A/N - The title of this chapter loosely translates to "what nourishes me also destroys me." It's Latin and yes, it's one of Angelina Jolie's tattoos. I'm unsure as to the origin of the quote but I just want to point out that it's NOT mine, I'm just borrowing it. I used it because it fit the chapter well. Enjoy, guys.
Chapter 20 – Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit
One Month Later
Bella woke up to a hunger that was as foreign to her as the gross national product of Kazakhstan. She bolted up in bed, sheets of dark royal purple pooling at her knees as torrents of sweat ran down the sides of her face. Grimacing, she instinctively wrapped both arms around her stomach, hoping to quench the burning sensation that resided within the pit of her stomach. It was as if the fires of hell had been set aflame within her stomach walls; biting fervently down on her lip, she inhaled deeply before releasing the puff of air with exaggerated slowness. Bella continued in this manner until her stomach dulled to a throbbing ache that was akin to someone embedding a bag of newly sharpened razor blades into the lining of her stomach.
Teeth clenched so tight that the muscles in her jaw jumped out in a bunched knot, Bella stumbled out of bed, almost tossing herself out of the door in her haste to make a beeline to the kitchen. Going down the stairs proved more challenging than easy as Bella was assaulted by waves of hunger that seemed intent on gnawing a gigantic cavernous hole through her stomach muscles. She had nearly tumbled down the remaining flight of stairs and would have no doubt fallen flat on her face had Esme not suddenly appeared and grasped her elbow in a firm but gentle hold. The matriarch, concern etched across the gentle planes of her face and an inquisitive question in her eye, had escorted Bella down, one baby step at a time.
"What's the matter?" came the casual inquiry, though Esme was not fooling anyone with that particular worried tone.
"Hungry," was all Bella could spit out. "Really, very, hungry." So hungry was the girl that she did not even contemplate just how odd this kind of hunger was. It was all encompassing, demanding every nugget of the brunette's attention until it was all she could focus on.
"Breakfast," the motherly vampire confirmed. Fingers still laced around Bella's elbow, she led the girl into the kitchen, setting her on the tall stool behind the kitchen island. She wound smartly around the corner of the counter and proceeded to pull out what looked like half the cereal boxes stocked at the local supermarket.
Bella watched, half amused and half astounded as box after colorful box of cereal popped out from one of the suspended cabinets. She fought to keep her jaw from sagging as Esme paused to rummage through a bottom drawer, extracting from it a cherry-red ceramic cereal bowl. Placing it in front of Bella, along with a shiny stainless steel spoon, she then continued to pull out yet another batch of cereal boxes. So flabbergasted by the scene in front of her, the girl managed to momentarily forget about the ravenous appetite that was scratching at the walls of her stomach.
Now armed with a cherry-red bowl, a spoon and an army of cereal boxes, Bella could only form twin moons with her dramatically widened eyes as her brain frantically searched itself for an appropriate response. Displayed in front of her was every cereal known to man; the brand names and the color of the boxes ranged from the yellow Coco Pops to the purple Granola to the Red Fruit Loops. Despite her stomach twisting into itself, Bella simply sat there, staring slack-jawed as Esme deposited three more boxes in front of her, her face donning a decidedly sheepish expression when she finally caught the stunned look on Bella's face.
"My apologies, Bella." The matriarch fumbled around for an excuse, knowing that if she could blush, her cheeks would be flaming red by now. She set a box of Cap'n Crunch next to a rectangular red and blue box of Weet-Bix. "There were so many to choose from at the store and well…" She shuffled her feet slightly, a move that Bella found instantaneously endearing. "I didn't know your preferences so…" She gestured weakly at the battery of boxes that sat merrily on the marble counter.
Bella giggled despite herself and despite the gnawing hunger that was gnashing its impatient jaws at the pit of her stomach. She reached over and patted Esme's arm. "S'ok, Esme," she replied. "Thank you." Extending a hand, she reached for the box of Lucky Charms and pulled it toward her. As she slid a finger under the flap of the box, Esme placed a carton of milk at her nine and with a small smile retreated to a cutting board waiting patiently at the opposite end of the island.
