AN: Thank you for reading. This is chapter two (obviously), and hopefully you enjoy it! Keep reading, and don't forget to review, because that always makes me happy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I am not Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 2: Where the Soul Meets Body
I never realized how far our home was from the mountains of Tennessee until I gave myself the task and need of bring the brown curly haired man home. He wasn't heavy, but he was huge, and it was more difficult to maneuver through the trees when his legs stuck out, I tried to find a more convenient way to carry him, and continued my difficult journey. And, it was very difficult. His blood was screaming to me, and his heart beat was a low thud. I had to be very gentle with him, knowing that the slightest, wrong twitch of my hand would end his already dying life. I concentrated hard on being careful with his human body. I looked down at his face, and was surprised to see him looking at me. It was difficult for him, his eyes were half open, but he seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open to stare at me. I realized what I must look like. I knew I was not my usual beautiful self – I most likely looked ferocious. He let out a moan, and I glanced at his face again, he continued watching me. I wondered if he realized what he was doing, or if he was so out of it he had no grasp of his doings.
I pushed my legs to move faster than I ever had before. I needed to get there soon. His heart rate was decreasing slowly but surely, and he didn't have much time. I wished that I had the strength that was needed to turn him right here right now, but I didn't trust myself with his life. I trusted Carlisle, though.
Once I knew that I was in range with my family's hearing abilities I began to scream.
"Carlisle!" I let his name tear out of me, and I hadn't realized how frantic I would sound. "Carlisle! Help!" I ran harder, and screamed louder. I was getting closer to our house, when I saw Carlisle and Esme break through the trees and stare at me in shock as they saw me carry the man. I looked at him pleadingly. I needed him to do this for me. Carlisle gave me a confused look, and his jaw hung open slightly as he stared at the broken human in my arms. He turned around and headed back to the house, and I followed him.
Edward stood at the edge of the forest, curious. I'm sure he knew the human was coming because his breath was already being held. I noticed Esme was no longer with us; the scent was most likely too much for her.
Carlisle opened the front door and led me into the sitting room; I place the man onto the sofa, and stared at Carlisle. My eyes were begging for him to understand what I was asking him. But he seemed reluctant to come to the understanding of what I was requesting from him.
"Please!" I begged.
Carlisle's face didn't abandon its look of utter astonishment. Edward stood against the wall, with his arms crossed, incredulous.
"Carlisle! Change him! I can't, but I want you to change him – for me! Please!" I grabbed at his shirt in a desperate attempt to convey my seriousness. Edward pushed himself from the wall and walked towards us, staring at Carlisle like he lost his mind.
"You can't be serious!" Edward looked at the dying man with distaste. I growled at him. I had no patience for his negativity.
"Shut up!" I snapped. I turned back to Carlisle, before glancing at the man. His heart wasn't getting any stronger; it was getting weaker by the second. "Carlisle! Please change him! Please, dad!" It was the first time I had ever acknowledged him as a father, and he knew it. He nodded his head in defeat.
"If he's what you want." He looked at me cautiously. I closed my eyes in relief. "Are you sure, Rosalie?"
"Yes." I breathed. My anxiousness decreased, in relief.
Carlisle dropped to his knees and hovered over the man, who was staring at me intently. Still. I wondered how he was able to find the strength to keep concentrated on me. Eventually he tore his gaze from me and looked at Carlisle. He was breathing in and out heavily; he was finding it more and more difficult to catch his breath. Carlisle curved his neck so that his mouth was directly over the man's right side of the neck, before biting into it. The man gasped in shock.
Soon the venom would start to register in his system. Carlisle continued to drink from him for a little while longer before ripping his mouth from the man's neck. Carlisle took a step back, and I replaced his position over the curly haired human in front of me.
I was surprised to see him try to reach out to touch my face. He was moving with such slowness that I was becoming impatient. I wanted him to touch my face so I could feel. Feel an emotion different from any other that I had experienced as a vampire. But just as his outstretched arm got closer to my left cheek, he let out a scream so deafening.
