So this is where I put the friendly little reminder that I do not own Twilight in anyway, shape or form...Enjoy!


"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." - Arnold Bennett

Chapter two

I was on fire, I was sure of it.

The flames licked, surrounding me and encasing my body in a searing agony. It zipped up and down my sides so fast that I could barely keep up with it.

Was I dead? I couldn't answer that if I wanted to.

I didn't know, but I did know death shouldn't be this hard. It couldn't be. I could feel myself shaking violently and though I tried to stop it, my struggles were left in vain.

It was as if I was no longer in control of my own body. Present but in no way dominant. There was noise, a screeching sound that pierced through my ears like a banshee that stood on a nail. I wasn't sure what it was but it was impossible to imagine where it was coming from it my current situation.

It took me a little while to realise that the screeching sound was actually coming from me. I felt disconnected from my own body, my head was light and fuzzy, but my body felt so heavy. I felt every movement, every spasm, every twist my body was making but I was stuck inside of it. Alone and hollow in a black, panting hell.

So I wasn't dead, I knew that much. But that was all I knew at this point. There was a voice speaking lightly, it sounded far away but given my current situation I had no idea where or who it was coming from.

"Yes, cleaning her will be good...He won't be able to come back until the scent is gone." The voice was feminine, warm. It was blurred in my mind but she spoke clearly.

"I'll get some of my clothes for her to use." A second voice said, or maybe it was the first voice. It was an achievement for me to even be able to understand the words, when I was unable to put a sentence together at this point.

But her voice was soothing, motherly. Maybe I was in the hospital, but for what? Remember Bella, think about it. I tried but every time I tried to focus my energy on it, the pain ripped up my body like I was being cut with a million razor blades.

Focus Bella, think. Okay, I was shopping. Robbery? Was I shot? No, no gunshot wound would do this to a persons body. This was an agony like no other. I drove home...Did I make it home? The trees. The deer. I think it was a deer...That's it, I was in a car accident. So that must have been it, I must be burning alive in my car.

But that doesn't explain the voices. The voices. The woman wasn't the first voice I heard. The two male voices...What did they say? I couldn't remember that. I suddenly realized the silence that fell.

Having focused all of my energy on what happened to me, it helped me silence myself. I continued to do this, to think of anything and everything I could to keep the screaming away. But it didn't help the pain, in fact it made it worse.

I felt something damp on my forehead suddenly and flinched in surprise. "It's all going to be okay sweetheart." The voice was close to me now, did she put something on my head?

She was comforting me and I felt her take hold of my hand. Maybe it was the weather or maybe I really was on fire, but her hand was cold, dead cold. But it felt so nice against my hot skin and her sweet voice help to sooth my horrific anxiety. If it wasn't for her voice being so silky and wholesome, I would have sworn it was my mother. This voice spoke with such love and kindness and I didn't even know who she was.

She was silent for a moment. "We'll take care of you." We? There were more? "It will all be better soon, I swear to it." There was a light shuffle and some quiet words I was unable to catch, and then I started moving. I held firm with not screaming but I couldn't for a second control the whimpering that fell out of my mouth. I think I was being changed...How humiliating.

At least I was wearing nice underwear...

The fire roared on inside, even though the sane side of me now knew otherwise, I felt as if I could turn to ash at any point. My organs felt like they were trying to jump out of my body, like they were being rejected. But at the same time they felt heavy and hard, as if I had just swallowed cement or stone. Or I was turning into stone.

I whimpered to the woman still holding my hand, I wanted to know what was happening and I wanted it to stop. I just wanted it to stop, whatever that meant for my future.

I willed myself to move my head to the side, I'm not sure if my eyes were open but I tried to speak. No words fell, just a guttural squeak.

The hand squeezed just a little more "No Sweetheart, don't speak. Focus on getting better."

I shook my head, wincing and gasping in agony at the pain that appeared through my actions. I curled into a ball on my side, but she never let go if my hand, she simply adjusted it to my new position.

Concentrating on my words, I tried to speak again. "What...Am...Is...Fire?" My words were broken and quiet, sounding the way an elderly person sounded as they spoke their last words on their death bed.

That was not at all reassuring.

"You're not on fire, We'll tell you more later." She sighed. "Please just try to relax."

We?

I didn't have time to contemplate this, the pain was changing, morphing into something entirely different.

When it first started, it was literally blood boiling. I was able to feel the movement of the red life source in my dying body. The heat was jarring and moved so fast it felt like a tornado was erupting inside of me. But now I was feeling a chill glide through my body smoothly. I was getting increasingly more cold, even my breath felt like ice.

