Vampires Don't Sparkle, Unless They're Sparklepires

When I woke up, my body was sore and there was a stinging pain on my left arm. The events of before I passed out came rushing to my memory and I finally realized that I wasn't in my room.

Holy Hades! Mom's probably worried sick. I had to get home.

I hopped of the bed and winced as pain shot through my arm. It was a good thing I was wearing short sleeves yesterday or else my shirt would've been ruined where the hellhound clawed me.

I looked around the room for my backpack and found it in the corner. I took out my Ziploc bag of ambrosia and put a small piece of the godly food in my mouth, savoring the taste of my mother's homemade cookies. In a few seconds, I felt myself getting better and then ripped off the bandage. An ugly-looking scar ran inches below my shoulder until just below my elbow, and I winced at the sight. Mom's going to freak when she sees this., I thought.I let out a breath of air and shrugged. There's nothing I can do about it now. Wearing a jacket is my best option. If only I had one in my bag.

I grabbed my backpack and headed out of the room. I didn't feel like shadow-travelling. I'm already in big enough trouble with my mom; nothing could make it worse.

My face paled when I I saw the people in the living room. Holy Hephaestus, it's the Cullens. They all eyed me warily and I suddenly felt self-conscious. I mean, I just woke up from battling a freakin' hellhond. I'm pretty sure I look like sh*t.

There was a short silence before I got over my insecurity and grew bored form just staring at them.

"If you're going to kill me, you're going to have to wait in line." I said. "Mom's probably going to want to be the first, but I'll tell my dad to bring me back to life so you can have a turn."

They looked at me as if I'd gone mental. That was probably true. I'm actually still waiting to wake up from this nightmare I call life, but alas, 'tis not a dream but reality. My reality and every other demigod's reality.

"On second thought, kill me before my mom has the chance to. Dying by the hand of my own mother is not something I'd want to brag about."

"We're not going to hurt you Ashley." an old blonde dude said. He didn't look too old – probably twenty or twenty-one years old – but since he's a vampire, you could never tell. I was guessing that since he looked to be the oldest that he was the famous Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

"I know what you are. You can't tell me I'm wrong." I told them. "I'm pretty much usually right."

"Great. Another human knows our secret." another blonde – Blondie, err, Rosalie – muttered sarcastically. I shot her a glare but she was unaffected.

"You're all lucky I'm outnumbered or you'd have been gone by now." I threatened. I felt all their eyes on me and I managed not to lose confidence.

"No one else can know about us. If you stay, we will explain everything." Dr. Cullen told me, ignoring all the others as they protested. I narrowed my eyes at them, considering the pros and cons of staying. I let out a sigh and nodded. Dr. Cullen and the woman standing next to him, who I was guessing was Mrs. Cullen, shot me a kind smile as I made my way to the empty couch.

Eddie, the pixie-ish girl, and Blondie were glaring at me and I returned the gesture with a smirk. As I passed the other blonde guy – Jasper, I think – he stiffened (which I wouldn't have noticed if I were a normal person) and the pixie moved closer to him as if to comfort him.

"Alright. I'm listening..."

About thirty minutes later, I learned a few things about the monsters like them. Sunlight can't hurt them and fire is one of the few things that can actually kill them. Cutting them up into pieces and burning the parts was the best way to kill them permanently. That should be fun... They only drank animal blood (fortunately) but there were others out there who didn't share their diet (unfortunately). Oh, and they sparkle when sunlight hits their skin. I almost literally fell to the ground as I laughed. They didn't find it as funny as I did. I guess I can understand; they're the walking disco balls, not me.

And that's not all! Hades, I sound like those annoying commercials. Apparently, they had powers too.

"Jasper can feel emotions. Edward can read minds."

"What? You're telling me that he," I pointed to the bronze-haired monster, "was reading my mind the whole time?"

"No. You are an exception, for some reason." Eddie pointed out and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want or need a monster digging around in my head. Especially since I had no intention of telling them what I was.

"So, is that the reason for all your glaring? Wittle Eddie can't read big bad Lee-lee's mind." I taunted, even though it was probably a really bad idea, and he glared at me. I took his reaction as an answer to my [not serious] question. I turned my attention to the pixie, otherwise known as Alice.

"What about you? What's your problem?"

"Alice can see the future." Dr. Cullen told me.

I raised an eyebrow at the girl and she said, "I can't see the future when you're around." I bit back the teasing words I was about to say.

Big vamp dude, Emmett, stepped forward. "Your turn to explain."

