Rose Red

A/N: Lots of people have been criticizing me about how inaccurate I was like the fact that Bella was supposed to have amazing powers and that she should be really thirsty. Did no one make a connection there???? Okay, I'm really trying to get everyone in character and I'm trying to get my facts straight, AND I'm trying to stay with you guys. Some people said it was too fast and some said it was too slow, so I'm kinda confused…

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or New Moon.

Chapter 10: Revelations

Edward cradled me in his arms as Carlisle tried to revive Jacob. I buried my face in Edward's hard chest, trying to avoid smelling Jake's blood. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Don't ever leave me, Edward," I said. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I won't," He replied. He kissed my collarbone and sharply inhaled.

"Bella?" Carlisle was now kneeling next to me. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't do anything. Jake's gone."

"We… we should bring him to Billy," my voice quavered with uncertainty. Carlisle nodded and said something to Edward that I tuned out.

Jake was dead. And Edward was the only one who could be blamed. I ran all this through my head, trying to get an instant replay. There was no way I could've resisted it, not if Jasper could hardly stand a little papercut almost a year ago! I was a new vampire, and not even Edward could stand that much blood. My head was spinning with all the information I was taking in.

"Bella? Bella, we need to leave now, okay?" Edward asked softly. I nodded and stood up. We walked out of the clearing and back towards La Push. I wasn't aware of where were going, or what we had already passed. Before I realized we were even out of the forest, we were standing at Billy's front door. Carlisle knocked slowly and Billy opened the door. He stiffened at the sight of the Cullens. He knew. He knew I was one of them, but I didn't care. I only cared about Jacob.

"Cullen. What do you want?" Billy said harshly to Carlisle.

"It's your son. He found Vic—a very thirsty, vengeful vampire. She was after Bella, and Jacob tried to stop her. Edward tried to stop him, but…" Carlisle stepped aside to show Jake's mangled body in Emmett's arms. Billy's breathing became ragged and uneven. A sob escaped and Emmett placed Jacob's corpse into Billy's lap.

"My—my Jacob…" He cried over his son. We stood for what seemed like hours watching the elder Black mourn the younger. His weeping of grief turned to anger and he pointed a shaky finger at me.

"You… you pulled him into this! This is your fault!" He attempted to lift himself out of the wheelchair and collapsed. Carlisle laid him back into his chair, and Billy continued to blame.

"If you hadn't befriended these creatures, my son would still be alive!" He cried.

"Don't blame this on Bella! Jacob got himself killed by not listening to us, end of story!" I was surprised to see Emmett, not Edward, defend me. "And don't call us 'creatures!' We're as much human as he was!"

Billy seemed shocked at this, and he went pallid. Edward took my hand and muttered, "C'mon, Bella. Let's go." I took a final glance at Billy and turned away. As I turned, Charlie stood in front of me.

"Bells? What is this? What are you?" His face was twisted in confusion and horror.

"Dad… I'm sorry. I can't tell you," I said, not even bothering to see if he'd seen Jake's body.

"Bella, I think he should know what he's dealing with," Billy put in. Edward opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again. He opened it once more and quickly said:

"For once, I agree with Billy. Charlie should know. But Carlisle should explain it." The Cullens all nodded in agreement and everyone looked at Carlisle.

"Charlie, we need to talk. At our house," Carlisle added. Seeing as we hadn't exactly driven here, we blindfolded Charlie and put him on Emmett's back. Edward held me as he ran through La Push, Forks, and finally, the forest to our home. As we slowed to a walk at the front door, Alice stiffened. She leaned to Jasper and whispered something inaudible in his ear. Edward knew what she had said, and the three of them nodded. We stepped into the house of white stone and were shocked by several unexpected visitors.

Aro, Marcus and Caius were sanding in the Cullen's sitting room (A/N: Ironic, no?). I stifled my own screams by biting my lip as hard as I could.

"Hello, Bella," Marcus said coldly. "And who's this? Your father, I assume?"

Edward gritted his teeth, but Carlisle kept his cool.

"How ironic. We were just going to let Charlie here onto a little secret. You three will make great storytellers."

"You were going to tell a mere mortal about us?" Aro's eyes flickered towards me for a moment as he said the last word.

"We intend to change him afterwards, naturally," Carlisle said coolly.

"He's lying," Edward breathed into my ear as my eyes widened with fear. I relaxed slightly, but Charlie was still confused. His gaze moved to Carlisle for an explanation.

Carlisle began the tale of his vampirism, with Aro, Marcus and Caius commenting occasionally. Carlisle stopped speaking when he came to the part where we met the Voltouri.

"You see, Chief Swan, Bella is now one of us. She is supposed to have incredible powers, and I've already discovered a few. For example, her immunity to human blood. You saw her just after she became a vampire, in the hospital, and she had no desire to kill you. Her eyes were gold, not crimson, when she was finished transforming. That's something I've never seen, ever. And even today, she resisted Jacob Black's blood when even—" Carlisle was cut off.

"When even I had trouble," Edward finished. He looked at me with a hint of envy in his eyes.

I love you, Bella.

I gasped. Heads turned to look at me. Surely, this time I wasn't hallucinating. Edward's voice had been in my head. He too, was shocked.

Bella, can you hear me?

Yes. Should we tell them?

Silence.

…no.

"What is it?" Alice asked, the concern in her voice eminent.

"Err… nothing." I knew no one believed me, but I didn't care. Carlisle continued.

"Bella has accustomed to her abilities quicker than I did. She will be great," He ended. Charlie was absorbing this information when Aro spoke up.

"That brings us to why we're here. We said we'd visit, and so we are. As I can now see, I was right about Bella. Her goodness was carried over into her immortal self. Anymore abilities? Mind reading, maybe?"

I didn't respond.

"I guess not. I wonder, though, if you will reconsider our offer. All of you," Aro motioned Edward, Alice and I. I shook my head, as did the other two.

"Ciao, then." The trio was gone in the blink of an eye.

A/N: gasp! A cliffie! How will Charlie respond? What's with Edward and Bella's connection?? Will I ever post another chapter?!?!?!