If the fire was the reckless, hasty spree killer with no thought, the ice was the suave, masked murderer who calculated and tortured. It was like the difference between The Joker and Lex Luther.

While the fire was fast and direct, this chill was agonizingly slow. The pain remained the same however, just different.

I still wanted to die more than anything.

The freeze was a dull ache, like the blood behind a bruise or the feeling of holding an ice-cube for too long. Only this was no ice-cube; an iceberg seemed more appropriate.

If I moved now, I was sure my limbs would break off into pieces.

The dullness got harder and harder and harder. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster and the volume of it grew louder. I couldn't breathe, it hurt too much and I was growing more and more light headed as the dizziness was setting in.

You know that feeling when you're half asleep, and you jolt when your mind plays tricks on you, thinking that you are about to fall? That was happening to me in this moment, only I had no control and I wasn't waking up.

Several more voices appeared, speaking quietly. Honestly they could have been shouting, I wouldn't know it right now. I felt myself moving again and at this point I just let it happen, I was far too deep to care about anything but the sting of the chill staying stagnate in my body.

My heartbeat was now deafening, I was sure it was about to burst out of my chest. It galloped like a prize winning racehorse, fighting for the finish. I could no longer feel myself inside my own body, only the throbbing rush of a nuisance invader. It almost felt like my back was arching up and maybe it was, but my mind was numb to anything else.

Until it all stopped.

My heart was no longer heard and I knew for sure I was no longer breathing.

Was this the end?

I have heard before that when you die, your mind keeps working for a few moments, that your last thoughts happen after you have already fully died. But I had always imagined it would be slow, that your thoughts would fade until there was nothing left of the person you were but the body you left behind. But my mind was sharp, I could hear breathing and rustling and it wasn't my own.

"If you remember, it can take a moment to settle into things." A familiar masculine voice said softly.

He whispered...But the sound was so sharp and present in my ear, I could sense that he wasn't near me but I heard him as if he shouted it in my ear.

Out of instinct, I took a deep breath in. I tasted the air, Actually tasted it.

The shock of this had my eyes blink open quickly. I was staring at a ceiling, it was painted white and had a delicate board surrounding the edges.

My eyes were so sharp, I saw everything in the air. The slow breaths I was making were moving the dust particles into a frenzy, in the light they reflected almost rainbow and sparked colors in the air. How had I never noticed this before? It was beautiful and had me distracted fully.

I heard a slight clearing of a throat and I sprang up from my back. My eyes directed themselves to the people standing by the door. Where did I know them from?

The voice came from the bulky one with the smile, he was the only one smiling at this point, everyone else looked concerned. He was the guy standing behind me at the funeral. Bodyguard guy.

"Isabella." The blonde man spoke, stepping forward slowly. But my mind was so sharp, I heard every note in his voice, my eyes trained so strongly on the way he looked, the grey light of a cloudy day coming through the gap in the curtains showed of his striking face. I could clearly see all the little edges in his face as if they were carved from stone into a man.

I looked over to the small group, they were all like this. Molded and shaped perfectly from marble or it looked that way at least.

There was a pretty, short girl with black hair, she smiled brightly at me now and waved lightly when we met gazes. There was a warm looking older lady that you could see in plain sight had a look of motherly concern, I didn't need to hear her voice to know that she was the one holding my hand through my ordeal.

The two other blondes were glaring in my direction, the girl - who looked like Marilyn Monroe reincarnated - Held the arm of Mr. Burly, she had what looked like a permanent glare etched into her pretty face.

The other blonde stood straight, almost in a military stance. He looked like he was guarding something, but I didn't know what. He had...Bite marks?

I heard a sound come to the back of my mouth. That couldn't have been a growl...

I grasped my hands to my throat in a flash, so fast that the movement itself shocked me. I must have been a sight; wide eyed, appearing to be choking myself...I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the air once again.

Calming myself down, I opened them again, this time focusing on the man that said my name. He smiled sadly and lifted his hand in a gesture of protection, he was showing me that I was safe with him. I felt so too. "Isabella, this must be very confusing for you. We have been through the same thing - all of us - and I assure you, you are safe here." The man looked me directly in the eyes, he was calming and I couldn't pinpoint were I knew his voice from.

Nodding slowing, I let out a breath. It felt so unusual to feel so much control over my limbs, when only moments earlier I thought they were going to fall off. I felt every twitch in my finger, every lash on my eyes as I forced myself to blink...I didn't even need to any more.

