Change – Chapter 1
I'm frozen, unable to move. Every touch every word of love shared between us was a lie. I thought we would be together forever, literally. He doesn't want me. I can feel my whole world crashing down around me. If the world ended tomorrow I wouldn't care. My world ended the moment he walked out of my life forever.
Edward Cullen was my life. Everything I did revolved around him. How could I have been so stupid? He was an Adonis and I was just plain old Bella. Why did I even think he actually loved me? He told me he loved me and I believed it. He was so sincere, everything he did felt like a true act of love. It was all fake. I gave myself completely to the love I thought existed. I threw myself in and now I can't get back out.
Edward Cullen will always have my heart. I will never get it back and I don't want it back. I fell to the cold ground with this realisation. I cannot let him go even though he's already left. I felt the salty water droplets begin to slowly trail down my face. I cried for what I lost, for what I will never have and the memories that will haunt me forever.
I was beginning to grow cold and the sky was darkening. I couldn't bring myself to get up off the wet, freezing ground. I was once again frozen in the pain that Ed-he leaving caused. I know Dad would be worried, I couldn't care less. My once perfect world is now shattered into small pieces proving just how fragile I really am.
My mind was racing through every moment I spent with Edward. I looked at each one, trying to find a hint that what we had wasn't real. I found nothing. I was crushed. He played me like a puppet all this time and for what? What did he gain for 'loving' a human?
About three things I was absolutely positive:
Edward was gone and he isn't coming back
He never loved me
I'm still unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him
It was then I blacked out. When I regained consciousness I found myself in the middle of our meadow. How the hell did I get here? The sun was shinning. I saw something move out of the corner of my right eye. It was Edward. Why was he here? Did he want to torment me further?
"Why are you here Ed-Edward?" I asked, struggling to say his name as the raw pain at his departure was still there. He didn't reply. He stood motionless in the sun with his skin glittering so beautifully.
"Didn't I mean anything to you? All the times you said those three magical words you never meant them did you? Was I just some human who you thought you could toy with? Was I just some human who you thought you could leave without leaving anything behind? Was I not good enough for you?" At this stage my tears were freely flowing down my face.
He still didn't answer. He was still motionless. I tried to search for some kind of sign that he still cared for me but I found nothing. But just then Edward's face formed a smile. But it wasn't the dazzling crooked smile I was used to. It was a frightening smile. The kind of smile that a hunter pulls when he captures his prey.
It was then I noticed his eyes. They were not the topaz colour I was used too. They were a vibrant crimson colour. Before I could say two other figures came up behind him. These figures were female. As these figures got closer I realised who they were. Tanya and Irina. My family and I always thought they were up to something. But we could never understand what it was. And their eyes were just as vibrantly crimson as his.
Just as Tanya and Irina came up beside Edward all their faces turned to those of shock and horror. I turned around to see what they were staring at. I recognised my family. At the front were Nonno and Nonna beside Grandma and Grandpa. Behind them were Mum, Dad, Chris, Luke, Jase, Kiara, Dimitri, Nalla and Nick. When I looked back at Tanya, Irina and Edward, they were nowhere to be seen. I turned back to the direction of my family. Mum and Dad stepped forward.
"It's time to wake up Bella" said Mum "you've changed into what you were always meant to be. Please Bella wake up."
"Bella darling we want to see you. We want to see you in all your glory. Just open your eyes" said Grandma.
Then they faded away. The meadow began to become hazy. All the colours around me blurred and combined into one, black. I was too afraid to open my eyes, if that was my dream: what will my reality be? When I eventually opened my eyes I saw that I was in my room at Charlie's place.
I made my way to the bathroom: not knowing why. It was there was something in my subconscious telling me to go there. Maybe it had something to do with that really weird dream I just had. When I entered the bathroom my eyes instinctly moved to the mirror to make sure nothing had changed. What I saw staring back at me had me frozen on the spot. I could not have moved even if I wanted to.
The person staring back at me had long, shinny, black hair that went to their waist and had slight curls all the way through it. Their skin was pale, but it suited them. The paleness complemented the darkness of their hair. Their lips were a stunning crimson colour, close to the colour of blood. Their nose was a beautiful shape and was in contrast with the rest of their body. Their body had curves in all the right places and was slim and toned in all the other places. Every feature built up to the absolute beauty and almost perfection of the person staring straight back at me in the reflection.
