Author's Note: I do not own Twilight. Twilight and all of the characters are the creation of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thanks to the lovely people who reviewed the last chapter: MusicIsAlwaysThere, IWonderWhatIShouldBeCalled, CloudyNight, caseyrn12, and emmettlover4everandalways!
chapter 7
august 7th, 2013
It was about ten o' clock when I opened the garage door and drove back inside. Nobody was there to greet me, which surprised me, seeing as they could definitely hear the door open.
I walked out of the garage and towards the front porch, when Parker came bolting out the door, followed by Esme and Rosalie. This was more of what I was expecting...
"Alex!" Parker yelled. "What were you thinking? You had me so worried! I get back with everyone after hunting and only Alice is home, and she says you went off to Washington! You could have gotten hurt-"
"But I didn't," I said, interrupting him.
"But you could have," he said.
"Calm down," I said, grabbing his arms. "Alice told you she had a vision of me getting home safely, right?"
He did not answer me.
"Right?" I asked again, raising my eyebrow.
He gave me a small nod.
"See? There was nothing to worry about, then. Alice is smart. She wouldn't have let me go if she knew something was going to happen to me," I told him.
He sighed, then gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I just got nervous, that's all."
I gave him a smile, then looked over at Rosalie and Esme, who were still standing there. Esme smiled at me when I walked over and gave her a hug.
"How did the house look?" she asked me when I left her embrace.
"Just as beautiful as ever," I said with a laugh.
I gave Rosalie a hug, and she kissed me on the forehead.
"Give us a little warning next time you decided to run off, okay?"
"I think if I run off after this, it won't be as much of a problem," I told her.
She gave me a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
We all walked back into the house together, where we were met by everyone else in the living room.
"See? What did I tell you all?" Alice said. "She's back home. Safe. In one piece."
"All right, Alice, you've already mentioned this. No need to rub it in," Parker said, rolling his eyes.
I walked over to Alice and gave her a hug. "Thanks," I whispered, knowing full well that she could hear me.
She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and I moved from her arms.
"Gosh, Alex. You really set everyone off," Emmet said with a booming laugh. "Almost as much as I do on a daily basis."
I laughed at him.
"Well, it's getting late. Alex should be getting to bed," Carlisle said, coming over and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
I nodded, said goodnight to everyone, and walked towards the stairs with him.
When we were upstairs, he whispered, "You know, I had faith in you getting home. I was not as nervous as everyone, but I must admit I was a bit nervous. Like any other father."
I smiled at him. "Thanks. I'm sorry I upset everyone... but I just felt like I needed to do this."
"And I completely understand," he said. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
"Goodnight, dad," I said. His smile brightened, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek before heading back downstairs.
I walked into my closet and changed into my most comfortable pajamas, then laid down in my bed. I had trouble dozing off because I knew this would be the last time I actually slept. It felt funny, thinking I would never sleep again. So much time in the day I took for sleeping would be free... It was almost hard to process.
I laid there for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes. I had too many thoughts running through my head- Not ever sleeping again, the transformation tomorrow, the burning pain from Nathaniel's bite that I could still remember. The transformation would be just like that, but longer... and probably worse.
I tossed and turned, not able to find a comfortable position to sleep in, when someone knocked on my bedroom door.
"Come in," I said quietly, sitting up in my bed.
The door opened, letting light in from the hallway, and Parker stepped inside.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you," he said.
"Well, seeing as I'm not asleep, I don't think you're really disturbing me," I replied.
He walked over to my bed and sat next to me.
"I just wanted to apologize again for overreacting earlier. I'm sorry if it made it seem like I thought you weren't capable of keeping yourself safe," he sighed. "I was just so worried... I was acting like, well, as Emmett said, a pansy."
I covered my mouth with my hand to try to hold back my giggled. "He called you a pansy?"
"Yeah..." he sighed again. "He said I needed to calm down and stop acting like such a pansy."
I couldn't help but giggle now. "That sounds like something he would say."
Parker chuckled and wrapped his arms around me.
"And I'm sorry that I ran off earlier without telling you. I figured you guys would not let me go, and I felt like I had to do what I did..." I mumbled.
"I know. Carlisle told me," he said.
We sat there in silence for a bit, Parker running his fingers through my hair.
"Are you having trouble falling asleep?" he asked me.
I just nodded.
"Edward had told me that your thoughts were a whirlwind," Parker said.
"Yeah," I whispered.
He kissed me on the forehead. "Do you want me to stay with you for the night?"
"I would like that," I said with a smile.
