Title: Night of the Living Dead
Fandom: Twilight
Author: Dignified Madman
Pairing: Bella/Edward
Rating: Teen
Word count: 1 239
Summary: Graduation has finally arrived. Bella has completed her end of the bargain. Will Edward live up to his promise to turn her into a vampire?
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

Graduation had finally arrived. The moment Bella yearned for had become reality. Now that she had completed her end of the bargain, it was time for Edward to complete his. Tonight she would become a vampire.

There was so preparation needed for the transformation. She needed to pick out something to wear. What does one generally wear to this sort of ceremony? Should she wear something casual, or something formal? Bella began picking out outfits, trying on anything she could get her hands on.

"Think that one looks the best," came a cool voice from behind her.

"Do you really?" Bella responded casually before the voice registered in her mind, "Edward! I didn't know you were there."

"I didn't want you to know I was here," he said with his crooked smile.

Bella gave Edward a warm smile back, "So you really think this one?"

"Definitely," he nodded. "You should go put it on."

"Alright," she said beaming, "Just give me five minutes."

Bella went to the bathroom and put on her dress. She looked at herself in the mirror; it really was the perfect dress. She adjusted the dress this way and that until it was perfect. Only then did she leave the bathroom.

"So," she said meekly, "what do you think?"

Edward was stunned. The dress looked beautiful on her. It was a simply cut dress; spaghetti-straps, form-fitting, and cut off just below-the-knee. The colour was a rich midnight blue, with sparkles that made Bella shine.

"You look amazing," he said breathless. If he had need for oxygen, that dress would have knocked it right out of his lungs.

"You really think so?" Bella said looking herself over.

Edward swiftly moved behind Bella and wrapped his arms around her before she got her words out, "I know so."

Bella placed her hands over his and took in the moment. This is what life will be like forever. She could feel Edward's cool breath on her cheek and her heart began to beat faster.

"Are you ready?" Edwards said finally breaking the silence, "We should probably get to the ceremony now."

As much as it pained Bella to break the moment, she knew he was right. "Give me another ten minutes. I promise this will be my last human moment." She flashed him a smile before she headed off to the bathroom once more.

---

Holding Edward's hand, Bella was lead into the backyard of the Cullen mansion. Bella's eyes grew wide with wonder. The backyard was beautiful. The trees were filled with thousands of twinkling lights. There were torches lining the walk way setting off a warm glow. There were rose petals covering the ground emitting a sweet smell.

"Oh Edward, it's beautiful," Bella turned around and gave him a tender kiss on his cheek.

Edward smiled down at her, "Only for you Bella."

Carlisle appeared from around the house. He greeted Bella with a warm smile, "You look lovely this evening Bella."

"Thank you Carlisle. The backyard looks beautiful."

"You deserve it," He said then turned to Edward, "You know what to do. I'll be watching from a far in case …" He let his sentence trail off.

Edward nodded to signal that he understood, "We'll be fine."

"I trust that you are right. Good luck," he said smiling before he disappeared into the shadows.

"Are you ready Bella? You can still back out if you aren't," Edward said, hoping that Bella would reconsider.

"I've been ready since the day I met you Edward. I want to live with you forever," she reached up and stroked his face.

"You know it's going to hurt a lot. Are you sure you can handle the pain?"

"Edward, I've already made up my mind. If you don't do this, I will get Alice or Carlisle to," she said playing with his hair, "Although, I would much rather if you did it."

"I can't talk you out of this can I?"

"Nope."

"No matter how much I try?"

"Nope."

"Alright," he said sighing. It seemed as if he couldn't win, "are you ready?"

"I just want one more human moment," she said as she stood on her toes and tenderly gave his a kiss on his lips. She could feel him kissing back. Slowly she pulled back, "Ok, I'm ready now."

"I love you Bella," he whispered in her ear before he slid his mouth down to her neck. She could feel his cool breath on her neck. He opened his mouth and bit her pale skin.

The taste of blood exploded in his mouth. It was better than he originally anticipated. He could feel her warm blood flowing down his chin. He needed to stop, but it wouldn't hurt if he just had another pint or two. She wouldn't need the blood when she became a vampire anyway. Wait, what was he doing? This was wrong. He needed to stop. He had to stop. Using all the will power he could muster Edward pushed himself away from Bella.

He looked up at her slender frame, writhing in pain, and remorse flowed thorough him.

"Ow! Edward, it burns! My neck burns!" What had he done? "Oh God please kill me! Kill me!" How could he let her talk him into this? "Just let me die! JUST LET ME DIE!"

Edward felt Bella go limp. Was this supposed to happen? Did something go wrong?

"Edward, give her to me," the cool voice flowed over him, soothing him, "Edward, you can let go of her. Emmet and I will take her to her new room."

Edward let go of Bella and collapsed to the ground. How could he do this? He agreed to put his one and only love through severe pain. This was not worth it. He could never forgive himself for this. Edward couldn't help it; he put his head into his hands and let out deep sobs. Each sob was filled with sorrow and guilt.

"Edward, honey, please come inside. Everything will be alright, just give it time," the soothing motherly voice of Esme called out to him, "I'm proud of you Edward."

---

"Is she awake?"

"Shh, let her rest."

"I just want to see her."

"Wow, she's stunning."

Bella blinked awake. She was first hit by the soft murmuring of her new family. After a few more blinks she was able to make out faces. "Edward?" she croaked, "Edward are you there?"

"Bella? Bella can you hear me?"

"Edward is that you? Edward am I …"

"Yes Bella you are," She could finally make out his smiling face. She reached out and drew him in.

"Thank you Edward," she said before she gave him a kiss which was tenderly returned. She ran her fingers through his hair and he stroked her face. They slowly pulled away from each other, each sorry for the moment to end. She slowly sat herself up and looked around at the family. They were all smiling at her.

"Honey," Esme said softly, "would you like to see yourself?" She held a mirror up to her chest, facing away from Bella.

"Yes please," she said mentally preparing herself for the image. Esme turned the mirror around and held it up for Bella to see. She let out a gasp. The girl staring back at her was more stunning than she had expected.

"Bella," Edward said with his crooked smile, "welcome to the family."