I looked around in the small bathroom; no one was here beside me. There was no way the person with the stunning beauty in the mirror was me. I was just plain old Bella. Maybe this was the change that happened everyone in my family went through; the change from mortal to immortal. But how could I, Isabella Marie Volturi Swan became what is staring back at me in the mirror. She is like Snow White. I am, or rather was, just plain old Bella Swan. Okay sure, maybe my heritage is a little different than normal. My parents had told me one day I would change. I accepted that, but I never expected that the change would be this big. I wonder if this is all connected to my dream. But why was Edward, Irina and Tanya's eyes glowing red. I had a hunch that Irina and Tanya were up to no good but Edward. Edward was always charming and respectable and he had a high regard for human life. But he also told me he loved me and that turned out to be a lie. How well did I really know Edward Cullen?
But then I saw something that I had missed in my overview of this stranger in the mirror. Something that assured me that it was infact myself I saw staring back at me. My eyes. The chocolate brown pools I was used too were staring straight back at me. I started to hyperventilate. I had finally changed. It only took me eighteen years. And I looked like a swimsuit model. I couldn't get my head around the fact that I was new.
I went downstairs to see if Dad was home. I needed to talk to him about this. We both knew this change would be coming but we didn't know when. I need to ask him what I was capable of now. I needed to know my limits. I needed to know exactly how much I have changed. I need to know how to act normal around humans. This would've been a lot easier if he was still here. He has had decades of practice with acting human. I've had eighteen years of being human so I suppose I could do this. I just need to act like a human. But how am I going to explain my new found image to my classmates. I'll just walk into school and say "Oh hi guys, I know I look different. It's because I'm part goddess, part vampire, part witch." Yeah that's going to go down really well.
Also I probably wouldn't be able to do that because of the sworn to secrecy thing. I wanted to tell him and the Cullens so much. The trusted me and let me in on their secret but I couldn't tell them mine. Every time I even thought of telling them my tattoo seared with pain. With that thought my ankle seared with pain once again. I didn't fall down like I normally do though, maybe this change did me some good. My clumsiness was actually punishment for thinking about telling anyone who I really was.
That thought made me come back to reality. It seems to be extremely easy to get lost in thought these days. Well at least to me it does. I realised where I was, halfway down the stairs. I started to slowly walk down the remainder of the steps. I heard a crash. I was extremely scared. Who was in my house? Had the demons finally found us? Oh god, I was going to die. Oh well I didn't really have that much to live for anyway. The love of my just left me. The only family I could talk to was my Dad. Aunt Renee might be a reliable source but she moved again after the encounter with James.
I cautiously entered the lounge room. I saw four extremely familiar figures. As these four figures each turned around to look at me, one decided to launch themselves at me.
"Aunty Bella" Nalla screeched as she threw her arms around me. I heard someone laughing and realised it was Nick.
"Nalla let Bella go" said Kiara "she is probably very confused at the moment."
Nalla let me go and Kiara came up to me and gave me a gentle hug. When she let me go I gave her a small smile. That was the biggest kind of smile I could actually manage at the moment. Nick was next in line for a hug. He had grown a lot since the last time I saw him. His muscles had became defined. He was a splitting image of his father, Demetri who was the last person I had yet to hug. Both men had dark hair that waved; Demetri's hair waved to his shoulders whilst Nick's hair ended just pass his ears. Their skin was a light olive tone. Their eyes were both a piercing blue colour. Both men were what others would call handsome. But I never thought of them as that for one of these men was my nephew and the other was my brother in-law.
Their looks were very different from their wife and sister. Kiara and Nalla both had curly, auburn hair. Their eyes were the traditional brown. They were also pale, like me. Men drool when Kiara enters a room, and she hates it. I think Nalla has inherited that same hate. It seems all females in my family have that same hate when I think about it.
Demetri then came and hugged me. When he pulled back I was still unable to speak because of the shock of seeing them here. How did they find us? Maybe they talked to the Cullens, but that's impossible right?
"Yea Bella that's right. We wanted to come see you after Kiara got a vision of your birthday party. I'm so sorry Bella. They showed up at Grandma and Grandpa's. We found out what happened and I decided we needed to come here. Thankfully everyone else agreed" said Kiara with sorrow etched on her face.
I knew I should've cried again with the memories of what happened but I had no more tears to shed. So I turned to my sister's family and gave them a smile. That's the thing with our family. If things go wrong or aren't working out as well as they should they are always there. I know I'm immensely grateful for all the times they have showed up for me but everytime they come to my rescue I feel even more indebted to them all. They save me so much and I cannot really thank them well enough.
"Don't worry about it Bella. We are family that's what we do you aren't meant to thank us. And you know what how about we drop this subject for a while and talk about your change?" Kiara asked.
