Oh dear, came to publish chapter 9 today and realised I already had, must have been tired that night to not remember! Therefore I would like to state that this is un-beta'd therefore will probably be riddled with mistakes that are all mine! Sorry about that... am fairly vigilant but sometimes they escape you! Sorry about that!

Thanks to those who have recently favourited me and this story, it makes life just that little bit sunnier :D

SM owns it, I do not... onward!

The next two weeks went quickly. I shopped in disguise, under heavy protection of my sisters. I read endlessly, studied for hours upon hours of vampire history, the Volturi and their dictatorship holding most of my interest. It fascinated me that three brothers could hold unchallenged power over such a powerful group of our humanity. I continually asked questions about their rule and their guard. I desperately wanted to meet them, but my sisters quickly dissuaded that notion until I was at least immortal. They told me of their gifts; Aro's unique mind reading ability, one touch and he knew every though you'd ever had, and Marcus' relationship empathy where he could see, distinctly, the attachment of two people. Marcus' loss of his wife and mate, Didyme, at the suspected hands of Aro, though it was never proven, also had me enthralled. Who in their right mind would ever stay with a person, or vampire in this case, that was suspected of murdering their one true love, then live with the pain and crushing loss that brought without even death to ever break the burden? That was when Zooey piped up and told me about the guard and their abilities.

'He only stays because of a gifted immortal. Her name is Chelsea. She has the ability to forge connections. Aro uses her to make Marcus believe he is still connected to them although he knows deep inside he does not.' She, for a moment, thought about what she was to say next. 'Aro is a collector of sorts. He collects talented individuals. My siblings, twin brother and sister, are with him, and highly respected because of their gifts. My younger sister, Jane, has a defensive gift and can cause intense pain like you are being electrocuted, my brother, Alec, has a similar gift, he cuts off all your senses so you cannot see, hear, smell anything, nothing at all. The Volturi use them to conduct severely unfair trials. I was a part of the guard for my first hundred years or so, but could no longer take it and simply left. My gift is to feel the want of the person I focus on. It's rather trivial things, mostly possessions or bodily cravings, like how I picked out Shakespeare for you, it really comes as anything.'

I smiled, another gift. I don't know what it was but I was addicted to these gifts.

'Have you seen your siblings since?' I pried.

She quickly nodded. 'Every decade or so, I head to Italy and visit for a few months until they get sick of me.'

I thought it was unusual that three siblings would be changed all at once. 'How were you changed?' I asked before I really thought about how rude it sounded. 'Oh, dear. Zooey, I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to.'

Zooey laughed. 'No issue,' she said, waving her hand at me, dismissively before continuing, 'I am almost one hundred and seventy five years old, my parents died when I was only fifteen; Mother, of some unexplained illness; Father, of a broken heart. I raised my Janie and Alec from then onwards on our little farm. I was twenty when a man came to the house and asked to see my brother and sister. I invited him in, and he introduced himself as Eleazer, a recruiter for an elite group of individuals. He said my siblings were very talented, before going onto explain what he, indeed, was. He let Jane and Alec choose what they wanted to do, both chose to become vampires and I wouldn't let them become one without me becoming one, too. I'd mothered them for that long, I wasn't about to stop then!'

'Whenever I go back I still mother them. They hate it, hence the reason I only stay for a few months at a time.'

'Who was this Eleazer?' I asked.

'He is a vampire with a gift to recognise other gifts. Aro used him to scout humans that could be useful to him. My siblings gifts were indeed that,' she seethed. She was bitter that Jane and Alec were being used by this Aro.

'Is Eleazer still with them?'

She shook her head. 'No. He left after meeting his mate. He has, apparently, strange eating habits, so I've been told.'

I nodded, I couldn't think of any more questions. For now, anyway.

And so that bought me to now, crossing the slush covered street, drenching my skirt and shoes. I was promised this was the day. Victoria had sent me out with Bree to have some last minute human time shopping before my change.

This time tomorrow, I would be burning. This time in two days, still. But in three days' time, I would wake, beautiful, although that wasn't completely important, with a blood lust that would never fade. But, I would be like my sisters, one of them, no longer the odd one out. The same in my uniqueness.

'Nervous?' Bree asked.

I shrugged, acting falsely nonchalant; inside, I was scared out of my brain.

'Bella, you are a horrible liar!' she hissed at me. 'It will be over soon.'

'I know. The unknowing is worrying me. It will go soon.' I reassured myself more than Bree, and I was sure she was well aware of that little fact.

'So, what exactly will James do?'

Bree sighed. 'Bella, we've been over this a million times.' Her exasperate motions told me she was more than bored with explaining this step.

I looked helplessly at her. 'Please, just once more?'

She looked around. No one was too close to really hear, more to the fact, understand our conversation. 'Step by step?'