"What happened?" My voice whispered, Staring into my lap. I wasn't necessarily speaking to anyone, really I was simply trying to collect my thoughts. But my voice was different, so much more dulcet then it once was. It was melodic and flowing and it sounded like...Them, the voices I heard in the very depths of my agony, the very people standing in this room with me right now.

I heard the man sigh. "We will tell you everything you wish to know, Isabella." He took small steps closer to my bed, staring me directly in the eyes. It was the same way I would look at a spider back home as I was about to pick it up with paper and take it outside. Cautious. A flight risk.

That wasn't what was going through my body right now, it was humming like I had just eaten fifty live bees. My posture felt tensed and rigid but my mind was scared and cagey and sharp. I caught everything, every twitch their arms made, every breath taken in.

The thought in my mind were stronger also, I was having several at once but they were stacked on each other with ease. None taking dominance over another.

My gaze went back to the people by the door, my body was telling me that they were a threat. That couldn't be right, they were helping me. Right? The internal war in my body was driving me insane, my mind told me to trust them - they're helping me, they took me in...But why? I was no threat, I was just Bella; Weak, Clumsy, Tired Bella.

And I was so Hungry. My veins was screaming at me, but what was even more shocking was my throat...When was the last time I had a glass of water? It felt as if I had just swallowed sandpaper, but why wasn't my voice cracking from the pain?

I rubbed my throat idly as my gaze met the older blonde man again. I wanted, no needed answers. "What happened to me?" I felt so different, so alert, but the confusion was coating my mind and making the bees swarm louder and louder...

The man sat down on the bed, keeping his distance. "You were in a car accident." He spoke clearly and honestly, I liked that. I didn't want to be babied by them.

I nodded. "I remember that." Well, not the crash itself but I do remember the trees looming and something running out onto the road, but it seemed like it was years ago, the grey haze of the past weaving at the edges of my memories.

"You do?"

I nodded. "On the highway. A deer...?" I was still so shocked at my voice to give him any semblance of an intelligent response presently.

His eyes were thoughtful. "What else do you remember?" His word warm and sympathetic.

Trying to remember, my forehead bunched together. Why couldn't I remember? "This can happen." He said. "It may take you a little while to remember, don't stress yourself out, okay?" I nodded again, soothing out my features as I breathed out.

"Can I ask..." I was curious.

He leaned forward, interested. This had the other blonde guy behind him take a step toward us. The man in front of me didn't break eye contact with me, he simply raised his hand in the direction of them.

"Jasper, relax." Jasper. Funny name. But it did bring me back to the topic in my mind.

I started again. "Could you please tell me your name? In my head I keep referring to you as 'blonde man'."

He laughed refreshingly, as did a few of the others behind him. "I'm Carlisle, and that my wife Esme." He gesture to the motherly looking one. "These are my children, Emmett-" To which he waved brightly when his name was said and interjected. "Hey!" The tall girl scowled at him and elbowed him in the stomach.

"And that's Rosalie." He muttered like an ashamed father. "Alice is the shortest of our brood and this is Jasper." Jasper nodded simply, keeping his eyes on me.

He still had that look on his face, one of consideration and protection. "You don't look alike..." I stated lamely, drifting my words off hoping I didn't offend anyone.

"No, we are a different sort of family. You will know with time dear." Carlisle said, no doubt trying to placate me.

"We also have a son, Edward. You'll meet him soon sweetheart." Her voice. It was her, the woman that held my hand when I was dying...Or what felt like dying.

"You were there." I said to her, her face turned confused slightly. "When I was aching, you looked after me." I smiled at her, it felt weird though, like moulding plaster into a shape.

She smiled. "I was, I'm glad you feel better."

"You helped, thank you." She - Esme - really did, her cool hands eased the heat in my body just a little and her presence made me feel less alone.

Esme simply nodded, her smile brightening on her face all the more.

"I can't handle this." Jasper stated in a growling mutter. My body reacted to the sound so quickly, as did my mind. I had the intense urge to defend myself from him, to attack. It was both confusing and so natural for me. This was all so foreign to me, so alien. What had happened to me?

I pounced backward, my back hitting the wall so fast. I felt it dent with my weight and my head snapped back to it, sure enough the poor drywall had sunk in where I had hit.

I gasped in fear for myself, I wasn't this strong. I raised myself up and pulled the covers off of myself to get away, but they ripped. The corner of the room next to me seemed like the safest place to be and in a flash, I was huddled in the corner. Literally.

