Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Author's Note: I'm sorry to all the people reading my Bella: The Vampire Slayer, but I'm just not feeling the muse for that story right now, although I do intend to continue. I was struck by inspiration for this one though, and I hope you like it! All Spanish translations are done by Google Translate so sorry for any mistakes!
Chapter 1: Rebirth
Drip...Drip...Drip...
The leaking tap in the basin was like thunder to Bella's sensitive ears, roaring at her and echoing off of the cracked tile walls.
Bella stood hunched over, hands supporting herself on the sink as she stared at the creature before her. The faded and partly smashed bathroom mirror reflected a ghostly girl, pale and slender, long wild dark hair falling to her waist, rosy lips and a pair of dark crimson eyes. This body didn't belong to her; it was foreign, cold, alien. She pushed down on the sink a little too hard and the chipped porcelain cracked, it would no longer hold water. Stepping back she examined her clothing, a black blouse and slacks, bloodied and tatty, as if she'd been in an accident. An accident...she'd been in an accident. Bella vaguely remembered, but the memory was grainy, like watching a tired old VHS tape. She'd been driving home from a funeral...whose funeral? Then she noticed a square shape in her trouser pocket, she slid her hand in and pulled it out. It was a funeral programme, with a picture of a handsome but aging man, kind brown eyes, short brown hair and a thick moustache.
In Loving Memory of Police Chief Charles Swan
February 10th 1957-15th October 2011
Charles Swan...Charlie...her Dad. It was her Dad's funeral, shot in the line of duty. She'd been driving back from the ceremony, had been dreading sleeping in the empty house when something had streaked in front of her truck. Had it been a Deer? She hadn't known at the time. The truck had swerved; she'd been on the road back to Forks surrounded by the pine forest, there was a steep ditch on either side and she'd rolled. Bella didn't remember anything for a while after that, she'd woken up upside down, a pain in her forehead, she'd shakily reached her hand up to touch it and saw she was bleeding. Bella had not moved but the door of her truck had been pulled open. A cold pale hand had reached in, ripped off her seatbelt and dragged her out; she'd jarred her shoulder and hit her head in the fast movement...
There had been a figure, male, perhaps blonde that had dragged her along into the woods, away from her truck and eventually stopped, leant down to her neck...then only the fire, the all consuming furnace that had taken over her body from the shoulder down. When Bella had opened her eyes the figure was gone and she was alone in the woods in agony. She didn't know how long she'd writhed, she couldn't scream, it was as if the pain had stolen her voice.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain had stopped, at the same time as her heart. She'd woken up alone, soaked though and dirty, but she didn't feel the cold of the winter's day, despite the beginnings of snow that had fallen and covered her. Her body had moved gracefully as she stood, she didn't think she'd ever moved like that in her entire life. Everything looked so clear, it felt like all her life she'd only see 1/50 of what was truly there, colours were more vivid, sounds were load and obnoxious and smells...
Bella's throat had burned with an intensity she could only compare to her eternity of agony. She was hungry, starving, how long had it been since she had eaten? But it was more than that, her insides writhed, her limbs ached, it felt like she was going through withdrawal. A memory had come unbidden to her disordered mind, a woman in a hospital bed, bald head covered by a bandana, describing the effects of her pain medication.
"Bella, some days it feels like I'm burning until I get my Morphine, I ache and I shake. Sometimes I feel if I survive this cancer, I'm only going to have another problem..."
Renée...her mother, that had been her mother...she hadn't survived her cancer.
Bella's ears had picked up a sound, a resounding thumping, shattering in its intensity. It was wet, and sounded warm, and inviting...and sooo close.
Bella had no control of her body, it was as if something primal had taken over, and then she was running. She couldn't fathom how fast she'd moved, trees and foliage had flown by her, every branch in her path had been gracefully avoided. Then she had collided with something large, warm and furry. Teeth had met flesh; sinews had been ripped, fat pierced, all in the way of the sweet nectar beneath. She guzzled like a pig until all that was left was an empty shell. After such exertion, she thought she would be breathing hard, but then she realised she wasn't at all. This thought horrified her, what was she?
She opened her eyes and looked down for the first time, before her was a Deer, a large one, its neck was ripped open, but there was no blood only flesh. Her hands were covered in the crimson viscous liquid; she could feel it dripping from her chin.
She was a monster.
She had backed away from the deer, horrified with it and with herself? She had drunk the blood of another being, how could she have done that? She hadn't even eaten meat in years...that's right, she'd been a vegetarian.
Bella found herself hyperventilating, yet it seemed her body didn't need air, that scared her even more.
So she ran.
Bella didn't know how long she'd run, but forest had given way to empty planes of snow and after what seemed like an eternity she reached what looked like an abandoned gas station. Her breath had not caused steam in the cold, and she just wanted to find somewhere to curl up and cry.
Although, she got the distinct feeling she may not be able to.
So now she was hiding in this abandoned bathroom, ice covering the only window, and trying to acquaint herself with this foreign body.
Bella realised she had not breathed for over an hour, or moved. She had become a statue; someone had bitten her and turned her to stone. Maybe she should try and get some help? A Doctor or something... But then, how could anyone explain this? Bella was coherent enough to know her heart wasn't beating and she was cold, she was clinically dead. Yet, she still remembered who she was, she could move, and she hadn't tested it, but she could probably talk.
