A/N: Thanks to Kikithebookworm- you're awesome :) andddd, check me out on Twilighted!!! I've finally gotten my story up there! YAY!
Chapter Three: Voices as performed by Liz Story
As we loped through the forest, I considered how the Denali sisters would react. I had a feeling that Irina would be rather irate and inconsolable and Tanya would be just as furious that I lied to her. However, I was unsure of how Kate and Carmen would react. I knew that I needed to approach the topic with caution and I needed to prepare myself for the worst. It was so frustrating to think that I had just found myself a home in which I belonged, I had to put it in jeopardy.
I hadn't realized that I had slowed my pace to almost a walk and I could sense that Eleazar was several tree lengths ahead of me. I stopped walking all together and breathed. I needed a moment to myself to prepare. As I inhaled, a new scent surrounded me. It was sweet and familiar? At once, all my senses were on high alert. I could feel eyes on me, but I couldn't tell from where.
"Who's there?" I called out into the forest. My voice echoed off the trees in response. I placed my hands on my hips and called out once more, "I know there is someone out there, so you might as well just come out." I heard an angelic laugh come from behind me and tiny hands covered my eyes. Quick as a flash of lightening, I grasped on to the hands and yanked the attacker over my shoulder onto the ground. When my eyes met their honey golden orbs, I faltered.
I took in her appearance: her hair was short, spiky, and black. She had a small nose and pouty lips. She was wearing something rather… dressy to be out in the woods: a hunter green cashmere sweater and skin tight coffee brown pants with riding boots that rose above her knee; around her neck hung a charm with a crest on it. With my hands still pushing her into the ground, I found myself again lost in a memory.
"Alice! I don't want a birthday party!" I was angry and annoyed. Alice always had her way.
"Please please please please Bella! I'll do anything!" The pixie begged.
I sighed. "I don't have anything to wear."
She squealed in delight, "I knew you'd say that." Shoving a box in my arms, she twirled like a ballerina and called over her shoulder, "I'll see you at 7 tonight! You're going to love your outfit!"
"Alice?" I asked in disbelief.
"Bella, really, would you please let me off this dirty ground?" She scoffed.
I remembered that I had her pinned to the ground and helped her up. She brushed the dirt off her backside and then turned to face me. She looked confused, and yet, happy. Seconds later, her arms were clinging around my neck so tightly I was sure I would have suffocated as a human.
"I can't believe it Bella!! You're finally one of us!" she squealed in my ear.
I hugged her back tightly, inhaling her beautiful familiar scent, so happy to have my best friend back in my life. "Yeah, I guess I am." I whispered softly. "How did you know?"
She stepped back and looked at me, "Bella, please. You know I can see the future. I obviously saw Laurent turning you. Although I'd love to kick that piece of shit for letting you change on the forest floor. It was so inhumane." She made a look of disgust and continued, "When I saw your decision to come to Alaska, I knew it was time to meet you. The new you."
I stood still for a second and registered what she said. "So… You knew?"
She nodded her head. I began to look anxious but she quickly calmed me down. "I didn't tell anyone else, Bella. That is your choice."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Thanks Alice. I'm not ready for everyone to know yet."
Again, she quietly nodded her head, as if waiting for me to say something. Slowly, my next question poured out.
"Alice, does he know?"
She shook her head furiously, "No. Bella, I haven't seen him in months. The last I heard he was here at the Denali home, but that's obviously not true. He calls every once in a while to check up on us."
"Oh." My voice sounded weak, defeated even. "I guess it's for the best. He never wanted this life for me."
Her eyes met mine, "That doesn't matter anymore Bella, because now you are one of us. You're family. He'll have to accept that."
It was my turn to shake my head, "No. He doesn't want me; he said I was nothing but a distraction to him."
Alice hissed at this but then pulled me into her arms, "Bella dear, you know Edward loves you. He was just trying to protect you."
I started to dry sob into her chest. "I needed him around to protect me Alice! He wasn't there, and… and… I was so… lost… So…"
"Shhhh, shhhh, it's okay Bella. Things will get better, I promise." She cooed into my hair.
I felt so safe in her arms. She rocked me softly and hummed a beautiful tune in my ear as I sobbed. I released all the emotions I'd been feeling, unable to stop. She just clung to me, taking it all in.
Eventually, the sobs died down and I realized it had been some time since Eleazar had left me.
"Alice, I should get back. They'll be waiting for me."
She pulled me tighter into her chest, "It'll be okay Bella. I promise that everything works out."
