Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the other three books, Stephenie Meyer does.

Here's chapter four. I'm sorry that it took so long. I made this chapter long in order to show my appreciation to my two reviewers for the last chapter. I hope you like it, and I couldn't decide whether to do it in Carlisle's or Edward's POV.

Thanks to parkerbaby and hAMBERger for reviewing!

Enjoy your read!


"Edward," I said gently. "It's over. You can open your eyes now."

Edward's eyes shot open and looked over at me when I spoke. His face was that of confusion. "Dr. Cullen?" Edward inquired. "Is that you?"

"Aye," I affirmed. "Go ahead. I know you have questions." I mentally prepared myself for whatever he was going to do or ask. I had a feeling that he would not take this very well.

Edward paused, his brow creased in deep thought. After a moment, he looked at me in the eye and asked simply, "What happened?"

Ah, an easy question to answer yet a very difficult question to answer at the same time. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to explain. "You were on the verge of death, Edward. The influenza was about to take you, as it has already taken your mother," I began in a heavy voice, looking out the window, very far away in my thoughts. "It was not easy to do what I did. If it weren't for your mother, I would not have done what I did and you would've been dead by now."

"What do you mean by my mother? What exactly did you do, Dr. Cullen?" Edward asked cautiously, as if he didn't want to know the answer. I sighed heavily. I didn't want him to know, but he must. It is who, no what, he is now. I chose the easy question, coward that I am.

"Your mother was on her deathbed. She sped up her demise by attempting to nurse you. The last thing she said to me was for me to save you with all the skills that I possessed... and I did," I turned my head to look at Edward directly, whose now crimson eyes filled up with venom that substituted for tears, but tears would never fall again for him. "Your mother was the strongest and most resilient woman I knew. I have no idea how she was able to hold on to life even when she should've died hours before."

Edward took a shaky breath, no doubt out of mourning and love for his mother. "Everything seems different now. I can see more than I ever did. I can hear and smell more than I ever did. Not only that, I feel the best that I've felt in a long time," He commented, implying for me to tell him what happened to him.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Aye, that is because I changed you, can you figure out what you have become?"

Edward's face took on an confused look. He cocked his head and asked, "You mean to say that all this wasn't the cause of the influenza?"

It clicked then. He thought that all this was because of the influenza. I let out an roar of laughter. I couldn't help it, it was just too funny. Edward looked offended.

"No, Edward, this is not the cause of the influenza," I said, struggling to get my laughter under control. "I apologize for that, I should not have done that, but that was too funny." I sighed after watching a range of emotions run across Edward's face for a moment and said in a serious tone, "No, my son. The influenza kills. It does not give you enhanced vision, hearing, or smell. You are cured of the influenza now. You will never get ill again, never get harmed again, never get tired again, never sleep again, never eat again, never cry again, never have a heartbeat, and you will never age, you are stuck at this age now," I said in a now steely voice, looking out the window again. "You are now the world's best predator. Every being is now at your disposal and is your prey." Edward now looked at me in horror.

"Exactly what do you mean, Dr. Cullen?" Edward asked in a trembling voice. "What have I become? What have you done to me? Please don't beat around the bush, tell me now."

I locked my eyes with his and abandoned my human charade. I looked at him with the full bearing and stillness that only vampires possessed. I allowed my voice to change from the soothing tone that I used with humans to put them at ease to my vampire voice of steel and said this simple statement, short and to the point, "You are now a vampire, Edward."

Edward recoiled with shock. "Vampire?" he whispered in disbelief. "That cannot be true, vampires do not exist."

I let out a grim chuckle. "That's what we want the public to think, but at the same time, what you have learned about vampires are mostly myths," I paused. "We do not burn in the sun, we do not sleep in coffins, we do not turn into bats, and we do not have fangs but something far more potent to our prey."

I could see Edward's mind working, trying to figure out the flaw in my statement, any lie or half-truth, but couldn't find any. I let the silence stretch, letting Edward think. All of a sudden, Edward's face took on one of fear.

"Please tell me that the drinking blood part is a myth too," He pleaded with his voice and eyes.

I gulped and prayed that Edward would listen throughout my whole statement. "No, Edward," I began slowly. "That aspect of a vampire is not a myth. If that were a myth, that would change the essence of what an vampire is." Edward looked like this was near his breaking point. "However," I stressed. Edward perked up, his eyes filled with hope. "I do not drink human blood. I drink the blood from animals. I am one of the precious few who do. The majority of our kind drink human blood. Many find the yearning for human blood too difficult to resist. Human blood completely satisfies us while animal blood does not satisfy. It merely helps us keep the thirst at bay for a while."

"Thirst?" Edward questioned.

"Aye, thirst," I stated, feeling like a college professor giving a lecture. "The Hollywood version of the vampire drinks blood only when they desire it. They feel no draw or yearning for blood. That is not the case for real vampires. The burning that you feel in your throat," Edward rubbed his neck as I mentioned it, "is thirst. Burning and raging thirst, even more potent because you are a newborn vampire."

Edward interrupted by asking, "Newborn vampire?"

"A newly made vampire. You may be seventeen, my boy, but not in our world," I explained. "You have been born into our world by my bite. Your age in the human world does not matter. To us, you are a newborn who does not know the rules yet. One who does not have the experience or knowledge that comes with being a vampire. You will be considered a newborn vampire until a year has passed since your change."

"Why does it hurt so much?" Edward asked into the wall.

"The change?" He nodded and I sighed. "The change hurts because you are being changed completely. I injected venom into you by biting you and therefore touching you with my venom-coated teeth. The venom kills your organs, including your heart. It also basically freezes your body in time. It makes you hard as stone, fast as a jet, and cold as ice. You are so cold because the blood no longer runs in your veins, therefore giving you no warmth. The only reason why your blood ran through your veins while you were a human was to provide oxygen and nutrients to all the systems in your body. However, your blood is not completely gone yet. Newborn vampires are the strongest out of all vampires because they get extra strength from the blood that remains in your body. After a year, you will be like us fully with no blood left in your body," I finished with a weary sigh.

"You said that I will never age, is that true?" Edward questioned.

"Aye, my son," I answered. "Like I said, the venom freezes your body in time. You will also never die naturally. You will have to be killed, but it is not easy to kill a vampire."

"How can vampires be killed?" Edward whispered.

I sighed. I did not want to answer this question, but I will since he asked. "The only way to kill a vampire is to tear them apart into pieces and set the pieces on fire. If you just leave the pieces alone, they will simply reconnect and you will have an angry vampire on your hands."

Edward nodded. He seemed to run out of things to say or ask.

I decided to go ahead and give him the blood that I had, just to be safe. I didn't want to risk him not drinking any longer. I stood up and motioned my hand at him, "Come, my son." Edward got up and followed me out of the room. I went down the stairs and through the hallway to my office with Edward following me and looking around the house curiously. I told him to sit down in one of the chairs and bent down under my desk. I thanked the gods that I had not put the blood in a clear container. I handed the large container to him. "Drink," I ordered. "You don't have to drink all of it but I would feel better if you drank at least an third of it."

Edward opened the cap reluctantly and the smell of blood filled the air. Edward's eyes went wild and I feared for my house. I sighed in relief when Edward started drinking like mad. After a few minutes, Edward was done. He drank half of the whole thing, good grief! I shouldn't be surprised, though. Newborn thirst is even stronger and more uncontrollable than an older, regular vampire. I reached out my hand for the container and he handed it over to me with violently trembling hands. I frowned and capped the container and put it back under my desk.

"Edward?" I questioned.

"What have I done?" Edward whispered to no one in particular.

I sighed mentally. Oh boy. "My son, what you did was natural. You see that I did not lie or exaggerate when I spoke of thirst which is even more potent and uncontrollable for a newborn. It is what we are. You must accept that and I understand that it might take a while to accept. But to be frank, your thirst won't wait. You will be thirsty again in a few days, less than a week. But next time, it'll be different. I gave you this blood in a container because I did not want you to be overwhelmed by everything that has happened. Next time, we hunt." I walked from behind my desk and sat in the chair in front of Edward.

"I am a monster," he whispered, repulsed.

"No you are not," I admonished. "It may seem that way, but you are not a monster, rest assured. Just because we are vampires does not mean that we have to let this aspect of our life rule our lives. This does not define who we are, it may define what we are. But that doesn't mean that we have to let ourselves hide and be ashamed of ourselves. I have met many wonderful vampires who don't let this define who they are."

Silence reigned the air for a few minutes. Edward looked around curiously in the meantime while I sat motionless in my chair, with a serene air. Edward broke the silence by asking, "Is this your house, Dr. Cullen?"

"First, please call me Carlisle. I am your companion now, and companions are rarely so formal to each other, no?" I raised an eyebrow and Edward nodded in assent. "Yes, Edward. This is my house and it is now yours too."

"What about my house back in Chicago?" Edward asked curiously. "I'm sure that I've inherited everything that my parent once owned."

"Aye, that's most likely," I replied. "But that house, right in the middle of Chicago, would not be safe for you."

"Why?" Edward queried.

I let my mouth change into the cold smile of a vampire. "With you being a newborn, you will probably slaughter the whole city. The yearning is very difficult for a newborn to control."

Edward's face was white as a ghost. "Does that mean I can never be around people again?"

"Not necessarily," I countered. "Like I said, newborn thirst is very hard to control, but give it a year or two and I think that you will have gained enough control to be amongst humans again."

"Is there any way that I can at least get my possessions from my house?"

"Well, I wouldn't trust you to get them," I replied slowly. "But I can certainly get them if you tell me what you need."

Edward sighed and nodded. "Of course."

"But not tonight, perhaps tomorrow night or some other night," I said.

"Very well," Edward replied.

"Good," I approved and leaned back in the chair that I was still sitting in. "Feel free to explore the house, Edward. It is now yours too." I motioned toward my office door, clearly ending the conversation, yet not unkindly.

"Yes, sir." Edward said, leaving the room.

A thought struck me that I mentally slapped myself for not thinking of earlier. How was I going to explain a new "son" in town? It was definitely time to move.

Hmm... I wonder where we should move to next.


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