I am really sorry for the wait, but at least it wasn't that long! :) I hope you're still hangning in there - we're progressing!
Again, I want to thank all those who are with me in this; you guys are simply inspiring.
DISCLAIMER: Yeeeah, no. Not mine :)
Previously:
When we were in the woods, I taught her how to read and write. She was a quick learner, and therefore, she soon had read almost all the books I had.
When we moved from Birmingham, I had a small fortune we only used when we needed new clothes. I always wore my crest, and my mother's earrings. When Minnie asked if she too could get earrings, I told her that she most likely wouldn't be able to. I said I had gotten them when I was human and had had earrings in my ears during my change. We tried anyway, and I was right, she wasn't able to get them. Her skin was unbreakable.
"Minnie, I was wondering, would you like a job?" I asked her. She raised an eyebrow at me.
"What do you mean Bella? You want me to risk human lives and go with you on the hospital?" she asked. I frowned at her.
"No Minnie, not if you don't want to. I just think it would be smart if you started to earn your own money. Who knows, you might meet somebody and leave me someday." I smiled at her. She rolled her eyes.
"I could try. Sure, why not, let's try. I can always just hold my breath." I nodded and grinned. It would be such a positive thing if she joined me. Firstly, I wouldn't feel so lonely. Secondly, I could be with her all day.
"Good, then come with me. FeeFee, are you going to be all right here?" I asked him. He nodded.
"Yes Bella, and I think you are right; Minnie should try and go to work." I smiled at him, and stroked his fur. Minnie kissed his nose and we walked hand in hand towards the city. I could tell Minnie was worrying.
"Don't worry Minnie; you are going to do great. And if the hospital is not something for you, then we will just find you something else to do." I told her. She looked at me with fear in her eyes.
"But what if I am not going to do great? What if I end up killing someone and we have to move?" Her voice was trembling, and her grip was getting tighter around my hand.
"Minnie, everything will be fine. Just remember, if it gets too much, hold your breath and say you got ill. Then go home. And when you experience it, I am sure you will not be able to kill them. There is something about saving a human being that makes you revolted by killing them. They have a life, and you can save it and make sure they live it. Just remember everything you have read, and you will do perfect." I told her. She smiled a little at me.
We left towards the city, and Mr. Hummle took her in without hesitation. You could see the changes in Minnie after she got to work at the hospital. The first time, she was so nervous to be around blood, that she didn't even breathe; she just nodded along and wrote down what the doctors said to her. But slowly, as she started to see what miracles she could do working at a hospital; she started to trust herself more. She understood what I meant when I told her she wouldn't be able to ever again go back to hunt humans. I had never hunted humans, but when Minnie really started to work and helped out during humans' illnesses, and when she witnessed a new human baby come to into this world, she could see that a life drinking humans would be like a crime. She dreaded not having gotten the idea that animals would be a good substitute for humans when she was first changed; she dreaded having lived off of human blood her first 5 years.
"I will never, ever, in eternity drink human blood again." She told me when she for the first time witnessed a birth.
But then realization came, and she understood she would never be able to have children herself. It was a sad time for us, but Minnie remembered that we had FeeFee, and that he was like our child. But how she wished to have a baby.
Minnie and I were very good at what we did, and soon we became fully fledged doctors. I was able to do surgery, and in very rare cases my patient would die. Those cases were when the patient had no chance of surviving. I already knew so before the surgery started, but if I was to look human, I would have no idea. It pained me to no end that they could feel the pain. Their screams were so much louder to me, and it felt as if I could feel their pain with them. I remembered my transformation and flinched. At least they got peace in the end.
And that was why Minnie and I together started on science. We wanted to do something so that the patient would not feel anything. Give them some sort of medication so that they would become unconscious during surgery. It was so heartbreaking to hear how they suffered while Minnie and I did the surgery - we often worked as a team, because we were the best - and then just died. Every time it happened, we would go home feeling sad and restless, more so than every other day.
