Chapter 1:
AN: again a huge thank you goes to my prereader ltlerthqak and my beta wmr1601. Another huge thank you to faerie kitten for hosting the WCs in which most of this was written. You all rock
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight blah de blah blah
The pain that came with the burning was… intense. I couldn't think of any other word to describe it. And even intense didn't cover it entirely. Whereas before the life in me had been replaced with cold, now the cold was replaced by fire and pain.
I lost track of time and basically froze, unmoving. I was breathing, of course, but other than that, I didn't do anything. It made the pain a little more bearable.
When I woke from my stupor, I was confused. I thought I had died when the pain started and that I should be in heaven. But instead I was in the meadow still and the female vampire I thought I had only imagined was with me.
I tried to remember what had happened before the pain started. At first I came up blank; I couldn't remember! While one part of my brain started to panic, another one started to wonder who she was and what she was doing here.
"Who are you?" I asked in a voice that didn't sound like my own.
"I'm Tanya. Nice to meet you, Bella."
At the sound of my name, everything came crashing back. Who I was… the Cullens… my desire to be a vampire… my hideous last birthday… and most of all, Edward.
"I'm a vampire, aren't I?" I asked in a shaky voice, if wind chimes could sound shaky. Tanya only nodded. When my words and her response sunk in, I started laughing. Well, not so much laughing as choking from hysteria. How ironic. Before Edward left me, I would have traded everything to be a vampire. And now that he had taken every reason for living with him, I suddenly had an eternity without him ahead of me.
Tanya stared at me, confused. Apparently, nothing like this had ever happened to her before. I tried to calm down, and when I did, I apologized.
"I'm really sorry, but this is all so ridiculous. Two months ago, I would have traded almost anything to become a vampire and spend eternity with Edward. And now that he's left me, I'm a vampire with an eternity of loneliness ahead of me." I ended with a sad smile on my lips.
"What do you mean Edward left you? He would never do such a thing. I don't even know if it's possible for mates to be apart from one another." Tanya looked at me seriously.
And so I told her all of what had happened in the days after my birthday. When I finished, she looked at me incredulously.
"I knew Edward was stupid but I had no idea he was a fucking idiot."
Now I was confused. "What do you mean he's an idiot?"
"I've known Edward for almost ninety years, and I think he might have left you because he thinks he doesn't deserve you. He thinks neither he nor his family is deserving of your forgiveness for what Jasper did. But I can't be sure… I'd have to talk with Carlisle about this," Tanya explained.
My mouth fell open. He'd told me he didn't love me and thus had crushed my heart into five million pieces and taken it with him when he left. And all of that because he thought he wasn't good enough for me? What a stupid jerk. All my sadness turned into fury. If Edward crossed paths with me again I would… I would kick his ass so hard he could chew my toenails.
Tanya seemed to read what was on my mind by looking at my face. "I know you're furious, but how about you go with me to Denali? You need to learn how to control your thirst," she said, and looked at me curiously, as if she was waiting for some sign that I was going to go on a rampage any second. But I didn't feel like killing people. All I wanted was to find Edward and hand his sorry ass to him. Though I didn't feel like killing anyone, the back of my throat burned and I knew to some extent what that meant. I was thirsty, and only blood could satisfy this thirst.
"I think that might be a good idea. Can you teach me how to hunt?"
Tanya smiled. "There's not much I can teach you. It's mostly instinct, but yes, I'd love to show you how to hunt. Not here though, it's too close to the path and the town. Do you think you can keep from hunting until we reach Canada?" she asked seriously.
"I think I can. As long as I don't think about it, I should be able to manage."
Tanya laughed. "I think I can keep you occupied." She held her hand out toward me and I got swiftly off the ground. When I had brushed of the snow from my clothes, Tanya left the meadow, and I ran after her. After a short while of running behind her, I fell into an easy step beside her.
"Tanya? May I ask you something?" I asked after a period of silence.
