A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I'm back from vacation and eager to get the next chapter to you. If you didn't get a response from me on your last review, it's because I was a little tipsy when I started responding and now I can't remember where I left off! So thank you, thank you, thank you for reading and reviewing and I will hit you back this time for sure!

A quick note so you're not confused. The first part of this chapter dips back in time a little bit; it fits in while Edward was still at school. I should have written it into the last chapter, but again…blame it on the alcohol? ;)

A little refresher from the last chapter:

On a cloudy day, we could bike through Tuscany. That was something I had never done. It had always seemed like something you should do with someone special…and now I had finally found her.

"You're special, Bella, you're so very special." I cooed to her as the clock struck 4:52.


Chapter 9: Immortality Attained

BPOV

The pain had progressed to the point where I couldn't count anymore. I would try but I couldn't remember the last number I had thought. If I could finally remember it, I couldn't remember what number came next. I grew tired of counting to three over and over.

I wondered what it would be like when this madness ended. They had told me it would end. Promised me. Three days, they said. Was my time up yet? I had no way of keeping time now. I was stuck at nine weeks when Edward left. And I had no way of knowing if or when he was back.

Edward. How I hated the way I longed for him!

I was trapped inside my mind, unable to do anything but feel pain and reflect on my endless horror. I tried to think about the good things they had told me. I would beautiful maybe even special when this was over…if this was ever over. Was this normal? Had something gone wrong? Was I trapped in this state forever? Unable to live…unable to die. My hate for Edward only grew stronger as the flames inside me blazed hotter.

It was an endless cycle in my mind. I would try so hard to dwell on something nice. Inevitably, that would lead to thoughts of Edward. He was so ingrained into everything I knew of my future lifestyle. When I thought about him, I would once again be consumed with anger and hatred as I contemplated the hopelessness he had cursed me with. Over and over, the same thoughts haunted me.

I often wondered if Esme was still by my side. Had Carlisle come in to check on me? Was Edward back yet? Perhaps I was completely alone. Maybe they had given up on me.

I was a hamster in a wheel, running ceaselessly with no goal in sight. Nothing in sight.

And suddenly there was a light. I couldn't see it…I couldn't feel it like I had before either. But my mind knew it was there. And my mind knew what it was. Who it was.

He was back. My hope that this torture would eventually end was restored. And I hated that it was Edward who had brought it back to me. His presence also assured me that time had indeed passed. Two weeks had gone by, seven more to go. I dared not hope it would be any less than that. Hoping that it would end in seven was enough to ask for.

I focused on the light and let the burning consume my mind as it had the rest of my body.

EPOV

One short breath entered her mouth as I said those last words. Her body shot straight off the bed without even sitting first. She was fast. There she was huddled in the corner, just like in Alice's vision.

This was it. Now or never. The moment I had been psyching myself up for all day. I had to kiss her while I still had the chance. She might never let me touch her again. I knew how it would end, but I crossed the room anyway.

"Bella," I said softly as I reached down and took her hand. I looked into her bright red eyes and saw nothing but calculation. She was thinking about something very intently, and vainly, I hoped it was me. I pulled her up gently from her from her crouching pose. She blinked once; strange, since we only blinked to fit in with humans. The instinct just isn't there because the action isn't necessary.

I moved my face slowly toward hers. She didn't resist. I gave her plenty of time to turn her head. She just stared at me, intently studying me. My lips pressed gently against her tight mouth and for the slightest moment I thought maybe the kiss would be returned. The movement I felt beneath my lips suggested that she was giving it back to me. But Alice's vision was right. Her lips moved, but not to kiss me. Her lips moved to speak.

"Fuck you," she whispered sadly as she withdrew her face from mine and raised her hand to slap me. I knew it was coming and I could have ducked. But I took it willingly because I knew I deserved it. That and much more. It did sting, by the way, immensely.

BPOV

I felt a hand on my arm, but it wasn't cold. I wondered briefly if I was home in bed with Renee shaking me to wake me up from a horrible nightmare. This would make a killer novel. But the light was still there. It was all real.

