Wildfire: Rise of the Phoenix

She felt miserable at the moment. Her life had just turned upside down and she didn't know what to do. She actually didn't want to be here in Forks High School at all, but she didn't have a choice. Her parents weren't around to tell her anything anymore because they had been killed in their home by burglars. She hadn't been home when her house had been invaded and she felt guilty about it every time she thought about her parents. She couldn't stay with any of her grandparents because they had died awhile back from natural causes thankfully. She had been put in the foster care system and now she lived with the strangest family in Forks, Washington. She didn't talk much around them and neither did they.

The father figure of the family and the mother figure had tried to get her to talk so many times, but she didn't budge. She couldn't talk about it, at least not yet anyways, because it was still too soon. She had been living with the Cullens for three years and each year one every three months one of the other siblings would take her back to Montana where her family was buried so that she could pay her respects. She was very grateful that they always stayed in the car when she went into the cemetery because she couldn't handle it if they knew she was just completely heartbroken and miserable. It showed though on the surface.

Her constant silence bothered Carlisle and Esme. They didn't know how they could help her because she never spoke about it. They thought about sending her to therapy to try and open up, but they thought better of it because they weren't sure if she trusted them or not.

They continued to observe her. Every once and awhile they could hear her sobbing in the middle of the night. Every time they hear her crying Alice or Rosalie wanted to go to her and comfort her, but Carlisle and Esme both forbid it because they wanted her to be able to understand that they were there for her if she ever needed it. Tonight was one of those nights.

"Rose, leave her be," Edward hissed as he watched Rosalie go up the stairs.

"Edward, I'm headed to my bedroom," she snapped back.

"You can't lie to me," he said with a smug look on his face while touching the side of his head.

Rosalie let out a hiss of frustration. She was worried about the girl upstairs. She was a girl who actually didn't bother Rosalie. Bella still did, but she knew she couldn't be bothered by it because Bella made Edward happy and Rosalie had to accept that at some point. She felt bad for the girl that Carlisle took in three years ago. She wanted to understand her pain, but she didn't know where to begin. She shot Edward a glare and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. Emmett was out hunting with Jasper so she had a few hours before he would come home.

She turned on the laptop and clicked on the Internet. She typed in the girl's parents' names and read the story behind their death. Everything she read made her disgusted even more with humans in particular, but towards the girl locked in her room she felt more sympathetic. When Rosalie had first heard that Carlisle was adopting a human into the family she was furious, but then she read closer into the police report and made a gasp of surprise. She had to ask Carlisle some questions before she made assumptions.

"Carlisle," she called.

In an instant he was in the room.

"What's wrong Rose," he asked showing concern.

"How much did the foster care system tell you about Italia's parents and their death," she asked.

"Not much really. Just the fact that it was a burglary," he answered.

"I read the autopsy reports for both of her parents and the police found a crescent mark on each of their necks," she said.

"You mean a vampire did this to her family," he asked astonished.

"Either that or she was part of an occult or something," she replied.

"Does the report say anything about broken glass or some sort of forced entry to their house," he wondered.

"Actually yes it does. My guess is, is that it started out as a burglary because the burglars were found dead about half a mile down the street from their house with the same crescent marks on their neck," Rose said.

"Why the sudden interest in Italia and her family," Carlisle asked.

"I hate to see her in this state. If you guys would just let me talk to her then maybe she'll want to open up," Rose answered.

"You really care about her don't you," he said.

"Yes I do. I can't stand to see her like this because it's hurting me. It says in the police report that Italia was found unconscious and bleeding profusely. She lost a lot of blood that night and for her to keep it bottled up like this isn't going to help her much at all," Rose said.

"Fine, I'll let you and only you talk to her. If you make some progress please let me know," he said.

"May Alice help me," she asked.

"Does she want to," he wondered.

"I do Carlisle," Alice said from the doorway.

He turned to her and beckoned her into the room. Alice danced into the room gracefully. She had been just as worried as Rosalie about Talia's behavior. It wasn't normal for any human to act this way for so long. Italia didn't even sit with them at lunch time during school hours. She sat in the back of her classes sitting quietly and doing her homework. She didn't talk during presentations unless she was forced to by the teacher. Alice had seen Italia's family get attacked after the fact that it had happened. She informed Carlisle who put in a couple of phone calls to the foster care system. They allowed him to take her in because they thought that he could help her. It wasn't much of a change for her because she had lived in Montana, which was just as cold as Forks was. Italia wanted to go home. She missed her parents and her grandparents. She didn't have any other family members at least that she knew of.

