Chapter One

Who am I? That’s right I’m a freak.


It’s hard enough being eighteen with all that being eighteen brings but I am finding being it even harder. For starters I’m not your normal average eighteen year old. Actually my entire family is anything but normal. You see I am a vampire hybrid, a Halfling if you want to call me that. My mother, her name is Bella; conceived and carried me while human and my father, his name is Edward, is a vampire. My family has moved around a lot and we had lived in ten different towns since my birth, which was only five years ago. My mother was only pregnant with me for like two months –conception to delivery- my Grandpa, his name is Carlisle, is a doctor and he said that he thinks my accelerated growth was due to the fact that I have twenty-five chromosomal pairs, just another reason to feel like a freak. I am only one of a handful of creatures like me, some would say that this was a call for celebration, that individuality was a good thing; I say that it makes life so much more difficult. I’m not like my family and I’m not like any other humans, I am an oddity, I have a heartbeat, can go out in the sunlight and even eat ‘human’ food but I am incredibly fast, have excellent coordination, and I can drink blood. Our family joke is that we are ‘vegetarian’ because we don’t drink human blood, unless it was donated. I have never actually felt the need to hunt for human blood, I think because that wasn’t appropriate within our family circle.

My vampire family consists of my parents, my Grandparents Carlisle and Esme, two Aunts’, Rose and Alice, and two Uncles’, Emmett and Jasper. Some of my family have special ‘gifts’ that go above and beyond normal vampiric traits. My father can read thoughts as people think them, my Mother is a shield- she can protect her mind from the onslaughts of others, hers is the only mind my father can’t read something that he had never encountered before; Alice can see the future- but she can’t see Werewolves or Halflings, and Jasper has another quite unique gift- he can alter the moods of others and they had no control over it. Momma once said that Daddy had told her that Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme had special gifts too, he had told her that Carlisle’s gift was overwhelming self control and Esme’s was her compassion and loving nature; Emmett has superior strength and Rose has amazing beauty but I have a special ability that no-one else in my family has; I can tell people what I think or feel without saying anything I just have to lay my hand on a piece of their bare skin. Be it a hand or the side of the face. As I said a freak, at first I had to work hard to protect my friends from my ‘gift’ but as I grew I was able to learn to control it. This was something I grasped quickly but in times where my emotions are heightened and I still found it slightly difficult to rein in.

My family portray a humanised life to others, a life that if it was put under a microscope and compared to other families I think we would probably pass as an ordinary, everyday family; besides the fact that we are immortal and we drink blood to survive. Carlisle works in the local hospital (and I am constantly amazed that he was able to withstand the tempting smell of blood while there) Esme worked from home selling things she made over the internet, the others Rose, Em, Alice and Jazz lived here when they were home but at the moment they were away, seeing far off places or something like that. But my home was actually in a house on the same land with my Dad and Mom, who were attending the local collage as part of the pretence we had established for this town. I also have a human family which consists of Charlie and Sue, I do have another set of grandparents but it was safer for them to not know me or have anything to do with our family. There is also someone else who makes up my family, an integral part, and that is my boyfriend Jacob, no boyfriend is too weak a word, Jake is my soul-mate, the one person on this entire planet that I don’t have to be anything but myself with but even that is complicated.

Jake is a werewolf, well not in a Hollywood- human by day creature by night- kind of way; more of a seven foot tall mountain of a human, with gorgeous dark drown (almost black) eyes, hair that is the colour of a raven’s wing and skin like russet coloured silk, shape-shifter kind of way. He is Native American and his tribe have been protecting a part of Washington State known as Forks for forever from the vampire population of the world, see what I mean about complicated. Vampires and werewolves are sworn enemies but Jake and my mother had been very close friends when she was human and that couldn’t be destroyed when she became a vampire; plus there is a weird thing that werewolves do when they find their soul-mates, it’s called imprinting and the minute Jake saw me that was it. It is against tribe rules to kill a member of the packs imprintee. Also the pack has joined forces with my family on more than one occasion to save the people of Forks from the terrors that only some of them can’t imagine. Jake also lives with us.

