Chapter 1 – Rise

Disclaimer: I don´t own any recognizable elements of the Twilight Saga. The rest is mine.

Author´s Note: So, my first Twilight story. :) I´m really glad that I´ve finally gotten up my lazy butt and actually brought my idea to (digital) paper. There´s not much about it to say, except that the main pairing will eventually be Renesmee/Leah! I´m still thinking about a Bella/Alice pairing; depends on where the story will be going.

So, if you have anything against same-sex relationships, this story probably won´t appeal to you.

A few more warnings, though; 1) People who fangirl-ish-ly worship the ground Edward and Jacob walk on, won´t find much love for them in this fic. I dislike the character of Edward with a passion. 2) The whole concept of imprinting is unimaginable to me, and will be treated accordingly. 3) So you can guess why Jacob´s not really experiencing much love from me.

Rating: T (violence, language)

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I tried to suppress the urge to roll my eyes for the umpteenth time as I made my way through the halls of Forks Highschool. Since today was one of the sunnier days, I had to endure the full day of ten periods without my family by my side. Normally, I´d say that getting them out of my hair for a half a day was truly a blessing, but with all the less than entertaining humans around me, I only guessed that the day would be far from a blessing for me.

Quickening my pace, I made my way through the masses of students trying to get to class in time. Of course it wasn´t that much of a task, with the way most of the student-body held a good distance from me. Wouldn´t dream of coming in contact with the freak, huh?

Seriously, people´s stares and whispers were ridiculously inconspicuous at times, and the fact that they were so blatantly open about their distrust and dislike towards me only further served to fuel my pissed off state.

I didn´t necessarily have a bad temper, but if sufficiently provoked, I wasn´t averse to giving out a few good punches to people who thoroughly deserved them. Mostly Emmett found himself on the bad end of my wrath with all of his pranks, but sometimes there´d be instances when I lashed out at my father, too.

I felt I was completely righteous in my anger, though. He didn´t have control over his power and I knew that he couldn´t help but pick up on certain things, but for him to expose my most private thoughts and humiliate me in front of the whole family and my friends, I had just felt something snap in my head.

So what if I found an interest in the nature of sex?! I heard my whole family going at it like wild animals when they thought I was asleep, and I couldn´t even express a vague interest? What did they expect?

Only my mother had shown me some support throughout this whole ordeal, but the more she´d talked, the more frustrated I became. Her patronizing tone hadn´t escaped my notice, and no matter how much I´d explained to her that I was fully grown, both physically and mentally, her words of false understanding just increased my anger.

I had talked to her about maybe shielding my thoughts from time to time, but with one disapproving look from my father towards me, and a pleading one towards my mother, that option was ruled out, too. The look in her eyes afterwards told me she wished to have decided differently, however. Not that it mattered.

The rest of the family had kept out of this as much as possible, knowing that Edward´s and Bella´s parenting wasn´t really any of their business.

In the end, the blame for my anger, frustration, and increased sexual want landed of course on the vampire/human hormones that just increased clashing with an older age. After all, it was impossible for the daughter of Edward and Bella to be anything less than a flawless miracle and absolutely perfect, right?

`Fuck `em,´ I thought as I saw the classroom for Math in clear view at the end of the hall. I wouldn´t let those thoughts make my day even worse than it already was.

Barely through the threshold, my vampire instincts alerted me just in time to evade a tall figure positioning themselves in front of me, therefore successfully cutting off my way in. A look up, and I immediately identified the person with a tired groan.

Tall, blond-dyed, plastic Katharina Vechnov; one of the girls the world would be a better place without. The two puppets on her right and left stood some inches behind her, arms crossed and superior smirks on their faces as they watched the spectacle in amusement. I suddenly couldn´t help but feel as if I were in one of those really bad 90´s movie.

"Cullen," Katharina spat, her dark-brown eyes trained on mine in challenge.

I didn´t bother to reply, knowing whatever I´d say wouldn´t appease her or stop her from making a scene and embarrass herself.

"So, I hear your family´s not at school today. Hope your freak of a brother didn´t snap again and something… tragic happened this time."

A growl built in my chest as I realized what she meant. Only a week ago Jasper happened to be in class when a girl had accidently cut into her hand pretty badly. Alice hadn´t been able to warn him, and even though he´d been completely caught off guard, he´d hung on until the rest of my family stormed into the room with some excuse to get him out.

