Finally I am able to post the next chapter... I had difficulties because I didn't want to just copy out of BD but there are some things that just had to happen . It is rather short, sorry. Please tell me what you think of it.

I don't own Twillight and never will. With the exception of Daniel all characters in this chapter belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Thanks to my wonderful reviewers, I love you! And thanks to Alice Vampire, my FF4E.

14 Change

It had been 52 hours since we brought Daniel back to the house with us on Saturday. He had not as much as twitched a muscle since he entered the house on Emmett's arms. We all hoped that meant that he was still unconscious and unaware of the change. Carlisle had dosed him again with the drug-cocktail until his body rejected the iv only 12 hours after the venom entered his system. But nobody knew if it had done him any good. Tanya had never left his side throughout the whole time. After Alice told us that he would wake soon now, we all gathered in his room – previous it had been Tanya's room.

"I still can't read his mind, Tanya. I think that is a good sign. If he was conscious I would hear his thoughts." Edward told our cousin as soon as we entered the room, probably answering her worried thoughts. She was leaning on Kate for support and looked desperate.

"He will hate me for this," she whispered, her voice agonized. Her fingers were trailing his motionless arm.

"No, he won't." Kate said. "There was no other choice to save him."

"But I turned him into a monster." Her voice broke.

"No, you didn't." I told her. "We still have our conscience and we all life honourably. We are no monsters. I told this to Edward and I will say it to you; I honestly and deeply believe we still have our soul. I am sure if he had been awake, the change would have been his choice. You two have just found each other." I tried to convince her, but she wouldn't listen. I guessed that the only one, who could satisfy her on that account, was lying seemingly unconscious on the bed.

"The car crash would have meant his death." Carlisle added. We all knew that he carried similar accusations against himself inside, for allowing the change. They would only dissolve when Daniel could reassure him that it had been the right thing to do. Carlisle knew how hard it was to suicide when you were a vampire from his own experiences a long time ago. He would hate himself if he ever inflicted our fate on an unwilling person.

"He will wake up any minute now." Alice interrupted our discussion and at once the men stepped forward to shield us from a potentially dangerous newborn. I glimpsed around Edwards shoulder but Daniel hadn't moved yet. Tanya was still stroking his arm lightly as she let out a surprised gasp. The arm had moved and Daniels hand had grabbed her wrist.

"I could never hate you, Tanya." He pronounced carefully and opened his eyes. We heard a sharp intake of breath as he surveyed the room with his new sight for the first time. His head turned and he let his eyes slowly wander over all of us. They were wide and blood-red. His gaze turned towards Tanya and abruptly he stilled.

"You are beautiful." He breathed and, probably remembering what we had told him about a newborn's strength before, released her wrist with a quick motion. He then slowly moved his hand in front of his face with a wondering look. Waving quickly from one side to the other he laughed delighted. His laughter was deep and rich; it sounded a lot like Emmett's laugh. He sat up with an equally quick motion and startled a bit. I remembered exactly how it felt to be able to move as soon as you had finished thinking about it. I quickly glanced at my husband to ascertain if he was thinking of the same moment, ten years ago, when I had just woken from my change. Edward looked concerned, his face contorted in a deep frown.

"You got to be kidding me," he murmured under his breath. I took his hand and squeezed it lightly to signal him my curiosity. I wanted to know what had him so concerned but he only shook his head. He was such a hypocrite with always wanting to know my thoughts and seldom telling me his. My attention turned back to our hopefully new family member. Daniel was hesitantly stroking Tanya's jaw.

"So soft, so warm," he sounded amazed.

"Go get a room," Emmett snickered. Jasper hissed at him. Daniel turned and growled, his body tensing up, but Tanya quickly took his hand.

"Danny! Calm, concentrate," She begged and he instantly listened and closed his eyes.

"This singer thingy seems to form a strong bond after the change." I wondered aloud.

"I think you're right, Bella." Jasper whispered. "He has as much control over his feelings as you did."

Daniel turned again to look first at Tanya then at Jasper.

"What do you mean? I nearly attacked him." He sounded alarmed.

"You're doing very well, my love." Tanya assured him promptly and most of us nodded smiling. Carlisle, Jasper, Elazar and Edward looked more concerned or rather thoughtful.