My new appearance had been pushed to the back of my mind. I guess the sudden reappearance in my life had been more important. I took a seat on Dad's couch. Kiara sat next to me; Demetri sat in Dad's chair. Nalla and Nick sat on the floor. I stared at them not really knowing where to start. I knew what I was. I knew that I was now goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Kiara was goddess of dance. Nalla is goddess of celebrations. Nick is god of music. I knew that I was now able to influence the things I am goddess over instead of just getting visions related with them. I know that I will occasionally need to hunt animals for their blood. I also feed of my mate; that was part of the whole true vampire thing. I already know how to cast spells and make potions.
"Well Bella you know quiet a lot. The goddess part of you has powers. These powers are a mental shield against most things, except those who are exactly like you. These people are our brothers and I. You are able to create balls of energy for use as a weapon. We can have conversations with others just using our minds or read their minds. That's how I answered you questions before. You are also able to transport from one place to another just by thinking of that place. The vampire side of you gives you super speed and strength and grace. It also can give you an extra ability. My extra ability is to be able to detect lies. I think you have an extra ability because Edward told us he couldn't read you mind. I think you have a mental shield that can be projected around other people. The witch part you have known about since you were two, so we really don't have to go over that again." As Kiara finished I thought about my magical abilities: to cast spells you only need to think what you want in your mind and it will happen, but you need to focus entirely on the thing you want to happen.
She spoke to the Cullens before she left. They must've got to Alaska extremely fast. I miss them I really do. But when will I see them again. I want to make sure Edward was really telling the truth but I know I might never the get answer I want.
It was then Demetri's time to talk. "The true vampire part of you has a history and I'm apparently going to tell you it. Thousands of years ago there was a goddess and three witches, the witches were sisters and all were very good friends. All of them fell in love with mortals, this wasn't the best thing they could've done because they were immortal. So they told the men they were in love with. The men were surprised, but they accepted the fact that their loves were immortal. But soon a problem arose, the women would live forever but the men would die and age. The four women came up with an idea. Their idea was to make the men immortal since the goddess was goddess of immortality but with conditions. The men would become immortal if they were sustained by drinking the blood of the ones they love. The men agreed to this condition. The four women made a potion of sorts and the men became immortal. These men gained abilities. These abilities were super strength and speed. Two of these men gained abnormal abilities on top of the speed and strength. One gained the ability to see every thought you've ever had wit the touch of a hand. The other gained the ability to see the intensity of relationships. There was some potion left over so the eight decided it was better kept a secret. But the enemies of the women and now these new immortals found out about the potion and devised a plan to steel it. Their plan was successful. These enemies added things to the potion and they created a new form of immortal too. But these immortals feed off humans. The four men decided to form a group that controlled these new immortals. They struck fear into the hearts of these new immortals. They pretended to follow the diet of the new immortals to gain some common ground. Over time this group grew some joined just for the power this group held, some joined because they new of what the men were and believed humans should live. The ones who believed in humanity kept their diets a secret also."
"Jesus there's so much secrecy in our family history" stated Nick.
"Nick, let your father tell the story or we will be here for a very long time" Kiara told him.
"So the original four men and their wives were in great control of the new immortals, which at this time began to be called vampires. They had the occasional battles with their enemies, the demons, if you didn't know what they were called. The demons decided that they were busy enough controlling the vampires to start a fight. But something happened to two of the women; the goddess and the eldest witch. They fell pregnant. Both the women and their husbands left the group to protect their children. When the children were born both couples were overjoyed. The goddess and her husband had a girl who was part goddess and part original vampire. She was to be goddess of family. The witch and her husband had a boy that was part witch, part original vampire. As they children grew into young adults it became obvious they hated each other. That was a problem considering that they lived together. When they turned eighteen they underwent a change that made them vampires and enhanced the abilities they already had. At this time they realised they loved each other completely. The children were married soon after and went off to lead their own lives. The witch and her husband went to join the group and the goddess and her husband quiet liked the new life they were living. Overtime their children had their own children; three boys and two girls. The eldest son was god of the elements. The middle son was god of mischief. The youngest son was god of joy. The eldest daughter, who was still younger than her brother is goddess of dance. She has married and has two children." With that he nodded to Nick and Nalla.
"And you already know about the youngest daughter" said Kiara smiling at me.
So that's how my family came to be. Mum and Dad hated each other before falling in love. It happened to me to. I wonder if…
"Bella it's kind of a family tradition. When I was a teenager I hated Demetri with a passion and he hated me. But look at us now" she finished smiling lovingly at her husband of over a century.
"What's the family tradition?" questioned Nalla.
"Nothing Nalla" answered Demetri.
"Well now that's sorted who wants some breakfast?" asked Kiara. As soon as the words left her mouth Nick and Demetri ran to the kitchen.
"Are they always that eager" I asked Kiara.
"Yes, sadly" she said with mock sorrow. I just laughed and followed Nalla into the kitchen for an extremely good meal.