Chapter 2 - Awakening
I was in the meadow, our meadow. The sun shone radiantly down through a cloudless sky, bathing the clearing in a golden aura, giving it an appearance that could only be described as perfect. Perfect, hah. I used to think I knew what that meant, before I laid eyes on the creature lying next to me in this so-called perfect meadow. If this meadow was perfect, then I'd need a new word to describe Edward.
Edward looked sideways at me with a crooked grin; he never grew tired of the reaction, and I never grew tired of giving it.
My heart fluttered, and I felt my cheeks flush with familiar warmth, inciting a quiet chuckle from my admirer. He reached over to gently brush a strand of hair from my face, which didn't help to slow my heart.
"Is this it, then?" I questioned, after regaining my senses.
"I'm not sure what you mean, love." He replied in his most innocent velvet voice. His bemused expression remained unchanged.
The afterlife didn't seem to have improved my coordination, as I awkwardly propped my head up on one forearm, and draped the other across his flawless marble chest. "Did James," I shuddered quietly at the name, "I mean, are we dead?"
He let out a long, deep sigh, leaving the airy expression on his face unaltered. "Not quite, my love." He breathed, engulfing me in the sweet scent of honey and lilac that had left me intoxicated the moment I first took it in. "Are you disappointed?" He seemed mildly puzzled by my obvious frustration at his response.
"If it meant an eternity in this meadow, with you, then yes." I admitted despondently. I wondered to myself if he might be angry with me for saying so, knowing how hard he had worked to keep me alive.
He leaned over to kiss me behind my ear, sending shivers down the length of my body. "Any attempt to be mad at you, Bella, would be an exercise in futility," he whispered in my ear, responding to my unspoken concern, "particularly in your own dream."
I paused momentarily to consider that last word.
"Dream..." I mumbled, already sulking at the implications.
"I'm afraid so," he mused cheerfully, "and like so many before it, this one must also come to an end."
I pouted my lower lip in defiance.
"But I ―" I was silenced by the sudden sensation of his lips against mine, sending my favourite electric current racing directly to my heart, driving it to a near-frantic pace. I could feel the comfortable warmth building in my chest, as he kissed me with a passion that could have set our meadow ablaze.
As he reluctantly drew himself back, leaving me gasping for air, he let out another wistful sigh.
"It's time for you to wake up now, Bella, and return to the land of the living, so to speak." He declared with a wink. "When you do, just remember how much I love you." He flashed those perfect pearl teeth at me, further making the case for eternal slumber.
Nothing could have distracted me from Edward's gaze, but my mind was suddenly sensitive to an unobtrusive, yet rather irritating, buzzing noise.
I was once again aware of the warmth in my chest. This time, however, it had developed from warmth to heat, from comfortable to alarming. My heart had also not slowed appropriately, and was still beating wildly inside me.
The heat was becoming unbearable. It was scorching me from the inside out.
I clutched at my chest, looking back at Edward with panic-stricken eyes, but he was no longer beside me. In fact, the entire meadow had dissolved around me, leaving only darkness in its wake.
That infernal buzzing had remained, but I was far too hysterical over the sudden onset of fiery pain in my chest to be annoyed by it.
Like a shot of pure adrenaline to the heart, I was unexpectedly torn from unconsciousness, instantaneously sitting bolt upright. My eyes were wide with alarm, darting frantically around the unfamiliar room I now found myself in.
The first thing I was struck by was the startling clarity with which I observed my surroundings. The walls were a subdued shade of beige, flanked on the floors and ceilings by calming eggshell whites. I was surprised by my ability to identify imperfections in the paint, the subtly chaotic undertone to the soothing palette. Of course, that incessant buzz was still floating in the air to annoy me, as well, even louder than it had been in my reverie.
As I lay back, my eyes fell to my more immediate location; a nondescript white bed, with rails on either side, giving it the appearance of an oversized crib. I was clearly in a hospital room of some kind, but my lovely dream seemed to have masked exactly how I came to be there.
Before I could pause to assess my situation, I was assaulted once again by the fireball in my chest where my heart should have been. It seemed to be making a last-ditch bid to drive me completely mad with pain.