"I have a gift, too." Jasper explained. "I read and affect emotions. But like Bella, ten years ago, I am prepared to step in without being needed. You are amazingly controlled and able to snap out of an emotion."

Daniel looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded abruptly, the motion too fast for a human eye, because he had yet to learn to watch over his movements. Then he turned to Elazar. Again his emotions were clear on his face; mystification and curiosity.

"Do I have a gift?" he asked him, his voice a bit uneasy.

Edward and Elazar answered at exactly the same time, but not with the same words, or even meaning.

Edward said, "Of course, you are a shield, like Bella."

And Elazar said, "Of course, you can read talents, like me."

There was a slight pause, then, denial, at the same time again.

"No, it's a shield, I can't read his mind anymore." Edward said shaking his head, concentrating.

"No, I never err." Elazar stated.

We stared at both in amazement until Carlisle summarized with a smile.

"You seem to have a gift, but we can't figure it out, yet." He concluded. Daniel shook his head, the motion to fast again, but a bit more controlled than the last time.

"Take your time; it's not really that important." He murmured at the now disputing vampires, but neither one heard him.

"We could test Kate on him," Elazar suggested and everybody fell silent again.

"What? If he has some kind of a shield, he won't feel a thing." He added.

"IF, and only if, he has a shield, he won't feel it. Do you think I will risk letting her hurt him? He hasn't even fed, yet." Tanya spit out, her face contorted into an angry mask.

"Oh, sister, don't be so upset. I would only use a light shock and only if he is okay with it." Kate hurried to assure her sister, but Tanya continued to hiss at them. "And of course I would wait till after he has hunted." Kate added. Jasper nodded.

"Shocking a newborn in his first hour without feeding him first might not be the wisest thing." He stated and Elazar agreed instantly.

"Of course, he should hunt first." Carlisle finalized.

"Hunt? Me?" Daniel whispered, uneasy again.

"I will show you how and explain everything." Tanya reassured him and stood up.

"You two shouldn't go alone. We don't want the mistake we made with Bella repeated." Carlisle said stern.

"Hey, I didn't do anything." I protested.

"True, but it was really close. We cannot count on everyone to have your self-control, love." Edward added. Of course, they were right – not that I would say that openly – and those of us, who hadn't feed in the last days already gathered for the hunt. We were nine altogether.

"Let's take the window," I suggested to lighten the mood. "It is way more fun."

Edward chuckled, Emmett laughed outright.

"Ah, little sister, you did look so bewildered, when Edward first told you." He boomed. I rolled my eyes. Of course, he would mention that. Embarrassing things in your past? Hey just count on Emmett, he'll tell everyone.

Tanya played along and dragged Daniel towards the window.

"Watch!" she told him and jumped out.

"Don't" he cried and gasped. A look of wonder passed over his face, when she sailed gracefully to the ground. After seeing, that everything was okay, he carefully seated himself on the windowsill and followed her.

"Cool!" we heard him say and that, of course, started Emmett off on another round of booming laughter. I just rolled my eyes at Edward and followed as one after the other jumped out of the window. Even Carlisle and Elazar took this exit instead of leaving through the door. We gathered around Daniel in a protective circle, which seemed to make him uneasy. Jasper explained the need for this to him from his position inside the room – since he had hunted only 3 days ago, he wouldn't join us. We tried to ease up a bit and started to jog towards the forest. Soon we were speeding up and flying through the trees. Elazar led us to a secluded spot near a river that seemed to be a watering place for the local wildlife. To be true, we stopped about a mile before we could reach the spot. This was to be a lesson, after all. Daniel looked around searching until Tanya stopped him by taking his hand.

"Listen," she said and stroked his ear with a finger. Then she taped on his nose, "Now take in a deep breath. What do you smell?"

"I can hear their hearts." He said astonished and then he sniffed. "They smell …appetizing."

I chuckled, the way he just said that, he sounded so surprised.

"Now hunt." Tanya told him and let go of his hand. Without another word he sped towards the herd of deer he had heard and smelled at the watering place. We positioned ourselves around the clearing checking the breezes for human scents. There was none, fortunately. After Daniel was satiated and Tanya had brought down two or three bucks for herself both returned to the house. Now we were free to hunt for ourselves.

"Mountain lions?" I asked my husband.

"What else?" he said and we took of together.

Next chapter will be up soon... please review.