Marcus POV
Bella finally opened her eyes. After three agonizing days she finally opened her eyes.
"Bella?" I whispered to her, trying not to alarm her. And not doing such a good job at it; she shot up looking every which way, her face panicked.
"It's okay Bella. You've been out for three days but you're safe." I tried to sound reassuring. I tried to make her feel that nothing was wrong. That nothing was different. But I knew that was impossible. I knew she could feel the difference. I knew she would figure out what she has become. I only wished I knew how she would react.
Bella POV
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the river. It's roaring sounded almost deafening. The next thing I noticed was that I could smell everything; even the river. It was surprising how everything had such a strong odor. It was surprising how everything seemed clearer. The ground. The water. The plants. My skin. I never knew that my skin was so… white. It looked like I was made of stone. I turned to Marcus to ask what he thought I looked like when I noticed something. I looked at my hands, then at Marcus, then my hands again. It was the same.
I ran up to the edge of the water and looked at my reflection in the water. I looked like a porcelain doll. Everyone bit of my face looked like it was carved by angels. Or by a vampire.
Vampire. Me.
I suddenly got a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm a vampire. It wasn't that I thought that that was horrible for me. I didn't think that at all. But what about Renee and Lucinda? I couldn't go back to them like this. It was obvious I wasn't the same. I wanted to cry. Cry for my mother and friend. But I couldn't.
I turned to Marcus. "What do I do now?"
Marcus POV
It was almost shocking. Bella took to being a newly born vampire so well. It was especially strange for some one so young. It wasn't a normal thing. But the again Bella isn't a normal girl.
"What?" Her question took me by surprise.
"I can't go home to my mother like this." She said. I was stupid to not even think about her mother. I was too caught up in being selfish to think about her. I didn't even think about what Bella would do after I turned her. I didn't think of anything.
"You were going to die. I had to save you Bella." I slowly walked toward her, trying not to frighten her. "You can come away with me. We can leave all the bad things that happened here behind us. I'll give you everything you'll ever want and more." I knelt down so I was at her level. "I'll keep you safe."
Bella threw her arms around my neck as if her life depended on it. It did too. She was a new born vampire. She had no idea on how to act in order to keep ourselves alive and secret.
Secret. The sudden realization hit me. It was something I haven't thought of since it got here.
My brothers. What would they do to Bella if I brought her to Italy? I had a feeling they would find some reason to hurt her. To kill her if I took her there. What should I do?
The question was so stupid that I would have smacked myself in the head if I wasn't using my hands to hold Bella close to me. I simply won't take her there. We'll never go to Italy. I will never return to my brothers. I will keep Bella safe.
I scooped Bella into my arms and ran away from the river. Away from Phoenix. Away from everything that hurt us in the last few weeks.