…and yet, expected. It's hard to explain. But it shouldn't be going on much longer, or at least, that's my assumption."

"Okay. Well, thanks for this, Leah. I just can't believe how weirded out Jacob is over this. Sam and him aren't the closest. If something like this happened to Embry, I might understand." I let out a laugh, and she joined me. "I guess Jake feels like he's indirectly involved in this, his dad as well. Oh well, who knows. It doesn't sound bad, so we shouldn't make so much of it."

"Amen to that," Leah replied. "It'll be okay. Where is Jake, anyway?"

Just as she spoke, Jacob came walking over to us, the picnic basket still in his hand.

"Are we going to eat or what, Bella?" He smirked at me, waving the basket gently as if to hurry me along.

"Yeah," I smiled at him, then turned back to Leah, giving her a quick hug. "Thanks again, Leah. I'll let you get back to your cousin. See you soon!" We shared goodbyes, and she walked back to Emily. I trotted over to Jake, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Good, I'm starving!" He teased, and we walked down the water's edge, finding a spot to share our picnic.

-SSS-

Christmas came and went, and before any of us could blink, the school semester started back up again. On Monday, the first day back, it was raining quite hard. I shuddered as I slammed the door to my rusted Chevy, pulling the hood up around my head, hunched over like a creature from a horror film.

"Bella!" I barely made out my name through the torrential downpour. It sounded like Angela – had I really gone all break without seeing her? I would have to make a New Year's Resolution to fix that one.

I shuffled over to the sound of the voice. I reached the steps that led into our school's tiny quad, and looked up to see Angela and Ben – holding hands. I about jumped.

"Angela! Ben! Look at you two!" I squealed, and though it was unlike me to do so, I couldn't help myself. I was so happy for my best friend – she deserved a good, pure, smart guy like Ben. And I trusted him to look after her, too.

"I know," She blushed under her own heavy hood, "But try not to make it a big deal, okay? I'm already going to have to deal with Jess's onslaught of rumor-mill questions," she rolled her eyes, and Ben laughed at her side, squeezing her hand.

We all laughed, and looked around for Jess. She was probably hiding indoors somewhere. After the coast was clear, I joked, "If only I could help with that."

"Oh, Bella, I heard there were two new students this semester. Did you hear?" Ben, seeming to be brimming with confidence at the side of his new girlfriend, questioned me.

I thought for a moment. "No. I'm glad I'm not the newest anymore! Who is it? What grade are they in?" The thin line between gossip greed and harmless curiosity billowed before me.

"Our grade. Juniors. They're adoptive siblings, though they sure could pass as twins. Rosalie and Jasper Hale."

"Interesting names," Angela and I noted in unison, prompting another light chuckle all around.

"Yeah, I haven't seen them yet, but if I remember anything from when you came, we will see who they are soon enough," Ben looked apologetic as he said this, and I nodded slightly. Just then, the bell rang, signaling every student to brave the torrent to their classrooms. Saying our brief goodbyes, we were off to our separate ways.

When it finally came time for lunch hour, I hurried into the cafeteria, shaking off my hood and loosening my hair. I found our usual table, where Jessica, Mike, Ben and Angela already took their places. Sitting beside Jessica, I became entangled in the gossip web instantly.

"They're so…perfect." She didn't look at me as I sat down, and I followed her gaze to see who she spoke of. At the far corner of the small, crowded cafeteria, two students sat alone. They both had blonde hair and pale skin – possibly even paler than mine. The boy was stunningly good looking, and the woman was gorgeous. And she was just that – a woman. If I had not known she were a junior, if I had not seen her here in a room full of high school students, I would have sworn she be at least twenty-five. She also seemed quite tall, just like her brother.

"Wow," a few voices, mine included, sounded low. I noticed their clothing then. What they wore seemed to accentuate their beauty and their statures, and at the same time, their uniqueness. The clothes, even from across the cafeteria, looked to be much more quality and expensive than anything the rest of us would ever own. I also took a moment to notice another peculiar attribute. No one came up to them, no one talked to them. They were in their own world, and I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized why – they were frightening. I had no way of explaining why, but it was simply the way it was.

Jessica exhaled a disappointed sigh, "Really? How are any of us ever going to get a date to prom ever again?" I couldn't help but giggle at her obvious envy.

"Rosalie," Mike sounded breathless, repeating the woman's name. Jess elbowed him in the ribs.

"Don't ogle, Mike…"

"It's not like you weren't doing the same thing, Jess," He retaliated, though they were both still fixated on the two blondes at the far table. I had turned my attention to the empty spot in front of me.

"Anyway, I need to buy some lunch before I get too distracted by this, well, whatever this is." At that I stood, and Angela made to join me.

Once we left the table, Angela commented, "It's funny, isn't it? How new students always garner so much attention in small towns like this?"

"Yeah, and I wasn't even that interesting. Now these twins, they really do seem interesting. Do you know where they moved from?" I grabbed a chicken sandwich and a banana, moving down the line. "I mean, who would willingly move to Forks," I added, dramatically rolling my eyes.

Angela giggled at my input. "Well, I think Ben said that they moved here from Alaska. They're two children of a foster family. The father is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, who recently got a position at Forks Hospital. Ben's mom is a nurse there, so that's how he knows so much already," she added the last part, hoping to cover up the reason why Ben seemed to be in on so much information.

I nodded, pondering out loud, "You said two children of a foster family, as in they have other siblings? Are they not high school aged?" I was overly curious again. What had gotten into me this holiday break? Was it all the Sam talk?

"They are high school aged. I guess there's three others, but they're still getting the paperwork filled out, so they'll be joining in a while. Ben said the father is only in his late twenties – can you believe that? His wife and himself both adopted five teenagers, when they themselves are so young. Incredible." Those words would have sounded pious and judgmental coming from anyone else, but from Angela's mouth, they seemed almost reverent. It was clear that, judging from what Ben had told her about this family, she was awed and fascinated.

