A Crashed Manipulator
-A Twilight Fanfic-

Prologue: One of Our Kind?

*Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the other character.*
Author's Note: Jasper is kind of..out of character. I made him as..in-character as I possibly could. If this offends anyone, turn back now.

"Would she hear me if I called her name? Would she hold me if she knew my shame? There's always something different going wrong; the path I walk is in the wrong 's always someone hanging on. Can anyone help me make things better?"

--Tears Don't Fall; Bullet for my Valentine.

I knew I was weird as soon as I was brought into this world. The phrase, 'I brought you into this world, I can take you out', never sounded better to me at the moment.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I walked into the lonely halls of Forks High School, the lucky home of the Spartans. I wanted to die, right here and now. I did not want to be here, opposite of whatever anyone had told me personally. I had good reasons for not wanting to be here. Reasons known only to my family and I.

Reasons that were guarded by me. Reasons that I had to keep secret.

I sighed, stalking up to the guidance window and sighed again when someone came.

"Can I help you?" An old woman asked, too kindly for my personal liking.

"I'm Chanteclair Williamson, I'm new here," I'd said to anyone who questioned me. She gave me a friendly smile and handed me some papers to fill out, along with some other unimportant wastes of trees, such as my schedule for this year and a map. I rolled my eyes as I glanced over them, filling them out with the basic information.

I handed them back to her, and I was quite surprised when she hadn't asked me about my living situation. She told me to wait in the seat outside the window and someone would be here to speak to me, presuming the principal or someone.

I obeyed and walked back to the weird sofa-like-thing outside of the window. I sat down, and looked out into the hallways. Feeling out of place was definitely an understatement here. But all of my thoughts were interrupted when I saw him.

His eyes were tantalizing, a weird shade of brown and yellow, as if a cross between hazel and brown. He was way paler than me, which I thought could never happen, and had a slight shade of a dark purple or black under his eyes. He had wild, curly, honey blonde hair with the slightest hint of dark brown underneath.

He was gorgeous, no denying that.

He was walking with two other boys and two other girls. They looked nothing alike whatsoever, until I realized that they all had the same eye color.

"Weird," I mumbled.

"That's the Cullen family," I heard someone say. I looked to my right and saw a girl, presumably around my age, and shorter than my own five-foot-eleven. "They're all beautiful, obviously. I'm Alexandra Rhoney. You're Chanteclair, I presume?" she asked. She spoke quickly, but enunciated her words and syllables. It sounded weird, even to me.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand that she jutted out toward me. Her eyes widened.

"Wow, you have a strong grip on you!" she exclaimed. I blushed. Even though I was properly used to this reaction, it felt weird coming from someone I had just met and didn't know.

"Yeah, runs in the family," I offered. She gave me a friendly smile.

"So you came here from...?" she questioned.

"Alaska. Anchorage, Alaska."

"Hm, interesting. And here I thought you were from France, since your name sounds French and all. Pretty name, by the way." she said, gesturing for me to get up and walk around. I stood up, feeling like a giant around most kids, including her. "You're really tall." she mumbled.

"Yeah. Runs in the family, again." I said, laughing. She showed me the different classes and laboratories and such. It grew silent for a moment. "So, uh...who are the Cullens?" I asked hesitantly. In all honesty, I was afraid to ask.

"They're all foster children to Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen," she pointed to where they were standing, all five of them. "The one in blue is Edward Cullen, and the girl beside him is Rosalie Hale. The boy with his arms around Rosalie is Emmett Cullen, her boyfriend--" she growled at the word. "The one with short brown hair is Alice Cullen, and the one beside Alice is Jasper Hale, Rosalie's twin brother. But, I wouldn't waste your time. They're not...people friendly." Alexandra said.

I felt myself smile.

"Jasper Hale.." I whispered to myself. Nice name.

".....and it's like they're all alone--Chanteclair? You okay?" she asked, snapping me back into reality. I blinked rapidly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Uh, what's your next class?" I asked, taking my mind off of the subject.

"Trig. You?"

"Same."

Time passed and trigonometry ended as I walked to lunch with Alex, her preferred name over her real name. We both ended up in the lunchroom and I felt my heart skip a beat as two of the five Cullen children turned to look at Alex and I. By the people that Alex described and pointed out, it was Emmett and Jasper.

Jasper intrigued me, more ways than one.

I didn't know why at the time. If it was his shocking good looks, his calm personality, or for the fact....he seemed like me.

I couldn't erase the last thought out of my head. There was no way on this Earth that I would meet someone like me. It just didn't happen in real life, much less, it never happened to me. I knew deep inside that I never would, but the fact that he could be, piqued my interest deeply. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts and focus on getting lunch.

