Chapter 18
The longest three days I have ever experienced
I woke up in my room at home. I sat up and looked at the clock it was 3:00 in the morning, I should probably go back to sleep, but I can't. I can't sleep when I know that Rosaline is withering in pain just a few miles from here. So, I decided I would get up and go see her today. I got up and picked out a Forks High School tee and a pair of wind pants that button up the sides. The shirt was overly huge and I decided to pull the back and tie it with a hair tie. I slipped on a pair of converse shoes and brushed my hair. It was a rat's nest because I didn't brush it last night so I pulled it back into a bun on the top of my head and let my bangs fall in my face. I looked at myself in the mirror and I looked like a mess, I was so tired still and I had darker rings under my eyes, more so than usual. I walked out of my room and into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I walked out into the living room and my parents were watching T.V.
"Mom, dad, I'm going to go see Rosaline." I stated. They turned and looked at me with puzzled looks on their faces.
"It's 3:00 in the morning, Renesmee." My father replied.
"I—I know. I can't sleep." I replied back. They looked at me for a few more seconds and then nodded for me to leave. I ran out of the house and into the woods and when I finally reached Carlisle's and Esme's I felt adrenaline pumping through my veins as I walked into the house. Carlisle wasn't around and everyone else was in the living room. I walked over to them and they all looked at me.
"Where's Carlisle?" I asked.
"He's in his office, sweetie." Esme answered. I nodded and turned to go to the office. I knocked quietly on the door and Carlisle slowly opened it.
"Ah, Renesmee, you may come in." he said quietly. I walked into the room and Rosaline was still chained to the table. I slowly looked her up and down and she was shaking and grunting still. Her left eye was bright red but the right one wasn't. She growled and hissed in pain and I felt like the worst person on earth. I stared at her for a long while.
"What's new?" I asked Carlisle.
"Her body isn't reacting well with the venom. The right side isn't absorbing it correctly and she isn't becoming immortal yet." He replied.
"I don't know if she's going to make it through this, and if she does I don't know how long she could live. We had no idea what was going to happen to you when you were born because you were created by an actual human and an actual vampire. She has been created by a hybrid so I'm not sure how she will turn out." He continued. I nodded and sighed.
"How long before we can know anything for sure?" I asked. He looked at me briefly and then back at Rosaline.
"Three days." He replied. I looked at him for a few seconds and then looked back at Rosaline. She was in so much pain and there was nothing I could do for her. I could feel guilty, but that wasn't helping her. I couldn't take it anymore and I decided to leave the room. Carlisle was right behind me.
"I can't believe I did this to her." I said aloud.
"Renesmee, what exactly did happen? I never got the full story." He asked. I turned and looked at him.
"I was asleep and all of the sudden I heard shrieking in my ear and when I opened my eyes, it was Rosaline and she was under me and was attached to my mouth. The scary thing was…" I trailed off. He put his hand on my shoulder.
"What was the scary thing?" he asked. I looked down and I could feel the lump in my throat.
"I didn't think I was going to be able to stop." I replied. I began to cry and Carlisle took me in his arms and held me.
"Dear, Renesmee, you can't beat yourself up over this. Rosaline needs you to be strong and fearless. The important thing is you did stop." He said comforting me. I shook my head.
"No, no I didn't stop; Alice had to pull me off of her." I said. Carlisle still held me after I said this.
"Renesmee, no one is judging you. I think Rosaline will be fine, I just can't promise." He said. He let go and looked me in the eyes. "Renesmee, you have never given us any trouble, you are extremely well behaved, the family is not going to disown you for this. We love you dearly, please, don't beat yourself up." He said.
I nodded and we turned to go to the living room. I walked over to a couch and lied down. Alice came over and covered me up with a blanket and I eventually fell asleep. When I was sleeping I began to dream. In the dream, I was with Rosaline, Antoine, Carlisle, my mom and dad. I was running through the forest and came to where Antoine and I first met. Antoine and Edward were yelling at each other and Carlisle was in-between them trying to break it up. My mother was behind Edward and Rosaline was off to the side with terror in her eyes.
"You betrayed our family!" shouted Edward
"I couldn't help myself, your naïve little daughter fell for me so easily!" Antoine hissed back.
"You arrogant piece of s-"Edward shouted, but was cut off.
"Edward, this isn't going to solve anything!" Carlisle shouted.
"Dad, what did he do?!" I shouted.
"He was sent here by-"
I was woken up by a loud scream. I gasped as I woke up.
