Hearts of Ice

Chapter Four: The protector

*Flashback*

Mom was screaming from the next room. She sounded like she was in so much pain, but Dad had told me not to worry about it. He said she'd gone through the same thing when she'd had me, and she'd been fine. The fact that I had caused this much pain to my own mother was appalling, I thought. I didn't like the screaming, so I covered my ears and waited for it to stop. When it finally ceased, I could hear another sound. Crying; a baby!

I ran into the room where my parents were. Tucked into Mom's arms was a little pink-faced baby. I gasped in delight and ran forward to meet my new sibling. Suddenly, my Mom's head fell back onto the sofa, her eyes closed.

"Bella?" Dad cried, "Bella?!" I was pushed out of the way as I tried to see what was happening. "Oh God Bella!" A baby appeared in my arms, "Take her upstairs, and don't come down until I tell you it's okay."

"Daddy, what's-" I began

"Just do it Renesmee!" He snapped. I clutched the baby to my chest and ran out of the room, trying to hold back tears. I ran halfway up the stairs and then stopped, watching my parents through the railings. Dad was too busy with Mom to notice that I hadn't obeyed him. He was leaning over her, and it took me a minute to realise what he was doing. He was biting her. He was turning her into a vampire.

She shrieked in pain, much worse than before. She was shaking on the table, writhing in pain. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I let out a whimpering sound. Dad turned around to face me.

"Go upstairs Renesmee, I told you!" He yelled, his voice echoing around the house. I bolted upstairs, up into the attic where I always hid from danger, and locked the door behind me. I could still hear the screaming from downstairs, but it was muffled.

I finally looked down at the baby lying peacefully in my arms. Her face was so small and perfect, like a little china doll. Her skin was paler than Mom's human skin tone, but not as pale as Dad's vampire skin. It was a mix of both. It matched perfectly to the arms that held her now; my arms. She had little pink lips that moved softly as she breathed, and tiny little blonde eyelashes on her closed eyes. A few wisps of blonde hair covered her head, poking out from the white blanket she was wrapped in. She opened her eyes and looked right up at me, staring straight into my own eyes; bright chocolate brown to bright chocolate brown. She was just like me. She was my sister.

I gently kissed her forehead. "Hello, little sister." I whispered. She gurgled in response, making me giggle. Another scream came from downstairs, and the baby's eyes widened, but she didn't cry.

"Don't worry. You're safe here with me." I told her softly, "I'll protect you I promise."

A smile spread across her tiny face, as if she could understand what I was saying. I rocked her gently in my arms, where she seemed to fit so perfectly, like she was made to be held by me this way. I unwrapped some of her white blanket slightly, and a tiny starfish hand popped out, reaching up towards me. I touched it gently, tickling it and making the baby giggle again.

I looked around the attic. It was where I came to hide from the monsters, and to be by myself when I was upset. It was full of toys, clothes, and blankets, all belonging to me. Sometimes I would have to hide from the monsters overnight. I grabbed a different blanket - a warmer, fluffier one - and wrapped it around my beautiful baby sister.

The screaming downstairs had been replaced with odd whimpering sounds, and the baby had fallen asleep. I headed over to the bed. This wasn't where I usually slept, downstairs in my bedroom, but I had slept here lots of times before, when the monsters came at night time. I got into bed, and hugged the baby tightly to my chest, making sure she would be safe here whilst we both slept. I knew she would be. I would never let anything happen to my baby sister.

I woke up to silence the next morning. I expected the baby to be asleep, but she was lying awake in my arms, staring at me silently with her big bright eyes. I smiled as I saw her angelic little face. "Good morning, little sister."

Her reply was a gurgling noise. That was enough to make my smile grow. I got out of bed, carrying the baby with me, and went to sit down on the couch instead. I couldn't hear anything from downstairs, but Dad had said not to come down until he told me I could, so I stayed upstairs with the baby all day. And I didn't mind one bit.

I showed her my favourite toys and we played with them together, and I read her all my favourite story books, and I tickled her and cooed over her and tried to make her laugh. It was that evening - a whole 24 hours after her birth - that I decided that my baby sister needed a name. I didn't know what my parents wanted her to be called, and I didn't know how they would feel about me naming her myself, but I'd been calling her 'little sister' for the past 24 hours and I'd had enough. It took me all evening to come up with a name, and we were led down in bed starting to drift off to sleep when I finally came up with one. It was the main character from the first story book I'd read to her, earlier that day. I looked down at her pretty face and I knew it fit perfectly.

