Ch. 32 Everything

It was shocking to wake up. Firstly, I halfway expected to just drift off into oblivion once I left Bella's body, but that didn't happen. Secondly, when I awoke, I knew instantly that something was wrong. Well, maybe not wrong, different. It was definitely my body. Longer limbs, blonde hair cascading gently down my back, but it also couldn't be my body. This body was was strong, durable, resistant...immortal.

I was a vampire. I could feel the burn in my throat. I could move faster than my mind could make the decision to do so. I could see every minute detail down to the grain of sand in the cement grout, though it was pitch black. I felt no drive to breathe, though it was strange not to do so. I could hear a tapping—dripping water—in the distance...a hundred yards away, if my estimates were correct, and through the brick wall to my right. What the fucking hell had happened? Where was I and HOW did this happen? I couldn't remember the change. I couldn't remember how I had gotten here or where here even was, but ask and ye shall receive...

"You're back. Good. I very nearly destroyed you, but I guess that won't be necessary now." I recognized that voice. If I were still human, it would send shivers down my spine, but I wasn't human. I was one of the elite. I was a vampire, but not just any vampire...As I watched Jane leave out the large wooden door, I tried to recall the events that had led to this moment. I've made a mistake. A huge fucking mistake...

•PTaT•

"Ohhhh..." I moaned as I blinked my eyes open. Good God when would this end? When would I just die already? The morphine or whatever the hell they had given me as they worked in the ER must have worn off, and I was so fucking cold. It was freezing here, and dark. Where were all the lights?

"Who's there? Who are you?" A male voice called to me. Who the fuck was that? If he works at the hospital I hope he loses his fucking job. This was ridiculous the way I was left on the cold, wet floor in the dark in pain.

"Help...me..." I didn't feel any better than the last time I awoke in the hospital. Certainly they would have stabilized me by now. If I wasn't stable then I'd be dead. Obviously, I was awake, so I had to be stable, right? Wrong...everything was black again.

•PTaT•

So I had come here first. I had been here before I had travelled to Bella's body. Those weren't dreams I was having...they were memories...Holy shit. Does that mean...? No. It couldn't be. No!

•PTaT•

"Master, I've found a girl in the drains. She appears wounded, almost dead. I would have gotten rid of her, but she...she knew what we are." I could hear the man—the vampire? What the fuck?!— who found me talking with another male voice.

"Well by all means, bring her in! I'm very interested to see her story. Isn't this exciting, Marcus? Caius?"

"Yes very exciting, Aro..." A third male spoke in the same voice a bored parent uses when entertaining a child. Wait, Marcus and Caius...? The Volturi? No, it couldn't be. None of this is fucking possible, but of all the impossibilities, this is the most impossible. Holy fucking fireballs of the darkest pits of Hell. How? No. No. No. Not here. Not them. What the fuck is happening?

The vampire-holy shit!? A vampire?! I was just kidding when I accused him. I saw his red eyes and my dumb, almost dead ass cracked a Twilight joke. How was I suppose to know it was anywhere near truth?!—returned and dragged my limp frame into an atrium filled with other...vampires. I would have been in awe of the view if it weren't for the fact that I was so close to death. At this point my body was so numb that surely this had to all be a dream. This was just my subconscious filling the void before my brain totally shut off. No way could I have survived this long in the first place, and let's not mention the fact that there were fucking VAMPIRES around me. This is not real. It can't be.

A male wearing a long dark cloak, similar to the one the last guy was wearing, but this one was much more ornate—met my eyes, and he approached me.

"Let me see what you have found, Demetri." Oh Demetri. Of course that's who found me...what the hell, brain?! You couldn't have sent me to a field somewhere or a fucking shopping mall? Anything would have been better than lying on the ground, half dead in front of the Fucking Volturi as my last memory before death.