We just sat on my bed like this, with myself laying in his arms. He kept playing with my hair, and I eventually drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. When I woke up, I was still in Parker's arms.
"Esme made some breakfast for you," he told me. "It's ready if you would like some."
I nodded and slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"Yes, thanks to you," I said with a smile, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and standing up. Parker was at my side in an instant, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I gave him another smile and walked downstairs.
"Good morning, Alex," Esme said sweetly as I walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Esme," I replied.
"I made some cinnamon rolls for you," she told me, setting the dish full of rolls on the kitchen island. This made me smile. If this was the last breakfast I had as a human, or even the last meal, I would be happy.
I grabbed a glass of milk and Esme grabbed a plate for me, kissing my forehead as she walked by.
I just sat down at the island and took several bites of the cinnamon roll that was placed down in front of me. Esme went over to the sink when Emmett walked in.
"Alex!" he shouted.
I gave him a little wave and started to drink the glass of milk.
"I just can't believe you!" he said. "I thought you were an innocent little girl. I can't believe you slept with Parker!"
I inhaled in surprise, choking on the milk I was drinking. Figures he would take something innocent and make it sound dirty!
"Emmett!" Esme shouted, running over and patting my back as I coughed up a lung. When I finally could breathe again, I got up from my chair and glared at Emmett.
"I am going to kill you," I said, running towards him. Alas, using his vampire speed as an advantage, he ran to the other side of the room. I kept chasing after him, and he started to run closer to a human pace, but he was still too quick. We ran into the living room and stood at opposite ends of the coffee table.
"Get back here!" I yelled.
"Like you can catch me!" he shouted back.
As he ran away, I jumped onto the couch and off the armrest, flying onto his back.
"I have to admit, I'm impressed," he said, flinging me to the floor. "That was a good move!"
I continued to chase him around the living room, and yelled, "Just you wait until I'm a vampire! I'll catch you then!"
As I kept chasing Emmett basically around in circles, Carlisle came into the room.
Emmett and I froze.
"Why on Earth are you chasing each other around?" he asked.
"Daddy, Emmett was being mean to me," I said, walking over to him and trying to give my best puppy dog face. Hopefully it would still work as an eighteen-year-old.
Carlisle looked at Emmett. "Emmett, what did you do?"
"Oh, c'mon!" Emmett said. "You're not really going to be sucked into her trap, are you?"
"Emmett made fun of me and said something that wasn't even true!" I said, crossing my arms.
"What really happened does not even matter," Esme said, walking into the room. "Emmett just needs to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes."
Emmett threw his hands up in the air and sighed, flopping down onto the couch.
"Why didn't you stop them from running before?" Carlisle asked Esme.
She giggled. "It was fun to watch."
Carlisle laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then headed back upstairs. Esme followed behind him.
I walked over to Emmett and gave him a smile. He rolled his eyes at me, so I gave him a quick hug and sat down next to him.
"Wanna play some video games?" I asked him.
He smiled at that. Video games would always entertain him.
We ended up playing one of those combat games that he insisted I learned how to play, and I was pretty bad at it. It was hard to move then aim and shoot at someone. By the time I got someone in range they had already shot me or some player I couldn't even see got me.
I think it was around noon when we finished one of our many rounds, and I was still in my pajamas.
"Uh, Emmett, do you mind if I go change my clothes?" I asked with a laugh. "We've been playing longer than I thought."
He chuckled. "Sure, but don't ditch me. I'm expecting you to come back."
"I won't ditch you," I said, shoving his shoulder a bit.
I ran up the stairs and into my room, throwing open the closet door. I felt like putting something fashionable today, so I put on a black-ish skirt with peach and red-colored roses on it and the brown belt that went with it, along with a pair of brown tights, cute brown flats, and a peach-colored tank top. It was girly and not super casual, so I had a feeling that Alice would approve. I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, washed my face, combed my hair, and slipped in a light brown headband. I swiped on some lip gloss and basic make-up, then walked back out into my bedroom.
When I got there, Rosalie was holding one of the picture frames that was on my desk. It was the one of her, Alice, and I all dressed up, and it was the picture I gave her a couple Christmases ago. I could see that her shoulders were shaking slightly, and I think she did not know I was in the room. Was she crying?
"Rose?" I asked quietly.
She froze. After a few seconds, she put the frame down and turned to look at me. Of course she had no tears in her eyes or on her face, but that was because she could no longer shed them.
I slowly walked towards her, but she rushed up to me and engulfed me in her arms.
"You grew up too fast," she whispered, clinging on to me.
