Title: Ilyssa Collins: Human

Author: Meissa6

Summary: Their world shattered at a young age. Their mind coped the best way it knew how. Throw in a handful of vampires intent on revenge, or attempting to fix what could never heal, and it was just another day in the life of Ilyssa Collins, the girl who never truly existed.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own the Twilight Saga, or any of its characters and plots.


TW: This story will contain references to child abuse (physical, mental, sexual), self-harm, and suicide attempts (both past and present).


Isla

Isla Collins took one look at the newcomers to the school and felt the icy grips of dread close around her heart. She had to remind herself that she knew this was going to happen. The important thing was not to prevent their arrival, but to stay under their radar.

So, with slight effort, she focused her attention on the boy next to her, his hand slowly slipping under her skirt. She kept herself still as the newcomers passed them, none of them looking towards them, and only jerked away when they had entered the office.

"Honestly; keep your hands to yourself." She sneered at the boy before she hurried to her first class.

"Slut." He spat at her back, but she ignored him.

The first half of the day passed peacefully. Despite her anxiety, she did not share any of her morning classes with any of the newcomers. Unfortunately, as she walked past their table, avoiding looking towards them and keeping her thoughts focused on lunch, it appeared her anonymity was destined to end.

"Hey, slut! Catch!"

Something hard hit her in the middle of her back, with a force that sent her stumbling directly into the male twin newcomer. Isla felt her body tense up as he reflexively pushed her off of him, sending her to the floor.

Everyone at the surrounding tables burst into laughter. She barely heard them, her thoughts focusing on the horrific images filtering quickly through her mind.

"Shit." She heard the redhead newcomer whisper, and her eyes flickered up to them, still slightly unfocused as she struggled to reconnect with the present.

Most of the people she came into contact with had only decades worth of information, and most of it was boring enough to fly quickly through her mind.

However, however this man, the twin newcomer, had centuries worth of memories that would cause even the scariest horror movie to pale in comparison. She was drowning in the blood that spurted from his victim's neck, unable to look away as monsters with sharp teeth cut through flesh and bone like their fingers were knives going through butter.

"Collins!" Someone shouted.

The voice belonged to a teacher… one that taught freshmen.

"Hey, Freak! Answer Mr. Reynolds when he's talking to you!"

A different voice, this one younger and filled with malice.

The world was twisting into something horrific, the darkness strewn across her thoughts spelling out a single word that she almost spoke aloud. Vampire.

"Collins!"

A hand wrapped tightly around Isla's arm, hauling her to her feet in one swift movement. Just like that, the memories were gone, replaced by dull ones that flitted quickly through her mind.

Average parents, average childhood, average school experiences… It was almost like dumping water over an open flame. The urge to tear open his chest and crawl inside of him, where she would be safe and warm, was crippling.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Mr. Reynolds' voice was softer now. She realized that her face was wet from the tears that had unknowingly slid down her face.

The rush of voices came back to her, whispers sounding like a vortex of wind that swirled around them.

The new kids were silent. Their eyes watched her solemnly, and she had the strange notion that the redhead knew exactly what had just happened in her mind and had informed the others. They were waiting for her to oust them, to shout from the rooftops what she had seen, to paint them in horrific colors. They could keep waiting.

"Yes, sorry, I have to go."

Isla's words were rushed, barely leaving her lips before she pulled herself away from the hand around her arm. Her heart pounded in her ears as she ran from the cafeteria, abandoning her things in her locker before she hurried out the door.

She always took the bus to school, not having a driver's license, but the four-mile walk didn't matter then.

Her parents would receive a phone call proclaiming her absence from her afternoon classes, but they were still in Japan. It was likely they wouldn't even pick up the phone, being on a different sleep schedule than them.

Why had she reacted so strongly to his memories? Sure, they were terrible, but she had seen the existence of vampires in others' pasts.

She had even had a vague idea of what they were after seeing them in the principal's memories. She had never expected to actually interact with them, and now they knew what she could do.

It was only a matter of time before they came for her. There was no guarantee that they would allow her to live, let alone allow her to remain in the human world. Either they would attempt to change her into one of them for the sake of her "gift", or they would kill her to prevent her from spilling their secret to the world.

