Reason

"So it's a secret?" She asked for the millionth time. Everyone sighed together.

"Yeah, sweet pea. It is a secret. You can't tell anyone or we could all be in danger," I responded. She stared off into space for a long while. Everyone held their breath…

"This is so cool! I can't believe you guys are super strong, super fast, vampires!" She laughed and clapped her hands. My face broke out in a grin and the tension lessened in the room. I say lessened because we still had other things to discuss.

"Okay, so now that Lizzy knows, what are we going to do about this other coven?" Jacob asked. He was the most paranoid, always caring about everyone else besides himself. I put my hand to my stomach. I would protect my child against this coven no matter how human I was.

"Lizzy and Bella need to most protection," said Edward. "No one touches them."

"We understand that, son… But we need to decide on how we will react towards them." Carlisle and Esme were probably the only calm ones here.

"I say we attack them before they attack us," said Emmett. Jasper, and Jacob nodded in agreement.

"I can even call my pack to come stay over here for a while," added Jake. "They'll be able to lend an extra hand for a couple of days.

Edward shook his head. "We can't attack them."

"Edward's right," said Alice. "How are we supposed to take down a coven who hasn't posed a threat to us yet?"

"That's right. You all know I am highly opposed to that." Carlisle looked each of us in the eye. "We should just lay low for a while."

"I agree," said Esme. "We should all come to stay in the big house together. It would be better if we all stay together, and we will not leave the house except for groceries and hunting trips. Even then, we can't be alone."

"Travel in groups of at least three," said Jasper. "Then we can be even numbered…" Always thinking like a soldier.

"Well we really can travel in twos," said Rosalie. "You did say there are only two of them. Lucas is still just a human. We can take him down easy enough."

"Wait, wait," I said. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Everyone looked at me for three seconds before saying 'no' together. I pouted and sat next to Edward. He put his arm around me and kissed my head.

"We keep to this plan until after Bella's pregnancy." Carlisle sent me a small smile. "We can only handle one crisis at a time." I nodded.

"Carlisle!" yelled Jasper. "Look!" He pointed at my face and my hands flew up to my cheeks. I did feel a little weak, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

Edward gasped and put his hands on my cheeks. His eyes roamed over my face and moved his hands to my neck. "Carlisle, this isn't good." His voice sounded exasperated.

"What?" I asked. Alice pulled a mirror in front of my face and Edward moved his hands. I gasped at what I saw.

My cheeks were worn into my face, creating two big craters. My neck looked longer and strained. The veins popped out and were more prominent. My eyes had a sick looking glaze in them and the veins were more prominent there too. My entire face was sickly pale and my lips lost all of its color.

"What's going on?" I whispered in awe. I touched my cheek again.

"It's the fetus, Carlisle. This happened right before our eyes." I looked down at my stomach and noticed it was noticeably bigger.

"The more it grows, the weaker she gets…" Carlisle said before disappearing and returning with a chart and measuring tape. He measured me quickly, making notes on the chart.

"Are we going to be okay?" I asked. Edward looked me in the eyes.

"The fetus is growing considerably fast. We need to keep an eye on you." Edward kissed my forehead and cheek. "How long, Carlisle?"

"One month," Alice answered before Carlisle got the chance. We all looked at her. "I start seeing everyone blurry when they are around someone in one month. I'm guessing that's the fetus."

"But why would you see them burry?" I asked.

"I can't see you now, Bella," she responded. "But when I search for you in the future, I can see you crystal clear." She shared a look with Edward that I pretended not to see. "I probably can't see the fetus because it's a hybrid. Like Jacob."

I nodded, understanding. She quickly moved to my side and took my hand.

"Everything is going to be fine. I know it." I smiled and she hugged me softly.

After being measured and chucking up my lunch, we all sat in the living room again. Everyone stared at me as if I'd combust. It was a little annoying, but I felt too bad to say anything.

Alice gasped suddenly and had her far away look again. Jasper ran to her and kneeled in front of her legs. He grabbed her face, trying to make her look at him. Everyone kept their distance.

