Her eyes flashed open quickly and there it- no, there HE was. There was that scent: scotch and campfire. The feeling that rolled off of him made her feel secure and stable and like the pain was inconsequential. He smiled and that was really an extremely lovely sight. Now if only he would talk to her again and she could hear that voice that had walked her through all the burning and-

"Hello, Belloula."

Ha, there it was! She knew she would remember her name.

"Hello...you," she answered with a grin.

He raised a single eyebrow and tilted his head. "Do you not remember my name?"

"I seem to remember very little about a lot of things," she answered, sitting up and finding the motion to be much faster than it should be.

"Whoa," she exclaimed, staring at the man with wide eyes. "That doesn't seem right."

He chuckled. "I suppose you probably aren't familiar with the speed, but you will adjust. We will talk after see to your needs. Are you perchance hungry, kouklitsa?"

On consideration, hungry seemed like it should be a gnawing stomach, but instead she felt a burning in her throat and somehow that seemed to be telling her that she was, in fact, hungry. She was very, very hungry.

"I think so," she said with a nod, moving to stand by him and finding herself there within a blink.

Slowly, the man reached for her and cradled her cheek, studying her face intently. She leaned into his hand and felt her chest rumble involuntarily. Holy fuck, did she just purr?

"You need blood, Bambina," the man stated, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the hallway.

Her nose scrunched up in confusion. "Blood? Well that doesn't seem right either."

The man chuckled and shook his head. "You truly remember nothing, Belloula? Well, your instincts should serve you well enough, anyway. First, you eat. Then, I will explain what I can. For now though, you need only know this. I am Demetri, I am your sire, and you are a vampire."

"Oh," she said with a slow nod of understanding. "That explains a lot, actually."

Demetri pulled her along through corridors and doors, steadily moving towards an area where she could hear more sound. He cocked his head and glanced at her. "Tell me what you remember of vampires."

"Okay," she agreed thoughtfully. "They are unbelievably fast and strong, they survive on blood, sparkle in the sunlight. The hellfire I was in makes a lot more sense now. I know a sire means that you are the one who made me." She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about that. "Cold, hard, and mostly indestructible?"

Demetri nodded, pausing at a set of double doors through which 6 unfamiliar smells wafted, making her antsy. "It seems, kouklitsa, that you have retained much of your knowledge, simply not how it applies to you. This is not entirely abnormal," he told her with a shrug. He lifted his hands to cradle her face and force her eyes to stop roaming and meet his. Immediately, she felt herself falling into twin ruby orbs and she unconsciously leaned forward into the strange warmth this man's touch and gaze provided.

"When we go in here, there will be 6 vampires on the far side of the room. You will feel threatened, kouklitsa, not because they mean you harm, but simply because your instincts are on overdrive. You will stay behind me. As your sire and...other things, this should instinctually calm you into feeling secure enough not to act out. I must emphasize, if you are going to lose your mind momentarily and attack other vampires, some of these specifically are not the vampires I would prefer you have that little momentary lapse with." He grinned at her and she could not help but return it.

"This room is where we feed, together, as a coven. For today, it will only be those 6 and myself who are present after Heidi drops off your meal. No one else will be eating today, but still, it's good practice to be in the same room. Try...not to bite anyone who doesn't have a heartbeat, if at all possible."

With that Demetri turned, pulled her firmly behind him, and opened the doors.

Demetri was not entirely sure whether this was a good turn of events or not. His mate forgetting her human life in its entirety could be convenient for him, as it provided him with a sort of blank slate on which to build a working relationship, but at the same time it would complicate some things. Things like the current state of affairs which included Edward Cullen and Carlisle Cullen currently standing behind Aro's throne.

Aro stood at their arrival, looking very pleased with how everything was panning out for him. "Ah, Isabella! So lovely to-"

"Belloula," the vampire behind Demetri interrupted.

Aro paused and peered at what little he could see of her behind Demetri. "Pardon?"

She leaned out slightly from behind Demetri and gave the king a small smile. "My name. It's Belloula, not," she paused, her face scrunching up in distaste, "Isabella."

Aro raised his eyebrows and glanced at Demetri while the other vampires in the room looked on with various expressions ranging between amused and disturbed. Felix appeared to be holding back a chuckle.

Demetri shrugged. "She remembers nothing, evidently, although her technical knowledge so far appears intact." He turned slightly to his little mate. "Isabella is, in actuality, your name, though it is my understanding that you preferred Bella. Belloula is a nickname; specifically, my nickname for you."

"Oh," she answered quietly. "I suppose Bella is alright then."

Aro smiled graciously. "My apologies. Bella, then. Italian for beautiful, how fitting." He bowed slightly and took a few steps closer. "It's delightful to see you, little one. You came through the transformation well I see, despite your memory loss. It's not such a sad matter really, when one has eternity to live. A few decades is hardly much to lose."

Bella nodded. "I certainly don't know what I'm missing, so..." She shrugged.

Carlisle moved forward slowly from behind the throne, looking between the King and the tracker with slight apprehension. "If I may, Aro, perhaps Bella's memory could be jogged by someone she has spent more time with, such as myself or Edward. She hardly knew either of you and one of us may be able to provide a detail that will help her to recall things."

Aro simply looked to Demetri who gently reached an arm back to steady the now slightly vibrating young vampire behind him. He felt her lean into his back and stand up on her tiptoes, pulling him down by the shoulder to force her mouth to his ear.