Panic raced through her body, giving her the fuel, she needed to race home. Though she was never particularly athletic, she found herself running faster than she ever had, her heart pounding, and her breaths coming in short pants.

Relief rushed through her when she saw the end of her empty driveway. She sped past her decorated mailbox, not stopping to consider the flowers and bees she had painted on it as a young child, and barely managed to get the keys in the door before she slammed it open.

The black and brown spotted cat that she had adopted two years ago looked up from its perch on the back of the couch as she slammed the door shut and locked it.

She knew it wouldn't keep them out if they really wanted to kill her, but it gave her a sense of security, nevertheless.

After shedding her coat into the closet by the front door, she sat down in the center of the living room. Whimsy went back to sleeping, not at all interested in the nightmare that was becoming Isla's life.

Isla took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, giving the room a few more suspicious glances, and closed her eyes.


It was dark outside when Isla finally opened her eyes again.

It had taken nearly six hours to compartmentalize the memories she had gained, and another two before she felt ready to face reality again.

She felt calmer. The phone in the kitchen rang suddenly, but Isla didn't startle. She was relaxed now, the fear that had consumed her before no longer quite as prominent.

Whimsy watched with uncaring eyes as she stood. When she passed the lazy cat, she ran her fingers over its back, receiving a purr for her efforts.

"Hi, Mom." She said into the receiver once she recognized the number.

"Tell me, Ilyssa, why is it that we have received a voicemail saying that you were absent in fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh period?"

Her mother's voice, always so harsh when dealing with Isla, seemed to be colder than usual.

"Are you incapable of taking care of your studies, at almost seventeen years old? Do we have to come back and hold your hand through every little thing?"

"No, I-" Isla broke off.

Her eyes had flickered up to the window at the end of her mother's question and seen something that made her pale. She barely managed to not drop the phone.

"You, what? This immaturity needs to end, Ilyssa. Frankly, I am sick and tired of your games. That's what this is, isn't it? You want to distract your father and I before our big day today? If we don't get what we came here for, just know that I will do everything in my power to make the next two years of your life hell – understand?!"

With some effort, Isla managed to push the fear from her voice as she murmured, "Yes, Mother."

She knew she was well enough alone when she heard the answering click.

A cold wind brushed against her back, but she made sure the receiver was placed into the hook on the wall before she turned.

Seven vampires stood in her house – the five new kids, and two that she assumed were their leaders.

They stood casually around, their golden eyes tracking her every movement, but she instantly realized that they were blocking every exit.

She was trapped.

All of her meditating was thrown out the window as her heart rate began to pick up.

"I won't say a word to anyone."

The first thing that slipped from her mouth sounded like a plea not to kill her, which it was.

"How can we be sure of that?"

There was a softness to the blonde leader's eyes, even as his voice remained cold. She flinched.

"This is for your own good, child. If our government found out what you could do, they would take you captive, most likely use you as a weapon against their enemies." The brunette at his side said, her voice far less cold than her husband's.

"I can't speak of what I see." Isla blurted out.

They glanced at each other, and then the redhead focused on her with an intensity that made her hands begin to shake.

"She's telling the truth."

He sounded surprised, as if she would lie to try to save herself.

What's the use? She had always thought she would die by her father's infamous temper, not by a pack of vampires' intent on wiping her from existence for her 'own good'. What a bunch of bullshit. The more she considered her situation, the angrier she became.

"Kill me then." She spat, her inevitable death making her fearless. "You want to eliminate the only human that can see you, do it."

Her hands were no longer trembling, instead they were curled into fists. She was changing, no longer caring about her situation. The natural softness of her voice hardened, an accent that she never had before slipping into her words.

When she glanced down at herself, she realized that her body had changed into something else. She was no longer Isla, the withdrawn, soft-spoken girl that was too weak to stand up to anyone. Her new name bounced rapidly between her skull.

Izzy.


A/N: This work is completed and will be updated often. I wrote it a few years ago, and it's been taken up space on my computer since. It's about 35k words in total (not including notes), and though I will be skimming through it to fix minor mistakes, I'm leaving the plot untouched in all its choppy, fast-paced glory.