Tools to Makeup the Difference

by Tersin22

Claire has come from far away, and done some very bad things. In an effort to put her past behind her and lay low she found the the most out of the way town that she could. A place where she was certain that nothing would ever happen, and settled on Forks Washington. She couldn't have chosen worse. Characters will be added as they become important to the story.

Of all the places in the last few months that things could have gone completely fucked, after everything I had spent the last few months doing, the Forks High School cafeteria was not where I was expecting it to happen. Yet here I was watching with the rest of students, united for the first time with the student body, as I watched five 'students' walk into the cafeteria. I assume that the rest of the room was watching because they were, admittedly, extremely attractive. Their facial symmetry was ridiculous. But that's not why I was staring. No, I was staring because they were also clearly not normal humans. I mean it was obvious, gold was not a normal eye color, the way they moved implied way more proprioception than anybody should have, and their skin... Honestly I wasn't quite sure, but there was something very off about their skin. Really it came down to it was that with enough exposure to this kind of thing you learn to know something 'Human Plus' pretending to be normal when you see it. These guys were actually doing okay. Not great, but okay. That still left the question of what the hell they were though.

And what the hell were they doing here? I was here because Forks Washington was a tiny, out of the way town, where I didn't think anybody would look for me if anybody noticed what I was doing with things like, oh, the stock market, or a few international banks... After thinking about it for a moment I came to the conclusion that I'd just answered my own question.

The five of them sauntered into the cafeteria with a sort of deliberate dismissal of everybody else, that was guaranteed to attract attention. It wasn't anything that any one of them was doing really, more like a cumulative effect of all of them. First came the biggest man I'd ever seen. He had to live in the gym, or be taking steroids, or be the result of some sort of genetic engineering project or something. That sort of ridiculously defined muscle mass didn't come about without a lot of work by somebody. His expression spoke of a sort of childish joy and gentleness that was not uncommon with very big men. He had his arm around a blond that was too perfect to be real. Her hair was spun sunlight, her eyes liquid gold, her skin ivory, her lips painted with blood. That description really said it all right there right there, I am not prone to flowery language. I prefer precision, but I really couldn't come up with better words to describe her, and given the size of my vocabulary that was saying something. Her expression was her only flaw, if you could call it that. She scanned the room with utter disdain and a glare that could boil steel. That however was a very well constructed shield. Under it judging by who her eyes lingered on and the way she snarled when she did for just a fraction of a second spoke of a defensive paranoia. Probably subconscious on her part, but she'd been hurt badly before, by a male, and now didn't trust easily if at all. Which was too bad. Under all the emotional armor she was probably a sweetie.

The next rank back was another couple. He was a tall athletic blonde with, shaggy hair, and a look of extreme focus and strain on his face. Otherwise he was the only one that actually achieved the unremarkable look that was necessary for the sort of hiding I assumed that they were trying for. The only flaw, aside from whatever he was working so hard on, was just a hint of military march in his walk. Holding his hand was a tiny girl that made me think of the freaking energizer bunny. She was small, adorable and likely never stopped. Her black hair was artfully styled into utter spiky chaos, her clothes carefully chosen for maximum impact, and her sheer energy made it seem like she was dancing across the floor. After a moments further examination I blinked. It didn't just seem like she was dancing, she was actually charlstoning across the room.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I turned my gaze to the last of them. Artfully tousled bed head in an impossible bronze color, his walk was a haughty stride that perfectly matched his expression. A mix of haughty superiority and 'I know something you don't know' smug. It was subtle but there, he probably thought himself irresistible and enjoyed it as much as it annoyed him. A quick glance around the cafeteria showed that, unfortunately, most of my fellow females agreed with him.

Turning back to the five I realized they were headed to a table right next to mine. I blinked once and decided that I didn't really want to be anywhere near them. They were entirely blatant and I didn't want any scrutiny to fall on me, even by proximity. I quickly finished my lunch and fled as soon as I could without attracting attention.

While my morning classes were delightfully 'Human Plus' free, my afternoon didn't share its luck. Right after lunch I had history with a mister Hale, who turned out to be the male blond. I really didn't like this as history was one of the few classes that I was interested in and would get anything out of, but whatever. Hopefully if I kept my head down he would ignore me with the rest of the mundane humans. I handed the slip I needed to get signed to the teacher and with a sinking feeling realized that the only seat available was right next to the struggling Mr. Hale. With a sigh I took my seat and hoped against hope that he would just ignore me if I ignored him. From the way he immediately leaned away from me for once I would get my wish. I kept up my side of the bargain by paging through the history text and pretending as hard as I could that he didn't exist.