His resistance had worn out eventually, short before leaving the building, and my father and uncles had to step in. The result was a full blown wrestling match between Jasper and the rest of the boys, only stopped when teachers and the principal were called to the scene.

The news spread through school like wildfire, and endless rumors about the `when´s, `where´s, `how´s, and `why´s circulated from student to student. All of it complete nonsense of course, but amusing nonetheless.

Still, we were all extremely proud of Jasper for holding out so long. A few years ago, that injured girl wouldn´t have lasted a fraction of a second, and the fact that the ignorant human in front of me made so light of his accomplishment – though she didn´t realize it – and the insinuation behind her words made my blood boil.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, and plastered a non-threatening smile on my face.

"Thanks for your concern, but everything´s fine. The rest of my family just went camping today, seeing that it´s just such a rare beautiful day today."

She looked in barely concealed disappointment at me, probably having hoped for a big scandal that´d actually make her important for a few moments before broadcasting it to the whole school.

`Bitch,´ I thought with waning patience for her attitude.

"Well," she started, flipping a blond lock behind her shoulder as an innocent smile appeared on her face. "I guess your family can afford skipping a few days. Your whore of a sister – what´s her name again… Bella? – doesn´t suck the principal off for nothing after all."

Before I was able to form a thought, a frightening emotion I couldn´t exactly identify rushed through me, and I felt something shift inside of me. My body moved forward, almost on its own accord, and I vaguely registered my hand grasping soft fabric and pushing against a hard surface.

My breath quickened as I almost felt something familiar rushing through the warm body only inches away from mine. In the distance, I heard voices, loud and scared, trying to penetrate the haze around me, but I paid them no heed.

Hands on my body; shoulder, arms, ribcage, hips. The almost unbearable heat of everything – myself - came to the forefront of my mind for the first time. Despite the already increased temperature of my body due to my obvious genetic circumstances, my skin suddenly felt as if held into a full tank of acid, the chemical quickly burning down the flesh in painful waves.

Blood rushed in scorching rivers of lava through my veins, my muscles felt extruded almost to the point of bursting, and even the air invading my nostrils and mouth in short, quick puffs, felt like it would burn me up from the inside.

I knew I should have felt scared in that instance, feared for my life, but I somehow didn´t. The beating drum of my heartbeat had a disconcerting calming effect, almost as if Jasper was exercising his power to the fullest on me.

A small smile formed on my lips at the thought of him, and the blurred image in front of me slowly shifted into focus. I had to blink a few times before a clear image appeared, but I was already aware of the familiar voices echoing around me, the strong grips of ice-cold hands on my arms and shoulders, the looks of horror, disappointment, and confusion on me.

That's when the image cleared, and I saw the wide, terrified eyes staring down at me. My one hand buried in the fabric of her blouse, crushing her inescapably against the wall next to the door, the other hand holding her up on her throat in a hard grasp, her feet barely able to reach the ground to support herself.

I cocked my head to the side, wondering how the hell this had happened, then slowly let go of her. She slumped down to the ground, heavily heaving and disbelieving eyes still on me.

I didn´t know what compelled me to send her a smug grin, but before I could ponder about that anymore, the grip on my arm tightened and I was pulled out of the room in a haste. One last look cast back, I saw the horrified faces of students, their gaze pulled between my leaving figure and… Carlisle, heatedly trying to calm the situation and the principal down with Jasper´s help. They both looked decidedly out of place in their huge black coats and hoods, but I quickly realized that the weather conditions wouldn´t permit anything less.

`Wait, when the hell did they get here?´ I wondered as I was pulled through the halls and the parking lot towards Emmett´s jeep.

For the first time thoroughly evaluating my surroundings, I noticed my father and mother both at each of my side, keeping a strong grip on my arms, and trying to keep their composure while still in public. In the front Emmett and Rose walked at a brisk pace, exchanging worried looks and whispering words too quiet to hear for me. A bit secluded from them was Alice, guiltily biting her lips and repeatedly running her hand through her short spikes.

I wanted to say something – anything – to soothe their pain. I wanted to tell Alice that it wasn´t her fault; that there was no way she could have known what was going to happen. I wanted to tell Emmett and Rose that I was okay, that they needn´t worry, that they did a good job raising me. And my parents; I wanted to apologize, to tell them I loved them, that it wasn´t their fault, and that I was thankful for all they did and sacrificed for me.