"Arietta." I whispered. Her eyes opened and she smiled a wide, toothless smile at me. I took this as a yes.

Satisfied with the name, we both fell asleep.

Arietta cried the next day, and I knew why almost instantly. The growling of my own stomach told me that she must be starving. She'd never even eaten before! The only food in the attic was biscuits and sweets, and I'd been told not to come downstairs. But I could hear there was no one down there, and I couldn't bear to see Arietta's beautiful face all scrunched up and crying.

"Shh," I soothed, taking her up in my arms, "We'll go find food."

I opened the door to the attic silently and waited a second, making sure there was definitely no one downstairs. We were clear. I went downstairs, not finding any trace of what had happened two days ago. Mom and Dad were no where to be seen. I went into the kitchen and, balancing the baby in one arm, opened the fridge. The only non-solid food I could see was milk, but it was cows milk and even at eight years old I knew I mustn't give this to a baby. But what was I supposed to give her?

I looked around, and my stomach growled again. I wasn't hungry for human food, I was thirsty. I looked down at Arietta in wonder. Mom had told me that I had drank animal blood right from birth. In fact, it had been my first ever meal. I dived into the second fridge, the one where Dad kept spare animal blood in case I was too tired to go out hunting. It was fully stocked, and I said a silent prayer to all the gods I could think of. I found a bottle - one that Mom had bought a few weeks ago after delaying baby shopping for as long as possible - and got a cup for me, and poured the blood into both. I held the bottle up to Arietta's lips and she drank thirstily, quickly making her way through the meal. I gave her another bottle, and she drank most of that one before she got fed up, so I drank my own glass and took her back upstairs to the attic.

"Do you feel better now, little sister?" I asked. 'Little sister' had become somewhat of a nickname for her now. Arietta giggled and I wiped a trace of blood from her lips. "One day I'll take you hunting with me. You'll love it. We'll take down whole mountain lions and wolves and bears! Maybe Mom and Dad could come with us." Mom would be a vampire, I remembered, so she would come hunting too. We'd go out as a family! I looked down at Arietta. She'd hardly even met her own parents. Did she remember their faces? Would she recognise them when they came back?

Yes, she would. I would make sure of it. I touched her cheek gently and projected images of Mom and Dad - taking me to the park, smiling and joking together, talking about 'the new baby' whilst Mom was still pregnant, shopping, dancing, hugging, smiling...every memory I had of them, I projected onto my sister. She looked up at me in awe and a huge smile spread across her face.

"That's your Mommy and Daddy." I told her gently, "They'll be back really soon, and they're gunna be so happy to see you!"

I didn't know exactly how soon they would be back, but I didn't mind. I was happy here with Arietta, and I would look after her until my parents came back. I didn't know where they were or what they were doing, but I knew it must be important. I knew they always put my safety first, and I knew that they would now put Arietta's safety first too, so I could count on them to come back before I even needed them to.

It was another two days until they returned. That was a total of five days I had looked after Arietta, staying in the attic and making trips downstairs only to get food and blood. I heard them come in and my first instinct was to run to them, hug them and show them Arietta. But I remembered what Dad had said, and he hadn't told me it was okay to come out yet. So I waited another half hour, until I heard Dad coming upstairs. He tried opening the door to the attic, but it was locked.

"Renesmee?" He called. I picked up Arietta from where she'd been laying on the bed, and made my way over to the door, unlocking it and throwing it open to see my Dad's smiling face.

"Daddy!" I said, hugging him as best I could with the baby in my arms.

"I'm so sorry we left you, Renesmee." He said, "But Mom needed to...well, she wasn't really in control. She couldn't stay here in the house. I knew you'd be okay, you're a big girl."

I smiled widely. "Is Mommy okay now?"

"Yes." Dad said, "But you still need to be a little careful around her." I frowned. She wasn't safe around me? "She wants to see the baby."

I shook my head. If she wasn't safe for me, how could I let her near Arietta? She couldn't defend herself! "Let me see her first. To make sure she's okay."

"Renesmee-" Dad began

"If she's okay around my blood, then she'll be okay with the baby!" I argued, "We should test her first."

