AN: AHHHHH! New Moon came out! I nearly had a heart attack just holding it. Hehe, yes, I already finished it. I was too excited to stop reading for trivial things like sleeping and eating and whatnot.
I grinned and we started back downstairs, and despite Edward's previous fall, we were more graceful than ever before.
He held his hand on the small of my back and despite his icy hand, which was just like my own now. I felt a warmth like I was floating on a cloud. My grin widened when I saw everyone downstairs watching us, I knew that they had heard what we had been discussing. I was still used to talking like a human, later I would get Edward to teach me how to speak in hums.
Alice's smile was the widest, not that everyone else didn't seem happy for us, well everyone except Rosalie, who stood there staring at me through narrowed eyes. I think they noticed how wonderful we felt, or looked, considering how we had floated down the stairs.
"So, I guess everyone heard us." Edward said. He, too, was beaming. The small crowd around us pressed tighter to wish us luck and happiness. It was a perfect day. I pushed all of my fears about my family to the back of my mind. This was the time to be happy, to celebrate the beginning of my forever with Edward.
After a few minutes of talking with their (now our) friends from Alaska, I turned to Carlisle. I knew that he had a lot to explain to me. Seeing as he was now basically my vampire teacher.
Besides, there was a growing ache in the pit of my stomach, it was unfamiliar, but my senses seemed to heighten with every new pang. This ache was making me more aware of everything.
That is how, right as I began to talk to Carlisle, I noticed Rosalie standing off to the side, glaring at me. My temper snapped.
"Rosalie." I whispered angrily. She, and everybody else, heard me clearly. Her only response was to cock her head rudely at me.
"Calm down you two. Let's just talk. Besides, Bella, I think you need to – " he was cut off when Rosalie, who had started towards me, took an amazing tumble. Her feet slipped from under her and like a cartoon she fell flat of her back. Then, strangely, in her attempt to get up, she fumbled again and fell forwards. Everyone stopped and stared. The thud from her fall seemed to echo through the room.
She looked dumbfounded and was not moving from her spot on the floor. Edward was grasping my hand and looked towards me then I saw him nod at Carlisle. He pulled me to the side with Carlisle just as the crowd moved in to help Rosalie, Emmett leading the way.
"Bella," Edward started, just shaking his head in amazement. "I should have known." He smiled.
"I think that you may have gotten a power." Carlisle said, though he was standing a few feet back from me.
"Clumsiness." Edward muttered and wrapped a hand around my waist. "Wow, things around you never settle down do they?" he grinned that half smile I love so much and gave me a gentle squeeze.
"Not clumsiness, I think, Bella, that you affect people's gracefulness." Carlisle explained.
"I make people clumsy?" my jaw must have dropped to the floor. I heard a hush from the crowd that was now checking over Rosalie for injuries. "No way, maybe I bring bad luck." I suggested.
No offense to anyone, but I had finally become a vampire, and now, as a kicker, when I got upset people around me tripped? That seemed a bit anti-climactic. It might have been better if I'd gotten no "power" at all.
"Try it out." Alice suggested from the couch. Apparently for now, all my problems with Rosalie had been put on hold. There was a murmur of agreement from the group and Emmett was selected to be my guinea pig. They chose him so that if he did fall over he would be less likely to get hurt considering his size and bulkiness.
They cleared a path as Edward faced me towards Emmett and said go in my ear. Emmett began walking and I focused as hard as I could. Trip. I thought. Fall over. Come on, trip. Over and over I repeated my pathetic thoughts of doom towards him.
He walked all the way over to the other side of the room without so much as a falter.
I sighed, "It's hopeless. I told you. I'm not angry at him." I explained.
"What did you do to try to make him fall?" Edward asked and I explained my thought process.
"No." he said as if I was being childish. "you have to focus your energy at him." Then he turned to Carlisle gave a small nod. I looked between them and narrowed my eyes. I hated it when they did that.
Then Edward looked at me. Well, to tell the truth, he did that dazzling thing. I grinned and he kissed me. I was almost too dazed to notice that everyone was staring, but I did and I pulled back a little. He smiled and walked to where Emmett was standing.
Everyone stared, and when I fully came out of my daze, I saw why. He was gliding across the room. He looked like an angel drifting gracefully across the room. I gasped. When he made it to Emmett he turned back and smiled at me.
"Okay, maybe I do." I sighed and turned to Rosalie, feeling suddenly tired. "I'm sorry, I'm a little grumpy now." I apologized sincerely and she nodded and gave me a small smile. Nothing big or even lasting, it was gone as soon as it was there. It was a smile meant only for me, to let me know that she, too, was sorry. Apparently I was the only one who saw it. Carlisle and Esme came up to me with Edward.
"Ready to hunt?" said Esme enthusiastically.
"Oh! I wanted to go with her for her first hunting trip!" Moaned Alice pitfully from the couch. Esme looked at Carlisle and he checked Alice's arm for a minute and then nodded yes.
"Okay." Alice said and stood up, her arm hung at her side but she ignored it.
Then, Alice, Esme, Edward and me set off to go find me my first kill.
We went into the woods and I could smell everything. Not only that but I could see it all, too. It was wonderful. Edward kept smiling at my mind-blown expression as I explored the woods, running at top vampire speed. Of course I could never outrun Edward. He was too fast, but I was amazed that everything I ran by wasn't a blur, like before. I could see everything everywhere. And the best part was, I wasn't tripping, I wasn't out of breath, I wasn't tired or sweaty – I could do this forever. Then, a smell hit me, quite literally, I nearly fell over it smelt so delicious. I looked at Alice and she nodded.
"Deer." She told me and we were off, following the scent. For a second I felt horrible about killing a deer. I had never been big on that kind of thing. But as the scent strengthened I forgot my doubts.
It took us about a minute to reach the deer. The deer never saw us coming, the rest of the group stepped back when we approached it. They meant for this to be mine. I could feel my mouth pooling with what I assumed was venom, I could smell the blood of the deer so clearly, it was astounding. I looked back at everyone, I didn't know what to do now. Edward seemed to understand, he nodded supportively and Esme and Alice just smiled. I assumed that meant that I managed to feed well, or else Alice would've come to help me.
I stepped forward lightly and the deer, who was eating a plant, didn't hear me but seemed to feel my presence. He tensed and sprang forward.
I connected with him mid-leap, my lunge was purely instinctual. But the deer was dead before we hit the ground. I couldn't control myself. I opened my mouth and was almost surprised at how easily my teeth sunk into its neck. A few minutes later, I was finished.
I could feel the warmth of its blood running through me. I felt unbeatable. This was truly the best feeling in the world. As we left to move onto a new kill, I glanced back at my prey. It was just lying on the ground in a lifeless – and now bloodless – heap. I felt a pang of guilt, but I pushed it back and kept up with the group.
About a half-hour later we were back at the cabin, all of us pretty full. I was surprised to find that the Alaskans were gone. I had never gotten to meet most of them. But they had to leave while we were gone because of the timing of their arrival back in Alaska.
Then I found out that we, too, were leaving tonight. I helped them clear all evidence of us away. Then I helped them set fire to the cabin and we were off. I had never felt like I was part of anything, now I was part of a coven, or a family, of vampires.
The run was amazing. Everything was new and marvelous. Nothing seemed dull to me. I couldn't have been happier. We almost ran into a group of campers but managed to side-step them.
Emmett carried Jasper the whole way, because of his leg and Alice's arm seemed better, I saw her flexing it slowly before we left.
Before nightfall we had reached the Cullen's home. I found out there that Charlie was coming to visit me tonight. And most likely every night on his way home. He wasn't happy about the elopement – huge understatement.
I ran up to Alice's room with her. She leant me a loose fitting skirt that was blue and comfortable, and a plain white t-shirt that was slightly too big for her but fit me perfectly. She smiled and said I looked like myself again. I also let her pull my hair back into a ponytail, and I let her apply a little make-up on me. I looked in the mirror and smiled. I looked perfect. Maybe Charlie would forgive me, but I doubted it. I had scared them all, they weren't going to trust me ever again. I sighed, my good mood now ruined and looked to Alice.
"How will it go?" I asked her.
She shrugged, "Pretty much like you expect. He's going to be angry, but I'll be there to try and calm him down a bit, and so will Jasper. It'll be okay." She said and ushered me out of her room and to Edward's.
He was waiting for me. He had no doubt heard what we had said. I could hear a few noises from around the house when I had been in Alice's room. I was really going to need to learn how to speak in hums.
He stood up and walked towards me, I could see him glance at what I was wearing and I saw his surprise at the fact that I was wearing make-up. I grinned at him and he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss.
"He'll be here soon. You are going to be sitting across the room from me. I want to remind you, we cannot tell him about us. At all." He said firmly and I nodded, that was going to be hard. I was new at this. Then there was a knock at Edwards door and Alice burst in.