It seemed like the right moment to tell them all that, but I couldn´t. My mouth wouldn´t open, my vocal chords wouldn´t obey, the oxygen in my lungs wouldn´t supply for the need to form the letters.

The words just felt all too wrong.

--

I didn´t even notice I disconnected from the real world again until I was unkindly thrown back into awareness. It felt like a bucket of cold water releasing right over your head. All the emotions, images and impressions bombard you at once, coming in one relentless tide of information, your mind going momentarily into overdrive, trying to process the jumbled mass.

Disorientation was the first thing I felt as a result of the aforementioned. It didn´t take long for me to realize I was back at home, sitting on the living room couch with eight pairs of eyes on me. As far as I could tell, the emotions ranged from worried to confused to curious and as far as to amused (but that was only Emmett, so I didn´t really put any weight on that).

The ride here I couldn´t remember, but that was the last of my worries at the moment. It seemed like they were all waiting for me to do or say something, so I tentatively held up a hand for a small wave, assessing with mild content that the burning I had felt before completely vanished.

Before I could form another thought, though, a weight pressed me back into the cushions, and a moment later my mother´s dry-sobs filled the room, muffled only by the fabric of my woolen pullover.

"Oh baby," she hiccupped and ran a hand through my hair, "I´m so glad you´re okay. We thought for a moment we--"

She broke off at that part, and I knew exactly what she´d meant. I gently put my arms around her and pulled her cold frame closer.

"Sorry, mom. I´m fine now," I assured her firmly. Something still didn´t sit right with me, but right now I didn´t want to add to her worries.

After a few moments she composed herself and sat back up. I gave her a small smile and turned back to the rest of my family, all standing around me and obviously more relaxed now that they´d seen I was responsive at least.

Carlisle was the next at my side, fussing over me and giving me an impromptu medical exam. He checked my heartbeat and temperature, noting that there was nothing out of norm (for a half-vampire) with it. All the while, my uncles, aunts and father were involved in a rather heated discussion about something that was again talked about too quietly for me to understand.

When the attention was back on me, I decided to take the chance and apologize before I´d get the untamed brunt of their anger.

"So," I began sheepishly, slowly feeling like myself again and realizing that my actions should´ve gotten me in deep shit. "First I want to say that I´m really sorry for what happened in school. I seriously can´t tell you what was going on with me… I felt like…"

I trailed off at their understanding and sympathetic glances. Frowning, I felt like they were all in on a joke that I obviously wasn´t.

"What´s going on, guys?" I asked, my suspicious gaze traveling each of their faces. They all looked unsure of what to say, or maybe even reluctant to say anything at all.

After a pregnant silence, Carlisle took it upon himself to explain, pointedly ignoring my father´s glare.

"Renesmee, do you remember anything about what happened from the moment you," he stopped, clearly searching for an appropriate word that wouldn´t hurt my feelings. I could guess, "grabbed that girl until your mother embraced you?"

I thought for a moment about my answer as I felt his probing gaze on me. I remembered the verbal confrontation with Katharina, but everything up until I `woke up´ on the couch a few minutes ago, was either an uncontrollable blur, or completely swiped off of my mind.

I told him exactly that, and was rewarded with a round of murmurs throughout my family. I looked around, waiting for someone to finally tell me what was going on, but nothing. I felt the frown etch permanently on my face, as the discussion around me increased in intensity.

`Why the fuck is no one telling me anything?´

`They won´t tell you,´ I heard a voice that sounded suspiciously close to mine resonating through my head, and stiffened in shock. I clenched my eyes shut at the unpleasant feeling that suddenly seemed to envelop me. `They don´t think you´re ready to hear the truth; they´re scared of how you´ll react.´

I ignored the voice and looked around, hoping someone had finally addressed me and I didn´t just imagine myself talking to me, but they were still too caught up in themselves to even look at me.

`You´re not a nutcase, Ness, so stop imagining things that aren´t there,´ I mentally told myself and repeated that mantra a few times until I was sure there was nothing but myself in my head.

I shook my head, and cleared my throat, trying to get some attention. No one even spared a glance towards me, and even my verbal try of, "Guys, will you please tell me what´s going on?" was drowned under the heated atmosphere they created around themselves, outside of me.