I had to walk by the Cullen table to enter the lunch line, which I soon regretted. I searched for a longer way, but none was to be found. I shook my head again.

Of course I was used to the staring, the name-calling, and everything else people did to me when they saw me. I knew I was a freak of nature, one that didn't belong. I knew I had no other right than to be here, no matter how much I detested fate. Or, right now, how much it detested me.

I immediately straighted my posture up when I passed the table, and I saw a few of them do the same. Out of the corner of my eye, the one I came to know as Jasper, suddenly grabbed the edges of the lunch table. If I didn't know better, or have sharp enough senses, I would have thought he was going to flip it over. I saw Edward immediately do the same, and I saw Emmett push his hands forward as if to calm him down and stop him.

I didn't want to think (or let them think, rather) that I was staring at them, so I waited for the perfect time and turned my head toward the table. I sighed to myself.

"First day of school, and here I am, reading minds." I mumbled to myself. I waited for the time when they all looked away. I looked at Jasper first.

'Control yourself, Jasper. She's only a human.' Jasper thought. I looked away frantically as his head turned toward mine, and his piercing eyes seem to look straight into my soul.

"If he only knew what I was, he wouldn't call me human." I said to myself, then mentally kicked myself, realizing that someone could have heard me.

'You're not human?' Someone's thoughts ran into my head. I looked around weirdly.

'Over here. The...Cullen table, I believe your friend Alex had called us.'

I looked over at the Cullen table and saw Jasper get up and walk toward me. It looked like he was dancing, or walking on air, instead of walking on the floor. I instantly snapped up and I felt my eyes darken.

"I'm Jasper. You're Chanteclair, right?" he asked. I kept my posture upright.

"Yes." I said simply.

"Come with me," he said, retreating back toward his original table. I scoffed, so close to getting lunch. I followed him anyway. "I'm assuming you know our names by now. I believe you will be a help to us." Jasper said lowly, sitting down. "Guys, this is Chanteclair Williamson. Her place of origin may be important to us."

Five pairs of eyes looked at me like I was some kind of murderer. I felt out of place again.

"Where are you from, Chanteclair?" someone asked. I remembered his name was Edward.

I hesitated, afraid to tell them. I instantly felt the atmosphere change into something..tranquil. "Alaska."

Then I felt someone kick me. I smiled. "Okay, I moved here from Anchorage. I'm originally from Denali."

It grew silent again, and I felt like an outcast.

It felt like they just shunned me silently. Lucky me.

"What can you do? What are your physical abilities?" Edward asked. The other three, not including Jasper, looked at Edward like he was a lunatic. His eyes stayed on mine.

I stared at him for a second. I growled lowly. "How did you know?"

"You may not be a vampire, but you certainly aren't human." he said. My eyes darkened and narrowed, sending a wave of pain through them. I winced slightly.

"My nickname is The Black Raven, you may know of me, or heard of me before. I can see and hear for miles away, either on land, water, or air. I can lift up to three hundred times my weight easily, and I can defy Newton's laws. I can read others thoughts and I can implant memories of any kind and control them, but only by physical touch. Also by physical touch, I can leave my body behind and pour my spirit into someone else, but only for a limited amount of time."

I looked up and saw each and every one of them staring at me, in either shock or in horror.

"How did you get this way? What's your story?" Edward asked again.

"I was enlisted in the Army as a nurse and assistant during World War I. I lost too much blood when I had gotten wounded. I had to have a blood transfusion along with a bone marrow transplant. They mixed my match up and got the wrong blood and marrow. The person they mixed me up with was a vampire, a Veteran from the war in the South, I was told. It was...quite something. But, anyway, it was half blood and half venom, so I'm half human and half vampire. But my abilities..I was born with those."

Emmett's and Edward's mouths fell open. "Really? How?" Emmett asked.

My eyes darkened. "I'd prefer not to talk about it at the moment."

They all nodded. "Understood. Maybe some other time, then."

"So, how did you get your nickname?" Emmett asked.

"I can transform into a raven. The type of bird."

His eyes widened and he stretched his arm across the table and held his palm up, high-five style. "Alright! How cool is that?"

I laughed, giving him a high five.

"When you lived in Alaska, did you see any of our kind? Nomads, people out of the ordinary?" Edward asked.

I shook my head. "No. I can tell when people...aren't human, per se. Have you had any trouble lately?"

"No, just making sure."

"So, what do you hunt, then, if you're a vampire?" Jasper asked. His rough voice caused me to jump a bit.