My spirit immediately rose hearing her promise. If it was one thing I learned, it was never to bet against Alice. "Will you stay?" I asked her.
"I have to get back to Jasper. The family will be wondering where I went and why. We'll be together shortly, I can see it." She smiled at me and gave me another tight hug and then sprinted off into the trees. I took another deep breath and began trotting towards the Denali house.
Eleazar opened the door for me and welcomed me inside. I made my way to the living room, going over the things I wanted to say in my head over and over again. I was most concerned about Irina. I honestly would be quite surprised if she didn't try to kill me. Alice had said that everything would be alright, so I was going to tell them the truth, about everything. I heard Eleazar call the others down to talk and I started to feel nauseous. Is it even possible for a vampire to feel sick to their stomach? I wondered if my cheeks still turned bright red when I was put on the spot.
"Carmen, Irina, Kate, Tanya- Izzy has something she needs to tell you all." Eleazar left the floor wide open for me to begin my story.
I took a deep breath, even though I didn't need to, and began, "First of all, I would like to apologize. I am not Izzy- but Isabella, as in Isabella Swan," I saw a looked over at Tanya and her face was full of disdain as soon as my name revealed who I really was. "Tanya, I'm truly sorry. I should not have lied, but I did so because I was scared. You said there was a Cullen in your house and I didn't want you to know right away who I was. I just didn't know how to approach the situation." I looked at Tanya, begging her with my eyes to make her understand, silently pleading. She nodded, slowly.
"Well Bella, I wish you would have told me from the start. I feel this may make things awkward between us. You know how I feel about Edward." She said this with a smirk, as if she was trying to hurt me somehow.
I crossed the room, and took her hand in mine. "Tanya, I'm not here because of Edward," I winced as I said his name. "I'm here because I wanted help and I had hoped you would be able to do so."
She pulled her hand back, crossing her arms, "Humph. This is an odd situation. I do recall Edward saying he left you as human. Who turned you?"
It was here that I hesitated, unsure of how to respond. I knew I could lose everything. I looked to Eleazar for support and he just nodded his head. You can do this Bella- they are to be your new family. You must be honest with them.
"Laurent turned me."
I heard a small gasp from behind me. I turned to face Irina and I could see the misery that that statement had just put her through.
She looked me squarely in the eyes and questioned me, "Laurent turned you?"
"Yes. I met him prior, when I was with the Cullen's. After they left, I went in search of a meadow that Edward had taken me to. I found it, as well as Laurent. I could tell he hadn't fed in a while and he could barely keep himself from attacking me." I watched at Irina crumbled to the floor. I turned to face the others. "I asked him to turn me. I wasn't quite ready for death, and I knew this was the only way out of there."
I looked down at Irina, Kate now soothing her. Her eyes met mine and she asked the question I was dreading most, "Where is he now, Bella?" As if she already knew the answer, she began sobbing harder.
"I'm so sorry Irina. He was attacked by wolves. Giant wolves. He died trying to save me. I am so sorry." I had hoped she believed me, that my apologies were honest and sincere.
"Wolves?" Kate asked.
I nodded my head. "They're Quileute wolves. They're supposed to be protectors or something?" I wasn't exactly sure of the idea myself.
Eleazar corrected me. "They actually shape-shifters, not werewolves."
Carmen seemed to be most intrigued by this statement. "Did you attack them?"
I looked at her confused, "No. Why would I do that?"
She laughed, "Bella, you should have been ripping them limb from limb. How is it that you have so much control, Bella?" I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, for I had no idea.
"We should call Carlisle." Carmen made a move for the phone, but I reached it before her, placing my hand on the receiver.
"No Carmen. They must not know that I'm a vampire. I am not ready for them to find out. Please, just let me handle this in my own way." She seemed to understand and nodded her head.
"If you were so close to the Cullen's, then you already know that Alice has the ability to see the future," Tanya said slowly. "Wouldn't she have seen you becoming a vampire?"
My eyes met hers, "She did see it."
They gasped, and Tanya spoke, "And she did nothing?"
My eyes averted hers, "Being a vampire is the only way that I could ever truly be with him. Alice knew I would survive the transformation. So she did nothing to interfere." Almost to myself, I murmured, "She wouldn't interfere."
Eleazar looked at me. "That explains why Alice didn't do anything, but what about your control? You should have torn those wolves to pieces, Bella. And you resisted human blood! It takes years of control to be able to do that."
