A/N: Hey everyone! I apologize for my erratic posting schedule; I really need to set some kind of deadline for myself. But, as promised, here's the chapter where Bella is finally transformed into a vampire. Feel free to let me know what you think with a review, and as always, keep on the lookout for any mistake I may have made.

(Posted 2/22/17)

Chapter 9: Reborn

Compliments of Felix, the colorful and expensive-looking wrapped presents were placed in neat rows on top of the thick persian rug that spanned my room. I picked up the closest one, noting the elegant script inscribed on the paper—it was from Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Intrigued, I ripped the simple brown paper covering carefully, revealing the completed first edition volumes of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, in their original bindings. They were in perfect condition—I suspected Aro had previously owned and read these copies when it was first published by Jane Austen. I couldn't quite visualize, much less fathom, the notion of either Marcus or Caius reading these books. I carefully placed it onto an antique wooden shelf Demetri had purchased for me a few years ago, along with the rest of my books I'd read over my childhood.

After what felt like eternity of tearing apart gift wrapping, a light knock on my door interrupted me as soon as I finished. "Come in," I answered, glancing up from where I sat on the floor. A large, colorful pile of shredded paper and opened boxes lay around me, illustrating my progress since the past hour or two. Most contained expensive, but dazzling, gold and diamond jewelry from my friends in the Guard, per usual.

Jane gracefully glided in, her clothes shrouded once again by a recognizable and familiar black cloak. Her maroon eyes expressed mild amusement as she partook a cursory glance of my haphazard workspace. "Thought you were never going to finish. The sound of crinkling paper gets old rather quickly," she said, a smirk playing on her lips.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Well, excuse me, but it's not my fault you guys decided to get me so many gifts," I shot back sarcastically. "What do you need?" I asked, making my tone much lighter. I wasn't trying to argue; I was eternally grateful for the gifts my friends and family showered me with.

Jane stopped beside me. "Aro would like to know if you're ready," she explained casually. I knew straightaway what she was referring to; Aro had informed me the day prior to my birthday of his decision to change me—it was only appropriate, considering I was his last human heir—and that I was not to feel pressured into being turned. Honestly, I felt the opposite. I was both excited and relieved at the same time. Excited, because today I was finally joining my family and friends; relieved, because it meant I was no longer a frail, vulnerable human being. I yearned to explore the world unhindered by petty human needs.

I peeked outside my window. It was dusk—the setting sun still lightened the night sky with streaks of dark orange color. I took a deep breath, mentally pushing down on the anxiety that suddenly came forth. "Sure. Give me five minutes, and I'll meet him in the chamber," I replied as even as I could manage. Jane dipped her head once and breezed out of the room.

Standing up, I hurriedly collected the jewelry in my hands and stored them in a massive jewelry box on top of my desk that faced the window. Heidi had gotten me the box when I was seven—she had insisted it was 'imperative' that I possessed one. In actuality, I could argue—and win that argument—that the box was actually a part of my desk than just resting on top. It made up more than half the desk itself.

When I finished throwing out all the leftover paper into the wastebasket, I left the room with butterflies in my stomach and headed for the main chamber. Evidently, I was nervous—who wouldn't if they were being turned into a vampire? Despite living with them for twelve years, it was still a giant leap into the deep unknown, albeit with a good inkling of what was waiting for me. I was also not looking forward to the pain throughout the changing process—the anecdotes from my friends had something to do with that.

The gilded doors were already open when I reached the main hallway. I quickly strolled forward and stepped inside the clean, near-vacant room—the decorations had already been removed, which didn't surprise me. Vampires cleaned up fast. "Hello, Aro," I greeted politely. "First and foremost, I'm sorry I didn't get the opportunity to thank you for the party or gift earlier. Thank you." I felt embarrassed—maybe even a little bit ashamed—at that. Aro had emphasized the value of being respectful and polite throughout my life.

He quietly laughed and rose from his seat. "Please, Bella, you do not need to apologize. Though, I will admit the party credits itself mostly to Heidi's planning; you should thank her instead," he responded with a small smile.

