Blasphemy

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

Part VII

Edward POV

She had fallen unconscious by now, by beautiful Bella. I was still pretty mad at Alice for biting Bella behind my back. But she was right, like usual. I would enjoy this once the transformation was complete, once Bella stopped having spasms from the pain. I sighed.

"Alice?" I called. She glided into the room quickly and plopped herself down next to me.

"Yes, Edward?" she asked me in a distant tone. She was staring at Bella with a frown on her face.

"Have you seen anything about Ethan yet?" Her eyebrows came together at once.

"No," she admitted, flustered. "Why are they waiting so long, Edward? Why haven't they come yet?" She seemed very frustrated. She didn't like the unknown.

"I'm not sure, Alice," I muttered. "My guess he wants to catch us off guard. Or maybe he just wants to make us suffer while waiting. Either way, you should know when he's coming, right?" I asked her, my voice strained with anxiety now. She nodded.

"Don't worry; I'm keeping tabs on him." Her tone was soothing, reassuring. I couldn't help but trust her.

"Thanks, Al." She got up and left, leaving me next to my unconscious angel. I sighed, and pulled her closer to me.

Bella POV

I woke with a start. I didn't know what time it was, or how long I had been out. All I acknowledged was the fire in my veins. I let a small yelp escape my lips. Edward tightened his already strangling grip around me. He kissed the top of my head lightly. I stared up at him groggily.

"How long have I been--?" I started to ask, but a shriek of pain interrupted my question. He understood.

"You've been in the transformation process for about two days now," he said gently. "It's almost over."

I was surprised I had been out so long, that the pain hadn't woken me up. Maybe I was stronger than I thought. My heart seemed to be beating slower than usual. My body burned, as the venom spread through my bloodstream. The fire inside me was hotter than at the beginning, if that was possible. I squirmed around in Edward's death grip. I sighed, and decided to focus my mind off of the transformation.

"So, what -shriek- powers do we know that -moan- Ethan has?" I managed to choke out, out of breath by the end. He frowned at my obvious pain.

He sighed. "He is…Very powerful. As we said before, he is a very gifted tracker, and he is as strong as Emmett. He runs as fast as me, too."

I unfortunately wasn't able to forget the pain while he was talking anymore. I moaned, and looked down at my hands, first where James had bitten me, and then where Alice had much recently. Both marks were gone, along with any of scrapes and scars along my arms and legs. So I had undergone parts of the appearance-altering changes already. I looked back up at Edward, to listen to what he was saying.

"Ethan also has two odd powers. One is invisibility. We're not exactly sure his limitations in this. We do know that when he is invisible, neither humans nor vampires can see or smell him, and our radar senses can't see him either. He still makes noise though, and he's still solid, so he can get hurt." He frowned. This didn't seem too fair. How did they expect to compete with that, especially not knowing his limitations? "And the next power is where you can help us. Remember Aro's experiments in Volterra?" I nodded. "Well, you are immune to mind-related powers. His last, and most potent power for sure, relates to the mind. He can force others to do what he wants, like mind control. He can either literally make someone do something, making half of their mind to think that's what they want to do, even though the other part is telling them something is wrong, and he can also inflict pain. He is like Jane that way, but far more powerful."

I sat there, the only sound to break the silence my strangled screams, thinking. This sounded very serious, way more serious than I thought. So maybe I could help them, if his power really did have to do with the mind. The last thing I remember before passing out into pained unconsciousness was staring up at those anxious, golden eyes I had grown to adore so much.

Bella POV:

I awoke with a tortured scream. Edward went rigid beside me, and kissed my forehead. I groaned, and turned my head towards him, but screamed again. It hurt to move. My body was slowly pumping the venom through the veins it had not reached yet. I couldn't take much more of this. Right on cue, Jasper quickly entered the room, keeping his distance, and sent calming waves through the room. It didn't help.

Edward frowned down at me. "The transformation is almost complete. I believe it should end within an hour." Great, I thought bitterly.

I clutched my legs suddenly and howled in pain. I gasped as I saw my legs, ever so slowly get slightly thinner and about four inches longer. I shrieked and squirmed in Edward's iron grasp.

Edward's family came in then. They wore expressions of grief and sympathy on their faces at my pain, even Rosalie. I grimaced as my fingers and arms were elongated next. I struggled more in Edward's protective grasp, but soon gave up.

I could literally hear my heartbeat showing. I whined, the pain creeping up to my face now. I tried to take deep, calming breaths as my cheekbones became more prominent, my nose more angular, and the rest of my features became perfection. My lips stayed the same. I let out one final scream of agony, and then…

I felt no more pain. Edward and his family smiled in relief and relaxed. My transformation was complete. I smiled back at them all. I had survived it -- I wasn't sure how, but I had. I looked at Edward, who had stood up my now. I was sure my grin looked just as stupid as his did. Alice then bounded forward to hug me.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so happy!" she exclaimed as she ran towards me. About a foot away from me though, she fell back on the ground, as though she has hit something. Startled, I looked around me. I was surrounded by something, a wall of green, transparent material. Alice gawked at it, along with the rest of her family. Edward was the first to speak, his voice uncertain and strained.

"Carlisle?" Carlisle was still shocked, but recovered quickly.

"Bella, focus on something else." I did as he told me. It took a few minutes. It's just a little hard not to focus on a wall of light around you. But I managed to make it flicker and go away.

"Well, I guess we found my power." No duh, but I couldn't think of anything else to say.

Carlisle seemed deep in thought now. I looked up at Edward, and he was watching Carlisle. Their eyes met briefly and Edward nodded. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the house.

"Now what?" I asked. His black eyes glinted with anticipation.

"Now, we hunt," he stated simply. I nodded. I felt a surge of excitement course through my body. I was a vampire. It had happened. I couldn't believe it.

Edward motioned for me to follow, and took off running. I followed suit, fast, but not as fast as him. It was so…exhilarating. Much better than riding on his back. He stopped suddenly, and I did too. My newly heightened senses picked up the smell of a deer's blood. My mouth watered.

Edward grinned at me. He beckoned me to follow again, and we stopped forty feet away. I stared at it, not sure what to do. He laughed. "It's okay Bella, watch me first." With that he lunged forward and sank his teeth into the animal's hide. When he was done, he told me to do the same with one that had taken off running about fifty feet away. I ran after it and dove towards it. I missed, and fell on the ground, dirt flying into my mouth.

I heard Edward roaring with laughter behind me. I turned to glare at him, spit the dirt out, and flew towards the deer again. This time I struck my target. The blood flowed easily into my mouth, and it tasted so good. When I had sucked the poor creature dry, I glided back over to Edward. He flashed that I loved so much. "You did it," he praised me with mock disbelief in his voice. I rolled my eyes.

We hunted for another half hour, until I felt full and strong. We made our way back to the house.

We passed a small lake on the way back. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in it, and did a double-take. The woman I saw reflected on the water was simply breathtaking, not to sound conceited. She was a total stranger. Her hair was a mess, but even at its worst, it would make any girl self-conscious. It had a beautiful shine to it, with small streaks of red. The skin was paler than usual, and the eyes were now a mix of gold and red, making a very pretty orange. I couldn't help love my new eye color, though I knew it was only temporary. The features on her face were perfect and angular, and she was a bit taller than before, and a tiny bit skinnier. She looked so godlike. I smirked to myself, and left the reflection-me behind.

We entered the house to find everyone standing in a circle, talking in voices inaudible to even me. They all looked up when we came in noiselessly. I would have to get used to my newfound gracefulness. Carlisle turned to me, a frown on his face. Something in his eyes told me something was wrong -- very wrong.