Beginning
Life doesn't always turn out the way you want it to be. That reoccurring thought was filtering through my head. I should know. I was shipped off to a tiny town in Washington. My Mom said it was for the best. That's what parents always say, "for the best". A simple phrase that can rip your life apart and make you hate her. Is it because you get into too many fights at school or burn down the library? Nobody understands. I didn't choose this life it chose me. I was being punished for a curse.
I stared out the window as the plane descended to the ground. The clouds were darker, ominous and I felt worse. I stared at the red bruises across my knuckles. These were taking longer to heal. Usually the bruises would heal quickly with the undead walking around. Oh well, soon enough I suppose.
The person sitting next to me started coughing and I instantly rolled my eyes. Great now I might potentially get the flu. I tried to cover my nose and mouth with my long sleeve shirt. I clenched my fist and my knuckles started bleeding. I hurriedly grabbed a paper towel from the bottom of my drink. The red blood soaked through and did nothing to help my perpetual state of pain.
The person sitting next to me looked at my hands and made a disgusted face. I returned the favor. It wasn't a pleasure sitting next to a person who could potentially carry the West Nile virus.
The seatbelt sign came off and the pilot made his announcements. I grabbed the bag under my seat and stood with everyone else. I was near the front of the plane so I should be off fairly quickly. The flight attendant said goodbye and wished me a "great day". I muttered thanks and walked out of the doorway.
I shuffled down the walkway and went to the baggage terminal. I had three bags not a lot considering I was making this my permanent home. My boots made a clicking noise as I walked down the hall. I stared at people and tried to think positive thoughts. I saw the gathering black clouds and knew the weather was going to be hard to bear. Hopefully, I would see a few days of sunshine.
I walked out the sliding doors and shrugged my backpack on. I looked around and then saw my Dad wave and walk towards me. His brown Sheriff's uniform was well worn and his car was parked in the red zone. One of the many perks of being the town Sheriff.
He stopped in front of me not sure what to do. He gave me a half hug and stepped away. "Hey there."
"Hi Dad". I said and looked at the ground. Can somebody say awkward?
He took three of my bags and pointed to the cop car. "First class pick up."
I chuckled and walked behind him. The rain was hitting my face steadily and I could feel my hair frizzing. I hurried to the car. He opened the door and I climbed in the front seat.
"I'm glad you're here. Though not the circumstances in which you ended up here. What happened?"
"Geez you burn down a building and the administration gets all sensitive." I joked then looked at Charlie's raised eyebrow. "Sorry" I muttered.
"This is not a joking matter Isabella. If you had hurt anyone I would be visiting you at a prison. What's going on? Is it drugs?" Charlie asked quietly.
I flinched and looked out the window. I wish it were drugs. Then I could quit and never think of doing it again. What I was in was forever or until I died.
"No." I said and folded my arms over my chest. "It was an accident. A terrible accident and I am truly sorry." I told Charlie what he wanted to hear. It wasn't an accident and my actions saved the whole town from ruin.
"Your Mom doesn't know what to do with you. Frankly I don't know either. But this is it. You need to shape up or we start talking about a corrective program." Charlie said firmly in his cop voice.
I almost started smiling because the cop voice sounded a lot like a TV show cop. I didn't want to make him upset so I held my smile in. I nodded and looked at the rain pelting the window.
"So this town you live in Spoons?" I asked and looked back at him.
"It's called Forks." He laughed. "Although I think I prefer Spoons. It has a nice ring to it."
"Me too." I said glumly and the deep red welts in my knuckles started fading away. Yep this was the right place.
We drove the rest of the way in silence until we reached the town of Forks. The people were scattered around the main street and I saw a few small stores. No malls here. Not that it mattered.
We drove down a forest road with signs warning of fire safety. I stared at a few signs and looked at Charlie. "Should I be worried?"
"Nah, we never had a dry season." He gestured to the forest of trees wet with dew. Ice was gathering at the end of the branches.
The house was white and tiny. The driveway had dirt, covered path and an old red truck sat at the end of the driveway. As we pulled closer I noticed that another car was parked next to the truck.
I got out of the car and instantly smelled the pine trees. The whole area was heavily wooded with our own private forest behind the house.
I waited near the steps for Charlie and he stopped by the red truck. Which looked about ten years older than it did far away. "What do you think?" Charlie slapped the side of the truck.
"Cool, are you restoring it?"
"No this is yours." Charlie walked around the side.
