Ch. 16 – Even More Changing than Before

I couldn't stand up. I had to sit on the bench with Mikel so that I wouldn't pass out. I even had to lean against my trunk for extra support. I eagerly awaited the moment I would see Mr. Diggory here to pick us up and whisk us away to the magic place that was my new home. I was thinking about writing a letter to my father, but I figured that Dumbledore would have taken care of it. Plus, I could barely think with such excitement on my mind!

"Look," said Mikel, pointing at a set of two people with blond hair and a skinny person with brown hair, all looking very paramount. Something also told me that they were eager to blow this joint. They didn't even look like wizards!

"Who are they? They don't quite fit in, do they?" They strutted around nervously, looking at all of us strangely.

Mikel smiled. "They are the Dursleys." At my puzzled expression, she added, "Harry's Muggles."

I gasped. "No wonder why they act like they own the place! Probably thinking that they're better than all of these 'freaks' here. Including us! They're exactly like Harry described them to us! You know what?" I ended intensely.

"No. What?" asked Mikel.

"I'm going to go have a quick word with them!" I shouted, stamping away. "I'll be right back!"

Pushing my way through the crowd, I got closer and closer to them. "Hey! Dursleys!" I called at them.

They turned around in surprise. They stared at me in confuse. "Who are…" started Vernon.

"You know who I am? NO! Because Harry doesn't tell you about his friends, because you don't let him talk! You just lock him in the cupboard under the stairs all day! Don't you understand how important he is? NO! Because all of you are ignorant pigs! Now start appreciating him! Because you won't have him for long! He is a real treasure, you hear?" I finished, my face red with anger and the harsh severity of open hunting season.

Vernon looked at me all huffy and puffy. "You dare criticize us and our parenting? HE LIES! We raise him like he's our own, and all he does is spread rumors about us because he is a foolish boy! He is ungrateful and sad!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" I shouted. "But you are bad parents! He tells me all about it. You are horrible people." Vernon opened his mouth to talk, but stopped when Dudley began crying. Stupid, whiny baby. I was so disgusted that I just walked away. Mikel was laughing harder than I've ever seen her laugh before. I was going to ask her way, but the increment looked kind of funny when I looked back on it. I laughed with her!

Just then, I saw Mr. Diggory! I stopped laughing, but I kept on smiling. Finally, what I had been waiting for for a very, very long time. I jumped for joy and got my trunk.

"Hello, Bella and Mikel!" he greeted us. "Wow, Bella, you look ready to go! You ready to go?" I nodded fantastically. And so we apparated to the Diggory House. The rest of the family was waiting for us in the living room. They all jumped on me with lightning fast speed and strength and hugged me nearly as hard as they could. I as so happy to be there! I really felt welcome. But still, I felt different. I was obviously different from them. I was like a fish in a haystack. The thought struck me.

"Mr. Diggory?" I asked, slowly and quietly.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Could you…" I took a deep breath. "Turn me into a vampire?" I had made up my mind. It's what I felt was really what I was meant to do.

He looked stunned. "Why would you want that? You enjoy your life as a human, don't you? You really want to throw that away? I would only expect that of you if you were on the abyss of deep, dark death."

"But you guys are my family. It's weird that you guys are different from me. I feel so uncomfortable, even though I shouldn't. I know it hurts. But I can deal with it."

"Well, Bella, won't you give it a night of though? You can't just make decisions like this. This is your life."

Even though I just decided, it felt like I had known this my entire life. "Mr. Diggory, I'm sure, this is what I've been wanting for a very long time. I'm ready for this. I'm starting a new life, and I need this to help get me through it."

The family nodded, and Mr. Diggory spoke. "Well, if you're totally sure. But you might want to enjoy this last day of humanity before becoming a MONSTER!" I could tell that he was only trying to scare me into changing my mind. But I wasn't going to. I was totally resolution, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The thought of being beautiful like them made me feel a little funny. I mean, I was pretty, but it just wasn't the same. I thought that maybe I should write a diary or something and put it on a blog, but then I realized there was probably no Internet out here. Haha.

In order to celebrate my humanity, they cooked me a big dinner of salad and fruits. They tried to get me to eat stake, but there was no way I would let them kill an animal just so I wouldn't die. It felt a lot like my last meal, which it sort of was. Even though I would be having meals and stuff once I was a vampire. I mean, everybody has to eat. Even tapeworms. I let my tongue caress the juicy lettuce and sweet fruit, knowing that I would only be having blood and stuff in the future. It was like my last meal. That was like, the only human thing I would enjoy. They took lots of pictures of me so they could do a little before & after collage on the wall. Oh yeah. I slept a lot. Because vampires don't sleep. Constant vigilance, like Moody always said. He was infinite in his wisdom.

I just couldn't want to be the new me. I was only a few days of pain away from immortality and beauty. It's sort of like plastic surgery, you know? Your skin hurts for a while, but then you look like you just drank some age syrup of youth, and you're really pretty and strong. So I mused about getting a major facelift and I laughed. I also wouldn't have to watch my weight, since I would be able to run really fast. I'd be even faster if it was human blood, but that would be gross.

And that's what I thought about as I fell asleep, eager to wake up for the following morning.

Mikel woke me up. "Bella!" she exclaimed, actually showing expression. "Wake up!" I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked dreary, not thinking clearly.

"I get to drink your blood!"

I tried to jump out of bed, away from the scary freak before remembering that she was my friend. Then we both laughed. We laughed like the grave for a very long time before going downstairs for "breakfast." We went down the stairs as fast as we could for practice.

Once down, the whole family (except for Cedric) was sitting in the living room. I lied down on the recliner. "I want Mikel to do it. That way we'll be inseparable friends until the end of time," I said to them. Mikel looked very touched (emotionally). I closed my eyes and waited.

I heard Mikel walk over to me and kneel on the ground.

"Here it goes," she said simply.

An explosion of pain exploded all over my body when her teeth pierced my neck. I didn't even flinch, though. I just passed out. It was worse than the one time I fell off my skateboard into a ditch and I had to get twenty stitches. It was almost as bad as Cedric's neglect! But this pain lasted several days. My body convulsed and my eyes moved very rapidly behind their lids. It slowly became less fractal. It stopped on the fifth day.

I opened my eyes and saw through the eyes of a vampire.

TO BE CONTINUED