"Renesmee, shh!" a voice calmed me. I couldn't seem to open my eyes to see who it was. Finally my eyes flew open and it was Antoine.
"A—Antoine? What are you doing here?!" I said as if I was out of breath. He was sitting next to me on my bed.
"Your parents brought you home and I hadn't heard from you so I got worried, how have you been?" he answered. I looked at him still confused. "Where am I?" I asked. He looked at me in a confused way.
"You're at home?" he said in almost a questioning tone. I nodded.
"You haven't heard?" I asked. He shook his head. "I –uh—well—I—I bit Rosaline." I said. His eyes got wide and he stared at me.
"What do you mean you bit her?" he asked in a shocked tone.
"I mean I was sleeping and I woke up and I was biting her!" I half shouted and whispered. "I didn't mean too." I continued.
"How is she?" he asked. I looked down and shook my head.
"Oh no, oh god, Renesmee, no!" he said. "Is she…?" he asked. I shook my head again.
"No, she's not dead." I replied.
"Well how is she?" he asked again.
"She's at Carlisle and Esme's and we don't know how she's doing." I replied.
"What happened to her?" he asked again.
"The left side of her body is immortal and the right isn't." I replied.
"Oh god." He said as he rubbed his face with his hand.
"Carlisle injected venom into her right side and the venom is coursing through her veins now." I continued. He leaned over and hugged me.
"It'll be alright, Renesmee." He whispered into my ear. I pulled back and we looked into each other's eyes. I leaned in and kissed him. It was a small, sweet kiss that he wouldn't allow to last long.
"Renesmee, you know my rule. I don't think it would be right to continue on the thought that we are both having, it wouldn't be morally correct." He said as he pulled away. I kissed him again.
"Who cares about being morally right?" I asked when I pulled away. He looked into my eyes as if he was reading my soul.
"I care about being morally right, and I know you do too, it's just your teen hormones taking effect." He replied. I pulled away and deep down I knew that he was right.
"Well your half human too, how can you have so much self control?" I asked.
"Renesmee, you're forgetting that I am 70% vampire and 30% human. My father was a hybrid and my mother was a vampire, which means I'm dominantly vampire and that also means I have more self control than you." He replied. I nodded and kissed him one more time. He hugged me and kissed my hair.
"I love you, Renesmee, more than you will ever know." He whispered into my ear. It felt like heaven and I could have stayed in his arms forever. Just then…my father walked into the room. Antoine immediately unlocked me from his arms and got off of the bed.
"What is going on here?!" he shouted.
"Dad, it's not what it looks like!" I shouted back.
"No, it's exactly what it looks like!" he hollered. My mom bolted into the room and looked at me and Antoine.
"Renesmee, what is going on?!" she yelled.
"Mom, dad, it's not what it looks like!" I yelled back. My father walked over to Antoine and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up into the air.
"What are you doing in here with my daughter?!" he shouted at him.
"Dad, please! Let him go!" I screamed. He turned and looked at me, but released him. I rushed over to Antoine's side.
"Renesmee, I told you to stay away from him." My father said in a bit calmer voice.
"Why should I?!" I yelled.
"Because, he's a no good, dirty, rotten, piece of—"I cut him off before he could finish.
"What makes you think that? Just because you can't read his mind?!" I shouted at him. My father stared at me and I know I had just stated the truth.
"Dad, I love him and he loves me. You aren't going to keep me away from him. And do you know why?" I asked. He didn't answer though.
"Because you have no specific reason to not like him." I said with anger in my voice. He still didn't reply to that.
"Renesmee, listen to your father." My mother intervened.
"Oh sure mom, take his side. You know what you guys are?!" I screamed. They didn't answer.
"You guys are hypocrites!" I answered my own question.
"That's not true!" my mother screamed at me.
"Oh yeah mom?" I shouted. "How about when dad left you 17 years ago?!" I screamed. They didn't reply. "Charlie told you that you weren't aloud to see that no good, dirty, rotten, Edward Cullen. But I know for a fact that you let him sneak into your room every night and you would spend the night together, against Charlie's orders!" I yelled.
"You have no right to bring up our past, young lady!" my mother shouted back.
"Right? Because I'm not you mom and Antoine isn't Edward?!" I continued.
"Renesmee, we're done discussing this. Antoine, you get out of my house now!" He shouted. They left the room and I could hear them walking down the hall.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered and put my head down.