Here, I had to run to the drugstore to find them, but I did it. She held out a pair of contact lenses. I ran to Edwards bathroom and quickly put them in. I was disappointed by how much of my vision they restricted. I looked at Edward in frustration and he smiled.
"Only for a year." He said happily.
"A year? That's a long – " I cut off before I said time. I realized that a year was nothing now. I had eternity. Eternity.
I looked away and then we all heard a knock at the front door. We ran downstairs and sat in our places. Me, sitting between Alice and Esme, Edward, across the room between Emmett and Carlisle, Jasper was sitting on a loveseat, the only open seat for Charlie was next to him. Carlisle answered the door and Charlie walked in angrily.
This was my first time with a human. I could smell him through the door. And truth be told, he smelt a bit – okay, much – better than the deer. I reminded myself who he was and pushed back my vampire instincts. It wasn't easy, but I managed.
"Bella." He gasped when he saw me. I knew I looked different. If I had been human my face would have colored red by now.
Then he sat in the empty seat next to Jasper and took to glaring at Edward while he waited for him to talk. I didn't know how this was going to work.
Then as the awkward silence stretched on for another five seconds, Alice began talking to me. "Say you're sorry. He's waiting for you to talk. If Edward talks he'll blow it." I realized when no one looked at her that she had been talking in hums.
So I began, "Dad." He turned to look at me angrily. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't excuse us, but you have to know. I really love him." I wasn't sure if I had said the right thing until Alice nodded lightly at my side, though I could barely see her thanks to the contacts.
"I don't know Bella." He started, his voice was husky, probably to keep from yelling. "You ran off almost a year ago because of him, and now you run off again. I don't think that you two are right for each other. You seem to be doing each other more damage than help." He dropped off. I knew he was getting angrier. Then I saw him take a deep breath and he looked about ten times calmer afterwards. I knew this to be the work of Jasper – who wasn't breathing and was looking away painfully – (thank heavens Charlie is oblivious), but even so I was thankful.
Then he shook his head and looked at me pitifully. I knew he felt like he'd failed in bringing me here. That he'd ruined my life somehow, when in actuality, he had made my life perfect.
Then the room began to clear out and Carlisle broke our silence. "We'll let you two talk in private." I nearly laughed at the word private, luckily I held back.
"How could you Bella? This is ruining your life. You are throwing away everything for a boy." He was getting agitated again, and he was making me a little angry.
"No, he's not just a boy. He's everything to me. Please try to understand," I begged. Then I started whispering to him, "Remember how it was for you and Mom? It's like twenty times better for us. We were meant for each other. I'm not leaving him." I finished. His smell was worse now that it was just us in the room and he was standing next to me. I held my breath.
"Bella." He whispered miserably. "Bella, please, come home with me." I shook my head, I was growing crankier by the minute. How could he do this? Being a vampire around my first human was hard enough, but this? This was crazy!
I looked away from him and glared at the floor, willing myself not to inhale, not to tempt myself.
I could hear the shuffling of the Cullen's as they made their way back downstairs.
"Fine. But, Bella, I'm going to keep coming to visit you. I will." He vowed and started to walk away from me, but he tripped. In that instant I felt horrible. Nothing was right about this. I was getting angry at him for trying to be a good parent. Then I saw him, I mean really saw him. He was falling right towards the Cullen's end table next to the sofa. I t was wooden and hard. He could hurt himself – or seeing as he was a weak human, kill himself – falling on that.
In a half of a second, my powers steadied him. He caught himself mid-fall and straightened up, looking embarrassed and angry. He shook his head and left with a swift and angry nod to Carlisle who had crept back into the room.
The door shook when he slammed it and – thanks to my new abilities – it seemed a hundred times louder than usual. My body began to shake from my sobs, they were dry, yes, but that only made them more pained. I took a deep breath to calm myself and felt my human instincts begin to bury themselves within me. I fought against it. It was painful being a vampire and also keeping myself vulnerable to human attacks. I remembered when Edward told me that his human instincts were coming back. I knew it was possible. Though I was willing to bet that it was a million times harder when your human parents still lived and you had human friends. I knew I was in for a battle.
I was comforted solely by Edward's reassuring and loving arms that were wrapping around me.
AN: Okay, so else loves New Moon? Sigh.
Anyways, R&R, it's ending. Don't worry, I promise it will end!