Chapter Thirteen

I was a forest set ablaze by a lit match; whisky thrown upon the flaming foliage that fell upon the ground.

Everything around me burned, and as I burned, I never felt closer to my chosen family than now.

It was an honor to go through what I was going through.

I couldn't claim the pain wasn't too painful because it did.

It was the worst feeling in the world, but at the same time it was the best feeling in the world. I knew I was probably fucked up in the head thinking this, but knowing after I would go through these three days of hell I would most certainly reap the benefits.

There were people around me, of that I was certain.

There was the weight of someone always sitting on the bed, or curled up next to me.

That was most likely Alec or Jane, or even both of them sometimes, allowing me to know they wished they could snuggle into me. They wished they could take away the pain and I could become a vampire in any other way.

Yet they also knew, in the time they had me as their mother, that I wasn't someone who would take the weaker route.

The intensity of the heat and pain grew uncontrollably, without a stability to it anymore. I couldn't help but let out a couple of screams during this process, having tried to make sure they wouldn't be worried about me. Yet this pain, as it centered itself to my heart, was too much for me and so I could not control myself from the sounds that were escaping from between my lips.

Then, my heart stopped. No sound whatsoever, the pain flared out like a solar eclipse.

Then it slowly drifted away until the pain left completely.

I shook some from the overall experience I had just gone through.

I took deep breaths, without meaning to do so, and took in the smells of the room around me. I could smell the candles that were lit, the sawdust from the new doors that had been installed. The soft silk was so cool and comfortable underneath me, and I could feel every string of my hair upon my head. I could count every eyelash that fluttered against my pale skin, and as I opened my eyes everything was sharper than I could ever imagine. Sharper and more detailed than any human could comprehend.

Venom rose within the corners of my eyes as glee overcame me.

I barely felt the glee come over me when the sense of people around me enveloped me. A low growl came out of my mouth without me even processing it, as I curled up backwards, knees folded behind me. Hands went to grab the silk only for it to slice through like knives. There were holes in the mattress from me puncturing through the surface of it too, evidence of my vampiric strength coming into play.

"Mamma?"

I snapped my head in the direction of the two voices that were in unison. My twins, my babies. Alec and Jane, in front of me with their already angelic features even more angelic than I had first thought them as. They nervously peered at me but I brought my arms out and wide, a universal sign for them to know I wanted them closer to me.

They jumped onto the bed and scooted over to me before I wrapped my arms around them. I had barely hugged them when they flinched and pulled away from me. I shot them a wounded look, only for them to explain, "the first six months of a vampire is the hardest. Your human blood is battling against the venom, which in return makes your strength stronger than normal. You didn't mean to hurt us."

The bedroom doors opened and I was soon welcomed with the two other kings and queens. They were dressed in more simpler royal clothing, nothing that was too extravagant. The queens weren't wearing their crowns, though I had seen them before. I had even seen mine, it was the simplest one out of the group. The same went for the kings.

Athenodora and Sulpicia came over, kissing me on the cheeks before moving out of the way. Aro went to kiss my wrist, where I ended up growling at him without thinking (again) just before he was able to touch me.

Just the thought of any male vampire touching me who wasn't my Marcus was enough I wanted to go feral on them and rip them to shreds. Caius rolled his eyes at his brother, grabbed him by the back of his head and yanked him away, sending him a look. Aro merely shrugged, thinking there wasn't anything wrong with him being the first male to touch me.

Sulpicia on the other hand hissed at her husband, the teeth she revealed had a gleam to them. Something I could actually see as a vampire. A sign that their saliva happened to be venomous and acidic if needed be. She narrowed her eyes at her husband, before grabbing the hand that had gone to touch me and ripped it off, clean and simple.

My mouth fell open, in shock, as she took the hand and kept it away from her husband. She hissed aloud, "You out of anyone should know when a just turned vampire wakes the first people that should touch her are her children and her mate. We are her in-laws but we are not the direct bond she needs at the moment. You will get this back when you behave."

"He's in the Art Gallery, sister. He wanted the twins to see you first. He's been a nervous wreck these past two days."

"Two days?"

I had been told it would take three days for me to transform into a vampire, not manage to change into one within two.

