Congrats to the twenty people who reveiwed, you get to read the new chapter.
I'm sorry if my reply to your reveiw is missing, my computer keeps crashing before I've saved and this is the third time I've written the same replies over and over.
Rien Lin - I have no idea how long its been but in any case, its been a while. Robin and Raven most likely won't end up together. But they may have some fun along the way.
Buddybuddy96 - Edward went with Alice because they are close and he could see she needed him. Hey, hes not all bad. when she said alone, she meant "away from you!" Meaning Jasper. She doesn't mind the Denali clan because their old friends of the family.
A-Sheikah-never-dies - Jaspers more surpriesed than Jelous. Raven? With a boy? Jelousy might happen later.
Moonlight123 - I'm still glad you reveiwed, even if you had nothing to say.
Blackangeldust - Yep four half-brothers that each represent a level of hell. They like to sit on me, even though they weigh about three times what I do. Lol did you bio teacher freak out? then again, she shouldn't freak out, cause shes a you know, Bio teacher and she should be used to biological things.
Rae rae's confused agbout what Robin said. :( And Jasper is also confused about what he said :( And like always, Robin is suspicious and not revealling why he said that.
PRC - it is! In fact, its probably my favourate saying. except for maybe fuck my life. I like to yell that one though.
MAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYBBBBBBEEE Robin will kiss Raven. But that might seem a little Jacob/Edward/Bella. I'll think about it.
Superoreoman - School is stupid! For me its just maths in general, except for trig, which is always a welcome break.
Instead of making the titans come to Forks, I was thinking of making the Cullens go to Jump. How do you like that idea?
Fallfromreality - Alice and Jasper are still together...mostly. They never said they had broken up, not even to each other, but they are living apart and not talking right now. Its very complicated.
Someone's lost soul - She probably should, but god dam Carlisle will be there to talk her out of it. Damn his compasion, soothing voice and calming good-looks! But god I wish he were my doctor.
XcrimsonroseX - Sorry this ones late as always, but I promise thats going to change for a while.
RobinRavenLove - 3000 words is short? But yes, Robbie does care :)
TurqoiseBlue - I couldn't just kill her! Imagine how depressed her father would be. And Jacob. Egh, and I would have to write that. How boring. And think of how dramatic Edward would be....I don't think anyone would stop him if he went to the volturi again. What a queen.
Why school? Why school what? You mean why is she there?
Because she has to keep up the act of a seveenteen year old senior. And Robin thinks it would be 'good' for her.
Yorushihe - I like the idea of Jacobs dad knowing about Raven's heritadge. In fact, I like it alot.
Beast - He's gonna wake up soon, but his part will be minor for a while.
Thanks to all the other reveiwers.
Ravens acting a bit crazy in this one, but I think all her actions are justified. Thats why I choose a song, as I often do, to go with the chapter. It's a little uppity, but Stone cold Sober by Paloma Faith outta do it.
Stone Cold Sober
I can be wilder than the wind,
119 miles an hour,
I'm in a whole other dimension,
Dancing doubles on the floor,
You think I'm crazy, a little bit hazy,
But I'm stone cold sober
-Paloma Faith
Raven Roth
Bella looked like someone had hit her. Her mouth gaped open and she was shaking slightly. I didn't care.
"I thought he cared about you!" I raged. My voice echoed in the now empty hallway. He was supposed to love her! It was his only identity, the vampire who loved the human.
"He does" Emmett replied defensively. He could see he had let something slip that I would not let go.
"Then why would he even consider-" Robin grabbed my shoulder and interrupted me. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.
"C'mon Rae. We'll deal with it later." He urged, his eyes darting around the hall and resting on a classroom door. Someone would hear my shouting soon.
I struggled to keep rage under control. On one hand the emotion was pleased at the prospect of another dark creature being brought into the world and on the other it was angry at Edward. Turning Bella into a vampire? Did he think he had some insane level of self-control no one else had? Did he think that was another gift he possessd? He would kill her, and if he didn't, there would be a crazy newborn running around that they would be unwilling to do anything about. A hundred people would die before the Cullen's even thought about destroying their precious Bella.
And marrying her.
I laughed. The sound stretched out and filled the whole space around us, once again echoing. It didn't sound right. Like vodka served in a tea cup, it was out of place coming from me. Bella grabbed onto Emmett's arm as fast as her reflexes allowed her, her emotions turning nervous. I didn't blame her at all. She didn't know much of me, but she had made a fair judgment that I was unstable. Robin began to tug me in the opposite direction, backwards down the hall towards our next class, which had already started.
