1Inspiration and a Game of Twister

Sapphire's POV

We walked back to the house. The rain had died down, but I was still almost soaked. Alice dragged me upstairs and gave me something long-sleeved to wear.

"Thank you, Alice," I said quietly. I was about to continue when she held up a finger.

"If you don't want the entire house to know, don't talk about it out loud. Vampires and werewolves have excellent hearing. The garage wouldn't have been far enough away to be out of earshot if it weren't for the rain," she told me.

"Okay," I murmured. I was having one of those walk-out-of-class-without-permission-and-cut moments, but I held it back remembering the pain on Alice and Edward's faces after Alice's vision, and worst of all the pain on Seth's face. He explained a lot more about werewolves, and to be honest it seemed pretty cool.

Walking back down the stairs, I thought about my mother. She was so full of excitement and life. Even the cancer never got her down. She passed away with a smile on her face, and her last words hanging in the air. "Let your imagine run wild, my gem." She has always called me her gem.

I saw my backpack by the couch and had an idea.

"Is there a computer I could use for a little bit?" I asked Carlisle. He nodded and ran from the room only to reappear seconds later with a laptop in hand. I stood there stunned.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I should have moved more slowly."

I shook my head. "It's fine. I've just never seen anyone move that fast in my life."

Carlisle handed me the laptop. I sat on the couch and opened up my bag. The small zippered compartment held an item infinitely precious to me: my mother's flash drive. I plugged it in waited for it to load.

"What all is on there?" Seth asked, sitting down beside me.

"These are the stories my mother and I wrote together," I whispered. He smiled at me encouragingly. This guy must really like smiling. Edward laughed before looking confused. He cocked his head to the side, and then turned to Bella. She grinned impishly.

"So that's why I couldn't hear her thoughts!" he exclaimed.

"It's Emmett's fault! Remember the last time we played Truth or Dare? He dared me to prank you because I'm the only one who can pull it off and completely get away with it!" she said. Edward turned his glare to Emmett who began laughing so hard the floor shook.

I turned back to the laptop and opened up the story I had been working on for the last three months. It was called The Great Escape. Iridescka Wright was a cutter like myself. Under my story ideas, I changed the middle name of Iridescka's best friend, Toby, from Hugh to Seth and hit 'save'.

"So what part does Toby play is this book?" Seth asked, noticing that I had used his name.

"Toby is Iridescka's best friend. He's been in love with her ever since her dad died," I explained. "He wants to protect her from getting hurt even if it means protecting her from herself; which he also does. The first time Iri ever cuts herself, she gets caught by Toby and ends up crying into his shoulder. Right then and there he silently vows that he will never hurt her. This happens before the story begins, though!"

"You have a good idea of how the whole imprinting thing works," Edward commented. "And, if you don't mind me saying so, I like where you're going with the story. You take certain aspects of your life and plug them in, but it's not strictly modeled after you."

"An author never has problems with compliments," I assured him. "I like how I've put this story together, too. Some of it doesn't exactly show a group of perfectly innocent teenagers, but it doesn't have to."

Renesmee rested her hand on my shoulder.

According to Dad, letting Uncle Seth read Chapter Three might be a bad idea.

I jumped when I heard Renesmee's voice in my mind, but then I remembered what Seth had said about her ability. I thought about Chapter Three. Oh, yes, Toby takes her blade, confesses his love, and they do not-so-innocent things. Again, the words 'perverted vampires' sprang to mind. Edward gave me a stern look before spacing out.

"Interesting," he and Alice said in unison.

"I hate it when they do that," Jacob complained. "What did you see this time, Alice?"

"What does the 'C.M.' of your pseudonym stand for?" Edward asked. I gasped.

"Callie Marie," I replied. "My pseudonym is my mother's full name before she got married to my dad."

"I can see why you would want to publish under that name," Alice said. "I guess you've been inspired again because I saw just saw your book in Barnes & Noble!"

"I get my book published," I said incredulously. Alice nodded. I stared off into space. This was awesome! I would've gladly remained day dreaming, but suddenly a box was being waved in front of my face.

"Let's play Twister," Emmett begged loudly. Seth started laughing. The sound was so infectious that I couldn't help but join in. Seth picked me up and we ran to the game room. It was huge. The entire basement was one room with video games in every corner, board games and cards inside a table by a long wall, and a gigantic Twister mat in the center of the room.