I was accustomed to the thought of those three days in the past as I got closer and closer to having the day I would turn into a vampire, believing somewhat that the three meant for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Even though I wasn't a Christian or believed in God I still thought that was supposed to be what the three days meant. So it was kind of odd that I had managed to be the first, as far as I knew, that managed to not go through the third day.

"It's the first time we've had something like this happen. Or as far as we know. It shouldn't matter. You're one of us now. We won't have to worry about death taking you, we've taken care of those responsible for the attack," Caius spoke, bringing my attention away from where I had been drifting off into my thoughts (something that Newborn Vampires went through, their attention spans were basically nonexistent).

"What's gotten into you, Caius? How come you are so chatty with me? I should have known that you'd open up when I'd become a vampire," I joked to him, which made half of his mouth twitch upwards in a half-way smile at what he was hearing from me.

"Well…it's not everyday you get a new sister. A sister who won't be mortal anymore. So…we're one step closer to being officially a family. Only one more hurdle to go through," Caius commented, without showing any real emotion to what he was saying. It was obvious he wanted me to know he had good thoughts on me but he didn't want to show all his emotions to me.

"Speaking of hurdles, you should go and see Marcus. He thinks there's going to be one more day for you to wake up. He'll get the scare and best surprise of a lifetime," Athenodora encouragingly stated, motioning with her bracelet covered wrist towards the doors.

Thanking them all for their support, I turned towards my children and kissed them on the foreheads.

"Momma will be back. We're going to the woods and hunting for animals. There will be no complaining, I have decided I would rather hunt animals. It will be up to you in the end if you decide you'd rather drink humans, but I've chosen my diet."

Jane and Alec turned to each other, their crimson eyes letting me know they didn't know how to feel about the whole fact their mother was going to be a vegetarian. I would have my crimson eyes change to topaz in a year's time and I would be a sole animal drinker of the Volturi, though knowing my Marcus he would probably end up joining me so I wouldn't feel alienated.

I left them with their aunts and uncles, walking out of the tower and down the stairs. I noted there were guards that were surrounding me, making a circle around me despite the fact that I had just been turned and could handle things on my own. I had to remind myself of the assassination attempt on my life but obviously it failed. It only made me become a vampire faster.

The guard knelt to the ground on one knee, heads bowed down they almost brushed against the ground. I nervously smiled at them and opened the Art Gallery, timidly entering in fear that Marcus wouldn't actually be in there after all. I feared what he would have been doing if I were still going through the transformation, quite possibly torturing any enemies of the Volturi down in the cells.

I had barely entered the room and noticed Marcus before we were running to each other. Smiles huge, goofy and reminding me of those couples that were long-distance and met each other at the airport for the very first time. A little dramatic but honestly we deserved it, with all the hell we had been through. Marcus losing the first love of his life (I believed that there could be many loves of your life) and me losing Avalyn in January.

Heck, I was only eighteen.

I could quite possibly still look like a child compared to him.

He was in his mid-twenties (twenty-two now that I thought about it) when he had been turned into a vampire. I kind of wished I had been at least twenty when I had met him, but that didn't matter anymore.

I had him nonetheless, and I would treasure the time I would have him forever.

Age difference in looks aside, heck even him being over a millennium old didn't matter to me, because he was the one who was destined for me. We were the same stardust that was in the universe, spinning around and searching for each other, finding each other and colliding into one.

Reaching him I threw myself in his arms only for us to fall backwards and create a crater into the floor. I knew if I were able to, my face would be flushed red at how I had destroyed the floor. He on the other hand let out a merry laugh, merely whispering, "that's my Isabella. My beautiful, beautiful Isabella. Human or not you will always be beautiful."

"Well that's what my name means after all. I'm happy that I lived up for it."

We both looked at each other and let out laughs, the venom rising in our tear ducts but never falling. Our bellies ached from the laughs, and if we were human we would have been gasping for breath. No, not now though, as vampires we could laugh to our hearts' content.

"Oh, I love you, Marcus."

"And I love you, my darling."

"I told the kids that I'm planning on dieting a different way than they have. I don't think I have the ability to drink from people. Which we should go and do, my throat is killing me."

I brought my hand up and pressed my fingers against my throat, flinching, at how the burning sensation overtook me.

Marcus helped us up from the ground and wrapped his arm around mine before walking out of the Art Gallery.

