That very next morning, Carlisle returned with good news about Charlie. He had been completely healed, and his memory had been totally modified. Excitedly, I asked if I was now able to be with my father. This had been so stressful on me. I hated it when people I loved were hurt.
"Bella, if I take you with me to the hospital, you have to promise to stay with either me or Edward the ENTIRE time. I mean it – Vincent is still out there, and is still very much infatuated by your scent."
"Carlisle, I promise you I will do whatever you say. All I want is to see my father." My answer was simple, but could not mask the fear in my eyes. Vincent had not been captured. I was about to go out into the Vampire world, with my pursuer on the loose. I figured as long as Carlisle and Edward were there, this wouldn't be such a big deal. I grasped my emotions, and made my way to Dr. Cullen's car.
Upon our arrival to the Unknown Hospital, I had to sign in, and register with a certain form. Apparently they took human visitors very seriously around here. Charlie was upstairs in the recovery portion of the hospital. After all the time Edward and I spent in this place, you'd think I'd remember where we were going. But, of course not. Bella was not good with directions. Thankfully, Carlisle knew which way to go.
Charlie was positioned upright in his bed, looking ecstatic to see me.
"BELLA!" Charlie roared my name with an intense force, and I ran over to hug him. "Bells, are you ok? How have you been?" Leave it to Charlie to ask questions like this.
"Charlie, I'm fine, I've been just fine. But really, I am concerned about you."
"Aww, Bells, I'm doing just fine. That car accident really took its toll on me."
Obviously, when Charlie woke up after his healing, he was told he had been involved in a pretty intense car crash. He seemed convinced of this, which was a very good thing. I didn't want his already-present suspicions of the Cullen family to grow anymore.
Then, a nurse came in, telling us that visitors needed to leave – Charlie needed a shower.
"Bella, I love you so much. I know you're safe, and I want you to listen to everything Dr. Cullen tells you."
"Ok, Charlie, I will. I promise. I love you, too." I kissed my father goodbye, and made my way out of his recovery room, noticing that Edward had not spoken the entire time. When we had left the room entirely, he pulled me into the corner of the hallway, and started giving me directions.
"Bella, Vincent is back, and he's picking up on your scent. I heard him thinking about it. We need to get you back downstairs to Carlisle, now."
My heart sank as I rushed down the stairs with Edward. Unfortunately, my wishes had not come true. Vincent was back. If I wasn't changed into a Vampire soon, I would have to spend the rest of my life running away from hungry immortals.
"Carlisle!" Edward screamed as we made it down to his father's office. "It's Vincent! I heard him, he's close. He wants to kill Bella. What are we supposed to do?"
Carlisle's calmed expression changed to frantic anger.
"Take her and hide her somewhere in here. We'll lock down the hospital and try to keep him from coming in. It's the only thing we can do right now. We didn't have enough notice." Carlisle looked more worried than I have ever seen him. This didn't comfort me any. I had always used Carlisle's words to calm me in a bad situation.
Taking my hand, Edward led me to the attic of the hospital. I understood why he did this – the attic was filled with windows that streamed light. Any vampire would shy away from light as much as possible. It was cleaver of Edward, really. Ignoring his abilities in sunlight, Edward placed me in a corner of the room, and his me with a curtain that was no longer used by the hospital staff. I stared at him as the sunlight reflected off his skin. His beauty was radiant. The skin on his body gleamed with pride, and I was so lucky to be his.
"Bella," he started. "I love you. I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. Stay here, and don't move. We'll figure this out. Stay calm, baby Bella. I'm protecting you for as long as I can."
With that, Edward disappeared from the room. He obviously didn't want to give me a kiss or do anything that signified a goodbye. The pain that would come from that would be too immeasurable. Stranded with fear, I was frozen in my position. This was unbelievable. I felt as though I were in a nightmare. Soon enough the hyperventilation began and I could feel my lungs stop taking in air. In a second, I was passed out on the floor of the attic, with not even my own sanity protecting me.
I was awake now, not sure of where I was. I was alone in a room, placed on a bed with red silk blankets and a burgundy canopy above my head. Fear started to go through my body as I felt pain. This pain was distant, like the aftershock of breaking a bone, or for my current matter, burning yourself. Shaking now, I felt cold. It was as though my blood had been frozen, like the icy cold feeling you get after touching something hot. Sitting up slightly, I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. My hair. I sopped, allowing my hands to travel the length of my back. The entire time, I felt thick waves of hair falling down long past my shoulders. My hair was thin, and poker straight, and did not fall more than two inches past my shoulders. Now, my hair had waves to it, and was almost reaching my waist. Shuddering violently now, I sat in a complete upright position, opening my eyes with confusion. My vision was sharper than it normally was, and I could see every mark on the wall opposite me. Every piece of dirt was evident, and it seemed strange that my eyes could now pick up on such detail.
In one corner of this room, there was a mirror. In an attempt to clear my sanity of the new hair style I could now feel, I made my way to the mirror. My heart stopped as I looked at my appearance. I was no longer the same person. The hair I had felt was waist-length, wavy, and crimson red. My eyes were now dark brown, instead of a hazel, chocolate color. The skin that had always been pale, was now even whiter, and there were dark purple rings underneath each of my now sunken-in eyes. With a cry, I lept back over to the bed and covered myself with the silky blankets. You're just dreaming, Bella, that's all. I tried to tell myself that I was making this up, and sooner or later, I would wake up and be the same Isabella Swan, living in a mansion with the Cullen family.
A minute later, I opened my eyes, only to have my hopes erased. I was still in the same room, with the dramatic red bedding, and the gaudy, old mirror. I could feel my hair again, the same crimson red I had discovered before. In a haze, I really did believe I was going insane. Now, the crying started, the shaking started, and the breathing stopped. The breathing STOPPED. Instead of passing out from lack of oxygen like I normally did when I stopped breathing, I was fine. This time, nothing happened. It was like I did not need to breathe. I was beginning to see more and more new traits in myself that resembled a Vampire. Curious shock ran through my as I ran to the mirror once more. My new appearance was stunning. I still slightly resembled my old self, but this time, I was stunningly beautiful. Shutting my eyes and raising my hands to my forehead, I came to the conclusion that I was a Vampire. How it had happened, I did not know. What I wanted right now was to learn my whereabouts and find Edward. This was a matter that called for extreme investigation.
