Chapter 1: Change

Bella's POV

I scowled as I scanned the airport food court for the third time. I couldn't believe it. It was just ridiculous. What kind of self-respecting airport didn't have a Starbuck's?! I checked my watch before heading to the exit. It had a six-hour layover, and about five hours of it was left. That was enough time to run outside, down the street, and through a Starbuck's line. At least, I sure hoped it was, since my mom would be worried if I got to Jacksonville late.

I stepped out onto the street, looking down the block in both directions. No sign of a Starbuck's, but this was Chicago, it couldn't be far. I walked back into the airport and quickly asked the lady at the desk for directions. I tried to memorize what she said, praying I wouldn't get lost in this city. It wasn't that much bigger than Phoenix, maybe even the same size—I wasn't sure—but I wasn't familiar with this one.

I found the Starbuck's without incident and bought my coffee, smiling at my good luck. As I sat down at one of the small tables to enjoy my drink, my mind involuntarily wandered back to what had brought me to this city. It had been about six months since the Cullens had left, and I tried to tell myself that I was over it, but it still hurts. Charlie must have noticed I was still kind of depressed because Renee suddenly wanted me to visit her in Jacksonville.

I know she's trying to cheer me up with this trip, but I don't think she's going to have much success. The sunshiny brightness of Jacksonville just seems to mock my pain. How can I be expected to spend a month in a place so at odds with my mood? The relentless rain of Forks would be better suited, or even this city, Chicago. Even on the brightest days this place was still gray full of gray, graphitized buildings, infested with homeless people, and shrouded in smog.

I sighed and threw my empty coffee cup into the trash. I stepped back onto the street, hating how the darkness seemed to creep up on me. Another bad thing about this trip, I landed in Jacksonville at six am. That meant that my layover in Chicago started at about eleven pm. There was nothing in Chicago that would be safe for a seventeen-year-old girl on her own to do at midnight. I glanced nervously up and down the street before cutting through an alley to save time. The airport that I'd been so desperate to get out of earlier was now looking nice and cozy. Too bad I never got there.

Laurent's P.O.V.

I leaned against the wall of the alley, waiting for another member of my coven to arrive. He was supposed to meet me here, but he was late, as usual. I wasn't sure if that came from being a young vampire, or from being a gangster in his human life. I shook my head as I looked down at my stereotypical gang banger attire, not able to believe I'd been roped into this. It was a stable coven, however, and that was what I'd needed after what happened with James and Victoria.

My head snapped to the right as I heard the sound of footsteps and caught the scent of human blood. It smelled delicious, and vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd smelled this scent before. Well, we were supposed to go hunting anyway, I thought, I'll just take a head start since he's late. I smiled hungrily as my burgundy gaze fell on a black-haired girl coming towards me. She was looking nervous, but didn't see me where I stood in the shadows. I was about to lung when she stepped into a small patch of light and I recognized her.

"Bella?" I asked incredulously as I stepped into the light. I wasn't surprised to see her so much as I was surprised to see her without her vampire mate, Edward.

She squinted at me for a minute before saying, "Laurent?"

"I know the last time we met I looked a bit, well, different," I said, glancing down at my clothes again.

"Yeah, I thought you were staying with the Denalis," she said cautiously, having noticed my red eyes.

"I found their way of life a bit too . . . uneventful, for my taste," I replied. I found myself slipping back into my old accent and way of speech. I'd never liked the gangster slang much.

"Oh, well, um, did you find a new coven then?" she asked. I could smell her fear.

"Yes, in fact, I'm supposed to be meeting one of the others to go hunting," I said. She tried to hide the look of terror that flashed across her face but didn't succeed. "Don't worry, we won't attack you. Neither of us wants to catch hell from the Cullens for killing their pet," I said, "Speaking of which, where is your mate tonight?"

"At home. I'm on my way to visit my mom, and, well, he wasn't invited," Bella said, clearly relieved.

"Yo, you startin' without me?" came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Kyle, the vampire I was supposed to meet here.

"Naw, man, she's not—!" I started to say, but he cut in.

"She sure smells good," he said, sliding into a hunter's crouch.

"Don't--!" I yelled, but it was too late. He lunged, biting into her neck while the terrified Bella stood there, too shocked to move. I rammed into him from the side, knocking him away. Bella crumpled to the ground, and Kyle stumbled but stayed on his feet, glaring at me.

"What'd you do that fo?" he demanded.

"Dude, she's a pet! This big coven up in Washington, the Cullens, has some kinda claim on her. If you kill her they'll come after you and rip you apart," I said.

"I think we could take 'em," he said, proving to me once more how stupid he was.

"Moron, they got seven people, some of them real good fighters," I said, "We got three, and I ain't getting into a fight with them just cuz you were bein' stupid."

"Fine, I won't kill her, but what do we do with her?" he asked.

"We gotta take her back to the den. She'll be changing, and once the screamin' starts the humans'll know something's up," I said.

"Johnny'll kill us, man!" he protested, naming the leader of our coven.

"The Volturi will kill us if humans find her," I said. I looked down at Bella, who was whimpering softly but hadn't begun screaming yet. I knew that if we just left her here then someone would notice her eventually. Of course the stupid human doctors wouldn't know what was wrong, and when the change was finished, they'd have all sorts of questions about how she was alive when her heart wasn't beating. The Volturi wouldn't be too happy about that.

"Alright, I'll go ahead and warn Johnny," Kyle said and took off running. I picked up Bella and threw her over my shoulder, then waited a few seconds before following Kyle.

Bella's P.O.V.

I could hear them talking, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. Since the second that other vampire bit me, all I could focus on was the pain steadily growing in my neck. I knew what was happening, what I was becoming, and I was trying to be brave and not scream. It felt like fire burning through my veins, searing every fiber of my body. I couldn't help but scream and thrash around eventually.

And so followed the three most painful days of my life.