Disclaimer: No, I do not own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does. *sobs*
Chapter One
Forks
I glowered out of the window of the plane. Why me? I kept thinking.
Not that I had anything against moving to a small, rainy town out in the middle of nowhere. No, I was all for it. I loved rain. I just didn't like airplanes. It wasn't the height that got to me, or the way that if you opened the window it was so bright it burned your eyes. It was the fact that this cramped, flying metal box was so small it hardly seemed to be able to hold me. See, I'm claustrophobic. VERY claustrophobic. It helped that the plane was one of the jumbo kind, the kind that looks from the outside to be the size of a small skyscraper, but still.
And the people! Normally I keep clear of them as much as I can, but on a plane it's unavoidable! It's better to get a night flight, so people sleep and don't bother you, but no such luck for me. Luckily I have a strategy for keeping those weirdly friendly strangers away. I sat in my chair like a statue with my hands clamped to the armrests and focused on the jolting and swaying of the plane, all the spots of turbulence, until I started to turn green… now THAT kept people away. They probably didn't want me to barf on them.
I was coming to Forks to live with my father, Charlie. My mom didn't make me go, she's actually really nice. It's just that her new husband, a minor league baseball player named Phil, has to travel a lot for his job. He's actually really nice. Renee, my scatterbrained mother, stayed with me, but I could tell she really wanted to be with him. So here I am, on a plane, looking out at the gray sky. We were descending, and would probably land in the Seattle Airport in about five minutes. Sure enough, the pilot came on the intercom and told everyone to put their seatbelts on.
When I arrived in Forks, it was raining. No wind or anything, just a straight, never ending rain. I swiftly got my bags and ran outside to get a taxi. When on the sidewalk, I laughed in joy and spun around. It never rains in Phoenix. No more having to come out in the sun everyday, flinching and squinting and having to lather on tons of nasty-smelling sunscreen to avoid getting burned. I'd prepared well. I'd brought my long black rain coat, my tall black rain boots, and all of my waterproof make up.
I was taller than most 16 year old girls at 6, 2", with long, silky black (natural!) hair that reached my waist. My skin was a creamy color, and my eyes were a deep midnight blue. I have a tattoo of a black wolf on my arm.
So anyway, I got into a taxi and we crawled towards Forks. The taxi driver an (eww!) elderly man that looked like he had smoked one too many cigarettes, was eying me. I shifted uncomfortably. It's not like it was that out of the ordinary. All the guys I've met seemed to think I was God's gift to them or something. The only guy who didn't think that was my best friend, Gabriel. He's Emo, not Goth, since his parents abused him when he was young. He has an aunt here, so he's going to try and stay with her. At last we reached the outskirts of Forks and I leapt out the car, grabbed my bags, gave the now leering taxi driver some money, and ran all the way to Charlie's house. It wasn't a mansion, but it sure looked like one to me. My dad was the police chief of Forks, which probably meant everyone was gossiping about my coming to town. I wondered if anyone knew I was Goth. I rang the doorbell and Charlie came to answer it.
"Hi Onyx!" he said, hugging me a little awkwardly. Okay, first task, get Dad some friends. "Hi Charlie!" I said, hugging him so hard he gave a little wheeze. I took my bags and walked in. I could see that most of the house was impeccably neat, in a dusty, unused sort of way. The only room that looked lived in was the TV room. On the long couch was an empty pizza box, and the floor was littered with pillows flung carelessly here and there. I frowned.
"Charlie, do you get a cleaning service or anything?" I asked. He looked embarrassed. I pursed my lips.
"So, where's my room?" I asked. He brightened.
"Third floor, the one with the little balcony," he said. I walked slowly up the stairs and he went and turned the TV back on. My dad was never one to hover. Then I got to my room. The walls were a pale sky blue, bare except for a single large painting. It was a painting of a dark blue sea at high tide with the sun setting behind it. It was hung above a large black grand piano. My bed was a large four-poster one, with a lacy silver canopy and curtains and thick white blankets. It looked like some sort of winter wonderland bed. There was a large oak desk and chair with a laptop perched on it, a walk in closet the size of my old room, a large bookshelf almost filled with books, my very own bathroom, and, of course, the two windows. The one in the back was a gable with a window seat that doubled as a toy chest type thing, and faced the back yard. A big, very climbable oak tree was right outside my window. A home made fire escape. The other faced the street, and had a very small balcony. I loved it. Everything in the room was on the edges, near the wall, which left a wide open space in the middle. For dancing. I dance ballet. I all but shrieked in delight. How could this heavenly room be MINE? Sure, it wasn't black, but I have nothing against color. It's just that black is my favorite. I set my bags down and got to the business of unpacking. Tomorrow I would face Forks High School.