"There's nothing you can do about it." Bella said with a sudden rush of courage, though her voice was not loud of defiant. She said it like a fact. Like it had nothing to do with her, but was up to something else entirely. She was so confident in their love, it was an entity outside of her. Rage's hold on me grew tighter and I swiftly pulled away from Robin. He hadn't expected it, and I slipped through his grip.
This girl didn't know anything.
Because you're the expert on love. A self doubting emotion called insecurity spoke up sarcastically. My rage silenced her and no more sound was heard from my mindscape.
Bella Swan thought love could conquer all. She thought Edward would be able to keep his cool. She thought he would still be the only thing she thought about when she was changed. She thought they could get married and spend eternity together. I may not have known love, but I knew fate.
And she was a crazy bipolar bitch with a love of irony who got pleasure out of causing pain. She may have ignored Bella's perfect little life so far, but she couldn't for much longer. Bella's path in life was like a white picket fence. So pristine and clear, it was just asking to be defaced.
She would blindly fall head first into darkness, all for the sake of love. And Edward would be the one to push her in, and then jump right after, all because he too, was foolish enough to believe love conquered all. They would both be monsters together.
She got the choice to be fully human, and she was throwing it away!
"I can do much more than you think!" I snarled venoumously. It was an empty threat. I wasn't crazy, not in the technical sense. Sure, my mind was a fucked up community of tangible emotions, but I still had logic and a conscience. I wasn't going to go to murderous lengths to stop them from being married. It wasn't my mission to break them up, but it was however, my mission to protect her.
I would do something, but I wouldn't do anything to stop her.
The door to the class slammed open, and a scandalized looking teacher threw herself out into the hall, her chest puffed up in indignation.
"What is going on here?!" She demanded in steely anger. She looked sharply at me, the source of the noise.
Something in me twisted under her gaze. Her stern gaze reminded me fleetingly of the temple in Azar, with all my monk and priest teacher waiting for any opportunity to reprimand me for either being to lazy, or just being me.
"Nothing." I answered swiftly, unclenching my palms. I hadn't even noticed I had drawn them into fists. The teachers head tilted to the side in unimpressed skepticism.
"Principals office, all of you." she ordered, sweeping her eyes around the four of us. Bella moved immediately, almost breaking into a jog in an effort to get away. Emmett steadied her before she tripped over her own foot again. Robin scowled and followed, he couldn't talk his way out of this one.
I took one look at the teacher and moved the opposite way down the hall.
"You're going the wrong way" She barked. Robin stopped, but I only glanced back once before continuing, ignoring her call.
I was going to talk to Carlisle Cullen about his son.
It was easy to get outside quickly, even with Robin chasing me. As soon as I rounded the corner and made sure I wasn't in sight of any classroom doors, I teleported to the carpark. Robin had no idea where I was, So even his sprint would be useless in catching me. He would figure it out in a minute or less, but I only needed a few seconds to pick what car I was going to take.
I looked at the rows of cars for a moment before spotting Rosalie's BMW convertible. It was ugly, but she deserved this. I looked around again, before jumping in and using my powers to move around some wiring. The engine purred to life just as Robin threw the main doors open.
"RAVEN! "
He was faster than I had thought. I gripped the steering wheel, moved the gearstick into reverse and slammed down on the accelerator. I caught a glimpse of the classroom we had for homeroom. The students were all staring at me, not least of all Jasper Cullen, who looked astounded. Maybe I was under the influence of happy and rage at the same time, because this almost resembled fun. Rosalie appeared at the window, her face murderous. Who was I kidding? This was fun.
Robin stopped running when he realized it was futile and stared at me with a hard glare as I swung the car out of its parking space and flew out of the lot and onto the road.
The cold wind whipped my hair around as I sped up. The next sign I passed told me Forks hospital was only a few miles away.
I wondered if Emmett was the only other Cullen who knew of Bella and Edward's plan. Alice would have seen it, and Jasper and Rosalie were their respective partners, so it seemed unlikely. The thought disgusted me further. They all enabled each other to see whatever they did as the right thing.
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Jasper Hale
I stared out the window in quiet amazement as Raven hurdled over the side door of Rosalie's convertible to land in the drivers seat. She looked around, her eyes narrowed and by some magical power, the engine started. A small smile spread across her face as slowly as the sun coming up in the morning. I saw her fiddle with the controls and throw her head around to look behind her.
