They call her Human Torch! Chapter 1.

Hey guys, here I am, reposting this story again. I lost all inspiration last time and thought I could take it down, work on it in the future and post it once it was done. I honestly did not think anyone would notice or care so it has been very touching that so many have reached out asking about this story. I have cut some details out that did not add to it and were not going anywhere (no major stuff!), I have tried to fix grammar mistakes but I know I probably have not gotten them all. This story is still not done, I honestly still don't know where I want to go with it and I cannot promise when or even if I will finish this story but at least what is written down I am posting and hopefully it is still as appealing to those that have missed it. Thank you all for your kind messages, enjoy. -Karina(:

Emily pov – La push

"Em, is the breakfast almost ready? I'm starving!"

I chuckled lightly at the ridiculous statement.

"Embry you boys are always starving! Besides we are going to wait for Bella."

Cue collective groan from pack.

"But she isn't here yet and we are hungry!"

A ball of emotion struck her throat and she tried swallowing it down.

"Quil we are waiting for Bella! Its her last day here, we are having our last meal together an- and."

I couldn't help the crack in my voice or the tears that filled my eyes. Sam got up and wrapped his arms around me. Trying to sooth me the best he could while looking out to the rest of the guys and Leah.

"Em is right, tomorrow she leaves for Arizona and we don't know when we will see her next so lets make the most out of today's bonfire and no guilt trips on her."

I knew everyone would put a brave face for her today even though we would miss her a lot.

"I know some of you think her going away isn't what is best but put yourselves in her shoes, she can't possibly be comfortable at home and if she has a chance to go get some distractions then it can't hurt."

It came as a surprise to everyone when Paul was the one that bonded most with Bella these past 2 months. Seth sighed petulantly.

"I don't understand why she can't just sell her house and buy another one here on the reservation, then she would never be sad and lonely and she wouldn't have to leave."

Leah sighed in annoyance before slapping the back of her brother's head.

"She can't just buy a house here, she isn't Quileute. Besides, even if she could, she would never sell Charlie's house, he died only 2 months ago, the memories are too fresh. I think leaving will be good for her, plus that science thing and the internship she scored in New York with her friend, is gonna look great on her resume."

Jake scoffed.

"Forget the internship, the fact that she missed 3 months of school only to go back and have her test scores so high that she tested out of high school and got her diploma early is impressive enough for any resume."

I was so proud of her for her strength and achievements the past few months, it was February and while every one else had 4 more months of school to go, Bella had enough credits to test out of high school, so she did. She was so full of grief when the leech she calls Victoria, killed her dad but she pulled herself together and told Sam every single thing she knew about vampires, whatever it took to catch and kill her she had said, but it was too tricky and so far no one had gotten close enough. I was pulled out of my thoughts by the loud rumble of Bella's old truck.

Bella's pov- The next morning.

I was on my way to the Port Angeles airport being driven by Sam and Emily, there wasn't any conversation but the silence was comforting, everything we had to say to each other had already been said at last nights bonfire, it had been emotional to say the least. I had my moments of doubt, wondering why I would leave the only group of people who truly understood the supernatural crap going on in my life, but then I would get home and I was met with silence instead of the TV set on some sport channel and I remembered why I needed to go. The memories, the grief, and the guilt were all too much. Every inch of that house reminded me of the people who left me, the people who weren't there to protect me and my dad from the threat they introduced me to, the threat that cost my father his life. I took the cowards way out and I simply left it behind.

When my old science teacher from middle school found out from my one and only friend in phoenix, Darcy, that I had graduated early he called to congratulate me, but unfortunately it was a week after Charlie had been killed and his festive speech had quickly turned into a grim one. One month after that, Mr. Dalton called once again, saying he had recently become an activity director at the Arizona science center and that he was looking for someone who could demonstrate some fun looking experiments to kids that came in on field trips. The 'position' would be payed in professional workshops hosted by Arizona state university. I thought about it for all of 2 seconds before agreeing. That same day I called Darcy and she confessed she told Mr. Dalton that I could use a break from Forks, her family quickly opened up their home but I decided to stay in Renee's old house, she and Phil lived in Florida now so I would have a house full of happy memories to myself, it would be a good change. Hopefully.

.

.

It had taken a couple of weeks to get in the groove of things but eventually I had. At first Darcy didn't know how to talk to me, it was difficult hiding so many aspects of my life from my oldest friend but eventually she treated me just like she did before I left, and that was all I needed to feel like I could move past my grief. Part time I did the explanations of experiments for the field trips schools would take to the science center and the rest of my time was spent at the university doing month long workshops. At first I was a little lost since I was advanced for high school science but not college level science. My first month was a course in computer science, second month was a course in computer security, third month was algorithms, and this last month I was doing a crash course on software engineering. It was the first week of June and by the end of next week I would finally be in New York. Darcy had already applied to intern for the summer at Von Doom Industries. The courses I had been taking was the only reason that my application was accepted last minute. We were going to be given a 2 bedroom apartment to share and since they were giving us the living quarters we would be paid 16.33 an hour instead of the 29.50 everyone else was getting. I had been in regular contact with everyone back home, they sometimes all got together in Sam and Emily's living room and called me on speaker. The same couldn't be said for Renee unfortunately, we never talked unless I remembered to call her and that had been less often now.

In New York-

I really loved New York, the people, the food. Everything was different from what I was use to, much more lively. It was the 3rd week of July and we had been here a month now. Darcy lasted all of 2 weeks as an intern at Von Doom Ind. She is naturally outgoing and says what she thinks so working with such stiff, serious people took a lot out of her. It was perfect for me, they constantly had me doing something and it was all a great big distraction, I was quickly moved up through all the interns when they realized I didn't put anything off. So while Darcy moved on to intern for Jane, a smart, kind lady I had instantly bonded with, I moved on to intern directly under the supervision of Ms. Storm, the director of genetic research. She had told me I had potential and she took me under her wing to give me more opportunity to grow and I definitely had learned many things, I had even met the CEO a few times. The latest project she was working on was in partnership with Mr. Richards. I wasn't allowed in all the meetings but I was absolutely fascinated by Mr. Richards theories of evolution and cosmic energy. I suspected Ms. Storm and Mr. Richards had a personal history, the way they looked at each other told me they still had feelings for each other but they acted as professional as could be. I really wish I could go with them to the space station, that would be an incredible experience but there's no way I could even ask, there would be no point in taking me since I play no role in the research, I would only get in the way of everyone.

When I got home I started on dinner as per usual, Darcy and Jane couldn't cook to save their lives. I really loved this city and a part of me wanted to stay but I was also very excited to move into the dorms at Culver university, it is in Willowdale, Virginia. Jane graduated from there with a major in Astrophysics, she said it's a small but beautiful town. Darcy was majoring in political science and I was going for computer science.

Walking into Ms. Storm's office the following Monday, I immediately knew something was wrong. Standing in the room was Mr. Von Doom, the CEO, Mr. Richards, and Ms. Storm. All looking at me expectantly.

"Take a seat Ms. Swan."

I was tempted to drop my butt to the floor right away but instead I took a deep breath and slowly walked to the only seat right in front of the 3 intimidating figures. Ms. Storm tried smiling at me to calm my nerves, but they were already shot to hell.

"Ms. Swan, as you are aware, we leave tomorrow for Reeds experiment. Jennifer called last night and unfortunately her son had another seizure and is in the hospital, she won't be able to go. Since I know how interested and enthused you were at the meetings with Reed, I spoke with him and Victor to see if you could replace Jennifer. They agreed to allow it under some strict rules. You are of course only going as an observer, you will not be tasked to do anything and you will not under any circumstance help anyone do anything, no matter what they say. If you want to go, you will go down to HR and sign new contracts and nondisclosure agreements. Bella it is very important that you understand that you can't get in anyone's way up there. I- no, WE are taking you because we see your hard work and responsibility. I have no doubt that you will value this opportunity but before you sign any contract, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me you will listen to everything we tell you. Understood?"

I was sure they would take this opportunity away, they had to once they saw what an idiot I was being, my mind couldn't even begin to process what was going on.

"Me? You're… letting me space?! Is this really happening?"

She simply gave me a patient smile, waiting for me to pull myself together.

"I- I'm honored that you are letting me go, I truly value this, and I know how important it is to all of you. I swear I will stay out of your way, I'll sign anything!"

She smiled for a second but quickly took on a stern posture.

"You will not sign the paperwork right away, I want you to pick it up, go home and spend the rest of the day reading every fine print on them before signing them. There will be a document with all the requirements and guidelines. I want you to meet me here at 6:00 am sharp to review everything and brief you to the team."

I stumbled to my feet, still reeling.

"Understood, I will be here. Thank you, thank you all for this opportunity, I am very grateful."

I will never be sure of how I got home that day or when I dialed the phone, but Sam's panicked voice brought me out of my head and back into reality.

"Hello?"

Hearing him sigh in relief before he started talking again.

"Thank god! Why didn't you answer sooner? You had Em worried when she answered and you didn't say anything. what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! You'll never believe it! Are the guys there? Get them together and put me on speaker!"

"Uh yeah, hold on, everyone is in the back yard. GUY'S! COME IN HERE! BELLA'S ON THE PHONE!"

I only had to wait a few seconds before I heard the scraping of chairs and I knew they were around the dining room table.

"Guys! I'm going to space!"

There was a big collective "What?!" along with Quil's "Is she drunk?"

"No Quil I'm not! I told you guys about Mr. Richards theories remember? Well some lady can't go because her son got sick so Ms. Storm said I can go if I don't touch anything and stay out of their way. Can you believe it?! I'm going to space tomorrow guys!"

"Tomorrow?!"

"Are you sure they weren't messing with you?"

"How safe is it?" Of course that had to come from Emily, she really had taken up the role of pack mother.

"Oh don't worry about that Em! We are going on the company's private space station. They invested billions of dollars into it, it's safe."

"Well that's great Bella, I'm very happy for you!" -Leah

"We know how hard you have been working, they must have seen it too Bells." -Paul

"Bella we are very proud of you! You have accomplished so much, in less than a year your life has completely changed and you have remained strong through all of it. Charlie would have been so incredibly proud of you sweetheart." -Emily

Tears stung my eyes thinking of Charlie, but I couldn't dwell on that now, not if I wanted to get through the rest of the day.

"I know Em. Thank you."

Seth cleared his throat and I had to smile remembering how much he hated awkward silences

"Sooo hey Bells, can you take a camera up there? You know, to take a picture of all the aliens?!"

"Seth! there's no such thing" I told him while trying to hold back my own laughter.

"Guys I gotta go, just wanted to call and give my good news. I have a lot of reading to do for tomorrow."

"Sure Bella, thanks for checking in. Hey, are you going to tell your mom?"

"Honestly Sam, I hadn't even thought about it. The last time I called her was right before boarding the flight to New York, she sounded surprised, like she forgot that I was moving here for the summer. I just don't think she cares anymore so no, I don't think I will. Coincidentally, can I put you as my emergency contact on these forms?"

I think I caught him off guard because he sounded surprised when he answered.

"Of course you can Bella."

"Thanks. Okay, talk to you guys as soon as I am back on earth! That sounds so strange!"

We all laughed as we said our goodbyes.

That night Darcy tackled me to the floor when she heard the news, even shy Jane was so excited that she joined us on the carpet. Jane spent over an hour helping me read through all the papers that night, she even explained some terms that I had never heard before.
"I have colleagues that aspire to go do research in space, even as an observer like you, that would be the height of their careers and here you are doing it right off the bat! Be proud Bella."
I hugged them both before going to sleep, knowing I would be long gone by the time they woke up tomorrow morning.

In the end I didn't sleep at all, I was just too excited. The next morning passed in a blur of protocols, everything was so official and very boring. It took us hours to finally take off and I honestly felt like I would puke when we did but the feeling quickly passed. Once we were able to walk around, Mr. Richards and his partner Mr. Grimm started getting everything ready, everyone was given a suit including me and we were instructed to put in on. It was clear Mr. Grimm was not happy with how skin tight the suits were.

"I don't know whether I should be flying or doing swan lake in these suits, I mean who the hell came up with these?"

Just as he finished his sentence Ms. Storm comes around the corner and answers him.

"Victor did, the synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your body's individual needs."

"See now that means, it keeps the cool stuff cool and the hot stuff hot."

Her little brother answered. I think his name is Johnny but we haven't talked other than when we were introduced and he tried flirting with me. His personality actually reminded me of Paul. I thought he had a sexy smirk and was overall very good looking but too straight forward in his sexual innuendos.

"Wow, fantastic! Material made from self regulating unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this."

"Great mind think alike."

Ms. Storm responded kind of hurt, I think she was hoping that he would take interest in her. The views were simply stunning, I didn't have a camera but even if I did, no way would a picture capture this beauty. After getting a tour of the whole station, we were led to a room full of monitors.

"We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here."

"Is it safe?"

"The shields on the station should protect us."

Mr. Grimm's face twisted into a grimace.

"Should?"

Mr. Von Doom came around the corner then.

"What's the matter Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?"

Mr. Richards chose to ignore him and spoke directly to Mr. Grimm.

"Lets start loading the samples, get your suit ready Ben."

"So I see you are still doing the heavy lifting? Maybe you should have stayed in the lab, field work never suited you."

He had an arrogant smirk on his face and in that moment the asshole looked just like Edward did when he got me to do something I wasn't comfortable with. I missed Mr. Grimm's response but I did hear Mr. Von Doom ask for a moment alone with Ms. Storm. Mr. Richards led Mr. Grimm and I out, I stayed out of the way with him as we watched Mr. Grimm go in the airlock chamber then out of the station. I still couldn't stop marveling at the incredible view.

I was sitting against the wall by the monitors and Ms. Storm was not back yet. Almost 10 minutes had passed since Mr. Grimm went to put the flowers in position. The monitors suddenly started beeping and Mr. Richards got a panicked look on his face as he read the screens.

"That can't be right."

The speaker announced "Event threshold in T minus 9 minutes and 47 seconds."

"That's impossible! It should be 7 hours!"

I kept quiet, knowing he was talking to himself and voicing my nerves would not help. He quickly got up and ran to the room Mr. Von Doom and Ms. Storm were in. I stayed where I was, not wanting to get in the middle of anything. They both came running back with an annoyed looking Mr. Von Doom following slowly behind.

"Victor, Reed's right, we have less than 6 minutes!"

Mr. Richards ran to where I was, by the air chamber. We could see Mr. Grimm from here and Johnny asked what was going on. Mr. Richards spoke quickly into the ear piece he had on.

"Ben you need to get inside now!"

"I ain't done arranging your flowers yet, egghead!"

"Ben turn around!"

He paused and turned to look before his fearful voice responded.

"Guys I'm not gonna make it!"

"Ben you gotta jump! It's the only way!"

He gave a good jump but lack of gravity was working against him and slowing him down. The cloud was coming fast. Ms. Storm ran in and pushed me into the room where we had left Mr. Von Doom.

"Victor is closing the shields. Stay here Bella!"

The last thing I saw before the door finished closing was Mr. Richards, Ms. Storm, and her brother all with their hands on the glass of the air chamber, waiting and watching for Mr. Grimm. I choked back on a sob as the situation actually hit me. Anger overtook me as I looked at the man before me, he had closed the shields on innocent people knowing they could die, just so that he could be safe. A staff member ran in then and pressed a button that started to close the door he had just came through.

"Sir! Please follow me, it seems this area is not as secure as we thought."

Mr. Von Doom had already started walking towards the man and quickly ducked under the closing door. When I started running towards the door my body chose the worst moment to show just how easily I can trip over nothing. Looking back when he heard the thump from my fall, he merely sneered and turned to keep walking. The door finished closing and I stayed on the ground, scooting until my back was against a wall.

I didn't know if the cosmic energy would get in here, if it did, I didn't know if it would kill me; what I did know was that I felt white hot fury ripping through my body. I was never a violent person, never had I gotten in a fight with anyone but at the moment my head filled with people that had let me down in my life. Mr. Von Doom had shown his true colors, he had a colder heart than James had ever shown. The Cullen's, they should have taken care of Victoria, they should have stayed away from me if they knew Edward would never turn me. I tried to hate Victoria and blame only her for killing Charlie but the truth was that I blamed Edward more. He chose to leave, he took my choices away from me when he left, he took my future. I stupidly chose to trust them and let them in even ignoring my instincts, for a crush, for curiosity.

I even felt hatred for my own mother at the moment, she took my time away from Charlie because of her own needs of adventure, she knew what she really wanted out of life and the responsibility of a child didn't fit into the equation, she was a selfish person. I recall the conversation on the phone when I called her crying, telling her Charlie had died. Her voice didn't even waver in a hint of sadness as she told me she would call me back, they were about to announce the raffle winners in a festival she was in. She never called back, and she never showed up to the funeral.

As the count down on the monitor ended, I saw a pinkish element enter through the base of the door, seconds later it reached me and I felt my skin start to burn and my throat start to constrict. The burning escalated until it surpassed the pain of James's bite, it had me screaming and withering on the floor. Flashing the faces of the pack and Darcy through my memory one last time, I finally gave into the heat and took a deep breath of the cosmic air.