Happy Turkey day! I decided to update early as a little treat for all of you! Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Alice and I turned our attention to the screen that was connected to the needle in her brain. I felt badly for being so invasive, but my father was right. The best way for us to help her was to understand her life. She couldn't communicate with us, so this was the next best thing.

I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to understand more about her. I needed to understand more about her.

The first memory that appeared was a very fuzzy one. It was hard to tell the what the memory was, but after a moment, I recognized it as a sensory memory. A memory that this female more-so felt than really remembered.

An image finally appeared, and an older female covered in black tar was staring down at this female.

"Bella," The older female said very softly, almost in a hum. The older female's face was very tired and filled with a very loving expression. I recognized this as being an early memory of my female's. Possibly from the female's birth, considering the look upon the older female's face.

The female's body tensed, but she stayed in a relaxed position. Memory taps were always performed when someone slept, so I'm sure this had a strange effect.

"Mother." The female called softly. "Mother."

I twisted so the female could see the screen. Her head lolled back gently, but my father grabbed it to hold it upright. Her completely white eyes widened. I was shocked she could even see this much.

"M-mother?" She said in confusion.

"No," I told her as I stroked her cheek. "No. She's not here. It's just a memory."

"Mother?"

"No, Bella." I told her. I wasn't a hundred percent sure if this was her name, but it wouldn't hurt to take a shot in the dark.

Her head fell as she looked at me, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Bella?" I said as more of a question as I pointed to her.

She pressed a limp hand against her chest between her breasts. "Bella."

I pointed to myself. "Edward."

It seemed as though she was playing with my name in her mouth, fixing her tongue to say it correctly.

"Edward." She said after a moment of working her jaw.

I nodded. "Edward."

She pressed her hand against my chest. "Edward." Then she pressed her hand against her own chest. "Bella."

"Bella. Edward." I said as I copied her hand movements.

She closed her eyes and made a soft noise in the back of her throat, much like a purr. She leaned forward, her eyes closed and pressed her nose into the base of my neck. I closed my own eyes and matched her purring.

"So, the mating gene comes from our human ancestors." Alice said in shock. "She's responding to the mating frenzy."

"What do you feel Edward?" Dad asked.

Quite frankly, I wasn't too enthused about this. The blockers had taken their effect, and I couldn't respond as I so desperately wanted too. I could feel her, yes, and I could even feel my desire for her, but there was no way I could respond to it.

"The blockers are working." I said, my nostrils flared. "But I can still feel her. I want to respond to my instincts, but the blockers are preventing me from doing so."

"Good," Alice said with a slight nod. "Even though she's responding and possibly trying to start the mating dance, it's better that you wait until we figure more out about her. You could really hurt her."

"I know." I nodded.

I laid my head on top of Bella's head as I allowed myself to inhale her scent deeply. I never wanted to forget her scent. It was sweet and tantalizing. If her scent was the last I ever smelled, then I'd die happy. I wondered if this was how all mated pairs felt.

Bella was taking long inhales of my own scent. Her nose was buried in my collarbone. I was worried she'd try to bite me again, but I didn't want to push her away. I wanted to stay close to her.

We all jumped when loud screams and shrieks filled the room. At first, I thought it was Bella, but the screams were coming from the screen. Bella shoved her face into my chest, shuddering uncontrollably. I held her tightly and looked at the screen.

The viewer, Bella, was hiding behind what looked to be rocks. Her mother was sprawled on the ground as she was ripped apart by large, scaly creatures. For a moment, Bella watched before she ran in the opposite direction.

Her running was frantic, her only thought obviously being to get away. She was running so hastily that it actually affected her vision to the point of blurring everything around her.

She ran for a long while, then finally fell from exhaustion. I rubbed my nose against hers, a motion that made me miss my mother. It was something she always did, especially when we were younger. One of the ways she coddled us.

Alice and my father continued to watch the memories, but I simply closed my eyes and rested my head on Bella's. I wished the two of us could stay like this, but Bella's growling stomach was signaling that she needed some sort of food.