I nodded, smiling gratefully.

'We'll come home; you'll change and mentally prepare yourself. There'll be a hospital bed which you lay on. James will come in and go through what he'll do. From habit, I believe he'll bite down, twice, on your neck, once on each side, then again on each wrist, and then on your pulse spots. It gets the venom to your heart quicker. As soon as the venom is injected, you'll burn. Now, screaming doesn't help the pain and draws attention to the house, but if you must, go ahead, we all did for at least part of the burn.'

I nodded. I could almost quote what Bree told me word for word. She'd been telling me the same thing over again when I'd asked in hope that I'd bore of her answer. I didn't; she didn't know it purely reassured me when she spoke those words.

The only step now was just to lie on the bed and just let James bite me.

'Bella, you know this, don't over think it, flow with it, darlin'.'

I decided to let the anxiety go and stop over thinking.

'Thank you, I just needed to hear it again.' We turned onto our street and then into the house.

My sisters greeted us soberly; they knew I was going to be in pain very soon. But, I finally felt prepared for the pain. Victoria slowly took my hand, scooping me into her arms gently and jogging me up to her room.

It had been converted into a clean hospital setup. My eyes shifted, wildly looking for a trace of the flower garlands that had hung there previously. I gulped nervously. A shiny steel tray lay beside the plastic lined bed I would soon be withering in pain on. On it was a single strange instrument. A steel syringe. I crept closer and smelt it. It was the sweetest smelling syrupy liquid I had ever seen, or more, smelt. A mixture of fresh honey, overripe bananas and treacle. So sweet it made your head spin. I wondered what it was.

'Venom.' A man's voice said behind me, an answer to my ogling of the table. 'It makes not draining the life out of you, somewhat easier. Especially how good you smell.' He moved closer, burying his nose into my neck.

'JAMES!' Victoria hissed. 'Do not scare her more.'

I jumped away from James, looking Victoria. My heart beat in irregularly rhythms.

Victoria jumped to action, sitting me on the bed. A calming sensation washed over me. I said a silent thank you to Mary in my head.

'Bella, are you alright?'

I gasped three times, before allowing my breath to return to normal. 'I'm fine... just... nervous.'

Victoria glared at James. I could feel the hatred oozing off Victoria, and I didn't have Mary's empathetic gift.

'Victoria, it's okay. I understand that you feed off people, so of course some would smell more... appealing than others.' I rationalised, an eye flicking to James' impasse face.

'Thankyou Bella, but that is no excuse for James' rudeness and callousness, especially since you are nervous.' She directed the hissed acceptance at her Mate, rather than me.

He cracked, snarling, and opened his mouth to yell back at Victoria. I quickly intervened before the claws really came out. Or, in this case, it was probably the teeth.

'Sorry, but please just stop! I actually want to be changed within the next three days! And I assume that you...' I directed my gaze at James, 'would want to compose yourself for this?'

He huffed, and nodded. 'Composure is usually a key ingredient to control.'

My brain hitched at the comment of losing control. As much as I wanted to be changed, I did not want to die tonight. As in, 6 feet under dead. Absolutely stunning and perfect in every way dead – well that's why I was here.

'Alright then, shall we proceed, then? Are you in control?'

James raised his eyebrows at me. 'Of course.' He shot a wary but apologetic glance at Victoria. 'I apologise, my dear. I don't think before I speak, and forget what I say is taken as rude.'

She smiled sadly. 'I know. I just worry about Bella's sanity, you saw how she reacted.'

'I'm fine now, Victoria. Are we all settled?' I moved back so my behind was firmly on the bed. I gently crossed my legs, my skirt falling nicely, not to show any of my leg to James.

Victoria sighed again. I wanted to slap the woman for what I knew she was going to ask me. 'Now Bella, are you one-hundred per cent positive that you want to go through with this?'

'One-hundred and ten per cent,' I replied casually. 'Vic, please, this is what I want.'

She nodded, smiled and allowed me to lie back, softly removing my dress to leave me in my short white slip for easy access to my best pulse spots for James. So much for showing no leg.

James hovered over me after Victoria had finished. For my modesty, he pulled a grey army blanket to my waist. The fact that he was thinking about how I was feeling definitely comforted me.

'Are you ready, dear?' he softly murmured in my ear.

'As I'll ever be.'

