AlicePOV:
My teeth slid into her easily, and she gasped while pulling my hair, but she did not scream. It all came crashing back to me as her blood caressed my throat: this was ecstasy, the kind of ecstasy that animal blood could not incite, the kind of ecstasy that Andie couldn't inflame- Andie. This was Andie, but- just one more taste, oh god why did I ever abstain from- Andie! Yes, the blood, oh god, so... I moaned, swooning in the rapture, and Andie held tighter. ANDIE. Let go! But...
I felt her hands in my hair begin to slacken and before I knew it I was flying across the room, sliding across the polished wood floor and crashing into a wall, busting through it to the hall where I finally slid to a halt. I was on my feet and face to face with Rosalie in my room in less than a second, both of us snarling and crouched, only Rose was protecting Andie from me... protecting my mate from... me. As soon as the predator was caught off guard I shook myself into reality and eased out of my stance while not looking away from my defensive sister. But then there was a blood curdling scream from the bed behind Rose, making us both flash to the side as Andie arched up again, her face distorted in a look I had seen on the faces of those being tortured under Jane's potent weapon. I knew what that felt like. I remembered the quiet, burning darkness of my transition. I did not scream. I don't think I did.
"Alice!" she gasped after that first scream, her chest starting to heave with pants as her violet eyes searched for my face and I slid into bed with her, cradling her to me, trying to help the burn with my cold flesh, but I knew it would be pointless. I did it because it was all I could do.
"Here, love, I'm right here. I'm so sorry, I hate that I'm so selfish." How could I put her through this hell? This was my fault.
"Alice, stop that," Rose snapped, glaring at me as she held Andie's hand. "She doesn't need that from you right now," she added in a whisper.
Andie screamed again, only she clenched her jaw shut so that it was strangled in her throat, but her eyes still bulged and the muscles in her neck stretched so tight in her convulsion that I thought for sure I heard them begin to rip. I sobbed, holding her as still as I could against her seizing body, and she fell limp again for a moment, panting in the quiet burn as she waited in horrible anticipation for the next bout of incinerating flames. "You- it's- AAAHHH!" Andie tried to speak, but her words were eaten in a scream from another blast of pain, and her body arched into mine again, and I began to sob, only there were no tears for my release, there was only the pressure of tears that would never even form, much less fall. It didn't matter. With her in this state because of me, I did not deserve the relief of tears.
"D-don't leave me," she panted as the spasm passed. "I- I need you."
"I'm not going anywhere, Andrea, I swear," I sobbed, hiding my face in the crook of her neck, where my bite still lingered, fresh, but the call of her blood was gone for me... I'd taken too much before, and I was disgusted with my inability to pull away, even in favor of her life. Ironic that it completely leaves when she is turning... but then, was it possibly because I could smell the sweet scent of my venom mingled with her red blood cells?
"We are not going anywhere," Rosalie corrected, looking at me with her eyebrow raised as if waiting for me to snarl in jealousy. But I merely looked at her and mouthed two words.
"Thank you," I told her, and she smiled, reaching over Andie to tousle my hair.
"Of course," she mouthed back, and then another ear-splitting scream resounded around the room, and Andie arched again between us. Rose helped me hold her still, and I looked up into Rosalie's perfect face, seeing pain and worry that I'm sure mirrored my own.
"I'm right here," I whispered to Andie, trying to give her some sort of comfort in any way I could, but being all too aware of the limitations of comfort available to her during the burn. "I love you, it wont last long, and then it's over and we're together..." I left out that the burn would rise and pulse and eat away at her flesh, crystallizing it, making her as soft a stone as I or anyone in my family. I left out that the burn never truly goes away, that it merely centers and settles in your throat, always there, a constant reminder of the monster inside. I left out that her amethyst colored eyes that I loved so would alter, and grow a dark red, full of her own human blood, which would make her freakishly strong, even stronger than Emmett, the strongest of us by far. I left out that she would perceive the world through senses she couldn't fathom with her limited human brain. I left out a lot more.
Rosalie and I laid with her for a few hours, while her screams died and fell into silent burning, and I heard Jacob's voice down stairs, speaking to Esme.
"Why did you let her do it when Carlisle was not here? Don't you see what could have happened? Alice could have killed her, and then we would all have lost Alice!" Annoying and smelly as he was, a piece of me loved the boy.
"Rosalie was with Alice," Esme replied soothingly, but Jacob scoffed and I could see him balk in my mind.
"That's any better? Blondie's even worse than Alice," he griped, and Rose hissed from the other side of my changing mate, where she lay playing with Andie's hair.
"I'll have you know I've never drank human blood, mutt," she growled under her breath, and I figured Jacob's wolf senses heard her just fine. "And just because I don't like you, doesn't mean I have to be a bitch to everyone else... whom I love."