He reached for me, and I marveled at how frail he appeared the closer he was. His skin was so thin, like rice paper. I didn't have enough strength to react to his touch or even say anything as he ever so gently placed his palm in my own. I was completely numb, and I felt nothing. Damn. My one chance to feel a vampire, fake or not, and I can't appreciate it.

"So intriguing! Caius, Marcus! How I wish I could share this with you!" Aro's—because who the fuck else could he be?!—face grew jubilant the more that he saw from me. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but he seemed way too happy about it. Ok, anytime now brain...you can go ahead and shut down.

"So many plans...so many plans..." he mumbled to himself as he rubbed his palms together. "What shall I do with you?" He was still smiling as he paced the hall.

•PTaT•

"Let's go. Aro is ready for you." Jane said through her teeth. I swallowed back the spit—no, venom...shit—that was building in my mouth. I needed to hunt. How long had it been since the change? Oh God the Volturi aren't vegetarians. Holy shit.

As we walked down the hall, I had the strongest sense of deja vú. I had been here before...this is where Demetri had dragged me to meet the guard and the reigning triad. Oh Fuck.

"Ahh Iris. We were so very afraid that you might not return to us. How wonderful that things seemed to have worked out!" Well his inappropriate level of enthusiasm hadn't changed. How long had I been out? Can I ask him that? Wait, he needs me. I can do whatever I want. Plus, there's always the bonus that if I pushed too far, he would have me destroyed...so...

"How long has it been?"

"Haha! Your candor does entertain me!" He was clapping his hands together like a small child. God he's so fucking strange...and scary. "Let's see. We changed you back in January, so it's been about..."

"Two months." I finished for him flatly. So the whole time that I was in Bella's body, my body was here, waiting for me. I must have checked out sometime before or even early in the change. Maybe that was it. Stress was the trigger. If my mind thought that I was under too much duress, it found a way to preserve itself. I had always been a runner when it came to fight or flight. Flight was just part of my M.O. Was I even surprised that down to my special ability, I stayed true to character? Shit.

"Yes. Did you travel anywhere very interesting? We were concerned when you suddenly stopped screaming mid-change..." Aro's tone was of polite interest, but he had his hand extended toward me. I don't have Bella's shield anymore. Well shit. Can I run? Demetri can track me...fucking shitballs. I'm so screwed.

Here goes nothing...I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to leave this body. Focus on Demetri, Iris. Get out of here. Get out. But now that I was no longer a human, it felt different. I couldn't find the light. I couldn't reach the place, or maybe it was hidden. Aro reached my hand before I could get away, and he grew silent as he read my memories and current thoughts.

"Tsk tsk, Iris. You must not be so fearful. You haven't even given us a chance. I see that your dominant exposure to a vampire lifestyle has been quite...controlled. We can offer you more. Here, you can have everything." He said as he released my hand. He was twisting my own words, but I knew what he was doing. He would never let me go. He was going to groom me, and expect me to use my abilities to benefit him somehow. Shit. Do I even want to know?

What was Ed—no, you gave him up. You chose this. He will be happy with her. Keep your head down until you can figure this out. There has to be a way out. I have to find a way. I just have to figure this out. You're a vampire, damnit! Holy shit I'm a vampire. I'm a vampire? I'm a vamp—what is that smell? It's delicious like chocolate cake. Do vampires like chocolate cake? I thought all human food would all taste like dirt or something...? No, wait there's a beating...a heart beating...no, no, no...

The doors flung open and I was overwhelmed with the scent. It was wet, sweet, so delectably irrisistable...I need it. I want it. I can have it. I can have everything here. Yes, take it, Iris.

My teeth plunged into the thin skin of the neck so easily before I could even think about it. My prey squirmed uselessly. Haha I'm so strong now. Nothing can stop me. It's totally invigorating! And delicious! It's so delicious...the burning is going away. Yes. This is right. This is what I'm meant for. I can have it all. I can have everything...be everything...

Like, Follow, and Review please and thank you! :)