"We need to feed her," I said softly. "She's starved."

Alice nodded and looked to me. "Perhaps we start her with the adolescent meals? Just until we can figure out her diet."

"I'm thinking she eats whatever she can find." Dad said with a disgusted expression upon his face as he looked at the screen.

I looked back at it to see Bella shoveling what looked to be wormlike insects into her mouth. I felt queasy and turned away.

Alice shuddered and walked to the wall, pressing the button to signal a drone.

"Would you bring us a warmed adolescent plate, please."

While Alice did that, dad started the process of removing the needle from Bella's head. She whimpered as he slowly pulled the long needle out. I gently stroked the small bleeding hole and purred for her. She responded by purring back, which made my heart flutter.

The door opened and what I thought would be a drone, was actually Jasper, holding a tray.

"Alice," He purred lovingly. He was staring at her with wide, love-stricken eyes.

"Jasper," She purred back.

I growled loud enough to get their attention. "I told you to wait."

"I know, but we finished the scans, and you said after I could come see Alice. And the drones are being put on their docks, so I'm bringing the creature's food." He finally lifted his head to look at Bella.

"Come in, Jasper." Alice said as she grabbed the food.

"Yes Jasper," I snarled. "Please come in."

"Oh hush, Edward." Alice said as she brought the food over. "Hey Bella, do you want to eat? Food? Hmm?"

Bella had finally come out of her calm state and was now blinking as she regained her full vision. She looked over at Alice and scrunched her eyebrows.

"Look, it's food," Alice said as she lifted the spoon of warmed mush to Bella's lips.

Bella growled and snapped her teeth in Alice's direction. Jasper hissed and took a step forward but stopped when I sharply turned my head and lifted my lip to show my canines.

"I'm alright Jasper," Alice said as she took a slight step between Jasper and me. "She can't hurt me. Her teeth are like an infant's teeth. They can't penetrate my skin."

Jasper calmed down and took a couple steps into the room so the door would close behind him. His eyes narrowed as he examined Bella with scrutiny.

"So, this is the human?" He asked.

Alice laughed. "Yes Jasper, this is the human. Her name is Bella."

"You named it?" He asked, taking another step towards us.

"She is not an it, she is a female," Alice said in a slightly sarcastic tone. "A female just like me. And Bella is the name her mother gave her. Now be quiet, I need to get her to eat."

I placed my chin on top of Bella's head. Alice brought her hand close to Bella's mouth again to try and feed her, but Bella simply hissed at Alice.

"Aw, c'mon Bella. It's delicious." Alice took a bite of the food to demonstrate. "A little bland, but it's delicious. Try it."

Alice tried again but Bella snapped her teeth and hissed again. Bella's stomach growled again which caused me to sigh.

"You're a stubborn thing." I told Bella. "Let me try Alice. Maybe she'll accept it from me."

"That'll probably work better anyway. I'd like to record this." Alice said as she placed the tray onto the table beside the bed.

"Why are you recording it?" I asked as I adjusted my hold on Bella.

"Because I want to document this. I know the council is going to flip when they discover we've found an actual full-blooded human. They're going to want to see her progress."

I sighed and grabbed the spoon that held the soft white mush. I wasn't quite sure what this substance was because I hadn't been an infant in a long time, and I never paid much attention to what the infants eat.

"Here you go, Bella. Eat it. You're hungry." I told her as I held the spoon to her lips. "It's good. And it'll stop your stomach from growling."

She hissed again but this hiss was softer. I nudged the spoon against her lips, and she made a pained face. I quickly took the spoon away.

"Do you not like the food? Does it smell nasty?" I sighed as I licked the white mush off the spoon before scooping up the purple mush. "How about this. This one might be better. It certainly smells better."

I nudged the spoon against her lips and again she made the pained face. My brows furrowed.

"Could she be allergic to the food?" I asked.

"She could be," dad said. "But we wouldn't know that without her eating the food. Allergic reactions in humans were noticeable though. If she were allergic, her throat could close, she could get a rash on her skin, she could develop cold-like symptoms."

"Well are you watching her face?" I asked. "Every time I hold the food up to her lips, she looks like she is in pain."

Dad's eyebrows furrowed. Alice placed her hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side as she thought.

"Hold her mouth open." Alice said after a moment. "I want to try something."

"I'm not doing that Alice," I hissed softly. "We are not experimenting on her. If she won't eat, then—."

It seemed as though our talking became too much for Bella to handle because she spun in my arms and scooped the mush up with her hand before she brought it to her mouth. She cut me a look of agitation and let out a heavy sigh before eating the food with ease.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry, did we irritate you with all of our talking?"

She grumbled at me as she finished the food that was in the palm of her hand. She reached over and scooped up more food.

"It must've been the spoon," Dad said. "Perhaps she didn't recognize the utensil and it made her uneasy."

"Well now that we know she doesn't like spoons, how about I find her some clothing. She's small. I'll have to find a small tunic. And possibly cut it." Alice said.

"That's a good idea. She keeps getting cold. She must not be able to control her internal temperature. Could she get sick?" I asked my father.

"She could." He said as he took out a thermometer. "Humans of this age had several illnesses that they could catch. Luckily, most of the illnesses that she could contract had been irradicated through our own breeding with the Outerrians. And these illnesses could only be spread through contact with another human."

"What a strange little creature," Jasper said. "And to think we evolved from this thing."

I hissed and dad sighed softly as he walked over to take Bella's temperature. As predicted, she hissed and snapped her teeth at him, but he managed to keep the thermometer in her ear.

"Jasper," Alice hissed as well. "Stop, you're being mean."

"I'm not trying to be." He shrugged innocently. "It's not like she can understand me anyways. It's apparent she's… well, she couldn't be a rocket scientist."

"Alright you're being too mean. Get out," Alice said as she shoved against him. He didn't move from the force of her shove, but he did take a step towards the door.

"Why don't we go back to our bunk?" Jasper asked Alice, smiling that she was now irritated.

I sighed internally. Fucking idiot. Now I know why he was being over the top with his examination of Bella. He was trying to piss Alice off because her rage made for better intercourse. It was the warrior in him, everything was a battle, and the most thrilling part of battle is victory.

Bella, who was still in my arms, opened her mouth and closed her eyes. I watched as she seemed to inhale very heavily, rubbing her eyes with her messy hand, creating an even bigger mess.

"She desperately needs a good, thorough bath." Alice said. "And to sleep."

"What is she doing?" I asked as she made the same strange motion again.

Dad and Alice laughed which caused me to sneer at them. My job wasn't knowing this stuff, it was protecting our people and fighting off all threats.

"She's yawning," Dad said. "It's one of the many strange things these humans did. She's tired, but her body is trying to stay alert."

"So she needs to bathe and sleep." I said as I stroked her hair. "Alright my little human, let's bathe you first."

"Why don't I take her to the pools? The heated water would feel good on her skin. And she could rest her legs," Alice said. "She has several hairline fractures and one nasty break we're going to have to address at some point. She's probably in so much pain."

"She's in pain?" I asked, pressing my nose against hers and purring softly.

"Edward," She purred back softly.

"Bella," I purred back to her.

"I wonder if she'll even let you take her to the pools Alice," Dad said. "She's very attached to Edward."

"And I'd rather not venture outside of the infirmary. It would be too much for her." I said as Bella placed her head against my chest.

"She needs to bathe," Alice said as she tapped her chin. "Edward, you'll have to bathe her. Are you able to—,"

Bella's head suddenly snapped up; her strange eyes wide as stared intently at the north wall. I stroked her hair and tried to pull her attention away from the wall, but her attention never wavered.

She growled and wiggled out of my arms. She managed to jump down to the floor, but of course when I went to catch her, she hissed at me. She grabbed the blanket and pillows off the bed and started moving frantically around the room.

"What is she doing?" I asked as I watched her.