I scraped through the last few periods uneventfully, though my trig class nearly did me in. It was so boring! Boredom is my greatest enemy, and an hour of listening to a teacher drone on about a subject I could have taught in my sleep nearly drove me insane. I'm just glad I managed to escape biology, I'd gotten a peek at the textbook and from the gossip around the school I'd heard so far they would be starting on the genetics unit soon. There was so much just wrong in that section that I probably couldn't have kept my mouth shut, which wouldn't have been good.

My last period was an exercise in reluctant schadenfreude. I didn't know it was even possible to be that uncoordinated, but the other new girl proved that it was. Volley ball was almost a death sentence for her as she tripped over herself constantly, and any time the ball came anywhere near her it inevitably went for her head.

Even while trying to smother my laughter I tried my best to protect her with only some success as I had to hold myself back at the same time. Still I tried which is more that any of the others laughing could say.

Finally the bell rang and it was none too soon for her as one of our own team managed to beam her in the back of the head knocking her to the ground. Shaking my head a moved over to her and crouched down at her side, "Are you okay?" I asked offering her a hand. The girl needed help in the worst way.

She looked at my hand then up at me and took my hand with a smile, "I'm all right. I'm used to it."

"So you've always had an allergy to balls?" I pulled her to her feet offering her a smile to take any sting out of my words, "I'm Claire Muiren." I told her turning the hand up into a handshake.

"Bella Swan." Her smile turned slightly fake as she waited for something. When I didn't give it to her her smile turned real again and got bigger, "Thanks." She almost whispered.

I waved off her gratitude and started back towards the locker room as I talked pulling her along behind me with social niceties, "Don't mention it. We new girls gotta stick together."

There was an audible pause as what I said sank in and then she scrambled to catch up with me. I winced slightly waiting for her to trip again but she didn't, "You're new too?"

"Yup." I said popping the 'p'. I glanced sideways at her as we got into the locker room, "How many times have you gotten the 'how do you like Forks' question?"

She snorted indelicately, "Too many times."

We managed to keep up a comfortable conversation going as we changed and reported to the office to turn in our class slips, and continuing until we paused at my car, an old beat up white Volvo I'd gotten really cheap and a parking space close to the school I'd gotten by being there ridiculously early.

I glance around the parking lot and the swirling sea of humanity to see the five 'Human Plus'' clustered around their own Volvo, a much newer and nicer one than mine. The single male was staring at us.

I frowned and leaned one way then the other watching him to see if his focus moved with me. It didn't. My frown deepened as I turned back to Bella, "Don't look now but Mr Bed Head over there is staring at you. Really hard." She tucked long brown hair behind an ear and glanced in his direction blushing. I sighed and shook my head, "No Bella, I don't think that's a good thing."

"Why not?" She almost sounded disappointed.

"He's more than a little creepy." I told her gently and she sighed.

"I suppose so. He was acting really strange when I sat next to him in Biology."

"How so?" I was starting to get more than a little worried. The female blond made out of poetry scowled and glared in our direction before grabbing Mr. Bed Head and dragged him back towards the car. They piled in and peeled out at a speed that couldn't be safe.

Bella watched them go and sighed, "I don't know. LIke I smelled or something."

With them gone I felt a lot more relaxed, "Well I'd tell you you didn't but we just got out of P.E. so I'm not sure now is the best time for that sort of thing."

She laughed and I grinned back waving as she made her way to her truck and I climbed into my car and headed for home. I had a whole lot to think about and not a lot to go on.

The next day I made a detour before classes started to the cafeteria and managed to fit the bug that I'd spent part of the last night putting together to the underside of the table. I'd determined the night before that I didn't have enough information to really come to any conclusions. According to the internet there were no publicly acknowledged 'Human Plus''. Which is probably why they didn't have to try too hard. Even seeing all the clues nobody considered what was clearly impossible. So the first step to figuring them out was to get more information, thus the bug.

With that in place I rushed to make my first class, I doubted they were that paranoid but I still didn't want anybody asking why I was late when I arrived in plenty time. It's the little things that get you in this kind of thing. I learned that the hard way.

My morning classes were about as exciting as the day before. Which is to say dangerously boring. At least I had something to look forward to. Assuming that there was anything worth listening to. Maybe they were just odd people and I was totally off base. After all this place was enough like home to really throw me off if I wasn't careful with my assumptions. I shook my head fighting off the thought as the lunch bell rang and I pushed my way into the hall with the rest of the students. Ahead of me I saw Bella with several other students, at least two of the guys were hitting on her. She didn't seem all that interested so I guessed they weren't doing that great of a job. Gladly that wasn't a problem I had, my normal slightly vacant and glassy eyed expression convinced most people that I was on drugs or something. Apparently not very attractive, so not the best for socializing but the state of mind was necessary.

