Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SM's character, SM does : ( All new plots, characters and their powers are from my mind vault though.
A/N: Back to Angela's POV again cats and kittens. Been getting nice reviews and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to get your feedback. I've nearly finished the ending on my first draft; I write the story in word on my laptop and then go back and edit it chapter by chapter before publishing it so once I've finished the climax I should be ready to post the entire thing. Right now I'm about ten/fifteen chapter further in my first draft then I am on here. Also, I have some ideas swimming around in my brain so I'm happy to say that I have a sequel already mapped out in my head. I would like some feedback though, if you guys have any ideas of possible characters etc that you would like to see make an appearance in the sequel then let me know. I'll shut up now and let you read.
Chapter 25: Angela's POV:
I lay there, trying to act frail despite the fact that I had all this new strength filling my body. Carlisle had given me some tips on acting human, thought it would be a lot easier pretending to be normal whilst lying in a bed than if I had to sit around and remind myself to cross my legs every so often. I had to remember to blink though, not that I could forget with these annoying contacts in my eyes, Bella had warned me that they would be disorientating at first but I wasn't prepared for just how annoying it was. Having just gotten used to having the incredible eye sight that came with being a vampire, I was now trapped attempting to ignore the grainy texture of the contacts that my perfect eyesight kept trying to focus on. I blinked a few times to see if that made it any better, but with every movement of my eyelids I could feel the contacts grating against my eyes and it was irritating me. I sat their blinking a little too fast when I heard the quickened footsteps and frantic heartbeats of my family heading towards my room, I was relieved that I didn't get any sudden urge to drink them when their scents hit my nose, the reminder of home and happiness at seeing my family overwhelmed the burning ache in my throat, making it easy to ignore.
'Angela, oh baby thank god you're alright. We've been worried sick' my mother cried as she rushed over to the bed and enveloped me in a hug that would have been dangerous if I were really injured. This was the test, keeping my eyes locked on Carlisle, telling him to be ready to restrain me if I snapped, I took a careful breath in, the scent of my mother washed over me and I could smell everything from the dye she was using to cover up the grey in her hair to the lavender perfume she'd been wearing as long as I can remember. I didn't feel any urge to attack her, the burning did harshen slightly but not to an unbearable extent, I was just happy to see her again as she buried her face in my hair, her tears dropping onto my skin.
'Um, mom, you might want to be careful. She is injured after all' I heard my brother Joshua say, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.
'Oh sorry, sorry, are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?' she asked, fussing over me.
'No it's okay mom' I said quietly, trying to make my voice sound as if I were injured. My new voice would have been almost unrecognisable to my family so Carlisle told me to try and disguise it as best I could when talking. My mom looked at me for a second, seeming curious about my voice but she just shrugged slightly, probably assuming it was due to my injuries.
'Are you sure she's okay Dr. Cullen? She looks awfully pale' my dad said, coming over to stand next to my mom and taking my hand, he flinched at the drastic coldness but kept a hold of it anyway, 'she's freezing as well, is she going to be okay?' he asked, anxiety in his gaze as he looked at Carlisle.
'She lost a lot of blood, as well as gone through quite an ordeal, that's why she's so pale and her skin feels a bit cold. She'll be healthy in no time though, she's making a remarkable recovery and most of her injuries are surface wounds, nothing life threatening' he said, smiling gently and my parents seemed to visibly relax. My mom ran her hand through my hair, a sad smile touching her lips.
'Do you remember what happened to you?' she whispered and I swallowed, remembering the story that I had rehearsed in the car, I hated to lie to them, especially about how Ben died, it felt like I was tainting his memory by lying about it and even though I know longer blamed myself, I still felt wrong by not accounting for at least how he was put in a position to die. I ground my teeth in hatred at the memory of Vasilios and his disgusting smile when he forced Ben's bleeding body towards me. I knew now that no one could have been able to control themselves if they were put into my position at that time, I cursed Vasilios and his sadistic games, making someone kill a friend just to take pleasure from their guilt was sick and I could feel the anger towards him bubbling up in me, I pushed it down and focused on putting the anger to the back of my mind, I could call it back later, when Vasilios is helpless in front of me, I'll be the one to rip him to pieces.
I took in a breath and told them the story, about how Ben and I had gone out to lunch to discuss whether or not we should get back together but got in an argument instead; I stormed off and he followed me, leading to us both getting lost in the warehouse district. There we were ambushed by a pair of muggers with knives who took all of our money and my handbag, but they didn't just let us go. I told them about how they killed Ben by stabbing him in the neck and then started to beat me up, stabbing me in the stomach as well. Then the story was that they left us for dead, not realising that I was still alive. I spoke about how I managed to crawl as far as a couple of streets before I passed out and how the next thing I remembered was waking up in hospital. I didn't know if my account was believable, the idea of faking tears over the lie felt wrong when the truth was so much more horrific.
I just spoke my lines as I'd remembered them, hoping that my parents would see the emptiness in my voice as a symptom of shock, instead of the weariness of having to blame Ben's death on some anonymous mugger when all I wanted to do was let the world know what a monster Vasilios truly was. If not the world, then my parents at least, I couldn't stand the idea of them thinking that the horror of that night had been over a couple of hundred bucks and some lipstick, it made Ben's death seem so trivial, and I hated it. I held back a sob as my mom stroked my hand. Edward said something to Carlisle in a tone so low that only he could hear, I tried to pick up on what they were saying but they seemed to be practiced at private conversation in public places because I couldn't hear a word. I looked over at Bella in confusion but she just shrugged.
'Joshua, Isaac, could you come with me for a few minutes, let's give them some privacy' Edward said and moved towards the door, my brothers looked unhappy but they each gave me a hug and a small smile before they followed Edward out the door.
'Is there something wrong? Something you couldn't tell us in front of the boys?' my dad asked, anxiety darkening his gaze as he looked me over, searching for any injury that he may not have noticed, despite the fact that I wasn't really injured.
'Everything's okay Mr Weber. It's just a matter that Edward thought Angela would like to discuss with you two herself, and then you can decide whether or not your sons need to know' Carlisle answered, giving me a warm smile. What was he talking about? My brow furrowed in confusion as I tried to figure out what he was getting at. 'It's okay to tell them about your…transformation, if you want, Edward believes they can be trusted and he saw how much you didn't want to lie to them, it's up to you though whether or not you want to tell them' he murmured, in the same hushed tones as before, only this time I could hear him, though my parents couldn't.
I thought about it; if I told them I ran the risk of frightening them or maybe even losing them forever. There was also the fact that they may be in danger for knowing. Though from what I'd heard, the main threat against people who knew of vampires was the Volturi, and they were gone now. I also couldn't stand to lie to them; I loved my parents more than anything in my life and had never kept a secret from them. I didn't think they would hate me, even though my father was a minister, I knew they were open-minded and loved me. I wanted more than anything to be able to stay a part of their lives, that wouldn't happen if I had to fake my death or move away to stop them from knowing the truth. I looked over at Bella who gave me a small smile of encouragement and then my gaze moved to Carlisle, I gave him the slightest of nods, swallowing. Here goes nothing.
'Mom…dad, there's something I need to tell you.' I began and they looked at me with equal expressions or worry painted on their faces.
'Anything honey, what is it? Are you okay?' my father asked, rubbing the arm that wasn't taped to an IV. I took in a deep breath.
'That story that I just told you, it's a lie. I'm sorry, I just thought it would be best for you to believe the public story instead of the real one because I didn't think you'd believe the real one' I said softly, waiting for the disappointment or anger or…something to set in. The only emotion was concern though.
'Why did you think you couldn't tell us what really happened baby? You know that we love you no matter what' my mom cooed smiling down at me. Ah hell with it I thought, I'd just rip the band aid off and go from there.
'I'm a vampire' I said, almost too fast for them to hear but they did, a look of amusement settled on my mother's face before she looked at me, I mean really looked at me, then at Bella and Carlisle, her brow knitted together in confusion before awareness filled her gaze, with only the briefest hint of fear. I looked at my father for his reaction but he just smiled knowingly at me, taking a hold of my hand.
'I always figured that was what your family were Carlisle' he sighed in a resigned manner, 'though I'm not happy that you brought my daughter into it' he added fixing him with a look. So my dad knew did he, judging by the lack of surprise from my mother, he had shared his theories with her as well. It turned out I was the last one to know about vampires, and I was one for crying out loud. I huffed and took the opportunity to make myself more comfortable; I blinked out the last remnants of the coloured contacts and pulled the taped IV off my arm, sitting up in bed now that I didn't have to act frail. My parents gasped softly at my red eyes and my dad looked at Carlisle questioningly.
'Why aren't they golden like your families?' he asked Carlisle who smiled gently at him.
'When we arte first created our eyes are coloured red because of the blood left over in you system, they change over time depending on what the vampire feeds on, those who feed from humans have red eyes, but my family and I feed solely from animals and therefore our eyes turn golden. You can see that Bella's are a bronze colour, that's because she's still a relatively new vampire and her eyes are slowly turning golden' he explained, gesturing to Bella and my dad nodded his head in understanding.
'So you don't…hurt people?' my mum whispered, looking form Carlisle to Bella warily.
'No we don't, we believe that unnecessary killing is wrong but we still need blood to survive so we choose to hunt animals. Mountain lions, elk, your daughter took down a bear on her first hunt' he chuckled and my dad paled, looking back at me as I grimaced.
'You can do that? Take down bears, you're that strong?' he gasped, eyes wide in disbelief.
'We're fast too' Bella said, running at vampire speed over to my bed and sitting beside me before my parents had a chance to blink. My father was still looking at where Bella had been sitting a second ago and spun around.
'You just…disappeared, wow!' he whispered. 'But how did this happen honey? Did you ask them to turn you or…? He trailed off, giving Carlisle a less than friendly look. I gave a bitter laugh.
'I wish the Cullens had turned me, it would have been a lot nicer than what really happened' I said, all traces of mirth gone from me as I told them the truth of what really happened to me and Ben. As I revealed the story of Vasilios and his sadistic game their faces flitted between sadness, shock, anger and grief; as I retold the part about Vasilios forcing me to drink from Ben my mother's hand tightened around my own, sadness filling her eyes.
'That disgusting bastard' my dad spat and I blinked in shock, he was a minister for crying out loud, but I couldn't help but agree with his sentiment. 'I don't think you're a monster for killing Ben Angela, from what I can tell this Vasaline guy would have killed him no matter what. I just hate that you had to go through that alone' he said, a tear rolling down his cheek.
'I wasn't alone dad, Bella found out I'd been taken and the Cullens came to get me, I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for them. They also helped me heal…emotionally that is. Their friend Thomas did a weird thing and made me release my guilt and sadness, I'm okay now. A little sad, but I know I'm gonna be okay, as long as I have my family' I said, leaning forward to give him a hug, being careful not to move to fast in case I startled him.
'What about this vampire that came after her, where is he now?' he asked Carlisle who rubbed the back of his neck, an anxious look filling his golden eyes.
'He's gone, we don't know where. He's blocking our tracker's power so we can't find him. Right now we're just hoping that he'll slip up somehow, and then we'll…deal with him' he answered and I would have expected my father to flinch at his implication, my dad knew we were going to kill him. Even my dad, who was a minister, knew that Vasilios deserved to die, that showed just how evil the asshole was.
After that the conversation lightened up a bit, my parents thought it best not to tell Isaac and Joshua about the whole vampire things until they were a bit older, as it was, they'd probably run around town telling everyone so we'd wait till they were more mature and less…themselves. They asked Carlisle a few questions and marvelled at pictures of Nessie that Bella had in her purse, unable to believe that she had a daughter. I had been the same when I found out, but when I saw her with Nessie I could tell that she was a natural. They promised to come around for dinner tomorrow, if they were nervous about entering a house full of vampires, they didn't show it. I was glad that they were willing to be a part of my new life I thought as I hugged them goodbye. I changed back into my clothes and wiped the remnants of the fake bruises off my face before we headed home.
We got back to the Cullen house in the late afternoon; the days were gradually getting longer as May approached and I was eagerly anticipating the summer. There was a small fluttering of butterflies in my stomach, as we pulled up to the front of the house, I couldn't figure out what this nervousness was about as I got out of the car and headed towards the front door.
'I think I'll just hang out in the garden for a bit Bells' I said, I wanted to read some more of the book that Carlisle had given me, it was full of interesting facts and revelations about things I never even imagined could be possible. Though I was a vampire now so I guessed I had to get used to seeing the impossible every day. Bella hugged me before I ran off to retrieve my book from the living room, carrying it outside to a soft patch of grass on the outskirts of the garden where I could have a nice view of the river as the afternoon sun bounced off the water. I had a new fascination with water now, my gift making me feel a sort of connection to the flowing currents around me. I placed the book down and walked over to the river, pulling off my shoes and socks to dip my feet in. I waded for a few minutes, before perching myself on a rock so I could run my fingers through the water. I decided to test my power a little, seeing if I could get a finer control over it as I tried to focus myself, seeing if I could get a hold of the same feeling that I had experienced before in the living room.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on the trickling flow of the water beneath my fingers, listening to the gentle current as it ran through my fingers. I felt my hand begin to flicker and I urged the flicker to grow, feeling a cool sensation spreading up my arm. I fluttered my eyes open and looked at my hand; it was clear and rippling, perfectly blended in with the water of the river beneath me. I tried to grasp the feel of the power, coaxing it up my arm and was pleased when it followed my wishes. Bella had described how difficult it had been for her to gain control over her shield, how it was like elastic that just wouldn't stretch until she had broken through and mastered it during the battle. It wasn't like that for my power though, sure it wasn't anywhere near as formidable a gift as Bella's but I still felt a thrill of giddiness at the idea of having my own special ability.
