The return to Lily's regularly scheduled school week agenda went smoothly. She went to class, worked in her garden, and occasionally looked up to find jasper having caught her eye and shared a small smile.
The biggest change was Rose.
After returning from Hawaii on their "girls trip" Rose had insisted that they spend more time together to reinforce the idea of their friendship. If Lily didn't know better, she would say that Rose actually enjoyed her presence.
Rose and Emmett had already graduated high school for the umpteenth time at this point, so Rose would end up kidnapping her right after school. They would more often than not go to the Cullen's house and work on the cars there or hang out at Lily's house working on the garden out back. It helped to ease some of the loneliness she had in her heart after how the pack acted.
It wasn't until the end of the week, while Lily was relaxing in John's comfy lazy boy that the doorbell rang. Confused, Lily closed her book and went to answer the door. She checked through the little window in the top of the door to see who it was. Realistically, if it was a Vampire she doubted they would have been polite enough to ring the doorbell if they were from the group causing issues.
It turned out to be none other than Bella.
Lily opened the door slowly, confused as to why on Earth Bella of all people would be at her door. Not only that, but she was alone. Edward wasn't there shadowing her for once.
"Hello, what can I help you with Bella?" Lily said as politely as she could.
Bella started to pull at the sleeve of her long sleeve shirt, avoiding the question apparently.
"Can I come in?"
"Not to be rude, but we don't get along Bella. Why are you here?"
"Can I come in please? It's about our friends." She pleaded.
Sighing, Lily opened the door to allow Bella to enter. She kept her boots on, which bothered Lily as Sarah had just cleaned the floors.
"Hey, could you take your shoes off please? Sarah just cleaned and you're leaving prints."
"Oh, I didn't want to offend you."
Lily just stared at Bella wondering what on Earth she was talking about. Then, it hit her.
Feet. Vampires have heightened senses. She was probably used to keeping her shoes on in an attempt not to make them uncomfortable.
"Bella, I appreciate the sentiment but I'd rather deal with your stinky feet than undo Sarah's hard work."
Bella shrugged before pulling off her boots revealing mismatched socks.
Huh, Lily thought to herself after noticing the socks, we have one thing in common.
The girls sat in the living room, Bella looking around curiously.
"So, what do you need to talk about Bella?" Lily prompted. Bella just looked at her uncomfortably.
"The Cullen's sent me away this past weekend to see my mom. But something happened and the pack is upset with the Cullens."
"Ok, I knew they had a disagreement over the weekend but it shouldn't be as bad as your making it seem."
"No, you don't understand. They are already mad about me being with Edward, but this is putting them over the edge. I know you're friends with them. Maybe you could help Jake and I convince them everything is ok?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't want the pack involved with the vampires from Seattle. They're just kids."
"Yes, they are. But Bella realistically you have no say in this whatsoever. I hate to be the one to break it to you but you're the human in this equation from Arizona. The pack has ancestors and generations of members whose mission and role is to protect the tribe and their people. So yes, they are young. But it's not our place to make decisions for them. Their tribal elders and leaders will make them. You nor I have any say there."
"But that's not right! They could get hurt!"
"Bella, they could die not just get hurt. The youngest right now that they have changed is nine years old I believe. I can't say that it's fair or right. Again, it's not my place. It's not my decision. Besides, I'm not the most welcome person over there at the moment anyways. Sorry you wasted your time coming down the street."
Bella didn't seem ready to give up though.
"So that's it? Your friends there mean nothing to you? They could die just like you said! You won't even ask them to sit this out? They should be in school! Not fighting vampires hundreds of years older than them! What is wrong with you?"
Lily just looked Bella in the eye before blinking slowly.
"Bella, I just told you why we should very much not tell them what to do with their lives."
"Well, your reasons were wrong! We have to do something! They can't keep hiding this from me! I'm part of their world too."
Lily's gums were starting to ache, causing her to grind her teeth a bit.
"Look Bella, I don't know what else to tell you. Where's Edward? He can tell you the same thing if you refuse to adamantly to believe me."
At this point Bella blushed and looked down.
"He's hunting. I…. I'm on my period."
"Bella, period blood doesn't do anything for vampires. Didn't he tell you that?" Lily asked exasperated. This was definitely not as enjoyable as reading at been a few minutes earlier.
"Well, he is just being safe. He doesn't want to risk me getting hurt."
"Whatever works for you guys I suppose? But Bella seriously I think you should leave the pack alone. Especially if they are in such a bad mood lately. You don't need any extra…temptation of fate. Isn't that your thing? Tempting fate for dangerous things to happen and magically getting saved regardless of the cost?"
"No! It's not my fault these things keep happening to me! I'm just some normal girl! I don't have super powers or skills or even shape shift. I'm just the boring human you so easily put it. You're no better though. You just showed up out of the blue too. You have no family, no friends, and you are willing to sacrifice others just because! They are children Lily!"
"Bella stop! We are children. Remember? I'm 17 years old, you're only 18. The Cullens? The youngest is almost a century old while the eldest is several. Call me crazy or scared but I think listening to them might be a step in the right direction. They have a unique ability to continue surviving, maybe following their directions would prolong your life."
"I am not a child!"
"Shouting you aren't something doesn't make it any less true. At best, it's rude in a living room that isn't yours."
"So you're just refusing to do anything, is that it?"
"Bella, I think you should leave."
"No! Admit it! You're refusing to help the pack! Some friend you are! You were just using them when you first got here, weren't you?"
Lily stood up at that moment, her fangs out and her eyes flashing. Her nails had turned into claws, but she didn't notice. All she could feel was the anger and the hurt of the words Bella just spat at her.
Bella was looking at Lily as if she had never seen her before. She looked scared and defenseless.
"You need to leave. Now."
Bella scrambled out of the house, slipping a little on the wooden floor in her socks before making it to the door. She grabbed her boots and ran outside to her truck without stopping to put them on. She pulled out of the driveway and headed somewhere other than her home.
Lily was having trouble calming down. She could taste blood in her mouth so she knew her fangs had cut something when they appeared. Deciding she had too but energy pent up inside her to stay in the house any longer, she decided to quickly head toward the woods behind the house.
She hadn't really wondered in them after finding out everything that they could contain within them.
She managed to make it reasonably far into the forest until she came to a gentle meadow clearing. There was moss growing on some of the stones, vines hanging down, and grass happily taking up space with small flowers and clovers blooming mixed in.
Lily loved spring. It was her second favorite season. Everything was coming alive, growing out from its slumber, and blooming. The gentle rains of springs made for wonderful evenings listening to the rainfall and smell of the wet earth.
Lily decided that this clearing was as safe as she could go without tempting fate any more than she already had by being in the woods. Her gums hurt, her nails were still claws, and everything seemed too bright.
In reality Lily had been secretly hoping for something to trigger her this way.
She had come up with an idea while sequestered on the island. She always tried to mitigate her transformations, trying to return to normal. What would happen if she pushed it? Would she fully transform into something? Could she fly? Throw fireballs? Be like Poison Ivy? There were so many possibilities, but she never really explored them in the past. She just always focused on returning to normal.
Feeling that now was as good a time as any, she stood leaning against a tree in the clearing to brace herself as she closed her eyes.
The moment she touched her back to the tree, she felt a pulsating feeling rush through her skin. It felt safe. She felt excitement, but also a warning further away in the woods. It was difficult to differentiate the emotions she was feeling personally and the pieces of information she was somehow gathering from the forest.
She felt the wind blow through the trees, like a gentle breeze. It felt like a welcome.
A vine seemed to have stroked her cheek lovingly, but Lily knew that wasn't possible. She touched the vine against her cheek gently before removing it, similar to moving a cat's tail away from her face.
She began to lose herself listening to the wind, the rustling of the trees, and the feeling of a rare ray of sunshine on her skin. Her gums finally stopped hurting, and her nailbeds finally started to feel normal again.
Opening her eyes, her vision appeared to be too clear and sharp. She was able to see details that she normally wouldn't, such as dew sitting on leaves. She was noticed that the trees seemed to hum in a way. Like a gentle whisper just barely too quiet to make out. But it was there all the same.
Looking down at her hands, she noticed that while her nailbeds were still claws, they appeared to be more formed and shapely than ragged. The nail itself was 3 inches long, sharp, but clean. Thankfully, her sneakers didn't seem to show any signs of toe nail claws growing. Lily was relieved that it only affected her hands.
Her skin, while naturally pale, seemed to almost have tendrils of green running just below her skin instead of where the blue of her veins should be.
Her hair seemed to have acquired a few leaves, but otherwise was just as messy and curly as ever.
Her wings were what shocked her.
She had expected them to come shooting out like they had previously. Instead, they seemed to appear gently, almost iridescently, and Lily barely felt their weight.
She supposed it made sense, her wings didn't seem to be fully physically present. She tried to roll her shoulders, but ended up rustling her wings instead.
Funny, Lily thought to herself. She thought they would be large and feathery. Why do they less physical this time than her last transformation?
For one, she thought, she was no longer scared or stressed like she had been the last time they appeared. In fact, she felt reasonably calm and safe at the moment. Besides the drama with Bella, she had been having a wonderful relaxing day. Taking a step forward, she decided that maybe she should take off her shoes and socks. She felt amazingly connected to the tree she had been leaning against. What would having her bare feet on the forest floor do?
It was a completely unique sensation it turned out.
It was as if Lily had been dropped into a sea of information, but unable to process any of it. There were colors streaking madly back and forth, parts that seemed painful, others that felt warm and more that were freezing. She could hear the rustling of voices again much louder, almost unbearably loud, and she quickly put her socks back on to quiet the sensation.
She sat down on the grass against the tree instead, trying to process everything. Eventually she came to the conclusion she had been trying to deny for too long.
She wasn't human.
She, Lilliana Rose, was not human.
What was she?