Shades Of Gray Chapter 1, a twilight fanfic

Title: Shades of Gray

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: AU Bella Swan begins to discover the dark mysterious underworld of magick beneath the veneer of the modern world when she's sent to live in Forks. Can love save her from the dark evil that threatens her? Is Edward a part of that evil? OCC ExB Lemons

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: BPOV (Bella), Bella starts the story. Edward and Alice may have a say later on.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

I decided to go ahead and start posting this. It's been in my head for a long time, and I had to start writing it. I have not abandoned any of my other stories, and the next chapter of the mating dance should be up soon. I seem to be drawn to Dark Bella. Everyone always writes dark Edward. We get bad girl Bella in this story.

Please read the Author's Note at the end of the story if you make it that far.

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Chapter 1 Prologue

The room was dark, and I had the covers pulled up to my chin, but the air coming out of the air conditioning vent was cool and dry. Where the hell was she? It never took Renee this long to check on me to make sure I was asleep. I glanced at my clock radio again. Damn it, it was already eleven thirty! How long would Mandy wait before she gave up on me?

I was about to give up and just go for it when I heard the loose board in the hall give the tell tale creak that warned me Renee was coming down the hall. I measured my breath and put on my best sound asleep act. I saw the room brighten briefly from the light in the hallway as the door cracked open. Renee never actually came into the room, and after a minute the door closed. I heard her continue down the hall to the room she shared with her boy toy, Phil.

I lay there seething in a fresh flood of silent rage as I thought about Renee and Phil and how everything she had always taught me suddenly went out the window because she was 'in love'. Never get married for the wrong reasons, Isabel. Be responsible, Isabel, she preached to me when she couldn't even keep the lights turned on if I didn't mail the bills on time for her. I was as much the parent as Renee was in our twisted mother daughter relationship, and if anything I had always been the more responsible one.

It seriously bugged me when Renee started dating a man eleven years her junior. God, he was closer to my age than hers! If I'd brought him home she would have thrown a royal fit, but when I complained I was just being childish, and it wasn't my place to question her. It was bad enough when they were just dating and people would mistake him for my boyfriend or older brother. Then she threw all the rules out the window and married him. That was the last straw. I was through being the responsible one. If Renee could break all the rules then I deserved to have some fun too.

I looked at the clock again and it had been a full two minutes since the door had closed. I threw back the covers and got out of bed. I was already dressed, and I thought I looked pretty hot in my tight low rise hip hugger jeans and the red spaghetti strap bra top tank. The top had a built in bra and didn't really need the spaghetti straps to stay up as it fluttered loosely around my midriff not really covering much at all. I reached under the bed and grabbed the wig I gotten at the goodwill store, arranged it on my pillow, and pulled the covers back up to look like I was still in bed. Just a little insurance in case Renee got back up and decided to look in on me again.

I grabbed my purse off the back of my desk chair and stepped into the kitten heel pumps as I opened my purse to double check that I had everything. I'd cleaned out my stash for the party tonight, and the little baggie of that primo bud I'd scored at school before Christmas break was lying on top of the rest. The new pipe that Rachael had gotten me for Christmas and my lighter were all ready to go.

I silently slid the window open and the blast of dry desert air hit me like I'd opened the oven in the kitchen instead of my bedroom window. It was still in the eighties outside, despite the late hour and the season. Ninety degree weather wasn't unheard of even in January, and we were having a warm winter. I swung my legs out as I sat on the window sill and then dropped down into the backyard. Thank god for slab construction. It was a short drop but I still stumbled and almost fell. I caught myself by grabbing the open window sill. I slid the window closed but I remembered to leave it open a crack so it wouldn't latch this time.

I crossed the yard to the gate and pushed it open as quietly as possible. I silently cringed as it scraped on the concrete and the hinge creaked. It didn't matter how many times I oiled it, it always made a metallic screech every time I opened it. I jogged down the street, and miraculously, Mandy's car was still there waiting for me.

"Jeez, Isabel, It's about fucking time," Mandy exclaimed from the driver seat. "I thought you'd chickened out. I was about ready to give up on you. What happened?"

I opened the passenger door and jumped in as Mandy pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn in the middle of the street.

"I had to wait until my mom checked on me and went to bed. I'm still grounded, and I had to sneak out. You got another one of those, Rachel?" I asked the girl in the back seat, eyeing the beer she was sipping.

""Yeah, no problem, Isabel," Rachel said and handed me a beer from the cooler in the back seat.

I twisted off the top and took a pull from the beer as Mandy drove us across town to Debbie's Christmas party. I set the beer in the cup holder and took a cigarette out of my purse. I cupped my hands around it to block the hot wind from the open window to light it. I retrieved my beer as I sat back and took a drag off the smoke and blew it out the window. I watched the palm trees go by out the window as we drove through the dry desert night. A lot of houses still had Christmas lights turned on despite the late hour.

