Chapter 3: Chapter One
It was one of those perfect mornings. The sunlight was peeking in through the windows to shine a gentle warmth on my skin but wasn't bright enough to blind me behind my eyelids. A relaxed breath escaped as my mind awoke, but my eyes remained shut. Since I was laying on my stomach, I turned my head to the other way and nuzzled my face deeper into my pillow. My bed was singing a lullaby for me to go back to sleep.
"Jade." A soft, angelic voice filled my ears, followed by cold fingers gently brushing a lock of dyed, red hair behind my ears. "It's time to wake up, baby."
As much as the sudden could touch should have startled me, it was all to familiar to be afraid of, just like the voice. The voice and hair stroking were only adding to my bed's lullaby. A quiet moan slipped from my lips, begging for a few more minutes of peace.
I could hear the smile in the voice as it spoke again. "Come one Sweet Pea, you don't want to miss your first class, do you?"
My brain was finally awake enough to allow my eyes to open. Blinking a few times to adjust to the lightning, I kept my body still as I turned my jade green eyes to the brunette haired, golden-eyed woman sitting on the edge of my bed. She managed to mostly remain out of the sun's way, but the pale hand that was stroking my hair was glittering under the light.
"Morning," I mumbled, though I myself barely understood what I had said.
Mom smiled anyway. "Good morning. Any requests for breakfast?"
I hummed and closed my eyes for a minute. "Scrambled eggs and toast?"
"Okay."
Mom leaned over, pressing a kiss on my temple before standing up. She was gone a second later. Now ready to get up, I stretched myself out as a cat would after a long nap before kicking my blanket off me. Rolling out of bed, I scratched the back of my head as my feet fit the carpet on the floor. My eyes glanced around the room as my brain tried to process what needed to be done. Shower, first and foremost.
Crossing the room to my dresser, I grabbed a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black jeans. After living in Forks for almost two years, I've come to learn how to dress for the common rainy and cloudy weather, much like everywhere else we've lived. It may have been sunny now, but I knew it would vanish soon, noon the latest if we were lucky. The key was to dress in something I could be warm in without the constant need of a sweater. Still, after all the bear hugs I've received from Emmett over the years, I seriously doubted that I was capable of freezing to death.
The warm water from the shower was relaxing, though, and my nose was happy with the smell my hair picked up from my cranberry scented shampoo. The smell of my basic vanilla body wash lingered on my skin but wasn't as noticeable as the cranberry. I suppose in moments like these, it paid to have a family with sensitive noses. Compliments were nice every now and again.
Finishing everything that needed to be done in my bed and bathroom, I made my way downstairs. The house, as always, was pleasant to walk through. The windows provided great views of the forest that surrounded our house. It was a little too quiet this morning, but nothing alarming. I knew I wasn't completely alone, the two bodies in the kitchen confirmed that. Mom was standing over the stove with her back to me, and Dad was sitting at the table looking over a newspaper. It blew my mind how human they looked sometimes.
"Morning." I greeted my father, leaning over the chair to peck his cheek.
Dad smiled and looked up from the paper. "Jade, good morning."
"Whatcha reading?" I asked, crossing my arms and resting one on his shoulder, my posture remaining hunched over.
'ANIMAL ATTACKS CAMPERS IN WALLA WALLA'
My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as the color drained from my face.
"A-Animal attack?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Dad sighed, putting the paper down. "A group of college friends were camping near Walla Walla. An animal tore through their site in the middle of the night."
"Were there any survivors?"
"No, there were none, unfortunately."
"Were the bodies drained?"
Both Mom and Dad knew what I meant. Dad's silence and Mom's worried glance confirmed the answer to my question.
"Walla Walla is only nine hours away…" I began, my hands slowly starting to shake. "If he… or she… or they, come any closer to Forks then-"
The sudden slam of the doors opening caused my heart to jump into my throat, cutting my panic off. I threw a hand over my heart and took in a deep breath as I heard familiar, boisterous gloating echoed through the house. The hunting party had returned.
"Ah, the baby's up." Emmett's voice was suddenly right behind me.
My eyes widened as I jumped, putting a few feet between us and holding out a hand. "I think not! You're covered in blood and I already took a shower!"
'Covered in blood' was an understatement. He was soaked in it. Either Emmett had fun chasing the mountain lions, or he found a bear to wrestle.
Alice waltzed in just then, her complexation free of even the tiniest drop of blood. "Don't you dare dirty her, Emmett. She looks cute. As always."
I smiled. "Thanks, Alice."
I swear Alice was more of a fairy than a vampire. Never once in the last sixteen years of my life have I ever seen her sporting any kind of red that wasn't part of her outfit.
Mom turned away from the stove, setting a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, as well as a glass of orange juice, down in front of one of the seats. "Alright, Emmet go wash up and let your sister eat."
Emmett threw his hands up in surrender and disappeared, Alice, skipping out after him. I pulled out the chair and sat down, beginning with the eggs. I sighed in content at the taste of the food. For a vampire that didn't need human food, she was an amazing cook.
"Thanks, Mom. It's good." I said.
Mom smiled. "You're welcome."
As I ate, my mind wandered to my other siblings. I had seen Emmett and Alice, not the other three. My best guess for Rosalie was that she ducked the shower the second she got in. I had no idea about Jasper or Edward's whereabouts.
"Jasper's cleaning up." Edward's voice filled my ears as he suddenly appeared, leaning against the door frame.