"I don't remember him," Bella whispered to him, completely oblivious to the shiver running down his spine as her breath caressed the sensitive skin of his ear. "But I feel... a little lonely and almost...sad when I look at him."

Bella had obviously underestimated vampire hearing, Demetri noted, as Carlisle faltered a step back, looking very much as if someone had punched him in the stomach. Edward looked equal parts pained and furious. Naturally, Felix looked as if he had stumbled accidentally upon the most delightful and humorous show.

Demetri patted her hip lightly and looked back at her over his shoulder, raising a finger gently to his lips. They would have to discuss how sensitive vampire senses were later, and he did not want her to provide them with personal accounts of her feelings if she chose not to. His kouklitsa looked back at him with a furrowed brow, obviously confused, but nodded.

He turned back to the blond coven leader and addressed his offer. "Perhaps after Belloula has settled in, we will discuss coming to speak with you and the younger Cullen. There are many subjects we must entertain and questions to address before I feel comfortable that she can make an informed decision on how and whether to speak with either of you."

Demetri could hear the faint sound of heartbeats approaching the throne room and Bella's head snapped to the door, a slow growl building in her throat. He turned to her, forcing her to look at him for a moment. Diverted from her careful stalking of the sounds of blood pumping just beyond the room, she looked up at him with heartbreaking frustration and whined. Demetri bit back a smile. She was positively adorable.

"Metri," she whimpered at him, lip pulled out in a quivering pout. "I can have it, right?"

He ran a hand through her hair fondly before wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. "Of course, Belloula. But remember what I said, yes? No biting anyone without a heartbeat."

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Please, Demetri. You have to know that Bella would never be comfortable feeding from a human being if all her memories were intact."

Bella, who had turned in Demetri's arms to eye the door intensely again, murmured distractedly before he could answer. "I'm okay with it."

Felix snickered while Demetri simply shrugged. "You heard her. She's okay with it."

Edward stepped forward determinedly from around the thrones and moved closer than anyone else, coming to a stop a few feet from them. Bella's eyes snapped to him, her form taught and vibrating as Demetri tightened his arms in an attempt to avoid the inevitable. She could certainly escape from the cage of his arms if she truly wanted to. Those heartbeats were getting incredibly close now and if Cullen were still anywhere near her when her meal arrived, he was going to live to regret that decision. The only reason she was as calm as she had been was because the sire call, compounded with the pull of true mates, gave Demetri a measure of control over her baser instincts and her extreme trust in him, as a result of those things, would give him the ability to largely calm and soothe her through a lot of newborn emotions and instincts the first year. But no matter how instinctually strong their bond was, nothing was going to get between a newborn and her first meal.

"Love, look at me," Edward pleaded, seemingly ignorant to or ignoring how tense she was. "This isn't who you are. Your father is the police chief, dedicated to preserving human life. In your normal mind, I swear, you would never want to harm a human."

Demetri shook his head at the younger vampire. "You are going to get bit if you don't back away," he told him mildly.

Edward glanced at the tracker, but fixed his gaze on Bella again. "Please, love..."

Bella glanced back over her shoulder at Demetri before returning her gaze to the vampire who was standing dangerously close to the door. "Metri, I don't know who he is. But I'm hungry."

Demetri nodded, turning slightly to look at Carlisle. "I know, principessa. Cullen, if you don't get him out of the way he's liable to lose a limb." The Coven leader nodded, resigned, before he stepped forward and gently led his coven mate –or son if you asked him- back behind the thrones. Edward resisted a moment, but the fight seemed to have flown out of him at the confirmation that Bella did not remember him.

Demetri turned his attention back to the bambina in his arms, bringing his mouth to her ear to speak to her quickly before the heartbeats steps away entered the room. Her body was tense, waiting, and at any moment she was going to spring from his arms. He couldn't have stopped this hunt had he wanted to. "I will give you some room to work, kouklitsa. Welcome to your new life."

He released her and retreated next to Felix, who had stepped forward slightly so that both guards could watch over her while she ate. It was an instinctive urge for Demetri, to protect his mate while she was distracted with feeding, and for Felix it was simply supporting his friend. The door opened and there was a flash of Heidi's blood red dress before a human came sailing into the room, directly towards Bella. She caught it with a snarl and immediately latched onto the man's neck, biting too hard on the artery and spraying the wall nearest to her with blood. Heidi peaked around the door, presumably to ensure the newborn was occupied, before she quickly brought forth two additional humans, unconscious, and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor.

Heidi retreated to the door before waving at Felix. She smiled at Demetri and mouthed, "Congratulations!"

Demetri smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to watch his little Belloula snarl lightly in frustration as her meal ran empty. She tossed the corpse to the ground with a pout, but then she saw the other humans. Her face lit up and she giggled as she ran to the next meal, biting at the wrist this time, thereby making the mess marginally better.

Felix whistled softly. "D, man, congrats. She's something else, I'll tell you that. How're you feeling about all this?"

Demetri shrugged one shoulder lightly as his mate moved to her last human, straddling the body and latching onto the neck again. More blood splattered across the wall and floor.

"I'm still adjusting to the protective and possessive feelings. It's a lot of change." His lips quirked up ever so slightly at the corner as he watched her finish her last meal and glance around for anymore. When she was confident no more humans awaited her, she looked around the throne room, eyes roaming until they fell on Demetri. She smiled. "But to answer your question," he continued as she skipped over to him. "I could get used to it.

Italian Translations:

'Bambina' - Baby