His lips touched my neck intimately. I could feel as he drew back his lips and sunk his teeth deep in my neck. I gasped in shock and pain. The venom, I could feel starting to ooze into my veins. It burnt, yes, but it was still very bearable. Surely this wasn't the pain all the girls remembered. Another bite on the other side of my neck, and the venom started to move. It felt thick and sluggish. A light brush over my wrists. My veins felt clogged. I clenched my fists and my fingers felt swollen. Slowly, my heart beat slower and slower, straining under the pressure. My veins were full with James' venom. It was being pushed through and changing my body. My skin tingled with its change. My muscles twitched and pulled. My tendons stretched. My bones ached as they fused. My brain switched off for a little while, it felt somewhat like a coma, but when it switched back on it processed information so differently. I couldn't remember what it was like before, but I was sure it was different. The burn flared marginally as the venom closed into my heart. Thud, thud-thud, and then a final thud, and my heart simply stopped. My temperature plummeted and I felt a coldness that went deep into my being. I opened my eyes and everything looked so much clearer. I took a moment to see everything for the first time. I finally closed my eyes and listened, I could hear everything within a mile radius. I was utterly amazed, if not slightly overwhelmed, but I found I could drown it out if I focused on it.

Suddenly, I simply sat up. My body felt much lighter than it did before, and definitely more limber. I looked over to the clock; I'd only injected less than twelve hours prior, simply too short of a time period.

James and Victoria stood in the corner of the room, Victoria under James arm, utter horror on her face.

'Am I dead?' I asked in a husky voice.

Victoria's mouth gaped open and contorted awkwardly. 'I don't know.'

She crept forward slowly, in a defensive position.

'I'm not going to attack you!' I growled appalled, my voice sounding smoother than it did before.

She continued towards me without her attack stance. She gently touched my arm. Her fingers felt tingly against my skin.

'Well, you feel the same temperature as me, but definitely not as firm. You've transformed, for sure, into what, I can't say. But Bella, did it burn? Do you thirst for blood?'

I shook my head. I felt so light, airy almost. 'It was hot, but not burning, and once my heart stopped, it was very cold, more than ice, but it feels almost normal now. But I do not lust for blood, either.' I paused trying to figure out what I felt. 'I feel almost satisfied, like after a delicious meal. But I feel so light, like I could just float away at any moment.'

It upset me that I couldn't get just one thing right. I closed my eyes, calming myself, and I felt like I could float.

A high pitched blood-curdling scream rang through the house. Victoria's pale form shook in James' arms.

My eyes flew open and hit the mirror on the other side of the room. It was me, floating a foot off the bed. My hair was longer, fell in large waves past my hips, my skin was flawless, a birthmark that resided on my cheek all but gone. That saddened me: it was the one thing Anthony had swiped his thumb over the last time he'd touched me. And I was beautiful, more perfect than ever before. The hovering didn't bother me as much as it should have because it felt so natural. I knew I wasn't a vampire, but what I was, was still a complete mystery to me. Concentrating on moving back to bed was simple, and I was back on solid ground. I crept closer to the mirror, my feet not having to touch the ground. My eyes were still mostly a deep chocolate brown but they flecked with a blue so light it looked silver. My hair was mahogany and thicker than before. I still breathed, but felt that I really didn't have to. I found similarities of my old self. A fuller top lip, a too-long nose, not yet black eyelashes. And I felt cold. That wasn't uncomfortable, just, again, strange.

'What am I?' I continually asked, still staring at myself for hours on end. My sisters graciously gave me space and time to come to terms with outcome.

I found it was second nature to hover; nothing was holding me down now. It was like my body chose when to obey the laws of gravity. I soon found after that, solid objects were no longer solid for me. After telling myself I could simply put my hand through, I did just that – put my whole hand straight through the mirror. The sensation was disturbing to say the least, numbing where the object cut through my skin. I could also completely disappear if I wanted and was very easy to control with the click of my fingers. That sensation was indescribable, but not at all bad. Quite relaxing, actually, especially if I wanted to be alone. I knew I would have to study up on my physics to test what other "laws" I could break.

As the day turned into a week, and the weeks turned into months, I became to understand and found I could do more and more. Mary decided to take me into the sun one day, and, uh, bad move. Sun plus new Bella equals a very interesting disappearing act. The sun cut through my body like I wasn't even there, leaving me all misty looking.

'Holy hell, Bella, you're a ghost!' Mary exclaimed in a burst on inspiration after this incident.

'But I'm alive!' I protested, slamming my hand onto the table with an almighty slap.

'Well, then you're a living ghost,' Bree suggested, calmly running her fingers through my hair for a while, before wandering over and picking up a book she had been studying.

'A living ghost?' I asked disbelieving. 'they don't exist.'

Mary raised her eyebrow, and Bree let out a little giggle from the next room where she'd settled.

'Bell, you're talking to a bona fide vampire!'

I sighed. 'Great,' I grumbled. 'I'm a ghost.' Then, with a smirk and mischief in my eyes, I looked up. 'Boo!'

Now we're getting somewhere!

Next Chapter up soon :) Reviews are my sunshine as the weather gets colder and colder here!