Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I was really worried about everyone's reactions, but it really had to be done. Dalloway5906 gave me an early birthday gift of Twilight plates and napkins for my party (Thursday I turn the big 29, which is wayyy to old to be this obsessed with Twilight!) My Mom is giving me the gift of ink, yes a new tattoo. I will be posting a picture of it on Twitter, so if you are not following me..... follow me! kitkat681 You can watch me embarrasses myself with the big girl crush I have on and Hunterhunting :-P

BPOV

My body was melting. It had to be. I was going to be a puddle of melted flesh and organs by the time I was finished. What bothered me the most was that I could feel myself wanting to lick up the faint traces of my own blood that would be mixed with the gooey mess of liver and intestine and spleen.

Time no longer held any meaning for me. It could have been minutes or weeks. All I could feel was the intense burning as the venom spread through my body. I could almost feel the changes that I was undergoing. My bones were the first to change, painfully solidifying into a structure that would eventually be stronger than titanium. My organs were slowly shriveling up, not needed by my new vampire self. The skin that covered my body was tightening, filling with the impenetrable substance that would shield me from any attack. My brain was the only organ that was not dying. If anything it was getting bigger, not larger, but it felt like I had more synapses firing than before. The ability for me to think was rapidly expanding, allowing me to catalogue the changes in my body and still worry about Edward.

He was at the forefront of my thoughts. At times I could hear myself screaming, although I could hear a difference in my voice as well. I hated to think of him sitting alone in the tree outside the window, suffering along with me. I hoped that Emmett and Jasper had dragged him off, somewhere he could not hear me slowly dying. I knew if our positions were reversed, I would not be able to stomach listening to him go through this.

I was vaguely aware that people were constantly coming and going. Aro spent a ridiculous amount of time whispering into my ear. I think he was hoping that by filling my mind with his filth, I would forget about the Cullens.

You are mine now.

You will be my weapon.

You will save us all.

They left you here.

Only I care about you now.

Was this how the change worked? Did your 'maker' sit around and explain what he expected for your new life? I imagined that Carlisle would stay by your side, whispering relaxing words into your ear as he bathed the sweat from your dying body. But Aro did not have an ounce of the compassion that Carlisle possessed. I held tight to my human memories, petrified that I might not be able to remember Edward when I emerged as a newborn vampire.

As the venom continued to spread throughout my body, my brain recognized that it had a smell. It smelled of bitter chocolate and sage, not all together unpleasant, but definitely reminiscent of the air which always surrounded Aro. I was scared that I would continue to smell like Aro after my change was complete. I could not imagine how hard that would be for Edward to be faced with the scent of the monster that forcibly ended my human life. I tried to remember if Edward or any of the others smelled like Carlisle, but I was rarely around anyone without Edward, and his scent always took control of my mind.

As the time passed, the burning in my body was slowly taking a backseat to the scorching pain in my throat. It felt like I had swallowed an entire habanera pepper and chased it with some razor blades. The tissues of my throat were inflamed, making it impossible for me to let any fluids pass through my esophagus. My fingers twitched, wanting to try anything to stop the debilitating pain. I was surprised to find that my hands moved when I asked them to and were now wrapped around my neck. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking fiercely as I was assaulted by blinding light.

"Ah good, the transformation is complete. Please, take your time. It can be disorienting to emerge with your new senses." I heard Aro say, somewhere from my left.

I tried to open my eyes again, but the light was way too bright and I snapped them shut. I concentrated on the sounds and smells in the room. I could hear the deep breaths Aro was unnecessarily taking. His scent was overpowering now that my senses were heightened. I could hear people moving around on the floors above and below, as well as the loud thumping of a heartbeat somewhere close by. My mind zeroed in on that sound, my instincts trying to alert me to the fact that this was something I wanted. I could feel the thick, slippery venom filling my mouth as my body prepared to find the owner of that pounding pulse.

"Can you hear it Isabella? If you follow the sound, you will find a delicious treat. I had it shipped in especially for you. I wanted your first taste to be perfect. Now go, open your senses and find it." Aro said.

I slowly raised my eyelids, finally desensitized to the light. It was disorienting to see all of the things I had been missing with my human eyes. There were several new colors that I could now see, and I wondered what they were called. I could actually see the air. It moved in a wave and was slightly blue against the bright yellow of the light coming from the bedside lamp. The darkness outside the window was rich and overwhelming, yet I could still see every leaf on the tree beyond the glass. I had a hard time processing all of these new sights, but my body was demanding that I ignore everything except the rhythmic beating from the floor below.

I jumped off of the bed and was surprised to find that I was still slightly clumsy. I had hoped that with all of the changed that my body underwent, my innate gracelessness would disappear. Obviously that was not going to happen. Hopefully I would still be able to manage to hunt with Edward and not end up tripping over every root and stump in the woods.

After getting my bearings, I walked swiftly out of the room with Aro following close behind. I could hear my name being said in most of the rooms that I passed, but the incessant thumping was distracting me from all else. I could feel a gnawing thought trying to push through from the back of my brain, like a lost memory. I wished I could stop and dig through my mind to find it, but my body was being pulled to the floor below. I had not even stopped to contemplate what I would find when I opened the door until my hand was poised above the knob. It went against every screaming instinct I had, but I turned from the door and looked at Aro.