"Interesting," I replied after we had paid and were on our way back to the lunch table. "I guess we'll wait and see if the other siblings are as intriguing as those two, eh?" And the rest of the lunch period went as normal, except for with two blonde stars in the center of the conversation.

-SSS-

The rest of the week, I concentrated on my school work, not wanting to fall behind off the bat. Between that, school, and keeping the house, I never was able to drive down to the reservation. Jake and I kept in contact through text, but he seemed distant, with his replies short and sparse. I felt like something was up – this felt too similar to the Sam fiasco – but I wasn't sure how to approach it over the phone. So, when Saturday came, I decided that I'd head down to the Black's place first thing in the afternoon.

Billy greeted me as I came in, and he didn't appear to be hiding anything, though I did not know him as well as Jake did. When I stepped into Jacob's room, he looked up at me, but barely smiled.

"Jake," I said, frowning, "We haven't seen each other in a week, you could at least try to be happy to see me," I sat on his bed, but left distance between us. He was going to have to bridge this gap.

"I'm sorry, it's just…that thing with Sam…well, now it happened to Jared and Paul, too."

"What, really? How do you know it's the same thing? Remember what Leah said, how it was nothing to worry about?"

He shook his head, his eyebrows creasing in worry. "No, this is serious, I can feel it. And the way the elders look at me, it's like I'm next or something! And Bella, here's the weird part – Sam is back. But he's changed. He's bigger, and he cut his hair, and he never hangs out with anyone anymore. Except…"

"Jared and Paul," I finished his thought, and he nodded. I was right.

"So what, they formed some kind of clique? No girls allowed?" I joked. Jacob didn't bite.

"I don't know, this is getting too freaky for me, too strange. And I can't shake the feeling that I'm in the middle of it."

I reached over to touch his arm, and though he didn't flinch away, he didn't exactly return the gesture. As much as I wanted to help Jake sort this out and feel better, his cause for concern was not clear to me. "So what, you think you're going to be forcefully initiated into their group? I'm sure there's a way out of that."

Jake looked up to meet my eyes briefly before looking back down at his hands in his lap. "Bella, I think I need some space. Not…like permanently or anything, but…I just need to gather myself. Maybe in a few weeks, I'll be in a better state of mind, fit to be the guy you deserve again."

I shook lightly, as if a breeze had passed through me. I looked down now, not caring to see the expression in his face that I knew was remorseful. "Jake, do you really have to do this? Do we really…"

"Yes, Bella, I really just need some time. It's not you, it's me, and all that. I just need to settle this feeling in my gut before I'll be able to be a decent, capable boyfriend to you again. Please understand." He touched me for the first time today, lightly placing his hand on my knee. "This isn't the end, and I promise, once I get out of this, I'll be better for you. We'll be better. I love you," he swallowed, his voice breaking on the last few words – the first and only time he'd ever said those words to me.

"Jacob…" I held back a sob. "Okay, I'll try my best, Jake. I really hope you figure things out, and soon. I don't like to see you like this…" The tears started to stream then, though my sobs were quiet. We sat almost in silence, frozen, with his left hand still resting on my right knee.

I finally gathered myself and stood, eyes never leaving the ground in front of me. "Goodbye, Jacob. See you when you're ready, I guess," and I dashed out of the Black's house, without looking back to see the face of the boy who broke my heart.

EDWARD

I did not entirely reject what I was, though a few of my family members did. Our course allowed us to coexist with humans, to live among them, to work and play alongside them. This is where I was stuck – in the abyss of swaying pros and cons, of never completely agreeing with one way or the other. I was condemned, possibly punishment for my vile existence, to a life of everlasting high school. I was forever frozen at age seventeen, and when we moved to a new location, my siblings and I enrolled in school to fit in.

To be honest, we never succeeded. It was the same everywhere we went for the last 40 or so years that we had been doing this. Humans were naturally, subconsciously afraid of us. They knew, without ever truly knowing, that we were dangerous and to be avoided. We were never spoken to unless it was out of necessity, and we were never within several feet of a human unless absolutely unavoidable. This was not only avoidance on their part, however. The lack of physical proximity made it all the more easy for us to restrain our bloodlust and control our senses. By not having to speak, we could avoid any blunders, revealing the subtle differences in the way we spoke and the flawless eloquence that complemented our beautiful voices.

Indeed, we were beautiful creatures, in every sense. It was part of what made us the ultimate predators, the perfect creatures of terror. Our looks, voice, smell – it was sadly obvious that these things attracted us to our prey. Luckily, the repulsion brought on by our innate stillness, swift, precise movements, and even the chill our bodies subtlety emitted overcame the attraction. Besides, if we were to hunt these humans as prey, we wouldn't need to lure them in. Our speed, strength and heightened senses were overkill enough.

And so we had come to Forks, Washington, a town not far from the Pacific Coast in the northern part of the state. Though to be accurate, we had come back to Forks – most of my family and I had been here before, in the 1930's. The Olympic Peninsula was a comfortable place for us. The constant cloud cover made it easy for us to blend in, as we were able to be among the public during the daytime.

I had talked with my father, Carlisle, about the experience we had last time we were in Forks. It was all those years ago that we had run in to a tribe of Native Americans who had the genes to shape shift into the vampire's main enemy – the werewolf. We had forged a treaty with their leader, Ephraim Black, that allowed us to live in close proximity peacefully. Carlisle had reassured me that the treaty remained intact and very much alive on the Quileute reservation, not too far from Forks.

There would be no war here, no drama. Once again, nothing to look forward to except for more time spent in purgatory. Nothing ever changed in this life.