Hi guys! Summer here. This chapter was fun to write. A lot more action than character development and dialogue, which tends to be my strong suit, so that was annoying, but a lot of stuff happened here that was essential to further the plot. And, I think it's pretty fun to read. :) I hope you like it as much as I do!

I don't know why, but at that moment, I felt something. My skin tingled and the hair on the back of my neck stood up like I was about to get struck by lightning.

And I turned, as the first drop of blood hit the floor, towards the direction of the electricity. Towards the lightning. Into the eyes of Edward Cullen.

Don't get me wrong - I didn't care about the Cullens one way or another. They were hot, and cool, but they also thought they were too good for everyone in the school. If they thought they were above us, then I was content to think I was above them. But I could feel something. Some kind of destiny, or fate, or some other kind of shit I don't believe in pulling me towards him.

Iris was still cursing at no one in particular, still griping and moaning about how this was going to scar and she thought she could see her bone, even though I knew for a fact that it was just a shallow cut. But to me, it was just droning in the background. And then, my eyes strayed a little to the left. And there was Jasper.

His eyes were pitch black. No light. Just cold, empty hunger. Edward seemed to realize something was wrong a second before it happened.

He traveled faster than I could comprehend, he was a blur as he pushed Jasper backward not a moment too soon - Jasper had lunged in Iris's direction. Edward sent him flying backward, slamming into the concrete wall so hard it cracked. My jaw hung open.

"What. The. Hell?!" I said quietly. Iris stopped complaining and stood up instinctively as if she wanted to be able to run at a moment's notice.

There were loud gasps and a few shocked screams as Jasper stood, Edward still gripping his shoulder, but no one looked more appalled than the Cullens, watching the whole thing with absolute horror. They all rose at once and began to quickly walk towards the exit - the emergency exit located directly behind Iris and me.

As Jasper walked by, his teeth gritted and his face contorted as if he were in agony, his arms pinned to his side by Edward and Emmet, another drop of blood hit the floor. Jasper's fists clenched and he tore out of his brother's grasp and lunged for Iris.

"NO!" I screamed, and dove between them. I shoved Jasper back with every ounce of strength I had - which was quite a bit, because my aunt, on one of her rare sober days, had installed a pullup bar in the doorframe of my bedroom. Whenever I was angry at her, or my parents, or the world, I would do pull-ups until I was sweating like crazy and my arms felt like they were about to fall off, but the emotional pain was numbed, glazed over by the aching in my arms, by the sweat and the calluses on my hands.

It did absolutely no good. Trying to push the blond, angel-like guy who was lunging at Iris was like trying to push a rock wall, a rock wall that was barrelling towards me at superhuman speeds. I was knocked out of the way, and caught myself a moment before my head would have slammed into the cafeteria floor. Jasper grabbed Iris and pushed her backward, through the emergency exit door as I scrambled to my feet.

Now everyone was screaming, students flooding to the main exit in an absolute panic. The safest thing would probably have been to follow them. But I didn't. I couldn't. I sprinted after the Cullens, after my best friend, the only spot of light in this dark, rainy town.

It was raining hard outside - pouring. I could barely see five feet in front of me, barely hear anything over the roaring of raindrops hitting the parking lot. Obviously, I wasn't wearing a raincoat, and it took just a few seconds for the rain to soak through my second-hand flannel shirt, the Metallica t-shirt I wore underneath, and chill me to the bone. That was far from my primary focus at the moment.

There. As I frantically whipped my head around, I caught sight of Iris's rainbow hoodie through the storm, bright and colorful against the drab brown of the school.

And there was Iris, pale and terrified-looking. Jasper had her pinned against the side of the school. He looked conflicted, as if he were fighting with himself. And then Edward was there, and so was Rosalie, and together, they pulled Jasper away. Iris fell down and landed on her feet, weak and shaky.

"GO!" I heard Rosalie scream over the rain. Iris began to run, but she was wobbly, and she tripped over her own feet and fell down hard, landing on the hard asphalt of the parking lot. I sprinted over to her and helped her up.

"What the hell are you doing, Wendi?!" Edward yelled. I was surprised he even knew my name - the Cullens seemed to think that they were gods and we were just petty little mortals.

On second thought, maybe they were. I really didn't know what to think after what I had just seen.

"Helping!" I said, through gritted teeth. Even though Iris was small, she could barely walk, and it was hard to drag her along.

"Stop," Iris said faintly. "Stop, stop, stop." I stopped.

"What?!" I asked anxiously, having to raise my voice over the rain.

"I'm just a little… a little... Lighthead-" and before she could finish her sentence, she crumpled to the ground, her head hitting the ground once more with a sickening thump. I knelt down next to her, panic building inside me.

"Iris!" I yelled, trying to get her to wake up. "IRIS!" And then Alice Cullen was by my side. I instantly flung myself in front of Iris, trying to shield her the best I could, even though I knew that my body, frail in comparison to them, would do nothing to stop these beautiful demons who had attacked my friend. My voice trembled slightly, but the words sounded strong as I growled,

"Stay away from us."

"Wendi, I'm just going to check her vitals-" Alice started, her voice like wind chimes. I staggered away from her.

"I said, STAY AWAY!" I screamed. Alice sighed.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her voice open and sincere sounding. I was about to ask, 'for what?', but I got my answer soon enough. She pushed me backward. I flew twenty feet out into the parking lot, before landing on my back.

"Ow… oh, shit," I muttered, my ears ringing, stars dancing in my vision. I took huge, gulping breaths, trying to suck down as much air as I could, but the freezing rain ran into my mouth, causing me to cough and splutter. It took me a moment to struggle to my feet, and another moment to try and remember what I was doing. I spotted Iris quickly enough, her bright jacket was easy to see, but I couldn't see the Cullens. I squinted into the rain as I walked towards my friend, desperately trying to assess the situation. And then I realized that I couldn't see the Cullens because they weren't there.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it. If you're not too busy, I would love it if you would give me some feedback in the comments section. Constructive criticism is how I grow as an author!
- Summer