Twilight Reign: The Violet Lightning

Forks College had never seen anyone like her. Rumors swirled. Whispers danced through hallways. "That new girl — the exchange student. She's strange."

Raiko heard it all but paid no mind. Her focus lay elsewhere: Alice's warm gaze, Rosalie's sharp beauty, and the feeling of being anchored again. It was foreign. Comforting.

Yet the world refused to give her peace.

-------------------

It began during chemistry class. A faulty Bunsen burner flared, catching the edge of a nearby lab coat. Flames licked upward — harmless to Raiko, but dangerous to the humans.

In a flash, her hand lifted. A soft crack echoed through the room.

Lightning arced, blue-white and hot, from her fingertips, vaporizing the fire before it could spread.

Silence followed. No one moved. A pen clattered to the floor.

"W-what the hell was that?" a student asked, voice shaking.

Raiko didn't blink. "Conductive discharge. A hidden circuit. I redirected it."

It was a flimsy lie, but people wanted to believe it. They needed to.

Later, Edward Cullen approached her in the courtyard.

"You're a danger," he said without preamble.

Raiko sipped from her thermos, unbothered. "You're a vampire. We all carry dangers, Edward."

He frowned. "You don't belong here."

"I belong where I choose. And your family doesn't get to make that choice for me."

Alice appeared beside them suddenly. "Edward. Stop."

"You're being reckless," he growled.

Raiko tilted her head. "Or perhaps you're just losing control of the narrative."

Edward left, jaw tight.

Alice lingered. "Are you alright?"

Raiko nodded slowly. "The air is thick with tension. I can feel the web tightening."

"So can I," Alice murmured. "But you're not alone in this."

-----------------

That evening, Raiko walked along the rain-drenched trail behind the college. The sky was gray, the pines towering. A storm gathered.

And then… she felt it.

Another presence.

From the shadows stepped Rosalie, her expression unreadable.

"You're reckless," she said.

"I protected them."

"You exposed yourself."

Raiko looked into her eyes. "Would you have preferred I let someone burn?"

Rosalie's mouth tightened. "No. But the Volturi—"

"I know. I can feel them watching. Waiting."

Raiko reached out. Her hand hovered just above Rosalie's cheek. "You care. I see it in your eyes. But you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid of them," Rosalie whispered. "I'm afraid of how much you matter to me."

The space between them narrowed. But before their lips could meet—

Alice appeared. "I had a vision."

Raiko stepped back, composed. "Tell me."

"Aro is sending Jane and Alec. They're already on their way."

Rosalie cursed under her breath. "He wants to push her to kill. If Raiko kills one of them—"

"He'll have his excuse," Alice finished.

Raiko stood still, gaze distant. "They want to make me into a monster. To prove I don't belong here."

Alice stepped forward, her voice steady. "Then we prove them wrong. Together."

Raiko's eyes flickered with light.

"Together."

-----------------

That night, she dreamed.

Not of her past life. Not of pain.

But of a field beneath violet stars. Alice and Rosalie beside her. Peaceful. Laughing.

She woke with a tear on her cheek. For the first time in centuries — across two lifetimes — Raiko wanted a future.