I smiled at this admittance of affection for Andie, and Rose rolled her eyes at me, but couldn't hold back the tug at the corners of her mouth.
"I take it you're okay then, Flea?" Jacob asked from the foot of the stairs, quietly and concernedly.
"I'm fine, Jacob," I whispered, pressing my lips to Andie's crystallizing jaw. She didn't even smell human, anymore. Her human scent of ripened cherries had amplified into a sweet cherry blossom smell, which my nose registered as a vampiric scent, though one that was intoxicating to me, naturally. "She's going to survive, so I'm fine."
"You know Sam might not like this," he said reluctantly, and I closed my eyes against his words. He was right, and the thought was only a mere flicker before I made the choice to adhere to Andie's wishes.
"I'm sorry if I've made your life difficult, Jacob," I said sincerely, true to my words. "But she's my mate, and you as well as I know the unconditional pull we have for our others." Jacob's mate was my own niece, though she was not exactly dating age, she was maturely his.
"I'll keep the pack clear of here for a while, so that we don't overwhelm her when she finishes."
"Thanks," I murmured, focusing on the over-action of Andie's heart, which only seemed to be increasing. Rosalie had stopped breathing to listen to it, as well, and the two of us heard Jacob tell Esme goodbye before he disappeared out of the door to phase as soon as he hit the trees. I heard Esme sigh from the living room, and hum under her breath as she came to the steps and started up them towards us.
"Girls? Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, coming in the door, barely glancing at the gaping hole in the wall beside it.
"Could you grab some clothes from the dresser right there so I can dress her without moving away from her... I don't think she would like that," I said softly, watching her eyes move behind her eyelids, and as if she were answering me, she squeezed me against her. She was still fully conscious in all her silence and immobility.
"Alice, you stay there," Rose said softly, noticing Andie's grip tightening on me. "I'll dress her."
I nodded, and Andie's grip loosened slightly, telling me that yes- she was aware of us and everything we were saying. Rosalie moved away to help Esme pick the clothes Andie would wake up in, leaving Andie and I alone in the bed for the first time since I'd bitten her twelve hours before. "Can you still hear me?" I whispered to her, and I felt a flick of her muscles in her wrist, and it made me smile. "You're doing so good, Andie," I continued, and I felt her twitch again. My face fell at the next thing that came to mind to say to her. "I hope you still think it's worth it... that I'm worth it." Before I could finish the last word, I felt the pressure of her hand seize down on my wrist and she started to shake again; I'd really upset her, and she was trying to maintain the silent torture, more for my benefit than her own, I felt. I'd severed a bit of her control with my statement.
"Alice, I told you she doesn't need that from you! Be strong, show her you are confident in her and her wishes!" Rosalie hissed from behind me and she slammed a drawer shut. "Now you've pissed her off!"
"Calm down, both of you," Esme said, holding up her hands at the foot of the bed. "You went through it when Emmett was changing, and he was in pain. Alice is only reacting the way a mate would, dealing with it the only way she knows how."
Andie seemed to relax again at the sound of Esme's voice, and I gave Esme a grin. "I think she likes you," I joked, giving my mother a wink.
"It's mutual, my dear," she replied warmly. "She is coming along quickly, no?"
I looked from Esme to Andie and back again. "Is she?"
Esme nodded, looking my mate over as Rosalie slid garments over her exposed skin. "She smells like a vampire, and her skin is advancing. I wonder if her eyes have changed?"
"I don't know, we haven't seem them since an hour after I bit her," I confessed, looking at Esme worriedly.
"Defensive mechanism, closing the eyes against the pain. Humans do that," Rosalie said dismissively, tugging a pair of girls boxers up Andie's thighs. Her thighs... they were becoming even smoother and more toned, due to the venom, and it wasn't until I noticed them that I realized the same went for her whole body. Whereas she had always been trim as a human, her muscle build had been softer and less defined then the vampiric muscle that was building now through her transition. Her flat belly had rippled into gentle abs, and her face had slicked off some remaining baby fat and chiseled itself into perfection. Her hair was darker, longer, without split ends and it was inhumanly lustrous, as if she just left a salon. She was also losing her soft peach color, and the blush from her cheeks was long gone, now a mere memory.
"She's perfect," I breathed, my eyes searching over her still form, drinking every drop of the vampire that was being born by own venom. I had created this impeccable immortal. And she was mine. Why then was this other vampire touching her now, her hands too close to my mate's chest? I growled a warning to this other one, the one that was trepassing on my property, and I felt a hand close on my shoulder.
"Alice, Rose won't hurt your mate," I heard a voice say, and it triggered a memory. Rose... I knew Rose...
I shook my head, coming back into myself, realizing that it was indeed my sister and she wouldn't molest what belonged to me. "Sorry," I muttered, ashamed.
"Understandable," Rosalie replied, now buttoning the shirt she had slipped onto Andie. She looked at me with a taunting smirk. "She's pretty hot, little sister."
