Disclaimer: I own nothing
Authors Note: Here's another instalment, and the first meeting with Mr Broody, let's say I go off script!
Getting to the good old US of A involved a lot more pomp and circumstance than leaving it had been. But then again, when I had left Phoenix I'd had a certain red head to teleport us across continents instantaneously. To be specific, it involved 3 changes: Edinburgh to Heathrow, Heathrow to Seattle, Seattle to Port Angeles, never mind the layover time. Charlie insisted on picking me up, and although I had protested, being a strong independent woman and all that jazz, after 11 hours, I was heartened and grateful that he cared enough to make the hour car journey.
Coming home hadn't made me forget my training though, as Buffy quoted, from a good man she once knew, "a slayer always reaches for her weapon". So I had the cross that Dawn had gotten me for my birthday around my neck, a airline approved bottle of Holy Water disguised as moisturiser, and a wooden crochet hook at the bottom of my bag. Not that vampires were likely to fly, unless they had that special UV glass Angel told Buffy Wolfram and Hart used. But I was flying on a budget, so nothing supernatural occurred. It was really boring, especially for someone who was now used to constant physical exertion.
I had found it very hard to sit still, moving too much on a plane tended to get people edgy these days.
Upon leaving the plane and grabbing my bag (filled with Holy Water, crosses, Demonology tests and and some thicker clothing) I made my way to the arrivals gate to be greeted by Charlie in his uniformed glory. At first he didn't recognise me; he definitely had to look twice, and they he broke out in that beaming grin that was reserved just for me, the Daddy grin that stretched out his caterpillar of a moustache.
He insisted on taking my bags after gripping me in what was for him a very long hug, consisting of one arm for a few seconds. Charlie wasn't big on PDA's, which suited me fine, I wasn't either. I felt bad for letting him carry the suitcase, but I couldn't exactly tell him I was capable of carrying about 20 of them at full capacity, filled with bricks. At least not yet and not in public.
The drive from Port Angeles to Forks was fairly sedate, just a few random questions about how I was, an awkward mention of how "healthy" I looked, I suppose for a father discussing your daughters athletic physique isn't easy. But the very fact he had mentioned it meant he was proud, in his own way, of how much I had changed. I hadn't seen him in person for 3 years; I refused to go back to gloomy Forks for the summers since my 13th. Now I realised I had been depriving Charlie of something special, and when the slayer districts were assigned, I was planning to request Washington.
The house was as I remembered it, old but cosy, Charlie had bought me new bedclothes and curtains, and it made the room far less Spartan than the random possessions I had collected from my summers here. After dropping off my bags, and my assuring him that purple was a fine colour choice, he left me to unpack. That's the good thing about Charlie, he doesn't hover. Looking at the room a though occurred to me, if my mother hadn't divorced Charlie, then this was the room I would have grown up in. Something about that made me quite sad.
After a quick dinner of pizza, which I sneakily suspected Charlie ate a lot of as he had it on speed dial, Charlie informed me that I would be starting at Forks High on Monday, and that he's told Coach Clap of my athletic prowess, and maybe I should try out for track or volleyballs. One drawback to being a slayer was that you had to temper your talent when around regular people; if I got too competitive in sports I could seriously injure someone. But track didn't sound so bad, non-contact, competitive, and being the fastest wouldn't draw too much attention, I'd only be running at a third of my capacity anyway. At least it wouldn't be cheerleading, from what Buffy said that could get deadly.
My first meeting with William "Billy" Black came sooner than expected, and was not for business, well it was but not supernatural, as it turns out, Charlie had bought his old truck from him. The day after I arrived, a Sunday, Billy came with his son Jacob driving it (which I didn't think was strictly legal), in order to watch the game with Charlie. I thanked him profusely, giving him a firmer handshake than was strictly normal, he gave me a knowing look, and Jacob pulled me into a one armed hug, I vaguely remembered playing with him in our younger days. He'd certainly filled out since then, standing at around 6 ft 5, well muscled and wearing cut off shorts and a ripped t-shirt. I could sense the primal energy coming off of him, a raw power, and as if by animal instinct, he seemed to sense mine. Billy had obviously filled him in on what I was; I couldn't wait to get the dirt on him.
Dinner was nice, no talk of slaying, just an edited version of my time in "boarding school" and some of Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry. I ate as much as Jacob, which had Charlie raising an eyebrow, Slayer metabolisms went fast, they had to be to absorb energy to heal. After a hunt, I felt like eating 5 main meals at once, usually some form of meat, I suppose that's the demon spirit within in action, or just a real desire for protein.
The Monday morning of September 1st rolled in cloudy with a chance of downpour. I layered my clothing appropriate to the climate, leggings under brown jeans, green shirts and sweater with a sensible jacket and hiking boots. A slayer couldn't afford to wear impractical clothing; a skirt at the wrong time would slow you down, or just force you to ruin a perfectly good dress. Plus While I wasn't girly I was still feminine, donning some earrings and my cross, and brushing my waist length brown hair until it shone. I could be really girly if I wanted, but those occasions had been restricted to experiments in the slayer dorms, where the girls had insisted on dressing me up to take pictures. I'd certainly learned a lot about colour palettes, I'd gone with green and brown, easily camouflaged in this wooded environment.
I'd gotten into my trusty truck after hollering goodbye to Charlie, and made my way to Forks High, a quaint set of older building numbered from 1 to 5. Home of the "Spartans", warriors huh? I could probably take down every guy on the football team...not that I would, unless provoked. Reminding myself of the low profile I was meant to be keeping, I found my way to the office, ignoring the interested and in some cases (usually female) hostile looks I received. Being the Police Chief's daughter gave you a form of notoriety, being a new girl in the final year of high school added to that. Having transferred from abroad, and Europe no less, would make me fodder for gossips.
Mrs Cope was a nice older woman who was all too eager to give me assistance, calling me "Isabella", (Charlie had obviously been calling me it behind my back) and giving me my schedule and a map. I managed to subtly evade a small Asian male who was making a beeline for me, hoorah for slayer powers, and made my way to English. It was all pretty standard stuff, most of it I'd already read or studied with Mr Giles, he liked to keep the girls at least partially up to date with their studies, so I wasn't behind. I sat with a quiet but pretty girl called Angela Webber, who introduced herself shyly. She was the local pastor's daughter, and spotting my cross seemed to pick up the courage to initiate contact.
She graciously invited me to sit with her and her friends in Lunch, who she pointed out as a baby faced blond boy in the front, the Asian boy I had avoided, and a curly haired girl who was talking animatedly with a stuck-up looking blond girl. Having no other offers, and really liking Angela I agreed.
The lunch room was small, when we entered most of the tables were claimed by their usual recipients, people tend to get territorial about spots. I grabbed a slice of pizza, some pasta and a coke, and joined Angela at her table. I navigated the leading questions from students about boarding school, and tried to ignore the more than average notice of Mike, blondie, that was earning me the death glare from Jessica, curly haired gossiper.
Forks High appeared fairly average so far, well it did, until 5 figures entered that screwed my plan up to hell. I felt them before I saw them, my slayer sense tingling, as 5 Evo-Vamps nonchalantly walked in the Cafeteria door, grabbed some food, and went to an empty table in the corner. My hand tensed on the surface of the bench beneath me, crumbling the wood at the edge.
I assessed the threat discreetly, taking note of exits, the amount of student witnesses, and the available weapons. From what Andrew had said, these vamps tended to avoid the spotlight, while blending into the mainstream, but 5 of them in broad daylight, at a highschool? The big one with dimples may initially seem the biggest threat, but on further examination the blond with his arm round the dark haired pixie held himself with a warriors attitude, and even from across the cafeteria my slayer sense was screaming at the sight of those faded scars. The scars were not visible to the regular human eye, but a slayer could see the threat. The bronze Adonis to the left was ignoring everything, but unnaturally still, while the blond supermodel was practically on the big guys lap.
"Who are they?"
Angela explained they were the local Doctors foster children, the Cullen's. Pretty good cover, but one of them was a Doctor? I listened to Jessica snark about their position as couples if they were foster and adopted siblings, and then zero in on the bronze one, who I now knew as Edward Cullen, telling me not to waste my time with him. Someone was definitely bitter; I could see Edward smirk at that comment. Heightened hearing was on the ability list then.
The bell rang for the next class and Angela walked me to Biology, with Mr Banner. I would have to wait until after school to call Buffy for instructions on this new revelation, 5 Evo-vamps in a school full of teenagers was not a good place for a confrontation.
I reached the classroom, and as if fate was taunting me, the only available seat was next to the Adonis. He didn't look thrilled either, but for a completely different reason, the fan at the front of the room blew my scent towards the back, and his eyes turned pitch black. My day was about to get even more out of whack. I made my way to the table and sat down; he drew in a breath and looked practically ravenous. It must be the slayer blood; it was appealing to vampires due to its ability to increase strength, and was apparently also an aphrodisiac. Either way, a hungry Evo-vamp and a wound up slayer as lab partners was not going to be easy. I was going to have to defuse the situation, or at least move the confrontation to another venue.
While Mr Banner held out the slides, I watched Edward place a hand over his nose, to block his airway. So he was at least attempting to temper his blood-lust.
In that moment I made a split second decision, Buffy would probably kick my ass later, but if it saved a classroom of 20 students, I deemed it necessary. I reached out my hand underneath the desk, took Edwards, and crushed it. Although the material of his skin was resistant, I felt some of the bones underneath bend and give way. This was not how I envisioned the first time holding hands with a boy. But then, he wasn't a boy. His bloodlust was tempered by shock, and I refused to look at him, instead speaking in a whisper I knew he could hear.
"You're going to get Mr Banner's attention, tell him you're sick, and walk out of here without a fuss. If you don't, I'm going to have to take you down in front of witnesses, and neither of us want that. Do it now."
Kudos to the vamp, he caught on I meant business, and played the dying swan, I suppose after a few centuries you become a good actor.
I knew that after school, he and the others would probably be waiting for me, so I'd better get ready for a fight. They wouldn't risk an open confrontation, and 5 on 1 were not good odds, I'd need backup.
My meeting with Billy Black had been bumped up on the timeslot, he better know what was going on. He'd known they were here, that's why he invited me down, and it wasn't for a few stories. He needed a slayer.
With the right info, I'd be happy to oblige.
Authors Note: Read and Review please, thanks so much to the 1 review I've gotten so far, it takes 5 seconds but it means a lot!