Her parents had always been very secretive about their lives. She remembered moving a lot when she was younger, but she was never told why. Her parents were wonderful. She never made friends for fear that she would be picked up and moved again, so when she moved to Forks she didn't really have to say goodbye to anyone. She sat in a corner of the bedroom that she was given when she arrived. It was big and held some of her favorite colors, but she couldn't concentrate on that at the moment. Right now, she could only concentrate on the small blade that she held in her hand. She had been contemplating on killing herself for months because all she wanted to do was be with her parents again. Her older brother didn't know about the murders because he was off at war. Whenever he had leave time he travelled around the world.

He left home three years ago and shortly after he went to his first assignment for the US Army; her parents had suffered a horrible attack. She remembered that night like it was yesterday because whenever she closed her eyes she could see her parents' lifeless eyes staring up at her. She had screamed so loud when she saw their eyes dead and lifeless. They had held so much spark and happiness in them that it scared her. When the burglars had forced entry into their home she had been told to hide and that’s what she did. She had hidden in her closet and when she didn't hear anymore commotion in the house she snuck out in order to see what the damage had been.

Drops of blood littered the kitchen, which was where she had found her father laying on the floor face up and staring at the ceiling. She found her mother face down on her stomach in the hall closet as if she had been trying to hide. She had slipped on something and landed on her head where she had blacked out. She didn't know what had happened after that except for the fact that she was now alone.

Italia raised the razor blade above her left wrist ready to strike one of the main veins that ran through her arm. She couldn't handle the pain anymore and the only way she knew how to end it was to take her own life. She sat on the floor with the razor blade poised and ready to strike. Her hand was shaking. Just as she was ready to make the first cut on her wrist that would make the pain go away when there was a light knock on the door. She stared at it, but kept the razor blade from making any damage.

"Italia can Alice and I come in and talk," Rosalie's beautiful voice asked full of concern.

She didn't know what to do. She had been silent for so long that she wasn't sure if she even had a voice anymore. She cleared her throat many times before she felt like she could answer. Maybe she should talk to her new 'family'. If she did then maybe it would help with some of the pain.

"Come in," she said hoarsely.

The door opened and Rosalie entered closely followed by Alice. They both wore looks of deep concern on their faces. One thing that Italia hated was the sympathy that everyone thought that she needed. She just wanted to drown in her sorrow then live through it.

"Italia are you alright," Rosalie asked.

"Please don't call me Italia," she answered.

"Isn't that your name though," Alice asked tentatively.

"Yes, my nickname my parents gave me," she replied sadly.

"You are Italian though aren't you," Rosalie asked.

"Yes I am Italian. Can't you tell by my last name and my looks," she said.

"Your last name is Marsinelli isn't it," Alice inquired.

"It was," she said.

"What do you mean it was," Rose asked.

"I'm a Cullen now aren't I," she wondered.

"Only if you want to be that is," Rose said.

"What do you mean," she asked turning her gaze onto Rose.

"I mean if you still want your last name to be Marsinelli then that's the last name you will have," Alice backed her up.

"Why do you care," she asked.

"What do you mean," Rose asked.

"Why are you here talking to me," she repeated her question.

"Italia," Rose started.

"I told you not to call me that," she seethed.

"Then what do you want us to call you," Alice asked.

"My name," she scoffed.

"Which would be," Rose prompted.

"My name is Cecelia Hailie Italia Marsinelli," she answered lowering her eyes.

"I absolutely love your name," Alice cooed.

"I don't," she said.

"Why not," Rose asked.

"Because Cecelia was my mother's name, which is why my parents called me Italia in the
first place," she answered.

"Oh," they both responded.

She only nodded in response.

"Hailie will you please talk to us and let us into your pain," Rosalie asked.

"Why, what's it going to do anyway," she asked.

"It might help you heal your spirit and heart," Alice said.

"Heal, you think I want to heal," she yelled squeezing her eyes shut.