It was strange seeing Rosalie like this. She usually wasn't the one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She was always so level headed, but in this one instance she seemed so... vulnerable.
I pulled back from her arms and just looked at her. She gave me a small smile.
"God, I remember the first time I saw you," she said. "You were so small, so young then."
"I was thirteen," I said quietly.
She sighed. "That was young to me."
I put my hand on her arm.
"God, this isn't fair!" she said. "You should be able to go to college and live your life, but you can't!"
I started tearing up. "It's for the best."
"But is it what you want?" she questioned.
"Yes!" I said. "What kind of a life would it be without you guys? I can't... no, I won't get old and die! I don't ever want to leave you and the family!"
The tears were freely flowing down my face now, and she hugged me again.
"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm so, so sorry."
"For what?" I asked.
"For constantly doing this to you!" she said. "We fight every time. I keep bringing this up, but I... I just..."
I shushed her. "It's okay. Let's just stop all this, alright? Let's just... just enjoy today. Spend some time together. We barely get to do that."
Her shoulders stopped shaking, and she backed up from me. She placed her hand on my face and smiled.
"You're such a beautiful girl," she whispered.
I choked up again. "I love you, Rose."
She kissed me on the cheek. "I love you, too."
Emmett walked into the room, probably hearing some sort of commotion.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Yes, everything is fine," Rosalie said, turning around to look at him.
"I'm sorry, Emmett," I said to him. "But I can't play video games with you anymore. I'm going to spend some time with Rosalie. I hope you don't mind."
He gave Rose a kiss on the cheek. "I don't mind at all."
He walked out into the hallway and yelled, "Jasper! Are you here? Wanna play some video games?"
Rosalie and I both laughed as we sat down on my bed.
"Would you like me to braid your hair?" she asked. "I think it would look so nice in a braid."
I nodded and turned my back to her so she could reach my hair. We just sat and enjoyed each other's company. We reminisced, talking about all the good memories we've had in the past. I told her about the video game Emmett and I played and how bad I was, laughing at my stories of our many rounds.
When she was done, we headed downstairs to see Emmett and Jasper playing the same game from earlier. How long could Emmett play this for?
"Your hair looks nice," Esme said, walking into the living room.
"You can give credit to Rosalie," I said with a smile.
Rosalie wrapped her arm around my shoulder.
"I made you a cold cut sub for lunch, if you're hungry," Esme told me.
"You spoil me," I said.
She smiled. "I'm your mother, it's my job."
I laughed. "Thank you, mom," I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek as I walked into the kitchen. A sub was sitting on a plate, and a glass filled with Pepsi was next to it. I smiled and ate my lunch.
When I was done, I walked back into the living room. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were sitting on the couch, and Esme was sitting in one of the armchairs. She and Rose were watching were watching Jasper and Emmett play.
"I want to join in next!" I said, sitting in front of the coffee table.
"Oh god," Emmett groaned.
I stuck my tongue out at him. "I will not get any better if you don't let me play."
"Fine. You can play with Jasper," he said.
Jasper and I played a round, and in the middle of it Alice came into the room and took a seat in the other armchair.
"Are we all enjoying ourselves?" she asked.
We nodded. Jasper and I ended up playing several rounds, and I lost track of time.
"Esme, what time is it?" I asked her, placing the controller on the floor next to me.
She glanced at her watch. "It's about two."
I bit my lip. So much of the day had already gone by.
"It doesn't have to be done right now," Esme told me, knowing exactly what I was thinking about.
"It can be done at eleven fifty-nine tonight, if you wish," Jasper said.
I shook my head. "I don't think it's wise to put it off that long... This evening, after dinner?"
Esme nodded, glancing down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Hi guys!" Nessie said as she walked into the room, breaking the awkward silence that had spread.
"Hello, sweetheart," Esme said, getting up and giving her granddaughter a hug.
Bella came into the room moments later.
"Alex, can my mom and I talk to you?" Nessie asked. "Privately?"
"Uh, sure?" I said, getting up and following the two of them out of the living room.
"Let's go for a walk," Bella suggested. "That way our conversation will actually be in private."
Nobody in the other room said anything, but I had a feeling they were listening.
We walked out the backdoor and made our way to the trees.
"We hope this won't upset you, Alex," Nessie said to me once we stopped.
"Wait... What are you talking about?" I questioned.
Bella sighed. "Nessie, Edward, and I are going to be gone for a few days. We're going to La Push-"
"To get Nessie away from me?" I asked.
They were silent.