I nodded. "Thanks for the info, But Ed, seriously do you peek into my brain on purpose?"
Edward smirked. "No, your thoughts are just very loud."
I wasn't sure how to feel about that comment. Hearing the voices of my siblings growing close, I quickened my pace on the food. Stupid vampires with their stupid vampire speed, getting everything done in a flash. The corner of Edward's lips curled up into a smirk at my thoughts.
"Will you slow down before you choke on something?" Rosalie asked, staring at me with a mixed look; judgemental and concerned.
Ignoring her for a moment, I gulped down the last of my OJ before jumping up from the table. "No need. Let's roll."
After Mom kissed me goodbye and I wished Dad luck at work, I headed towards the front door where my blue sweater and black backpack hung on the coat rack. I made my way into the garage as I slid the sweater on.
"K, who am I riding with?" I asked, looking between my siblings.
None of them were quick to answer.
I huffed. "Fine, I'll join Edward in the single people car."
My comment sent them laughing, though Edward was more smirk than actual laugh. Pulling open the door to the silver Volvo, I strapped myself in and placed my bag on the floor between my legs. Edward got in after me, not saying a word as he sped out of the garage the second it opened.
Everyone in the family, apart from myself, had a habit of speeding. I was used to it at this point, so I rolled the window down to let the air in. I didn't care about my hair being a mess, I just wanted to feel the excitement that rush of wind brought.
"You don't need to worry about it." Edward suddenly said, breaking the silence. "We're not gonna let anyone hurt you."
I turned my eyes to him, confused for the first few moments until my brain clicked.
"You overheard me talking to Mom and Dad in the kitchen?" I asked.
I was the only one of us to call Carlisle and Esme 'Mom' and 'Dad', but that's who they were to me. Then again, I was the only one who'd been with them since I was a baby.
"We all did," Edward answered.
Which means that they were all acting normal to try and ease me worries.
"It's… not the vampires I'm concerned about, really." I admitted, turning my eyes back out the window. "It's… it."
I didn't need to go into it. Edward, and I'm sure the others who were listening in from the Jeep behind us, knew what I was talking about.
"I'll keep an eye out for it. I'll wake you the second it gets bad." Edward promised.
I smiled a little and nodded. "Okay."
The rest of the ride was silent. Before long, we pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School. The parking lot was already crowded with students, and cars, and students standing around their cars. Edward pulled into the first parking spot he saw, Emmett's Jeep entering the spot beside us. As always, the other students watched us like hawks as we exited the vehicles.
"Don't they ever have anything better to do?" I quietly whispered as we began making our way towards the school buildings.
"Get used to it little sister. We have." Emmett said, smirking as he took Rosalie's hand within his own.
I huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of my face. "I am. I'm still just annoyed."
Jasper smirked. "Then you're still not used to it."
Seconds later, I felt my annoyed mood suddenly fade.
I looked over at Jasper and smiled. "Thanks."
Jasper nodded in response. The bell then rang, causing me to stop and groan.
"Damn. Time to solo out." I said, beginning to walk backward while holding up the peace sign. "Catch ya'll at lunch."
Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper were seniors while Edward and Alice were juniors. I, unfortunately, was a sophomore and therefore didn't share a single class with any of them. So, I was on my own all day, minus the lunch hour. Speaking of classes, I enjoyed the way mine played out.
I had English first thing in the morning, an easy class to wake the brain. Math was second when my brain was ready to do some heavy work. Psychology, one of my electives, followed and with my brain now exhausted, Gym came along to exhaust the body. Thankfully I had lunch with everyone in 5th period. With my brain now rested, Science followed lunch with Photography to end the day. Classes like math and science wouldn't start diving into specific categories until junior year. And since Forks had such a small student body, sometimes classes merged grade levels together, like a split class.
This was the case with English. The second I walked, I knew something had changed. For once, my table at the very back of the room wasn't empty and waiting for me. An unfamiliar girl was sitting there. She was blonde, same as Rosalie if not blonder, and had ocean blue eyes. Her hair was also long, though I wasn't sure if her beach waves were natural or if she did them herself. She had a bit of color to her skin, not necessarily tan but wasn't as pale as me either. She was really pretty, but I was more confused than anything.
Realizing I had been standing and staring for too long, I shook my head in embarrassment and began making m way towards her as the other students started to enter the class. The girl gave me a friendly smile as I walked behind her, pulling out a chair to sit in.
"Hello," I said, not wanting to be rude. "I'm Jade Cullen."
The girl smiled, Before she could give a response, though, an Asian boy jumped up out of his seat and approached us. Eric, I believe his name was.
"Hey, that's not cool." He said out of the blue. "You can't be making fun of my girl like that."
"I raised a brow at him. "Excuse me?"
With my attention now on him, Eric seemed to shrink back as if I intimidated him. Understandable, as everyone in school, embarrassingly enough, know how overprotective my brothers were. Not only that but I, just like my siblings, had a reputation for not speaking a word to any of these people.
The blonde girl shot Eric a friendly smile before turning her eyes back to me. She tapped her throat twice and swished her hand back and forth in front of it in two quick motions.
"Oh." I quickly realized what she meant. "You don't speak?"
The girl smiled and nodded. The girl reached into her shirt, pulling up a necklace that had fallen into it. Letters in cursive spelled out the name 'Willow Swan.'
Little did I know that Willow Swan was about to bring a world of trouble I wasn't prepared for.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone