~~Rebekah~~

The darkness encasing me was starting to become unbearable. Would I remain like this forever? Personally, I'd never had claustrophobia before, but I think now it was starting to settle in. I felt my eyelids beginning to flutter and soon after, my eyes shot open, releasing me from the darkness I'd been in for… days? Then, everything hit me all at once. The passing out, the thrashing, the screaming, the seizures, the pain- my goodness, the pain. All of that… was for this; for me to remember who I really was.

I somehow managed to lift my head, which felt like a bowling ball, up slightly. My father and I made eye contact, his expression serious. Neither of us had to be telepathics in order to know what we were thinking; the fever dream. We were going to talk after the crowd dispersed.

For now, I had to act like I had no idea what had happened. "What the hell?" I ran my fingers through my dark hair, which was tangled and very wavy.

"You don't remember?" Alice squaked, almost as if she were angry with me."

"I was in a coma. You don't remember what you dreamt in a coma, or do you?" I managed to sit up in my bed without assistance. "Yes, I know, it's weird for the one with Enhanced Memory to not remember. But truly, I don't." Very convincing lie, Bekah.

"That can happen. When some patients come out of their comas, they can remember things. Others don't."

"But what about patients with super-sonic memories?" Emmett asked. I put my head into my hands, where I felt my restored cheekbones.

"How are you feeling?" Rosalie quietly interrupted their argument and sat next to me. Her expression was shocked, but she tried to hide it.

"Can't decide between five freakin' eighteen-wheelers slammed into me at once or a train running over me." This time I wasn't lying, I really didn't feel all that splendid.

"I expected this, actually." Esme sat next to me and placed a cold tumbler in my lap. "Which is why I prepared."

I gingerly picked it up and sipped at it, letting the icy blood run down my esophagus and cool the burning sensation. "Human or animal?"

"Human for now, but soon you'll have to to go back to animals."

"I'll enjoy this then." I smiled.

"Does anything hurt?"

"Just my head, but if I keep the noise down for a few hours that should pass. Otherwise, I feel quite peachy."

"I'll bet." Edward said. "According to delusional Rebekah, all the pain was in her head."

"That makes sense…" I sighed and made direct eye contact with him and slurped on more blood.

"Woah!"

"What?"

"Someone get her a mirror." Rosalie passed him my beside mirror, but I thought that she was going to knock him out with it.

Now I know why he was saying that, it was my eyes. The right was bright red, like the color of a poppy in springtime, and the left was a steel silver hue. I could only imagine what their reactions were when I opened my eyes, and looked at them. My cheekbones had popped out ever so slightly, making my face look slightly elvish, and my lips had gotten slightly plumper. My attention went down to my chest, and there was definitely more there now when compared to when I passed out. My dark waves were tangled and frizzy.

"How the hell did that happen?" Rosalie put her hand under my chin and made her face me. "I understand the red, but the silver?"

"Neither do I!" I lied and prayed for Katerina to come up.

"It's a side effect." Her deep voice radiated throughout the room. We looked that way and she stood next to Jasper.

"Of what?"

"You wanted me to help her, right?" They all nodded. "Well, that's just how I did it. The silver will fade in about a month. She'll be fine from here."

"How wonderful!" Ness exclaimed and joined the group on my bed. "Now we can play baseball again!"

"Maybe once my head stops feeling like a bomb about to go off."

"Right, sorry."

"Question; how long was I out for?"

"About five days. All this started on the twenty-ninth, and it's the third today."

So if this all started on October 29th and it's November 3rd today- that means that centuries worth of memories were crammed into my head in less than a week! No wonder my head's spinning. I looked down at my arm, which was much tanner than it was five days ago.

"Oh yeah, that's also a side-effect." Katerina added. "I had to return her to human form for just a moment. That'll go away in about a week." I wanted to facepalm right there, we both knew that wasn't going to happen.

"I don't know what you did, Katerina, but it's clearly worked. Thank you so much." Carlisle smiled at her.

"It wasn't a big deal." She replied. "But Rebekah probably needs to clean up and shower, and I have something to give her."

Everyone started to head towards the door, but Alice headed for my closet. "Just letting you know that I've been shopping since you've been under the weather!"

"Of course you have." I rolled my eyes. "And that's why you're my favorite."

"Hey!" Everyone else exclaimed in protest.

"Settle down people, I was just kidding. My favorite is actually Esme." The protests just grew louder and I just shook my head while our mother smiled smugly.

"Okay, let's give Bekah some time to clean up."

"Yeah," Ness agreed. "I love you, but you kinda stink!" Everyone laughed and shut the door behind them.

"Gosh," Katei sighed. "I'd thought they'd never leave!"

"We're a close family which I like, and they respect me and I respect them." I shrugged. "It kinda reminds me of how we were pre-2003." I stared out my window, lost in thought.

Back in 2003 I had consented to being placed under this… curse, I guess we'll call it, until things regarding me were more stable. Katerina specifically stated before the curse was cast that I would eventually be brought out, but she could not specify a date. I had so many questions for her, but I also needed to rest in order to continue healing.

"Hey," she said. "This bag has some of your old tops and dresses that we've kept specifically for this day. I'll let you shower and clean up, but afterwards we've got to get you to Cam. Alex is going to get the rest of the squad and he should be back in a day."

"Sounds good, anything else?"

"If you need me, I'll be in a tree." I chuckled and she jumped out the window. Katerina was just like a cat, always hanging out in trees and often being kinda passive aggressive. Although, unlike felines, she could actually get out of trees!

"Oh!" Katerina appeared in the windowsill. "Before you shower, check out the thing behind your mirror on the wall there."

"I will."

My attention turned to the mirror on the wall, and I saw a tiny piece of paper sticking out from behind it. A moment later, I heard a light thump on the ground. I strolled slowly to it and instantly knew what it was without even having to examine it.

A pearl necklace laid on the floor, glimmering up at me, and the card was written in a delicate font that said:

Welcome back, Princess.


I wanted to stay in that shower for ages, but knew that I had to go and see my brother, or else he would freak. The cold hit my skin as I stepped out from the steam but I didn't care, all I wanted to know is why the sides of my neck felt so tight! I wiped down the mirror with a washcloth and saw exactly what was up. Great, they're back. There were six of them, three on each side. All six were these ugly, crescent-shaped things that looked like they were sliced into my skin. The skin between each of them sagged downwards a little.

"Welcome back to the party. Meet your cousins, the creation scars." I noticed that the scars Carlisle had given me were about the same shape, although larger and less harsh looking.

Wrapping my towel around my body, I walked to my bed and saw the clothes Katerina was talking about. They were all pretty outdated, some of the dresses were from the thirties, while some of the blouses were from the eighties- shoulder pads and all. Couldn't she have picked some from the 2000's? Y-2K fashion was starting to make a comeback after all. Forfeiting my plan for those, I skipped over to my closet which was now full stocked and smelled like Saks Fifth. Alice didn't need to go nuts as she did.

Oooo, what's this? I asked myself when I passed by my dresses. I pulled it off the rack and immediately smelled that it was made of cotton. There was still the tag on the side of it, but I snipped it off. The tag on the inside of the dress said 'Monique Lhuillier'- I'd never worn anything from her! The dress itself was white, tea-length, and had a sleeveless square neckline. It was decorated with a floral print accented with butterflies and vines, and was almost reminiscent of the 1950's. I quickly threw on the dress, and turned to my shoe rack and bag collection. Eventually, I chose white Louboutin sandals and a small woven straw tote. Judging by the perfect condition of the bag, this was a brand new arrival in the store.

"Bekah?" It was Seth.

"Come in!" I picked the pearl necklace off the floor and fastened it the moment he stepped foot on the carpet.

"Wow…" His glance started at my face, but moved down to my feet. "What's all this for?"

"Don't tell Carlisle and Esme, but I've got to go see someone. Pull out my jewelry box, would you?" With the help of my brush, I managed to push my dark, damp waves back into a sleek ponytail.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Yeah, but this is kind of important."

"Oh, well then who are you seeing?"

"Just an old friend, no big deal." He looked through my drawers until he found it.

"And who is this old friend?"

"Cameron David- he was one of my friends at the CIA. We practically grew up together." I chuckled as I pierced my ears with little diamond drop earrings with a pearl at the end.

"What do you think?" I spun around for him.

"You look…"

"Be honest, please."

"You look like a fifties housewife, but in the best way."

"The New Look is iconic!"

"But in all honesty, you look beautiful." I felt my face grow hot.

