I in fact wasn't fine.
In the eighteen years of my life, I have had a few close encounters with death whether it was nearly getting run over by a bus on my way to school or the time a stranger got into my accommodation and targeted both me and a few other students. Safe to say that I went through a few tragic events and lived to tell the tale. It seemed that both me and Bella were literal walking magnets to danger wherever we went considering the stories she told me from when she moved back to Forks. It was tempting to tell her about some of the stories I had but there was something telling me not to.
Imagine being told to walk over a bunch of legos whilst someone set you on fire before punching you over and over nonstop. That is the amount of pain I endured the moment I felt the venom enter my system, I shut my eyes tightly and let the darkness take over me as I prayed to the gods that this torture would end soon. I didn't know how long the pain lasted but soon the warmth came, I could feel it surrounding my heart as if it were a comforting hug from a mother who needed to soothe their child. It started off warm as though I was sitting by a radiator in the winter but it grew hotter and hotter to the point where it felt like someone was holding a lighter over my skin. I thought it was going to stay like that but no, it got worse until the point where it felt like the hotness of the sun was coursing through my veins. I couldn't scream anymore, it was as though the warmth had scorched my vocal cords and I was left to suffer in agonsing silence. Was it like this for everyone?
The venom had spread through my system like wildfire, it circulated from my shoulders down to my abdomen before surging towards my legs. There was a scar on my left thigh that I had got from accidentally dropping a beaker of acid during science class during my first year, the acidic shards of glass easily ripped through my tights and embedded themselves into my skin. I remembered screaming into the doctor's ear as he plucked the shards out but there was a particularly large piece that was deeper than the others, and of course it left a large ugly scar behind. No one apart from the doctor knew about my scar and I felt the fire run its scorching fingers along the skin, essentially sewing the skin back together and healing the wound.
How long had passed? Minutes, hours, days? I couldn't tell as the endless fire raged on and over time it seemed to have doubled its efforts, considering the pain had also increased. This was literal torture, if I wanted death I would rather it be quick and over in seconds but this seemed to drag on for what felt like an eternity. Aro had only told me the basics of the transformation process but I don't recall him mentioning what happened after the burning of the venom, and it was a process I'll never forget. Slowly but steadily my hearing returned but it was different, it seemed clearer and despite the fire surging through my system I could hear everything that was happening in the vicinity. Not only did my hearing return but so did my strength, I may not be able to open my eyes but I felt my pinky finger twitch at my side and I could hear a voice from the floor above humming along to a song I couldn't identify.
"How much longer?" Alec's voice sounded from besides me and it was as though his voice helped diminish the fire that was still raging on.
"Relax, it's not long now." A feminine voice spoke from my other side that I recognised belonged to Jane, it was comforting to know that the rather powerful twins were sat by my side. I wanted to do nothing more than scream for the siblings to make it stop and put me out of my misery. My wish was starting to come true as the fire began to slowly diminish from my feet and hands, but it was as slow as a tortoise. I felt as though I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel considering the pain was becoming more bearable but it seemed that luck wasn't on my side as the fire was rapidly speeding towards my heart. It felt as though someone dipped numerous knives in strong acid and kept stabbing them through my heart causing it to rapidly speed up, quicker than it has ever beaten before.
"Should I call for the masters?" Jane asked as she glanced down to where I was laid unmoving. Alec said nothing but nodded his head vigorously as he heard the rapid beating of my heart. The fire had long left the rest of my body and it seemed to solely focus on my heart, it was beating so quickly that I thought it would jump out of my chest at any given moment. Hurried footsteps sounded down the hall as the battle between my heart and the fire was grinding to a stop. Considering the fire had consumed everything else in my body, it was fighting my heart which was knocking on death's doors as it tried to keep up.
The fire gave one final surge and soon the battle was over, my heart thumped once then twice then nothing. Aro along with Caius and Marcus had entered the room in time to hear the last beat and watched in silence from where they stood a few feet away. The twins made eye contact and simply nodded at each other before focusing their attention on my now unmoving body.
As soon as my heart had stopped beating, the pain and fire had disappeared completely and I felt as though I could finally move again. My fingers flexed at my side, pleased with the small test I conducted and eventually opened my eyes.
I would never have to worry about going for an eye exam anymore as the first thing I noticed was how clear and detailed everything is. I could see the specks of dust in the air along with the details on the ceiling above me. Alec's hand brought me from my examination as he gently squeezed my hand and I instantly squeezed back causing his eyes to widen slightly. Wait his hand didn't feel ice cold like it used to, in fact it was the right temperature.
I sat up rather quickly and was hit with a wall of scents, ranging from lavender to vanilla to pine. The smell that intrigued me the most was the human that worked at the reception, her blood smelled divine and it was then that I noticed I was parched as if I hadn't drank water for days. The burn in my throat made itself known and my free hand flew to my neck, however I made no move in hunting the human down. I turned my head slightly to the left and my eyes widened as they landed on Alec.
If I thought he was attractive before with my human eyes, then he is on a whole different level of attractiveness as I stared at him with my clearer vision. The burning in my throat resided as I focused on my mate, how smooth his skin was and the detailed yet soft fibers of hair that sat neatly on his head. He raised his free hand and gently cupped my face, he seemed to be leaning closer and soon I found his lips on mine. His touch was enough to send what felt like jolts of electricity down my spine as I leaned into the kiss. I carefully brought my free hand to rest on his shoulder for support even though I technically didn't need it.
It started off as a rather light and sweet kiss but it grew more fierce and passionate. All I could think of was desire and a slight hint of protectiveness as the kiss deepened further. This was a whole new experience for me and it felt as though it was the first time we have ever kissed which is true to an extent considering he has never kissed me in this way before. Wait I didn't need oxygen anymore yet my chest heaved slightly as someone cleared their throat causing us to part from the kiss.
I forgot that we weren't alone as I turned my head the other way and met the rather happy expressions of Jane and the three kings. In an instant I was on my feet and I pulled Alec up from the chair he was sitting in before hugging him closely. I tried my best to be gentle but he grunted lowly as he patted me on the back.
"Ow.. Charlotte my love, this kind of hurts." He spoke and I instantly stopped hugging him, my arms rest at my sides as I gave him a sheepish grin.
"I'm sorry Alec." I spoke but I didn't recognise the voice at all, it was light and almost angelic sounding.
"There's nothing to apologize for, you're just a lot stronger than me at the moment." I was told that newborns are stronger than mature vampires for the first year of their life as they adjust to their surroundings. However, being told about it and experiencing it were two completely different things. Wait, that means I'm stronger than Felix and Demetri which is something I'm not gonna let them live down until I'm no longer a newborn.
I stepped away from Alec and found myself hugging Jane, except I was more careful this time which she laughed at considering how she had recently almost broken my wrist. Aro exchanged a look with Marcus and Caius before they all walked over to where me and the twins were standing.
"Immortality looks absolutely divine on you dear Charlotte, first of all how do you feel?" There was a gleeful smile on his face as he studied my face closely as I examined the three kings.
"It burns, like a lot." That was a severe understatement as it actually felt as though my throat was blazing with heat, it was really uncomfortable if I'm being honest.
"That's completely normal, every newborn experiences it and it means you have to feed more frequently than us." Caius had spoken up this time and I noticed how his eyebrows raised in what looked like awe.
"You are considerably more tame compared to the majority of newborns, I think a lot of people would've fled and bit our receptionist by now." He continued and chuckled slightly at the end. I definitely would have blushed if I had the ability to, that's another thing I was happy about; now I won't have to worry about being made fun of for blushing.
"Before you ask me all of these questions, could I get something to drink first?" I raised an immaculate brow and it seemed to snap them out of their daze as they noticed the elephant in the room. I didn't really pay much attention to the room before but now I could see all of the miniscule details but what intrigued me was the mirror on the far wall near the couches. Within a flash I was in front of the mirror and I audibly gasped at the sight that stood before me, I personally thought I was average looking as a human and the only time I thought I was pretty was when I started to wear makeup. However that has clearly changed as I barely recognised the woman that was staring back at me, her skin was as pale as snow and she definitely was blessed with curves in all of the right areas. Her light brown hair seems healthier and there were no traces of any damage or split ends which amazed me, she looked like those models you see in those hair commercials with the perfect hair. What struck me the most were her eyes, bright pools of red were staring back at me and mirrored my exact movement. Was this woman supposed to be me? I raised a hand and the woman in the mirror followed the movement and I couldn't focus on anything but the bright red eyes.
I took a good look at my figure and smiled slightly as I noticed I had a slight hourglass shape which is something I never had growing up, I was used to being thin and had more of a rectangular build as a human. My eyes picked up on the fact that I had a different outfit compared to when I was human, a simplistic pair of black jeans paired with a plum coloured blouse that I had bought the other day.
Alec must have sensed my thoughts as he was behind me within a second and his arms wrapped around my waist with his head resting on my shoulder, I'll be honest when I say we looked like a pretty badass couple. He kissed my cheek as his fingers traced circles on my hips.
"You're beautiful, amore mio." He whispered as his lips began to kiss down my neck, they may be brief but there was an underlying sense of love and passion within them. I turned away from the mirror and faced him with a small smile as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, his eyes were roaming my face and my patience was wearing thin. I growled lowly and pulled him closer, our lips met in the middle like jigsaw pieces and I never wanted the kiss to end, his lips were soft and moved in sync with mine. How long was I out? It clearly must have been over a day considering how dark Alec's eyes were and I pulled away from the kiss before turning to Aro.
"I'm taking it that I have to learn to hunt?" The king nodded at my words and I wanted to sigh at the thought of trying to hunt but something told me I would be fine. Alec released his embrace and opted to firmly holding my hand instead as we approached the door.
"You should know the rules by now but since Charlotte doesn't know I'll repeat them, when we hunt outside we stick to the outskirts of the city and beyond. Another rule which we all follow is that we never feed off of children." Caius chimed in and they were pretty simple rules to follow, besides when I thought about the vampire lifestyle before I swore to myself that I would never harm babies/children and that I wouldn't follow the Cullen's diet. Hunting down animals seemed wrong to me and it felt like it would be a rather long task considering the time to actually hunt an animal down and then trying to not scare it off. We both nodded and I let him lead me down the familiar hallways, I kept getting distracted by staring at numerous things as we passed ranging from the artwork to the Italian engravings on the walls.
Soon enough we had made it outside and I was grateful that it was night as it meant we didn't have to worry about using certain precautions. We held hands as we sped through the streets of Volterra and the wind blowing through my hair as we ran felt amazing, I felt as though I was finally free and I couldn't help but giggle. The environment around us buzzed to life as I heard numerous voices, some sounded like parents talking to their children whilst others sounded like couples engaged in an important discussion. We neared the edge of the city and suddenly Alec stopped in his tracks causing me to barrel into his back, his arm shot out to steady me and motioned for me to stay quiet. I didn't know what he meant but I could soon smell two rather drunk men who were stumbling down the sidewalk, I wasn't too bothered about the strong stench of beer but I was more focused on how delicious their blood smelled. I knew I didn't need to breathe but I still took a deep breath and watched as the men stumbled into the alley we were hiding in.
"Don't think too much about it and simply go for the neck. I'll be with you, okay?" Alec sent me a reassuring smile and I nodded in response as we creeped up on the drunken fools in front of us. I chose the guy on the left and covered his mouth before plunging my teeth into his neck, the blood ran into my mouth like a flowing river and his limp body fell from my arms as soon as I drank every last drop of blood. It felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders as the burning in my throat had subsided but it still lingered and Alec must have known as he nudged me with his elbow.
"You won't survive off of just one human, especially whilst you're a newborn. Come on, let's get you someone else." He had already drained the man he chose and his eyes were no longer dark which made me happy on the inside. I was dreading the next twelve months and knew there would be hardships along the way such as controlling my thirst and actions but I was in safe hands with the Volturi. Alec disposed of the bodies in the nearby trashcan and grabbed my hand as we continued to run to a more secluded street, the intense smell of the humans around us was driving my senses crazy but I thought about my mate next to me and snapped out of my internal frenzy.
"There's a local drug den around here and there's always someone roaming the streets." I raised a brow at the thought of people walking around the streets of Volterra high off of their heads. As soon as Alec said that, a woman exited a rather mundane looking house but I could spot her trembling hands and the dazed look in her eyes a mile away; perfect. We waited and followed her until she was a safe distance from the house before pouncing on her except Alec stood back and watched as I bit her neck, a small smile on his face as he pointed out a drop of blood on my chin.
"Hey it's the first time I have hunted, we can't all be perfect straight away." I rolled my eyes at him and soon wiped the drop from my chin, savoring the taste as the burning in my throat disappeared. From what I knew Heidi usually lures humans into the castle for the Volturi to feed on but I wouldn't want her bringing in humans just for me, it was something I'll have to discuss with the masters once we return.
"There's a few more hours until the sun rises so I was thinking about staying out a bit longer, to help you get used to the sudden change of life." Alec suggested and it wouldn't hurt to stay out longer, besides if I suddenly lost control I knew he would be able to help calm me down. If I trusted him whilst I was human knowing the risks that came with it, then I certainly trusted him now that we were equals. We had sped through the streets and came to a luscious green forest that reminded me way too much of the forest back in Forks.
"There's a place I want to show you, it's somewhere me and Jane found when we first arrived in Volterra in the eighth century and we usually come here when we need a break." I had to stifle a gasp once he mentioned the date and my reaction caused him to laugh as we ran side by side.
"Wait, you're over a thousand years old?!" I immediately halted and he stopped a few feet ahead of me.
"You make it sound like I'm an old person." His tone was light and playful as he appeared in front of me, a smirk on his face.
"Wait then how old are the masters?" I looked at him questioningly and he shook his head.
"That's not my story to tell, perhaps they'll tell you one day." I sighed but giggled as he took my hand once more and the trees blurred together as we advanced towards the spot he mentioned and I could understand why the siblings retreat here. It was a beautiful grassy area with a small lake at the side, however the view of the sky left me in awe. I could clearly see the stars in the sky as well as the soft glow of the moon.
I sat down cross legged on the grass and Alec soon copied my actions, I ended up leaning my head on his shoulder as I gazed up at the stars. Alec snaked an arm around my waist and despite the coldness of our skin, the small action was enough for warmth to spread from my dead heart and it was the equivalent of when I used to get that feeling as if butterflies were in my stomach. He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together, none of us said anything but it was a comfortable silence.
"I love you, Alec. I truly mean it." I whispered but I knew he had heard it as he shifted beside me.
"I never knew how much love I had in my cold dead heart until you entered my life, you gave me a new way of looking at the world around me. You're my happiness and my love for you is eternal. I love you so much Charlotte." Alec confessed and I felt tears well up in my eyes that I knew would never fall. I silently cupped his cheek and delicately kissed him on the lips but the hand that was keeping me up slipped on the grass, causing me to fall on top of him. I was amazed that he didn't pull away from the kiss and instead he deepened the kiss, this time I didn't pull away.