Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Any other characters, settings etc. are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter two: Bitten
I made some phone calls, took care of some business-related affairs, and went upstairs to change. I stood in the middle of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. Looking for something casual, I ended up in a red sweater and a blue skirt. I glanced quickly at the mirror and decided that I was ready to go see the family I love. Time had no change how I felt about them. One in particular.
I went to my car, got in, and reversed out of my driveway.
Nervously, I drove toward their house, worrying about Edward's reaction. Would he be mad or happy? I didn't think he'd be upset. I knew he cared for me. He just couldn't love me the way I loved him. At that point all I could do was to hope that he still liked me as a friend.
Their house was about thirty miles from mine. They live so close! I drove into their driveway and saw the beautiful mansion, it was probably a hundred years old; painted baby blue, two stories tall, and it had lots of windows.
As soon as I turned off the engine Alice was at my door, looking extremely excited.
"What took you so long?" She whined.
"I told you, I had to take care of something." I reminded her.
She pursed her lips. "O.K., I forgive you. Let's go see the rest of the family." She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the house.
As we walked up to the porch, my whole body tensed up. I looked at Alice, and she gave me an encouraging smile as she opened the door for me.
Waiting to greet me, were all the beautiful faces I missed so much.
"Bella!" Esme exclaimed. She ran to me, hugging me tightly. "I missed you." She said, kissing both of my cheeks.
"I missed you too, Esme." I said, grateful to feel the love from her.
I suddenly felt a hand on my right shoulder and saw Carlisle next to me, smiling. "It's nice to see you again, Bella."
"Likewise." I answered timidly.
I saw Emmett walking toward me. I extended my hand to shake his, but to my surprise, he grabbed me into a bear hug and kissed me on the cheek. "I am glad you are here." He said, as he released me from his massive arms, looking at me with a huge grin on his face.
"It's nice to see you, too." I grinned back.
Jasper and Rosalie were standing to my left.
"It's nice to see you again." Jasper smiled but did not get close to me. I just smiled back.
"Hi Bella!" Rosalie said cautiously. It surprised me that she was genuinely happy to see me.
"Hello, Rosalie!" I said.
I turned toward the stairs, looking for him, and I froze. The most beautiful creature my eyes had ever seen, was standing a few feet from me, looking straight at me. He looked the same, not that I expected differently, but I was afraid my memories were flawed, and they were. He was even more beautiful than I remembered.
He was looking intensely at me but did not say anything. His eyes were black and the bruises under them were deep purple.
He walked slowly toward me and hugged me fiercely. In that instant, the world stopped. A wave of emotions washed over me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged myself closer to him, re-memorizing his scent. It was better that I remembered.
I don't know how long we stayed like that, lost in our little world. Chuckles and sighs around us reminded me that we were not alone. So I unwillingly pulled away from him.
He released me but then put his hand carefully on both sides of my face and said, "Welcome back."
I looked at his eyes and with his face just inches from mine; I had the urge to kiss him. But I couldn't do it. I needed to respect his feelings. I had to be responsible and do the right thing.
I separated his hands from my face without breaking our eye contact. "Thank you."
Afraid to let my feelings betray me, I turned to look at everyone. "I'm glad to see everybody is doing fine. Thank you for having me."
"This is your home." Esme smiled.
I sighed, feeling grateful for the warm welcomed they offered me.
"O.K." Alice said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the couch. "Tell us everything that has happened to you. With details." She ordered.
I sat down obediently and they took their place around me, waiting anxiously for the story I was about to tell.
I took a deep breath, looked at each one of them, setting my eyes on Edward, and began.
"Before I tell you what has happened to me in the last three decades, I think I should begin by informing you about a human trait I brought with me when I was changed." I said.
They nodded and I continued. "It seems like I was a very perceptive person, very intuitive, when I was human. And this trait intensified once I became a vampire. I could perceive what you are feeling right now." I said, looking at each one of them.
"You have Jasper's power!" Alice rejoiced.
"Not exactly, Alice." I said. "I could sense your feelings but I can not manipulate them like Jasper does."
I paused for a moment, trying to look for the exact words to describe my ability. "I could sense negativity, love, happiness, people's good and bad intentions." I said.
"Can you sense what we are feeling right now?" Edward asked in a low voice. He was tensed and worried.
I looked at him closely. "What I perceive from everyone right now is happiness, surprise, curiosity and love." I said with gratitude.
