Chapter Twenty-three

Falling

Jacob's POV

I rushed to the Cullen's, carrying Margarete in my arms. She was right, her bleeding should have stopped before it even started. I could feel her blood soaking through my shirt and hear her heart beating faintly. This wasn't possible.

By the time we got to the Cullen's, she was mumbling things I couldn't make out. Edward was rushing out of the house, "What happened? What did you do to her?"

"She told me to bite her."

He took her from me quickly, "And you did?!"

"I didn't think anything would happen! She wanted me too."

He shook his head, "Leave! Now. Go back to Bella."

I followed him to the front door, "No. I'm staying. I'll leave when I know she's alright."

"Then just keep away from me," he growled.

Walking in to the house, I winced. The smell was horrible. They all moved so fast, trying to clear a space for Dr. Cullen to check on her. I didn't see the point. Edward was obviously right. Me biting her reversed her immortality.

Margarete's POV

I remember the pain and the burning when I was changed. This was nothing compared to that. My heart fought against my stone body, fighting for life. It was unbearable. I couldn't get enough air. I was gasping, it hurt to breathe.

I knew Jacob was the one holding me. I tried telling him to just put me down, leave me alone. Let me just be alone in this agony. Then I heard Edward. Felt my body go from burning arms in to freezing ones. The cold felt better. Soothing.

My vision was hazy. Human. I couldn't see every speck. Couldn't hear the cars from the road. The freezing embrace was taken from me as Edward laid me down. On the dining room table. The table where I explained everything to the Cullen's. Where it all started. Where it would end.

Carlisle was hovering over me, trying to stop the bleeding. How could I still be bleeding? I wasn't suppose to bleed. I wasn't suppose to need air. I could feel my pulse race. My heart beating roughly against my chest. I wanted it to be over.

I tried pushing Carlisle away but he was so much stronger than me now. His cool hand rubbed my cheek, "I'm only trying to help."

Alice was next to him, covering her nose and mouth, "It's bad. Edward was right. How can this happen, Carlisle?"

I saw him shake his head quickly, "It's unbelievable."

A low growl erupted from Edward's chest, "Fix it. Help her, please."

I wanted to comfort him, tell him how stupid I was for going to Jacob. I tried, but everything faded in to black.

When I woke up, I was in Edward's room. I sat up slowly and the throbbing in my arm made me groan. I haven't felt my own in pain in over 300 hundred years. I was human. My eyes adjusted, slowly, to the darkness that surrounded the room. I could barely make out the figure in the shadows.

"Edward?" I whispered softly, my throat hoarse.

"No. He stepped out for a minute." It was Jacob.

"Are you ok?"

I heard his feet shuffling against the floor to the bed, "I should be asking you that. How do you feel?"

I inhaled deeply. So use to being able to take in every scent with that small action. I only got air, this time. I sighed, "I'm…alive."

The bed creaked quietly and I felt the mattress dip as he sat down on the edge, "Yeah, you are."

"But, I can still hear… I hear you. I can hear Alice downstairs. Jasper, too. Emmett and Rosalie are back?" I asked, not needing the answer.

"Esme called them. Rosalie is practically begging for me to bite her. And all this time I thought she couldn't stand me," he joked.

I leaned back in to the pillows, feeling dizzy, "I can't believe this. Any of it. I'm human. It feels so…" I searched for the right word and my lip curved in disgust, "horrible."

"Is it that bad?"

"I've been a vampire longer than I was human. Immortality suited me better than mortality. I could handle my gifts easier. I forgot that. All the voices, the images of the future. I had more space in my mind when I was a vampire."

His hand found mine, "Are you going to have Edward turn you back?"

"If what Alice and I saw, I won't need to."

"You saw this?"

I nod, closing my eyes, "It was what made me find you."

"What else did you see?"

"We thought it was Bella and you. We thought Bella got pregnant but if it was with you there wouldn't be anything supernatural about it and the Volturi wouldn't have a need to get involved. Alice and I pooled our power, to get a closer look. I didn't realize it was me in the field. Alice did."

His hand dropped mine, "Pregnant? What? Bella's pregnant?"

I shook my head, "No. No, she's not. I am. Or I will be. Somehow."

He stood up quickly, "This is too much. I have to go. I'm sorry. I hope you figure things out."

"Jake," I whisper, trying to sit up again.

"Don't, Margarete. Just focus on getting better."

Before I could stop him, he was gone and I cried. For the first time since the day my parents tried to kill me, I cried.

Edward's POV

I stood outside my bedroom, listening to Jacob and Margarete talk. I shouldn't have been, it seemed private but I couldn't tear myself away. Her heart beat was holding me there. It wasn't regular. There was something a little off about it. It was fast. Like it was trying to catch up for all the beats it missed.

The door swung open and Jacob stepped out. He frowned, seeing me, "I have to go."

Nodding, I stepped out of his way, "Goodbye, Jacob."

He left, phasing the second he was out the door. I listened to his thoughts until he was almost home. Home to Bella. I stopped then. I needed to focus on what was happening here.

Walking in to the bedroom, I flipped on the lights. It startled Margarete and she stared at me. Her eyes were blood shot and they were crimson. No human's eyes were crimson. She wiped away her tears and bit her lip, "I'm sorry."

I smiled, I couldn't help it. Her voice was still so musical. Her blood pulled me in. She was still as breath taking as she was when she was a vampire.

"Why are you smiling? This isn't a happy moment, Edward. Things are seriously screwed up."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I put the idea in your head. I pushed it. It was only a theory."

She kept her eyes on me and I was inside her head. I could hear her every thought. The walls were completely down. No trace of them at all. Before, I was able to hear her but I could still feel her guard.

"Carlisle is calling around. Trying to find out anything he can. So far, no one has ever heard of a vampire turning human."

She sighed, "It's unbearable. I can barely see. I can't smell anything. My arm is throbbing. My head is pounding. I want it all the stop. Please, bite me."

I laugh, loudly, "Is that how you convinced Jacob? You just said please?"

She threw a pillow at me, but it barely made it off the bed, "Shut up. Why are you so amused? Keep in mind that I am still your elder."

"I'm not going to bite you. Not til we know more about what's going on."

"If you don't bite me then I'm going to get pregnant and everything that we saw is going to come true."

"You're being ridiculous. We won't do any of that while you're human. I won't risk it."

She groans, "That's right, because I'm far too fragile for any of that. And you have no self control."

I smirk, "Exactly. I do have some self control though."

She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, sure you do. Who was it that put the headboard through the wall? Hmm? That wasn't me."

"You provoked me."

"I would never."

I put my hand on her cheek and she closed her eyes, "You're heart is beating fast. Faster than a normal human. And your eyes…"

She slowly opened them, "What?"

"They were crimson when I came in. They're almost purple now."

"My eyes never changed when I was human. That started after I was changed."

I trail my fingers over her bandage, still able to smell the blood, "You don't smell human."

"Freak. Quit smelling me."

"I'm serious. You can't be human, but you're obviously not a vampire."

"So, then I'm the freak. Great."

My hand moved over to her stomach, resting it gently over the blankets. It felt oddly cold there. I pulled the blankets down slowly, revealing her t-shirt covered stomach. She arched her brow, "Hello, Mr. No Self Control, what are you doing?"

I ignored her, sliding my hand under the fabric of the shirt and rested my hand against the cold skin of her stomach. Before I was able to comprehend what had happened, I was flying across the room and slammed in to the wall.