I chuckled and nodded in agreement. I then took a deep breath, steadying any qualms I had, and looked directly at him. "I'm ready to be changed." Considering this was my fate since when I first agreed to join his family, I still felt a sense of obligation—I was impatient to join the world of my friends and family so that I, too, could uphold the law and administer justice to those that refused.

Aro smiled one of his signature, enthusiastic smiles. "Jane," he called out happily.

"Yes, master?" she promptly replied, materializing into the room and stood motionless.

"Lead the Princess to one of the subchambers while I finish the necessary preparations," he prompted.

Jane bowed her head obediently, then turned to face me. "Shall we?" she suggested softly. However, she appeared to be dejected, for whatever reason, which confused me.

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously as I followed Jane out of the room back into the hallway again.

She let out a long, wistful sigh. "I've never had a taste of your blood. Such a shame. I've always wanted to try it, but I suppose it's too late. Or maybe…." Jane twisted slightly, her ruby eyes appraising me thoughtfully as we walked down the warm hallway.

"Good one," I commented with a roll of my eyes, and reached out to muss her hair. She growled and neatly avoided me, striding a few steps ahead until she stopped unexpectedly and pulled aside a piece of paneling, exposing the dark, damp passageway hidden within.

"After you, Princess," she grinned, gesturing with her arm.

I groaned, but still ducked into the passageway. I hated traveling through these tight corridors—it wasn't exactly comfortable for someone like me. The tunnel was cold, wet, and worst of all, barely visible to the naked—well, human—eye. I kept one hand tracing alongside the wall as I continued down, being especially careful not to trip on the uneven cobblestone floor. When we encountered an intersection, I followed Jane's directions to turn left and continued traveling until a plain wooden door came into view at the end of the tunnel. I pushed it to the side, and entered an empty room with a rectangular stone outcropping in the middle—it resembled a rudimentary table of sorts. The room was illuminated by a candle chandelier that hung on the high ceiling, giving off the illusion of warmth.

"Thank you, my dear Jane," Aro dismissed from behind, making me jump slightly. I turned around to see him standing by the entrance—his cloudy eyes were much brighter than when I saw him a few minutes ago. I guess he was being cautious—feeding prior to turning me to minimize any risk.

"Master," Jane said, bowing her head, then looked at me. To my surprise, she blurred to where I was standing and hugged me tightly. "Good luck," she whispered in my ear. "We'll stay with you when there's less blood from the bite wounds. I promise." I stood frozen with shock for a second before I wrapped my arms around her cloaked body, hugging her back. "Princess." Jane bowed her head again and disappeared through where we came from.

Aro drifted over, chuckling, his face a mixture of humor and disbelief. "Well, then. Shall we begin?" he questioned. I nodded and proceeded to lie down on the cool stone slab in the middle of the chamber. I decided to remain as still as possible throughout the process. Partly due to the fact that I wanted to be strong and not writhe around in agony like most people—I wanted the image as the Princess of the Volturi to be pristine, something that would uphold the standards set forth by Aro and the Volturi as enforcers of the law.

I wasn't sure what I felt in this exact moment. A kind of numb, limbo feeling. My dream of becoming a vampire was coming to fruition, yet at the same time, I was scared. Scared of what, I could not definitively explain. I suppose it was the fear of the unknown, again—being human was all I knew how and what to do. On the other hand, I already had preexisting knowledge of what to expect—the challenges I would face, such as controlling my thirst. The incredible strength and speed that was the norm to vampires. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. It was unnecessary to be afraid and overthink my irrational fears.

I felt Aro's icy, hard fingers wrap themselves around my wrist firmly. Suddenly, there was a painful cutting sensation across my skin, like a razor—only a thousand times sharper. I automatically clenched and gritted my teeth in response. He moved quickly onto the opposite arm, repeating the same procedure. I instantly knew why the feeling of being bit was commonly referred to as a 'being on fire'—there was a dull, burning sensation that slowly began to emanate from both my wrists. Aro switched to my ankles, piercing the skin and forcing more of the venom in.

I didn't know if Aro left or was still in the room. I didn't care. The pain spread like wildfire—it took up all my concentration and thoughts. I couldn't focus on anything else but. It grew in strength, spreading to every single limb of my body. I could faintly recall when I had first asked Demetri about being changed and thinking, how bad could it really be? I wanted to punch my old, naive self straight in the face.

