Sunset for the Soul
Chapter 1
"Do you want some help Bella?" Emmett asked me, chuckling. I glared at him. It was just after my wedding and I was moving into the Cullen house. I had picked up a particularly heavy box and was now struggling under the weight of it. When Edward walked in and saw how much I was struggling, he started laughing to.
"You guys are horrible," I shouted. "You're the ones with the supernatural strength and all you can do is just stand there and laugh?"
"Sorry Bells," Edward apologized after he had collected himself. He took hold of the box and flew up the stairs with it.
"I should've packed Charlie's baseball bat," I mumbled. I knew it would be in vain though because my stupid, beloved vampires were nigh indestructible.
"We're done," Edward said. He had come back down the stairs and was now standing next to me.
"That was the last one?" I asked, shocked. I must have been so intent on getting the boxes upstairs that I didn't notice how many were left.
"Yep," Emmett confirmed. "You know Bella, I'm really glad that you're part of the family now. Now I can have a good laugh all the time." Again I glared at my new brother-in-law. He was soon to be my "brother" though. Edward had promised that he would change me on our wedding night. With that last thought I smirked.
"Not for long though Emmett. Soon I'll be a vampire and I won't be so clumsy any more." I felt Edward stiffen beside me. I looked over at him and saw his jaw clench.
"Don't you dare back out on this Edward. You promised." He looked down at me. I had told him that if I were to become his wife I needed to become like him to.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this Bella?" Edward questioned me yet again.
"Yes, I'm sure." He sighed.
"Alright." Then he looked at Emmett. "Tell the others not to worry and make sure Jasper isn't around when this happens." Emmett nodded and went to do as Edward had directed. Then he led me upstairs to his room and closed the door.
Chapter 2
"Are you ready?" Edward asked me. I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded my head. He gently took my hand and kissed it. It was the same hand that had the crescent mark from James. Then Edward's eyes glazed over and fangs came down from his mouth. He sunk them into my flesh and I gasped as I felt the venom flow through my blood stream. Suddenly I felt my blood being sucked from me. Just when I thought that I would never make it through the transformation he stopped. He had gone back to as normal as he could ever be. He gingerly took me in his arms and laid me down on the bed that he had set up for my arrival. I saw in his eyes pain and guilt for what he had done. That's when I felt it. The fire was raging inside of me. I screamed for Edward to put the fire out, but even with my mind fogged I knew that he couldn't do that like he did last time when James had bitten me. I looked at Edward through blurry eyes.
"I won't leave you Bella," I heard him say. Then blackness closed around me and I sank into unconsciousness.
When I awoke three days later the first thing I noticed was the brightness of the colors around me. Then I heard everything. The birds were extremely boisterous and I could even hear a small piece of gravel from the driveway roll over in the slight breeze. I looked out the window and noted how bright the sun looked. Then my quick eyes caught a glimmering shard of light. I looked down at my arm and it was glistening like the dew on the grass. It created little rainbows across the bed. I sat up and looked around for Edward. He was laying on the couch with a blank look on his face.
"Edward," I whispered. He looked over at me and when he saw that I was awake he ran to me with inhuman speed.
"Bella," he whispered back. I searched his eyes and there I found concern.
"I'm OK," I told him.
"How can you be OK when I let the sun set on your soul?"
"Edward, I'm with you and as long as it stays that way the sun will be shining brightly." Edward smiled and then he took my face in his hands and kissed me like he never had before. When he pulled back I touched my hand to his cheek.
"You need to hunt," I chided him. He pressed my hand closer to his face as if to paste it there.
"You do to." I suddenly froze like Edward and listened intently.
"Alice is coming." Edward looked up at the door just as Alice sauntered in. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me.
"Bella?" she asked her mouth forming a perfect "o".
"Yes?" I asked, giving her a puzzled look.
"Uh, the rest of us are going hunting. I was wondering if you guys wanted to come with us." Edward looked at my eyes again and nodded to her.