I fell back onto my bottom in shock. The man's face was contorted in pain, he thrashed out and his arm that was outstretched to my face only moments ago, gripped the back of the sofa. His knuckles were white and he seemed to forget that he was very much injured and very much broken. He let out a scream and ended it with a heart-wrenching sob.
I hated myself in that moment. It was my fault that he was in this much pain. I began to question my motives. Was I doing this for him? No, I knew I was doing this for me. But I hoped that one day he would accept that, and maybe perhaps accept me.
He cried and squirmed and clawed at the fabric on the couch. I tried hard not to let out a sob myself. Carlisle placed a hand on my shoulder.
"It will be difficult to endure." He murmured in my ear. I knew that he sympathized. After all, he went through a similar situation with Esme. But, could I compare my feelings for this man to Carlisle and Esme?
I shook my head confused. The man's dimples were so prominent I prayed that they never disappeared, even when he became stone.
Edward walked slowly over to stand beside Carlisle. He looked down at the giant man once again, and seemed to decide that he didn't want to hang around, and turned on his heel and exited out of the house.
I could care less what Edward thought. I growled slightly at him, hoping he understood the implication.
I tried to block out his cries of agony but it seemed impossible with him writhing on the sofa right in front of me. Annoyed at the limits the sofa provided him I picked him up – I was unaware that I was shaking so hard – and pushed the sofa away from us with my foot, it collided with the wall and I laid the man gently on the hardwood floor.
Of course he did not notice that he was placed gently and with care. He was obviously distracted.
"Stop!" He yelled, now clawing at his throat. I grabbed his hands with cautiousness and exaggerated slowness but firm, pulling them away from his throat. "It hurts!" he whimpered.
I brushed his hair from his forehead. "I know," I soothed. It did no use though. I wasn't even sure if he heard it as he continued his cries of pain.
And so it went on. He didn't ease up at all over the next few days. He continued his desperate and pointless attempts to beg for the fire in his body to stop. I repeated to him constantly that I was sorry that I could do nothing to ease his pain. He seemed to accept it each time and had moments where he just stared at me, and only wincing in pain. I never saw his face ease up from the tension. It was constantly contorted in an expression of agony.
Carlisle would stop in to visit us every few hours. It wasn't really necessary, he could hear him and know that his battle with his life wasn't over, but I had the feeling that he was checking up on me, and seeing how I was holding up. I was doing fine. Although at vital moments I couldn't stop my insides from contracting in pain at the sight of his ache. He.
I wanted to know his name. I wanted to know what to call him. I wanted to know the name I should envision intertwined with mine. But when I would think of it, I would scold myself, I didn't want to get ahead of myself and then only become disappointed. I looked at him curious. Would he reject me? In those brief moments when he would direct his eyes to mine, I felt something surreal. I knew he was meant for me. But would he feel the same? The thought put me into a panic on how he would react once he reawakened as a monster. Would he hate me? I would hate me, if I were him.
I was becoming very anxious and I leaned over to his ear and asked, "What's your name?"
He turned his head to me and looked with wide eyes, gasping for air. His chest shuddered with every uneasy breath he inhaled. "Emmett," his voice was hoarse, and only someone who had amazing hearing and was close enough like I, would be able to hear.
Emmett. Emmett.
I liked that. I smiled at him gently and pressed my lips to his sweltering cheek. I was curious as to where he found the strength to concentrate on what some one would say, let alone respond. He was sweating and I reveled at his warm skin, closing my eyes to get a better response from touching. I didn't mind his perspiration like I would with any other human.
I knew that as soon as his moaning had begun to diminish, it signaled that the transformation was ending, his heart beat coming to a stop. Carlisle entering the room, confirmed my suspicions.
Emmett turned over from his side, onto his back. He seemed to realize that his body was no longer responding to the venom, and that he was dying. He looked at me with desperate, confused eyes. He reached out and grabbed onto my wrist, scared. And then it stopped. I held my breath, afraid. Emmett froze, his eyes still locked with mine. Carlisle stood over us. I wondered when he would start up again. His skin was ice, stone. He was no longer warm and breakable like he was only just a few hours ago. I felt him harden as the final hours loomed nearer.