"RAVEN!"
I was the only one to notice up until now, but the sound of her boyfriend yelling her name brought it to the classes attention. Everyone swiveled around in their seats, all the faces around me breaking into wide grins or looks of horror. Rosalie couldn't see out the window from her place at the back of the class, and for the few seconds before her rage, I was thankful for it.
Raven slammed down on the accelerator and reversed so fast out of the parking space I thought she would hit the pine tree behind her, but she didn't, spinning the car around professionally just as Rosalie reached the window.
"NO!" She growled, her face the most enraged I had ever seen it. She spun around and glared at me if it was my fault, her emotions filling the room like a poison, almost choking me. My own mood plummeted, and the inevitable headache formed from the mix of her and the classes conflicting feelings. Raven drove out onto the road, leaving her boyfriend Robin standing in the middle of the carpark. He walked over to the patch of visible brick wall next to the classroom window, hands clenched into fists.
Mr. Clarin stood frozen, with no idea what to do.
"Settle down class." He tried, and the class instantly quieted just enough so everyone could hear the impact of Robin punching into the wall, hard. I watched him pull his hand away breathing hard, before taking a deep breath. We made eye contact, or I thought we did. The sunglasses he never took off were so dark not even I could see through them. I noticed the brick he had hit was now having trouble keeping its shape. It had half crumbled under the pressure of his hit. He must have done some martial arts training, on top of whatever other powers he had. We had no idea what to think of him. He just showed up, and the bond they talked off seemed exactly like something two people of the same species would share. I was cautious of him, and for some reason didn't even like him around Raven. He seemed just as unpredictable as her, if not a more put together version.
"That was my car!" Rosalie hissed at Mr. Clarin. He shrugged, though as always, he hesitated a second to look her over. He wasn't a pervert, but no man could ignore Rosalie.
"Head to the principals office. Between you and me, we've been waiting for something like this to happen with that girl. The police have probably already been called."
I turned back around to see Robin, but he was gone. I stood up from my desk, scooping up my book and dropping it into my bag in one swift motion.
"I'll go with her."
Everyone in the class instantly flicked their heads around, brought to attention by my voice. I never usually spoke in class. It did no good to get more involved with humans. If I talked to them, it was easier to get wrapped up in their scent. If I retreated to my own mind, it was easier to focus on other things. After a moment of awe, Mr. Clarin nodded.
"I guess so." He said vaugely. Rosalie didn't waste another second and powered out of the classroom, only half bothering to conceal her speed.
"That bitch." She spat as soon as the door behind us swung shut. "How'd she start it? She doesn't have the keys-" She dug out the keys to the car and held them up, blond ringlets shaking. "-and she didn't even hotwire it."
I shrugged. Anything Raven did was beyond explanation. Including why she took the car. If she wanted to leave, why not take that expensive car they had taken to school? The answer of revenge seemed to be the motive. It also explained why she left Emmets jeep untouched.
So the real question was, why had she wanted to leave?
"You go to the principal's office, I'll get Emmett and we'll go look for her." I said. If Rosalie found Raven, the catfight that ensued could rip up half the town. I wondered which girl would win in that situation.
Rosalie didn't look happy, but she wasn't keen to one up her kill record, and she was keen to get back her car, so she turned on her heel and stalked towards the principal's office.
Emmett's class was on the way, so I followed behind her.
Raven Roth. Something akin to a flame burned in me, the first real urge or warmth I had felt in a long time. It flared up every time the young woman did something strange with no clear motive, which admittedly, was often. It was the need to figure her out. I had three questions that needed to be answered, before I could focus on more logically important things, like chasing after Alice.
Who was she, really?
Why was she here?
And most importantly;
What was she?
She had sworn to never tell me, but the subject still seemed open. Like an unfinished sentence it was waiting for me to find the answer.
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Raven Roth
"I need to see Carlisle Cullen." I told the short woman with the tight perm sitting at the information desk. She peered at me over the top of her drugstore bought glasses.
"Do you require medical attention?" She asked skeptically. I sighed, gripping the top of the finger marked countertop so I didn't curl my hands into fists. It was the only unclean surface in the hospital, which was by most standards, a pleasant place. It didn't have the unmistakable feel of death Jump city hospital had attained, that grew with every visit. Or that futile feel of trying to stop the inevitable that most had. Fork's hospital had the aura of a place that was truly helpful, that only saw few fatalities and was a mainly happy place to work. With about a two staff to one patient ratio, it felt safe, like everyone was getting the care they needed.