"We both need to go." Edward took the hand he bitten and brought me to my feet. "Do you want to freshen up a little, honey?" he asked, looking at my hair.
"Yeah," I responded. I left Edward and Alice to go across the hall to the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror I understood why Alice had been shocked. I had no flaws at all. My skin was perfectly smooth, my eyes were a dark red color from the intense craving of blood, and my voice had a new sound to it. It was still my voice, but it had more femininity to the sound.
I quickly dressed and ran a brush through my hair. Then I ran downstairs, but on the way down I ran into Rosalie. It sounded as if boulders had crashed into each other. We both tumbled down the stairs heaped in a huge ball. When we reached the bottom Edward came rushing over to me and Emmett to Rosalie.
"Are you alright, love?" Edward asked worriedly. I smiled at him.
"Of course I'm alright. I am a vampire now." Edward smiled to. Next to me Rosalie was glaring at me.
"How could you be so careless?" she shouted. "You shouldn't have been running in the house any way." Edward interrupted her.
"Everybody runs through the house Rose. You could have been the one running and still have bumped into Bella. So just stop yelling and get over it so we can go." Then Edward picked me up and carried me over to where the others were waiting.
"Are you OK Bella, dear?" Esme asked. I nodded in response.
"Then let's get going," Carlisle said. "Jasper, will you go help Emmett with Rose?"
"Sure," was Jasper's answer. He then went over to where Rosalie had fallen and helped Emmett try to calm her down. Edward ushered me out the door and then all eight of us ran into the woods. We found a good spot to stop and then Edward looked at me.
"What?" I asked, annoyed that he was staring.
"I was just trying to think of what kind of animal you would find appetizing."
"I'll try a little of everything you guys catch if it's all right with everybody else," I told him looking around questioningly.
"Sure," the Cullen family said in unison, even Rosalie. Suddenly, they all stiffened. I sniffed the air and found the reason why. An animal was approaching. I crouched down by Edward and we laid in wait for the doomed creature.
Chapter 3
As we waited, I heard the leaves crunching under the animal's feet. I wasn't sure what animal it was and I didn't want to bother Edward so I decided to just wait. After a few more agonizing minutes the creature appeared. It was a large mountain lion. I recalled that Edward had said that mountain lion's were his favorite. I heard him growl beside me and I looked over to see his eyes glazed over like they were when he bit me. He fangs were out and ready and they were dripping with venom. I turned my attention back to our purpose just in time to see the lion come into view. It was a magnificent creature with powerful muscles rippling underneath it's smooth coat. Suddenly, as quick as light, Edward leaped out from the cover of the bushes and attacked the animal with a great roar. The poor thing didn't have a chance to even fight back. Edward immediately snapped it's neck with a loud crunch. I understood at that moment why Edward never wanted me to see him hunt when I was a human. It was absolutely terrifying. I cringed at the smell of the blood that was oozing out from the carcass. It didn't smell so bad anymore. It actually smelled appetizing.
Edward motioned me over to the dead lion. Then he pushed the end of the lion that was covered with blood towards me.
"Here, try it," he commanded me. I went over to the carcass and I felt my newly acquired fangs sink down from my mouth and into the deceased lion. I sucked tentatively and let the blood slide down my throat. I closed my eyes and savored the taste.
"Mmmm," I said looking up at Edward. His face brightened at my reaction.
"You like it?"
"I love it." Then we both turned at the sound of another roar. This one came from Emmett. He had sunk his teeth into a bear and Rosalie had followed. Then we heard another roar from Carlisle and Esme. They had attacked a couple of old moose and they were sucking away when we heard the final roars from Jasper and Alice. They had caught a wolf.
Seeing the wolf reminded me of Jacob and the La Push gang. He hadn't come to the wedding and Alice had assured me that she had sent him an invitation.
"I wish I knew what happened to him," I thought to myself. Then I brought my attention back to the present day and looked around. Everybody was feeding on some sort of animal. I walked over to Carlisle and Esme to try the moose. As I tasted the blood I scrunched my face up and they both laughed.