My body started to shake violently, giving my sudden flashbacks to the pain. But it was fear that had arisen them, I was different. Stronger. Faster. Hungry.

"What am I?" My perfected voice shook and I gulped back the Saliva that ached in my throat. I wasn't me anymore, but I wasn't dead.

Emmett pulled Jasper by the arm, backward toward the door. "Dude, give the girl a break."

"She's scared." Jasper said indignantly.

"Of course she's scared." Rosalie snapped at her brother. "She's just changed."

"Changed into what?" I was fast, I caught so quickly what she said.

Silence fell in the room for a few moments but it felt like a year, time had been an odd thing to me from the minute I had woken. I stood slowly, stalking forward at them deliberately. Jasper's shoulder's took strongly and stood in front of them. "Jasper, she won't hurt us." The little one - Alice - Said, resting her hand on his forearm.

"Hurt you? Why would I hurt you?" They were crazy, I didn't want to hurt anyone...

Jasper groaned and pulled her arm away, moving towards the door. "This is what I'm talking about. She's too calm, she feels aggressive then it dissipates to fear...Her instincts are there and they're strong, but they're...Wrong."

"What am I?' I repeated, to no one in particular. I didn't care who answered, I just wanted to know.

Alice fluttered past Jasper, and despite his protests she spoke. "I'll tell you." Her smile was so big, the Cheshire Cat would be incredibly jealous.

"Darlin'." Jasper interrupted. She shook her little head furiously. "No Jazz, she's safe. We can be completely blunt with her."

Everyone stared at her for a moment, of course I can take it. "Of course you'll be safe, what would I do?" I was just one person.

Alice smiled sadly at me. "Bella, you feel it." She took another step forward, and I noted that she was the only one so far to call me by my prefered name. "You're hungry right?" How did she...? I simply nodded, perplexed.

"You'll come to find that it's more that you're thirsty. You need to hunt." Her head dipped slightly at her words, but her eyes stayed on me completely. Hunt? I didn't know how to use a gun. Buy she was right, there was an urge in me that I couldn't explain, a thirst.

Rosalie groaned. "Oh for god sake, you said she can take it. Say it already."

"Rose, this is a delicate situation. We need to take it-"

"No we don't, she might be young but she's not a child." Rosalie looked directly into my eyes for the first time and continued. "We're vampires Isabella, all of us. Including you."

What? Vampires? How was that possible? I remained silent, too shocked to move. Rosalie was dead serious and I had no chose but to believe her, Alice was right; I felt so different, I felt completely different.

I couldn't hurt someone, I just couldn't. The idea of eating - or I guess drinking - someone wasn't appealing at all. I wasn't about to be that person, I refused to be. But what if I had no choice? What if it was the only way to live? What if the thirst took over?

Esme's voice tutted angrily at the statuesque blonde. "Rosalie Lillian...That was the wrong thing to do, Look at her, she's in shock!"

That snapped me out of it. "I'm fine." I said, it pulled some of my memories of the past. Charlie...Renee, oh my god Renee. How long was I...How did this happen? Did this mean that I could never see her again?

Where would I go? I couldn't burden these people for too much longer, they had already nursed me through the change. I had no money. What about the light, it could kill me, right?

I quickly rearranged the heartbreak my face was no doubt showing, or I tried...I was never a good liar.

"You don't have to be brave sweetheart, we've all been through it." Esme moved closer to me, placing a hand on my bare arm. Looking down at it, I noticed the difference in temperature it was now. Had she gotten warmer? Or was I that cold now too, so we felt the same? But she was comforting me non-the-less.

"I can't handle this right now. Alice?" Jasper said, leaving the room. "I'll just be a moment." Alice said before giving her focus back to me. "Please don't take it personally Bella, Jasper has had a rough time with our differing lifestyle choice in comparison to the norm." She used air quotations as she said the last word.

"Differing? Norm?"

"We don't eat humans." Emmett stated, in such a breezy, cool tone. He said it like someone would say "We like to roller-skate" or "Would you like some pie?"

I pondered that for a few moments. "So I don't have to hurt anyone?" I scattered my eyes across the room, not caring who answered me as long as I got a response.

Emmett burst into a hefty chuckle. "Are you sure she's a vamp Carlisle? She's so domesticated for a newborn.?

"Newborn?" I queried, befuddled at the term. "It means new vampire Bella." Alice resolved, tipping her head to the side. I nodded. "Uh."

"Oh." She paused, a blank look hitting her face. It became bright again only moments later. "Edward will be home in twenty two minutes." How did she know that?