Therefore, Minnie and I started doing research about plants and liquids that might be able to at least ease the pain.
"You really think it will help?" Minnie asked while we read all the books we could get our hands on in our time off from the hospital. A small frown appeared on my forehead, as I considered what she said.
"I do Minnie; we just need to find out which combination will work best. If it just eases some of the pain, then we are already one step closer." I said to her. She nodded. She too, didn't like it when they screamed out in pain when we did surgery.
While we were still studying medical effects, we had to move.
"So, Minnie and Felix, where do you want to go next?" I asked them. Minnie was surrounded by books, and Felix was relaxing in front of the fire. It didn't matter to him that it was dangerous for him; the likes for fire hadn't got lost during his change. Minnie and I often joked his fur was just a decoration.
"I was thinking that we should move to another place in Europe; I want to see Scandinavia and Italy, France, Spain; all those places. Maybe Scandinavia first; I have heard there is many rainy days in Sweden." Minnie said. I nodded. Rainy days would be good; we could work more. Felix was nodding absentmindedly; it must look strange to regular vampires or humans were they to come by; a dog lying before the fire, nodding as if he joined in on the conversation. Not even regular dogs nod. But, as I have mentioned before, Felix is no regular dog. He is my first companion in this life, and like my baby. I don't need anything more than him and Minnie to be happy. Happy, but not complete.
I missed my Father. I don't know if he is still alive, or if he died that day, so many years ago. I hoped that he was changed and not killed. What a horrible daughter I am; to hope he was damned to this dreaded life of mine. But I couldn't help it. There had never been a body to find, and I just wanted him back.
"Bella?" Minnie asked. My head snapped up, and I laughed.
"Sorry, Min, I was just thinking. I think we should move to Sweden; it'd be great" She rolled her eyes, but grinned at me.
"Yeah let's; we'll quit tomorrow and move right away. Do you want to swim?" She asked. I thought about for a minute.
"Let's swim. I think we can have our things with us in a bag or in a box, and tow it behind." She nodded.
The next day we quit our jobs saying we were moving away.
"Do you need a recommendation?" Mr. Wilcox asked. Looking at Minnie faster than the man could catch, I saw she nodded.
"That would be great thank you. It is so hard to get a proper job as a woman these days." I said to him and smiled; from the corner of my eye, I could see Minnie nodding, but she was trying very hard not to laugh. Yes, it was hard to get a job as a woman. No, it was not hard to get a job as a vampire-woman. Mr. Wilcox just smiled and signed a recommendation for us, and with a quick goodbye, we left for Sweden.
We were able to find an abandoned boat, and putting all our things in there, we swam towards whatever country was there first. It turned out to be Denmark; it was a beautiful country with all the greenery; it was nothing like London; this place was cleaner, and you could smell it in the air. Though not much; great personal hygiene was not something you really cared about. Many were poor, and all those children stuffed together in a small house… Sicknesses, death and waste were, as in London, something you could smell in the air.
I must admit the Danish forest held some strange animals. Most of them were the same as in England, but there was no elk or moose. Mostly, we settled with deer, and sometimes even wolves, but they didn't really taste good. We were across Denmark fast; that country was so small. When we got to Sweden, we quickly found a hut we could live in. It was small, but because of the fact that we don't sleep, it was perfect. The one bedroom there, we rebuild to a library. As fascinated by books as we both were, we spend really many hours with books before us. Felix, who had never been able to read, quickly got bored.
"Min?" I asked out in the room, knowing she could hear me from where she was sitting with Felix.
"Do you think we could teach FeeFee to read?" I grinned. I heard her laugh at the sight it must surely put in her mind; I know I had a funny picture of Felix, the vampire-dog lying with a book before him reading.
"We could try; that way he won't be bored when we're not here." Minnie said.
"Would you please stop talking like I am not here?" He said. Minnie and I laughed.