I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and pulled on some tight black leggings, a swishy black knee-length skirt, a long sleeved black turtleneck, some fishnet gloves with no fingers, my boots and my black rain coat. I have a big attachment to that rain coat. It's like a trench coat, but it's waterproof! Not the typical lumpy black masses you see people wearing most of the time. I dabbed on some mascara, gulped down some breakfast, grabbed my black back pack, and danced out into the rain. I don't like cars. They pollute and make noise and kill animals. My claustrophobia doesn't help. So I walked to school. It wasn't too far away. When I got there the parking lot was nearly empty. There was only one car there, a silver Volvo. Several people were sitting inside it, and their heads all snapped my way when I walked into the parking lot. They made me nervous (no surprise there, I'm nervous around most humans) so I quickly dashed behind a tree before they could get a good look at me. I groaned. I hadn't realized that Forks High School didn't start until 7:00. I had a whole hour to wait! So, I set my back pack on a dry branch of the tree and walked deeper into the woods. Then I transformed. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I'm a werewolf. I'd heard the La Push legends, so I guess I have some Native American blood in me, though you wouldn't know it by the color of my skin. I had changed three years ago when my mom took me to visit Forks briefly. The weird thing was I didn't get any of the usual signs I'd heard about in the legends. I wasn't hot (though I wasn't ever cold, either. I would know, I'd tested it by stepping into the freezer), I didn't go through a growth spurt; I didn't suddenly have a huge appetite (though luckily I do have the healing skill). I didn't even disappear for weeks on end while I tried to change back. Nope, I came to terms with myself within minutes of changing. Guess that says something about my self control, doesn't it? I didn't even burst out of my clothes! They just changed back with me. However… a year ago I'd tried wearing a brown tank top while changing. Guess what? It got shredded. Yet another reason to wear black. And, incidentally, I'm a black wolf, too. I guess I'm good looking, but I've never yet found another wolf to compare myself to, so maybe I'm hideous. All I know is I kept my eyes, got this long and lustrous silky black fur, and long ivory claws and teeth. I may not be that big, (only nine feet tall! A midget!) But I'm strong and speedy. I knew that when I met one of them. A cold one. It had happened two years ago. I was roaming a forest in Maine (I used to take short trips there during the night) when suddenly I smelled it. It was really weird, not exactly bad, but almost crossing the line. It was sweet, like confectioner sugar. That smell was mixed with the scent of blood. Human blood. I raced after the smell and finally came to a small clearing. In it was an unnaturally beautiful man. But he had a frigid feeling about him. Evil. He was pure evil. I could tell that even before I saw the dismembered human he was drinking from. I lunged at him, enraged, but he simply looked amused. That was before I swatted him with my paw, slamming him against a tree. The tree wasn't looking so good anymore. The vampire tried to get up, but I jumped on him and started ripping him apart. Then I burnt him. His… parts hadn't shown any sign of putting themselves back together, but you can never trust a vampire. A month later, another vampire came after me. A woman. She wanted revenge. She had this hypnotic power, apparently, because her eyes became a swirling black, like rippling black pools, and she said in a dreamy voice to not attack her. It didn't work. Apparently I could resist their 'powers'. I tore her apart too. Those were the only two vampires I ever met. I even tried looking for Cold Ones, but apparently not hard enough. I never wanted to be away from my mom's house for long, in case they went there.
It had been nearly an hour, so I dashed back to school. I retrieved my back pack and walked back into the parking lot, which was nearly full. I went to the office where there was a secretary named Mrs. Cope. I didn't like her. She put on a vast amount of makeup and was wearing a very revealing shirt. I snorted. She looked up, smiling, but when she saw me she gawked. Finally she closed her mouth and said, "Hi… um… you wanted something?"
"I'm the new student," I said.