"God, Isabel, your mom is gonna go totally ballistic if she catches you again." Mandy said "You're already grounded for sneaking out last time. If she catches you again she might really send you to that all girls' school she was talking about."

I took a long drag off my cigarette and blew out the smoke. "Renee isn't gonna send me to military school or that convent school either. They all expect to be paid, and she can't afford the tuition on a kindergarten teacher's salary. Her boy toy Phil isn't swimmin' in the big bucks either, unless he's got somethin' I ain't seen yet and gets signed to the majors. I think it's a safe bet he ain't going to show anytime soon."

"Whatever, it's your funeral. We might as well enjoy your last night as a free woman before she throws away the key." She reached over and cranked up the volume on the stereo, effectively ending the conversation.

The party had been going for a couple of hours when we got there, but that just meant that everyone was already buzzed and the action was hot and heavy when we showed up. I could hear the loud music from the street when we got out of the car, and it hit me like a wave when I pushed through the door.

The lights were dim and the music seemed loudest from the family room. There were people milling around and sitting on the couches in the living room talking, but they had to shout or lean close together to hear. Ashley Davis was curled up in an easy chair in the corner making out with some guy I'd never seen before. A guy I knew from school handed me a plastic cup full of beer from the keg as I passed the kitchen.

I pushed through the press of bodies in the family room and stepped out the sliding glass door onto the patio in the back yard. It was less crowded out here. The music was still loud but slightly muffled and quieter when Rachel slid the glass door shut behind her. I walked over and sat in one of the patio chairs at the glass table and got out my pipe. I tamped down a chunk of the primo bud, fired up, and took a big hit off the pipe. I passed it to Mandy as I held in the smoke, and then blew it out through my nose.

"God, that's some good shit. I hope that Silas kid has some left when we go back to school."

"Got a plan for your Christmas money already?" Rachel asked as she took the pipe from Mandy. "I thought you were gonna save up to buy a car?" Then Rachel took a hit off the pipe.

"There aren't any decent cars around here that I'd be able to afford," I said. "I might as well enjoy it while I can."

"So, do you think that guy's gonna be here tonight?" Mandy asked. "You know… the guy that was talking to you at the mall."

"I don't know. I told him I'd be here tonight. I'll just have to wait and see."

I was a little apprehensive about what to do if he did show up. I had been asked out by boys with a decent amount of frequency. I had gone out on dates, held hands with boys, kissed a few boys, gotten groped uncomfortably in the backseats of a couple of cars. I'd been the one to mention this party when we'd talked at the mall, and I didn't want to be a tease, but I felt uncomfortable about talking to him again.

The whole thing had started innocently enough. I was at the mall with Renee, and I went to browse in the book store while she went to Victoria's Secret. It was bad enough that she bought that stuff to surprise Phil. I didn't need to watch her buy it or ask me for advice. I was browsing through the classics when I noticed him looking at me. At first I just thought he was some creepy older guy checking me out, but he came over and said hi and started asking my opinion about the books in the section.

At first I was surprised that he was paying attention to me. I'd gotten a weird vibe from him when he was further away, but up close I realized he was drop dead gorgeous and younger than I'd first thought. He had the strangest dark ochre eyes and his black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. We chatted about books we'd read and our favorite characters. What they did right and what they did wrong, and how we would have changed the story if we were writing it. He invited me to go to the food court to get coffee, and I was ready to leave with him, when I saw Renee walk out of the shop across the mall. It was like the spell was broken with my realization that I was supposed to meet her, and I apologized and told him I had to leave.

He asked when he could see me again, and I told him I'd be at this party tonight as I hurried out of the shop to meet Renee. It was later as we were driving home that I realized he'd never even told me his name. The whole experience was surreal and disjointed as I had difficulty even remembering what we'd talked about, and what had been so enthralling about meeting him.

I put away my pipe, and we went back into the party. My beer was empty, but I didn't mind, and the three of us made our way onto the dance floor in the family room to dance and cut loose. There were too many people to say I danced with anyone in particular as we moved to the pounding beat. It just felt good to let all my problems go and let the music move me. It didn't matter if I was clumsy, or Phil was too young for my mom. Mandy and Rachel didn't care and I just moved to the pulsing beat and the flashing lights.

I was dancing with the girls when I felt a tingling sensation in my scalp and a chill that ran down my spine. I felt hands on my hips and somebody grinding against my backside. I thought it was that jerk Alex Petersen from the football team again. I gone out with him once, and that was enough. He just wouldn't take no for an answer, and I was going to have to get tough with him. Then the hands on my hips gripped me tight, and I could feel how cold their touch was as they moved under my shirt. I could feel the cold grip above the waist band of my low rise jeans, and then the somebody was purring hello into my ear.

I glanced back and it was the hot guy from the bookstore and suddenly my annoyance and apprehension melted away as I pressed back against him. I turned around inside his grip to dance with him and his hands never left my hips. He pulled me against him and I could feel the hard bulge in his jeans pressing against me. We danced to a couple of songs, and then he leaned in to talk in my ear.

