In the depths of an abandoned bear cave where camping gear - climbing rope and sleeping bags - was unexplainably left, by unknown campers from who knows when. I made the cave our home after we bathed in the river. Or at least I tried. I spread the sleeping bags out and started a fire.
Bella, who was still weathering in pain, though not as bad as before, laid cleaned and comfortable on a thick black sleeping bag with me cuddling her close. Her hair was wet and so was her shirt, which is why I had removed it and dressed her in my coat. I knew she wouldn't be cold, but I didn't want her to be half naked when she woke up. Even though she would be a newborn, that didn't mean she needed to start her second life out naked.
We stayed in our cozy cave overnight, soon her hair was dried, I laid there combing my fingers gently through it. We didn't have a brush, so I did my best to unknot it. There were no longer any traces of blood in her shiny brown hair, the cold water had washed it away.
While I laid beside her, she whimpered and moaned. I talked to her, making sure she knew she wasn't alone.
Time passed as I talked to her, leaving no room for dead air, the fire soon flickered out. I let the last embers die out and disappear while I recited the book Holes from beginning to end. We read it in 11th grade, and it was a book that both of us liked. After I was done with that, I recited another book and another one after that. Sometimes it's good to have a photographic mind, where you forget nothing and remember everything.
Another night in the forest came and went. Another night of Bella being in agonizing pain passed. Another day came and went as well.
Finally in the evening on the third day her heart raced, beating one big loud thump that echoed in the cave before it stopped. That was the last time I would ever hear her heartbeat that I had grown accustomed to and was music to my ears.
I laid there on my side next to her in the sleeping bag, propping myself up on my elbow. My eyes anxiously looked at her beautiful face, waiting for her to open her eyes.
The anticipation had anxiety coursing through my body. I could barely wait for her to wake up, for her to talk to me since hearing my own voice for three days had become tiresome. More than anything, I hoped she wouldn't be too mad at me.
I knew I messed up, knew the timing of her transformation was not what she had planned. Definitely not what we had talked about. So, I expected her to be angry about that as well as how and why she was now a vampire.
Her eyes opened at the same time that wind howled outside our cave. Her irises that were once a deep chocolate brown were now a bright piercing crimson that I would have to get used to.
In the reflection of her vivid crimson eyes, I saw how my own eyes looked, red. Like the eyes of a demon. My eyes were glowing crimson with her fresh blood that I selfishly stole from her along with her humanity.
Damn it.
Of course, my eyes were red, giving away the crime I committed. What did I expect? To drink her delicious blood, nearly killing her, and my eyes to remain gold? I inwardly sighed. Yeah, actually a part of me, a very naive and childish part, was hoping for that.
What a naive fool I was.
Each action had a reaction and a consequence. The unfortunate change in my eye color was just one of the many consequences I assumed I would face on this very day.
My eyes lingered on Bella as she focused on me. I didn't move or speak; I didn't want to startle her in any way. I waited for her to say something first.
"Good morning." She smiled, her voice sounding musical.
"I'm almost sure that it's evening, but good morning, love." I said, feeling very happy to hear her voice.
She giggled and I wasn't sure why.
"Care to let me in on the joke?" I spoke softly, my voice smooth and compelling.
"No. It's nothing." She said with a breathtaking smile as she looked around. "I was just wondering why we are in a cave."
I inhaled but didn't respond.
At this point, both of us were still side by side on the sleeping bag with the other one draped over us like a blanket. I was looking at her face, trying to figure out if she was aware that she was now a vampire.
Bella's eyes looked all around the cave before they landed on my face again. "Strange. Everything is so bright, and your eyes are red." She blinked.
Shamefully, I nodded in agreement.
"You look different, Edward. More handsome." Bella mused. "How is that possible?"
I shrugged. Not knowing what to say, I remained silent while my wife kept staring at me.
She was looking at me for the first time with her crystal-clear vision, calling me handsome though I didn't feel that way. If only she knew the truth, would she still love me?
"Something's bothering you. What's wrong?" Bella ran her fingers over my face, and quickly became stunned with how fast her hand could move.
She examined her hand like she'd never seen it before. The way she kept turning her hand one way then another and looking at it like it didn't belong to her, was concerning me. She looked at me again.
I gulped.
Seeing her startled face was not the reaction I was hoping for. I knew how scared newborns could react. Thanks to Rosalie, I had firsthand experience with that. She was so frightened after she woke up to her second life that she actually attacked me when I first spoke to her. All I said was hi and she pounced on me like a cheetah attacking its prey. Our parents had to get her off of me before she could do any real damage. Or before she could provoke me to defend myself and I could hurt her, whichever came first.
Luckily, I had my parents there to prevent an unfortunate accident from happening. But I was alone now. Alone with my wife who was a newborn vampire, just minutes old. Everything was now up to me.
"Why do my hands look so… so… so much like yours?" She wondered, sounding scared.
"Things are a bit different now, love." I began to explain as I slowly sat up. I did my best to keep my movements slow and deliberate so as not to frighten her.
"Like what?" She wanted to know.