"Hailie it's okay to grieve for them," Rose said reaching out to touch her covered arm.

Hailie pulled back with an angry glint in her eye. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They came to talk to her so that she could heal from the pain that was clutching at her heart daily. That was hilarious just thinking about it. She wasn't grieving really. It looked like it because she was so silent and always wore that saddened look all the time. In reality she was pissed off. Her parents had abandoned her and she hated them.

"You think that I'm grieving don't you. All of you do," she yelled.

"Well you hole yourself up in your room that we just thought that you wanted to be alone," Rose said growing scared.

Downstairs everyone could hear what was going on. When they took in Hailie as she wanted to be called now Edward, Alice, and Jasper were wondering why their powers wouldn't work on her, it was like she was completely exempt from all of their powers for some reason. Edward couldn't read her thoughts, Alice's visions of her were really blurry and unclear, and Jasper couldn't get a good read on her emotions, so when Hailie yelled the accusation that was on everyone's mind it surprised all of them. They all thought that she was grieving for years after her parents' murders, but apparently they had been wrong.

"FOR THREE YEARS I HAVE BEEN ALONE UNTIL NOW. NOW YOU DECIDE TO TAKE IT UPON YOURSELVES TO SEE IF I'M OKAY," she yelled.

"Hailie we thought that you would want to be alone with your grief," Alice said timidly.

"ALONE WITH MY GRIEF IS THE LAST THING I WANT. BESIDES I'M NOT GRIEVING ANYMORE. NO, I'M PISSED OFF BECAUSE MY PARENTS DECIDED TO ABANDON ME AND LEAVE ME," she screamed.

"They didn't abandon you, they were murdered. Taken from you by force," Rose contradicted.

Hailie couldn't help but scoff at that comment. She wasn't stupid. She knew how her parents worked. Within the next five years they would come to whichever foster home she was staying at playing the role of long lost relatives. The foster care system wouldn't hesitate in letting them take her away because they claimed to be 'long lost relatives'. Her parents couldn't die and neither could she. There was some weird genetic mumbo jumbo going on in her body that prevented her from dying. She wasn't a vampire, she was far from it.

Tears fell from her eyes as she studied the sympathetic looks that both Rose and Alice held on their perfect faces. She stood up letting the razor blade fall from her lap. She looked at it with a surprised look on her face as if she totally forgot that it was there. The looks on both of Rose and Alice's faces was unreadable. She bolted from the room and from the house. She didn't care if they went after her. She ran as fast as she could afraid to tap into her weird genetic makeup to run faster.

She couldn't bring herself to use the powers that she was blessed with. It reminded her of her 'dead' parents too much and she didn't want that at all. She continued running realizing too late that she was barefoot and the ground was tearing the soles of her feet. She ran as fast as she could. Whenever she had shown her face to the Cullens they always gave her those damn sympathetic looks. She still didn't understand why this time when her parents 'died' that it was harder. They had always staged their death for fear of being questioned about their young look all the time. She was still growing and wouldn't stop until after she turned twenty-one.

She still didn't understand her body and the way it worked. Her mother tried to explain it the night that she 'died', but it didn't click in her head at all. She was confused beyond belief and saw herself as a freak of nature. She continued to run through the small town of Forks unaware of the many stares that she received from her disheveled appearance. She ignored the whispers that came from some of the people standing on the sidewalk. She didn't know how far she had run until she looked around and noticed that she was in the small town of Port Angeles.

Back at the mansion Rosalie and Alice fled down the stairs to go after her, but they were both stopped by Carlisle and Edward.

"What happened up there," Carlisle asked.

"You heard it didn't you," Alice asked.

"We did. That's the first time I've heard her speak in years," Esme whispered.

Esme had been so torn up about Hailie and how she her behavior showed that she didn't like it here at all.

"Rose where are you going," Edward asked.

"We have to go after her," she said glaring at Edward.

"Let me go with you. Maybe I could pick up on where she is," he said.

"But I thought that you couldn't get inside her head," Rose asked.

"I can't, but I can get into the heads of the humans' that might be surrounding her," he
seethed.