I knew it was useless to scream. From the shared experiences of my friends, this was one fact I was sure about—I cheated irregardless. I screamed at the top of my lungs when the flames from the bottom half of my body connected with the inferno from the top, doubling in intensity, finally setting my entire being on fire. The temperature of my scorching body remained unaffected by my screams; the burning raged on, unhindered by my efforts to alleviate it. I desperately wished to tear my beating heart out, but my arms were dead by my side—useless. Obviously, they were—venom was designed to incapacitate.

Despite being able to rationalize that I was becoming a vampire—and subsequently, one of the most powerful creatures to inhabit the Earth—death still dominated my thoughts. I knew it was all worth it in the end; but as of this moment, I wanted to die. Anything to escape the pain.

I could remember the physical changing taking an average of two days, but time was completely discombobulated—the fire did not lessen a single degree since it reached peak intensity, eons ago. I did not know how much time had passed, and how much time was left I had to suffer.

There was some solace to the unrelenting pain. A variety of musical, chime-like voices, high and low, like angels, soothed me—though, in my charred state, I could not identify them. Nonetheless, it somewhat gave me an opportunity to distract myself as I begged them to kill me—to put an end to my unremitting agony. The angels refused; they reminded me that this stage was an unavoidable facet of my transformation.

I came to the realization that the angels were actually my vampires—Jane had promised to stay and to bring friends. I forced myself to stop screaming. Realistically, it accomplished nothing but generate unwarranted stress and worry to those around me. The fiery coals within my veins continued to lick my body, torching me alive.

After what seemed like ten lifetimes had passed, I noticed small, but significant changes within myself. My mind was clearer, in a way—still indubitably an inferno, but I could actually hold onto my thoughts; they were no longer fleeting. My hearing got stronger, too—I was able to detect each even breath of the three vampires surrounding me, their locations in proximity to mine.

Five lifetimes later, another change. The fire near the fringes of my body—my hands, feet and head—began sluggishly receding, leaving them free of any pain. The bad part? The flames retreated towards my scorched, beating heart, increasing it to some unimaginable temperature. And my throat felt no better; it was parched, as dry as a desert. I balled my hands into fists to restrain myself from screaming as my heart flew into a frenzied tempo, driven by the encroaching firestorm.

"She's almost finished," Demetri stated quietly.

Jane sighed. "Finally." I could hear the exhale of air from her lips.

I gritted my teeth, but the action momentarily distracted me—my teeth felt different against each other. They were harder; more robust. Definitely sharper. My heart thrummed rapidly, like a sustained note, desperately trying to escape the blaze that surrounded and consumed it. It was futile—it had already been defeated when Aro first bit me.

My heart stuttered, stumbling in its stride as the flames finally caught up. With a final, symbolic, quiet beat came silence. Not a single sound, not even my own breathing or my friends'. All I could fathom in that exact moment was the blissful relief I felt. I opened my eyes into my new life.

A myriad of sensations overwhelmed me. There was sight—the room was bright; clearly visible, like the room was illuminated by some powerful light source, yet only by a chandelier that dangled directly above me. It was no longer dark like I remembered from my cloudy, human memory. But what struck me the most was the level of clarity—I could see everything. From the microfissures resembling rivers in each individual stone block in the ceiling, to the porous binding material that held them together.

I was so engrossed with my examination that I'd forgotten I was not alone—a light squeeze of my hand drew my attention to the unfamiliar touch. It felt warm. The texture of the skin was not granite, but a soft satin. In normal circumstances, I would have found the contact to be pleasant. However, in my disoriented state, I could only recall the freezing temperature of vampires.

I automatically reacted. Air rushed from my lungs, creating a feral-sounding hiss when it blew through my clenched teeth. My muscles immediately tensed, and I instinctively threw my arms outward—along with it, a nearly invisible white layer of… energy. It exploded from the surface of my body, warping into a dome, and forcibly threw the vampires within the room against the wall.

A/N: You might have guessed it; Bella is special! I've decided to give her a physical shield in addition to her mental one. But don't worry—she'll most likely have some shortcomings with her mental one. (Or, I could make her physical one weaker. I really don't know).