Dad seemed to realise I was right, "Okay, but I'm going to be there anyway in case. You don't need to worry."

I shook my head again, "You need to stay outside the room with the baby until I say she's passed the test. Promise, Daddy."

My face must have been so serious, that Dad agreed. Or maybe he just knew that I had a point. Of course, my mother as a newborn would be able to win in a fight against half-vampire me, but I would be able to defend myself long enough for Dad to run in and stop her. Not that I thought Mom would...well.

"I'll be right outside, okay?" Dad said when we got downstairs. I nodded, and pushed the door to the living room.

Mom was standing facing me and I had to take a few moments to take her in. She was stunning. I mean, she'd always been beautiful, but now...with added vampire dazzling qualities...she took my breath away. She was watching me, her eyes a slightly fading red colour.

"Mom." I gasped, "You're beautiful."

"Renesmee!" Mom said, a smile breaking across her face. She didn't seem to be having trouble controlling herself. Of course, Dad had always told me that I had enough vampire in my scent to stop my blood from being attractive to vampires, but that didn't change the fact that my scent was half human and that I did have a beating heart pushing blood through my veins.

"How are you feeling?" I asked

"Amazing." Mom said, "Everything is so bright and clear."

I laughed, "Welcome to vampirism, Mama."

"Can I see her? The baby?" Mom asked. I watched her for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess." I said. She seemed under control, and Dad would be there just in case. And I was not going to let anything happen to Arietta. She would be completely safe. I skipped out of the room and took the baby out of Dad's arms, taking her back into the living room to where Mom was waiting. "I hope you don't mind...I kind of named her. I called her Arietta."

I bit my lip, expecting lectures and yelling for naming their daughter, but Mom beamed at me. "That's beautiful, Renesmee! I love it!"

I looked at Dad, but he was smiling too. "It's perfect."

"You're not mad?" I asked

"Of course not." Mom said, "You spent the first five days of her life with her, you know her better than we do. Who better to name her?"

I smiled, "She's named after the girl from 'Arietta and the friendly wolf' - it's the first story I ever read to her. It's my favourite."

"I'm proud of you Renesmee." Mom said, "You looked after her and acted like a grown up."

My smile grew insanely wide. "Do you want to hold her?"

Mom looked at Dad, but he just nodded at her. "You can do it."

"Okay." Mom said. I lifted Arietta up gently and placed her in Mom's arms. Arietta looked up at Mom and recognition flashed into her eyes, and she reached a starfish hand up towards Mom's face. Mom gasped in delight and gazed down into Arietta's face, "She's so perfect. She's beautiful."

"She's thirsty." I commented as she started to whimper. I went to the fridge and Mom and Dad watched me in amazement as I went about making her a bottle of blood. "What?" I asked, "It's all I had to give her. And man, does she drink a lot."

*Five years later*

I was just drifting off to sleep when a tiny person slipped into bed next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her to me. She was freezing, but soon warmed up under the covers of my big double bed.

"What's up, Ari?" I whispered

"I couldn't sleep." Arietta mumbled, her voice muffled by the thumb stuck into her mouth.

"Why? Did you have a nightmare?" I asked. Arietta nodded. She always came into my bed when she couldn't sleep, or when she had a bad dream. I think subconsciously, she still remembered those first five days of her life, hugged to my chest as we slept. In the last five years, she'd slept in my bed nearly as much as in her own bed. "What happened?"

"There was a war and everyone was shooting people and I was stuck in the middle and I couldn't move and it was really scary." Arietta said in a rush. Damn, it was that stupid movie from earlier. Mom and Dad had been watching some war film rated PG13 and - what with me being 13 - they had invited me to watch it with them. But where I went, Arietta went, and it wasn't the most suitable film for a five year old. I'd taken her out to play another game after I realised just how bad it was, but obviously it had stuck with her.

"Shall we chase the bad dream away?" I asked. Arietta nodded. I sung softly and quietly, though I knew my parents were downstairs and could probably hear us. "Sun goes down, and we are here together. Fireflies glow like a thousand charms. Stay with me, and you can dream forever, right here in my arms tonight. It's magic when you are here beside me. Close your eyes and let me hold you tight. Everything that I could ever need is right here in my arms tonight. Sounds of day fade away, stars begin to climb. Melodies fill the breeze, sweeter all the time. My love is always with you, whether near or far. How sweet to hold you right here in my arms tonight."

Arietta had fallen asleep, and I kept my arms around her as I let myself fall asleep too.

When I woke up, Arietta was staring into my face. Whenever she slept in my bed, she would wait for me to wake up before she got up herself.

"Good morning, little sister." I said sleepily

"Good morning, big sister." Arietta replied chirpily. She hopped out of bed, "Mommy's made pancakes."

"I'll be right down." I said. I checked the time. 5.30 in the morning...I rolled over in bed with a groan as Arietta skipped downstairs to breakfast. 5.30...in...the...morning. My family was insane. This was not the time for breakfast! It was alright for Mom and Dad, who didn't sleep and so had no concept of night time (a.k.a sleeping time) and day (a.k.a when the sun was actually in the sky).

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew why Arietta was so excited today. Right, the hunting trip! Arietta had just turned five, and Mom and Dad had agreed to let her come hunting for the first time. For the last five years, she'd been living off refrigerated blood that we brought home from hunting, but today she was coming with us. For the first time, she was going to have to kill an animal and drink it's blood there and then. She was immensely excited...

*4 years later* (A/N this is the morning of the very start of the story...)

"Renesmee, get up!" Arietta said, tugging at my arm, trying to pull me out of bed.

"Arietta..." I moaned, rolling away from her

"I want to go hunting!" She said

"Later." I told her

"Now!" She moaned, "Mom and Dad won't let me go alone, please get up Renesmee!"

I rolled over to face her, ready to argue. It was a mistake. One look at those big bright chocolate colours eyes and I couldn't resist giving her what she wanted. "Alright, give me ten minutes."

"Yes!" Arietta cried and ran downstairs to tell Mom and Dad. I changed into denim shorts and a t-shirt, and clipped some of my hair back, out of my face. I barely had time to grab my phone before Arietta was back in my bedroom, pulling me downstairs.

On the way back from our rather successful hunting trip, my cell started ringing. The caller ID flashed a picture of me and Josh a few weeks ago goofing around at a funfair. I smiled and answered the call, "Hey Josh."

"Renesmee, what are you up to today?" He asked

"Uh, family stuff, I think." I said, "Why, what's up?"

"Oh." He said, his voice falling, "I was gunna say we could meet up, but don't worry about it."

"Ah, Josh, I'm sorry." I said, "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess." Josh said, "So you're not around at all today?"

"Don't think so." I said, "I promised to take Ari out shopping and to see a movie."

"Right. Okay." Josh said, "I'll see you tomorrow then, I suppose."

"Bye." I said. He hung up and I felt incredibly guilty. Arietta was staring at me.

"Did you just turn down a date to go shopping with me?" She asked. I shrugged, "We can do that anytime!"

"I can meet up with Josh anytime." I pointed out

"You made him all upset now." Arietta said, putting on a little pout. I laughed at her. "I don't mind, we'll go out another day."

"Are you sure?" I asked, watching her face. She really didn't seem to mind.

"Of course I'm sure!" She said, "I have the pleasure of spending time with you at home anyway."

Her voice was teasingly sarcastic, and I jumped towards her, tickling her side until she apologized, giggling in a heap on the floor. "Alright, I guess I'll spend the day with Josh then."

I was about to ring him back, when I decided to surprise him instead. I'd get a pizza and bring round some movies, and we could spend the day at his house. I loved doing that, especially when we had the house to ourselves. So, it was decided.

"You're the best Ari." I said, "I'll buy you ice cream at the movies to make up for it, yeah?"

"Deal." Arietta said, grinning, "When are you meeting loverboy?"

"Don't call him loverboy!" I said, holding back a laugh

"Why not? That's what he is!" Arietta said, "You love him...don't you?"

I looked at my nine year old sister's serious face. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well then," Arietta said, the seriousness leaving her face as she broke into a grin again, "I can call him loverboy."

Heyy so, I know not much really happened in this chapter for the storyline, but I wanted to tell this little part of the story of when they were young and how they became so close and everything. The next chapter will be back to present time, and the storyline should start picking up!

The song Renesmee sings to Arietta isn't mine, but I don't know where it's from as a friend sent me the lyrics so disclaimer to wherever it's from!

Hope you liked the chapter, please review! :) :)