My spine contorted into an arch in response to the agony, causing my torso to lift off the gurney, suspended by invisible puppet strings. I shook my head from side to side in a futile attempt to escape the pain, allowing me a glimpse of the device next to me; the source of the buzz.
My heart rate was inhuman. The graphical display simply looked like a thick horizontal line, each pulse blending into the next, giving it the sound of a telephone dial tone.
As abruptly as the pain had come, it was suddenly and completely flushed out of me. I took in a deep gasp of air like a diver coming up for air. Beside me, the heart rate monitor displayed one strong farewell beat, and withdrew into a dull hum.
After a brief moment of panic brought on by the knowledge that I had no heartbeat, I suddenly realized what I had known all along, and had been too distracted to make sense of.
Flashbacks of the ballet studio entered my mind, but they were chaotic and unclear, like I was watching them through a fish tank. The bite, the venom, the battle, Edward...
I was like them. I was a vampire.
My mind reeled at the significance; Immortality was the only thing I had ever truly wanted, but it now seemed hollow and meaningless, knowing that I wouldn't be able to spend my eternal life in Edward's loving embrace.
I forced the miserable epiphany out of my mind long enough to survey my whereabouts. I was most definitely in a run of the mill hospital ward; the rainbow coloured fabric that hung from the ceiling to partially obscure the perimeter of my bed, along with the overly hygienic aroma of industrial sanitizing products that filled the air were both evidence of that.
The body that lay before me was unfamiliar. I was dressed in a pale blue cotton hospital gown, with white dots hiding the fading colour that resulted from a few hundred wash cycles. My leg didn't appear to be broken, although I didn't have complete confidence in my ability to assess pain anymore. The skin that covered my limbs was a pale ivory, like fresh snow in the moonlight.
I wiggled my toes experimentally, suddenly unsure that the lithe limbs that stretched to the foot of my bed actually belonged to me; I couldn't be sure, but they seemed longer, and shapelier.
My hands revealed a similar transformation, as I looked over them with awed reverence. My fingers were undoubtedly elongated, giving the impression of grace and dexterity, two characteristics that were notoriously foreign to me. These delicate porcelain hands showed no signs of damage as a result of bracing against the clumsy slips of my former life.
My curious musing was interrupted by the faint rush of footsteps coming down the hall, increasing in volume. With almost no deliberation, I made the decision to make myself scarce, rather than risk having to answer questions that were only just now beginning to dawn on me.
In one fluid motion, I pulled the heart monitor leads from my chest, and reached down to remove the IV tubes, only to find that none were attached. I leaped sideways over the rail, and slid underneath the curtain divider into the next enclosure, without so much as a whisper of noise. In the back of my mind, I registered that the entire sequence took me less than a second.
With my eyes pointed vigilantly towards the door through a tiny break in the fabric, I held my breath and body as still as possible. It occurred to me at that moment that breathing was no longer a necessity. Convenient, I thought to myself. I waited patiently and listened as two pairs of feet entered the room.
"You have got to be kidding me," said an aged woman's in disbelief. Her years of experience were projected by the quiet authority in her voice, along with an appearance that gave the impression of both comfort and competence.
"Now she's missing?" She moaned in exasperation. "I don't think this Jane Doe situation could be any more bizarre."
The other individual, a blonde man in his late twenties, dressed in hospital scrubs like his counterpart, took one probing step forward towards my empty bed. He might have been attractive, if he were my type. By that, I meant a preference for perfect vampire angels over everyday human guys.
"Uh, so where do you think she went?" He asked in a puzzled tone, bringing his hand up to ruffle his already messy hair. His expression was a mixture of idle curiosity and childish amusement.
"Kevin," she muttered with an obvious edge of annoyance, "I haven't been in here for hours, since I broken three needles trying to get an IV started on her." She squeezed her eyes shut and began to massage the bridge of her nose between her index finger and thumb. "You, on the other hand, have been making regular visits. I wonder why that might be..?"
The guy named Kevin wheeled around to face her, and shrugged innocently.
"What can I say; I'm a warm blooded male. Never had a Jane brought in that's as pretty as her, and if I don't look after her, who will, hmm?"