He hated the fact that he couldn't read two people's minds. His beloved Bella and now this Hailie girl that was now staying with them and it frustrated him to no end. He grabbed a coat not that he needed it, but it was to keep up pretenses. He followed Rose and Alice to
Rose's BMW Convertible. She got into the driver's seat and they all filed inside. Rose peeled out of the garage and down the driveway at alarming speed. He immediately opened up his mind searching for the girl that he cared about as another sister. He wanted to be the one to step up and comfort her, but he just didn't know how to. When she first arrived at the house the scent that washed over him was unbelievable. Not like Bella's scent had at first though.

Hailie's scent was different as if something was off about her smell. She was human he could see that, but she didn't smell fully human. He took his concerns to Carlisle and the rest of the family agreed that something was off about her. It was a scent neither one of them had come across before, but it puzzled even Carlisle, who was the longest living member of the Cullen family to begin with. Rosalie sped down the highway as Edward directed her towards the small town of Forks. He caught glimpses from people's minds that had seen Hailie so distraught while running through the town. He finally found her slumped against a dark ally wall. He let out a hiss.

"What's wrong Edward," Rosalie asked.

"She's in a dark ally against a wall passed out or something," he answered.

Rose pressed on the gas pedal and sped through town even faster than before.

"Where Edward," Alice asked.

"I don't know," he said feeling hopeless again.

Edward continued to search for the whereabouts of Hailie. He needed her to be safe because even though he hadn't been so friendly with her from the get go, he needed to make sure she was safe because his brotherly instincts were kicking in now. He finally caught a glimpse of a nearby building and swore. She was down the same ally way that Bella had been in a few years ago. He noticed three guys lurking in the shadows, well two others. He was in the head of one of them and he didn’t like the thoughts that this guy was thinking. He watched the others slink closer to the slumped over Hailie.

"Rose she's in Port Angeles. Hurry because there are perverted men approaching her," Edward hissed out.

Rosalie pressed on the gas again. When she made it to Port Angeles she followed Edward's directions to the ally. She wasn't about to let her new adopted sister go through the trauma she went through before she was turned. Edward did it for Bella and he was going to save another whether or not she wanted to be saved.

After her long ass run Hailie found a dark ally and slumped tiredly against the wall. She didn't know the State of Washington yet, but she was hoping to get used to it for another couple of years. She really didn’t have a choice to. She may be seventeen at the moment and the foster care system may not care about her after she turned eighteen, but she knew that her 'long lost relatives' would still go through the system to get her back. It was how they always did things. Maybe if she had gotten to know the Cullens she may not want to leave. She opened her eyes and looked around. She had no clue where she was, but she figured out that from the darkness it must have been some dark ally. She felt goose bumps raise the hair on her bare arms.

She always had that instinct when someone was approaching her or watching her. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. She felt her ice gray eyes grow cold as they turned from gray to a dangerous dark blue. Whenever they did that she had the power to see anything in any light perfectly as if it was right in front of her. She scanned the vast ally way and noticed three idiots who looked to be rather drunk gawking at her. She narrowed her eyes at them. Their facial expressions grew from stupid to lust filled. She must have looked like a mess. Her feet were no longer in pain. They had already healed after she had stopped running. She didn't have the patience or the time to deal with them at the moment.

"Leave me alone," she muttered wearily.

"Oh, no I don't think so," one of them said.

"Nope I must agree with you there Henry," another said.

She snorted at the mention of the name Henry.

"Awe, she likes my name," the one named Henry said.

"I don't think so. Your name is stupid and idiotic," she retorted.

"Now that's not very nice," Henry said.

"I agree," the third man said.

"Hey how about we teach this little beauty some manners. What do you say Jeff, Larry," Henry asked.

She stood up immediately. They were starting to piss her off, which is a horrible thing to do because she could feel her eyes changing. It was an odd sensation, but it always happened with whatever emotion or element for that matter that she controlled. Hailie always had power coursing through her veins. She could feel it and it scared her because she wasn't sure if she could control all the power that she held in her body. She didn't feel as if she was strong enough.

"I said leave me alone," she hissed dangerously.

"Now is that any way to talk to a guy who wants to be with you," Jeff asked sardonically.
Hailie merely nodded her head.

"Awe, I see. Well I don't think it is, so come here and we can teach you some new conversation," Larry sneered.

"Don't touch me," Hailie snarled.

"But how are you going to feel the pleasure we want to give you if we don't touch you," Henry asked faking hurt.