"It's too crowded in here. Let's get a drink, ok?"

I nodded to him, and he took my hand and led me off the dance floor. He handed me a cup of beer from the keg, and then he produced a bottle of liquor from the counter next to it.

"Would you like something to make that a little stronger?" he asked.

I was about to say no and was shaking my head when he poured the shot in and then poured a shot into his cup as well. Well, done is done, so I took a drink and it didn't taste half bad.

He took my hand and led me back into the living room, and we found a relatively quiet corner to talk.

"So, are you having fun tonight, Isabel?" he asked.

I really was, and then the thought struck me. "How did you know my name? I never told you…" I asked as I realized I was backed into the corner. He was standing close in front of me almost pressing his body against mine, but not really touching.

"It wasn't hard to find out. I talked to your friends." He purred into my ear as he leaned into me. "They all knew who I meant when I asked about the pretty girl with the smoking hot body, the long mahogany hair with a touch of a curl, and the chocolate brown eyes that seem to pull you into their depths."

I felt like I had melted and he was purring into the depths of the puddle where I had been standing.

"Hmm, I'm surprised they sent you to me with that description…" I said as I traced my fingers along the arm of the hand that still rested on my hip.

"You haven't answered my question yet. Are you having fun tonight?" he purred into my ear moving closer still.

"Yes, I think I am. I deserve to have some fun." His hips were pressing against mine now, but for some reason I didn't mind.

"That's good. You should have fun while you can. Life is so short. You should live it to the fullest. Live every minute like it's your last minute on earth."

His hand on my hip was moving up my side under my shirt as his fingers trailed up to my ribs and then back down as he traced patterns on my skin.

"Is that what you're doing here? Having fun and living life like it's your last minute?" my voice caught as his finger tips traced along the bottom edge of my bra and then slid back down my side.

"Are you just a party animal, or is there more to you?" I asked as his cold fingers traced patterns onto my back and side.

"Oh trust me; I can be an animal with or without the party. There is definitely more to me than meets the eye, though. But enough about me tell me more about you, Isabel." He purred in my ear

"Sorry, not much to tell. I'm just your typical girl who wants to kill her mother for ruining her life. I'm just waiting for my high school sentence to end so I can get on with my life like most of the rest of the kids here tonight." I said as I looked down and avoided his eyes.

I was such a loser and I was sure he'd walk away.

I felt his cold fingers on my jaw and he raised my chin to look deeply into my eyes. "Don't you have hopes and dreams? Some aspiration to better yourself? Go off to college or make a name for yourself?" He asked as his cold fingers traced from the small of my back around my side and across my hip above my jeans.

"You know, there was a time when I cared about things like grades and college. I used to be the president of the honor society if you can believe that. I wanted to get a scholarship to some prestigious university somewhere, but that all just seems so far away now. Now I just want to have a good time."

I felt the bulge in his jeans pressing into me where my hips came together. I could feel the dampness between my thighs and the delicious curl in my stomach and I wanted him to give me a good time tonight.

"Well, good times are my specialty. Why don't we get out of here, and go have a more private party? What do say sweet Isabel? Will you come party with me?" He leaned into me, and his hand was on the back of my neck. His lips were pressing against mine. His tongue traced across my lower lip begging for entrance and my lips parted. The taste was incredible as his cold tongue explored my mouth dancing against my tongue as he deepened the kiss. My head was swimming and it felt like I was in a fog. Everything seemed far away and unreal like a dream… A good time… That sounded like fun… But something was wrong… I wasn't that kind of girl…

"No, I can't leave with you… I don't do that…" I didn't leave with strange men… But he seemed safe enough…

"It'll be alright, Isabel. We'll just party a little and have some fun. I'll be nice, I promise." My brain was so foggy and I a hard time even remembering my own name until he said it. His cold fingers traced patterns on my back and side. The cold fingers of his other hand caressed my jaw and he breathed his sweet intoxicating breath into my face as his eyes bored deeply into mine.

"It's not right… I came with my friends…" My friends… They'd understand… I couldn't remember their names…

"Your friends will wait for you. We can go with my friends. You won't be alone." His sweet intoxicating breath washed over me and made my head swim as his eyes bored into soul, and I couldn't say no anymore. I didn't want to say no anymore, but something inside me was crying out that this was wrong. A tiny part of me knew I had to resist.

"Wait," I said, as I listened to the tiny voice in my head that said this was wrong. "At least tell me your name…"

"James Hunter, but please call me James, my sweet Isabel. You shouldn't worry. Come with me and we can play…" Yes… I shouldn't worry… We'd have fun… I would play with James… NO! This was wrong…

"Ok…" I said and he wrapped his arm around me and led me towards the door.

