Author's Note: Okay guys, this is a longer chapter than usual, so hopefully you guys will enjoy that. Anyways, I have a poll up right now to help decide my next pairing for a story, a story which I will probably start writing in a few weeks or so. Now, one last thing; poll aside, how do you all feel about a Heidi/Bella story? I have an idea in my head that I can't stop thinking about, so...yeah. In other news, hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 7
That night, Zafrina had a long talk with her sisters. Sisters who repeatedly tried to hammer certain ideas into Zafrina's head like, "random and strange gifts will only confuse Bella more, especially when you give them to her with no explanation," and "you need to learn to communicate better" and "try asking Bella what she wants." The biggest thing they kept coming back to was that Bella had no idea what was going on, and that Zafrina needed to be clear and explain things to the human. This was basically repeating the "you need to learn to communicate better" only with more detail, making it clear that Zafrina didn't really have a choice in the matter.
More and more information, explanations, and orders were forced upon Zafrina, way more than Zafrina herself would have ever expected. This only ended when Bella started to stir, clearly waking up from sleep.
Immediately, Zafrina started to go over everything she had been told in the last few hours in her head, but already, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Her sisters had told her not to touch without some kind of consent, but Bella went to sleep and woke up in Zafrina's arms. Zafrina couldn't just drop her, right?
Bella woke to another near heart attack, something that hadn't happened in awhile, as Zafrina suddenly jumped out of the tree before Bella even fully opened her eyes. Then, Bella was set on the ground, on her usual place under the giant tree she usually slept in, and Zafrina settled on her haunches in front of her, staring right into Bella's eyes.
There, now Bella wasn't being touched without the human's consent. Now, Zafrina had to work on the second point Kachiri and Senna had drilled into her head; making sure her mate was happy.
For a long moment, as Zafrina tried to figure out what she should say, she just continued to stare into Bella's eyes. Of course, this made the human confused, flustered, and thankfully, only a little hypnotized. Her heart was even racing in her chest, now that Bella was able to retain some coherent thought around the vampire. But of course, Zafrina wasn't focused on any of that. Instead, she was focused on figuring out if Bella was happy or not, how Zafrina should ask it, how Zafrina should even start talking to the human. Already, Zafrina felt like her head should be hurting from all the work she had to do just to figure out how to continue.
"You're happy," Zafrina seemed to state as she stared searchingly into Bella's eyes.
Bella blinked, staring right back at Zafrina with clear bewilderment. All she could think to say was, "What?"
"That sounded like a command, Zafrina. Try repeating it in a way that sounds like a question," Kachiri told Zafrina, trying to help her clueless sister out.
Oh. Zafrina grimaced, then repeated herself, never breaking eye contact with her mate. "You're happy?"
"Uh, um…" For a moment, Bella wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. After all, her emotions were all over the place while she stayed here. She spent most of her time bewildered, confused, frustrated...but she did enjoy her time in the Amazon, with the three vampires. She was worried about her dad, yet Bella didn't want to leave. In the end, all Bella could think of to say was, "I guess?"
Zafrina frowned, unhappy with Bella's thought. "I guess?" "I guess?" "I guess" wasn't good enough for Zafrina. She wanted her mate happy, ecstatic even. But how was she supposed to make sure that happened?
"That's not good enough," Zafrina said, capturing Bella's chin with her hand, the vampire closed the space between them by leaning in. Her eyes stared deeply into Bella's, trying to coax Bella to say what Zafrina was supposed to do to make her happier.
Of course, Bella didn't. Zafrina's hypnotizing eyes aside, she of course had no idea how what Zafrina wanted from her. She didn't even know what wasn't good enough.
"Isabella," Zafrina stressed, trying to push Bella just a little bit harder.
However, Zafrina's push had an opposite effect. The next breath was caught in the human's throat, and she felt a strange tightening in her stomach that she couldn't understand. Not to mention the close proximity with the vampire was now making Bella dizzy.
From behind them, Kachiri let out a sigh, making Zafrina frown. She was doing everything her sisters suggested, yet they were still going to act like she was doing everything wrong?
"I believe it's time for me to take over," Kachiri spoke up when Zafrina focused back on Bella, not wanting Zafrina to say anything stupid. She walked over to join her sister and the confused human, Senna right behind her, who silently observed the situation while trying not to laugh. "What Zafrina wants to know is; how can we make you happier?"
Now Bella was even more confused. Yes, the Amazons had been nice to her, have been taking care of her, but wasn't she still their prisoner? So why were they suddenly so focused on Bella's happiness? Really now, just what was going on?
"Why does it matter?" Bella shot back before she could think it through, making Senna fight down a small smirk at the human's backbone. Kachiri almost snorted out loud, but Zafrina simply arched an eyebrow at her mate's words. Of course Isabella's happiness mattered, what vampire would want an unhappy mate?
"It matters," Zafrina stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. Yet she also didn't give anymore details, so Bella simply turned to look at Kachiri. Surely she would explain what was going on, now that the Amazons seemed to be in a talking mood.