Bella and her friends made their way through the line at the cafeteria and to their table. My own trip through the line took some what longer given the size of my appetite. I made it up to the cashier pulling my credit card when I glanced behind me and saw another girl with nothing but a salad staring at my tray. Two burgers, french fries, a couple slices of pizza, four apples, and an extra large salad with what had to be really cheap ranch dressing.

I glanced back up at her to catch her staring at me incredulous, "It's like a diet." I told her getting my card back. She didn't seem convinced, "Only backwards." Her expression didn't change. "Oooookay..."

I took my tray and retreated hearing a muttered, "Druggie." behind me. Shaking my head I made my way to an empty table on the edge of the cafeteria as far away from my subjects of study as I could get and still keep an eye on them. Interesting, Mr Bed Head was missing.

It took me a moment or two to find the iPod case I'd gutted to make the receiver for my bug. Putting the headphones on I turned the receiver on and tuned into that bug. Now the image of the spacing high school student, I settled in to eat, and listen.

"...n't understand what's so special about her." Growled the voice that I'm pretty sure belonged to the poetry blonde. "I say we just kill her, problem..." My eyes widened, she actually growled in the most literal sense.

"Shhh." Another hissed, again he hissed like a cat, "Do you hear that?" Mr. Hale from my history class asked with what I was pretty sure was a subtle southern accent. Texes I thought, but off. Nothing else sounded closer though. I wondered what they heard though.

"That sounds like..." The energizer bunny said in a high crystal clear voice, and as one they all turned to look straight at me. Oh, that's what they heard.

Crap.

My eyes widened further as the big one leaned down under the table and found my bug in seconds. Holding it out so the others could see. Some detached part of me made a note of enhanced sight and hearing as a part of the profile on them. The rest of me was busy panicking.

Though I hadn't seen any evidence of it thus far I now had to assume that they had enhanced speed, strength, and durability. What happened and my choices to get out of it would depend on how enhanced they were. For my sake I hoped it wasn't much.

The southerner reached out and took the bug from the giants hand and spoke to it softly his eyes on me, "We won't hurt you, but we do need to talk about this. Our father would definitely like to speak to you. Would you be willing to follow us to meet him?"

I blinked, then frowned. How stupid did they think I was? "I'm assuming you all can hear me?" I said under my breath and watched them all nod, "Great, turn around. All of you staring at me is attracting attention none of us want." They glanced around then turned back to each other. The little one looked as glassy eyed as I did for a moment then sighed, "No. I'm not going to follow you back to your remote location away from all prying eyes. Given what I heard when I started listening, why should be obvious."

To my surprise the little one glared at the poetry blonde. It took me a moment to realize that she had been about to say something and the energizer bunny had stopped her. I took a moment to think, we did need to talk, "I'll meet one of you and your leader in the diner in twenty minutes."

Three of them looked surprised but the military man, as I was coming to think of him more and more, just nodded, "Do you have somebody you would be more comfortable with for the second?"

I smiled, "The angry blond." I'd managed to surprised all of them this time. I didn't stick around to watch though. I looked at all the food I was going to waste and gave a mental shrug I made my way out of the cafeteria and off school grounds as quick as I could.

I was halfway through the rather large meal I'd ordered when the bell over the door rang and I looked up to find the poetry blonde and a man I'd never seen before. He had all the same non human traits as the rest of them, the eyes, the facial symmetry, the skin thing, what ever that was. It was really beginning to bother me that I couldn't figure that out. It was going to start keeping me up at night soon.

They walked right up to me, poetry blonde glaring like she was trying to set me on fire with her mind, and the man with a gentle, calming smile, "Hello." His voice was pitched to be soothing, "My name is Carlisle Cullen, you've already met my daughter..."

I interrupted them then, "Actually I haven't."

Carlisle blinked, "Oh, this is Rosalie." Interesting name. Not a modern iteration but not too old either... or at least it wouldn't have been back home. "May we sit?" He continued pleasantly. His manners were a sharp change from Rosalie's ill disguised aggression.

"I'm Claire Muiren. Please." I waved at the other side of the booth and pushed away the empty plate I'd been working on. I'd need to give it a bit before I could eat more. "I'd offer you something but I suspect that you don't eat."

Carlisle blinked and Rosalie flinched slightly. I suspected that if I'd been a normal human I'd have missed both gestures, "No we don't. Thank you for the offer though." Rosalie looked at the food and sneared. I was meant to catch that.

"Speak for yourself, that human food is disgusting." She snarled. Was I supposed to be insulted because she didn't like my food and was rude about it? I was far more interested in the implication that they did eat.

"Yes. Well." Carlisle looked slightly uncomfortable with his daughters vitriol. I took a moment to really examine their facial structure and other visible traits I'd observed so far, and decided that they weren't actually related. I couldn't be absolutely sure without a DNA test, but I was pretty damn sure. "I would like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind?" As though I really had a choice.