"I love all of you the same." I whispered my voice full of emotion and relief. "But I also sense guilt." I accused, looking at Edward specifically.
"Bella, I…" He started to explain.
"Edward." I interrupted him. "I know that is hard to control what we feel, but you have to make an effort to stop feeling guilty. It's not your fault. You can't take responsibility for what happened to me."
He looked down and stayed quiet.
I waited until he looked back at me. "I know that you care for me. I could feel it, and I'm very grateful, but the amount of guilt I sense from you, it's unbearable and you need to stop it." I demanded.
He relaxed a little, but the waves of mixed feelings coming from him did not stop. "I'll try my best."
I sighed and decided to let it go for now.
I turned to look at all of them. "My story is long and complicated. But I am going to try my best to recount it and answer all of your questions." I smiled.
"Go ahead." Carlisle encouraged me.
I inhaled deeply and begin. "After you left, I was a mess. Charlie worried about me, and threatened to ship me off to Florida if things didn't change. He wanted me to interact with people, so I got close to Jacob Black. Charlie liked him and was pleased." I decided to omit the real reason I looked for Jacob, my red motorcycle
Before they noticed I was editing I continued. "I wasn't expecting to get close to Jacob but it happened. We became good friends. He was my best friend, my sun." I said with a smile. "A few months later he became a werewolf."
"Your best friend was a werewolf?" Alice yelled, staring at me with a shocked expression. "They're dangerous dogs." She added.
"There's nothing wrong with werewolves." I said firmly, hurt by her critical tone. " They are good people and they protected me from Laurent and Victoria."
A wave of anger erupted from Edward. "LAURENT AND VICTORIA." He yelled, standing up, fists turned into balls.
"Relax, Edward. They're dead." I informed him.
He tried to relax a little, but the rage still coming from him was scary.
"Jacob's pack took care of it." I assured him.
"But then, who changed you?" Carlisle asked.
"It'll get to that part." I answered still worrying about Edward.
Edward sat back down and I continued. "Thanks to the pack of werewolves, who protected me from Laurent and Victoria, I was able to finish High School. I had no desire of leaving Forks but to make Charlie happy I applied to a couple of Universities and was accepted to the University of South Alaska."
"The day of my departure, I decided to travel, driving my truck. Charlie and Jacob thought it was too dangerous, and insisted on going with me. I refused and left by myself."
I prepared myself for the next part of the story.
"It was on my second night traveling north when it happened. I was deeply submerged in my thoughts that it took me by surprise. It came out of nowhere. I thought it was a bear or an elk. It was dark and big."
"I tried to avoid hitting it and lost control of my truck. All of the sudden I was falling off a cliff and I knew that it was the end, but I was wrong. I was trapped in the wreckage, in pain and aware of everything around me. There was blood everywhere. I couldn't move because most of my bones were broken. And that's when I saw him; a vampire with dark red eyes, looking at me thirsty. I closed my eyes, knowing too well what was about to happen and prayed that it wouldn't take long." I shuddered at the memory.
"He dragged me out of the truck and I felt his sharp teeth on my neck. Out of nowhere there was a wild roar that rang with fury. I opened my eyes and saw this giant wolf attacking the vampire. It was Jacob. He'd followed me to make sure I'd get safe to my destination. And he was not alone. Quil and Embry were with him. The vampire was not match for three werewolves." I said proudly.
" They killed my attacker but it was too late. I had been bitten. I could see the horror on their faces when they realized I was becoming a vampire. Jacob broke down, inconsolable. They didn't know what to do."
I closed my eyes, remembering the horrific moment. "The pain was unbearable and I wished they'd kill me but they couldn't do it. I was their friend."
"They decided to stay with me during my transformation. I begged them to leave. I didn't know if I was going to attack them once I was a vampire, but they stayed." I smiled at the thought.
"On the third day, my transformation was completed. I was a vampire. By then Sam, the alpha wolf, had joined us. He gave me some belongings they'd retrieved from my truck before they set it on fire, and with sadness informed me that I was on my own. He ordered the others to go back home. Jacob refused to leave me, but at the end he couldn't go against the Alpha's orders."
"One by one, they said goodbye to me. Jacob was crying like a little kid. It broke my still heart to see him suffering. He promised me he was going to take care of Charlie; help him through the news of my death. And they left. I was alone and scared, not knowing what to do next."
Remembering the friends I'd lost was very painful.