Long chapter. Enjoy!
Bella rose so quickly that it was hard to imagine she'd been lying still for so long. I bit back a smile, an odd high running through my mind. Bella was moving. Bella was awake and alive. My father flashed a grin at me, his thoughts were along the same line. Her sunken eyes brightened.
"Me? A power?"
Her lovely voice was incredulous and tainted with excitement.
"It seems that way, Bella. You can read minds."
It seemed odd to me that she could read my mind whilst I could not read hers. I brushed it off, there was no need for that. She was being Bella again. I grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. Everything would be alright. I would help her get over Sam. She would be my Bella again. My angel. Bella growled beside me.
"Angel of death."
Carlisle's eyes widened. I shot him a meaningful look. A smile flashed across his face as he called to the rest of the family, struggling to keep his voice calm.
"Everyone meet in the backyard."
I frowned. Surely he had seen her black eyes, her deep purple shadows. I wound a strand of her messy hair around my finger. She needed to hunt. After all, she was only a newborn. If she even caught a whiff of human scent right now… I shuddered at the thought. Bella shuddered with me. She glanced up at me.
"I look that bad?"
She tried to cover up her self-consciousness with a grin, and failed miserably. I looked at her wounded face and chuckled. Silly girl. She was always beautiful to me. She smiled, but the little groove between her eyebrows remained. I sighed.
"When will you believe that I'm not lying to you?"
She hung her head and fiddled with the cuff of my shirt. Taking a deep breath, she responded with a mumbled "I don't know."
I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled heavily. She could read my mind, couldn't she?
"Yes, and you could be lying there too."
Frustrated, I tried on the best smile I could.
"Now, love, how could I do that?"
My attempt was a failure. My voice was strained. Bella ignored it.
"Well, sometimes it goes away and I can't hear you."
It goes away? It never went away for me. I had to shut it off. Bella's raven eyes widened.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
She whispered each word slowly, pressing her fingers gingerly to her temples. I rubbed her back reassuringly and considered it for a moment. She was a newborn, but her eyes already turned golden after hunting. Hm, hunting. Perhaps it was the lack of strength? She looked strangely weak for a vampire.
Suddenly, I was on the floor. Bella was on top of me, pinning my arms to the floor. She pressed her lips to my throat and giggled.
"I'm not that weak."
I grinned and pushed her off of me playfully.
"Carlisle, I'm going to take Bella hunting, and then we'll come back and try to see how she can use her talent."
Watch out for the werewolves, Edward.
Bella gasped and clutched her chest with her free hand. I cursed myself for allowing her to hear tha. Nodding swiftly, I turned to Bella. There was no time for talk of that yet. I tenderly grasped both of her slender wrists, slung her across my back, and dashed out the door.
Bella hadn't hunted as much as I would like, but when she met me in the tree I was resting in, her lips were pink and her eyes ochre. The bruises were gone. I smiled so broadly I half expected my cheeks to pop off. I patted the branch I was sitting on. She sat down gracefully, something I would never get used to. She watched me curiously.
"What are you thinking about?"
"You. Can't you hear?"
My answer was simple and obvious. She narrowed her eyes and frowned.
"No, it's off right now. What specifically about me?"
"That your lips are rosy and that your hair is still a mess. Come here."
She stuck out her tongue but slid towards me. I combed through her silky strands carefully with my fingers, savoring every moment she allowed me to be close to her. It must have felt nice, for she leaned against me and closed her eyes. I sighed contently, indulgently letting my fingertips brush her satin neck before I pulled away.
"There. You're all done."
She sprung lithely to her feet and grinned.
"Good."
I took the hand she'd offered me and she pulled me up easily. She smiled.
"So, now that I'm not a wreck, let's go test out my power."
--
When we got to the Cullen's backyard, our family stood in a murmuring clump, hushing completely when we came into view. Slowly they turned to us, a smile breaking on each of their faces when they looked me over. I smiled back, exerting more effort than I would have guessed. They were unconvinced. I sighed and wrung my hands together nervously.