"I'm warning you one last time stay away from me and you won't get hurt," Hailie growled.

"Oh, really, you think that your pretty little face can hurt the three of us," Larry mocked with laughter.

The three guys laughed their heads off. Hailie's demeanor was getting worse by the minute and it would not look pretty when she was through with these guys.
In the car Rosalie continued to drive faster. They would have gotten there faster if they had run, but then it would have raised too many questions. Edward's hands were shaking with fury as he continued to zone in on three minds that had Hailie cornered.

"Rose can you go any faster," Edward growled.

"I'm driving as fast as I possibly can Edward, so just hold on," she hissed at him.

Before they even made it to the ally red and blue lights were flashing behind them.

"Damn It," Rose hissed as she pulled over.

Edward clenched his teeth in anger. This delay was going to be costly.

"Excuse Miss, but do you know why we pulled you over," an officer asked at the window.

"No sir I do not," Rosalie smiled brightly.

"Y….y…..y….you w….w…w….were sp….sp….sp….speeding," he stuttered after seeing Rosalie smile.

Edward held in a chuckle. Being a vampire did have its perks sometimes.

"I'm so sorry officer. It won't happen again," she said batting her eyelashes at him.

"Alright, just make sure it doesn't," he said wiping his forehead.

The officer went back to the cruiser. Edward could read his thoughts and was snickering to himself.

Rosalie waited until the cruiser left and then took off towards the ally again.

Back in the ally Hailie was getting even angrier. Her temper was never one to be calm and subtle so if you pissed her off it was never a pretty sight especially since she could control fire. At the present moment Hailie's hands started shaking with rage because these idiots wouldn't leave her alone. She wasn't scared of them at all. She asked to be left alone, but since they kept taunting her then there would be serious consequences to deal with later. This wasn't the first time that Hailie's temper got the better of her either. No, the first time that she lost her temper she was in West Virginia with her first foster family that she ever stayed with and she was only about five years old.

Her foster father was screaming in her face because she hadn't cleaned the house to his standards and he was angry. She had, had enough of his screaming because that was all he did and her foster mother didn't seem to help her at all. Her hands began to shake and the next thing she knew she was standing outside a burning house and her foster family sent her back to the system because they thought that she was too hard to handle.

Hailie didn't want a repeat of that event, but she couldn't control her temper once it was riled up. The men continued to approach her. They walked right up to her and began touching her bare arms. She yanked away, but they grasped her arms again. Larry's grip was too tight on her right arm and when she tried to yank it away he twisted it and she winced.

"Let go of me," she growled again.

"But if I don't touch you then I won't be able to give you what I know you want," he sneered at me.

"Let go or suffer the consequences," Hailie said.

"What consequences," Henry asked sounding scared now.

Hailie didn't answer the guy's question. Instead she just smirked at him and held up her hands which were now fully blazed with fire.

"Whoa there missy, what's with the flaming hands," Larry asked.

Again Hailie just smirked. She felt the power rushing through her veins. It was beginning to drain her energy as she fought to control herself. The men that had been about to hurt her turned and ran just as Rosalie pulled around the corner. The car stopped and Hailie turned around her eyes a fiery crimson red.

Rosalie, Alice, and Edward stepped out of the car. Edward had seen the men run off and now he was staring into the crimson eyes of Hailie Marsinelli and wondering why her hands were ablaze. They had all heard a heartbeat coming from Hailie so for them to see her with crimson eyes was a complete shock to them.

"Hailie what's going on," Rose asked tentatively.

"Go before something horrible happens," Hailie whispered feeling tears falling onto her cheeks.

She was trying so hard to keep her temper under control and so far it was working. The flames disappeared from her hands and she slowly felt her eyes return to their steely gray color. She didn't have enough energy to stay standing. She fainted and fell to the ground, but before her body hit the hard concrete Edward rushed over and caught her limp body. He carried her to the car and laid her down in the back seat.

Alice said that she didn't mind running back to the house since it was nearing midnight anyway. Rose nodded her head towards Alice and both Edward and Rose watched her run back to the house. They climbed into the car and Rose backed out and drove back to the mansion. They had questions and news to tell Carlisle because he would want to know what happened with Hailie tonight after she ran out earlier.