Wait, that's not possible! My mind caught up quickly. If the spell could cause my cheekbones to come back, then it could do the exact same thing with the pigment of my skin. No longer was I that pale, pasty-white girl with the tiniest hint of color to her skin, yes! My color was the same shade as my human form, although it was two shades paler. Unfortunately, now that my skin had permanent pigment, that also meant that it could flush color too. Thank God I stopped caring about what other people thought decades ago.

"Thank you…" I tried to minimize the blush on my cheeks.

"No problem." I started walking towards the window in which Katerina jumped out of. "Again-"

"Don't tell Carlisle and Esme you're leaving."

"And why?"

"Because you're supposed to be resting."

"Exactly!" I smiled. "Thank you Seth, I'll pay you back someday." I lifted the window and jumped out of it, landing on my feet and ran into the woods.

Katerina met me half-way, and she had a very smug look on her face. "Someone's got a crush…"

"No I don't!"

"I saw the way you were looking at him and vice versa."

"You shut it." I nearly whacked her with my bag and we started running.


The run was only twenty minutes from the house, a surprisingly short distance if you asked me. I would've thought that my brother would have settled the squad farther from the Cullens' residence. The house was tiny compared to Esme and Carlisle's place- probably only a third of the size, and soon there would be more people living there! I really didn't understand how Cam was ahead of this whole operation, yet he couldn't think that through! Sometimes he really wasn't the brightest bulb…

"You know we're going to have seven more people living in this tiny place by tomorrow?" I walked up to the patio alongside her.

"They don't mind." She shrugged. "There's one guest room, and the Achilles are staying in there. Chris is staying in Alex's room, Pippa, Adrian, Willow, and Hayden are sleeping in the living room."

"That actually might work now that you say that." I pushed the door open and readjusted my skirt. The scent of sea salt and berries filled my nose.

"It smells like home." My eyes started welling up with venom.

"Mom thought it was a good idea for you to remember home." Cam walked over to me, dressed in a nice button-down shirt and jeans. His hands were stuffed into the pockets.

"Cami…"

"Gigi…" I nearly started bawling as he used my childhood nickname. We walked slowly to each other and I wrapped his arms around his ribs while his chin rested on the top of my head.

"Okay you two," Katerina held her phone in our direction. "Smile for the picture so I can send it to your Mom, and then you can start fighting." She got one good one.

"Come on Katei!" Cam told her. "You're just as much her daughter as she is!"

"But who's gotten in less arguments with her."

"That's not my point…" He rolled his eyes.

"Dudes," I addressed both of them. "I can't stay long. Carlisle and Esme think I'm up in my room resting, and I've got a headache."

"That reminds me." Katei said, pulling out a small glass vial. "Drink this."

"Really?"

"It won't cause you to go all crazy, I promise." I uncorked it and let the cool liquid run down my throat.

"Wow… Mmmm, that's good!"

"You know what it is right?" I remembered that I'd tasted it before.

"You're kidding!"

"Anything for the princess!"

"You two are seriously the best." I hugged both of them.

"Consider this a gift," my brother said. "There will be more to celebrate when we actually get back. Oh, our people will be so happy when they hear the news…"

"Not to mention your parents!" Katei turned to the both of us.

"Yeah… they will." I sighed. "When will we head back?"

"We're thinking in about two weeks, so that'll give you some time to wrap things up with them." I nodded, swallowing.

"For now, let's talk. So, Regina Avalon, what have you been up to for the past seventeen years?"


Our little reunion went on for another forty-five minutes. I mean- I did my best in order to keep it short, but either my brother or Katei had a last-minute story of something that happened five years ago that they just had to share. To their credit, the stories were actually quite amusing and entertaining. I didn't have much to share- my life hadn't been that interesting up until I'd been transformed by my father.

That reminded me of the conversation that Carlisle and I desperately needed to have. What the hell was that "dream"? I'd heard of coma patients having dreams, and somehow remembering them after they'd awoken, but that was a rare occurrence. The supernatural differed greatly from reality, but didn't we have some common factors? Like… Like… lust… greed… anger… violence… When our house came into view, I saw that my window was still open, and I managed to climb up into it without anyone seeing me.

I would've thought that I was safe, but a voice proved otherwise. "Regina?" Carlisle sat at my desk, legs crossed and he was fiddling with one of my brush markers I'd borrowed from Esme.

"Yes?" I tucked a loose strand of hair that had come free from the ponytail behind my ear. I put my bag on the bed.

"We need to talk." I sat in my sewing desk chair.

"What is there to know?" I asked him. An elephant of silence filled the room.

"All I want to know is why have you lied to me all these years? You could've met Edward, Esme, Rose-"

"I had people to protect." I replied. "They were all relying on me for their safety." I sighed

"Let me ask you something Carlisle, would you throw away your entire existence if it meant protecting this family?"

"Yes, if it meant that my family were safe, then of course! Why are you asking this?"

"Seventeen years ago, on the twenty-nineth, that's just what I did." I walked towards him and looked out the window. "I had my people to protect, my home, our entire existence was threatened because of him."

"Who threatened your home?"

"You know him, Carlisle, very well in fact." I smiled. "You lived with him for twenty damn years."

"You mean… Aro?"

"Yeah, the bitch had a real nerve coming for us. He should've said 'No' when he decided to come after us."

"What did he want though? Aro doesn't come for people without reason."

"He wanted the power of our home. But more specifically, he wanted me."

"Why you? No offence, but you're really just a normal girl."

"Dear, sweet Carlisle, you are wrong. For one, all of my home's power rests on my shoulders, and secondly; I am not your average Joe in the realm of vampires. Think about it; I glow in addition to sparkling in the sun, I've got bi-colored eyes, I've got a tan. There's a reason I had to be placed under the spell in the first place."

"What spell?" Shit.

I had to keep calm. "Oh, you know the one. That one that caused all the passing out, the thrashing, the screaming, the seizures, the pain- holy shit… the pain! All of that, was for this."

"What's 'this'."

"Oh you'll see, just give it time. Patience is a virtue." I smiled and went to my closet to change out of the dress.


Anyone up for poker? I texted into the family group chat.

Sure… but as long as you don't team up with Nessie! Emmett replied.

Can't promise anything ;)

I told you that I hate that nickname of hers. Wish Jake had never given it to her… (◔_◔)

By the way, should we invite Seth, Jacob and Leah? Esme asked.

You could try Seth and Jacob, but I don't think Leah likes me LOL. I told her. She just… I don't know. Doesn't.

She doesn't like any of us, so don't take it personally. Rosalie added.

Fair enough… which house and what time?

Fifteen minutes, Carlisle and Esme's? Alice asked.

I probably have to clean up the dining room, but we can probably play some Texas Hold'em! Jasper, you can teach Bekah how to play!

I already do. (^ _-)

She scares me sometimes…

Be scared!

Okay kids, Carlisle finally joined in the conversation. Calm down. My dear, I'll help you clean the dining room while we wait.

"I'll join you guys!" I hollered downstairs.

"Okay!" Esme replied.

See you guys in fifteen!

I put my phone back onto its charger and skipped downstairs. Esme and Carlisle were reclining on the couch together; she was reading a Martha Stewart magazine and he was just staring off into space- just like my parents! Although, Dad would actually be helping Mom as she worked… or he would be watching me and my brother.

"I'm here, put me to work!"

"Perfect timing as always! It's like you're psychic…"

"Not psychic, that's Alice's job." They chuckled. "I'm just the one who senses danger and runs. A pretty weak power if you ask me."

"No," Esme defended. "If say, the Volturi comes, Alice would see it and you could sense it!" I looked to Carlisle who just inaudibly sighed.

"I'm going to go get the cards." He stood up.

"And I'll get the Pledge!" I added.

The two of us awkwardly walked to the hall closet, where the games, cleaning supplies and extra towels were kept. As soon as we confirmed that we were alone, he locked the door behind us.

"What the hell, did you mention anything to her?" I whispered angrily.

"No!" He quietly shouted back. "She just assumed! Esme knows nothing."

"And I would like it to stay that way with everyone until I have some time to sort things out. Kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh!"

"What's taking you two so long?" We heard Esme holler.

"Just trying to find the cards, Honey!" He hollered.

"They're right on the top shelf! Hey, who locked this door?"

"Carlisle did!" He pointed a finger at me and I motioned for him to shut it before I unlocked the door.

"Here it is!" I smiled a little too widely and she looked at me strangely.

"Um… okay?" She asked inquisitively. "Seth and Jacob are already here by the way." Carlisle and I looked at each other and sighed.