"Yeah, you're the spitting image of chivalry." She replied sarcastically, "Considering that her broken leg was good as new before we could even get a cast on her, something tells me your concern is misplaced. Or did you mend it with wishful thinking and good intentions when I wasn't looking?"
"And what if I did," he asked jokingly, turning once more to lean lazily against the near wall, with a wide grin across his face, "what are you gonna do about it?"
"Dear God," she mumbled to herself, "between this mystery girl and your juvenile shenanigans, I'm about to write this entire night off as one big stress-induced hallucination. I think some worker's comp must be in order here."
The woman continued to gripe under her breath as she turned and left the room.
Kevin tilted his head back towards my empty mattress.
"Real cute," he said to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "real damn cute."
He pushed off the wall and sauntered off after his co-worker.
I let out a sigh of relief after their departure, only then realizing then that I was still not quite alone. Behind me lay a girl no older than I was, with skin as pale as mine, complete with matching lips. Her dark eyelids were tightly shut, and her breathing came in shallow gasps; the heart monitor next to her indicated a slow and frail rhythm.
Reflexively, I drew a breath, without thinking of the consequences. Immediately, the smell of her filled my nostrils and triggered a dry irritation in the back of my throat. The symptoms of the deadly thirst that now beckoned to my senses had been described to me before:
"Once we taste the blood, or even smell it for that matter, it becomes very hard to keep from feeding." Alice had once told me.
Get a hold of yourself, Bella, I commanded myself inwardly, she could have an Edward of her own waiting for her somewhere. You're better than this.
Thankfully, I could detect a cocktail of supplements coursing through her veins, presumably to treat her for whatever illness had brought her here. It was like a pizza with all your least favourite toppings. The scent was tolerable, for now, but the heat in my throat was left undiminished.
I glanced at the chair next to her bed; on it was an amorphous black duffel bag. I decided to take a look inside for anything that might help me get away from here, considering I had nothing but the ratty gown draped over me. I figured she didn't look to be in any condition to make use of anything but oxygen and medicine right now, anyway.
Inside it, I found a few articles of clothing: a white and beige cotton t-shit, declaring her a supporter of the Tucson Sidewinders. Appropriate, I thought to myself, go team! There was also a pair comfortable looking black fleece sweatpants, a pair of plain white socks, and a pair of knock-off designer sunglasses that you might find in a department store.
I'm sure she'd rather give you her clothes than her life, I reasoned silently, as I dressed myself in my newly acquired wardrobe. I also sheepishly slid my feet into a pair of cheap flip-flops that were lying next to the bed, as if she might awaken any minute and tell me off.
Once clothed, I noticed the bags of red liquid that hung next to her bedside, one of which was draining into her arm. Mercifully, I wasn't able to smell the crimson nectar through its thick plastic cover, but the psychological temptation was overpowering. With some degree of restraint, I took only the untapped container and lowered it into the duffel bag I had just procured.
Last week, I'd be feeling faint just looking at this, and now I'm packing it for lunch, I thought ruefully to myself, as I zipped up the satchel and slung it over my shoulder.
I peered cautiously out into the hallway. The digital clock on the far wall read 1:42am.
I drew in a deep breath, having learned the hazards of negligent air control, and set off down the deserted hospital corridors.
Wow, I thought to myself, instantly noticing the monumental difference between my graceful movements in this new body and stumbling gait of my old one. I had to make a conscious effort to slow myself down, as I also noted that the hallway around me was passing by faster than it should have.
Moments later, I found myself at a T-junction, with a set of sliding glass doors at the end of one hallway; hopefully this was the exit. Also at the corner of this hallway was a nurse's station, behind which sat Kevin, my self-proclaimed knight in shining armour. He had a pair of signature white cords dangling from either ear, mouthing the chorus of some unknown song silently to himself.
As I came around the corner, he looked up at me, startled, before leaning forward and yanking out his earbuds without much finesse.
"Oh shi―" his breath hitched audibly, "I mean, it's you!"
Aware of my limited air supply, I simply responded with a polite smile and brief nod.
"What's with the disappearing act? Grace has got the security guy sweeping the whole place to find you."