"But do you want to learn how to read FeeFee?" Minnie asked him. I heard him lift his shoulders and drop them again. It was odd to see a dog shrug.
"Bella, let's get to work" And that was how we taught Felix how to read. It was rather funny to find him with a book whenever we got home. He was actually pretty good at turning the pages; he would carefully take his paw and try and get one of the claws under the paper, and then use his nose. He was truly a brilliant creature.
Felix soon became just as addicted to books as Minnie and I were; he read all the books we had in the library and whined for days until we got him new books. It was funny – scratch that, it was hilarious.
All Minnie and I ever used our money on was books and clothes. We were actually pretty rich because we only lived in abandoned huts and cottages.
Working in Sweden was interesting; we quickly picked up on the language, but I preferred to speak English. Minnie and I spoke fluently Swedish, and we could read and write it too, but we only spoke it while we were working or shopping. Felix had to learn the language too, so he could read the Swedish books.
One day though, I was walking through the town, and I saw something in an upper scale music store, a new creation. It was beautiful and before I knew what I was doing, the bell chimed from above me, indicating I had stepped into the store. A clerk came forward, and to the best of my ability I asked about the instrument. It was called a piano. It was somewhat unknown, but some Italian writer has just written a detailed description of it, and people were becoming interested. I bought it on the spot.
It was difficult to get to the cabin, but when I finally came back with it, I couldn't help but feel it belonged there. Minnie was looking at me weirdly as I sat before it, gently pushing down the keys, and delighting in the sounds it made. It was soft and beautiful, even to my sensitive ears.
"What is that?" Minnie asked. She too was looking at it in slight awe.
"It's called a piano," I explained as my fingers gently played a soft melody. It wasn't really anything, just tones strung together. I liked the way it sounded. I looked at Minnie and smiled. Her eyes showed the same thing as I felt; we had something new to spend time on.
After about 10 years all over Sweden, we decided to move on. We had to sell the piano because we couldn't bring it with us. I was sad; I loved it. Minnie and I had spent a lot of time on it, learning the different tunes and trying to put them together so that I sounded good. We had even made up some songs and had a great time with it. It was slightly worn, but we loved it so much, that we were always very careful. We were going to have to buy one more when the time came.
Our next stop was Spain. It was truly a beautiful country, but it was sunny most of the days. Therefore, we worked night shifts. The Spanish people found our accent funny, but as we learned the language, they slowly stopped commenting on the accent. I would never let go of my English accent; I was proud of it. It showed all people where I was from.
In the year 1721, I decided I wanted to try something else than working in a hospital.
"Min?" I asked suddenly, my fingers freezing above the keys of the piano. I had been playing softly, trying to figure out my thoughts. Playing the piano always relaxed me.
Minnie was reading a novel, and seemed to be interested in it.
"Hmm?" She said, engrossed in her book. It made me wonder if I someday would write a book? That could be fun…
"Do you want to try something else than working in a hospital?" Her head snapped up and looking at me, she forgot her book. She looked to be thinking about it for a minute.
"Yeah, I think it could be nice with change. What do you want to try out?" It was my turn to ponder for a moment. We were currently living in France, and I thought it could be fun to try something new.
"Hmm… there is opening a clothing store?" That didn't sound something I would enjoy. I wrinkled my nose. Minnie didn't look too pleased either.
"No… What about opening a Café?" Minnie asked. That sounded a little better. Maybe we could try that out.
"We could try that," I agreed, "but we would have to do it in another city; we can't start a Café here, now because we have to move soon anyway." I said and agreeing, she and I started to pack up. Once again we decided to sell the piano and buy a new one at our next destination.
Starting over again would be great. Felix too, was happy for the change of scenery; he was always a little excited about it.
I hope you'll forgive me for still not having her meet Carlisle.. But that seen is already written, and I've gotta say I like it. You'll have to wait a little longer ;)
Cheers!