Part 1

Becoming Vampire

Chapter 2

There was a quiet knock at her door. She heard her father shuffle a little, waiting for her to answer. "Bella?" She knew it was time to abandon the warmth of her bed for the cold reality of an Alaskan river filled with Salmon waiting to pass on their genetics then die. And if Charlie had his way, the fish would never be able to participate in the fun stuff…

Bella trudged out of bed, still cold even with all the clothing she was wearing. It seemed like every muscle in her body ached from all the shivering she'd done last night. She packed her backpack with a few of her books, some extra clothing and some of those little packets that outdoorsy-type people used to heat up their hands. She didn't know how well they worked, but anything was something. She sat down to a quick breakfast with Charlie. "Did you sleep alright, Bells?" She looked up at him and saw the twinkle in his eyes. She didn't have the heart to tell him about waking up in the middle of the night, colder than she'd ever been in her life. No, she was the parent in this relationship, too, and this was Charlie's Disneyland. Bella was not about to spoil his fun.

She replied, "Mmm, fine," as she huddled around her hot coffee mug and ate her bagel. Charlie, noticing her discomfort, said, "Sorry it's so cold in here – I didn't want to build a fire because we'll be leaving so soon." Bella just shrugged her shoulders and continued to ingest her liquid warmth. Now, if she could just figure out a way to submerge her entire body into the coffee cup…

Trying to change the subject, Charlie asked Bella if she was looking forward to her Senior year of high school. Bella took a few moments to decide which parts of this issue she wanted to discuss with him, then answered, "It's going to be just like any other year, I suspect." He dug a little deeper, which was completely out of character for him. "What about Senior Prom, and graduation, and SAT's and visiting colleges and..."

Bella interrupted him and pointed out, "Dad, I inherited your dancing genes – meaning that for me, the Prom is as dangerous as a lion is to a lamb. And probably just as deadly!" Bella paused and they both chuckled at the visual that was conjured up – Bella being the dancing lamb and the gym floor being the stalking lion. She shook off the idea and continued, "I took the S.A.T. a few months ago. I've researched colleges and have decided that I'd like to attend the University of Arizona. I've already sent in my application, so I won't need to check out any more schools unless I receive a rejection letter. As for graduation, I don't think I'm going to the ceremony."

Her father wasn't too startled by anything she'd said, except that last comment. Charlie was by nature a quiet, introverted man. Knowing that he, himself, disliked other people prying into his thoughts and affairs, he gave Bella the courtesy he considered polite and didn't question her further. Also, he knew his daughter was an intelligent, contemplative young woman and that she must have had good reasons for dismissing her graduation ceremony.

Bella had thought long and hard about going to the graduation ceremony before she came to the conclusion that she would not attend. She had even memorized the perfect reasons she invented, just incase someone (Renee) tried to argue the case. Bella needed to make sure that she emitted an aura of mature sensibility about her decision so that she would be able to debate her side intelligently. As a young adult, Bella had to prove that she knew what was in her own best interest.

In her mind, she quickly went over her reasons again. One could never be too well-prepared. First, she was quite shy. Being in the spotlight would be uncomfortable for her (even if it was for only a 20 second walk across the school auditorium's stage.) Bella cringed even thinking about it.

Second, Renee and Phil (Bella's step dad) would be traveling with Phil's AA baseball team at that time. No one would even be in the audience to watch her walk (more likely, stumble) across the stage for the diploma presentation, anyways. She couldn't image herself asking any of her classmates' parents to take a picture of her. She would feel like even more of a loser…

Third, Bella hadn't had a great high school experience - 'bland' would be her word of choice to describe it. And if the commencement ceremony was a way of saying, "Good-bye," she didn't need it. It seemed to her that she'd been saying her good-byes since the first day of Freshman year.

When Bella was done with her bagel and coffee, she excused her herself from Charlie. She walked into her tiny room and closed the door. Instead of changing from her 'pajamas' from the night before, she just layered on more clothing. She was hoping the extra insulation might eventually warm her enough so that her teeth would stop chattering. Bella was sure that if the forest of Alaska contained any Wood Peckers, they were all probably trying to find a way into the cabin thinking that an amorous female bird was pecking out a mating call. "Well," she thought with a defeated huff, "at least there are some males on this planet who find me desirable…"

As soon as Bella donned as many clothes as her small frame could carry, she waddled into the common area of the cabin. Charlie had pulled out all of the fishing equipment and was almost done giving it the 'once over.' When everything had been checked and rechecked, father and daughter loaded the quads that the owner's of the cabin had provided and drove off towards the river.

Even with her rubber waders and many layers of clothing, the freezing river water was defeating her body's ability to retain heat. Bella hoisted her white flag and surrendered. "Dad!" She yelled over the noise of the whitewater, "I'm going to get out for a while to warm up a bit…" Charlie just nodded as he cast his line again. Bella plodded to the shore. The pull of the currents and the rocky, uneven river bottom were testing the limits of her coordination. Bella was so cold already, she knew she couldn't even begin to fathom how much colder she'd be if she fell into the water. She called on every remaining ounce of strength and complete concentration to will herself to remain upright.