"We've got to tell her sometime, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a few days to sort out the details."

"Bekah!" Seth exclaimed and ran towards me as if he hadn't seen me in a while. He pulled me into his arms and held my body close to his. "How've you been?"

"Unconscious."

"I mean since this morning- I got to see you, but Emmett was blocking my way."

"He is a big guy." I chuckled. "I'm doing well- my head's finally stopped pounding."

"That's good."

"I like your hair this way." Jake complimented. "With the waves and all."

"Curling irons am I right?" I nervously laughed. "Hey, I think I see Ness and Bella!" Seth and I raced to the door.

"How are you feeling?" Bella asked as we opened the door.

"Doing pretty well, actually. The headaches have finally stopped."

"Well someone," she gestured to her daughter. "Has been asking me non-stop to visit you."

"Guilty as charged!" She smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to see you. Oh, Bella, I forgot to mention that I finished Wuthering Heights!"

"And?"

"Not my type- I prefer Pride and Prejudice. My favorite book of all time is either The Selection series, or The Time Traveler's Wife."

"Time Traveler's Wife is soooo good!"

"I know!"

"Okay," Emmett came with Rosalie. "Break up the nerd talk."

"No," I replied. "Not unless you can find the area under a curve."

"Well what are the numbers?" Rosalie asked.

"There are no numbers, just definitions."

"Well, it's most often found in pharmacokinetic literature…"

"That's all I need to know." I smiled at her. "Whoever said blondes are dumb, is clearly dumber." She hugged me, and I inhaled the scent of her Carolina Herrera perfume.

"I am going to beat your ass tonight." Emmett got all up in my face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I pressed my hand to his stomach and pushed him with just the tiniest amount of force. Instead of not moving at all, he was flung into a tree.

"Ma!"

"Bekah?" She came out and saw that Emmett was flung a hundred and fifty feet out to the west.

"I… I…" I turned to Rosalie for support.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Emmett quickly bounced back to his feet. "But wow… Bekah… what have you been eating?"

"Human blood?"

"It was probably that Amberlight stuff you drank."

"What's that?"

"An old whiskey Richard likes. It's really good- I mean, to a human."

"We think it caused all of the events from the past five days." Esme added.

"It's caused more than that." Jasper said. "Look at her eyes."

"It's going to go away in a month." I added. His eyebrows lifted in suspicion. "Should we head back inside?"

"I still have to clean off the table and do a little dusting, but otherwise you can all come in."

"I'm going to walk around a little. Call me when we're ready- I won't be far."

All of them suspiciously nodded, but accepted my excuse anyway. I brushed a lock of hair behind my ear and ran into the woods. I crossed my arms around myself protectively as something hard landed with a 'thump' on the ground. A gust of wind blew and my nose caught a scent that mimicked my own.

"Cam."

"I saw what you did, Gigi." He said seriously. "Your power is back."

back." I stared at my hands.

"Gigi, I know you're scared."

"I'm not!"

"Well whatever you're feeling doesn't matter. What matters is that we get it under control before they start getting too suspicious, and we get you out before they find out your true identity."

"I've already fucked up by knocking Emmett into a goddamn tree, Cam. They know." He sighed.

"Well… that's a situation…" We walked together in silence.

"Before I have to go, may I strike up a deal with you?"

"Only hours after her Restoration and she's already striking up a deal." He chuckled. "Tell me Your Highness, what does it involve?"

"Okay, so you and Troy 'fix' me, and allow me to get all this under control."

"In exchange for what?"

"More time with them."

"Are you crazy?"

"Rebekah!" Alice called from a distance. "We're starting!"

"Look, I have to go, but we can talk about this later."

"Gigi," he grabbed my arm as I started to walk away. "Sundown, our place." I nodded.


AN: Not a lot of information, I know, but please just hold on for a little while longer. And yes- there will be a lot of questions in the next chapter that will not be resolved for a little bit. Everyone will think that they are losing their minds, but they're not- everything that's been changed about Rebekah's appearance has happened. Additionally, you will meet Adrian, Willow, Hayden, Pippa, Christian, and the Achilles family; Troy and Rhea. They will be important soon.

Before I get a million PMs about it; Regina Avalon is Rebekah's birth name. She was adopted by Colette and Richard as "Amelia", but later changed her name to Rebekah.