Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Nor do I really wish to. Just borrowing the characters for a while.
Chapter I: My name is Morgan.
You've always heard about vampires or werewolves.
But there's one more 'supernatural' creature.
I guess I stick out a bit. I have wild red hair and dark skin. Not the average combination in America, but considering my heritage, I guess it's possible. My dad was from Ireland, and my mom from the Bronx. My eyes are usually a vibrant green, but some days they turn so pale, they're almost white. That's when I need to…well…feed.
My name is Morrighan 'Morgan' Siobhan, and I'm a banshee.
I know what comes to mind; the screaming, horrific, drooling woman that only shows up when someone is about to bite the dust. The greatest fear of that Irish guy from Harry Potter. The thing most Irish people dreaded long ago. Sure, our scream can kill a normal person, but really, we're not all that bad. We're actually pretty friendly. Okay, maybe we have some premonition, but we don't predict people's demise. That's just crazy. We feed on the energy of nature. So, I could touch a tree, its withers, my eyes go back to normal. Those that feed on the energy of humans have darker eyes. Like…a really pretty emerald. Thing is, you can feed on the same human for a while, but eventually they go insane, suffer from extreme exhaustion, or even just drop dead from the lack of rest. So there's the huge, gaping downside to being a banshee.
After much internal discussions and fights with my dad, I decided to go to school in La Push, Washington State, where my mum's cousin lives. The last week at home was chock-full of tension you could cut with a knife. Everyone who lives at Crow Highlands could tell that we were all under some serious pressure. I barely spoke to my father the last few days I was there; I was really pissed that he insinuated that I couldn't take care of myself and that I constantly needed a baby sitter. What happened to 'you have to learn to be independent'?
Despite this, I smile slightly at my parents as I prepare to board my flight, and my mom says,
"I wish you could stay, sweetie." I shake my head,
"Mum, people are beginning to notice something funny about me." It was true; I had gone nearly two weeks without feeding out of depression, and someone commented on how pale my eyes were. Banshees are sort of like vampires. If we keep feeding, we keep our youth and live forever.. My dad looks 25, so the story is that he's my older cousin, whenever we're away from the highlands. I on the other hand, am 16, but I've stopped aging, or so it seems. My mum was turned into a banshee before I was conceived, when she was about 23. It's really a very interesting process, but now isn't the time for it.
"I know, but…you'll call every day, right?"
"Yea, mum."
"You'll keep feeding like you're supposed to?"
"Yea, mum."
"Don't overdo it on the pancakes, sweetie."
"Mum!" I roll my eyes and give her a big hug, squeezing her tightly. She squeezes back, and I choked slightly; she is pretty strong, even for a banshee. Turning to my stony faced father, I say, my voice quiet and hesitant,
"You know this day would come, Da." He gives me a glare out of the corner of his eyes. Damn his pride; why doesn't he just swallow it once in a while? I hold up my hands for a hug; my father is like a huge red grizzly bear compared to me. He glares at me again then sighs, giving in and giving me a hug. He smells of brandy and pine needles.
"I know, but when you…" He looks at me with a serious face, "When you have kids of your own, you'll understand." That is if I ever have kids. I don't know, I just don't think I'll have kids. I haven't met an ideal guy yet.
"I know, Da." Finally, the announcement for my flight comes on, and I wave to my parents, heading towards the gate. As soon as I get on the plane, however, I realize how tired I am and conk out, only to be awoken by the sound of a screaming kid all the way at the back of the plane. Yay for banshee hearing.
Several hours and three bad movies later, my flight touches down in Seattle. It takes me less than five minutes to get my things on the baggage claim; I didn't bring much stuff, other than clothes and school supplies. It's rainy outside, I pause briefly to watch it fall in sheets over the city. If it keeps raining like this, I'm really going to love this place. Reminds me of―
"Morgan!" I turn and smile; my cousin is waiting for me.
Kayla Silverpaw is my mother's third cousin; my great-grandfather was a Quileute. I loved visiting him when I was little; he was a tall man, with russet skin and long, silver-grey hair. He called me 'Little Crow Girl', after learning that I was named for the crow goddess. She knows better than to call me by my full name; I hate that. I walk up to her, and she gushes, "You look just like your mother now! Not as tall, though…" I sigh; I stand at 5'3, and I won't ever get taller. I have to look up at everyone…even Kayla. It's…well…a bummer.
"It's good to see you too, Kayla." Kayla is taller than me, with long silvery-grey hair that falls down her neck and back in a cascading waterfall of sorts. She greyed early; she was under a lot of stress as a child. Her eyes are a dark brown, and her skin is a tone that I can't quite describe. All in all, she's very pretty. We walk to her pickup in the pouring rain; I barely feel the rain on me; my skin is like rock…literally. Kayla knows all about my 'situation', but judging from the conversation we have on our drive, she is still a little rusty about some things.
"So you can eat regular food?"
"Yea. I like pancakes." She casts me a funny look, but continues,
"Normal body temperature?"
"I'll always feel like I have poor circulation. If I begin to heat up, something's definitely wrong, or I just need to feed."
"Heartbeat?"