I wondered why Edward's hand wasn't cold and then I realized the burning had stopped. I noticed I hadn't breathed in a long time. I took a short breath and tasted the air. "…Bella, you're so very special," I heard a heavenly voice say. Suddenly all my senses came back to life, but more than life…afterlife.

It was like when I was burning only magnified infinitely. Not only could I taste the air, I could taste every inanimate object in the room. A wooden desk. An alarm clock atop it. A hundred other flavors all at once. I knew exactly where everything around me was sitting without opening my eyes. Carlilse and Esme were standing just inside the door frame. I could smell them individually and together. I could judge the distance to each down to the millimeter. The symphony blared into my brain like I had been wearing a set of headphones connected to a powerless stereo and someone suddenly turned the stereo on at full blast. In all of the sensory excess, the one thing that stood out above all the rest was my light.

Edward.

His hand was warm against my skin. He was supposed to be cold, my brain told me, but his touch was balmy, soft, and more electrifying than the first day he had touched me outside the meadow.

His voice was like a song I'd never heard. My instincts told me to put it on repeat until I knew it by heart.

His scent was a bouquet of aromas I couldn't describe. So many scents I didn't know existed…did they have names?

His light shone brighter than ever in my lidded eyes. I wondered what he would look like the first time my new eyes beheld him. Would still look like the gorgeous boy I saw from across the cafeteria?

His taste was overwhelming and yet he was 2.86 feet away from my lips. It made my mouth water. But it wasn't water at all, was it?

Your bodily fluids are drying up, Bella, I recalled Esme had said, all the liquids in your body are turning to venom…

Venom. I was a vampire.

At the realization, I was frightened by what I was and everything that surrounded me. I didn't know why either. It seemed irrational to me. I shot straight out of the bed as I opened my eyes for the first time. I ran for the corner of the room, the point furthest from the three vampires currently occupying my comfort zone. Apparently I had a very wide comfort zone.

I crouched down protectively. My body made the movements so I knew some part of my brain must be telling it what to do and how to do it. I was not in touch with that part of my brain because my actions seemed so foreign to me. I probably look like an idiot, I thought to myself. Suddenly realized, I wasn't a vampire. Well, okay, yes, I was a vampire. But what I realized was this: I was Bella Swan stuck inside a vampire's body.

Aside from the heightened senses, the survivalist instincts, and the ridiculously fast movements, I still felt like…me. They told me all this stuff about how I would be so…different. I was actually kind of disappointed. It's not like I had reason to be Bella anymore. Everyone she had loved thought she was dead. She should be. I felt like the same old Bella in fancy clothes. Speaking of fancy clothes, what the hell am I wearing?

Edward began to approach me as I contemplated an eternity's worth of questions in a matter of seconds. Was it good or bad that I was still me? What was different? Should so much be the same? "Bella," he said as he reached down for my hand. That was when I saw his face for the first time.

Well, not the first time because he did, indeed, look like the same boy I had seen across the cafeteria. But yes, for the first time, because he was so very different. Sharper. Clearer. Brighter even, like he had swallowed the light he put off whenever my eyes were closed. As he pulled me up, I shut my eyes for a fraction of a second to see if the light was still there.

Yep, still there. He started moving his face toward mine and my first impulse was to kiss him first. Kiss Edward?! That was clearly this screwed up body talking because the irate girl inside would be having none of that. His lips touched mine, as I spoke my first words as a vampire.

"Fuck you," I whispered and I smacked him. My hand flew so fast and hard he didn't even see it coming. I was fast. And strong. I mentally added those qualities to the list of positives…and the urge to kiss Edward to the negatives.

Edward backed away as he rubbed his cheek with his hand. "I'm sorry, Bella," he said, "for everything." Just then I heard Alice's small feet bounding up the stairs and I let out a hiss. A hiss? Really? I knew Alice. She had been kind to me on the fist day of school, smiling and waving. She had gently changed my clothes and assured me that everything would be okay. She was the one who figured out how to comfort me while I was burning. Why was I hissing at her? Edward studied the confusion on my face but said nothing.