"Alice! What is it? What did you see?" Her eyes focused again, but her horror-filled face never faltered.

"Jasper was right," she spoke to all of us. "We need to travel in threes."

"But Lucas is still human. We really don't need to take a lot of precautions with him," explained Emmett. Everyone, except Edward, nodded in agreement. I looked at my husband with a questioning look.

"I know," Alice continued. "But he isn't human anymore."

LPOV

Burning. That was all that consumed my mind. I screamed again as another wave of heat flashed through my body. Scorching as I was, I got a glimmer of someone who was talking to me.

"Just hang in there. One more day." I think I nodded my head, but I couldn't tell.

I waited. And waited. I controlled my screaming, seeing as it would do me no good. Finally, the fire started to diminish from my fingers. It was slowly at first, gradually heating up the fire at my heart. I clawed at it, screaming and fighting for what seemed like forever. I gave one last scream and closed my eyes, lying down on the table, finally relaxed. I took a deep breath and tasted the room around me. My eyes flew open again and I smiled.

"Wow," I breathed. I was surprised that my voice even changed so much.

"It went perfectly…," mused Nancy. Drew stood next to her, a smirk adorning his face. I quickly got up, reveling in the speed and strength I had. They both came over to me and hugged me.

"I bet he's thirsty…," said Drew. Nancy nodded and motioned for me to follow her out. We walked to the door slowly and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

I was noticeably taller and leaner. My skin was as white as snow. My brown hair was shinier, and slightly longer as well. I was wearing my washed jeans and grey shirt. The only thing that contrasted everything else was my bright red eyes. It scared me at first, but I noticed it was a sign of what I wanted, the person I had become. Finally a vampire.

Nancy and I stopped at the edge of the woods. She looked over at me and I noticed her black eyes analyzing me. She was pleased, I could tell. She smiled and took off into the forest. It wasn't hard to follow her scent and catch up.

"You drink from no humans, understand?" She spoke quickly and almost inaudibly. But I was ecstatic that I caught every word.

"You got it," I stated simply and we both paused in a small clearing.

"Let your senses take over you," Nancy continued. "Breath the air, taste your surroundings. Listen and smell for what it is you want. Then go after it."

I closed my eyes and followed her instructions. It wasn't long before I smelled what I wanted. My throat burned widely. But I stood my ground, waiting for Nancy to give the go ahead. There were three of them, two sitting by the trees and one getting water at the small river nearby. I took in another deep breath and listened in to their heartbeats, rich and enticing.

"Go," I heard whispered through the wind. That's all I needed.

I took off in the direction of my prey. I remembered everything Drew and Nancy told me about hunting. I put all of these skills to use and sunk my teeth into my first prey's neck. He screamed out in pain before limply falling in my hands. I dried him neatly before moving onto my other two. They fought me together, thinking they had a chance. It wasn't long before both were lying at my feet, drained of blood.

"Impressive," I heard from the tree line. I looked over and saw Nancy leaning against one of the many trees surrounding the clearing. She smiled at me.

"I'm glad you think so." I'll admit it. I was a little cocky at what I just did.

"I can't believe you took down three massive lions in less than 20 seconds. And that's without one drop of blood on you." She shook her head as if she still didn't believe it. "There really is something special about you…"

"I think it's all the talking you both did to me when I was human. It really came in handy," I said.
"You're right." I noticed her eyes were already back to their golden color. "Didn't take you as long as I did, I see."

She chuckled. "I guess you didn't notice you were standing, opening your senses for more than two minutes. Gave me enough time to hunt and return. But you were still standing there." I laughed with her this time.

"Trust me it won't take me as long next time." She nodded and became serious.

"Remember why you were made, Lucas?"

I got serious, too, seeing where she was going with this. My face broke out in an evil grimace just thinking of the reason… I knew it was my duty. And with all the control I could muster without running off in that second, I hissed the sentence I would never forget.

"To end the Cullen clan."