Hunger wracked Bella's body, returning in full force as the girl got over the shock of the scene in front of her. Bella was so plainly hungry, that she was practically vibrating on the stool and hands shaking, she tore a hole in the wrapper and shook the box over the cereal bowl. Out tumbled a multicolored stream of colored oats and marshmallows, its shapes ranging from clovers to horseshoes to stars. They tinkled happily into the bowl and Bella continued to shake the cereal loose from the box until the bowl was almost filled to its brim. Setting the box down and reaching for the milk she poured in a generous amount, nearly overdoing it as the colored cereal floated dangerously close to the edges of the cherry-red bowl. Quickly dropping the milk carton back onto the counter, Bella's fingers latched onto the spoon and in quick succession, drowned the rounded tip into the sea of milk and multi-shaped colored oats. She scooped a big spoonful into her mouth, almost moaning in orgasmic relief as the cold milk slid down her throat like the purest nectar and the sweetness of the cereal danced a merry tune on her neglected taste buds.
Spoonful after spoonful was shoveled with frightening speed into Bella's eager mouth but she allowed her eyes to wander, as her mouth was kept occupied. Eyes rotated to where Esme stood, expertly wielding a bread knife as she cut slices of white bread, lathered liberally with peanut butter and jelly, into triangles. Sensing an audience, she looked up into Bella's chocolate eyes, raising an eyebrow as she was treated to the sight of Bella demolishing her breakfast like a demon possessed. "For appearances sakes," she said simply, her hands a virtual blur as they continued to cut and dissect. She nudged her chin in Bella's direction. "You seem very hungry."
Bella nodded absently, both to Esme's explanation and to her observation. Her attention snapped back to her meal when the flat end of her spoon met the bottom of the bowl with a soft clink. Frowning, Bella looked down, wondering where her breakfast went. Then another thought occurred to her. "Where is everybody?" For the first time, Bella acknowledged that she could detect nobody in the house but her and Esme.
"Hunting," came the easy reply. Esme pulled a small pile of zip-lock bags toward her and started rationing the cut sandwiches into the bags. "Carlisle's at the hospital already though."
"Hmm..." It was the only sound that would alert Esme to Bella paying attention to what she was saying. The girl was in fact, staring at her empty bowl with such a concentrated look of consternation that it was almost unnerving. After what seemed like a long minute of tense silence, Bella shrugged and reached forward to pick up the box of Frosties when a bolt of white-hot pain lanced through her body like a serrated knife. It originated from the depths of her stomach, shooting up her esophagus and grinding non too gently at the walls of her throat before exploding out into the confines of her mouth with all the grace of a violently erupting volcano.
The pain was so sudden, so overwhelming that for a split second, Bella simply sat frozen as the feeling of her blood turning into red-hot lava traveled down every vein and seared every nerve. The next wave of inconceivable agony radiating from her stomach smacked Bella back into reality with the force of a Mac truck. The streaks of pain thundering over her trembling frame were so fierce that it was all Bella could do not to retch on the spot. Gasping, she pushed back off her stool; it clattered wordlessly to the tiled ground but Bella paid it no mind. She raced round the counter, barely making it to the sink before she began throwing up what was her breakfast, her body heaving and jerking with each retch.
Esme reached Bella almost the same time it took for the girl to bolt toward the kitchen sink. She gathered back a shock of damp, messy chestnut brown hair as Bella began dry heaving into the sink, fingers clenching the edges of the basin so hard that her knuckles stood out whitely in vivid relief.
"Bella?" Esme's voice was the epitome of worry. "Bella, honey, what's wrong?" She winced as Bella's body flinched under the onslaught of bile and recently ingested cereal that was now clawing its way up her throat with cruel intent. She rubbed soothing circles over Bella's t-shirt clad back as the girl continued to vomit into the sink.
"BELLA!"
Esme nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected roar of the brunette's name. She turned to see the blur that was Alice jumping into the kitchen from the balcony, her face marred with fear and her untamed hair windblown to the point where it spiked out in all directions. A drying streak of rusty-red deer blood ran down the corner of her lip, ending in a splattered stain on the front of her unusually ordinary and plain white t-shirt. Esme deduced that Alice must have been assaulted by a vision mid-feed; the elfin vampire was by now so apt at feeding that she normally left no evidence of her hunting of the forest animals on her.
"What's the matter with her?" Esme demanded as Alice all but shouldered her mother out of the way to tend to Bella.
"I don't know," Alice bit out tersely. "I was hunting when I got a vision of Bella—"
She waved a hand at the scene in front of her to indicate that this was what she saw.
Both vampires waited, breaths baited as Bella's gagging grew lesser and slower until she finally fell silent. A shaky hand reached up to turn on the faucet and she cupped her hand to gather some of the water to rinse out her mouth. That done, she rinsed out the sink, noting that whilst the unbearable pain in her stomach has lessened, her abdominal muscles still quivered under the insistent throbbing that still emanated from her stomach walls.
"Bella?" Alice's dulcet voice was starched in anxiety. She bounced on the balls of her feet, hands twitching in apprehension.
Bella turned her suddenly exhausted body around. Using the counter for support, she leaned heavily against it, one arm automatically going to her stomach in an attempt to quell the throbbing ache. "I woke up really hungry," she rasped, vocal cords rubbed raw from the retching. "Had some cereal," she made a weak gesture to the assembly of cereal boxes still lined on the island. "Then this." She indicated to the sink.
"Call Carlisle," Alice ordered. She moved forward and lifted Bella into her arms, ignoring the half-hearted protest bursting forth from the brunette's lips. She marched them into the living room, depositing Bella gently on the couch. Then she began an inventory of the girl, noting immediately the unnaturally gray pallor Bella's face had taken and the way Bella's body shook, like a drug addict who was long overdue for a fix. When she moved a cool hand to the girl's forehead, she was shocked to find Bella's body temperature nearly mirrored her own.
"You're cold!" Alice exclaimed. She began rubbing her hands up and down Bella's arms, in a futile attempt to instill some heat back into the obviously freezing girl. "In fact, you're freezing. Jesus, Bella, your lips are blue!" Alice's voice had taken on a panicked squeak and she reached over to yank a comforter from the end of the couch. Shaking it open, she tossed it over Bella's shoulders, wrapping it tightly around the brunette. Then she took stock of the windows and balcony doors of the house, blurring around to close whichever ones were open. Winter was fast approaching, practically knocking on their doors but the house was kept warm, and the central heating installed and turned on for Bella's sake.
Sprinting back to Bella, Alice nearly teetered over her own booted feet as she watched the brunette shiver fiercely under the comforter. The girl was covered in a light sheen of cold sweat and she seemed to grow paler by the minute despite Alice having turned up the heat in the house. She hovered in front of Bella, not wanting to touch her due to the coolness of her own body but fighting the overwhelming urge to bundle the shaking brunette into her arms. Feeling utterly helpless and hating the feeling with every fiber in her body, Alice could do nothing but wait.
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The screech of tires alerted Alice to Carlisle's arrival. Alice tilted her weight onto her right foot, intent on running to the front door but Esme beat her to it, flitting gracefully to open the heavy mahogany door to reveal a harried looking Carlisle. He momentarily paused to brush a quick kiss across Esme's lips and caressed his wife's cheek before making his way into the living room. He almost blanched as his eyes soaked in the sight of Bella trembling like a leaf in the wind, the comforter wrapped so tightly around the girl it seemed almost like a second skin. What his medical gaze saw however, set off alarm bells in the back of his head. Bella looked like she was on the verge of hypothermia; her lips were stained a pale blue, the tips of her ears tinged a blue-gray pallor color as well. She shivered consistently, but her eyes were glazed over, eyebrows scrunched as her gaze flickered between Alice, Carlisle and Esme. It was as if she were trying to figure out who they were or what was happening. Another symptom indicating hypothermia: possible amnesia.
Dropping his doctor's bag, Carlisle pulled out a digital thermometer, gently inserting the tip into Bella's ear as he knelt down beside her. When the equipment beeped, he extracted it, silencing a curse that knocked at the back of his lips when the thermometer read 90°. "Her core temperature is far below normalcy. We need to get her warm, fast." He turned toward Esme. "Run a bath, a hot one." The words were barely strewn out of his mouth when Esme bolted up the stairs. "Alice," he addressed her as he turned. "Grab the duvet in the linen closet. The thick one."
Alice was gone and back in mere seconds, a woolen blanket, thick and fluffy, tucked under her arm. Without waiting for instructions, she repeated her earlier action with the comforter; shaking it open and tossing it around Bella's shoulders. She lifted the girl up in her arms and shimmied the bottom of the duvet under Bella until the girl was cocooned from head to toe. Then Alice deposited her back on the couch, rocking back on her own heels, wringing her hands in agitation.
"Carlisle what's going on?" Her voice was aggravated. "People don't just get hypothermia. It's not like she was walking around outside in her underwear!"
Carlisle chewed at his lip but before he could answer, Esme blew down the stairs, announcing the bath ready. Alice picked up the shaking Bella, and doing her best not to jostle the suffering girl, ran up the stairs and into her room. She burst through the adjacent door to the bathroom and was instantly waft with curling clouds of steam.
"Just put her straight into the tub," Carlisle instructed, coming up behind the pair. "Esme is making her some hot chocolate. We need to get warm liquids into her as well."
Alice gently deposited Bella into the bathtub, the water seemingly too hot for her very cold skin. She bit down on her lower lip as Bella mewled, clinging desperately to Alice as the vampire lowered the girl into the steaming tub. "C'mon, honey," she coaxed. "It's just water. Just relax."
Bella winced as the hot water engulfed her shivering frame. It was akin to a thousand needles poking at her skin and she did not like the sensation one bit. Grabbing Alice's arm, she tried valiantly to lift herself out but Alice held her down, doing her best not to look stricken for she knew the simple act of immersing a hypothermic person in a bathtub full of hot water was anything but pleasant.
"Here." Esme suddenly materialized through the steam that still glided throughout the bathroom, even though the open door released enough of it so that the tiled walls of the room were now visible. The motherly vampire pressed a steaming mug of hot chocolate into Alice's hands then stood back, watching the scene unfold with pensive eyes.
Alice lifted the mug to Bella's chattering lips. "Drink this, baby," she said. She titled the mug, allowing the sweet warm drink to slide into Bella's mouth. She was severely unprepared for Bella's reaction to swallowing the beverage though; the girl went rigid under her touch and threw up the one mouthful into the tub. She gasped and started clawing at her throat, almost as if Alice had given her a cupful of acid to drink instead of hot chocolate.
"Carlisle!" Alice wrestled with the girl, trying to calm her down, the act of restraining a thrashing Bella causing splashes of bathwater to topple over the edge and onto the tiled floor. The mug of hot chocolate fell from Alice's grasp, disappearing under the tub of wavy bathwater. Hot chocolate oozed out, marring the transparency of the water in the tub, the murky brown stain spreading and stretching until it dissolved and merged with the now slightly cloudy bathwater.
"She can't drink?" Carlisle was at a loss. Something about Bella's condition seemed wrong and the doctor had to ponder at the symptoms and possibilities rampaging throughout his head even as Alice yelled at him to do something. Then a subtle click sounded in his head as a theory crept up unexpectedly.
"She needs blood."
"What?" Twin voices, resonating from Esme and Alice in unison echoed throughout the bathroom.
Carlisle fidgeted under the incredulous stares his wife and daughter were giving him. "She had some characteristics of a vampire," he explained. "Maybe she inherited our diet too."
Alice shook her head, even as she continued holding Bella by the shoulders. The poor girl was swallowing dramatically, her face screwed up in intense concentration even as her body quivered under the cooling water. "No." The elfin vampire shook her head vehemently, sending deliberately styled spikes of sable hair wriggling in all directions. "No. She eats normal food. Esme said she just had cereal!" Alice had swung into a void of denial; the last thing she wanted for Bella was to adapt to a diet of blood. Somewhere, deep down, Alice knew that it would be the straw that would break the already fragile camel's back.
"Maybe she needs both kinds of nourishment," Carlisle replied, ever the voice of reason. "Look at her! The bathwater's not helping; her fingers are half blue! She could go into shock, Alice and we all know that wheeling her into the ER is not an option. Her stomach rejected the cereal and the hot chocolate, making it obvious that she can't ingest human food right now." He pointed at the quaking girl. "She still seems to be hungry. What other choice do we have? Name one and I'll do it." He pinned his daughter down with a no-nonsense stare.
Alice hated that look. That 'you know I'm right so quit being stubborn and get with the program' look that all parents seem to perfect. She gritted her teeth so hard that one could hear the grinding of it bounce off the bathroom walls. After juggling option after option in her head, and finding no plausible way out, Alice gave in, shoulders sagging in resignation. One snowy white arm emerged from the water, sheets of it dripping off the appendage in transparent rivulets. Alice shook her arm, dispelling some of the liquid before reaching into the back pocket of her jeans. Pulling out a cell phone, she flipped it open and pressed a speed dial button, before practically shoving the device onto her ear.
"Alice," came the Southern drawl. Alice recognized the thick Southern burr of Jasper's voice; his accent usually came out in full force after he was fully sedated with blood.
"We need takeout," was all Alice could say before she shut the phone, almost crushing the device in her hand. Dropping the cell back into her pocket, her attention returned to Bella; the brunette had one hand latched around her stomach, pressing into it as if something were alive inside her and was threatening to chew its way out, one painful munch at a time. The other hand had its fingers leeched around her throat, squeezing and massaging even as the girl tried to swallow. It was as if her throat was suddenly on fire, its walls torched with gasoline and she just so happened to swallow a lit match.
"Hold on, Bella, hold on," Alice repeated. She knew Jasper would have detected the sharp, distraught note in her tone and hoped he would waste no time in coming back. Takeout was code for bringing back blood; it was rarely used as the Cullens would diligently set time aside for their hunting activities but sometimes something would come up and someone would volunteer to bring back a meal. Usually it was Carlisle who would request this, being that his line of work was the most hectic and the hours unpredictable. That and the fact that he was around humans that bled from various wounds for hours on end; Carlisle's willpower against the smell of human blood was unparalleled but even he had his breaking point.
For the second time that day, that wretched feeling of helplessness descended onto Alice like a dark plague as she was forced to wait, yet again for help to come.
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Jasper was still feeling the residing throes of blood-lust when his cell phone tinkered. What feelings of euphoria, brought on by the thrill of the hunt and the nourishment of blood, quickly drained away after receiving Alice's cryptic call. Forcing himself to refocus, his soldier trained eyes quickly spotted an easy prey: a fawn had wandered out of the herd, taking to grazing at lush green grass that was obviously enticing enough to lure it away from the safety of the group. Crouching low, Jasper had only to sprint and leap a couple of feet before his lanky form dropped lightly on top of the unsuspecting animal. A quick snap of the neck ensured its quick, painless death and Jasper hurriedly slung the carcass over his shoulder before spinning toward the direction of the house.
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Alice sensed Jasper's arrival seconds before he bounded through the front door, hesitating momentarily in the hallway until Alice hollered at him to come upstairs.
Now, all four vampires were cramped into Alice's bathroom, the dead fawn lying at their feet. Jasper had been given a quick briefing of recent events and as he stood before Bella, he forcibly tamped down his empath abilities; the agony and misery rolling off Bella was quite overwhelming.
Alice worried the inside of her cheek and tortured eyes, the color of golden toffee sought Carlisle's, begging for an alternative. Carlisle shook his head sadly. Alice turned away, tears brimming in her eyes. Praying for strength, she made a small incision at the fawn's neck, her granite hard nails nicking the jugular as easy as if she were dipping her finger in soft butter. Immediately a wine-red trickle began seeping out, the aroma of blood, thick with iron and life unfurled into the bathroom, draining the gold out of both Esme and Jasper's eyes.
"Out," Carlisle ordered as a tiny hiss escaped unintended from Esme's lips. He motioned his son and wife out of the bathroom and closed the door, locking himself, Alice and Bella in. Leaning heavily against the doorframe, he watched as Alice lifted the fawn carcass toward Bella, a gnat of worry and guilt jumping around in his windpipe.
