Black Sheep

She hears the bushes behind her move and her legs take off into a sprint without a second thought. Her already torn clothes tearing more as she brushes against branches and thorns violently. She wants to stop, to take a breath, to cry, but she can’t, not as long as the thing that is hunting through these woods is still tailing her so closely. Her feet pick up speed at the thought, her mind screaming against her body to keep going, no matter the pain. Whatever was behind her would surely be more of an issue than some scrapes, should it catch up to her.

A scream rips from her throat as her foot catches a large tree root that had grown through the dirt of the makeshift path. She was no longer on the usual rundown hiking trail she knew so well, no longer could she rely on her past knowledge of these parts, not now that whatever was following her had pushed her farther and farther into the woods.

She lets out another cry as she tumbles and hits the ground near the root, this part of the woods less walked than her usual route, the dirt so much grittier than that of the paths further to the edge of the forest. Dirt and moss digging into the brutal scrapes that had been etched into her knees thanks to the sharp rocks that also accompanied the dirt of the forest floor. Another rustle snaps her out of her pain, she needs to hurry up and get moving again. Her hands reach down to brush some of the dirt in an attempt to assess the damage of her wounds, her pursuer waits for no one, the sounds continue to close in on her.

Quickly, at the prompting of a rustle that sounded a bit too close to her current location than could ever be comfortable she vaults to her feet and takes off into a sprint once again. Attempting to run in the opposite direction of where she heard the vicious mystery last sounds of movement. Well, where she thinks she heard movement, with her pulse thumping in her ears and her ragged breathing filling the silence of the nature around her she could only be so sure.

Her mind continues its flight or fight song as her running leads her to a dead-end, her mind on autopilot so lost in the motions that she runs straight into a large wall of petrified tree and rock. Her body collides with the surface so hard she rebounds backwards, losing balance and hitting the hard ground once again, her hands and head taking the blow this time. Taking deep breaths she tries to regain the wind that had abruptly left her lungs seconds prior, her head spinning in what she suspects may be a concussion.

Once again she's snapped out of her daze by a noise close by to her, head jolting from side to side in order to try and figure out where the noise comes from she only makes her dizzies worse, losing even more of her minimal balance she slumps down slightly. Her mind goes blank as fear takes hold of her shivering body.

She tries to do something, anything to get away, but her limbs are heavy as the figure makes its way through the trees and begins to approach. Her breaths are all she can hear as panic takes a hold of her synapses, too many connections all going off at the same time. She often gets panic attacks, something she's currently learning doesn't really help with life or death situations.

The figure is only centimetres away from her now leaning towards her with predatory intent. Something on its face glints in the moonlight but she’s too stricken with fear to try and figure out what she is even seeing. Red eyes meet green, one filled with glee and the others unfocused with pupils blown wide. She tries to move but she's frozen to the spot.

The figure begins to close the distance between them, a smile of malice playing across their face in an almost mocking manner as if they had known this whole time that her escape attempt would be a failure. Maybe they did know that. She couldn't be certain anymore.

She begins to think that maybe this THING had known the outcome of its chase all along, that it was merely toying with its prey. In a cruel game of cat and mouse.

Suddenly there's a wetness on her neck, slimy and warm, she thinks it might be a tongue but she's not lucid enough to be sure. A pressure builds quickly in her mind. Like static on a television set. Her senses become overwhelmed as the creature before her prepares to strike its prey. It builds and builds and builds and then,

Nothing.

Faith wakes from the prison her mind had created in her dreams, in a cold sweat. Her clothing, completely soaked by perspiration Had she been sweating that much overnight? Her mind a hazy mess of emotions she can't yet decipher. Fear? She wonders as wondering is all she can do in the moment. No matter how hard she tries to remember she fails, the dream isn't clear enough for her to recall any of its events.

She picks herself up off of her bed slowly, still attempting to process something her mind seems to be adamant about forgetting. She begins to flatten some of the creases on the comforter laying on top of her in an attempt to calm her racing heart. Her back pressing into the pillows behind her as she takes deep breaths to regulate her erratic breathing. Her attempts calm her somewhat initially but the fear of the unknown takes hold and she's quickly lost to her own worry. She sits there in her cavern of disarray trying to recall something, anything about the dream that has her so worked up. Nothing comes to her, her panic only growing in response.

Faith’s spiralling is only interrupted when she feels a cool breeze licking gently at her now uncovered arms. Holding back a shiver she throws the blankets off her body as she gets up to investigate the source of the breeze. Once off the bed, the air feels cold and sufforcating, she presses on. Her bare feet padding softly against the uncovered hardwood of her bedroom as she moves towards the window above her bed.

“Huh?” Faith mutters to herself, mulling over her memories as she didn't remember leaving it open last night, fearful that she would get too cold in the middle of the night considering the current season. She probably just left it open without thinking, she’s been stressed lately so she wouldn’t put it past herself to do so.

Her eyes travel slowly from the newly closed window to her shelves, looking over her little collection of favourite objects in an attempt to clear her mind. As she takes in her little collection of found objects she finds herself smiling slightly.

Shaking herself out of her daze she moves towards her dresser to collect some of the clothes she’ll need for the new day. It's better to keep moving forward than to get stuck in her thoughts anyway.

She goes through her morning routine quickly after its initial hiccups, the actions of having her shower, breakfast and getting dressed running bringing her mind to a familiar and comforting place.

Her thoughts becoming relatively clear as she makes her way out of her house and begins her walk to school. As she walks down the road she finds herself feeling lighter than she had been the past few days. This, however, comes to an abrupt stop as she passes the woods that she usually uses to get to school quickly. Her mind suddenly going blank as she recedes back into a similar haze that she had found herself in during the past few days.

Her thoughts travel in that same repetitive cycle even as she moves through the rest of the morning, passing through her classes without thought or interaction. Her daze consisting of countless jumbled and unrelenting thoughts, and a constant, pricking fear coursing through her body at every movement she makes. Walking through the school's overbearing corridors with her signature quie and avoidant style. A walk she had picked up from years of being the black sheep of Forks High School.
Her walking leads her into the cafeteria unconsciously, her body briefly forgetting the mental barriers she had put up about going there alone. Besides she had been avoiding Mia lately so she couldn't have made her own food today in the kitchen anyway. She travels through the line for food still trapped in her thoughts, seemingly completely unaware of the steadily growing murmurs around the room, questioning her presence.

Rumours that she sits out behind the school smoking pervading the discourse because Jessica Stanley had seen Faith out there a few times last winter when she was trying to find a spot to fool around with her latest boyfriend. Obviously, the brunette couldn't keep that particularly juicy Faith tidbit to herself.

The level of noise falls to a whisper as Faith takes a seat at the only empty table in the cafeteria, a small table towards the fire exit that the students have been avoiding for years because of its uneven legs. Her food tray clattering loud and unceremoniously onto the plastic-coated wood of the cheap school table. Its contents are quite miserable, some sloppy looking mac and cheese and a sandwich of mystery meat and a small milk carton sitting strewn about on the red food tray. The tired-looking brunette taking slow bites of her lack-lustre meal with her vacant eyes as she stares out the window beside the table.

A quiet whisper starts from another table slightly away from the rest of the groups in the cafeteria. The owner of the whispers eyes resting his gaze on the brunette across the room with an unreadable expression, mouth downturned into a contemplative frown at the girl's dishevelled appearance. The rest of the occupants of the table seem to also feel the disrupted aura emanating from the girl, their gaze slowly travelling between her and the two residents of the table who are now transfixed on her melancholy presence.

“Oh,” The fae-like resident of the table mutters gently, her brow furrowing at how out of sorts the girl seems to be. She turns to the rest of her table, her gaze now portraying her confusion. “Has something happened to Faith?”

“I’m not sure. She seemed slightly agitated and upset yesterday but the emotions she's feeling currently seem much more intense than what I had seen from her yesterday.” The male who responded lifting his gaze in a similarly questioning manner, unsure how to precede with how strong the emotions of the girl whom he has suddenly become quite drawn to as of late. His attention is drawn away from the subject of his staring by the whispers of their classmates becoming louder when they notice that the fawn-haired girl isn't leaving or trying to rebut their murmurs in any way.

“Oh my god, she's being all freaky again!” Comments a male voice that none of the Cullens can really attribute a name to. Laughter erupts from the direction the voice originates, their classmates agreeing with the faceless voice. The sounds dying down as he continues his tirade. “I bet she’s involved in those attacks or something, she's such a weirdo.”

“Yeah! Weird shit always happens around her. I swear she's like a magnet for bad luck or something, you know what happened to her parents.” Another faceless voice agrees from a different table, apparently having heard the current topic of conversation. Her voice lowers slightly as she switches into a sort of gossip-mode “She usually stays out of the way though, I don't think I’ve seen her eat out here in years.”

That makes Jaspers brow raise as he switches his focus back to his siblings, the rest of the students having quieted down to continue their wilder gossip. His eyes moving across his siblings, taking in their reactions to the newfound information. He pauses and raises his eyebrow when he reaches Edward and Bella, the two seemingly engaged in a silent conversation. They finish quickly and turn back towards the table with a more steely expression.

“Edward and I were in her biology class yesterday,” Bella pauses to consider her words, “She seemed distant, Jasper had seemed worried and mentioned that her emotions were pretty elevated after lunch so I asked Edward to take a look at what she was thinking and see if anything was wrong.”

“When I looked into her mind her thoughts were disjointed.” Edward frowns remembering what had happened the previous day, eyes darting from his siblings to the girl in question. “I only got to see her thoughts briefly before she lost it. She got excused from the lesson and didn't come back in the later periods.” He focuses his gaze towards the rest of his siblings. “I think she might have felt me trying to get in.”

“What?” Rosalie's eyes blow wide as looks at Edward and Bella. “She felt it and you didn't think to tell us? What the hell Edward.”

“I'm sorry, when she didn't come back I thought it was a one-time incident and she’d be fine when she came to school today.” His frown deepens as he wrings his hands together, his emotions portraying his genuine apology silently. “I really thought she’d be back to normal but it looks like she's worse. Sorry.”

“It’s okay Edward. You couldn’t have known.”

“I’d try looking at her thoughts again but I don't think it would go very well considering what happened last time. I think approaching her normal would be the best option.” As Edward retreats from the conversation with a small frown Jasper turns to his mate with a question on the tip of his tongue.

“Alice, have you seen anything?”

“No, I haven't seen any of the events surrounding her recently, the last vision I had concerning her was our first meetings.” Eyes widen around her as she continues to speak, “It's slightly concerning considering we’re our connection but I've never experienced anything like this so it might just be nothing to worry about.”

“I think it would be good to keep an eye on her anyway while trying to get to know her more.” Jasper turns to his siblings once again and watches them nod their heads in agreement. He once again turns his gaze towards Faith, his eyes hardening as he comes up with a plan of action. “I’ll go and sit with her and try to calm her slightly, enough to get through the day at least. I'm not sure if she'll last through the day otherwise.”

“That seems reasonable, just make sure to ease off on it if she reacts as she did with Edward, we don't want her to get more upset.” Jasper nods in his mate's direction, taking note of her frown and saddened eyes, it's hard to see their interesting little human this distressed. Even if she had only become known to them recently they had both undeniably felt the same spark they had when they first met all those years ago. It made them want to pursue her and coax her out of the shelf she had wound herself so tightly inside. It was a daunting task for the vampiric couple, though one they were starting to think they would be able to handle together.

The amber-eyed male stands up from his chair, glancing at Alice and the rest of his siblings before starting to walk towards the subject of their conversation. Faith, who was still staring into the distance as she had been since the start of the lunch period. Her eyes stay transfixed on a transparent nothingness up until she hears the scraping sound of the heavy metal chair moving across the linoleum as Jasper sits down.

The cafeteria suddenly seems quiet.

Faith is not sure if that's just her mind playing tricks on her and she's not sure if she cares. She feels like shit, she looks like shit and quite honestly wants to get through this day with as little interaction as possible. According to the sound of the chair across from her moving, God has forsaken her and her plans already.

She lifts her gaze, already mentally prepared to meet the eyes of one of the students that is less than a fan of her, and tell them to “fuck off” if the situation arises. (as it has quite a few times before). But as her green eyes meet stormy gold the words die in her throat. A feeling of calm that feels almost disgustingly artificial stretching through her mind and body.

Faith barely managed to stifle her shudder as the feeling takes a hold of her. The false pleasantries smothering her with its intensity. Her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape as she stares at the bronze coloured hair of one of her newest acquaintances. Jasper Hale. Faith briefly wonders if he's even real until he starts to speak to her.

“You okay ma’am?” He asks in that strangely southern drawl that could only belong to male Hale sibling. “I couldn't help but notice you seem a bit out of sorts today,” His brows furrow as his voice drops to a whisper as if the next piece of information is a secret to be just between the two of them. “My brother mentioned that you left class upset yesterday. He wanted to check on you himself but the two of you haven't spoken before so he worried you’d get agitated.”

His frown turns into a gentle smile, leaving his intentions clear and easily understood. His words denoted the truth, he was worried about her despondency today and had come to check up on her. The pit that had been bubbling away in Faith’s stomach suddenly widened at the revelation, threatening to swallow her whole.

It was overwhelming and confusing. She hadn’t had someone her age care for her like this in years and she and Jasper weren't even close friends, they were barely even acquaintances. How is she meant to process something she’s never experienced? She looks out the window once again utterly overwhelmed. Her eyes catch a glimpse of a bush moving in the distance and her paranoia from the past few days returns in full force. Her pulse thumping through her like the rhythm of a song.

A choked sob breaks its way out of the confines of her mouth before she has any hope of stopping it. Panic, that ragged emotion taking hold of her body and mind ripping apart the fragile control she had been exerting throughout the day. All this happening at the mere sight of an animal in the woods outside and a boy who was nice to her once? God, she feels pathetic.

The males gaze flashes from inquisitive to concerned in the blink of an eye as he feels Faith’s emotions tear through his layer of manipulated emotions with reckless abandon. His resolve being further shattered as he hears the noise she releases without meaning.

“Faith?”

“Um,” she pauses to shiver, attempting in vain to control the liquid emotion spilling down her cheeks. She takes in a deep, shuddering breath as she formulates the needed words. “Uh, I, -I think.” Another deep breath is taken as the girl wipes the sleeve of her jacket across her face. “I think I need to go somewhere now, yeah that's right, I need to go now.”

“See you soon I guess.” Is the last thing she manages to utter before the tears begin to spill out of her eyes even faster than before, the dam of her emotions has burst the fear and worry, flowing freely.

Jasper waves noncommittally at her retreating figure utterly confused, and somewhat distraught, over what had just occurred before him. He had expected she wouldn't be totally okay, but she looked like she was completely falling apart just now.

He feels the eyes of the rest of the students following his form as he walks back towards his family's table. Its residents staring at him, brows raised in a questioning manner, as if silently saying ‘what the hell happened?’ He frowns and shakes his head solemnly, he doesn't have a clue.

----

Faith finds herself thundering through the hallways of the school building in a similar manner to how she left early only the previous day. The worn-down rubber soles of her shoes slapping against the rough over walked floors in a daunting rhythm. Her breath is heavy in her lungs as she desperately tries to breathe it in and out, in and out, in and out.

Her breathing doesn't begin to calm until she is well into the woods on the way to her home. The air feeling cleaner and easier to breathe than the stuffy constricting air of the overflowing school. She takes a deep, languid breath, hoping to savour this moment of calm. Something she hadn't really felt since the animal attacks began getting more devastating over the past week. A false, uneasy calm but calm nonetheless.

She feels fresh as she trudges through the undergrowth, her body on autopilot as she makes her way down the path and back towards her home with a newfound serenity settling inside her. Her hyperfocus on her own calm leading her to ignore the panic she had felt at seeing the woods already in the day, the very woods that played the starring role in her horrific yet forgotten dream.

As she climbs up to the cusp of the path and exits the woods she also fails to notice the ruby-red eyes that follow her every move.