"Isabel!" Somebody was saying a name… It was my name and I knew that voice… There was music playing and I was at a party…

"Isabel Swan! What are you doing?" It was my friend… Her name was Mandy and she was standing in front of me…

James bent down and was purring in my ear…

"Tell your friend its ok. You want to go with me. I'm safe." His voice purred the words into my ear and it felt like were injected into my head, like they were my own thoughts and I was compelled to say them... NO! This was wrong…the tiny voice cried out to me, but it was so quiet and far away...

"It's ok, Mandy. I want to go with James. He's safe…" I parroted back. The words came out in my voice, but I didn't know why I said them… James had his arm tight around my waist, and his lips were against my ear planting tiny kisses on my ear and the side of my face… It felt so good and I wanted more… NO! Wrong. Wrong. Wrong… the tiny voice cried out to me, but I couldn't listen to it…

"Are you sure, Isabel? You just met this guy. Where are you going?

"Tell your friend not to worry. We're going to meet my friends, Victoria and Laurent. You'll be fine." He purred against my ear and I knew I would tell Mandy what he told me to say. NO! This was wrong…the tiny voice cried out to me, but it was so quiet and far away...

"Don't worry, Mandy. We're going to meet his friends, Victoria and Laurent. I'll be fine…" The voice coming out of my mouth told her. Why did I say that…? I didn't believe it… RUN! This is WRONG… the tiny voice screamed at me, but it couldn't penetrate through the fog…

"If you're sure, Isabel, I don't like this, but if you think it's ok…"

"Tell your friend you'll be fine. We'll be back in a little while. You want to go with me." The velvet purr poured the words into me and I had to say it. NO! YOU CAN"T DO THIS…the tiny voice pleaded inside of me as it struggled against the fog...

"I'll be fine. We'll be back in a little while. I want to go with James." The voice coming out of my mouth lied to her. Don't believe me! NO. NO. NO… the tiny voice screamed at me… I wanted to listen to the voice, but it was so far away…

"Alright, Isabel, but I'll be waiting for you…" She stepped out of the way, and James led me to the door.

We hurried out of the house, and it didn't feel like my feet even touched the ground. Suddenly we were standing on the sidewalk, and a car was waiting for us. The door was open and then we were in the back seat. The car was pulling away from the curb before James had the door closed. His arm was around me holding me tight against his body, and his hand caressed along my side. I didn't know where we were going, but the houses started to thin out and there were warehouses lining the streets.

"Isabel, these are my friends, Victoria and Laurent. See, I told you it would be ok. C'mon, let's party."

The redhead in the passenger seat had a pipe at her lips, and I could smell the sweet pungent odor of the smoke. She passed the pipe back to James, and he held it to my lips. I didn't want this, but I inhaled a long hit off the pipe, and my lungs were filled with the smoke. Something made me hold it in, and then I blew out the smoke. My head was spinning and I had trouble paying attention to what was going on. The pipe made the rounds and kept coming back to me, but I couldn't say no.

Then the car stopped. We were parked inside a chain link fence in front of a warehouse. Why were we here? What was going on? My head started to clear a little, despite the pot and the drinks from the party. My heart was racing and I was scared.

"We're going to go get setup," Victoria said. "It shouldn't take too long. Why don't you get her warmed up, James? I know you want to. Just remember what we need…" and then Victoria and Laurent were gone. I was alone in the car with James…

"Sweet young Isabel… I promised you I'd show you a good time. Let's get more comfortable while Victoria gets ready for us…"

He pushed me down onto my back on the seat as his body moved over me pushing me down. His cold hands were on my stomach under my shirt caressing up my body. He forced my knees apart and I could feel the hard bulge in his jeans pressing against my core, grinding into me as I was forced to spread my legs around him.

I moaned as his hands moved on my body and I gave a shudder of disgust that I could be responding to his cold touch. This was wrong and I didn't want to be here, but I'd gone with him…

I could feel the dampness between my thighs wetting my panties as he pressed himself against me and the delicious curl in my stomach wound tighter.

His hands were pushing my shirt up. Then his hands were on my breasts. He lifted the cups off my chest pushing my shirt up higher, and then his hands were cupping my breasts as his thumbs stroked across the hard pebbles of my erect nipples.

I wanted to scream, but then his cold lips were pressed against mine. The taste was incredible, and my brain exploded with desire. My lips parted and then his tongue was in my mouth. It was slick and sweet and the cold strength explored my mouth. He was kissing me, and I was kissing him back. It was wrong…

He broke the kiss, and then his lips were trailing down my neck, at the hollow at the base of my throat, the valley between my breasts… His lips captured the hard pebble of my nipple, and his tongue flicked across me. The feeling was incredible and I wanted more. This was wrong…

I felt his hand trace down my side and graze across my stomach. His hand was on the button of my jeans and it came open. His hand was on my zipper and then it was down. My jeans were sliding down my hips and suddenly they were bunched around my ankles. I couldn't let this happen…

I felt his hands working but his mouth was still on my breast as his glorious tongue swirled around me and worshiped my flesh. I was panting with desire as new and wonderful sensations exploded through my body. Then his jeans were down around his knees. I could feel his hard cock pressed into my stomach. I had to stop this…

His hand was stroking up the inside of my thigh. His hand was cupping my pussy. Nobody had ever touched me there. His hand gathered around the front of my panties. There was a sharp jerk and a rip of fabric and he was dropping my panties on the floor of the car. NO. THIS. HAD. TO. STOP.