I swallowed the snarl and just glared at her instead, inciting a chuckle from her as she finished her task, and stood up straight. "I think I may have worn out my welcome here," she said lightly, not at all offended. "I'll be near if you need me."
Esme placed a kiss on top of my head. "Carlisle will be home shortly. He's sorry he couldn't make it sooner, but they were very busy at the hospital last night."
I nodded at her words and she left the room behind Rosalie, shutting the door behind her, and I heard pieces of the dry wall crumble and fall to dust at the impact. I would have to have that fixed. I didn't care for the reminder that I had nearly killed my Andie. My arms restricted further around her frame, and she sighed from deep inside herself at the action, making me smile. It was almost a relieved sigh, like my holding her was indeed ebbing away some of the flames for her. "Now comes the hardest part," I whispered to her, smiling to myself at my fantasy in my head. Andie was standing beside me in a gorgeous gown, her hair in ringlets around her face, golden eyes set in love and determination. "I just have to get you to marry me." There. A smile, ghosting her motionless lips. "You like the sound of that, huh?" I asked her teasingly, and then nuzzled her. "I love you more than anything, Andie. I could never have imagined what this feeling would be like, to be so devoted to someone and so infatuated with their presence. You own me in so many ways, my love." I kissed her cheek, and fell right back into her side, curling up and relaxing, trying to ignore the prickling in the back of my throat that had not subsided since the first drop of her blood had slid down it.
I heard a car coming down the highway outside our private drive, then the crunch of tires on gravel as Carlisle swerved his Mercedes-Benz to the left and flew down the dirt road as fast as his car would take him. He parked in the front yard as opposed to the garage, and he came flying in the door and was bedside in less than a minute after I'd heard him coming. "I'm sorry, Alice," he apologized as soon as he entered the room, gazing over my Andie in my arms. "I should have been here, but it was madness in the E.R.-"
"She's fine, Carlisle," I answered softly, opening my eyes to look at him. "Rose was there to stop me," I added, not wanting to take responsibility for Andie's safety.
He glanced at the missing portion of wall near the door, and shook his head the tiniest bit. "I'll have the boys start patching that up, before she completes the cycle and sees it," he said softly, looking back to me with a compassion so strong that only he could muster it.
"I should do it," I said solemnly, looking at Andie's face. "It's my fault it happened."
Carlisle sighed, reaching down to squeeze my shoulder reassuringly. "Nonsense, Alice. Edward and Emmett can do it. Edward is worried sick about you, and goodness knows Bella has been blowing up Esme's phone for permission to see you. This will give me a good reason to have them over."
"'Kay," I whispered, feeling the sensation of lethargy washing over me. I wanted to lie in peace.
"She's about half-way, I'd say," he commented after a moment of observation. "Perhaps another twelve to fourteen hours. She's one of the lucky ones."
I felt a lurch inside of myself at his words. That soon, really?
"You should probably see to it that she hunts first and foremost, and that she is calm enough to handle the family," he went on, oblivious to the growing seed of excitement in my belly. "And, Alice, I mean this: no shopping trips with her until she has at least passed some of my blood training. We don't need her to slip up, and you know newborns are susceptible."
"I know," I replied, giving him a small smile. He was worried about me running off with my newborn mate to go shopping. But this was me were discussing, and he probably felt I couldn't keep the addiction under control for that long.
He smiled and patted the top of Andie's head affectionately. "She looks good, Alice. You did well."
"Thank you, Dad," I said, winking at him for the nickname. But he knew I meant that.
"I'm going to step out with Esme for the day, we're going up to Vancouver for some grab and go," he sighed, looking at his gold watch.
"Will you be home for when she finishes?" I asked him and he nodded.
"The hospital will be fine without me for a day. After we return from hunting, I will be here at your beck and call."
I nodded, not sure if I would need him or not. Bella hadn't been exactly wild as a newborn, and Andie seemed to be dealing fairly well with her situation, as she had not moved since I had upset her three hours before. "I think she'll be okay when she comes to," I said softly, kissing her temple. "I'll try not to let her destroy the house, too," I added for Esme's benefit, as I was sure the worry had crossed her mind more than once, having dealt with newborns in her home three times before with Rose, Emmett, and Bella. Emmett was still as bad as a newborn.
"I would appreciate that, dear," Esme called from the back veranda, waiting on Carlisle so they could depart.
"I'll leave you be with your mate now," Carlisle said, bowing his head respectfully as he backed away towards the door.
I sighed, lying my head on Andie's chest, pressing my ear above her erratic heart, and closed my eyes to savor the last sounds it would ever make. It was only twelve to fourteen more hours before I would be taking her hunting the first time. I grinned at the thought, knowing I would show off for her, to entice her. I knew she would take my bait, too. Oh, we were going to have a fun eternity...