`Do you want them to hear you?´

I jumped at the voice and looked around, a bit more frantic this time. Nothing. No one was talking to me. This wasn´t possible.

`Everything is possible, Renesmee. As long as you want it to be, it is.´

"Who the fuck are you," I whispered incredulously, not caring about my language in front of my family. They probably didn´t hear anyway.

To my surprise, however, they did. The whispers slowly came to a halt and I suddenly had their undivided attention. Not exactly how I wanted it, but better than nothing.

"Who are you talking to, Nessie?" My dad came towards me, a cautious look in his eyes.

I swallowed hard and tried to block out all the thoughts that pointed towards me belonging into a mental institution. `No need for them to think me nutcase-crazy… even if I maybe am.´

"I can´t read it," he suddenly clarified, and I looked up at him in confusion.

At my questioning gaze, he elaborated, a small smile tugging at his lip, "Your mind. I know how you adjust your breathing when you try to clear your mind of anything incriminating."

`You can thank me for that,´ the voice sounded again from inside my mind, and this time I felt the emotion behind the words. A swell of amusement filled me up, and I rolled my eyes. Hoping I didn´t look too lunatic for rolling my eyes without much of a reason to them, I quickly got back to the subject at hand.

"So how…" I trailed off, not sure exactly who I was asking.

`Secret.´

"I don´t have an answer for that, but Carlisle already contacted Nahuel and his sisters. Unfortunately, despite sharing your genetic setup, they don´t have an idea either what´s going on."

`Liar. Don´t believe him, Renesmee. They have a very specific idea of what´s happening, they just don´t want to tell you.´

I looked at the other´s for confirmation. Only a few could hold my gaze, and even then not for long. They clearly didn´t agree with withholding the truth from me, if the voice in my head is to be trusted.

"Is that so…" I said quietly, making it clear with the tone of my voice that I knew there was more to it than he had told me.

Letting it go for now, though, I asked something that was plaguing my mind since I got here.

"So, what happened when I was… `knocked out´, I guess?"

They all knew what I was talking about, but the shuffling and the sending each other awkward glances started up again.

`They won´t tell me, will they?´ I sighed when I realized a moment later that I just consciously asked the voice in my head a question.

`No need to worry, hon. I won´t tell anyone if you won´t.´

`Annoying prick,´ I thought back at the voice after I felt its shameless amusement at how easily it was able to ruffle my feathers.

"Well," my father´s voice brought me back to the present, "you were mostly silent and unresponsive. Nothing that needs to worry you, sweety."

`Yeah, what needs to worry you is how the fuck he´s able to lie like that and still keep a straight face.´

I sighed and ran a hand through my bronze locks. Even I knew by now that he was lying right in my face, but I was just too exhausted to find any motivation to argue a lost cause. He stood by what he decided was the best and safest for me, and if keeping me out of the loop accomplished that, there was no way he´d budge.

"Alright," I gave in and forced a yawn. Anything to get me out of here; I may accept being lied to for now, but I sure as hell didn´t like it. "I feel kinda tired. If it´s okay, I´ll just go up to my room and take a nap."

Not waiting for an answer, I stood up and quickly made my way up the stairs, avoiding any eye contact with my family. Barely up the last step, I heard the hushed whispers and murmurs emerge once more in full force.

I sighed and shook my head in frustration. `At least I can get a few answers out of that voice now.´

Ignoring how weird that actually sounded, I threw myself into the heaps of blankets on my bed (all more for comfort than for warmth), getting ready for a good round of twenty questions.

`So,´ I started, quickly deciding which of my thousand questions required an answer the most. `How exactly did you get in my head, and why?´

I waited patiently for a reply, but after about two or three minutes I wondered if I may have done something wrong and that was why my words didn´t reach the voice. After a moment of contemplation and another few tries with different questions, the response was no different.

Growling in disbelief, I hurled the pillow above my head off the bed. With a force that burst the seams open and resulted in a small explosion of feathers in that part of the room, it connected mercilessly with the wall.

`Well, fuck you too, voice,´ I snapped in my mind, hoping the words would somehow reach their destination.

With an indignant huff, I threw the covers over myself and shut my eyes tightly, wishing for nothing more than unconsciousness to finally set an end to this bitch of a day.

I briefly wondered, though, if the sadness that slowly crept up was my own or just another fragment of my imagination.

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End Chapter 1