His hand was stroking through the curls on my sex. His cold hand was cupping my hot wet pussy. His finger was pushing into me. His finger stroked across my erect clit…NO!

The voice wasn't tiny now.

The voice was a roar in my head.

This would NOT happen!

"NO!" I screamed.

James froze.

"Isabel, you want this…" I felt he fog swirl around my head and beat against my resolve. NO! This was WRONG!

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" and I was pushing him off. Suddenly everything was tinged with red and my vision was sharp and focused. My hand was on his face shoving him back. There was a brilliant white flash of light. James was flying backwards across the car. He hit the door and it burst open. He flew out of the car and landed in a heap on the pavement. He didn't move.

Suddenly my head was clear and the fog was gone. What the fuck was I thinking? I didn't do things like this! I was smarter than this. I didn't leave my friends and go off with some stranger that I just met at a party! I might party a little and get high, but I didn't go off with strange men, and I for sure as shit didn't sleep around. Hell, I'd never even been with a guy for more than some kisses and a little touching with clothes most definitely still on until tonight. This was totally fucking weird. It was like I'd had no control over my actions.

Think about it later! Run!

I scrambled to fix my clothes. I pulled up my pants and buttoned them. I pulled down my shirt to cover myself. I looked over the seat and the keys were hanging in the ignition. I was over the seat in a flash, my clumsiness for once forgotten in my moment of perfect clarity. I started the car and jammed it in gear and tore out of the parking lot. The back door was still hanging open, but it swung shut and latched when I made the turn out of the lot.

I didn't know where I was, but I thought I was going back the way we'd come. I started looking for street signs, and after a couple of blocks I knew where I was. I wanted to ditch this car, but I needed a ride. I pulled over and got my purse out of the back seat, and then I was driving again. I got out my cell phone and speed dialed Mandy.

"Isabel? Where the fuck are you? I got Rachel to come with me to follow you, but they left too fast…"

"I'm ok. You know the Circle K on the corner of N 95th Avenue and West Olive Avenue? Can you meet me there?" Thank god for convenience stores that were open twenty-four hours a day.

"Yeah, I'm a couple of blocks away…"

"Ok, pick me up. I'll be in the store." I was pulling into the parking lot now. There was a small strip mall with three or four shops across the lot from the Circle K. They were all closed at this time of night.

"Alright, Isabel, what happened? Why aren't you with James?"

"Not now, Mandy, just come get me." I ended the call and dropped the phone back into my purse.

I pulled the car all the way to the back corner of the parking lot next to the strip mall and got out. I checked my clothes, and zipped up my pants. I fixed my shirt and adjusted the cups of the bra top so it fit right again. I grabbed my purse off the seat and made sure I had everything. I grabbed my ripped panties off the floor in the back seat and stuffed them in my purse. No way was the bastard gonna keep a souvenir from tonight. I took the keys out of the ignition and threw them as far out into the field behind the stores as I could. I was pathetic at sports and they didn't go far, but they wouldn't be finding them any time soon if they even knew where to start looking. Then I crossed the parking lot to the Circle K to wait for Mandy.

Mandy pulled into the parking lot a couple of minutes later, and I ran out and jumped into her car. I was shaking now, but I felt better with people I knew around me.

"Ok, Isabel, What the fuck happened? Why are you at the Circle K? Where the fuck is that asshole James?" Mandy pulled out of the parking lot and started driving.

"The bastard got fresh with me and tried to feel me up. I ditched them when they stopped to buy beer, and called you."

No way was I gonna tell them what really happened. They'd make me to call the police, but there was no physical evidence, and I was drunk and high and underage. I was breaking curfew not to mention the fact that I'd snuck out of the house. I wasn't gonna go to the hospital for a rape kit when it didn't get that far, and it was his word against mine even if they could track him down.

The scary part was I didn't know how I'd fought him off. Was it an adrenaline rush? Like when people were stressed out, and they could lift a car for a second? What the fuck was that burst of light? I'd been pretty buzzed tonight, between the beer, the liquor and the pot I'd smoked at the party and then in the car. I was surprised I could still walk, let alone throw a grown man through a door out of a car. It must have been my imagination or a reaction to the adrenaline in my system, if that was what had happened. I was just glad it was over.

"Shit girlfriend, you're lucky that's all that happened! Should we call the police?"

"Fuck no! Do you really want to spend the rest of the night in jail? We're fucking drunk and high. They'd haul us to jail first and then get the story from us. Let's just go back to the party and forget this ever happened, ok?"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mandy said, getting in my face now. I'd been stupid to go with James, and she was pissed at me for doing something so dangerous in the first place. There was no way she could know how truly weird this whole thing was.

