I heard a voice calling my name from across the vast sea. I struggled to open my eyes. "Edward." I groaned.

"I'm here, Bella."

His velvet voice was flat, cold, and riddled with guilt. I tried to open my eyes, to reassure him, but they were so heavy.

"Edward...what happened?"

"Get up and take a look."

I finally opened my eyes, curious as to what he could possibly be talking about. I looked down at my hands. They were white, whiter than they had ever been before the other day. My eyes travelled up my arms, looking at the muscles there, no longer soft but hard as a rock. Incidentally, my whole body was hard as a rock. I had a faint inkling of what might have happened. I remembered, the flash of something whipping across my arm, the burning, agonising, consuming pain.

"Oh my God!" As I spoke, I realised the words sounded like singing, rather like the soft whispering of the wind through the trees I had heard that fateful night. I stood up and ran to the mirror. I ran so fast I passed the mirror completely and banged into the door. I was impossibly fast. I turned round and walked slowly to look at my reflection. The perfect face, fluid even in stillness, the flawless skin, white as snow on the mountain tops. The lips, as perfectly shaped as a Greek Goddesses'. And the huge eyes...wait a second. The eyes! I screamed. All went black again as I fainted

I came to with a cry of horror. "Edward, my eyes! How long do they stay like that for?"

Edward's voice was flat, unemotional. "A few years."

"A FEW YEARS!!?" I shrieked. "How can I go out in public with eyes as red as the pits of Hell?"

Edward's eyes filled with tears. A that moment, he looked more vulnerable than I'd ever seen him. "I'm so sorry, Bella. It's my fault. I'm the one who did this to you."

"Oh, Edward." I sighed. I went to give him a hug, but he cringed away from me like I had a disease. "It's my fault you're a vampire." He continued. "It's my fault you're not human."

"Oh, Edward, I don't care!" I was actually beginning to feel rather elated. I'd forgotten that vampires didn't age, and I sort of had a phobia of aging. I was beautiful, I was strong, I was ageless. All amounted to one very good thing. Happiness.

Edward looked at me hopefully. "Really, Bella? You don't care that I've turned you into a monster?"

I laughed joyfully, the sound was like wedding bells ringing, a delighted sound. "Would you call this a monster?"

Edward seemed genuinely puzzled by my positive outlook. "You're not mad?"

"Not at all." I confirmed, smiling. "I'm so happy. I'm like you."

Edward looked a lot happier too. As he stepped closer to me, he seemed to realise something.

"You know what the best part is?' He asked seductively.

"What would that be?' I purred back, pleased by the low, alluring note my new voice dropped to.

Edward smiled radiantly. "No more bloodlust."

And he leaned down to press his warm lips against mine.

THE END