I hit something, and I could tell I hit it hard. I probably would have split right in two if I were still human. Fortunately, that wasn't true anymore.

It had definitely gotten colder. It was the weirdest feeling—like I could sense the cold, smell it, but I couldn't feel it. My eyes were quickly adjusting to severe darkness, and I wasn't even sore where I had hit. Okay. I could get used to this vampire thing.

I heard two hollow-sounding bounces behind me, and I knew that Jasper and Emmett had followed me. I could tell that they were curious now; they probably hadn't believed that the path of flowers led anywhere.

Apparently, it did.

I couldn't see anything. I felt around wildly in the darkness, preparing to give a shout; I couldn't hear Jasper or Emmett, either. What was this? Where was I? Couldn't this not happen to me, considering I was a vampire now? Did it take a while for vampires to develop their abilities? Was I dead?

"Bella," I heard one of them whisper—Jasper. A collective feeling of calm washed over me. "Bella, open your eyes."

Can I tell you something? That was probably the most embarrassing moment of my entire life. No, no, tripping over air definitely wasn't it. This was it. Open your eyes, Bella. Don't go crazy inside your own head, Bella.

We were in a cave. At first glance, it looked like a totally natural cave to me; it was rough and I could hear dripping sounds. Everything I heard seemed pronounced, apart from everything else; there was the dripping, our footsteps, Emmett and Jasper whispering to each other. It was like I had a hundred different ears, each hearing a separate thing.

My second instinct was to glance upwards—I had obviously fallen down when I fell, which was what I was guessing had happened, so there must have been a hole or something of that sort.

Or…not. Above was what looked to me like a solid cave ceiling. Or, at least, it looked nothing different than anything else in front of behind me. I turned in a half circle, wondering if the cave stretched on in both directions—and let out a sigh of relief when I saw a wall, which looked natural as well, sealing off the cave.

I probably shouldn't have felt relief, seeing as how in some ways the wall could trap a person…er, vampire…but if it had gone on forever in both ways, there was a good possibility that the three of us could lose our minds down there.

The constant drip was already making me crazy, seeing as how it was a hundred times multiplied what it would have been as a human. My senses were fully intact—my vampire senses—but my brain wasn't yet used to the magnified voices, images.

"Where are we, Bella?" Emmett asked me, and if I didn't know better, he sounded almost angry.

I knew better. "I have no idea. But come on; we can't stay here all day."

Emmett laughed roughly, and we headed down the cave.

It seemed like we were going ever downwards, but we had no way of really telling; the cave seemed to be sloping, but it was so gradual that even our amazing perceptions could barely pick up on it. I turned my mind away from the fact that a foot of cave wall looking exactly identical to the next foot, and so on, and that it seemed eerily like we were going in circles, because that was kind of impossible. There had been no turns so far; and as dead-on as it was, the passage in front of us eventually melted into darkness that not even we could make out.

Jasper and Emmett seemed to be talking in whispers the whole time, which I heard but could not understand; I didn't really have a concern, either way. I considered telling them about my dream, but I held back. They would probably think I was mental.

Something flashed through my brain, suddenly:

Different faces appeared at different times; Carlisle, Jasper, even Rosalie. Esme was a twenty-four-hour fixation, although she did leave once to go hunting, as I understood it. I think Alice made an appearance once, too, when Carlisle had left for a second. It was probably the only time the whole time that I was left alone, and even then, it might have been my imagination. Either way, Alice—or my dream Alice—held my hand and spoke words of comfort to me, and then looked sad a lot and kissed me on the forehead and said something else that I couldn't hear. I had a strange sense of what her words were, but at the time I forced them away because the throbbing in my whole body was too distracting and I didn't really want to think about what she had just said. And then she squeezed my hand again, and left, just as Carlisle came in the door.

I wasn't really sure if I wanted Alice to be real or not. It was a hard decision, especially after what she had said.

I could suddenly remember Alice's words clearly, like they had been stamped on my brain in permanent ink: "Come save us, Bella. Please. It's up to you—only you. Bella…."

At that time, I had dreaded those words; I had wished that maybe she had never come and given such a huge responsibility to me. What could I, a measly human, do? Sure, I could imagine myself being pigheaded and chasing after something huge and dangerous, but after a while an act of heroism turned into a death wish.

But now I was different. I was stronger, more powerful. I could move quickly, I could see farther—I could avert my clumsiness.

Abruptly, I felt Jasper and Emmett stop behind me. I turned, curious. They put fingers to their lips and stood shock still.

I froze. And then I could hear it.

Faint voices were coming from what seemed like right behind the right-hand wall; the cave continued on until it blurred into darkness ahead, but it sounded like there was a room right there. I wondered how that could possibly work while I tried to listen.

Jasper shook his head, and walked soundlessly to the wall, pressing his ear to it.

The talking immediately stopped.

Emmett's face was curious, then fearful, and then calm. It was comical, in a way—big, beefy Emmett actually looked scared of something. Should I feel scared? I took stock of myself. I felt exhilarated, excited, cautious, and alert, but scared wasn't anywhere a part of that. I couldn't decide if I was brave or just naïve.

"Ah." A voice suddenly said. "We have guests."

I didn't jump. I was so proud of myself, I felt like I could run in circles. But that might be a problem, in the cave. And besides, that voice sounded like business.

Jasper and Emmett were both staring at me—past me. I quickly turned, hoping I hadn't missed anything.

It took all my self-control, every ounce of it, vampire and human, to not burst out laughing.