"You resisted human blood?" Carmen came over to me in awe. "I think I may have an idea," she said slowly. "Would you allow me to do a little experiment?"
I looked at her and then to Eleazar who gave me a small smile. I nodded my head. "I want to know as much as you do."
She grinned widely. "Kate, can you come here a second?" Kate got up from the floor where Irina was and walked over to us. "Kate, I want you to take Bella's hand and give her a little shock."
I looked at Carmen and then over to Kate, thoroughly confused. "I'm sorry, but did you just say shock?"
Kate smiled. "I have the ability to generate an electrical current through my body. I have control over it, so I won't hurt you… Too bad," she said with a wink.
Eleazar came up from behind and said, "Trust her." So I did. I put my hands in hers and waited to be shocked to death. Secretly I was thinking that this was the Denali sisters' way of getting back at me, they could shock me to death. Yet, as I stood there, waiting for something to happen, Carmen got a huge smile on her face.
"You didn't feel anything, Bella?"
"Feel what? I didn't even know we started to do anything." I was genuinely confused now. What is going on?
Kate let my hands drop and Carmen approached me. Slowly, she spoke. "I think you have ability, Bella."
"I'm sorry, a what?" Things just kept right on getting weirder.
"An ability. Much like Alice has the ability to see the future, Jasper can control emotions, and Edward can read minds, you seem to have this ability to just, refrain or shield yourself from danger. You're like a walking shield Bella." She said this so matter of factly, she couldn't have been wrong.
"But…. How is it that its well, turned on? I don't realize I'm doing it!" I was astounded again by my own power.
"With time, I believe you will be able to control it, dear. I believe that Kate will be happy to help you control your ability, right Kate?" Carmen looked at Kate who looked at me and smiled, nodding her head.
"Sure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but we'll work something out." She said happily.
"Okay, so that might explain why Edward couldn't ever hear my thoughts when I was human, but where does my control come from?" I asked frustrated.
Eleazar was the one to answer this one. "I think your control comes not just from your shield, but also from the Cullen's. You spent so much time with them, learning their habits and lifestyles, that when you changed, you inherited them. As a human, you were like family to them. As a vampire, you are family. It seems only natural that your instincts would want you to be more like them, no matter the situation."
I collapsed on to the armchair beside me. The Cullen's are my family. I am their family. This thought wound over and over in my head. Pretty soon, I felt like I was sinking into my own thoughts.
Kate walked over to me, "You are our family now Bella. Irina will forgive you eventually, just give her some time." I hadn't even noticed that Irina had left the room. "You will become one of our sisters. You will learn the ways of the vampire. We will teach you how to fight and how to live. But first, we really must get you out of that damn, smelly t-shirt. You do realize why it smells, don't you?" She asked me the same exact question Eleazar had earlier in the day. I still refused to answer that question. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.
A smile spread across Kate's lips as she spoke, "Who ever owned this shirt before you sweetheart, is a werewolf."
Thoughts of the huge wolf that Sam turned into flooded my mind. Her words solidified my assumptions.
"I have to tell Jacob!" I started to rise out of the armchair, but Eleazar pushed me back down.
"Darling, if his clothes smell like that, he already knows. Besides, I can almost guarantee he will not like you the way you are. Don't you remember what we just said about the werewolf/ vampire relationship?" Then I remembered what Sam had told me.
"They're protectors, but I guess I don't quite understand, in what way?" I was now very curious as to why Sam had me run out of the forest so quickly.
Eleazar answered this question by saying, "By protect, they mean kill, Bella. Werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies. That's why we smell so bad to each other. That's why we don't have the urge to feed on them in human form. That's why I was completely astonished when you said you were friends with them. It's a bit laughable really."
Mortal enemies? "So… I can never go back to Jacob. He'll know what I am as soon as I'm in Forks?" I began to think about how I had left him, without ever really saying goodbye. My heart began to ache.
Eleazar slowly shook his head and looked me in the eyes, "No Bella, you cannot return to this Jacob. He is no longer yours to return to."
I slowly slid out of the chair onto the floor, sobbing. Earth-shattering, gut wrenching pain took over me. He is no longer yours to return to. He is no longer yours, Bella. "No, no, no, no, no!" I began to wail. I sobbed harder as I realized what I had agreed to with Laurent. I not only agreed to become a vampire, but I agreed to give away my sunshine, my Jacob. What had I done?
A/N: Chapter Seven will be posted once I get ten reviews :) Please. Be nice and review people. It makes me happy. Thanks!