"Just…just suck on the wound, Bella," Alice coaxed. Her voice was bruised with pain; this was one aspect of vampire life that she wished she could shield Bella from but apparently the Fates liked to be cruel.
What little color Bella had left on her face completely drained away as the girl went completely ashen at the sight of the animal carcass held in front of her like a sacrificial offering. She stared at the leaking wound, morbid fascination and disgust warring at the insides of her skull. She could smell the blood, the tangy irony smell that was the dark-red liquid. Instead of it being appealing to her, it seemed to make her more nauseous. "I can't," she whimpered, turning her head away. She tucked herself further under the water, which was alarmingly hot but did little to heat up her still trembling body that was tainted blue from the cold eating at her from the inside out.
"Bella, please." Alice could see just how much this was hurting the girl and she hated herself for being the cause of Bella's pain. Nevertheless, if Carlisle was right, then this was the only way. "Try. For me. Please." It was a low call, using the "for me" card but Alice was running out of options.
Tears streamed down Bella's face. The pleading tone in Alice's voice, laced with anguish, was hard to ignore. Swallowing hard, she bit down harshly on her lower lip, took a deep breath and lowered her lips to the wound. Her tongue peeked out, licking at the dripping cut and she immediately reared back, spitting the few droplets of blood out into the tub. "Urgh!" Bella continued spitting, absolutely revolted at how horrendous the taste was.
"Carlisle, this isn't working." Alice tossed the caress across the bathroom in a fit of agitation; it landed with a solid thump against the toilet bowl. "You were wrong."
Carlisle dragged confused fingers through his blond locks, sending it into disarray from its normally immaculate style. "I don't know what else we can do." He was momentarily distracted as there was a squeak from the downstairs front door and a murmur of voices, announcing the presence of the rest of the Cullens. No doubt Esme and Jasper were filling them on what was going on.
"What about human blood?"
Alice's voice was so quiet and slight that even Carlisle's enhanced hearing nearly missed it. He locked eyes with Alice and almost flinched at the swirls of pain swimming in those golden depths. Then he frowned. "It might work. I have a few bags in the fridge in my office." He unlocked the bathroom door and exited the bathroom.
Alice could hear Carlisle rummaging around in his office, could hear the low buzz of her family's voices in the living room but all this served as background noise. What she was really concentrating on was the unstoppable chatter of Bella's teeth as they clattered against each other in wake of her body's shivering state. Or the way Bella's heart thumped erratically, her pulsing jumping in beats that screamed abnormal. Or the way her stomach growled like a beast unfed for months. That was what her ears were sensitive to. Bella's every breath and heartbeat. They served to remind the vampire that Bella was still alive. And for now, that was what counted.
Carlisle returned just as Alice's eyes raked over Bella's frame, taking stock of any new problems. The smell of human blood assaulted her sense of smell and she immediately stopped breathing, her concentration on Bella broken as she fought to contain the beast within her.
"Do you need to leave?" Carlisle was holding the mug as far away from Alice as he could, to the point where his arm was outstretched away from his body. One curt shake of the head from Alice prompted Carlisle to kneel down next to her. "Bella?" He waited until Bella focused glazed eyes on him. "Try this." He pushed the mug into her hands. "It's AB positive, your blood type."
Bella was nearly traumatized when she got a good whiff at the blood in the mug. It was warm; Carlisle must have heated it up in the microwave. And to the girl's dismay, it smelt good. Her brain was shrieking blue bloody murder at her, practically bawling out the fact that it was so wrong that Bella should find a mug of human blood tantalizing. But instinct had overridden the howls; her hands wrapped blue stained fingers around the warm mug and had lifted the edge to blue-gray tinted lips. Greedily, Bella gulped down the thick, slightly congealed liquid, relishing the tangy taste of iron and the way it soothed the burning ache in her throat before recoating the lining of her stomach with comforting layers of warmth. She could feel the gnawing hunger ebbing away with each swallow and it seemed only seconds before the girl drained the mug, her tongue flickering out to lick at the residue blood that clung to the sides of the mug.