"That's your Twister mat," I mused with wide eyes.

"It's so we all can play at the same time," Emmett explained. "This was is more fun. Me and Rose rigged up a voice activated spinner. You say your name, it stores your voice, then when it's your turn, you say, 'spin'."

"That seems simple enough," I commented politely. Emmett hit a button on the touch screen.

"Let's see," he murmured. "Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rose, me, Edward, Bella, Nessie, Jake, Seth, and Sapphire. Sweet, we have twelve players. Okay, here we go!"

A computer voice emanated from the machine.

"Player One?" it asked.

"Emmett."

"Player Two?"

"Rosalie."

"Player Three?"

"Carlisle."

"Player Four?"

"Esme."

"Player Five?"

"Alice."

"Player Six?"

"Jasper."

"Player Seven?"

"Edward."

"Player Eight?"

"Bella."

"Player Nine?"

"Nessie."

"Player Ten?"

"Jake."

"Player Eleven?"

"Seth."

"Player Twelve?"

"Sapphire," I said, awestruck. The technology was amazing.

"Players ready," the computer said. "Emmett, left foot green."

The game went on like normal, except for the talking, computer spinner. The Cullens fought dirty. I had to avert my eyes when Renesmee started kissing Jake, but eventually he fell.

"Out," he growled at the computer. That must've been how you warned the computer to skip you because it didn't call his name again.

I wasn't brave enough to try distracting Seth. Despite all the space on the mat, we all got tangled up. The vampires were obviously not tired at all, but I was almost worn out.

"Sapphire, right hand red," the computer said. I had to reach under Jasper for the nearest red dot, but I didn't fall.

I turned to smile at Jasper. "Please, don't fall," I requested. He grinned.

"Don't worry," he assured me. "Nobody'd knock me down on someone squishable." He started to laugh but cut off with an intake of breath.

"Jasper!" Edward said warningly. It was too late though. I felt a sharp pain on the back of my neck that felt like blades cutting into my flesh. The sensation seemed out of place. Within seconds they were gone, but my neck burned. The fire was spreading, and it hurt so bad I had to scream. I could hear Seth calling my name.

"Sapphire!" he yelled in alarm. "NO! Carlisle do something!"

"I see her," Alice said, sounding calm. "She's a vampire."

"NO!" Seth yelled again. "She's in pain! Carlisle help her!"

I screamed again. The sound drowned out his pleading. I tried to look around. Carlisle's face looked resigned.

"The bite is too close to her heart. There's nothing I can do to stop the venom," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Seth. She will still live. As for the pain, in three days the transformation will be over."

"I'll go talk to Jasper," Edward offered. "He's beating himself up pretty bad. Oh no, Bella will you join me. He's remembering your 18th birthday party."

I heard someone take a deep, shaky breath. "Tell him," Seth began, he cut off like it was hard to say. "Tell him, it's not his fault. I should've known better. I should've protected her like I'm supposed to."

"It's not your fault, either, Seth," Renesmee said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was becoming a vampire. Jasper had bit me. Vampires were venomous. Seth was blaming himself. I clamped my jaws shut, holding back another scream.

"My fault," I gasped, trying to hide the pain. "Cut this morning. Too deep. Bleeding barely stopped."

I could see Renesmee, Jake, Carlisle, and Esme staring at me in shock.

"Are you a cutter, Sapphire?" Carlisle asked. I nodded, knowing that if I opened my mouth I would scream. A flash of sorrow crossed their faces.

"Carry her to my office, Seth," Carlisle said. "Stay with her. She needs you. The next three days aren't going to be very pleasant."

Three days, my mind screamed. Carlisle looked at me.

"Sapphire, the burning feeling running through your veins won't stop for roughly 72 hours. When it stops, so will your heart. Your eyes will be blood red. You will be strong. You will be a vampire. I'm sorry. There is no turning back."

A tear slid down my face. I felt myself being lifted from the floor. Soft lips kissed the tear away.

"I'm sorry," he apologized over and over. When I next summoned some control, I shook my head.

"My fault," I repeated. "Shouldn't have cut."

He hugged me close to him and hummed what sounded like a Native American lullaby while I fought the urge to scream. I was a masochist. Pain was my thing. I could handle this. I didn't need to hurt him by sharing my pain. So I stayed silent, closing my eyes. The next time I opened them, dust motes were swirling through the air, and I could see everything.