"You don't like it," they said. It was a statement, not a question I noticed. I moved on to Rosalie and Emmett. The bear's blood tasted a little bit better than the moose blood but it was still kind of sour to me. Finally I tried the wolf's blood. This one was too sweet. I went back over to Edward and he raised his eyebrows at me.
"I didn't like any of them," I told him. He nodded his head.
"We'll share since we don't have another lion," he said, pushing the carcass toward me again. I attacked the lion with force that surprised Edward. Then he bent down and joined me.
When everyone was finished we returned to the house. I was shocked when Edward swept me off my feet and started carrying me into the house. As we stepped into the entry way Edward leaned down and kissed me tenderly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned the kiss. When I began to kiss him more passionately he didn't pull away like he would have done if I were still human. Instead he deepened his kiss as well and we stood there like that until I finally pulled back.
"What was that for?" I asked Edward. He grinned at me while he replied.
"I didn't carry you over the threshold after the wedding so I'm making up for lost time."
"Now that's a good reason," I said, returning his smile. We kissed again and then my new husband carefully set me down on my own two feet. I leaned against Edward's chest and wound my arms around his waist.
"Get a room!" someone shouted. As we both looked up we saw Emmett grinning from ear to ear.
"Why am I not surprised," I mumbled. Edward chuckled and looked down at me with a glint in his eye.
"I think we should take his advice." My mouth fell open while Edward pulled me towards the stairs.
Chapter 4
As we entered Edward's room, now my room as well, he closed the door and swiftly pushed my back up against the wall. He put his hands on the wall on either side of my face.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking with excitement for what was to come.
"Something that you've been wanting for a long time Bella." Then he started kissing me. It was a kiss filled with passion, love, and longing. My arms slid around his neck and my hands mussed his soft bronze hair. His lips moved down to my jaw and continued on to my neck and the hollow of my throat. Meanwhile, my fingers found the buttons of his shirt and started to undo them. Edward's fingers did the same. His strong arms picked me up and brought me over to the bed without breaking the kiss. Edward settled down on top of me and would stay that way until morning.
Edward and I greeted the dawning of a new day huffing and puffing since it was still so natural to breathe even though it was unnecessary.
"Good morning, love," Edward said warmly.
"Good morning," I answered with equal warmth. We were still without our clothes so we quickly put something fresh on and met the family downstairs.
"I want you to hear something," Edward spoke in my ear as he led me towards the piano. He sat down on the bench and gently pulled me onto his lap. As his fingers glided over beautiful music flowed throughout the house. By the time he finished the whole family was standing around the piano.
"That was wonderful, Edward," I told him.
"It's for you, love." I hugged my husband tightly.
"Thank you." After we had shared our tender moment the rest of the Cullens started clapping.
"That was amazing Edward, honey," Esme stated. Jasper and Emmett clapped Edward on the back and complimented him to. Carlisle just beamed at his son.
"What are you thinking?" Edward whispered to me.
"Try to get inside my head and see." Edward did try and he was surprisingly successful.
"I am so proud of you." Edward was shocked that he could now hear my thoughts.
"What happened?" he asked me.
"I don't know. Maybe the transformation changed my mind." Edward looked at me thoughtfully.
"What?" I questioned.
"I wonder what else you can do now." I shrugged my shoulders. Edward looked straight ahead with a pained look on his angelic face. I tried to guess what he was thinking and was met by his voice.
"She has changed so much. Her looks, her voice, I can even hear her thoughts now. At least her love for me hasn't changed. I couldn't bear it again if I had to be without her love. It is just too painful." I looked at Edward, astonished. He hadn't moved his mouth at all.
"Edward," I said urgently. He looked at me with concern etched on his face. "I can hear your thoughts." His mouth dropped open as I said this.
"No. How is that possible?" He asked, mostly to himself.
"I don't know. It's weird being inside someone's head and intruding on their private thoughts." Edward nodded in agreement. The sound of Rosalie clearing her voice interrupted our conversation. The family turned to look at her with expectation on their marble faces.
"I'm leaving."