"Sure, Bella. What is it?"
"I was just wondering if you've spoken to any of the Cullens since last September…"
"Carlisle and I keep in touch constantly and, as far as I know, Alice and Kate have wanted to go shopping for quite some time now. But neither one of them said anything about the fact that they had left Forks. That's why I was in the meadow in the first place; I was on my way to the Cullens' to invite them to Denali for a little while."
I nodded in understanding. "Can you do me a favor then?" I asked timidly.
"That depends; what you want me to do for you?"
"Could you not tell any of the Cullens that you changed me? I mean, you don't have to lie to them, but could you not mention it?" my voice full of caution.
"Of course I can do that," she answered smiling.
Again, we fell into a comfortable silence, just running next to each other. I held my breath for most of the time, guessing it would prevent me from going on a killing spree if we came close to humans.
After about half an hour, we reached a cliff, and Tanya came to a stop. "We'll have to swim to the other side. Then we'll be in Canada and can hunt once we're past the small towns there," Tanya said and looked at me apprehensively. Swimming, great! Not only would the water be freezing cold, but I could barely make out the shore on the other side. It must be a good thirteen miles to the other side.
At the expression on my face, Tanya laughed. "Don't worry, Bella! You're a vampire now, remember? The distance shouldn't be a problem for you and the water doesn't feel cold to us."
I stared across the water to the other side. "And this is really necessary?" I questioned her.
She laughed lightly. "Don't worry, Bella; swimming is second nature to our kind."
It was as if her words triggered something within me. Suddenly I realized I was no longer a fragile human that tripped over her own two feet. I was strong, agile, and no longer clumsy. I was a vampire now, and vampires did stuff like jumping off cliffs and swimming thirteen miles in ice-cold water!
With my newfound determination firmly in place, I stepped back, and then flung myself over the edge of the cliff with as much energy as I could muster.
The fall was a bizarre experience to say the least. I felt the air rushing past me, whipping at my hair as a sign of great speed, yet everything seemed to move in slow motion. After what seemed like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a minute, I dived headfirst into the water, expecting it to feel cold.
It wasn't cold in the slightest; it was a rather comfortable temperature though not really warm. After a few seconds under water, my head broke through the surface just as Tanya hit the water next to me. I stayed afloat until her head penetrated the surface.
"For now we can swim, but once we get a little further away from the coast we'll need to remain underwater so the humans don't see us."
I nodded in understanding and we began to swim. Five minutes later, we were quite a distance away from the coast and Tanya dived under the water. I followed her example at once.
We swam side by side for quite some time, avoiding the occasional boat that crossed our path. At first it felt strange not to breathe, but I got used to the sensation surprisingly quick. After about fifteen minutes, we reached the shore—or rather, the foot of another cliff.
Treading water and looking up at it, Tanya said, "We have to climb up there. Make sure you don't grip the rocks too hard or they might break under your hold and you could fall back into the water."
I nodded and we climbed up the cliff. When we reached the top, Tanya again told me to hold my breath and that we would be able to go hunting in about three miles.
The prospect of food excited me. I could feel the back of my throat burn just a little bit but I pushed that pain away rather quickly. Again, we ran in silence, so I jumped in surprise when Tanya's cell started ringing. She stopped abruptly, and I wondered for a second how that phone could have survived our recent swim, but all thought was wiped from my mind when I heard the voice of the caller.
AN: OK that was it for chapter 1. Chapter 2 will be posted in two weeks. And now I have some recs for you all!
First: Behind the Velvet Rope by mcgt: A really awesome All Human story for all the Emmett lovers out there! .net/s/7113513/1/bBehind_b_the_bVelvet_b_bRope_b
Second: I'm Only Sleeping by Simaril: It's a New Moon AU just like this story but it's a really different story and I love it! It has me completely hoocked! .net/s/7079270/1/bIm_b_bOnly_b_bSleeping_b