"Explain what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"What you are. How on earth did that," he pointed to the scar on my arm, "heal so fast and what the hell was that thing that almost killed you."

"Why do you want to know?" I questioned, not really planning to answer their questions.

"Edward also can't read Bella's mind. We want to know if she's like you." Emmett replied.

"Oh, well, I guess it's fair since you told me about you guys." I said and they nodded. I was glad that Eddie can't read my mind 'cause no one knew what was going to happen next.

I clutched my bag in my hand and stood up straight. "I guess I should start by saying, 'Buh-bye!'" I was gone before I could see the expressions on their faces.

I was either really stupid for doing that because I know that they will come after me or because I shadow-traveled home, where my mom was waiting. Although, I could care less about option number one; the latter was much scarier.

"Where were you?" Her cold voice startled me and I turned to face her. I stood inside my room as she leaned on the door-frame, an unreadable expression on her face. I prayed to every god and goddess I could think of, asking them to help keep me alive by the time this was over.

"I was... out" I managed to get out. Her eyes narrowed as she walked into my room. She eyed me carefully and I tried to keep my arm from her sight. Unfortunately, she saw the scar.

"You were gone for one day and come back with that?" she scolded. "Ashley Robinson, I was worried sick! I know how dangerous it is for you out there and, honey, I don't like seeing you with scars. You're sixteen, for crying out loud. You shouldn't be able to use those dangerous weapons. I get that demigods are always in danger, but you should have told me where you were going. Not even the guys knew where you were.

"I don't want this to happen again, Lee. You're grounded. I want you to come straight home after school. No more stop overs at La Push, understand?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. She stormed out of my room without another word and I jumped on my bed, burying my face in my pillow to muffle the sound as I yelled in frustration.

I jumped when Andi's face suddenly popped up in front of me. It had been an hour since I last saw my mom, considering I never left my bedroom after I was grounded and I just sat on my bed, completely bored.

"What happened to you?" the smile on the brunette's face faded and a frown replaced it. I shrugged and told her what happened.

"They sparkle?" were the wise words of the sea god's daughter.

I gave her a blank stare. "Is that all you heard?"

"Sorry, it's just... weird to think that vampires sparkle." she told me. "I think I prefer the ones with mismatched legs."

"So, what did you want to tell me? You wouldn't IM me if you didn't have a reason to." As I said that, the smile on Andi's face reappeared.

"You know Jeremiah King, right?"

"The son of Aphrodite?" Andi nodded. "What about him?", I asked.

"Well, he kind of asked me out."

"Really?" Jeremiah's fifteen, a year older than Andi, and he's known to be a player like the rest of his brothers and sisters. Not that all children of Aphrodite are like that.

"Yep!" She seemed so excited. I couldn't really blame her. Andi's beautiful with her brown hair and blue eyes but being a daughter of one of the Big Three, not many guys had the guts to ask her out. This was going to be her first date.

I just smiled at her, not wanting to ruin her happiness. "Good for you." I told her. "But if he does anything, you can always threaten him with my name."

"That's probably what Natty would say." Andi replied, rolling her eyes.

I smiled and shrugged. "Where is Natty, anyway?"

"Mrs. Howard just gave birth to Natty's new sister, so the eaglehead went to visit them." Andi replied and I chuckled lightly at the nickname we gave Natty a few years back. Fortunately, Natty has no idea we call her that.

We talked some more until my mom called me for dinner.

"So, how are the girls back at camp?" mom asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that surrounded us these past few minutes.

"Natty's got a new sister so she's in Chicago to visit her parents." I informed her. Natty was a year-rounder like Andi, but, unlike Andi and I, Natty's mom and step-dad have no idea she's a demigod. They think she stays at a boarding school then a special camp during the summer. Partially true, I guess, but I still don't get how they manage to be okay with not seeing Natty every once in a while.

"What about Andi?"

"She said she's going to spend Spring break with her mom and Harvey." I told her and she nodded.

Mom became good friends with Amy Jordan, Andi's mom. She's pretty nice and let Andi stay at camp. She visits sometimes during the summer and usually brings Harvey with.

Harvey is Andi's older mortal half-brother. He's around my and Natty's age. His dad died a year before Amy met Poseidon. Harvey knows about demigods since he and Andi are pretty close and he's also a clear-sighted mortal, able to see through the mist. He's kind of like the guys, except he had blonde hair and fair skin. If he and the guys were to meet, they'd become friends in an instant.

There was a silence again and it was awkward. I excused myself from the table, letting out a sigh of relief when mom nodded.

I'd give it around three days until she feels bad starts feeling bad for me and lifts my punishment.