"We plan to turn you into one of us, Isabella," Kachiri explained gently. "And after you're turned, we would prefer you stay with us."
Oh. They were going to turn her? But why? Bella couldn't help but wonder what made her so special that these vampires would want to turn her, and had been planning it since they captured her. It couldn't have been her admitting to knowing about vampires, right? After all, they had captured her before they found out about that. But it would make the most sense, what with the whole "humans who find out will either be killed or turned" law. Seriously, just trying to figure out what was going on in the three Amazons' heads was enough to make Bella's head hurt.
"Isabella," Zafrina's voice dragged Bella out of her own thoughts and back into reality, only to find Zafrina right next to her, so close that the Amazon's body pressed against Bella's side. Zafrina's hand was once again holding her by the chin, her other hand pressed against the tree trunk right by Bella's head. She was so close, so amazingly close, that Bella wouldn't have believed there was an inch of space between Bella's face and Zafrina's.
Bella managed to swallow, finally managed to breathe, but that was all she could do. Her heart was now pounding, hard and fast, and she once again found herself captured by Zafrina's eyes. That is, until Zafrina looked away, glancing towards her sisters for any hint in regards to why Bella's heart was beating so fast. Was it fear? Excitement? Something else? This wasn't the time to be messing things up with Bella, after all. She had already broken the no-touching without permission rule, and, according to her sisters, if she didn't tread carefully, she might be hated for all eternity.
Of course, this had been a large exaggeration on Kachiri's part, but she had felt saying it had been necessary to keep her sister from doing anything too outrageous. And now that Zafrina was in this situation, Kachiri felt it best to make Zafrina take the next step on her own. So of course, this meant she looked away from Zafrina's demanding eyes, pretending she couldn't feel the powerful gaze burning into her back.
Zafrina opened her mouth, about to verbally command an answer out of Kachiri, only for Bella to reclaim her attention.
"Why?" Bella managed to ask, her voice a breathy whisper. Zafrina turned back to look at Bella, both brows arching.
What did Isabella mean, why? Why what? Thankfully, Zafrina's confusion didn't last long, because Bella spoke again. "Why turn me? I'm nobody special."
A hiss slipped out of Zafrina's mouth, making Bella try to shrink away. However, she suddenly found herself immobile when Zafrina straddled her, taking Bella's face in both hands, glaring into her eyes, lips skimming back from her teeth in a snarl.
"You are special," Zafrina growled, towering over the now frozen brunette with not just her height, but her mere dominant presence. "Never consider otherwise again."
"Zafrina," Kachiri muttered with a sigh, about to tell her coven leader that she had basically reacted the worst way she could. However, Zafrina quickly realized how badly she had messed up and flashed off of her mate.
She had messed up. Big time. If she didn't want Isabella to hate her for all eternity, she had to make it up to her. She had to. So, in order to make it up to her properly, Zafrina ran into the forest to find as many gifts as she could.
Of course, this meant leaving behind a very bewildered Bella, who had no idea what had just happened, and no idea why Zafrina seemed to have run away from her. And of course, this meant it was up to Kachiri and Senna to do damage control.
"I apologize for my sister," Kachiri said as she walked over to Bella. Once again, Kachiri sat on one side of the human while Senna sat on the other, both close, but not close enough to so much as brush against Bella.
"Uh, no need to apologize," Bella quickly mumbled. Her brow creased, and with a confused frown, she added, "I think."
Senna let out a soft laugh in response, and Kachiri smiled. "Zafrina means well. She just...she's never been one to show her emotions. And she truly did not like you speaking badly about yourself."
"Yeah, I understand." Zafrina did seem to have be pretty immature emotionally, from what Bella had noticed so far. However, Bella was starting to find it funny that the three women, who had seemed to speak nearly no English at all in the beginning, had become so fluent out of nowhere. Usually Bella would have chalked it up to vampiric learning ability, but seeing as all three of them seemed to not understand the majority of what Bella had said so much as yesterday, Bella was pretty sure she had been played. In them pretending not to know English and speak so little, that left Bella compliant. Instead of believing that it wasn't that they just didn't want to answer her questions, she thought they just didn't understand what she was saying to even attempt to answer them and had quieted down. She felt like a fool; of course vampires who had lived so long would know a variety of languages.
"So you really plan to turn me?" Bella asked after a short silence.
Senna nodded first, but, as always, Kachiri was the one to speak. "Yes."
"But why? In the very beginning, I was sure you going to eat me." She still remembered the scene vividly, how both Kachiri and Senna had lunged at her, prepared to go in for the kill. Then someone had said something, and they stopped. That voice, now that Bella thought back on it, had been Zafrina.
Kachiri gave Bella a knowing smile, as if she could see where Bella's thoughts had wandered as well as Bella's conclusion. "Yes, it was because of Zafrina that we didn't kill you. And even then it was hard; you smelled so good, especially when you had that cut on your hand." A cut that had thankfully long since healed, as it had been clearly been a source of stress and discomfort for the vampires.