Saintly Dr. Cullen was the most probable cause.
"No, but I need to see him urgently." I answered, devoid of any feeling in my voice. She sniffed.
"He's busy at the moment." She replied. She was probably thinking about the rudeness of teens today. I looked around the ER waiting room. One kid with a broken arm, being comforted by his fussy mother, a guy with what looked like the flu, a young girl with no signs of illness or injury and a security guard. None of them had the obvious signs of having to wait to long. None were restless or grumpy, a sure sign that they hadn't been here very long.
"I really need to see him." I repeated. I didn't want to play mind games with this woman. She tilted her head and huffed.
"He's an emergency doctor and right now he's with patients. If it's that urgent, ring him."
I pushed myself away from the counter and walked out the sliding door into the glaring rays of sunlight that so rarely graced this overcast town. I could of course use magic to get myself in, but right at this moment I couldn't think of anything helpful. I could teleport in, but it was too risky. It was irresponsible and on the verge of mind rape to enter the woman's head and force her to let me past. So I thought of a better way.
A little more damage to Rosalie's car wouldn't matter. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My mind was always torturing itself. I was used to pain.
Using as much force as I could with my eyes still closed, I punched through the windscreen. The glass shattered around my hand, tearing the skin and the alarm went off, screaming at the calm day. It only faintly stung. I found that physical pain, when it was large enough, didn't really even bother me. I opened my eyes. My right hand had several deep cuts along the back and one spanning the entire length of my thumb. My knuckles were bleeding, and small shards of glass were imbedded there. With a flick of my left hand, the alarm conveniently silenced itself.
I wasn't a cutter, I was far too depressed and low-key for that. Meditation was my release, and it was a far better option in my opinion. I was always glad Azar and the monks and priests hadn't decided to go that route for me. They had sometimes told me it would have been a simpler option for controlling emotion, but they thought it too unpredictable, crude, horrible and undignified.
I walked back inside the building impatiently. The woman stood up as I entered, about to call the security guard over. Feeling almost smug, I held my hand up.
"I require medical attention now." I told her dryly. She stared at me in horror. "It needs stitches." I continued. In truth all it would need would be the glass removed. It looked worse than it was because the blood was starting to drip down my arm. Even the sting was gone. My hand just felt numb.
"Allan, take her through." She said shakily to the incredulous security guard. He nodded and guided me to the door like I was a fragile piece of the windscreen I had shattered. Yet another person in this town thought I was mentally unstable. I yanked my arm away and pushed the door open myself, I didn't like his hands on my skin.
The ER was like every other ER in the country. Even though this hospital was relatively peaceful, it could not escape the urgency that came with this unit. It looked like there had been a car accident. Maybe the information lady had been right, and he was busy. I didn't care, I would wait. Carlisle needed to hear what I had to say. A man in scrubs rushed past me with a woman on a stretcher. Her head lolled to the side and her fearful eyes met mine before she was wheeled away.
"A few more Dr. Rogers!" He yelled to the other side of the room. An older man poked his head out of the curtain followed by the rest of his body. The double doors opened and two more people were rolled out.
"I'll take one." Dr Carlisle appeared, his skin almost as white as the rest of the hospital. His voice was different to his surrounding colleagues. It had a slight English tinge I hadn't noticed before. He rolled up his sleeves and took the end of one of the stretchers. The urgency to the situation was disappearing with only two people left to treat. The loud noises seemed to fade away, and the nurses seemed to walk slower.
"What happened to you?" A kindly Native American nurse with black curls asked me, appearing out of nowhere.
"I need to see Dr. Cullen."
"He's busy at the moment." The woman replied, smiling as if she got this reply all the time. I sighed.
"I cut my fist on his daughters windshield, I think he'll want to see me too." I said loudly, getting a lot of attention from the inhabitants of the room. Dr. Cullen finally noticed me.
"Get her a chair Jenna, I'll be with her momentarily." He replied quickly before moving out of sight with the stretcher. Jenna gave me a strange look, disappearing and then returning with a stiffly backed wooden chair.
I sat in the corner, wondering who would find me first, Charlie Swan, Robin, or Rosalie.