"What is behind this door?" I asked, not even recognizing my own voice. I sounded like a perfect orchestration of wind instruments.

"Open it Isabella. What lies behind is the pure essence of what sustains us." He whispered, taking my hand and guiding it to the door knob.

I turned the handle and was pushed backwards by the overpowering scent that wafted out of the open door. The thumping was almost deafening this close and it was getting faster and faster, calling to me. I cautiously peered into the room and used all of my willpower to halt my movements.

"No…" I whispered as I saw what was curled in a ball in the corner.

EPOV

We were not far enough away and entirely too far all at the same time. I had spent the last three days in one of the circles of hell. I felt like a betrayer to my love, as I left her to face her own type of hell alone. Her screams were inhuman as the venom slowly invaded every part of her body. I could hear the weakening of her heart with every passing minute. Alice continued to assure me that all would be well, even after seeing her visions getting cloudier as the days progressed. Bella's future was completely chaotic, each decision leading to a completely different outcome. They ranged from her waking from the transformation unable to remember anything from her human life to her destroying Aro as soon as she regained consciousness. Never in these visions were the two of us together, and that was what frightened me the most. I could not imagine a future for myself without her.

The third day brought us closer to the house as we heard Bella's heart slowing even further. Alice said that it would be only a few more moments before Bella's human body would be dead, and she would awake in her new vampire form. I wanted to see her as I had never wanted anything before in my life. I think the desire to lay my eyes on her even surpassed the lust I had for her blood. She was always perfect and beautiful in my eyes, but I could only imagine the perfection she would be in vampire form.

I took a chance and jumped into the tree outside her window, thankful that it was close to midnight. Using the darkness as a cover, I crept silently onto the branch that was closet to the glass. Bella lay, motionless in the bed. Her normally pale skin was nearly translucent and was slightly shimmery in the glowing light from the lamp. Her heart was nearly silent now, and I mourned the loss of that soothing cadence. I would no longer be calmed by counting her heartbeats as she lay sleeping beside me. I would never listen to her breathy moans as she rested in my arms. The hole in my chest was increasing as I witnessed the death of the human girl I had fallen in love with.

With one final, pathetic thump, Bella's heart ceased to beat and she took her first breath as a vampire. I could hear Aro's jumbled thoughts, excitement oozing from him. He was anxious to see what changes were made to Bella's shield now that the transformation was complete. Her eyes opened slowly and I was shocked to see the blinding red from where her beautiful brown used to be. My heart clenched as I realized that there was another thing to mourn the loss of. She shut her eyes just as quickly and Aro spoke quickly and quietly to her, encouraging her. I was finally aware of a thumping heart beating somewhere below me, and was petrified. Did they bring in a human for Bella to feed on? As soon as I awoke from my change, Carlisle whisked me away to the forest to feast on a herd of deer. We had done the same thing for Esme, Rose and Emmett.

As much as I wanted to stay and watch Bella acclimate to her new body, I needed to find the owner of that pulse and see if there was any way I could stop Bella from killing an innocent human. Her willpower was so weak in her newborn state, but I knew she would regret killing someone later. I took one last look at my love through the glass before I jumped silently to the ground. I hoped that I would be able to locate the human before Bella could.

The room was easy to find, and I was thankful that Alice and Emmett had forced me to hunt earlier in the day. The scent that went along with the heartbeat was powerful, amazingly so. Only the scent of Bella's blood had been more potent. After checking to make sure there was no one else present, I leapt up to the window ledge and peered into the dark room. The thoughts coming from the room were disjointed. The only thing that was clear was the overwhelming fear. I could see a body huddled against the wall, trembling in fright. I could not make out the exact age or gender of the human, but I was positive that it was a young one. My stomach lurched thinking of my gentle Bella latching onto this poor child's throat. She would be unable to stop herself, her instincts forcing her to quench her thirst.

I entertained the option of removing the child, taking it far away so Bella would not have to deal with the temptation, but I knew any intervention on my part would alert Aro to our presence. I could only hope that I would be able to ease Bella's conscience after we were reunited.

I heard Bella's light footsteps, followed be Aro's heavier ones. They approached the door and I could hear Bella hesitating. I knew somewhere in her mind she was worried about what lay behind the door. I was surprised to hear her question Aro. In his answer, he tried to draw out her inner monster and make her forget about anything except the throbbing heart on the other side of the door. I heard the knob turning and crouched down so as not to be seen. Bella stood in the door, light streaming into the dark room. The poor child's thoughts were a jumbled mess of fear as he heard the door open. I worried that its heart might beat completely out of its chest.

The slice of light illuminated the crouching child, and I could see that it was a young girl not much older than ten. Her clothes were torn and dirty and her long brown hair was matted with leaves. She was shaking so hard I could hear the vibrations of her bones on the hardwood floors. Her innocent face turned up towards the door, her cheeks wet with tears. I heard a quiet whimpered noise pulled from Bella's chest as she caught sight of the room's inhabitant. I held my breath as I waited for what Bella' reaction would be.

A/N: Dun dun dunnnn. Sorry for all the cliffies. See you Sunday!