"Oh yes, you're Charlie Flame's daughter? Here's a slip, get it signed by all your teachers and return it to me at dismissal. Have a nice day!" she said, clearly eager to get rid of me. I looked at my schedule and walked to my first class. This was my schedule:
7:00-8:30- English with Mr. Banner
8:30-10:00- Trigonometry with Ms. Zenner
10:00-11:30- Geography with Mr. Wood
11:30-12- Lunch
12:00-1:30- Biology with Mr. Krebs
1:30- 2:15- Music with Mrs. Ford
2:15-3:15- Gym with Mr. Lopez
I walked into my English class and looked around. Everyone was gaping at me. I guess I did make a startling appearance. I probably looked like an albino. The boys, however, were eyeing me greedily. I glared coldly at them. The teacher, Mr. Banner, cleared his throat.
"And you are?" he asked. I blushed a little at having to introduce myself to the whole class.
"Onyx Flame. I'm the new student," I said quietly. He nodded, signed my slip, and pointed me to a seat in the back next to a guy with blond hair. He looked thrilled to have me sit next to him. It looked almost like he was undressing me with his eyes.
"Hey, hot stuff," he said to me under his breath when I sat down. "I'm Mike. Wanna, you know, do it, after school today? I got a great new truck with a HUGE backseat…" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes at him and looked away. Apparently that made him angry, because a few minutes into the lesson, a felt a hand creeping up my thigh. I grabbed it and squeezed so hard I swear I heard a cracking noise. I smiled sweetly at Mike, who was wearing a pained expression, and looked back at Mr. Banner. He was discussing one of my favorite books, Wuthering Heights. This class was probably going to be easy. Same with Biology and Trigonometry. Geography… I'd just have to wait and see. Gym and music were no problem, of course.
When the class ended I got up and walked out of the classroom. A girl with bouncy brown curls ran up to me. "Hi! I'm Jessica! I just know we're gonna be best friends! What did you do to Mike Newton in English? He looked so pissed! Hey, did you know all the boys in class were looking at you? I swear, even Mr. Banner was drooling! I bet he gives you an A just because you're so hot! So wanna do something after school?" she chirped rapidly. Inside I was groaning. I'd never liked those people that seemed to have mouths that couldn't stop.
"Sorry, I can't. I have to, um, get a haircut," I said. She wilted slightly. "Oh. So, what's your next class?" she asked. "Trigonometry," I said. "I have it too! I'll walk you there!" she squealed. We walked to Trigonometry, and Jessica pointed out lots of people to me. Most of them were boys. I'd never really gone boy crazy like my friends back in Phoenix. Mostly I only looked at their eyes .You can tell a lot from people's eyes. Trigonometry and Social Studies were much the same as English. Finally it was lunch time.
I walked into the cafeteria and saw Jessica gesturing frantically from one of the tables. I smiled slightly at her but sat by myself. I picked at my food and stared moodily into space. Then I noticed a table of five people. They were all beautiful, but in an otherworldly way. They had golden eyes. I tensed, and sniffed the air. Sure enough, they were vampires. At that moment, one of them looked my way. He was a bronze haired guy. I guess he was handsome. His eyes were like pools of molten gold. But then they darkened almost to black. I winced. Maybe I smelled appetizing to him. Well, I wouldn't want him to lose control. I glared frostily back at him, dumped my lunch, and hurried out of the cafeteria. I ended up in the library, reading until it was time for Biology. I walked there swiftly. The teacher, Mr. Krebs, was nice enough, but then he told me to sit next to Edward Cullen. He was the bronze haired vampire. He was staring at me with a look of intense concentration, but then stiffened suddenly and gasped. Then he went back to normal. I sat down next to him and shifted my seat as far away as possible. He did the same.
"Hello, Onyx. My name is Edward Cullen," he said in a velvety voice. I nodded to him and looked back at the teacher. "So, why did you come to Forks?" he asked curiously.
"It's complicated," I replied curtly.
"I think I can keep up," he chuckled.
"Um… my mom got a divorce from Charlie and married a minor league baseball player and I left so she could travel with him," I blurted. He smiled.
"That doesn't seem so complex," he said gently. I rolled my eyes.
"Figures you wouldn't get it," I muttered. He furrowed his eyebrows.
"And you don't like it here," he said quietly. I stared at him.
"What gave you that impression?" I asked. He looked puzzled. "Well, considering you're from Phoenix, a sunny and hot climate, I thought you might not like the cold and rain," he answered. I sighed. He just didn't understand. When class ended, I darted out of the room as fast as possible to get away from his sickly sweet scent.
What's that strange chanting I hear? It sounds like 'Review! Review! Review!' Maybe you'd better do it… please?