"You guys think I would get mad over that?" I asked. "No, I completely understand! You're just thinking of what's best for Nessie, and keeping her away from me for a while is probably a good idea. I'm just sorry I'm the reason you guys have to spend time away from the family. But wait... the wolves are letting you and Edward staying there, Bella?"
Her face relaxed a bit. "Yes, they're allowing us to stay there due to the... given circumstances. However, Edward will be coming back to check on you when you wake up, in case he needs to read your mind or anything like that?"
I nodded.
"Can I hang out with you for the rest of the evening before we have to leave, Alex?" Nessie asked.
"Of course!" I told her. "You don't even need to ask!"
She smiled at me.
"Race you back to the house!" she said, and in a flash she was gone.
"Oh yes, because that's fair," I said with a sigh.
Bella laughed and pulled me onto her back, running back to the house.
"Thank you," I said when we got back. I went to meet Nessie who was waiting in the doorway.
The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Everyone was at the house, and we all spent the time together. When it was dinner time for me, Esme went all out and made spaghetti, Caesar salad, and had bread with olive oil to dip it in. I thought I would not have much of an appetite for my last meal, but when I saw the food Esme made I gobbled it all down.
It was seven o' clock when I finished dinner, and I knew I could not avoid things any longer.
I gave everyone a hug before I went up to Carlisle's study with him, Esme, and Parker. There was a metal table sitting in the middle of the room. I sat on top of it, Carlisle standing to the side.
"First, I am going to inject you with some morphine so the pain is less... severe. I wish I could tell you that this will not hurt, but I would be lying if I did."
I nodded.
"It is going to burn badly, but just try to remember that it will be over. It will not last forever."
I closed my eyes and nodded again as Carlisle began to set up the IV for the morphine.
Parker kissed me on the forehead.
"I'll be by your side the entire time," he said to me.
I laid down on the table as Carlisle injected the morphine.
Esme put her hand on my cheek. She didn't say anything to me, but she didn't need to.
"The bite will be in your left wrist," Carlisle said to me.
Esme promptly grabbed my left hand. Parker grabbed the other.
"Are you ready?" Carlisle asked quietly.
I closed my eyes again and whispered, "As ready as I'll ever be."
He kissed my cheek before slowly lowering his mouth onto my wrist. I felt his razor sharp teeth slice my skin, and there was two second before it all started.
It felt like my fingertips and toes suddenly ignited. I gasped in pain at the sudden sensation as the burning slowly started to spread up my arms and legs. The fire continued to move upwards, and it felt like I was being dipped into an active volcano. I gritted my teeth, and I was afraid that I would crush them.
I tried not to scream. I tried to hold it all in. My vision slowly started to vanish, and I was scared when I could no longer see the faces of my family members. Everything was black. My mind became foggy, and I started to forget who was with me in the room. As my senses left, the pain grew stronger. It was taking over my entire body, except for my heart.
The burning grew even stronger, and I still tried to hold back the screams that were threatening to escape.
I bet this is what hell feels like.
I was having regrets. I didn't want this anymore. Was this even worth all the burning?
The pain was growing stronger, and I couldn't hold back anymore. A loud, ear-piercing scream rang from my mouth. Funny. I couldn't see, yet I could hear. I don't even know how long I went without screaming. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? A day? I had lost all track of time.
The burning continued, and I had a feeling I had screamed more than once. Everything was still black. Pitch black. It was like a never-ending night.
I don't know how much time had passed when the burning disappeared from my toes. Next was my fingertips, and I was surprised that I could feel that someone was holding my hand. The skin was smooth.
The fire slowly started to leave my legs until they were no longer burning. The pain left my arms just as slowly, but it was a relief none the less.
It wasn't a relief for long, though, when all the burning shot to my heart. It was attacking all at once, and my heartbeats became more frantic. It was like a drum, beating faster and faster and faster until...
It stopped.
The burning had stopped, which must mean that a few days had passed. I was so scared to move, afraid that the slightest twitch of a leg or arm would flare up the burning.
"...waking up..." a voice rang out clearly, sounding like tinkling bells. But who did the voice belong to?
"...can hear us..." a male voice added.
I tried to smile. There were others here... but who? Everything was still a little fuzzy.
"Open your eyes, sweetheart," a beautiful voice rang out. This voice belonged to a female, and it sounded loving and sweet.
So, I did as the voice said and opened my eyes.
When I did, I was in awe of what I saw.
-oOo-
I hope I gave enough details for the transformation... I'm sick now, so reviews would make me feel better :)
I have extreme rehearsals starting for my show FRIDAY, so it may take a little longer for the next update. Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger :(