"Enough!"

Hands held him down, and it took a moment to realize it was Alice and Jasper Cullen. He fought Jasper off, but the vampire had ability on holding down out-of-control vampires.

"Damon, stop" Alice said angrily.

He glared at her as she checked on Stefan. He vaguely remembered breaking his neck, even though his brother hadn't done anything. He was chained to a chair, and unaware of all that happened. Still, with the rage inside of Damon, he needed to find someone to blame. And Stefan was the obvious choice. Bella had risked her life to stop him, it was because of him she was in that hospital. She could have lived a long time, and now she was gone because of Stefan and Klaus. His next step was to get Klaus back in town so Mikael would rip him apart.

"What have you done?" Jasper asked frowning at the blood staining his lips and clothes.

"He killed a group of hikers" Alice said sadly. "Bella…"

"Do not dare saying her name!" Damon roared.

"Listen!" Jasper snapped. "She's fine"

"Bella is at our house. Carlisle had to take her out of the hospital and declare her dead"

Damon stopped struggling against Jasper's grip and frowned at Alice.

"What?"

"I told Carlisle she wanted to be changed, that she didn't want to die" she said with a guilty frown. "I had to"

"She's… transitioning?" Damon asked disbelieving.

"Yes… I thought she would want you there" she said.

Jasper let go of Damon, and it took Damon a second to comprehend what they were saying. Bella was fine. She would wake up as a vampire but she hadn't died. He would have forever with her. He blurred out of the cell, and Alice sighed.

"It will be okay, Ali" Jasper said soothingly.

"I've seen the future, Jazz" she whispered. "No, it won't"

"Something is wrong, Damon, wait!" Carlisle protested after I heard him open the front door.

My head snapped to the room's door as I heard his fast footsteps approaching. He paused by the door, looking at me with a shocked look. I felt my eyes burning with tears and looked down. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me to a hug, lifting me off of the window seat I had been in. I wrapped my arms around him, and felt him inhaling deeply in the crook of my neck.

"Thank God" he murmured.

Thankfulness was the last feeling I had in the moment. I pushed him away and glared at him.

"Did you do this?" I snapped. "Was it you who did this to me!?"

He frowned at me, and I could see the reality sinking in his eyes. I took a deep breath and realized I shouldn't be so mad, but I felt like if a bug got close to me I would go insane. I turned away from Damon and sat back down on the window seat. The room was dark, the curtains shut and the light off, but I could still see my reflection on the glass and in the mirror on the other side of the room. My skin was paler than usual. Although I was dressed in boyfriend jeans and a cardigan, it was noticeable how fuller I was compared to last week. My hair had gotten a bit darker, going back to its natural mahogany. I had checked myself on the mirror after I woke up. The burns in my chest had disappeared but the triskelion was still in my back. I looked down from the window's glass not able to stand the sight. My eyes, my brown eyes were gone. Now, they were blood red.

"I'm a freak" I whispered to myself.

Someone knocked on the door and I looked up, smiling a bit to Carlisle. He closed the door after entering and Damon turned to him.

"What did you do?" Damon asked.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't just me" Carlisle said with a sigh. "I bit Bella before her heart stopped so she could change, and… be one of us"

I shook my head. When he had told me he didn't know what to do but follow Alice's advice and change me, I hadn't believed. Alice, with her visions, surely knew I didn't want to be like that. Yet, she told him to change me and didn't have the courage to face me and explain why I was like that now.

"You gave me your blood" I told Damon trying not to sound bitter, but failed.

"It was supposed to be out of your system. I gave you just a little, in a day it would be gone" Damon protested.

"Dr. Fell has a secret that until now, I thought it was harmless" Carlisle said. "Last time Bella was in the hospital, after the accident at the grill with Jonas, she injected vampire blood on her. She does it sometimes, when she thinks she can't save the patient"

"So what you're saying…"

"I'm a hybrid" I said. "I'm a vampire, half of your kind, half of his. I died with his venom but I had your blood and who-knows-whose on my system"

"She is stronger than she should be if she was transitioning only as your kind, her eyes are red like ours, and all of her senses are heightened" Carlisle informed him. "Sensibility to light and her gums are hurting"

"I feel weaker than when I woke up a couple hours ago"

"You need blood" Damon said. "Once you've fed you'll feel a lot stronger…"

"I won't" I shook my head ignoring his fearful scowl. "I'm not drinking a drop of blood"

"I'm going insane here" I told Esme.

She was keeping me company while Damon talked to Carlisle, Edward, Jake, Alice and Jasper downstairs. As if I couldn't hear.

"You can't go out yet" she said softly.

"I know I have to wait for sunset" I rolled my eyes. "Believe me, the pain in my eyes told me as much"

"You are also thirsty, Bella, going out could be dangerous" she said ignoring my harshness.

"I want to see my friends, but I can't" I mumbled. "My throat is burning"

"I'm sorry, honey"

Rosalie came in holding a bottle of tequila.

"Damon said it can help the craving" she said extending it to me.

I quickly untapped it, drinking greedily. I winced and put it aside.

"Not good" I scowled.

"You know what you need, Bella" Rosalie said.

"For someone who never accepted their own vampirism you sure know how to give unwanted advices" I snapped.

"Maybe you're right, but…"

"No" I interrupted with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Rose, I didn't mean to snap at you"

"It's fine" she said. "But what you are doing is selfish" I arched an eyebrow in questioning. "You're giving up. This family would do anything to keep you alive, Damon and Jacob too. And you're just giving up. You're not thinking how people will be if you die"

"I'm selfish" I scoffed and laughed at her. "The first time I died it was protecting my friend Elena. The second was getting revenge on Jenna and Elena. The third was stopping Stefan from hurting Elena. And the forth was a stab from a vengeful vampire that an ancestor captured and locked away in a tomb. So, I am not selfish, Rosalie. I've died for a lot of people a lot of times. I just want to die in peace, is that ask for much?"

"Rose" Esme said softly before I could continue. "Maybe you and Emmett should go tell Elena and the others what is going on. They might go to the hospital and get the wrong news…"

"And what should I say? Bella is currently undead but is choosing to die for real?" Rosalie said before leaving.

"You think she's right" I said to Esme.

"No, I don't think you're being selfish, Bella" Esme said softly. "I don't agree with what you want. But it's your life, your choice"

I turned around on the bed as I heard the door creak. Elena, Caroline and Bonnie jumped on the bed, hugging me.

"I'm sorry" Elena said.

"They didn't want to let us see you, but nothing would stop us" Bonnie said pulling back.

My eyes locked on Elena's neck. I could hear and smell the blood pumping, the warmth of her skin. I groaned as my gums started to hurt badly, and pushed her away. My head hurt and the skin around my eyes felt strange. I looked at the mirror and saw that my face had changed a bit. Caroline pulled Bonnie and Elena back and I looked away taking deep breaths.

"You shouldn't be here" I told them.

"You're refusing blood" Caroline said in shock. "Of course we have to be here! To put some sense in your head!"

"I'm capable of making my own choices"

"But Bella…" Elena started.

"Just leave!" I screamed at them.

Elena jumped in fright and Bonnie nodded, dragging Caroline out with her and Elena. Damon entered a second later.

"Tell them I'm sorry… I couldn't stand them here, Bonnie and Elena…"

"It's okay" he said crawling into bed.

"No, it's not okay" I cried. "I'm dying and I can't even properly say goodbye to people I love. I won't be here to make sure you won't go on a killing rampage, or to help bringing our Stefan back, to protect Elena from Klaus…"

"Shh" he whispered wrapping me in his arms. "It will be okay"

"No it won't"

"You know what you have to do so it will be"

I jumped out of bed and glared at him.

"You want this. You want me to become a vampire, that's why you didn't think twice before giving me your blood" I said accusingly.

"I just want you to feed" he said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped. "I don't want this, why is it so hard for you to understand?"

"I didn't want this either, Bella" he said sitting up.

"Then let me die!"

"I can't" he said. "I didn't want you to become a vampire. When I said I would find a solution to your problem, I meant it. I wanted you to live, to grow old and have your own family. You deserved to live. But you didn't. You died. So, between death and vampirism, I choose vampirism for you"

"So now you care" I scoffed. "You don't get a say in this"

"I always cared!"

"Really? Didn't seem like it when you chose Elena over me, again and again"

"Your emotions are heightened, I'm not going to get into this stupid fight with you" he said turning to the door.

"There it is! You are always walking out on me whenever she's the subject!"

I gasped as he blurred right in front of me, standing face to face. He had an angry scowl.

"I know I was an idiot, I've realized my mistakes" he said. "But you can't ever say again I chose her over you. She was in the hospital, her blood being drained for Klaus while I was with you in that ER…"

"Once"

"What do I need to do to make you trust me on this? I'm not choosing anyone over you ever again, Bella"

"You like to break your promises" I reminded him in a quiet murmur.

"I love you" he said seriously and I looked at him with wide eyes. "That is your guarantee I'm not breaking promises to you anymore. And I'm sorry. I should have said it when you asked me for the right words so you wouldn't marry Edward. I should have said it before the sacrifice night. Before you left, when you returned. If I could go back in time, I would tell you, over and over again. I was just too blind to see the obvious. I've always loved you, I just couldn't comprehend it. And when I found you on that floor, with no heartbeat, I knew I shouldn't be forgiven for not telling you sooner. Yet, I'm asking you this, Bella. Forgive me"

He cupped my face, wiping my tears with his thumb. I got on my tiptoes and kissed him. He held me to him, kissing me like there was no tomorrow. It was desperate but gentle and loving at the same time. It gave me goosebumps and shivers, it made my heart swell, and warmth spread to my whole body. He kissed down my neck and again I felt my eyes changing, my gums hurting. I could smell his blood, the sweet blood… I kissed his neck and without thinking, bit into it.

"Argh!" he groaned.

He cradled my head as I greedily sucked the blood, but didn't try to pull me away. The blood went down like silk, smoothing my throat, making it stop burning. It was only itching. As the burn stopped I realized what I had done. I pushed him away and looked at the wound on his neck with horror. I wiped my chin and looked at the blood on my fingertips.

"Hey, it's okay, Bella" he said softly. "It's healing, but… it's not what you need"

I looked back up at him, the tears blurring my vision. He stepped closer, and I stumbled backwards, hitting a wall. I slid down to the floor, crying, and when the first sob came out, my stomach turned. I ran to the bathroom and threw up all the blood I had just ingested and the bit of tequila. Damon pulled my hair and gave me a wet towel to clean my face. My grip on the toilet seat didn't loose, so he gently wiped the blood himself.

"I'm sorry" I sobbed.

"It was nothing, sweetheart" he assured me. "It healed already, come on"

He picked me up and lay with me in bed, comforting me.

As the hours passed, the weaker I got and the more painful the burn got. When the sun finally set, I decided to get out of that room. I couldn't stand being inside those four walls for another minute. I walked to the beautiful garden Esme had, with Damon silently following and laid on the grass, surrounded by the flowers. I looked at the starry sky, and raised my hand to Damon. He took it and lied on his side, staring at me.

"Tell the others… the ones I can't be around… That I'm sorry"

"Tell them yourself. Or don't tell them at all" he whispered.

"You're so stubborn" I smiled.

"And infuriating"

"Yeah" I chuckled. "But only sometimes… it's getting rare"

"Is that a complaint?"

"No, I can't complain" I curled on his side. "I love you in every way"

He kissed the top of my hair and pulled me closer.

"I love you too, so much" he croaked.

"I tired… I wanna sleep" he nodded. "Leave me here, I can't stand that room anymore"

"Okay, love"

I closed my eyes, and relaxed in his embrace.

I woke up what felt like minutes later, but judging by the moon, high on the sky, it had been hours. Damon wasn't with me, I was lying in a lounging chair with a blanket over me.

"Hey"

I turned and stared at Alice. She seemed so sad, so guilty.

"I'm sorry" she choked out.

"Is that all you have to say? No explanations?" I asked frowning. "If so, then leave"

"Bella, I'm sorry!"

"It's not enough!" I snapped. "Leave me alone!"

She looked away while nodding and stood up.

"I will explain" she muttered.

"When? I won't live until morning"

"You will"

"Your visions must be defected if you see me around longer than tonight" I said.

She sighed and walked away. I closed my eyes and willed the tears away. I sensed someone coming, and I thought it was her again.

"Leave me alone, Alice"

"It's not Alice"

My eyes snapped open and I frowned at Jeremy. He sat on the other lounging chair where Alice had been, and gave me a small smile.

"Hey"

"Hey?" I answered.

"So, I've heard you are sending goodbyes through Damon"

"He told you?"

"No, he went to talk to Elena and I overheard" he gave me a sheepish smile.

"Eavesdropping?" I teased.

"We share a bathroom, not my fault the door to her room was open and they talk loudly" he shrugged smirking. "I like the eyes, kinda freaky"

"Why are you here, Jeremy?" I asked.

"I lost my parents over a year ago. Then it was Vicky although I don't remember. My uncle killed Anna. Jenna died. John died. Elena, Matt and I died and came back" he said. "A lot of people died"

"This town is cursed" I said with a sad smile.

"We are cursed" he said frowning. "Please, Bella… You are my friend. Jake and Edward too. And, don't tell him, but I even like Damon a bit. If you die, I won't lose only you. I will lose you, and my sister, my friends… Bonnie. Please, don't make this curse take another person away from us"

"I can't, Jeremy" I said quietly.

He stared at me for a long time and I squirmed under his pleading gaze.

"You are strong, Jeremy. You're a Gilbert" I smiled. "You'll be alright, you will be able to help them"

"You're lying to yourself" he said.

"I have to. I need peace"

He stood up from his chair and hugged me. I hugged him back tight and when he started to pull back, I wasn't willing to let him go. It was not me though. I let my teeth sink in his neck and he let out a weak groan of protest. He didn't struggle, and I lost control. The burn was gone after a couple of gulps, but I just couldn't stop. I continued drinking, the sound of his heart filling my ears. I heard it slow down and then stop. I gulped the blood down one last time and let the body fall on the ground. I took deep breaths and felt my face go back to normal. I frowned and looked down.

"Oh, god" I mumbled.

"Bella!" I heard Edward saying.

I turned and ran. Everything was a blur as I ran through the woods, yet, I could make out every detail if I wanted. The ladybug on a leaf, the snake slithering on the ground, the owl watching her home.

I came to a halt and looked around. I had no idea where I was, but I knew how to go back, in which direction my home was. The cold air of the forest felt freezing against my tears and I scowled as I wiped them. Of all the things I got from Damon's kind, it had to be the tears.

I felt stronger than ever. And guilty. I had killed Jeremy.

I walked home, with no rush to face my friends. When I came to my senses, I realized I was in front of my house. I looked down at myself. I had dirt on my clothes and blood had dripped down from my chin to my deep blue cardigan. There were leaves in my hair. I wanted a shower. I opened the door but was blocked by an invisible force.

Of course. The house was in Ric's name and I was a vampire now.

I held the threshold and muttered a spell. I just wanted a shower and access to my things.

Nothing happened. I tried, again and again, but I couldn't do anything.

My magic wasn't working, I had no powers.

I sat on the porch crying for hours until Damon finally found me. He approached me carefully and I looked up at him.

"I'm sorry" I cried. "I didn't mean to. I just lost it, I never meant to hurt him"

"He's fine, Bella, he has the ring, remember?" he said softly sitting beside me on the steps.

"I do now. But I killed him and I didn't remember he had the ring, I killed him"

He held me and I buried my face in his neck.

"And I can't enter my house, because I'm a vampire and it isn't my house… And my magic doesn't work, I lost all my powers… The burn is back and all I can think of is how sweet his blood was" I cried. "I was prepared to die, I was supposed to die, and now I'm not dead, but I'm not alive, and I can't stop thinking about draining people dry!"

"I'm here, Bella. I'll help you with everything" he whispered and kissed me softly. "I love you"

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity – Lucius A. Seneca