There were so many ways to answer that, but where to begin? I didn't know. Before I had time to ponder over where to begin something happened. The next second Bella went from laying on the sleeping bag with me, to standing up in front of me. Her quick movement took me by surprise and freaked her out.
"How the hell did I do that?" She half shouted.
She then unintentionally flung herself into the South wall of the cave. Her back hit the rock with a loud thump, crumbling stone that rolled to the ground. Which scared her even more.
With very slow movements I got up, walking toward her as she was still freaking out.
"Bella," I spoke slowly. She began to quiet down and looked at me. "Everything is alright. You're able to move so fast because you are no longer human. You're a vampire now."
Bella stared at me, deadpan.
Without having access to her mind, I had no idea if she was processing what I said. I then tried a different approach.
"I know that you didn't wait to become like me until after we graduated college, but under some very unfortunate circumstances, that couldn't wait. I had to change you." I explained, moving closer to her.
"What?" Was her only response.
"I'm sorry, love." I apologized, taking her in my arms. She leaned into my embrace. "What I'm trying to say, sweetheart, is that you're a vampire now. I had to bite you to save you."
"I am? You did?" Bella asked, still hugging me.
"Yes." I said honestly.
"Oh. Okay. That explains a lot." She sounded relaxed now.
Too relaxed and her calm demeanor left questions of my own. I ended our hug then, holding her at arm's length to properly see her face.
"You don't remember?" I wondered.
"Remember what?" She asked.
"Me biting you or the burning of the pains of transformation?" I asked, wanting to know everything.
"No." She simply said, shaking her head.
I was bewildered. How could she not remember?
"Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?" I asked, needing to know this. "Please don't leave anything out."
"I remember we were getting ready to go out to buy our Christmas tree." She smiled, her crimson eyes twinkling. "We were in the upstairs hallway when you grabbed my ass and complimented my outfit. Then the doorbell rang and that's it."
"Anything else?" I questioned. A mixture of worry and amazement was clear in my tone.
"That's it." Bella's words were nonchalant.
My mouth fell open and I dropped my hands that had been holding her shoulders.
How on Earth was that the last thing she remembered? Not opening the door and letting that wretched wreath in and thanking Frank. Not the argument that followed or even me accusing her of wanting to cheat on me, which I regretted, and was grateful that she didn't remember that. Or any of the other harsh words I had spoken to her in the car that day. I was also grateful that she hadn't remembered how I selfishly took her human life to satisfy my own needs. I inwardly cringe at the memory.
'This is great!' A voice inside my head cheered. 'She doesn't remember anything. You never have to tell her what really happened. You are free to spin a whole new truth for her, so she never knows and you're off the hook.'
Great.
Now the monster decided to reappear, speaking foolish words that would no doubt cause problems later on down the line.
'NO!' I shouted in my mind. 'Leave me alone! You've caused enough trouble.'
With an eerie laugh that only I could hear, the monster went back to the depths of my mind. Right where I hoped he'd stay for the rest of eternity.
Looking at my beautiful, trusting wife I pushed the words of the hideous monster out of my head. There was no way that I could lie to her. I had already done enough damage. I didn't want to pile on dishonesty to my list of things I did wrong since we received that wreath, which I have made peace with.
"What's the matter?" Bella wondered, reaching for my hand. Her grip was tight and hurt a bit.
"Careful, love," I spoke softly, loosening the grip her fingers had on my hand with my free hand.
"Oh sorry." She said sheepishly.
I smiled my crooked grin at her.
"I'm glad to see you smile." Bella said. "But I get the feeling you aren't telling me something. What is it?"
I took a deep breath.
Telling her wouldn't be easy, I knew that. Speaking the truth after doing something wrong was always difficult. But I knew if I hid the truth, it would eventually come out. I also knew that the truth would be liberating, it would be good to get everything that was festering inside me off my chest. Though, I worried about how Bella would take it. She was a temperamental newborn after all. She already went from being perfectly happy, to freaking out, to perfectly happy again.
"Well, Bella, there is something I need you to know. I… um…" I let my voice trail off, unable to confess my wrongdoing.
"It's okay. Say what you need to say." Bella encouraged me.
I nodded my head.
Suddenly Bella's left hand flew up to her throat. She rubbed it and I knew what that meant.
"You're thirsty." I spoke these words like a statement and not a question.
"It's weird. My throat feels so dry, like it's on fire." Bella answered, still rubbing her throat.
I smiled a small smile. "Yeah. You need to hunt."
"But how do I do that?" She questioned, clearly apprehensive.
"I'll show you. It's rather easy." I promised.
Bella sighed. "Fine. Then you tell me what's bothering you and why are your eyes red?" Her words were less of a question and more of a demand.
"Sure." Was the only thing I said.
At least hunting would buy me a little time to try to figure out how to properly say what needed to be said.
Not about to ignore Bella's needs and make her wait any longer I suggested a race to get us out of the cave. With a devilish smile my wife accepted. She and I took our places and on the count of three, we shot out of the cave and into the snow-covered forest. We were on our way for her first hunt.
She was a newborn and very fast too. She sped past me without leaving any footprints behind. I was right behind her running full speed even though I was far behind her.
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Thank you for reading.
We are approaching the end of this little story. There's one more chapter and then the Epilogue.
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