Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the creator of these intriguing characters. She and the filmmakers have made a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. I wish to borrow her background and add a plot twist of my own.

Chapter 15 – The Transition

Bella's POV

Caius told me what to expect today but it wasn't much more than the Cullens had told me. He then left me to eat my supper and didn't come back until late that night. I heard him walking around his room and he seemed to be angry and frustrated by something. I am sure he had been in my bedroom a few times but I feigned sleep and mercifully he had left me alone. I was always in a nervous disposition whenever he came close, never knowing what to expect; he was as volatile as nitro glycerin.

Caius had woken me up early this morning as he slowly lay next to me in bed. As soon as I opened my eyes he quickly wrapped his arms around me as he moved his lips to my ear. "Dearest Isabella I missed you last night" he whispered "Our little games of late have been very entertaining". I then saw him move his arm to lean on one elbow while cupping his face in his hand, giving him a good vantage point as he looked down on me. I saw his eyes devour my figure as his hand traveled up and down my body. The more he touched me the more difficult it was to subdue the tremors. Thankfully, just before I freaked out, he sighed and pulled his hand away. "Enough of this" he said "You must get prepared".

I slowly pulled myself away from him and once free of his embrace, took a sprint to the bathroom swiftly shutting the door behind me. After relieving myself I shaved my legs and arms and when that was done I turned the water valves waiting until the water was the right temperature. I knew my body would burn by the transmission but it was difficult to comprehend that feeling now that I was cold to the marrow because of my fears. Once my shower was ready I stepped under the stream of water which slowly melted the cold in my body. As I stood there I heard Caius come into the room and I expected the worst but thankfully he had only come to say "Isabella the healer has come; I will leave you in her care".

"OK" my voice acknowledged but in actuality my heart jumped with joy of the thought of him away from me. 'My mate' I sneered to myself 'how could they be so wrong? Aren't you supposed to love your mate? I hated this bastard with a fierceness I doubt even he could even comprehend.'

After my shower I wrapped myself in a towel and walked back into my bedroom. There was a woman there observing me and I asked "Are you the healer?" She slowly nodded yes saying "I have brought medicines to purify your body, by the time it is evening your body will be prepared for the transmission."

'Nothing will prepare me for that' I thought, 'Now that Caius would be my mate instead of Edward I was trapped for an eternity. Edward would have cherished me ….

"I'm not going there now" I quietly whispered "that's the last thing I need at the moment".

She looked perplexed by my words and I didn't bother to explain myself.

The day was spent in misery as the medicine took its toll. When my body was finally stable I took one last shower, washed and dried my hair.

I was then helped into a light and billowing white translucent garment and considering I had no undergarments I was given a robe to cover myself and sandals to cover my feet.

My healer then ushered me towards the door saying "now we must go to the ceremonial chambers" and although my brain was screaming no, I knew I would have no choice so I just followed her with my head held high.

As I followed the healer through the dark hallways I felt like I was in some slow motion horror show. It was surreal knowing I was walking to my death, at least of my life as I had known it. My heart was sad that it had come to this; being changed by a heartless bastard and having no loved ones around. They say that when you drown your life seems to flash by and at that moment it did and I let it. I decided my mind was the one thing they couldn't control so I thought of all my loved ones and I slowly felt the tears as they silently made a trail down my face.

When the healer opened the door, I knew we had arrived at our destination and swiftly wiped any trace of a tear from my face.

Marcus and Caius were already in the room standing as statues a few paces from an ivory colored marble altar. When they saw me enter Marcus tipped his head to acknowledge my presence and Caius purposefully walked towards me helping me out of my robe. The healer then left and I had a moment to observe the room I was in. Looking around I saw a table towards the wall and I remembered Caius telling me that they would be placing me on a cooling element once my transition began. I also saw that the room was lit by candle light creating large shadows in the corners of the room and making it even more menacing to me.

While I was looking around I heard the door click and turned to see another vampire enter the room. He wore a robe and both Marcus and Caius acknowledged his presence with a slight tilt of their heads. The vampire then focused his attention on me, his eyes drilled into mine until I slowly repeated the gestures that I had seen the others do. He then motioned to Caius and me to join hands and I hesitated for a moment so Caius grabbed my hand and held it tight as his eyes pierced mine silently communicating that there would be no room for rebellion.

The vampire then began to chant in what Caius had told me would be Italian. After a moment Caius nodded towards him acknowledging the spoken words and nudged me to do the same. We were then both given beautifully handcrafted goblets filled with deep red blood. Caius slowly drank his and with his eyes motioned to me to do the same. I found it difficult but when I heard the growl from Caius I did my best to drink it up. He then smiled at me giving our goblets back to the 'ceremonial leader' and pulled me towards him. He twisted his fingers in my hair and drew my lips toward his giving me a long intimate kiss and then reluctantly releasing me. Still holding my hand he deliberately led me towards the altar and told me to lie down.

So, here I was lying on this marble alter in a closed room lit by candles and with three vampires around me. I felt like a sacrificial lamb about to be slaughtered while that vampire kept chanting in the background. I looked up at Caius and he closed my eyes so I just listened to the chanting trying to let it hypnotize me. After another ten minutes the chanting stopped and I suddenly felt Caius strike; his fangs were everywhere. My throat, my pulses, my thighs and it felt like acid was burning my flesh away. I wanted to move away but I was immobile, not only being held back by Caius but also by a sort of paralysis that the venom must have caused. All I could do was feel the flames lick my body while I was being consumed.

Not a moment later I felt my body being moved onto something cool. It didn't take away the scorching feeling but it did, in some way, help take off the sharp edges.

I then heard someone say "Now we wait".

Edward's POV

After my interview with Riley we left him guarded and gathered together far enough away from him so that he wouldn't be able to listen in on our discussion. Sam, his men, me and my family all sat down as we were about to discuss his fate.

Sam began the discussion with a question aimed at both Alice and I "Do either of you trust him?"

I took the lead and said "I have read his thoughts and see that he no longer believes the half-truths Victoria has been feeding him and that in combination with his drive for self-survival makes his alliance believable." I then added "One thing in his favor is his plea for help toward the girl; he does seem to have a spark of humanity still in him. He wants her to survive as well so we can use that to guarantee his continual cooperation".

Having heard this, his eyes went to Alice.

She quickly gave them the feedback of what she had seen "I saw him use his tracker skills and he not only brought us to them but also helped us destroy them. So I believe he will be invaluable for mission"

Sam then looked at his pack and started the vote.

In the end they agreed to allow Riley to leave if he swore on the life of Bree to leave their area after the battle and never come back. My father promised that he would make sure they stayed away.

One other very important thing was the putting together of his body. Sam would not allow that to happen on the reservation so we agreed that we would take the body parts to our land and put him together there.

My family then went with me to Riley and as my dad explained the situation to him I looked into his mind to see if he was planning to betray my family or the tribe but all I could read was the revenge he planned to take on Victoria.

I looked at Alice, trying to read her predictions and the images she sent me confirmed my information.

With all security measures put in place my family took him back to our home each person taking a different part of his anatomy.