"Hey, it's okay." He whispered back. He pulled me into his arms and slowly rocked me. "I should go." He said kissing the top of my head. I looked up at him and nodded. I stood on my tippy toes and kissed his lips.
"I love you." I whispered.
"I love you too." He whispered back and hugged me again. When he let go he opened the window and jumped out and with that, he ran off into the woods. I sighed and watched out the window until I couldn't see him anymore. I looked at my clock and it said it was 11:00 in the morning. I slowly made my way out of my room and my parents were sitting at the table and motioned for me to sit across from them. I did so.
"Okay, what's my punishment?" I asked.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions first." My father said. I looked at them puzzled. "Does Antoine know what you are?" he asked.
"Yes, but I didn't tell him, he guessed." I answered. They looked at me suspiciously.
"Does he know what we all are?" he asked.
"Yes, he guessed." I answered.
"Is he…" he trailed off.
"Yes dad, he's a vampire, but not totally." I answered.
"What do you mean 'not totally'?" he said putting quotes around not totally.
"I mean he's 70 percent vampire and 30 percent human." I answered. They looked at me puzzled.
"How can this happen?" he asked.
"His mom was totally vampire and his dad was 50 percent. Don't ask me how that worked out because I really don't know." I answered. They looked at me for a while, as if they didn't believe me.
"What about his parents? Did he say anything about his parents?" my father asked.
"Uh—no. He said nothing about his parents. He doesn't like to talk about them. The only thing I know is that his mother was murdered and his father lives in some other country." I replied. My parents sighed and looked at me.
"Can I go see Rosaline?" I asked.
"Yes, but we're coming with you." My mother replied.
I nodded and got up from the table. We all left the house together and arrived quickly at the Cullen's. We all walked through the door and Esme was sitting on the couch with Alice and Jasper was sitting in the chair watching T.V.
"Where's Carlisle?" I asked.
"He's in his office dear." Esme replied. I walked to Carlisle's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in." he answered. I slowly opened the door and walked in.
"How is she now?" I asked.
"Well, her right side is finally absorbing the venom and is becoming immortal." He replied. Rosaline was still twitching and grunting but she wasn't screaming anymore.
"Is it good that she isn't screaming anymore?" I asked.
"Yes, it's good that means that the process is drawing to a close." He answered. I nodded and watched her. She seemed a little bit more peaceful now.
"Are you still putting morphine into the I.V's?" I asked.
"Yes, I give her a dose of it every half hour." He replied. I looked at him with shock in my expression.
"Isn't that a lot for someone of her size?" I asked.
"Yes, but seeing as she is getting stronger and stronger she is able to handle it and it is helping her significantly." He answered.
I nodded and continued to study her. I looked at her eyes and I noticed that her right I was finally turning red. It was about ¾ red and the rest was still blue. She grunted and groaned and tried to break free, but the chains were keeping her down.
"She should be done tomorrow right?" I asked. Carlisle looked at her and then looked at me.
"Yes, she should be done tomorrow night or early the next morning." He replied.
"Do you know anymore? Like can you predict if she'll live?" I asked. He took a deep breath.
"Well, by the way she's reacting now; I would say it will be just fine." He replied. "But, things can always change and you never know how it will end up." He continued. I nodded and moved some strands of hair from Rosaline's face.
"I'm going to go out there with my parents." I said. He nodded and then turned to me. "Thank you, Carlisle, for all you have done. You have been really gracious of me. I never expected you guys to take me back into the family and I just want to thank you for that." I said.
"Renesmee, you are the best granddaughter anyone could ask for, I could never turn you away from this family." He said giving me a hug. I nodded and walked out of the room. I walked over to where Alice was sitting and sat down next to her. She put an arm around me and I rested my head on her shoulder.
"Renesmee?" I heard someone call. I looked up and Rosalie was standing in front of us.
"Renesmee, do you want to I don't know, go into town, go shopping?" she asked. I looked up at her with a puzzled expression.
"Well?" she urged.
"Um—uh—yeah—sure okay." I replied reluctantly. I got up and began to leave the room with Rosalie. "Rosalie you don't have—"she cut me off before I could finish.
"No, Renesmee, I helped Bella fight to keep you, and I haven't been a good aunt." She said. I looked at her but got into the car anyway.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I buckled my seatbelt.
"I don't know, just going to drive around for a bit." She answered. I nodded and looked out the window as we pulled out of the garage. "So, Renesmee, how have you been lately? I haven't really talked to you much and I'm sorry for that." She asked.
