A PAYBACK PARTY
I had spent the past week avoiding my dad. He had mentioned a few times that he wanted to talk to me about my transformation, but I had little to no interest in doing that. My transformation was both the most fearful and most painful moments of my life. He didn't need to know all of the gory details. I could tell by the gross amount of overcompensation that he felt badly enough as it was.
My brothers had been taking me hunting every few days, but my eyes were starting to darken up again, and the burning sensation was becoming more prominent. I absolutely hated that even Jasper could go weeks without hunting, and my threshold was about three days.
"You shouldn't push yourself, love," Dad whispered from the doorway. I had been so distracted by trying to get the damn contacts in that I didn't hear him.
"The contacts aren't that bad," I lied, thinking that was what he was referring to.
"I didn't mean the contacts," he chuckled. "I know you're trying to push yourself to go a full week without feeding. It's not good for you," he warned.
"I can do it," I growled. I didn't need him treating me like an infant.
"I would like to take you today," he offered. It caught me off guard. It was kind of an unspoken rule that Mom and Dad didn't hunt with me for now. It was a special time I got to have with my brothers. I sighed.
"Are you sure?" I asked him. "Did you talk with Jasper and Emmett? I think they were planning to take me to Canada or something."
"I'm qualified to take you to Canada, sweetheart," Dad smiled sadly. I closed my eyes briefly and turned to face him.
"You don't have to take me hunting to be honest with me, Daddy," I told him.
"On the contrary, love, I shouldn't have to take you hunting for you to be honest with me," he admitted, coming closer to me. "I know you've been avoiding me."
"I haven't," I lied, looking down. Dad chuckled.
"You've always been a terrible liar," he smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I flinched. He immediately pulled away, hurt.
"Are you afraid of me?" He asked. "Is it because I turned you?"
"I'm not afraid of you," I admitted, terrified that he would think that. I wasn't even angry anymore that he turned me. I had come to accept that it was something that had to be done. In many ways, I was starting to feel grateful. "I just…really don't want to talk about my transformation," I admitted. Dad nodded.
"I know that. No one ever really does. I was fortunate with Bella," he smiled. I growled. I didn't like being compared to her like that.
"Easy," Dad warned, realizing he hit a button. "You're my daughter, and I love you," he reminded me. "There's nothing to be jealous of."
"I'm just really tired of being compared to her," I emphasized. I needed to stop comparing myself to her.
"Of course," Dad smirked. "Still, you're going to need to talk about the transformation at some point, love. You can't hold all of that pain inside of you."
"It was terrible, what else would you possibly want to know?" I asked him, a little too sharply.
"We tried using morphine, did it have any affect?" Dad asked, hopeful. I shook my head. There was no way in hell the morphine worked. It was too painful for that shit.
"I was afraid of that…Bella mentioned….but then again…." Dad went off, mumbling to himself. I had to say something to make him feel better.
"Dad, there was nothing you could have done. I was a mess. I was going to die. You saved me. My transformation was literally the worst moments of my life. It was painful, and yeah, the morphine did absolutely nothing. But this? Getting to live? Getting to spend eternity with my husband and my family? I'm not going to say it was worth it all, because these last few weeks have been pretty intense too, but maybe someday. When I have myself under control and I don't need to hunt three times a week and I'm not breaking everything. I'm sure I'll get there. The transformation, it doesn't matter anymore. There's no point sitting here and telling you all of the gory details just so you can wallow."
Dad chuckled. "You're incredibly wise, did you know that?" He looked like he wanted to pull me into a hug, but didn't want to move too quickly. I rolled my eyes and hugged him myself.
"I love you, Daddy," I told him. He hugged me a little tighter.
"I love you too," he said, then pulled away. "I'm so glad we were able to save you, and I'm so sorry that this has been so difficult. It does get better," he promised. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't with us anymore. You've changed us all, sweetheart."
"I know," I smiled. "I'm glad I'm still here too."