The Guard immediately fell in their positions they were accustomed to doing, their heads down and their fists against their chests, along with one of their knees on the ground. Marcus motioned for them to stand and go back to their duties, while he led us in the direction of where the parlor was so we could be with the twins again.

Jane and Alec wrapped their arms around me and Marcus, and I couldn't help but turn and look at Caius. He nodded his head, letting me know Marcus was going to tell me who it was that had tried to assassinate me. After we would have fed me so that the thirst wouldn't be distracting me from the serious information.

Leaving the castle, I couldn't help but laugh merrily as my bare feet danced across the nature underneath my feet. The field that tickled the soles of my feet. The wind came and played with my hair, and as I ran my children ran at their own speed while Marcus ran next to me, both of us holding hands so hard you'd expect our hands would turn into marble dust from the strength. It could start thundering and lightening and it still would have been one of the best days of my life.

Reaching the treeline, Marcus stopped me and turned to me.

"I went to see Carlisle hunt when he lived with us. He says that you are supposed to focus your mind on what you want. Listen to nature around you, eventually you will pick up on their heartbeats and their blood. Then let your instinct take over and then the rest will come naturally."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Marcus taking the time out of his day, and for him to go and watch Carlisle hunt. He took in his friend's interest and didn't shun it away, like Aro had. Caius held disgust towards the entire idea of drinking animal blood, he was too engraved in the pure vampiric ways than the more modern take for him.

Focusing my attention on everything around me instead of just thoughts, I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, the scents of the forest overcoming my senses. I let out a small smile at what I was hearing and the smells I was experiencing. The wind that was wisping over the trees, and the bubbling of a creek not too far from me.

I could see why this was therapeutic for the Cullens.

They wouldn't hear the racing heartbeats of humans as they would plead for their lives. I didn't have to look at them and notice they were lesser copies of me. A default. Something that should be gotten rid of, because they could never match the same kind of beauty or perfection that I had achieved through vampirism.

My eyes flashed open as the scent of a deer in the distance caught my attention.

I rushed forward without hesitation, the very cloudy skyline–one that was showing an incoming rainstorm within an hour most likely, made the scenery around us dark. Dark enough humans would have to stop and make sure they wouldn't trip over some roots. I thankfully didn't have to worry about that anymore, I was gliding against smooth water.

The deer didn't have a chance to truly react to me, before I lept onto him and sunk my teeth into the fur, muscle and blood. I drank from the deer with an intensity that to anyone would be disturbing. I clung to the deer and broke his ribcage as I held onto him. I crushed him in seconds, and dropped him as he almost split in half from the strength.

I snapped my head up, and went towards another deer that was further away from me. I ran and ran, and behind me I knew Marcus and the twins would let me go and hunt on my own. None of us wanted to know how I would react if they were close to me as I would take after my next prey. We just wanted me to get as much of my bloodlust control for the time.

I didn't know how many deer I had drunk from until my beautiful white dress was now a red dress. A red dress of deer blood. I probably reminded someone of a dark version of Artemis after she had gone through a successful hunt.

I turned my head towards my small family as they came up to me. I knew I was something to look at, and with my hair stuck with twigs and leaves I was even more of a mess. Dirt was smeared across my pale skin and my dress was torn. There was no way for someone to be able to salvage the dress. It was destined to be destroyed,the very moment it had been created.

"That is not a very good taste in my mouth. I should have expected this too, blood tasted horrible," I joked, grimacing as the metallic taste still clung to my mouth. I would end up having to use mouthwash and brush my teeth very well.

Jane and Alec opened their mouths, as though they were going to tell me that was because I was not drinking human blood but Marcus merely shot them a look. They closed their mouths a moment later, deciding that it would be best if they listened to their father. Especially when it came to the fact that I had chosen what my diet would be.

"Let's get back to the castle. You can take a shower and get that taste out of your mouth. Then we can talk about what happened," Marcus suggested, earning a nod from me as we went back to the castle. The children ran ahead of us, knowing Marcus and I would just want to be with each other.

Even though there was a part of me that wanted me to slam Marcus underneath the shower and have my wicked way with him, I was more focused on making sure to get dressed and clean this nasty blood out of my mouth. We'd get to talk about the whole assassination thing before we could end up consuming each other in carnal pleasure.

