Chapter Five: They Weren't Lying

I don't know how long I laid there. Time stopped.

Me screaming. Charlie crying. The sound of Victoria laughing as she left.

I could hear Charlie calling my name, repeatedly telling me that he didn't know what was happening to me, but it was going to be alright. That he loved me.

Then the fire consumed all of my focus. There was no space for anything else. Only the cold burn of the venom creeping through my veins.

Broken bones snapping back into place just adding to the orchestra of my suffering.

I couldn't see, hear, speak. I'm surprised I even managed to breathe as my body was ravaged by my transformation.

~

Victoria was right. This was a slow way to turn. She had bitten me the furthest point from my heart, with the smallest amount of venom possible. Intended to inflict the most amount of pain. I wonder how this must look to Charlie?

It surprised me that I even thought that but realised it was a good sign, right? It was nearly over... Right? I could feel the burn of the venom in every part of my body now, but i found I could think around it.

Edward never told me any of the gory details of turning into a vampire. Would it have been better knowing?

Ouch. Even in the middle of transformation, it still hurt to think his name, now that I knew I wasn't permanently dying.

I don't know how long I was in this state of being able to think around the burn.

It changed suddenly though. What is going on? The fire was receding from my hands, my legs, gathering up, speeding to my heart.

I felt my back arch, as my heart took off at record speeds. Surely it would burst out of my chest, break my ribs. It was beating so hard it felt like I was lifting off the floor. A sadistic rhythm no drummer could match.

It reached a peak. Did one disjointed beat. Then stopped.

~

It felt like an immeasurable amount of time passed between my heart stopping and my eyes opening. Though with the way my mind worked now, i easily calculated it at 205.2 seconds.

It was like I was opening my eyes for the first time in my life. I could see every detail, in every object around me. Each individual splinter on the fractured parts of my bed.

Dust motes swirling around the room. Thr feel of my clothes against my granite skin, the floorboards I laid upon. The dry itch in my throat.

The dry itch in my throat.

I swallowed automatically then took in a lung full of unnecessary air. Big mistake. I reacted instantly, crouched, snarling and ready to quench my thirst. I needed to find the source of that heady, delicious scent. Accompanying it was what sounded like the wings of a hummingbird.

"Bells?" Charlie asked in a small voice. "Is that you?" He swallowed.

I froze. Mortified. The heady, delicious scent was my Dad. I couldn't touch him. I WOULDN'T. I will not let Victoria get what she wanted.

"Dad. It's me. But i have to go. Like, right now. I need to make you safe." I stood up and flitted to the window. "I'll be right back."

I didn't even think of what I was doing. I launched myself out of the window, landed and just ran.

I could see why he enjoyed running so much. I could see every tree, every leaf, every small insect clearly, as if i had been stood infront of it with a magnifying glass.

Though I wish i could bask in the new sensations of this new life, I needed to hunt.

I ran for fifteen minutes then came to a standstill. Letting the sounds of the forest invade my senses, I caught the scent of a small herd of deer. I turned in their direction and hurtled after them.

I had no time waste on being careful or clean, launching myself at the biggest one, in a smooth motion, I tackled the buck, twisted in mid air and sank my teeth into its jugular, sucking down its life force with an intense need. It tasted weird.

Though I had nothing to compare it to, I knew it wouldn't be good as human blood. Don't think about that.

After gorging on two more deer, I made my way back the house. I stood outside, a silent war waging in me. Part of me thought I should run, never to return. The other part of me wanted to stay. Just incase.

I can do this. He's my Dad. I won't kill him.

Oh crap. The treaty. I'd have to deal with that too. I shook my head. One problem at a time Bella.

I scaled the side of the house and climbed back through my window. Charlie looked at me. Scared.

"Bells, what happened to you. That woman looked like she was part of the Cullen family... But," his eyes creased as he really looked at me. "Now you do too."

His face went slack as he registered my eyes. His own widening with fear and disbelief.

"Dad. This is kind of a long story, which I doubt you would believe. But you have two broken legs and a bunch of broken ribs that need seeing to." I approached him slowly, thinking of what to say to anyone about how he sustained these injuries.

Saying we had an argument and I left seemed to be believable, giving my track record. I came back to the house and Charlie, in this state.

I could take some valuables, make it look like a robbery and mess up the rest of the house if need be. Charlie would have to say that when realised he was a cop, they'd beaten him. Hmm. I'll spray paint ACAB a few times around the house.

I'd thought of all that by the time I had gotten to Charlie.

"What do you want to do? I need to call Billy as well." I bit my bottom lip as confusion made him look at me.

"Billy? Why do you need to call him for?" he winced, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

I hesitated. I didn't know how much I could say. "Uhm, he's a little more clued up than you realise." I looked at Charlie then, a thought crossing my mind. "Dad, one a scale of one to ten, how much do you want the police involved in this? Because that might be a deciding factor on what we do next." Billy might be able to get a reservation doc to help out.

"Not at all if I can help it. How the hell do I explain all of this?" He looked around my trashed room then helplessly at me.

"I'll call Billy now. I hope he can help." I reached for the bedroom door and accidentally put my hand through it. Well, that's to be expected.

I went to the phone in the kitchen, looked up Billy's number and delicately dialed his number. After a few rings, he answered.

"Hey Charlie, how ya doin'?" He answered in his deep, smooth voice.

"Uh. Billy, it's me Bella." My voice sounded wrong. Too musical, the cadence all wrong. "I need you to get to our house, as soon as you can. It's about the treaty, so bring treaty protection." I couldn't say what had happened to me. Not over the phone. They'd judge me, be juror and executioner all in one, without hesitation.

"oh..kay Bella. We'll be there as soon as we can. Sit tight." Billy replied hesitantly. Then hung up.

~

I put the phone down and flitted back upstairs.

"Billy is on the way, but I need to get you downstairs, Dad. He needs to see you, relatively safe. I need to be able to convince him that I didn't do this." I searched Charlies eyes, pleading for his help.

"Bella, I don't know what's going on and I dont know what happened to you. But I am your father and I will protect you." He replied gruffly. I nodded at him, smiling weakly. I didn't trust myself to speak just yet.

"I need to lift you downstairs to the sofa. It's gonna hurt like hell dad, but I will be super quick."

Charlie chuckled at that. "I guess you will be pretty quick about it."

I settled Charlie on the sofa. The pain I cause him forever seared into my memory. I got him as comfortable as I could, got him some pain meds then went to sit in the kitchen.

I looked around, realising that this was the end of one life, the beginning of another.

And as I waited, I silently mourned what I had lost.