"I don't hunt. I'm half human, remember? I can assure you I don't hunt people, otherwise the whole school would be a funeral home," I smirked. "Any foreign blood mixed with mine is....well, it isn't very pretty." I said, making a face.

"Oh," Jasper said, obviously lost in thought. He nodded in Edward's direction. Edward did the same. "You're on your own, correct?" he asked, turning his attention toward me once more. I hesitated to answer, getting lost in his eyes. I had to think about what he meant, in the literal sense or not.

"Yes. My parents are deceased. They died during WWI. I was the last to know, considering I was so hard to 'get ahold of'." I said sadly, making air quotes. Even though my parents did not serve, I still had fond memories of them.

"Your condition isn't stable," Jasper said again. He nodded toward Edward and Emmett, who returned it. Alice and Rosalie did the same. "You can live with us."

I blinked. Wait, what?

"I...don't know." I said unsurely.

"There's an extra room!" Alice said, speaking up for the first time. She bounced up and down in her seat, her eyes twinkling with delight. Either she really liked me, or....I didn't want to think of the next possibility. I glanced at Edward, who seemed to be the 'ring leader' of the group, even if it was my own assumption.

'It's okay, I promise. Carlisle and Esme will love you.' Edward thought toward me.

I sighed. "Alright," I said with a smile.

"Yay!" Alice semi-yelled. The sound was blended out when the bell rang for dismissal.

"You can meet us in the parking lot after school." Jasper said, coming around to where I was standing. He was so fast and light on his feet that before I had time to think about thinking, he was right beside me.

"Alright."

--After School; The parking lot...--

"Chanteclair, over here!" I heard someone yell in my direction, causing me and my overly-short nerves to jump a bit. I locked the doors of my black Hummer H3 and walked toward where Alice was standing. "You're going to ride with us, aren't you?"

If you can't beat them, join them. I thought. Alice must have intercepted this because she smiled.

"Might as well! Your Hummer will be fine, I'll have Emmett drive it home. You need to ride with us."

"Need to ride home with you?" I repeated skeptically and raised an eyebrow.

"Well...we want to get to know you better, that's all." she said, smiling.

"Oh, great. Twenty questions." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

--The Cullen House--

"Dude! You should totally hear her stereo system, it is crazy!" Emmett said, bursting through the door. Edward gave him a weird look and sighed.

I smiled. Emmett and I would probably get along well, if Alice ever lets me out of her death grip.

"Carlisle, Esme! We need to introduce you to someone." Edward yelled up the stairwell.

"There's no need to be nervous." Jasper said. It was obvious my nervousness filled the air.

I watched in silence as a man and a woman came down the stairs, the man looking barely over twenty and the woman as well. The man, who I presumed was Carlisle, was outrageously beautiful. He had jet blonde hair, and had the same color eyes as the rest of the Cullen children. The woman was beautiful as well, and just being in the same room with her made me take a hit to my self-esteem. I felt very, very unattractive being in a room filled with such beauty.

"If I don't believe my eyes, The Black Raven herself." I heard Carlisle mumble under his breath. My stupid long-range hearing came in handy at the times I really didn't need it to. "Well, hello there." he said, coming up toward me and extending his hand. I had to think for a moment, and then I shook his hand. Esme came up to me and gave me a hug.

"Hello darling," she gushed. I smiled.

"Mom, Dad, this is Chanteclair Williamson." Alice introduced.

"Nice to meet you all," I said, smiling at them.

"Nice to meet you, too, Chanteclair."

"Chanteclair is.. half vampire." Edward said. My eyes widened.

So much for putting it all on the table, I thought. Carlisle and Esme looked at me with weird expressions, and I had the urge to bolt out of the room and run back home.

"Tell us your story, Chanteclair." Carlisle said. He offered me a seat on the couch, and we all sat down. A few minutes passed and as I told my story, I felt Jasper stiffen up beside me when I mentioned the parts about being in the Army and my vampire transformation. I secretly wondered what it may have been about, but I didn't question at the time. We sat and talked for a while, about different things about me. Where I'd lived, what I'd done, things like that.

My parents were a touchy subject, though, so we skipped that part and they apologized in agreement. They couldn't have been more understanding.

Alice popped up from where she was sitting. "So, can she live with us?" she asked.

I hadn't lived with any family or..people, rather, since my parents had passed. Carlisle and Esme smiled in my direction.

"I don't see why not," Carlisle said as Esme nodded. "She's perfectly welcome here. Although, I do believe you'll have to room with someone for at least a day. Looks like Emmett and I are going to have to clean up the extra bedroom." he continued with a laugh.

Emmett pouted. "Ah, I wasn't looking forward to that, Dad."

Neither was I, Emmett. Neither was I.