"I'm sorry, Mandy. I wasn't thinking. There was just something about him… It was weird… It was like my brain was all muddled and I wanted to do what he said… It was like he had some kind of power over me and I had to do what he said… It didn't seem dangerous at the time…"

I shuddered to think about what could have happened. What had almost happened. What had been seconds away from happening.

"Well, I don't think he drugged you, or you wouldn't be able to talk to us now. You just need some lovin' girlfriend. Your body wants it. You need to get laid, but find yourself a nice boyfriend. Not some creepy older guy that picks you up at a party. Ok?"

"Yes, Mother. Now let's go get a drink. This shit was too fucking weird. Let's go back to the party. God I need a smoke after that…" Mandy had us turned around and was headed back towards Debbie's house. I lit my cigarette and shuddered as I thought about what I'd done. What had almost happened… what had happened…

XXXXXXXXXX

It was much later that night, and Mandy pulled up next to the curb where she'd picked me up for the party. I was sucking on about my tenth tic tac, and my eyes were Visine white.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off closer?" Mandy asked

"No, if you get any closer, you might wake up Renee."

"Ok, I'll see you next week in school."

"Bye, Mandy, Rachel, I had fun tonight, and thanks' for coming to find me and picking me up. Love you guys…"

"Yeah, sell it to hallmark. I gotta get home so my dad can get yelling at me for coming in so late over with. Cya."

I pushed the door closed as quietly as I could while making sure it was latched. Rachel waved out the window, and then I turned and made my way down the block. I didn't stagger much. I didn't even fall down. I was getting to be a real pro at this.

I went through the gate, and the creaking reminded me I was home as I cringed at the sound. I dragged the old crate that we used to move gardening supplies around the yard under my window. I climbed up on the crate, and slid the window open. I remembered to slip off my shoes as I sat on the window sill. I swung one leg into the room straddling the window. I didn't remember the floor being so far down. I tried to hop down off the window sill, but my other leg was still outside and the floor was too far down. My pants got caught on the frame, and then I was hanging head down inside the window as I lost my balance and crashed to the floor.

Ok, par for the course. Clumsy Isabel can't even climb in a window without falling on her butt. I got up trying not to make anymore noise and slid the window shut. I was home free now and I was going to get away with this. I was reaching to hang up my purse…

The light switch clicked and the room was suddenly too bright as light flooded the room.

"Isabella Marie Sawn! Where the hell have you been! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting up to see if you're still alive? Would you like to explain this to me young lady!"

Renee was standing next to the light switch and she was fully dressed. That wasn't a good sign. That meant she'd been up for hours. She was holding the cheap Goodwill wig in her hand, gripping it tight like she was strangling a cat. The veins in her neck stood out, and I could see one pulsing in her forehead like a nervous tick. She was totally pissed. Lying would only get me in deeper. It was time to come clean.

"Umm, I went to Debbie's Christmas party?"

"What, you're not sure, or are you asking me where you were?"

"No… I went to Debbie's Christmas party."

"That would be the party that you asked to go to and I told you no."

"Yes."

"The party I said you couldn't go to because you're grounded."

"Yes."

"Please refresh my memory here, but why were you grounded again?"

"Because I snuck out when you told me I couldn't go to Mandy's birthday party, and I went anyhow."

"Do you see a pattern forming here, Isabella? Now come here."

"What? I just want to take a shower and go to bed. Can't you yell at me in the morning?"

"It is morning and I'm done with yelling at you. It doesn't do any good, and you wouldn't listen to me anyhow. Now come here."

Renee had never been physical, and I didn't think she was going to hit me. I only hesitated for a second. I crossed the room, hardly staggering at all, and stood a little unsteadily in front of her. She leaned in and looked into my eyes and then sniffed my hair. She stood back then and shook her head.

"God, you're stoned and you've been drinking. Your hair smells like pot and cigarettes. Open your purse and let me see."

"No way! That's an invasion of my privacy! You can't do that!"

"You're seventeen years old and you live under my roof! You'll do what I say, or I can call child protective services for you if you don't want to live here anymore. Only they'll make you take a piss test before they haul your ass off to juvenile detention. Now open your purse, or you can go live at the girl's ranch until you're eighteen!"

I didn't know if she'd really do it or not, but she had me cold, and I'd been giving her enough grief that she might really make the call. I took a deep breath and handed her my purse. She took it and dumped it out on my desk.

Cell phone, that was ok. A lot of people carried Visine, and what was wrong with breath mints? The cigarettes weren't too bad, and that would explain the lighter. The short brass and plastic pipe with the feathers hanging off of it was a lot worse. The collection of small Ziploc baggies with the greenish brown buds in them was bad. Real bad.

Oh crap! My ruined panties were still in my purse! Now they were lying on my desk next to my pot and cigarettes.