We have recently moved to North Bend, which is located not far from Seattle, Washington. It’s the last semester of the school year and I am starting my fourth High School in three years and it was here that I am going to be spending the boring hours of the day. I knew that I was only feeling this way because Jake wasn’t attending the same school, he looked too old for High School but just old enough for college. I had made friends quickly enough at the schools that I had attended, more quickly than the rest of my family anyway but it was at this school that my parents had chosen to not attend with me and concentrate on other things. It had made Jake nervous to know that I would be alone for eight hours a day but he knew from experience that I could take care of myself. I may not be have the full strength of a vampire but I am a hell of a lot stronger than any normal human, not to mention my skin had the same impenetrability that other vampire skin had. As I entered my first class of the day I realised that, even though I had done it several times before, being the new student sucked. I couldn’t tell them about me, not really anyway, and what I did tell them was not necessarily a lie but an amalgamation of the truth. I mentally checked myself; my coppery coloured curls were neat and tidy, I let my deep brown eyes flicker down my body making sure that my smallish frame was not exposed in a way that could be embarrassing, thankfully everything was in order and I turned my attention back to my current situation whispering my way through the introduction that Mr Philips, my English teacher, forced me to do and then hurried with as much human speed as possible to an empty desk beside a tall willowy red head, she had a friendly smile and didn’t stare.

I was stunned when after that extremely boring English lesson she hung back to wait for me. I had better luck with making friends than the rest of my family, something to do with my looks, my smell, and the air of vulnerability that I apparently had (according to my father and Carlisle) I figured it was because I didn’t scare the life out of people. I was still sceptical about making what appeared to be a friend this quickly; I was hesitant in starting a conversation with her just in case she hadn’t actually been waiting for me, what if she was just waiting for me to leave the classroom so she could talk privately with the teacher. So I kind of walked away from her, she stuck out her hand and snagged my arm, instinct kicked in and I stopped so as to not pull her arm from its socket. I turned hesitantly and waited for her to speak, this close she had that translucent skin that normally accompanied hair the colour of hers and her eyes were a startlingly vivid green. She smiled widely and I noticed that her perfect smile was marred by the slight chip in her front tooth. “Hi, my name is Frina; sorry I didn’t do the intro thing earlier it’s just that King Philips doesn’t allow talking in his classroom unless you are answering a question.” I smiled and quickly shook her outstretched hand “Hey I’m Renesmee.” I saw her eyebrows rise at my name, a reaction I was used to so I laughed readily and said “Don’t worry you can call me Ness, I only get Renesmee when I am in big trouble.” I was relieved when a small laugh bubbled from her and she said “Crazy parents, hey. Why couldn’t they just call as Mary, or Elizabeth or even Jane?” I smiled in agreement even as the name Jane sent a cold shiver of fear sliding down my spine. The last Jane I had met had tried to kill my entire family so the name struck a fear response within me that would seem silly to the vivacious girl beside me.

We had walked halfway towards our next class, which happened to be chemistry, when we were accosted by a tall well-built boy who appeared to be our age. I shot a side-ways glance at Frina to make sure that she knew this boy who was jumping around us like an over-grown puppy. She rolled her eyes and said “Harrison meet Renesmee, Renesmee this is Harrison Douglas the third and he is a major pain in my butt.” I laughed at the obvious affection that this statement was said with and I smiled up at the bounding boy. “Harry quit that, you’re gonna make me puke if you keep bouncing around like that.” Frina threw one of her books at the bundle of energy that was Harrison Douglas the third but it didn’t prevent him from following us to our next class. I noticed that Frina kept shooting Harry covetous glances and I knew straight away that Frina felt a deeper affection for Harrison than Harrison knew.