Who was I kidding? I wanted to go back to bed and stay there. I wanted to wallow in guilt. It panged around in my chest, a wild tennis ball ricocheting off of the empty walls.
I wasn't surpised when Alice was the first to bound over to me. She was, after all, my best friend, and I loved her. Her face was so joyful that I mentally kicked myself. Stupid, I thought, So stupid to do that to her. To them.
"Bella!" She flung her arms around me and I returned the hug. She pulled back, gripping my hands tightly, as if she expected me to run. I giggled. She knew me well. All too soon, my grin vanished.
I was blind.
And then, I was no longer in the Cullen's yard. The icy mountain air caressed my cheeks. Leaves quivered and fell from the branch I was perched on, swinging my legs childishly. Snow daintily drifted from the milky-grey sky, staying perfect and starshaped on my white arm. I giggled quietly to myself. These didn't look like Q-tips. Edward smiled crookedly at me as he placed a tree on top of an unlucky mountain lion, packing down the dirt and shuffling snow around the bare patch.
I grinned back and turned my face towards the sky, letting the flakes catch on my eyelashes. A cloud of warmth engulfed me. Something screeched in protest a few meters away. My eyes flashed up quickly to see the forest cracking in flames, and a white arm twitching as it blackened.
--
"Damn it, Alice, what'd you do to her?!"
Bella writhed on the grass, ripping up chunks of earth. Only seconds ago had she been smiling and healthy. Alice had hugged her, and then grasped her hands. I noted vaguely in a separate section of my head that Alice was having a vision, but a peaceful one nonetheless. Me and Bella, hunting in the mountains on a snowy day.
My attention diverted when Bella crumpled, screaming and flailing. I stared blankly. She was a vampire. How could she be in pain? Something ticked in the back of my mind, but was cut short by Alice's pleading.
"A little help, Edward?"
Her little body was struggling to stay steady over Bella's thrashing one. Her delicate tiny hands were wrapped firmly around Bella's wrists. The ticking grew louder.
I cupped Bella's face in my hands and tried to sooth her.
"Shh, Bella, it's okay. I'm here."
She looked around wildly, staring right through me. I turned to Alice. Fire blazed in front of my eyes, and I gasped. Gears ground into place, cobwebs tossed aside. At that instant, I understood everything. My body sprang into action.
I ripped Alice's tiny frame off of Bella and hurled her to the side. Grass shredded and flared up around her as she skidded to a stop. She sat up and blinked. Jasper snarled and helped up a very startled and irritated Alice.
I wheeled towards Bella and hoisted her to her feet. Her eyes focused and cleared. Esme shot forward.
"Bella, dear, are you alright?"
Bella cocked her head and parted her lips slowly.
"I think… I just had… a vision."
Her explanation turned up into a question at the end. I grinned. Carlisle stared at me, puzzled.
"I know what Bella's talent is."
Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett leaned forward eagerly. Esme, Carlisle, and Alice waited patiently. I turned to Bella.
"Bella, take my hands."
Her brow furrowed, but she complied.
Can you hear me, Bella?
I asked. She nodded in reply, her face still confused. I dropped her hands.
"How about now?"
She shook her head in frustration.
"No, I can't."
I nodded in triumph.
"Alice, come here."
Alice stepped forward uneasily.
"Alice, take Bella's hands and try to look for something simple." I frowned and added, "Peaceful."
Both Alice's and Bella's eyes grew unfocused.
"Now, let go."
Alice dropped her hands. Bella blinked. Then she beamed.
"Oh. Oh."
The rest of the family looked utterly lost. I turned to them and explained my theory.
"I think Bella can borrow other's powers. She has to touch them now, but I'm guessing with age she'll be able to pluck them without any contact."
Emmett boomed with laughter.
"All right, little sis! That's going to be really helpful someday!"
Bella laughed and turned to Alice.
"Can we try that again?"
Alice eagerly grabbed her hands and they stood for a long moment. I watched through Alice's mind.
I froze. Bella gasped.
"Emily."
I'm sorry, guys, but I think I'm going to have to wrap this one up soon. I'm itching to write something else. Promise me you'll read it? : And also, I want more reviews! I'd like to reach 90!