"Umm, no offense but I don't think a girl would be caught dead driving this truck. I had a Prius back home." I scoffed and saw Charlie roll his eyes.
"This is a premium truck it will last forever."
"It looks like it's been around forever. If it's alright I'll just take the bus to school." I put the backpack over my head as rain pelted my fingers.
"No bus."
"Taxi?"
Charlie laughed. "It's not that bad. You're going to love it."
He came back around to me and dropped the keys in my pocket. I followed him inside the house and dropped the keys on the dining room table. There were baby pictures of me on the mantel and a more recent picture of my junior portrait.
"Follow me." He started to climb the stairs and I went behind him. He went into the room to the left. "Your room." It was decorated in pink and purple with a brand new bedspread lying on top. I hated pink.
"It's great." I lied because I felt bad about my reaction to the truck.
"The lady at Sears helped me decorate." He paused lost for words. "Well I'll leave you to get settled." Charlie exited pretty quickly.
I sat on the bed. I ran my hands across the bedspread. It was pretty comfortable. I laid back and stared at the ceiling. My knuckles were completely healed. Well I was definitely in the right town.
Later that night Charlie said goodnight and closed his door. I was sitting at the table browsing online. As soon as his door closed I shut the laptop off. I grabbed my jacket from the closet and a scarf. I opened the window and jumped to the balcony. I hung off the drainpipe and landed on the plush grass.
I stood up and walked into the woods. I brought my cell phone and shined the light ahead of me. The darkness was all around me. I could hear animals calling out. I checked my pocket and continued on. There was a scuffling up ahead and I took off running. I was almost there when a hand grabbed me from the back.
I flew backwards and landed on my back. The air knocked out of me. I struggled to breath and a figure came out of the darkness.
"What your doing is very dangerous." A man stated walking towards me. He was over six feet and wearing a trench coat.
"Mind your own business." I growled and got to my feet.
"Great I can tell your going to be difficult already." The man came up to me and he stared down. He was fair skinned with black eyes. He was in his mid forties.
"What's your problem besides the obvious?" I snarled wiping grass from my jeans.
"I'm Caleb your watcher." He walked towards me and looked down. "I can see that you need lots of help."
"My last watcher didn't do so well. News flash I don't need anyone to baby-sit me. I can take care of myself." I walked to him. I saw his face grimace and he smiled.
"Your attitude is horrifying. That I'm afraid I can't change." He grabbed a stake from his pocket in his coat. "Where's your weapon?"
"It's safe not to worry about." I grabbed the stake I tucked in the back of my jeans. I held it up and stared at the wooden point black and splintered still stained from the fire. I haven't had time to make a new stake. It took days to get the right consistency. Caleb saw my stake and he showed his disgust.
"That will not do. Here." He tossed me his stake and I caught it with my other hand. "Get rid of that one." I broke the stake in half and threw it on the ground.
"So is this your first time mentoring a slayer?" I asked rudely. His attitude wasn't much better than mine. Talk about horrifying.
"No but the other girl unfortunately did not last long in this town. It's very peculiar and the vampires here are different. Stronger." Caleb sat on a tree stump and took out a pair of glasses. He cleaned them and put them on.
"Yeah, I've heard that before. Lucky for you I'm stronger." I crossed my arms.
"Now is not the time for cockiness." Caleb stood angry. "You will meet me at the warehouse behind the bookstore tomorrow after school we'll start training."
"Yes sir." I raised my hand in a salute and took off back towards Charlie's house.
The next morning I stared once again out the window. It was still raining. It had rained the entire night unbelievable. I dreamed about rain and felt it surround me. Ugh. This weather was seriously depressing. I grabbed my gray leather jacket and put it over my blue t. I tucked black boots inside my skinny jeans and looked in the mirror. Just another new kid I thought. I grabbed the stake and put it in my backpack.
I bounded downstairs and saw that Charlie was already gone. He left me a strawberry pop tart on the table with the car keys next to it. Yes I get it no walking for me today. I made the pop tart and went outside. I put my hood up and tucked my long brown hair inside. Putting my head down I made my way to the truck. It started fairly easily which surprised me.
I put my backpack on the front seat and pulled out the driveway. I found the school easily. I looked it up on google maps last night. It was small and old just like the town. The buildings were far apart which made the school seem bigger. I was a little early so there were few students.