Renee reached out and picked them up. They were mostly dry by now with just a hint of dampness, but I could smell them from where I was standing. They smelled like sex and I knew what she was thinking. She turned them in her hand for a minute and then her eyes were boring into mine. She knew they were mine. She'd bought them for me.

"Do you want to explain this, Isabel?" Renee asked holding up the ruined panties in front of me.

"It's not what you think… There was this guy at the party and things got a little out of hand…"

"I raised you better than this, Isabel! You know better than this! The drinking was bad enough! The pot was worse, but I told myself kids need some space to experiment. I didn't raise you to spread your legs like a two-bit whore for some guy you meet at a party!"

"No! It wasn't like that…"

"What, are you going to tell me you're in love now? Was it a magical moment!"

"No, damn it! Listen to me! Nothing happened!"

"Nothing? This doesn't look like nothing!" She accused holding the ruined panties up in front of me.

"I told him no! I don't sleep around! I can kiss a boy with having to fuck him!"

"You kiss boys? Without your pants on?"

"I'm still a virgin god damn it! I told him no! I made him stop!"

"Alright, you stopped this time, but what about next time? What are you gonna do the next time you climb out your window? Will it be to go meet some guy? I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made… You're better than this. Don't ruin your life, Isabel. Don't settle… You can have so much more…"

"Is that what I am? The mistake that ruined your life? Why did you even bother to keep me when you could have had so much more!"

"No, Isabel! I wanted you! I loved Charlie, and I wanted to have his baby. I thought we had a future together…"

"Is that what you tell yourself when you're fucking your boy toy, Phil? Do you want his baby too?"

The sting of her hand across my face rocked me back on my heels and shocked me. Renee had never raised her hand to me. My cheek felt hot and I knew it would be red with the outline of her hand if I looked in the mirror. I could feel tears welling in my eyes and my mouth hung open as I stared at her.

"I'm not going to put up with this anymore Isabella! You will not question my choices when you're standing in front of me stoned and drunk and two inches away from fucking some guy you just met! I didn't raise you to be some stoner pot head loser. You're better than that, but I know you're too mad at me to make good decisions right now. I'm going to give you a simple choice that you should be able to handle, but I'm pretty sure you won't like either option. I'm done with giving you ultimatums only to have you throw it back in my face or go behind my back. One way or the other you're going to have to deal with the law now. You decide which call I make…"

"Renee… Mom please no… anything but that! You know I can't do that!" The tears were streaming down my cheeks now, but I didn't care.

"Then I should call the girl's ranch and see if they have your cell ready? Don't worry, they'll seal your juvenile records when you turn eighteen."

"No, you can't do this to me! I'm your daughter! Don't you love me anymore? Please mom, I promise this won't happen again…"

"Enough, Isabella! You've promised me and promised me, and I keep catching you climbing in your window at dawn. I'm done with the lies! I'm done with the drinking! I'm done with the drugs! I can't deal with boys now too on top of everything else! Somebody has to set you straight, and you won't listen to me anymore. I'm not going to let you ruin your life just to get back at me! Take your shower and get some sleep. When you get up, we're making a phone call! You decide which one we make!"

Renee was still holding my purse. She swept the contents off my desk back into the empty purse, turned on her heel, and walked out of my room. This was not good. Not good at all. My eighteenth birthday was nine months away, nine months in lockup, or nine months in hell. It surprised me how tough the decision really was. I'd have to sleep on this and give it some serious thought.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves. I really needed a cigarette right now, but Renee had confiscated them with my purse. I doubted she be pleased if I asked for them back. I picked up my ruined panties off the floor and tossed them into the trash.

Nine months. Nine months and I'd be eighteen. I knew I wasn't going to spend those nine months in Phoenix with Renee and Phil now. I had burned that bridge. Maybe the girl's ranch wasn't such a bad choice…

XXXXXXXXXX

The Warehouse

The hunter lay crumpled in a heap in front of the warehouse, and then Laurent was there shaking him out of his stupor.

The girl! The girl was gone! His master wanted the girl! He had felt the energy swirling around her as he'd held his body close to hers feeling the energy engulf him and make him careless. She wasn't like the other humans. He had felt her power. She should have gone with him more willingly, but she reacted wrongly. She shouldn't have been able to break free of the compulsion so easily. She should have done what she was told…

"James, come we must go." Laurent was saying. Why was he waiting! We had to hunt the girl! The girl had escaped!

"No! We have to go after her! I could feel her power! She's the one I was sent to find!"

"Victoria sent me to find you. She came out of the trance… She said you must come… He would speak with you…"

"No! I don't have the girl yet! I can't fail again!"

"It is too late for that… You must come now… or he will summon…"

"No! Damn it I was so close…"

The hunter reveled in taking his victims before the feast. Sweet innocents like this girl were his favorite, and the seduction was just as much fun as the revelation that they had made the ultimate mistake. He lived for the terror and the screams as he stole their innocence and then their blood.