Silence lorded over the bathroom. Carlisle observed Bella, noting the blue tinged appendages fading back to its milky white color almost immediately. The girl's lanky frame was desisting from its shaking state and his doctor-trained eyes could see bunched shoulder muscles slacken and relax. Molten gold eyes tracked a visual path to the brunette's face, mouth almost releasing a relieved sigh as the color crept back into her cheeks. In fact, the still slightly steaming bathwater had painted Bella's cheeks a rosy pink. A good sign; it meant that her core body temperature was climbing back up to normal. But there was something…
"Look at her eyes!" Alice's exclamation of surprise beat out Carlisle's as two sets of amber eyes, a pair rimmed black, was awash with equal parts awe and shock, locked onto Bella's. Once the color of warm chocolate, the irises were now a rich dark brown, so dark they were almost black save for the faint streaks of silver-blue that shot through the dark chocolate color.
"Well, isn't that interesting," Carlisle murmured. He moved closer for a better look; the bolts of silver-blue were faint and almost undetectable with human eyes unless looked at from close range but for Alice and Carlisle, their vampiric eyes could make out its jagged patterns as it cut through the swaths of dark brown.
"Mirror?" Bella requested weakly, needing to see what had rendered the vampires so speechless and confounded.
Alice walked over to the vanity, picking up a makeup compact case. Flipping it open, she wordlessly handed it to Bella, who seconds after spying her reflection in the mirror gasped aloud. Alice winced at the sound.
"Whoa." It seemed to be the only word Bella's brain could formulate. She stared, mouth forming a perfect "O" at eyes that could not possibly be hers. Now the color of deep dark chocolate, it was also patterned with lightning lines of the most curious combination of silver-blue. "Is this permanent?" The question was directed at Carlisle.
The doctor shrugged, neither a vampire nor medical explanation coming to mind. "I honestly don't know Bella," he admitted. "But what we do know is that you apparently need blood to sustain yourself. But you can eat human food too." He mentally calculated how long it had been since Bella had been administered with vampire venom. "Based on my calculations, you don't need blood very often. Every few months, maybe. And a mug seemed to do you just fine. But it seems you can only drink your blood type." A myriad of theories began invading his mind at this discovery but he needed more pondering before coming to a solid conclusion.
Bella nodded, dismayed and horrified that she was now subjected to drinking blood. And not just any blood, human blood. She was hit with the memory of how she chugged down that mug and felt shame and self-disgust pour into her veins. Looking down she dragged a finger through the cooling bathwater. "Can I come out now?"
Carlisle nodded. "I'll leave you to get cleaned up. I'm due back at the hospital." He reached forward and gently extracted the empty mug from Bella's grip. "We'll talk more when I come home?" The question was directed at both Alice and Bella. When they nodded, Carlisle bade them goodbye and left.
Bella rose to her feet, water running down her body in sheets. Her eyes found Alice's, dark chocolate shot through with silver-blue slivers to honey-hued circled with a thin line of coal-black. For what seemed like hours they simply locked gazes, the inevitable tears building up in their eyes until it clouded the colors of their irises, blurring their vision.
Finally, as if waking from a spell, Alice moved to the edge of the tub and mutely held out a hand. Bella took it and when their hands touched, Bella and Alice knew. Looking into each other's eyes they knew. They knew things would never be the same again.
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"Alice." Bella hovered in the doorway, looking as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her face was drawn, eyes sunken in as the skin under was smudged with black. Her posture was the very picture of defeat and tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. She leaned all her weight against the frame of the door, as if it were the only structure left to keep her from falling.
Alice was sitting on the edge of the bed and she lifted her head painfully slow, as though it were simply too heavy to be engaging it in such a simple act. Tears curtained the golden orbs but even through the sheen of venom-glazed tears, the evidence of the vampire's pain and resignation was clear.
"I know," Alice whispered. Her voice was choked and broken, each syllable barely able to formulate in her throat as the elfin vampire felt them tumble out of quivering lips in a jumbled mess. "I know," she repeated, her voice soft, defeated. She swallowed, hard. Then her eyes snapped onto Bella's with startling clarity.
"You're leaving."
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