Through my peripheral vision, which was practically 360 degrees now, I saw Carlisle take one slow step forward. "Bella, what you're experiencing is a perfectly normal reaction. Vampires have a very self-protective instinct, especially around others of our kind."

"It's okay, Bella, we won't hurt you," Alice said as she crossed the room and threw her arms around me. Her skin was warm now too. I realized that must mean my skin was cold like theirs. I didn't return the hug at first. I just sort of stood there in her grasp my, arms at my side, as my mind raced with questions and sensations. My eyes never left Edward's anguished gaze. Eventually I figured she wasn't going to let go any time soon so I picked my hands up and placed them around her back. My hands moved so much faster than I could even believe. It was like I told my body to do something and it complied before I had even finished the thought.

"Whoa, Bella, you're strong," Alice said as she struggled to extricate herself from my grasp. Move your hands, I thought, and they shot back down to my sides. So rigid, so awkward. I looked at her apologetically before returning my stare to Edward; I hadn't even thought I was gripping her lightly. She laughed, "It's nothing, Bella, everyone is really strong at first, it just takes some getting used to." I nodded to acknowledge her words, but it was so fast I wondered if she even saw it.

"So, now what?" I asked to no one in particular though my eyes were still focused on Edward. It seemed like the only fitting thing to say. Edward said nothing, he just stood, firm like stone pleading for forgiveness with his expression.

Carlisle spoke up again, "Now you hunt, Bella. You'll need to satisfy that thirst."

"Thirst?" I questioned.

"Yes," he replied, "do you feel that burning in the back of your throat? That's your thirst."

"Ohhh," I said aloud as I put the pieces together in my mind. "I'd hardly even noticed that with everything else going on in here," I said using a hand to motion from my head to my toes.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Esme said, her beautiful voice purring in my ears.

"Esme," I asked tentatively, "could you…laugh for me?"

She laughed a genuine, surprised laugh and asked why. "Just wondering…" I trailed off as I took in the remaining notes of her laughter. The sound was just as stunning as I had remembered, only more. Magnified like everything else. I wondered what Edward's gorgeous laughter would sound like to my new ears but I stopped myself. I committed that I would try to keep my irrational feelings of attraction for Edward at bay. I would lock them up tight and focus on the logical things I should feel toward him: anger and hatred.

I felt my expression change from wonder to fury and Alice noticed. Hell, everyone might have noticed. "Let's hunt!" she said enthusiastically.

"But I…I don't know how…" I was afraid of the unknown.

"It will come naturally, Bella. I've seen it. You'll do great!" I was comforted by the thought that Alice could see the future. Suddenly, I had a million questions for her. I wondered if it was a burden for her; they must be running to her all the time, inquiring about the future. I wondered also if Edward asked her these questions…questions about me.

"Alright, Alice. Let's go, but just the two of us, okay? I don't want to look like an idiot in front of everyone."

Edward laughed and I remembered what he had said to me in the meadow, Bella, in a million years, you could never look like an idiot. Well, he was wrong then and could just as easily be wrong now.

I was right about his laugh. It was even more alluring. Even though his eyes didn't sparkle like I had remembered; he was much too sad for that. Sad because I had just slapped him. Well, duh, Edward, what did you think…that I would just hop off the bed and into your arms?

I was pissed at myself for feeling the slightest bit of remorse for my reaction to his kiss. Part of me had truly wanted to return it but I was determined to ignore that part of me. I was relieved to be leaving him for awhile. Maybe I could think more clearly when he wasn't around. Most of all, I needed some answers, and I hung a lot of hope on Alice to get them for me.


A/N: Thanks so much to Malmo722 who rec'd this story in the last chapter of the glorious Star Mile, despite my apprehension. If you haven't read Star Mile…well, what are you waiting for?! It's so twisty and surprising and just genius. Love you, girl!