We separated as we neared our assigned desks and I wasn’t at all surprised to see that Harrison’s seat was next to Frina’s and that I was suddenly seated next to another stranger. I smiled kindly at the boy who was to be my lab partner. He was of a slight build with a short light brown buzz cut. His eyes were a pale grey and he had a wide mouth with strong facial features. I held out my hand and said “Hey, my name is Ness. What’s yours?” He smiled and I wasn’t really surprised to see the glint of metal that indicated braces as he answered “Neil, my name is Neil Prescott. Pleased to meet you, are you up to date with our syllabus?” I smiled again and nodded, which was all we managed before our teacher walked in. I immediately liked the plump curly headed blonde chemistry teacher, my opinion of her rose even further when she didn’t ask me to stand up and introduce myself.

Chemistry, turned out to be a greatly taught subject and the teacher, Ms Driver, was energetic and made the learning process even more fun. Once the class had ended, and I had packed my belongings into my bag, I waved goodbye to Neil, he was hurrying towards the door, and walked over to the desk that Frina and Harry occupied. They were waiting for me with differing smiles; Frina’s was one of amusement while Harry’s was one of disbelief. I looked at them both with a slightly confused look furrowing my brow, neither one of them actually said anything and I could feel my levels of annoyance rising, I sucked in a calming breath before saying “What? What are you both smiling at?” Harry laughed and shook his head before saying “Nothing much, I’m surprised that Neil could actually speak to you without falling apart; I don’t think that I have ever seen him look at a girl, let alone carry on a conversation with one.” Frina sniggered and I felt myself flush with embarrassment. I chewed the inside of my lower lip and closed my eyes before dropping my head. I looked over at Frina and she nudged Harrison before saying “Stop it Harry! I’m sure Ness is just being kind.” I nodded and said “I happen to think that Neil is a nice guy.” Harry sniggered and said “Sure he is a nice guy, if you’re looking for help with school work but if you’re looking for a boyfriend I’m sure there are better candidates for that position.” His tone left no doubt to the fact that he thought that he would be able to fill that position quite well. I dragged in a stressed out breath and said “There isn’t any position to be filled, because I already have a boyfriend.” They shot one another a look that I had no trouble identifying, it was one that said that they plainly didn’t believe me. I was tempted to dig out my cell from the bottom of my bag and call Jacob to come up to the school to meet them but I really wanted to try and avoid having my two worlds colliding. Instead I shrugged my bag onto my shoulder and gestured towards the door, the gathered their stuff and lead the way towards the cafeteria. My first lunch at this school was exactly the same as lunch at every other school I had been to and I was sure that if I hadn’t had Frina and Harrison to sit with I would probably have felt comfortable enough to try and sit with someone else’s group. The group that Frina and Harrison crossed the floor and sat with was a rather large group and I was surprised that every person there looked up and smiled in greeting at the duo I was following. When they spotted me they paused slightly before smiling and introducing themselves one by one. I felt relaxed and comfortable so the lunch hour passed more quickly than I actually wanted it to, I felt acute disappointment when the bell sounded signalling the end of the only time a kid feels free at school.