"Um," I realized that this one might be tricky to convey using nods and hand gestures, "I was startled when I woke up, so I went to the washroom to calm down." As the words left my lips, I wasn't entirely sure that I'd actually been the one speaking; the voice I heard was an elegant melody, completely unlike the voice I was accustomed to.
"Oh," he murmured, "I guess that explains the crazy alerts we were getting back here. Still, must be going haywire... those reading were pretty wild." He nodded knowingly to himself.
He might not have been entirely aware of it, but he was still staring at me unashamedly.
His eyes wandered briefly to the bag hung over my shoulder.
"Going somewhere?" he inquired, maybe with a little too much enthusiasm.
"Cigarette?" It came out as a question, even though I didn't really care about his permission. I was once again briefly stunned by the mellifluous quality of my own voice.
"Right, well, we're going to need a name to put on your chart before anything else, unless of course your name is actually Jane Doe." He smiled a broad grin at me, entirely too pleased with his own wit; I got the feeling I wasn't the first person he had used it on.
"My name is..." I paused to weigh my options. I wasn't sure who might be looking for me at the moment, whether James was still alive and trying to finish the job. Even my parents shouldn't be allowed to find me here like this. Swan was out of the question, and Cullen was too obvious to deceive anyone...
"Isabella Newton." I immediately regretted my decision thanks to the uncomfortable mental images that began to conjure themselves. I'm sure if vampires had gag reflexes, mine would have been flaring up. "Just Bella." I added, before he could inquire further.
"And would that be Ms. Just Bella Newton, or Mrs.?" He investigated eagerly, still with a smug grin spread across his face.
Ugh, I thought to myself, fifteen hundred miles from high-school and I still can't get away from these clumsy come-ons. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him. I have to get out of here... Here goes nothing.
I tilted my head discretely to one side, and put on my very best impression of a dazzling smile.
"Miss." I replied cheerfully, despite the fact that I felt ridiculous. If there had been any blood in my body, I'm sure it would have been flush in my cheeks.
My performance seemed to have the desired effect, though, as the man sitting there behind the counter appeared to have been somewhat dazed by it.
"Uh, right… yea, cool." He stammered breathlessly.
Maybe I gave Edward a little too much credit, I mused, I can see how dazzling people might just happen naturally.
"Hey, I never noticed when they wheeled you in, because you weren't conscious and all, but those are cool contacts," he remarked, evidently recovered from his fit of speechlessness. "They're freaky, but definitely hot."
I reached up to touch the side of my face. My eyes? I hadn't even considered what they might have looked like now. Were they gold, red, or something completely...?
My gaze lifted up to the security door behind Kevin, the reflective side of a sheet of one-way glass facing me, and it was my turn to be dazed.
The stranger staring back at me, wearing the same shocked expression that I felt on my face, was beautiful. Her stunning features were wreathed in curtains of silky chestnut hair, flowing down past her shoulders. Her exquisite pale skin, complimented perfectly by the seashell pink of her full lips, would have made any actress in Hollywood green with envy. The wide eyes that stared back at me, however, were far more startling than the rest of her flawless features; they were a piercing shade of scarlet.
Overwhelmed by my sudden fit of narcissism, I took in a sudden gulp of air.
The scent was overpowering. The moment I drew in the breath, it went directly to my brain, scrambling all my other thoughts. My throat was filled with the same unquenchable fire that I had only just extinguished in my heart minutes ago. I became acutely aware of the pulsing throb in his neck as he stood up and leaned forward in concern; apparently he wasn't oblivious to the abrupt change in my facial expression.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, obviously confused by the pained grimace I wore.
Easy, Bella, I warned myself, awkward flirting is not an excuse to rip out someone's throat... Usually.
There was really only one thing to do. I pursed my lips, and pinched my eyes shut before darting around the corner and making a break for the sliding glass doors at a speed I estimated to be an average sprint. Even in my haste, I clearly heard Kevin muttering to himself down the hall.
"Why do all the good looking ones have to be so damn bananas..?"
The doors slid open in front of me, and I found myself bathed in the glow of street lamps, surrounded by the balmy night air of Scottsdale.