After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I dressed in a comfortable green sweater, designer dark jeans and fluffy cotton socks that were in the same shade of green as the sweater. I brushed my hair out and made sure to take out the tangles that surely would have still stayed there even after I would take a shower. I didn't have any makeup on, the vampirism ended up being what brought out my features and made them flawless.

Entering the bedroom again, I went over to where the loveseat was and sat down. Marcus came over and sat down in one of the love chairs. He turned and looked at me before he took a deep breath, "The person who wanted you to be assassinated was Chelsea."

If my venom could turn cold it would have done so.

I had never met Chelsea, I had heard about her but Marcus had demanded that she stay away from me. She was one of the most dangerous vampires out there and he was going to make sure she couldn't use the influence she had on me. No one was going to make me feel something about someone involuntarily, even Jasper didn't.

"Why? I never met her. There's no reason why she would want me to be taken care of."

"Remember how I told you her Gift is the manipulation of emotional ties between people? She ended up feeling that with your past experience with the Cullens and your Mental Shield you would be able to have me leave with you if you grew tired of this lifestyle. It would mean that Jane and Alec would end up joining us and the Volturi would find her Gift unneeded anymore. Which in return would mean they would let her go from being a Guard."

"That's not who went and contacted the assassin. Who contacted him?"

"Chelsea forced Renata to find him. She told her if she didn't go and find someone she would kill her. After all, Renata's shield can only go so far. It's nowhere as strong as yours will be. Renata found a vampire nomad that could shapeshift and offered him enough money he would be set for the next century since he was only fifteen and could get money in certain ways."

Renata, poor Renata, I felt bad for her.

She was always a shadow behind Aro, and could have been a powerful lover for both Aro and Sulpicia. It was a complicated relationship with her and them due to the way that Aro and Sulpicia were. She wanted to do anything that Aro and Sulpicia commanded her to do.

Neither of them seemed as though they were too interested in Renata other than toying with her. Pleasuring her in some ways but never actually being fully sexual with her.

Getting onto her and degrading her when she thought she would actually manage to sleep with one or both of them. They were abusing her, plain and simple.

"Where is she now?"

"She decided to go home. She didn't want to be part of this. She's staying with her family, her uncle is not happy at all. Her great uncle Luca is a respectable vampire in this community, every century he has one of his family members turned. Family is everything for him. Renata is everything to him, and there wasn't a mate here to keep her from leaving."

Venom rose in my tear ducts at what I was being told.

I clenched the side of my jaw and shook my head, trying to keep this despair that was within me away. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around Renata and tell her everything was okay, but she had been played like a fiddle by everyone around her.

She never had the chance of meeting me, and learning that everything was going to be okay. She wouldn't have been able to take away the toxicity that was in me. Since there was nothing toxic that would make her feel tricked by me, but she never had that chance. She was taken control of when it came to everyone around her.

"Aro needs to step down from being king, it's for the good of the vampiric society. We can't just let him keep doing this. We need someone else to take the role from him. I am fine with staying in the tower with Sulpicia and Athenodora. Someone else should replace him."

Marcus moved so he was in front of me, bringing his hands up so he could run his fingers against my skin. He shook from emotion and leant forward so he could rest his head against the side of my throat. He pressed lips against my throat, sending little venom kisses against my marble skin.

"Let's not think about any revenge for Renanta or for anyone who was used just for amusement when it comes to Aro and Sulpicia. I want to enjoy the fact that I have you here, in my arms, and we can do whatever we want to each other without having to worry about me bruising you or breaking your bones," Marcus whispered against my ear.

Though there was that sense of justice that came flaring out, it seemed to die the moment that Marcus signaled for us to do something far more beneficial for the both of us. It was enough for me to giggle and began to strip myself out of the clothes I was wearing, my crimson eyes dilating when I saw Marcus slowly strip tease to me.

The moment we were both naked we locked eyes on each other and launched ourselves at each other. Then we lost ourselves to the passion that had been deep within us.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: update 1 of 3.

I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of 'Through Hell or Highwater'.

I wanted to show how toxic Sulpicia and Aro are.

Anyway, Twilight doesn't belong to me.

-Emmy

ps: I was thinking of Renata coming back and becoming a Queen, redeeming herself.

next chapter: training/ Cullens arrive.