Also, she'd just buried her father, she was remembering more now, she had no other family, and her best friend Jake could never understand...
Jake...Jake was Quileute, they'd become best friends after she'd moved in with her Dad at age 13, her mother had died of cancer. He'd lost his mother too, in the car crash that had paralysed his father. They hadn't attended the same school, and Jake was a year younger, Jake's sisters had been more her age, but she'd taken him is as her little brother, sending food to him and his Dad, Billy. Even at 13 Bella had taken over cooking responsibilities, Charlie could burn water. Jake had loved telling stories, and would do anything to impress her, and so he'd told her a story...the secret story of his tribe. The Cold Ones, she'd thought it was a myth...but she was most definitely cold, and she had ripped out the throat of a deer. This was no Boris Karloff deal, no Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or even Anne Rice. She knew she could go out in the day, but the cloud cover had prevented her from testing herself against sunlight.
Bella took an intuitive leap, she was a vampire, and she had no idea what to do about it.
So Bella moved away from the sink, sat down and curled into a foetal position.
She stayed there for 3 days, perfectly still, the fire in her throat increasing, but resisting the urge to search for prey. She spent time trying to remember as much of her life as possible, running through her memories like films. Until, finally, her nest of shame was disturbed.
"Are you certain pequeno Alicia told you this was the place?"
"Mi querida Carmen, I may be hundreds of years old, but I am perfectly capable of using un mappa. Alice said we needed to be here, but she was cryptic as to why."
"I suppose Alice Cullen can often be ... excéntrico, but the girl is especial, and she has never led us astray. Do you sense anything Eleazar mi amor?"
"Yes, a gifted vampire, and very close."
Bella stayed huddled, if her body had still reacted to fear in a human way, it would have been shaking.
Instead, she was resisting the urge to hiss.
The door to the restroom opened and the most beautiful couple she had ever seen walked in. A beautiful woman, with waving black hair, an hour glass figure and olive skin, and beside her, a man in his 30's, well quaffed and nearly dressed with similar colouring.
Bella huddled further into herself and found herself giving an animalistic whine.
"Oh, mi amor, she's recién nacida!"
The woman, Carmen, as Bella remembered, gave off a motherly air, and her arms had involuntarily moved forward in an open gesture. The man, Eleazar, looked more wary, his stance ready to go in front of her at a seconds notice. Bella didn't know why he was so wary, she saw herself as being in far more danger.
"Yes, newborn, but unusually controlado."
"Nina" addressed Carmen, "What is your name? Do you know who you are?"
"Isabella...but everyone calls me Bella."
Eleazar smiled encouragingly and asked the next question.
"Bella, where did you come from? Do you know what you are?"
"I'm..." Bella thought again, she was starting to get scared and it made it hard to think.
"I'm from Forks, Forks Washington. I'm not completely sure what's happened, but I was in a car accident, and then someone bit me. I...I woke up like this after what felt like being burnt alive. I drank a Deer's blood, I couldn't help myself...am I...am I a vampire?"
Carmen nodded in sympathetic understanding; she had come to a graceful crouch, so as to be on Bella's eye level.
"Yes, Mi Bella, you are a vampire. Do you know how long ago this happened?"
"I don't know" the passage of time for Bella had seemed meaningless after her "change", but now she felt suddenly vulnerable due to her ignorance.
"It is October 23rd 2011, the...change takes around 3 days to complete."
3 days, so she hadn't burned for an eternity after all. It had just felt like it.
"I was bitten on the 17th, I was coming home from my Father's funeral. So...about 3 days, the day I woke up, after I...ate...I just ran and didn't look back."
"I am sorry for your padre Bella, do you have any other family?"
"No, my mother died when I was 13, it's just me now. I'm...I turned 18 in September..."
Eleazar looked saddened: "Dieciocho, so young. You understand, Bella, you are a newborn vampire, and the one who turned you has not taken responsibility. On your own, you can be very dangerous to humans. We vampires have laws, the Volturi, in Italia, they guard the secrecy of our world. If you were to harm a human and reveal yourself to the world in a fit of bloodlust, they would demand your death. A friend of ours told us to come here; she has the gift of foresight. She must have known you needed help, but you must understand, we only drink the blood of animals. It goes against all of your newborn instincts to refrain from drinking the blood of humans, if you wish to come with us, we must ask the near impossible from you."
Bella felt a thrill of fear at the thought of the couple leaving without her, and a building disgust at the thought of harming a human being.
"I've haven't even been near a human since I...changed. I don't want to hurt anyone; I've only ever eaten a Deer. Please, don't leave me, I don't want to hurt anyone, and I have nowhere to go."
Bella hung her head, feeling completely defeated, she was relying on the kindness of these strangers, who knew nothing of her.
Carmen and Eleazar looked at one another and nodded.
"Pequeno Bella, if you would like, you can come home with us to meet our familia. We have other coven members, Tanya, Irina and Kate, we are sure they will be thrilled to meet you."
Relief flooded Bella and without even realising she was on her feet and had flung her arms around Carmen, dry sobbing into her chest.
In all this confusion and pain, she had been offered a lifeline.
It was strange, having a lifeline after so much death.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please Review!
