Chapter 2: Family

Rosalie's POV.

"All change is not growth; as all movement is not forward."

'Rosalie, quickly, I need help,' Esme begs me. I rush to help her strip the bed of its covers.

'Why is there even a bed here?' I frown, we vampires don't sleep. Something else I miss from my former life, the chance to dream.

'Keeping up appearances,' Esmes shrugs, 'do we have any rope? She may need to be secured,'

'There's six of us and one of her, we can hold her down,' I say.

'Newborns are unpredictable,' Jasper tells me as he hands some rope to Esme, 'We need to be prepared.'

I smile inside; it's good to see my brother suddenly feel useful.

'Esme,' I ask, 'why are we changing her?'

Esme pauses, 'Rosalie, you heard Alice.'

'The visions aren't determined. They're based on our decisions. We could have left her,'

'Rosalie,' Esme says

'No, I don't understand. We don't change Bella because it's unnatural, but we change some stranger?' I shake my head.

'You didn't want Bella to be changed,' Jasper reminds me.

'I know,' I snap, 'because I didn't want her to go through this. What we go through all the time. Endless days of repeating high school and watching people live and die. No going forward, no going back.'

'The girl has no choice, Rosalie. Bella did,' Esme remains patient with me.

'But' I say desperately, 'she does have a choice. She can...'

'Die?' Jasper raises his eyebrows at me, 'would you have preferred that.'

I shake my head, 'I didn't want this.'

I suddenly feel a calm wash over me. I'm no longer anxious or upset about the decision to change the girl. I turn to Jasper, 'no fair.'

Jasper smiles as I hold his stare. I shake my head, 'I love you all. I just wish things were different at times.'

'We all do Rosalie,' Esme says, 'but we make the most of the hand we have.'

I nod and we all stand for a moment in silence. I think of Edward and wonder where he is. I even think of Bella for a moment. It wasn't that I didn't like her, I just envied her. She had what I wanted and she was willing to throw it away. I feel bad, I know she would be hurting right now, and I don't want that. I know Edward has done the right thing. In time she will heal, and she will live the life I wanted. I just hope Edward will move forward to.

My thoughts are interrupted when Emmett booms into the room, 'She's on her way.'

Alice follows quickly, 'we got there in time.' Jasper tenses as Carlisle enters the room. The girl has already begun thrashing in his arms. Emmett helps Carlisle place the girl on the bed.

'How much venom is in the blood stream?' Jasper asks.

'Not a lot,' Carlisle says, 'Alice my bag. There is some of my venom in a syringe. Quickly.'

Alice already has the needle in her hand.

'Inject it close to the heart,' Carlisle says, 'we want her to change quickly.'

I watch the girl thrash against Emmett's and Carlisle's grip. I remember the pain, and I feel bad for her. I place my hands on her ankles. Esme holds her head and whispers in her ear that it will all be over soon. Even if it only takes two days for her to change, it will feel like an eternity. The pain of the venom sliding through your veins is excoriating. The venom feels like lava sliding through your veins, leaving every inch of your body feeling as if it's raw and on fire. The girl stops moving, the change is taking place.

'Ok,' Carlisle releases the arm his holding. 'Everyone stay close. Esme, try and clean her up if you can. Alice find some clothes for her,' Carlisle states, 'I don't have any blood here, so I'm going to need to make a trip to the hospital.'

'How are you going to get it?' Emmett asked.

'No time to fabricate a story,' Carlisle states.

'Stealing?' I ask.

Carlisle doesn't answer, before he disappears.

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."

When you are human, five days is a rather long time. When you have forever to live, five days is like five minutes. When your insides feel as if they're on fire, five days is an eternity. A living nightmare that feels like it will never end.

The change is taking longer, but slowly she is changing. Jasper has not left the foot of the bed. Carlisle stays close by. Esme, Alice and I wash her down and change her. When she wakes we will have to tell her what's happened, and offer to train her to live our way. Of course we won't force her to stay, but we will warn her of the consequences of erratic behaviour. The Volutire won't let her get far should she become insanely murderous.

On the fifth day, her eyes opened. She sat slowly, and looked around. She hissed. If pure evil could make a sound it would be that hiss. Full of anger, hate and fear.

'Who are you?' she demanded, her eyes flashed at Jasper who took the defensive position. Carlisle enters the room with Emmett at his heels. Alice gently, slowly approached her with Esme not too far behind. I find myself just watching the scene, not too sure how I feel.

'Blair,' Alice whispered slowly as if not to startle her. My head snaps up, up until this point I never learnt her name, it never seemed of much importance at first. The most important thing was to stop her from drawing attention to our family.

'How do you know my name,' Blair's mouth opened and shut, a large clapping sound as her jaw met.

'Do you remember what happened?' Carlisle asks, 'you were in a car accident.'

The first time the girl's eyes widen and I realise they are not red, nor black like a newborn's should be.

'I was going to France,' Blair whispers, she shakes her head, 'my throat...'

'It's going to be okay Blair, Rosalie, will you get her a drink from the fridge. Alice, Emmett perhaps you should wait in the next room while we give Blair some space,' Carlisle suggest.

Emmett opens his mouth as if to object but shuts it pretty quickly. He knows that Jasper is better to help Carlisle in this situation. We enter the kitchen.

'She's calm,' Alice notes, 'she doesn't seem, like a new born.'

I shrug, 'we all react differently at first.'

Alice shakes her head, 'no. She's special, I can feel it.'

Emmett frowns, 'I have a bad feeling about all this.'

'Bad feeling about what?' a familiar voice asks.

Emmett's head snaps around to see Edward, standing in the doorway, his face hardening as he reads our minds and the events of the past 5 days.