I pulled into the teacher's lot and parked in a restricted space. I went into the office and got my new class schedule and map. I moved the truck to the student lot, which was filling up faster. I found a parking space near the entrance right next to a gray Volvo that was parked a little too close to the line.
I moved to the first building labeled A and made my way up the stairs. The weather had cleared but still had a gray overtone. I left my hood up and stared at the map.
"Do you need help?" A small voice asked and I turned around. A petite girl with glasses looked at me from the end of the stairs.
I shrugged. "Sure." I held out my class schedule.
She came closer and took the schedule. "Okay you have English first period with me so I can show you." I followed her down the hallway and passed a series of doors. "Here it is." She pushed the door and the class was almost empty.
"You can sit next to me the seat is empty." She set herself in the desk and I sat next to her. "What's your name?"
"Isabella." I said and pulled out my notebook. "Most people call me Bella." I looked at her and she nodded politely. She pulled the long sleeves of her shirt over her hands.
"Angela. No nickname." She laughed quietly and more students entered the room. I took off my jacket and checked to make sure my hair wasn't frizzy.
Class started and I lost track of time. My mind was not focused on grammar rules and sentence indentions. The teacher's voice was droning on and I thought it would never end. I watched Angela take notes and seem genuinely interested in the class. I yawned and wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn't sleep all night because of the stupid rain. Finally the bell rang.
I floated through two more classes before lunch. I stopped by my locker. It was a combination locker so I looked at the class schedule and found the combination. I put it in and pulled the lever but it didn't open. Great. I tried two more times and Angela appeared next to me.
"That locker never worked. It looks like you got unlucky." She quipped and I raised my eyebrow. Perfect omen.
"Yup that's me unlucky." I muttered and when Angela looked at a boy going down the hall I pulled the handle hard. The locker croaked open and Angela popped her mouth open.
"Wow I guess your luck is changing." She smiled and I half smiled back. Yes it also helped to have super strength just for these types of circumstances.
We walked to a table near the salad buffet. There was another girl already sitting at the table. She had reddish brown hair and looked tiny. She was doodling in her notebook. She looked up when we came to the table. She bounced up. "Hi I'm Jessica you must be Bella." A tiny ball of energy.
"Yeah that's me." I stated and sat down. I took an apple out of my lunch bag and half a turkey sandwich.
"Don't you think we should have a featurette in the yearbook for the academic clubs?" Angela asked and Jessica nodded enthusiastically. They both talked about the pros and cons of featurettes and I just nodded along.
I ate my sandwich quietly. I wasn't sure how to be around other girls. My best friend in Arizona was Eric. He didn't really say much either and we got along well. He was funny and smart. I still remember his affection for Batman and poker. I put my sandwich down swallowing the lump in my throat.
"So what do you think Bella?" Jessica turned to me and I shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea what she was talking about. Suddenly a tingling sensation came over my hands. I smelled a frosty scent coming from the door. My eyes opened in alarm. I reached for my backpack and held it in my lap. The door opened and the undead walked in. I took in a deep breath ready for the attack. But the undead walked slowly and methodically. The girl and boy looked to be my age and in current clothes. I was confused.
"I know they are too hot right?" Jessica saw my reaction and confused it for envy. I followed the dead with my trained eyes ready to protect. The boy and girl walked past me and straight to a table by the wall. They sat and stared at one another. What is wrong with them?
"That's Rosalie and Emmett. They live together but they are dating. Weird right." Jessica took a bite of her carrot and dipped it in ranch. Another boy and girl came in with the fresh scent of peppermint. The girl was twirling but the boy seemed not in total control. His eyes darted too much. I reached into the backpack and put my hands around the stake.
"That's Alice and Jasper they also live with Rosalie and Emmett. They are all couples so strange. Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen adopted them and they just moved here from Alaska." Jessica was a good gossip she knew everything about everyone. I didn't like the way Jasper was looking at a table of girls. His eyes seemed to be in pain. I quickly looked away. I didn't want to cause a scene. I was in turmoil. How could these undead be around the living? They didn't seem to be threatening in fact they seemed bored going through the motions.
The door opened and a scent of peppermint mixed with pine overcame my senses. I turned and saw a young boy with reddish brown hair and dark eyes. He looked different than the others guarded. He walked with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. He was deadly and beautiful. He walked past our table and to his family.
"That's Edward Cullen completely hot but totally off limits." Jessica huffed.
I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let these undead live I would have to find them after school and kill them one way or another.