My trip with Dad to Canada was actually a lot of fun. We went to a remote place that didn't have much trace of even human hikers. It was easier for me, even, to hunt here than where Jasper and Emmett usually took me. The only scents were the scents of things I could kill.
I think I freaked out Dad a little bit when I went for some of the bigger game, but he got used to it quickly.
"I should have known you wouldn't be satisfied with herbivores," he smiled. "Emmett has taught you well," he joked.
"Herbivores taste like-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence Danielle," Dad warned. I smiled and ran off again. I felt free here.
We came back, and Dad mentioned that he needed to go help Emmett in the garage with something before disappearing. I walked into the house, and immediately realized why he didn't want to come in.
"Surprise!" A chorus of female voices yelled. Alice was the ringleader, naturally, and came and immediately placed a sash and a crown on me. I groaned. I had forgotten that I had told Alice she could throw me a Bachelorette party.
"Happy Bachelorette Day!" Alice cheered, pulling me into a hug. I sought out Bella with my eyes and widened them, hoping she'd get my unspoken words. She laughed.
"You should know better than anyone that there is no reeling her in," Bella smiled, being the next to hug me. Rosalie came out and congratulated me as well. Mom was nowhere in sight.
"She's babysitting," Alice answered for me. "This is a sistah only party!" She cheered.
I looked around the room. It was unlike most human parties in the sense that there wasn't any food or drinks out. We didn't need all of that. I had guessed that the theme was "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," because there were rhinestones and jewels all over the place. There were some spots – such as my bedazzled chair – that I wouldn't doubt Alice put real diamonds on. Perks of being able to predict the stock market, I guess.
The television was gone, and replaced with spa supplies. There was really no way I was getting out of this.
"You'll be fine," Rosalie whispered. "Come on, Alice wrote a speech for you."
"Are you kidding me?" I muttered. Where was Jacob? How did he let this happen?
"I don't kid," Alice barked, and I immediately sat down. "Since you so kindly held your wedding – the one moment I had been patiently waiting for you to have since you were six years old – I am holding you hostage. All. Night. Long. This is my wedding gift to you, and you will love it!"
"Did you actually see me loving it, because right now I'm not so sure," I complained, and Alice narrowed her eyes at me.
"Oh, you'll love it," she threatened.
"I love it more already," I fake smiled, truly afraid of what my sister was capable of.
"First, you will relax. These past few weeks have been difficult, and we are going to treat you like a queen tonight. We're going to paint your nails, do your hair, and give you a massage. It's going to be great. Then, we're going to share embarrassing stories about you-"
"How is that fun for me?" I interrupted.
"It's not," Alice shrugged, "But it's tradition."
"Did they even do bachelorette parties when you guys were human?" I asked Rosalie. I knew Alice was never married before Jasper, but Rosalie had been married to some other douchebag.
"Not quite in this way," Rosalie smiled. "This is much better."
"Not you too," I groaned, throwing my head back carefully. She laughed. "Bella, help me," I begged my last remaining sister. She shook her head.
"I wish I could," Bella sighed, patting me on the shoulder. "It's one night out of eternity. You'll be fine."
As soon as Bella said that, there was a knock at the door. Alice looked surprised, but no one looked afraid. I didn't hear a heartbeat, so it couldn't have been a human. Was it one of the wolves?
"They're not supposed to be here yet…" Alice grumbled, walking to the door. She opened it, and greeted the man who was outside. He was looking for Dad.
I peeked out from the living room, confused as to who would be looking for him. It wasn't uncommon that other vampires found us, and became curious. It happened several times throughout my childhood, but my mom was always quick to rush me out of sight. This seemed different, though. Alice was arguing with him.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here," Alice warned him. "You need to leave."
"Please," the man begged. "She's my daughter."
"She hasn't been your daughter in a very long time," Alice spat. I was very confused now. Who was this man talking about? Before I could think, I was moving over to the doorway. The man was definitely not a human. His eyes were as red as the blood he drank. I could recognize them in a heartbeat, though.
They were my eyes, and he was my father.