"But why?" Bella hated repeating herself, especially since she sounded like some kind of whiny broken record. But her mind just wouldn't settle down, not until she got some kind of answer.
Senna sighed at Bella's question, but not in a put out way. While Bella hadn't been one to understand the smallest hints of body language, she had learned to be very attuned since being captured by the three vampires, one of whom was mute, Zafrina being not so far behind. Which meant she knew that Senna's sigh meant something like she was sympathizing with Bella, but, with some regret, wasn't going to tell or show her anything else.
Kachiri only proved Bella right when she said, "That's for Zafrina to tell you." Although who knows how long that will take, she added silently, knowing how Zafrina wouldn't drop the bomb until she knew she had wooed Isabella to the point that the human was already in love with her. And also, knowing her sister's thick headedness, that might take centuries alone. Kachiri and Senna were really going to have to step up their game to make sure Bella understood what was happening and what Zafrina felt for her before her turning. Because even with their coven leader's wishes, they couldn't wait forever. The rainforest was a dangerous place, and had Kachiri and Senna been human, they would have lost count of how many times they had to kill, or at least take away, the various dangerous insects that had wandered too close to the human. Thankfully, animals sensed the danger in the three vampires and stayed away, otherwise they would have been a problem as well.
There was also the fact that Bella was already eighteen now, and Zafrina had been turned in her early twenties. She was sure the human would only feel self conscious if she was changed in her late twenties or beyond.
"I get it," Bella said with a sigh of her own, this one defeated. Sure, she hadn't known the Amazons too long, but she had a feeling it was going to be much longer before Zafrina told her anything.
"One last thing, Isabella," Kachiri added, placing a hand on Bella's arm. Bella looked up, staring deep into Kachiri's serious eyes, eyes that didn't even come close to hypnotizing Bella like Zafrina's did. "Whatever happens, please do not come to hate my sister. It would destroy her."
"I…" Bella licked her lips, her mouth suddenly very dry. Her heart also started to pound a little faster, her body reacting to just how serious Kachiri's request was. "I won't." Bella didn't say it out loud, of course, but she didn't think she could. Zafrina had just done something to her, warmed a place inside of Bella that she hadn't known she even had. And the two sides of her-the commanding, dominant personality, as well as the awkward, unsure part of her who seemed to have no idea of how to handle Bella-just made her feel a mix of curiosity and fondness for the complex woman.
It was strange. While she had been scared at times, and confused-oh, she had certainly spent most of her time with the Amazons confused-she never felt even the first inkling of dislike. After those first few days with the Amazons, she had even started to feel like she belonged there, in a way she never felt before, even with the Cullens.
"That's good," Kachiri said, standing up. "Now, I will go find some breakfast for you." On some unspoken signal, Senna stayed next to Bella as Kachiri took off. And while not a word was said between Senna and Bella, it was a comfortable silence.
Zafrina didn't come back until nightfall, and when she did, she arrived carrying all sorts of things, many of which was draped over or tied to the vampire, appearing as quite a strange sight for the human. There was some kind of skinned animal for dinner, a necklace of fangs that used to belong to a black caiman, a large sack of nuts, beans, flowers, feathers, and leaves, a pelt of a jaguar along with its fangs, some other various pelts of animals, and lastly, a live but seemingly traumatized pygmy marmoset. Zafrina pretty much dumped all of her findings on her mate, both anxious and proud of her gifts, and then tried to give Bella the live marmoset, telling her "It's cute." And cute things were what humans liked, right?
Of course, Bella made Zafrina let the monkey go, who bolted like death incarnate was after it, and then tried to figure out why Zafrina had given her all of this, and what she was supposed to do with it. Zafrina was no help, only asking her, clearly worried about something, if she liked it all, before telling her what each thing was or what it could be used for. With some items, like some of the flowers, she simply stated, "It's pretty" or "It's warm" or "It might taste good." For others, like the leaves, Zafrina went into a long, winded spiel, speaking more than Bella had ever heard from her, about what the leaves were capable of, the healing properties, what it could be used in...it was enough to make Bella's head feel like it was about to spin right off of her body.
In the end, Bella just decided the best thing to do was thank Zafrina for her gifts, which made the Amazon beam with joy, all but blinding the human, and pretend she actually knew what she was supposed to do with it all.
That night, things changed. Zafrina sat by her awkwardly throughout dinner, and instead of feeding her, ripped off pieces of the cooked meat and placed them gingerly in Bella's hand, avoiding all contact. It was like she was afraid that even the smallest of touches would break the human. Then, instead of cleaning Bella's fingers herself, she handed Bella some leaves to use. Bedtime came, and Bella was once again left confused. Instead of Zafrina picking her up and climbing the tree like she always did, Zafrina created a bed and shelter out of various pelts and logs before sitting down next to her. The end result ended up being more comfortable than Bella's own bed back home, but for some reason, Bella had trouble sleeping in it all night, mumbling all sorts of intelligible things, which only served in worrying Zafrina immensely, as she was used to Bella sleeping like the dead.
And things only got stranger for the human from there.