The water felt as if it was a part of me, completely willing to bend and change to my will as I reduced it down so that it only covered my fingertips. I swirled them around and felt the river respond to my glass-like skin, whirling in a small circle as it rippled upwards at my touch. I smiled broadly as I made the droplets dance around my hand, jumping almost a mile when I heard a gentle cough from behind me. I had been so ensconced in the feel of the water that I hadn't noticed anyone approach me. I turned around to see that Nahuel was sitting on the river bank a few feet to my right, the currents caused the light reflected from the sunset to dance around on his dark skin, causing it to glow slightly.
'Um…hey' I smiled, letting go of my power so that my hand returned to normal and wiping it dry on my rolled up jeans.
'You were very beautiful' he said and then a gentle blush spread beneath his cheeks and he shifted uncomfortably, 'I uh…I mean your power, it was very beautiful' he murmured and I felt a trickle of disappointment spread through me, I ignored it and smiled softly.
'I was just experimenting ,you know, come and look at this' I said, gesturing for him to come and sit next to me on the rock, he only hesitated for a second before wading over to me and settling himself down on the edge of the rock. I forced myself to ignore the shiver of electricity that fizzled through my arm when he brushed it, putting it down as a figment of my imagination, or perhaps just my over active libido. I had been single for almost a month after all. I turned my fingertips into the same clear and rippling texture as before; it was a lot easier this time, almost instantaneous as I focused on the river below me. I glided my fingers just above the flow of the current, feeling the water wanting to respond to my presence as I urged a small stream of the river to swirl upwards towards my hand, creating a cylinder of water that seemed to have a mind of its own. I looked over at Nahuel, whose gaze wasn't fixed on the water anymore, instead he was staring at me intently; his teak eyes burning in a way that made me want to shy away from him, not from discomfort, but because I was confused about the almost uncontrollable urge I had to reach out and touch him.
I released my power, vaguely registering the sound of the water splashing back into the river as his hand came up to cradle my face, sending another quiver of electricity through my cheek when his thumb grazed it. I felt my eyes fluttered closed as I leant into his soft palm, taking in his deep and warm scent that made me think of the jungle and exotic flowers. I was about to say something when I felt the soft press of his lips against mine, causing an explosion of heat to burst to life throughout my body as I felt myself respond to the kiss with a hunger that was so unlike me. I completely let go of any restraint I had and reached up to hold onto him, feeling his own hands grip my tightly in response as we splashed the river water over each other. I felt the welcome intrusion of his sweet tongue as he gently traced my bottom lip, I groaned slightly and met it with my own, creating a sensual dance that caused him to release his own passionate sound from deep within his throat.
Our blissfull moment was interputed however when I became aware of someone watching us, I opened my eyes and turned my head, my hands still gripping Nahuel's thick hair.
'About damn time' Bella said, grinning down at us from the bank, the huge smile on her face was mirrored by Edward who winked at me knowingly. I was about to feel embarrassed when I realised that I really didn't have a reason to, I shrugged and stood, holding my hand out to Nahuel, who smiled hesitantly before taking my hand in his, pulling himself up but not releasing his hold as he traced small circles on my palm. I raised my eyebrow at Bella as she smirked at me, rolling her eyes and nudging Edward.
'Come on honey, let's give them some privacy' she winked before leading Edward back into the house, I smiled up at Nahuel, pulling him out of the water. He followed willingly, laughing when he looked down at his trousers which were soaked in water. I gave him another feather light kiss, careful not to let myself get carried away again in case we were still being watched.
'Come on' I said as he let out a small sigh when I pulled back, 'let's go back inside.'
A/N: I always feel weird writing mushy scenes but I hope I did okay. Please Review : )