The rest of my first day crawled past, I was actually ahead in all of my classes which I was thankful about because it meant that I could go home and spend the time with Jacob instead of cramming to catch up. When the last bell sounded I lingered as long as possible, packing my things up slowly so that Frina and Harrison would have left before I had gotten my act together, I knew that Jacob would be waiting for me and I really didn’t want to try and explain Jake at this point in our friendship. I hadn’t counted on them wanting to make sure that the last couple of hours I had spent in this new school had passed without incident. I actually felt myself cringe when I saw them standing a few feet from the classroom door and I knew by their expressions that I hadn’t been quick enough in smoothing the grimace from my face before they saw me. The hurried over and both touched a arm, kind of herding me towards the parking lot, asking me questions at the same time, causing their words to jumble together in a mess of syllables. I shook my head and laughed which stopped both of their chatter and I said softly “If either of you want me to answer your questions I need to be able to understand the things you’re asking.” Frina laughed and asked “So are you like way behind? I saw the frown on your face. If you need the help I’m sure Grace would be more than happy to help.” Seeing the slight pinching around my eyes, mainly at the thought of having a tutor who would want to come to my home and want to meet my family and then talk about them to the others made me uncomfortable, and misunderstanding the cause Harry spoke “You met Grace, she was sitting next to Frina at lunch.” I saw the flash of a slight Asian girl with a flowing mane of silky black hair that hung below her waist and eyes that flashed with keen intelligence in my minds’ eye and cringed inwardly at the idea of inviting this exceptionally bright girl into a house full of secrets; so I hurriedly spoke up, interrupting their plans of asking Grace to tutor me “No! I don’t need tutoring; actually I had just completed this research at my last school so I am actually ahead. I was thinking about other things when I saw the pair of you. Thank you for your concern but it isn’t something that either of you could help with.” Seeing their faces relax I smiled and said “Let’s go before they lock us in here and we have to spend more time here than we are already forced to do.” I forced out a small laugh and they copied it after a split second. I wasn’t oblivious to the looks they shot one another or the ones they shot me when they thought I wasn’t looking so I just chose to ignore it.

We made it outside where only a handful of cars were left in the once overflowing car park. I was grateful to see that for my first day Jake had made a conscious effort to remain inconspicuous and he had driven my pale blue Mini-Cooper convertible to pick me up, instead of the sleek black Harley Davison CVO Fat Bob motorcycle he normally preferred. I was even more relieved that Carlisle had insisted on the darkest tint that was legally available being put on the windows, mainly because it hid Jacob from the probing stares of my new friends. As we walked further into the parking lot I walked towards my car and they followed. As we neared the car the music from inside could be heard clearly. Harry stared quizzically at me saying “Ness, there is someone inside your car.” I laughed and said “Yeah its Jake, my boyfriend.” The two high-schoolers nodded slowly and waved absently as they continued slowly towards the green utility parked a dozen spaces down. I waved as I opened the passenger door and slid inside the relative warmth of the compact car. I had barely closed the door before I was gathered close and wrapped in the large arms of my love. “How was your day sweetheart?” I sighed and snuggled closer to his broad chest. “It went better than I expected but you know I never enjoy the interrogation phase of the first day, there was an upside though.” I smiled and nodded towards the disappearing utility; Jake pulled back and smiled warmly down at me encouraging me to continue. “They were so nice to me Jake, welcomed me into their group without any questions that I couldn’t answer.” Jake grinned and said “I am so glad that you had a good day Nessie. I was worried about you.” I laughed and kissed his jaw, saying “Jake you should know better than to worry about me, I can take care of myself.”

A cloud flittered across his dark eyes and a frown creased the skin between his eyes. He leant closer and rested his forehead against mine. I breathed in the scent that was uniquely his and I asked softly “Jake what’s the matter?” He shook his head before saying “I may not have to worry about you Nessie but I do and always will. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you and I find it hard knowing you are alone every day for hours.” I chuckled, wrapping my arms tightly around his upper body “I understand how hard it is for you Jake but in all seriousness I am in no danger, especially not from the people I met today.” I sat back further into my seat and said “I think we better go home before my parents send out a search party for us.” I watched Jake from the corner of my eye, the frown that marred his perfect forehead hadn’t left but he chuckled and twisted the key in the ignition; bring the engine to purring life. We drove the entire way home in comfortable silence, which was helped by the fact that I had rested my hand in his and had let the tight control on my ‘gift’ slide, showing him the events of the day. I could tell that something bothered him but with Jake you couldn’t push, if he wanted to tell you something he had to work up to it. So I waited, it wasn’t until we had almost reached our turn off that he said “So, Harrison, he seems like a nice kid.” I nodded and waited for him to finish but he didn’t and I was left wondering where he had been headed. But before I could answer we had stopped and he was getting out of the drivers’ seat. I pushed my thoughts from my mind in the vein attempt that my father wouldn’t hear them.