"How do you...?"

"We'll go through all of that later." Alice answered, wrapping her arm through mine. "It's fine." She said, looking at the small crowd of her family. "I'm positive that she won't hurt me." There they go with the hurt again, but looking at the wall and the dent I had made in it, I supposed it could have been possible.

They breathed out a collective sigh of relief. "Will you be okay alone?" Carlisle asked. Alice paused again for a split second before nodding. They all left the room silently, looking back at me and Alice as they departed.

Alice danced to the bed and plopped herself down gracefully, she was like a ballerina dancing The Swan Lake. "I'm guessing that you have some questions...?" She patted the bed, inviting my curiosity.

I did have questions, an inordinate amount to be exact. The one I was the most curious about was their - I mean our - diet. "We hunt animals exclusively." She replied when the question came up. "We have the thirst for them still - we always will - but we are able to maintain a healthy diet with the wildlife."

"Will it be hard?" I needed her to be honest, thankfully she was. "It will be the hardest thing you will ever do, but abstaining will also be rewarding." My new friend beamed.

We talked more, well she talked...I asked a few questions here and there but as she answered them, they morphed into other subject inquisitions I had inside my increasingly fast mind.

Vampires didn't eat at all, our organs no longer worked so they couldn't process them, though sometimes they'd have to fake it as a cover. Apparently human food was disgusting to us also.

It was so unusual to refer to myself as anything other than human, that would have to take some time I supposed.

I also learned about the sun, it didn't kill us but as the makeup of our skin had changed entirely into a form that of hardened marble, it reflected the light in some way. Alice didn't say how, but that I would enjoy the look of it. That made me all the more desiring of it.

We also didn't sleep, Alice actually laughed at me when I asked if we slept in coffins. You could hear the others sniggering at it also, especially Emmett.

I learned the laws and ways of the vampire world - who knew such a thing existed? Alice didn't want to get to into it for now, not wanting to overwhelm me with too much information in one hit, but felt it was important to give me the guidelines. Vampires were free to roam the world as they so choose, but had to remain inconspicuous. We had to maintain the public's ignorance, they could never know what we were and live free lives.

We couldn't kill recklessly, I could have shuddered at the thought. She gave me what was needed, I guess so I could do well on my own when they sent me on my way. I didn't want to be a burden to them for longer than necessary.

Alice wanted me to experience the other the perks of being a Vampire myself, insisting that some things were actually enjoyable. I gave her a look of healthy scepticism at that comment.

"You will learn never to bet against me Bella." She remarked, an enigmatic twinkle sparkling in her eyes.

Before I had the chance to inquire about that statement, she sprung up out of her spot. My new, shockingly fast instincts getting the better of me, causing me to curl to my knees in a rigid stance of self-protection. But I snapped myself out of it quickly, Alice was nothing to be scared of. "Sorry." I apologized, bowing my head slightly in embarrassment.

So this was what I had to look forward to? The sudden will to kill my friends? Good times...

"Forget about it." She smiled. "My brothers home!" And with that, she bounced out of the room fluidly. I hadn't heard anything, but just as I thought that I heard a whipping sound. Trees?

"Edward, you're home." Esme's syrupy voice spoke as the sound of the door opened, you could feel the smile in her words.

I waited for the response of the only family member I hadn't met. What if he didn't have the patience for me like the others? "Yes, I'm sorry Esme."

"Don't you ever leave like that again." Her words were scolding to the last family member.

My ever present nosy demeanor had my feet moving to the door before anyone else responded. I was in the room so fast. "Other perks?" I asked Alice in slight shock of my new skill.

She giggled. "It's fun huh?"

But I couldn't answer, I was too busy looking at the boy - who was staring right back at me - with faint recognition. He was the boy at the funeral, the one that looked hungry and mad at the same time. I had noted the beauty of these unusual creatures, but none were as stunning as him. The lines of his face were perfectly aligned in a strikingly well proportioned manner. He was unequivocally flawless.

"Hello." Edward stated tensely, not meeting my eyes with his.


I'm enjoying writing this story and have so many ideas for it, but I'd love your input. What would you like to happen? I have some major plot-lines in the future that will extend far beyond a newborn Bella, I'm happy to say I have yet to find said upcoming storyline in a fic for Twilight before so I am excited for when the chapters come to play, though they have bit to go at the moment.

The songs for this chapter were; 'Hallelujah' by Imogen Heap and 'Stairway To Heaven' By Led Zeppelin.

Have a wonderful day!