"I've been okay I guess…" I trailed off.
"Renesmee, it's okay, you can talk about Jake. I don't like him, but he's good for you and I think you two are a great couple." She said.
"Well, see the thing is…" I trailed off. She looked at me.
"What's the thing?" she asked.
"I don't want to be with Jake, I'm in love with someone else." I finished. She looked at me puzzled.
"But aren't you…" she trailed off.
"The imprintee, I know, but that doesn't mean I have to love him. That just means that he loves me." I finished.
"Well, who's the someone else?" she asked.
"His name is Antoine." I replied. I didn't want to go into detail.
"What does he look like, come on Nessie, tell me about him." She asked. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"He's tall, sandy brownish blondish hair with golden eyes and he's a photographer." I replied.
"You know Nessie, you are being really selfish!" she said in a louder voice.
"What?!" I shouted.
"You are selfish, I'm trying to be a nice Aunt and help you by being in your life more and you don't even want to react with me." She said. I looked at her in shock.
"You know what Rosalie?" I asked. She looked at me.
"What?" she asked in a rude tone.
"IT isn't my fault that you have decided to isolate yourself from me and spend all of your time with Emmett. It isn't my fault that you don't talk to me. It isn't my fault that I don't want to be around you because you are always so rude to my mother!" I shouted.
She pulled over and stopped the car.
"I'm getting out." I said angrily.
"Good!" she shouted back. I stepped out of the car and began to walk into the forest.
I turned and looked at her and she sat in the car watching me. I turned and kept walking until I was sure she couldn't see me anymore. I looked around and began to run. I stopped when I saw Antoine's house in the distance. I breathed a sigh of relief and ran to the house. When I arrived I knocked on the door. I heard footsteps coming and then Antoine opened the door.
"Renesmee?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" I looked at him for a few moments.
"I need to be with you." I replied.
"What about your parents?" he asked.
"I don't care right now. I just need to be with you." I stated.
"Come in." he said, gesturing to the door.
I walked into the room and sat on the couch. He sat down next to me and put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder and we watched T.V. He walked over to the T.V. and put a DVD in and came back to the couch.
"You don't mind, do you?" he asked.
"No, I like watching movies." I replied.
The movie ended a couple hours later and I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to go down.
"Let's go see the sunset?" he asked.
"Yes!" I said excitedly.
He got up off the couch and held out his hand and helped me up. We made our way out the door and over to a meadow where the sunset was clearly visible. We sat down in an open spot and looked up at the sky.
"It's so beautiful." I commented. He looked at me and then back at the sky.
"No, no it really isn't that beautiful." He stated.
"Are you kidding?" I asked.
"No, I'm not kidding. How can I say that that sunset is beautiful when I have the most beautiful girl in the world sitting right next to me?" he asked.
I looked down and smiled, I could feel myself blush. I looked up at him and stared into his eyes. We both looked back at the sky and lied down. I rested my head on his shoulder as the sun went down. The sky was a beautiful combination of red orange and pink. Birds were flying in the sky and I felt that all was right for once. The sky turned dark and we watched the stars. I stayed in his arms for a few hours and then I came back to reality.
"Oh my gosh!" I shouted. I sat up and he did as well.
"What's wrong?!" he asked.
"I have to go, my parents are probably looking for me and I need to be sure that Rosaline is okay." I said standing up. I kissed him and ran into the woods.
"I love you!" I shouted.
"And I you, Renesmee!" he shouted back.
I ran until I reached the Cullen's. I made my way into the house.
"Hello?!" I shouted out.
"In here!" I heard my father say, I could tell he was angry. I walked slowly into the living room and stopped at the entry.
"Where have you been?!" my mother shouted.
"I was uh—"I stopped, I was at a loss for words. "I was with Rosalie." I said quickly.
"No you weren't, Rosalie returned hours ago. You, however, haven't been around." She said. I looked down.
"I was hunting." I lied. They looked at me and I kept a straight face. They nodded and looked way. I went to Carlisle's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in." he said. I walked in and he was evaluating Rosaline.
"How is she?" I asked. I walked over and looked at her eyes. The eye that was ¾ red is now almost completely red.
"She's doing much better, the transformation will be complete in the morning, and then we need to decide what to do with her from there." He replied.
I nodded and watched her. She was still struggling to break free, but she didn't look as if she was in a ton of pain. It was getting late and I was getting really tired.