"As long as you don't mind answering some of mine."

He nodded that this was acceptable and I gestured for him to go first, "Why did you place your listening device to spy on my children?"

I rolled my eyes, "Really? Okay, how would you go about investigating a group of 'Human Plus'' without letting on that you were? I don't have hearing good enough to listen to whispers across a crowded room so I had use something to make up the difference." I grimaced slightly, "Of course I would have done that differently if I'd known you'd hear yourselves from my headphones as soon as I turned it on."

Rosalie frowned and looked as though she was about to ask a question but before she could Carlisle sighed.

"What gave them away?" He glanced at Rosalie, who looked away from him with an angry huff. I frowned slightly and replayed what I'd said and their reactions to it to try and figure out what had prompted the reaction. After a moment I'd found it, my term for them, she hadn't heard it before. It wasn't so surprising really, it was a term from my home. They didn't seem to have any here aside from what was sitting in front of me. They probably had their own term for themselves. I'd have to find out what it was.

But he had asked a question, I had to dig it out of my memory before I could answer. Fortunately only a second or two so I hadn't done anything worth noticing really.

"What didn't?" I snorted which jerked both of their attentions back to me, "You eyes aren't a color that appears in human genetic variation. Your facial symmetry is too perfect, one person I could maybe believe, but all of you?" I shook my head, "And then theres your skin... I haven't quite figured out what's off about it yet but there is something..." I trailed off studying their skin again. This was really going to bug me. "And lastly judging from how you move, your proprioception is as at least as enhanced as your other senses."

"That's all it took?" Carlisle asked and both of them looked gratifyingly surprised.

I shrugged, "Well I do have experience with non humans trying to hide as human. That did make it easier."

"Really." He leaned forward suddenly excited, "What have you..."

I held up a hand to interrupt him holding back a smile, theory proven. I'd changed up my terminology as a stab in the dark. And I'd gotten a hit. I don't think they even noticed giving away that they don't think of themselves as human. "I think it's my turn to ask a few questions." Carlisle sighed but quickly regained his calm. Again if I hadn't been me I probably would have missed it.

"Of course. Please, ask." He smiled at me again.

I didn't think I'd get a lot out of them in public place where we might be overheard. So my question had to be one that would answer multiple others at once or give me the basis to answer them my self, and it had to give me an idea about whether or not I'd be safe going somewhere where they'd be more willing to part with more information, and it had to not be completely blatant about doing so, "The one of you that was missing today, Mr. Bed Head," Rosalie snorted at the name and had a small smile tugging at her lips as she did. I grinned at her and the expression vanished. So I sighed and continued, "What's his deal with Bella Swan?"

Carlisle blinked and glanced at Rosalie who nodded once very subtly, not the question he was expecting and he wanted confirmation about who we were talking about, but he didn't need much. Clearly she'd already been the subject of some amount of conversation amongst them, "Ah well... you see our kind are subject to some very strong instincts. Sometimes a particular human will trigger these instincts in one of us much stronger than normal. Edward," I glanced at Rosalie and was inordinately pleased that I got the same confirming nod that Carlisle had gotten, "is having this reaction to Bella so has left until he is sure he can control himself around her."

I sat back thinking over what I had just learned. They, whatever they were, were dangerous. Particularly to humans, on the other hand they seemed to go out of their way to minimize that danger. Contact with them might not be a bad idea, they knew more about what was going on here than I did certainly. It might not be a good idea either, it certainly wasn't without some more precautions.

I'd managed to finish my meal during our talk so stood with a nod, holding out a hand for him to shake, "Well thankyou for answering my question."

Both of them looked surprised but Carlisle took my hand and shook it in unthinking social reflex, "You have no other questions?" He asked trying to hide his own reluctance to let me go.

I shook my head and offered my hand to the poetry blond as well but wasn't surprised she ignored it, "Of course I do. But you've given me plenty to think about and I don't think a public setting is the best place to get into more detail. I'll get in touch with you later, now that we've actually met each other maybe I'll take you up on the offer to follow you home for the next conversation."

I nodded at the two of them again and left before they could try to continue the conversation and headed for home. As I walked I compared the feel of Carlisle's flesh to everything else I'd ever touched. It had been cold, hard and smooth. Marble, I decided after a moment or two of thought. I was beginning to wonder exactly how different these people were but pushed that aside for the moment for more immediate concerns.

With a sigh I resigned myself to do something that I had sworn never to do again. I justified it by telling myself that I was in a different place, that that anything I had done at home no longer mattered as it was gone. That this time it would be different. I would control what happened and could keep any of it from getting away from me.

In the end I could only hope that I wasn't lying to myself. Because any weapon I made to deal with a creature of stone would render flesh down to the stuff of nightmares. And I couldn't let that happen again.