"Um….pretty slow. It only speeds up if I'm 'hungry' or having sex."
"TMI, Morgan." I grin at her, and she rolls her eyes. "Okay." She peers over the steering wheel, and then says, "I'm sorry, but your mom didn't tell me everything I needed to know. You know how she is, forgetting important things." I roll my eyes; I can believe that. She's forgotten her birthday more times than I can count. "Moving on. Can you reproduce?"
"Yes…" I blush, "But it's a pretty gruesome process. Any more questions?" This game of sorts continues until we finally reach La Push. It's really a very pretty place; I like it already. We finally pull up my cousin's home, and she gives me the grand tour, beginning with her kitchen and ending with my bedroom. The house is cozy, not as big as my parent's house, but I like it. Resting my suitcase in the bedroom, I take off my jeans and change into shorts with hiking boots. Taking off my shades, I stare in the mirror; my irises are almost white now. I need to feed. Walking outside, I see Kayla turning on the stove. She looks up at me and yelps, then says,
"You're going out to feed, now?"
"Unless you want me to kill every human within a mile radius, yes."
"You can do that?" Her tone is nothing short of disbelief, and I raise my eyebrow at her; there are a lot of things I can do.
"I don't want to find out." She shrugs, and waves me off, and I zoom out of the front door, running into the forest nearby.
I don't know my way around, so I'm sure to keep to the edges of the forest. I needed to have this meal, quick, so I looked out for prey. I could just drain a tree, but that was too easy. Closing my eyes, I listen to my surroundings and whirl around. Something big was headed my way. I turn just in time to be charged by a stag. For several moments, he has the upper hand, but then I let out a sharp yell, stunning the stag, and grab his head, as I begin to drain his energy. He attempts to fight me, but it's no use; his struggles become weak. Finally, feeling that my eyes are now back to their normal color, I let go of him, and he totters off into the woods. He should recover within several hours.
Heading back to Kayla's house, I catch sight of several guys. They look sort of like body builders, except not as fake. As I walk past, they stop and stare at me, like I'm an outsider. Well, I am, but do they have to be so obvious about it? With a sigh I look away, averting my gaze, and choose another direction to walk in, but it takes me longer to get back to Kayla's. I decide to take a look around the rez, I could get used to living here. I'm not fond of too much, the bare essentials are all you need in this world, at least in my view.
I finally reach back to her house, in time to see her chatting with a girl. She's tall, with short black hair, and the air I get from her if sort of…well…tomboyish and tough. Walking up, I try to slip past them, but Kayla smiles,
"Oh! Leah, this is my cousin, Morrighan. She prefers Morgan, though." I nod nervously; Leah simply studies me and smiles slightly,
"Morrighan…what is that, Welsh?"
"Irish. It was the name of a goddess in mythology." She nods, and I turn back to Kayla, who smiles slightly,
"You did what you needed to?" I nod, and try to go into the house, when Leah says,
"Where were you?" Make up a lie, quick.
"I was walking around. You know, trying to get myself acquainted with the area." Kayla doesn't believe me; she knew what I really went off to do, and it shouldn't have taken me so long. She smiles, giving me a 'we need to talk' look, and says,
"Thanks for stopping by, Leah. It's always so nice to see you." The girl shakes her head, and gives my cousin a glowing smile,
"No problem." Within moments she is gone, and I tease,
"I think she likes you." Kayla rolls her eyes,
"Shut up." We walk into the house, there is something, probably stew, boiling on the stove. I sit down, and watch Kayla as she stirs the food, then says, "You saw the 'pack'."
"The what?"
"Group of guys that look like body builders?" I turn to stare at Kayla, who nods, "Yeah. Embry Call, Seth Clearwater, Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, Jacob Black, Paul Lahote, Quil Aterea." She seemed to be on a roll, and I raised my eyebrows and she continued, "All of them were really scrawny and awkward, then one day, BOOM." She rolls her eyes, "It's crazy, but this is La Push. Crazy things happen here all the time."
I can tell.
"Why were they staring at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like I was…oh, never mind." I was new in town, plus I was probably the only black person around. Of course they would stare. Kayla smiles, setting a bowl of stew in front of me.
"They're a friendly bunch; when you get to know them, though at first they appear to be…well, kinda out there. You'll get used to them. They run around in the woods a lot, keep to themselves more often than not." I nod, completely fixated by the good food. She rolls her eyes and gets her own bowl. I finish eating in a matter of minutes, and she asks,
"Do you want more?"
"Nah, I'm good." I exit the kitchen and head back to my room, and pick up a book. I read for nearly a half-hour, when I see shapes by the edge of the forest. When I blink, they're gone. Okay, I really need to sleep.
Strangely enough, my dreams are plagued by massive wolves that run under a pale moon.
Sai's Corner (A/N): Believe it or not, I'm a little bit of a twihard. At least when it comes to the wolves, I don't really care for the vampires, but I'm not gonna bash them either. I've always thought that Twilight would be a little more interesting if there were banshees. That's a truly underused supernatural creature. So...Morgan's sarcasm will become apparent in later chapters, but for now, read and review! Reviews are food for authors!