I only had a few minutes to ponder, before Carlisle directed me into a cubicle, drawing the aqua-blue curtain around us. The smell of bleach filled my nostrils. He picked up a pair of tweezers from a kidney dish and I extended my right arm across my thigh, exposing the top of my wrist for him to work with.
"What happened?" He asked. His voice was not angry, not judging, and not cold. It was warm and sympathetic. He was making it harder for me to yell at him.
"I found out Edward plans to marry Bella and then procede to bite her." I replied coolly. Carlisle bent down and carefully pulled a sliver of glass from the top of my wrist. I flinched. Removing the glass hurt more than putting it in.
"And you're concerned? I got the feeling you didn't much care for our family, completely understandable of course, considering we took you from your home and attempted to study you." He said gently, pulling a few more pieces out. He raised his perfect features and smiled softly.
"I... I would be concerned for anybody in this position." The compassion in Carlisle's voice disarmed my sharp tongue. I had to fight to push my emotions down. Even though I was allowed to feel, I didn't want to. It would make it easier for little dangerous facts to slip out.
"Please tell me your concerns? I'll see if I can try and explain some things."
"What if she dies when he tries to change her?" I asked, a little more fire entering my voice. It was my job to protect people. I was supposed to be making up for things I and my father had done, and anything I was going to do in the future. It didn't matter if I liked the person or not.
Carlisle paused, and put the tweezers back in the kidney dish with a clatter.
"I am very proud of my adopted son, I want you to know that Raven. He tried to stay away from Bella in the beginning for her safety. But when he no longer could, he exibited the most amazing self control in our kind that I have seen. Bella is his La Tua Cantante, that is, his blood singer, the person whose blood is so sweet smelling to him it sings. Yet he has never hurt her. I have no doubt in his ability to change her, if that is what she wants." He said softly, wiping away the blood from my arm with a wet paper towel.
Somehow, I trusted his judgment. For some reason, he seemed so wise I believed every word he said.
"How do you know she does want it? How do you know it isn't Edward that wants it?" I asked. We were both very quiet now.
"Edward does want it, but I bet you didn't know that he tried to prevent this. He wanted her to grow old, to have all life's experiences but she isn't having it. She feels old at eighteen, which is a shame. If they want to be together forever, this is the only way. And if it means, in eighty years when he would have otherwise been devastated by her death, he will be happily married, I cannot find any will in myself to go against it. Bella fully comprehends the price she will have to pay, and she has chosen to pay it in return for a lifetime with Edward. This will hurt a little bit" He said, as he pulled out a larger piece that spanned my entire thumb. More blood welled out of it immediately.
"But does she really know the price. Does she truly understand what it is to be a monster?" I asked almost desperately. I wouldn't wish this feeling on even Slade. I wondered if the vampires were kindred spirits, who felt the pain of not being able to change what you were, of being forced to be darkness.
Carlisle looked at me, his golden eyes filled with sadness. He was looking into me in a way I had not been looked at since Azar. He was looking at me like he knew me, and it hurt him to do so. I never had worked out if it was because Azar hadn't wanted the pain of knowing me, or because my pain made her sick with sadness.
"Do you think you're a monster?"
"I didn't come here for therapy." I mumbled back, looking down at my hand to avoid his compassionate eyes. Almost all the glass was gone.
"I understand that. I hope you have all the answers you did come here for."
I pulled my hand away, finally allowing my magic to cocoon it with dark energy, knitting together all the cuts and soothing the sting. As always, Carlisle watched in fascination.
"I still don't agree with it. I think she'll come to regret her decision when she finds out being special isn't all its cracked up to be." I said quietly.
"That's your opinion and you are very much entitled to it. Please refrain from sharing it with Edward, he doubts himself already." Carlisle sadly smiled. He nodded his head towards my hand.
"I really do wish everyone was like the you and the wolf pack. It's nice to see pain heal so quickly."
"It doesn't take away the pain, just the injury. The pain comes after, especially if the injury's not mine." I replied quietly, hoping down from the hospital bed and leaning against it instead.
"You remind me of Jasper in that way. He has to feel others' pain as well."
Ah, good haunting prophetic last sentance Carlisle.
Just to let you guys know, I have three whole, complete chapters of Falter written up. All they need is editing, and one in already compleatly ticked off. All I have to do is post it. So if I get a lot of reveiws it could be up in a few days.
So reveiw.
I know who put my story on alert. I know who you are.
Gosh.