On the shore, Bella removed the waders and cuddled into her long, wool coat. She grabbed the backpack she had filled with her 'emergency' stash of books and looked around for a place to sit and read. She found a boulder off to the side that would serve as a decent bench. As Bella walked toward the rock and out of the sun's warming rays, she realized it wasn't a good idea. She looked around again, this time she looked only in the areas that were situated in the direct sunlight. Up the river a ways, Bella found exactly what she was looking for – a large boulder that wasn't shaded at all.

"Dad!" Bella tried to garner her father's attention again. After a few more shouts, Charlie realized she needed to speak with him. He walked closer to the shore so he could hear her better. "What's up, Sweetheart?" Bella pointed to the boulder and let him know that was where she'd be. Charlie shook his head and walked back to the spot he'd just vacated. Watching him momentarily, the vision of the kid at Disneyland came back to her.

Bella looked towards the boulder down river and tried to figure how she could hike there. She didn't want to walk in the river, even though that would be the quickest route. She also noticed that she couldn't follow the shore because there were a few places between her and the rock where trees or bushes blocked the way. There was, it seemed, a way to get there through the forest.

Bella realized that she needed to relieve herself, so the forest it was. Cursing all that damn coffee she drank while trying to warm up, she walked into the woods. Once a short distance into the forest, she slid behind a large tree and squatted.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, in a large, extravagant house just outside of Denali, Alaska:

A flustered man paced around one of the spacious bedrooms like a caged animal. He was glancing hatefully at the beautiful woman giving him instructions. "Try to think of something else," she provided.

"I can't," he raved, "I'm starving and that's all I can think about. It's all I WANT to think about!"

Try to make yourself want something else," she added pleadingly. He stopped pacing and glared at her. After a few tense seconds (which seemed torturously long to her), he screamed, "I don't want to, Irina! I. Am. Hungry. I want something delicious to eat. I won't settle for anything less. I can't handle any more venison. I can't handle the crap you've been making me eat!"

Irina flirtingly swaggered closer to him. While raising her arms to caress his shoulders, she offered him another solution. Irina spoke in a whispered, lusty voice, "Laurent, why don't you think about me then?" Just as her hands came in contact with his shirt, he growled loudly, pushed he to the ground and was gone from their room. Gone from their house. Gone from Denali. Just gone.

Irina didn't even have time to pick herself up off the floor when her two sisters bolted into the room. They both gasped when they saw Irina sprawled on the floor with the most devastated, most defeated look on her face. Irina sobbed, "Tanya, he's going hunting… And not for animals." For the second time in as many minutes, Tanya gasped. She looked at their other sister, Kate, and they silently acknowledged what needed to be done.

Kaye and Tanya hoisted Irina to her feet. They dragged her down the stairs and out the front door of the house. Tanya sniffed the air and began running, guiding her sister in the direction she knew Laurent had run.

After a very short run, Laurent stopped and leaned up against the side of a very old and large tree next to a river. He had been in such a hunger-induced stupor that he did not know where he was. At that very moment, a delicious scent hit the back of his throat. Venom flooded his mouth. Blood. Human blood. He began drooling venom. He followed the scent down the river and spied a human who was fishing. Laurent chuckled as he thought about a food chain joke he once heard. "That's right," he thought, "hunt for your food… But you won't be around to eat it because I'm hunting for my food, too…" Laurent realized that this was the first time he'd smiled in weeks. This insight made him realize he was not, NOT, cut-out to be a vegetarian vampire.

Laurent quickly took stock of the situation, planning his attack. After going so long without human blood, he didn't even need this unsuspecting human to try to put up a fight. Laurent just needed to taste his blood – period. Just as he was ready to act upon his instinct, another scent flooded his nostrils. This smell was far sweeter and had him salivating even more.

Quickly, he changed his plans and veered his path into the forest and towards that heavenly smell. With his heightened perceptions, this hunter knew that the person was about fifty yards to his right. At that moment, a young woman stepped out from behind a tree.

In a flash that did not even register in the slow human's mind, Laurent was on top of her with his teeth on her throat, his hand over her mouth. Bella didn't even have time to blink. Laurent felt that even though he didn't subscribe to the three sisters' mores about humans as food, they did have an affect on his basic character. He was trying to be as hasty as possible. He was trying to be merciful with this one. He quickly became irritated with himself because his thoughts of Irina explaining how wrong it was to eat humans distracted him from fully enjoying his first truly delicious meal in months.

Before Laurent even began to feel satiated, Tanya, Kate and Irina jumped him. Kate and Irina pulled Laurent back and arrested his movements, using their hands, arms and legs as cuffs. Tanya threw the nearly lifeless human girl over her shoulder. She ran as fast as she could. As soon as Tanya deemed herself and her 'passenger' sufficiently removed from the feeding frenzy scene, she stopped and gently placed the girl on the ground.

Tanya was not a doctor, but she knew the human was still alive. She saw the chest rise and fall – though the breathing was shallow and labored. She could hear the heartbeat, growing fainter with each passing second.

The vampire sister had a decision to make. In an instant, she considered at least one hundred different scenarios, their consequences and their costs (to both her and Laurent's victim.) In the end, the knowledge that she and her sisters were indirectly responsible for this fragile, young woman's current situation limited her options down to only one.

Tanya bent down over the girl's limp body…