"I think I'm going to go home now, I'm really tired." I commented.
"Okay, Renesmee, sleep well." He said as he gave me a hug. I walked out of the room.
"Mom, dad?" I said. "I want to go home now." I finished.
They nodded and got up and we ran home. When I got into my room I quickly undressed and put on a night gown. I like to wear these because they are really comfortable. I crawled into bed and stared at the window. I waited and waited and finally I gave up. I thought for sure I would be getting a midnight visit from Antoine, but I guess not. I rolled over so my back was facing the window and began to fall asleep. I had the same dream I had a few nights ago, and the dream ended in the same spot. I woke with a gasp and was hyperventilating. I looked over and Antoine was sitting on my computer chair looking at me with alarm in his eyes.
"Renesmee, are you alright?" he whispered. I looked at him and then at the window.
"Yeah!" I whispered back. I was still in shock from the dream and I didn't know how to respond to him. He was at my side in less than a second. I sat up in bed and kissed him.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He said smiling. I smiled back and kissed him again.
"You better go; my parents could come in here at any second. He looked at me and then out the window.
"No, I don't think they will, you should still be sleeping and I want you to go back to sleep now." He said.
I looked at him and then at the time. It was only 1:00 in the morning, I had only slept an hour and the exhaustion caught up with me when I saw the time. I nodded and I lied back down. He bent down and kissed my forehead and then brushed my hair out of my face.
"Good night." He whispered into my ear. I smiled and then closed my eyes and again, I fell asleep very quickly.
I woke up and it was 9:00 in the morning and I sat up and stretched. I looked around the room and Antoine was sitting in my computer chair again. He smiled.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty—for real this time." He said quietly. I smiled and got out of bed. I walked over to the window and looked outside. It was a fully sunny day and I could hear the birds chirping. He put his arms around me and looked out the window as well.
"I should get dressed and probably take a shower." I said.
Even though I am half vampire, I am still half human and I should shower every once and a while. He released me from his hold and kissed my forehead and just like that, he was gone. I walked over to my closet and picked out a pair of jean shorts and a tank top. I walked out of my room and went into the living room. My parents weren't there, and I wished I hadn't told Antoine to leave. I walked into the bathroom and started the shower. I undressed and stepped in, the water was hot and I turned it to cold. Hot doesn't work well with my skin. I washed my hair and when I was finished I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body and stepped out of the shower. I dried off and got dressed quickly and brushed my teeth. I walked back into my room and Antoine was sitting on my bed, reading a book.
"What are you reading?" I asked.
"I thought you never read Shakespeare?" he replied.
"What?" I asked. He threw me the book and I looked at the title. It was Romeo and Juliet.
"Oh, my mother gave that to me…I've never read it, it hasn't interested me." I answered as I tossed the book back to him.
I grabbed my brush and brushed through the bronze snarls. My hair was wet and I didn't know what to do with it. I stood there contemplating.
"I think you should leave it like that." He commented. I turned and looked at him. "Really, you should, you look beautiful." He assured.
"Okay." I replied. I turned and sat on the end of the bed. "I have to go see how Rosaline is doing. I'd ask you to come with me, but well…" I trailed off.
"I know, I'm not your family's favorite." He finished my sentence.
I nodded and stood up. He hugged me and gave me a little kiss and jumped out the window. I sighed and walked out of my room and into the living room. No one was in there still so I left the house. I ran to the Cullen's and walked inside. My parents were there in the living room on the couch.
"Good morning, Renesmee." My father said.
"Good morning." I replied as I headed to Carlisle's office. I knocked on the door and Carlisle opened it.
"Come in." he said. I walked in the room and Rosaline was lying on the table still.
"Well?" I asked.
"She is doing incredibly well, the process is almost over." He replied. Her eyes were totally red now and she was sitting still.
"When can we unchain her?" I asked.
"Well—"he was cut off by sudden noise.
Rosaline had begun to fight harder and broke free from one of the chains. Carlisle pushed me away from her and I fell out the door. She broke free from all of the chains and growled and hissed and ran out of the room. I stood up and ran out into the living room with Carlisle. Rosaline was crouched down in the far corner of the room, her eyes bright red and she was growling. We all stood there and waited for her to attack. No one wanted to approach her, for it may set her off. I looked around and I decided I would be brave. I took the first step towards Rosaline. I had to keep in mind that she was incredibly strong because she was a newborn. With that in mind, I took a step closer and she growled and lunged at me.