The house was silent, Edward and Esme were waiting outside and even they were holding their breath, waiting for the moment when Emmett would come to life again. Life wasn't the right word.
He was beautiful, lying there, eyes closed. He looked peaceful and inhuman. I had done that. His brown curls were still damp from his ever present sweat during the transformation. I hated that I couldn't see his dimples. I wanted to see his dimples in a smile, not in a grimace.
And then, shocking all four of us back into the situation, Emmett sat up so quickly with a shuddering gasp. He clawed at his throat, gasping away. He was making marks on his skin with the force of his nails into his granite skin. Carlisle moved quickly and held his hands to the side. Emmett, being a newborn, shrugged Carlisle away, who stumbled backwards.
"Emmett!" I said. Emmett froze and turned to look at me. His breathing was heavy and his chest was rising and falling dramatically. His eyes were a deep red, but they bored into mine.
"My throat…" he choked out.
"Yes, Emmett, we will get to that." Carlisle knelt down beside him. Emmett turned his head slightly towards the soft, reassuring voice. "You may be confused right now."
Emmett thought for a moment. "Not really. I just want my throat to stop hurting." Carlisle gave him an odd look, and outside I heard Edward chuckle. Emmett snapped his head around looking for the person responsible for the chuckle. He heard it, just as if someone chuckled in his ear, but he could see that neither Carlisle nor I uttered a breathy laugh.
"That's my son Edward you just heard," Carlisle said, noting his uneasiness. "You may notice your senses have increased quite a lot."
He blinked. "I can see a lot better. I was afraid I'd need glasses before…" He trailed off, unsure of what before actually was. "I can smell amazingly well," he continued, he stared at me. "You smell, like every beautiful smelling thing I love."
I was embarrassed, and I ducked my head slightly.
"Emmett, the burning in your throat is thirst," Carlisle said. Emmett furrowed his brows trying to make sense of what he just said.
"No, I've been thirsty before, never to the intensity of this -" he touched his neck softly.
"You were dying, the bear, do you remember?"
Emmett nodded.
"What else do you remember?"
He smiled at me, and I saw his dimples the way one should see them. "You."
My dead heart thudded. Surprised, I lifted a hand to the left side of my chest. Astounding, that one word from his mouth could get my heart to restart again.
Emmett lifted his hand and it was against my cheek, and I closed my eyes. I had waited for him to touch me just before his transformation, and it was better than I ever could have imagined. His cold skin on mine. When he pulled his hand away, my skin tingled.
Carlisle smiled at me in a fatherly way when I opened my eyes again. He was pleased, as was I. Carlisle got Emmett's attention and continued his explanation. By the tightness reflecting in his eyes, I could tell he was fighting the ache in his throat and tried very hard to grasp what Carlisle was saying.
"Rosalie, my wife Esme, my son Edward and I are vampires." Carlisle stated, watching Emmett's reaction. Emmett looked at me to see if I would utter 'what? Vampires? Carlisle you've completely lost it!' But when I didn't, after a long moment of him mulling this over, he spoke.
"Vampires? As in -," he thought of what to say, "Sleeping in a coffin, have no reflection, allergic to the sun – vampires?"
Carlisle smirked. "Not quite. We don't sleep in coffins, we have a reflection and we're not exactly allergic to the sun. But the drinking of human blood is true. Mostly. We don't drink the blood of humans. Our family doesn't believe in killing the innocent lives. We stick strictly to animals. That burning in your throat you're experiencing is a thirst for blood."
Emmett barked out a laugh. Carlisle was taken aback at his reaction. I looked at Emmett's big frame shake with laughter.
"Oh, well that's something isn't it?" Emmett chortled. "Okay, you've convinced me. Now can we please ease this burning sensation in my throat? It's killing me." He laughed a bit more at the prospect of 'killing me'.
My mouth opened in alarm. He had taken that incredibly lightly. Did he think we were joking? How could he? Everything made sense once Carlisle explained it.
"So, which animal tastes best?" Emmett raised his eyebrows in amusement.
R/R!!