But this one was different. The master had sent him in search of this one, and he would have to be patient. The loss of innocence was inevitable. The screaming would be his in time. He would glory in her blood when the master bid him take it. Her blood would be his prize.

They walked into the warehouse and down a twisting aisle way that wound maze like between tall stacks of boxes and crates. It was dark and dusty and quiet as a tomb. Only the sound of the chant broke the silence. He could smell the stench of death and the scent of fresh blood. He moved towards the scent of blood and stepped over the fresh corpse that had likely been its source as he emerged into an open area in the center of the building.

Victoria was standing in the center of the pentagram. The five pointed star was inscribed in blood inside of a larger bloody circle. Mystical symbols and names of power were inscribed within and around it. She stood with her arms out stretched to her sides. She held the athame in her left hand and a fresh bloody skull in her right. Her sword lay at her feet and her head was bowed almost to her chest as the low chant rolled off her lips.

There was a second smaller circle inscribed in blood on the ground away from the pentagram where Victoria stood chanting. It was surrounded with inscribed mystical symbols and a bowl of fresh blood lay in the center of the circle.

There was a raised platform behind the smaller circle. The altar was hung with a black cloth and mystical symbols were embroidered into the cloth. Blood red ropes hung from the four corners of the altar, dangling empty and useless. All that was missing was the sacrifice, but she had fled and was speeding across town now. She had postponed her fate, escaping her destiny and the role she would have played tonight.

Victoria's head rose and turned to follow the hunter as he entered the cleared space, but her eyes did not see him. Her eyes were rolled back in her head as the chant became louder. The hunter moved into the space between the pentagram and the smaller circle and went down on one knee, bowing his head and waiting to hear his fate.

The darkness roiled and seethed like a living thing as a malevolent shudder passed through the warehouse. Anger, pain, antagonism, jealousy, resentment, hatred, violence filled the atmosphere as the shadows swirled and moved and gathered. The darkness coalesced into a palpable living force that was drawn to the circle like a coruscating vortex of incarnate evil. A shape began to emerge but it could not be looked upon as the darkness shifted and swirled like smoke. The form of darkness took a mans shape. There was a hint of long horns like a beast, the vestigial hint of wings, two glowing red points like burning coals where eyes would be.

There was no spoken verbal communication from the shadowy figure, but the essence of intention touched the hunter's mind and resonated through the hunter's body like a cold blade drawn through his flesh as the darkness touched him and communed with his essence.

James, you have failed me yet again.

"Please, Master, the girl was within my grasp. I only need a little more time. I can go after her and bring her…"

The time is past… the energy in this place fades… We can no longer open the portal here…

"Master, there must be another chance, another place where the ritual can be performed. I have worked so hard for this. I will secure the girl and we will be ready…"

There will be another chance, another place where the lines of force come together, but you will not molest the girl. She will travel to the nexus of her own accord. She is drawn to her fate…

"Yes, Master! We will succeed. We will take the girl and open the portal. This world will be yours again!

I will weaken in the time before the ritual can be performed. Join me James. Your essence will sustain me until we may strike.

"Yes, master…" James stood and stepped into the circle.

You have failed me twice, hunter. I will instruct you in the true nature of pain while we await our opportunity. You will not fail me a third time.

Screams filled the warehouse and then abruptly cut off. The darkness scattered like smoke before a strong wind and then the circle was empty.

Author's Note:

This is a work of fiction. A Twilight Alternate Universe fan fiction to be specific. Let me say here in the beginning, that I do not practice Wicca, witchcraft, belong to any of the popular Pagan groups, study ritual magic nor do I have any real world working knowledge of these things, groups, or beliefs. This is completely a work of fiction, based on primarily internet research, other fiction I enjoy reading and various pop-culture influences.

This is primarily a twilight story, but my other literary influences include works by Rodger Zelazny, Mercedes Lackey, S.M. Stirling, David Drake, Kathryn Kurtz, and Anne McCaffery among others. I'm sure people will recognize pop-culture references from World of Warcraft, Mage the Ascension and the White Wolf World of Darkness series.

There will be vampires in the fan fiction, but they do not follow Stephenie Meyer's Twilight canon. The primary difference is that they are not indestructible god-like creatures in this story. They are not the most dangerous thing out there in the dark, and they can be hunted, hurt, and killed by humans. Venom is not the method of transformation and vampire change in this fic.

Vampire canon changes have been influenced by the HBO Series Trueblood and the Vampire diaries TV series. This does not mean I am using Trueblood canon vampires; it's an influence, that's all. The rest of the details will be in the story.

The main point I wanted to make in this note, is that this is fiction written for fun. If you do study Wicca, or magic, or anything else that I might make a reference to in this story, Please Understand that I'm not writing this to offend anyone. I enjoy reading reviews, but before you decide to say, "It doesn't work that way", Please remember this is fiction, and it works that way in this Alternate Universe.