Fanfiction ► Salvation

[Faith Crest]

Salvation​

When choices are made, there are consequences.​

Edward Cullen has mostly despised what he has been for the past eighty-eight years, a vampire. But he knew that because his adoptive father, Carlisle, turned him, he lived through the disease he sustained all those years ago. And now he is not far from marrying the love of his life, Bella Swan. The newborns were stopped, but there is more danger on the horizon. After defending Bella from a demon, Edward is astounded to discover that he's human again. He feels he can finally understand Bella and becomes happy. But when the demon comes after the Cullens, Edward's about to discover that being human has consequences.

Note: This is based off Twilight and takes place between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Spoilers may very well appear, so you have been warned. This story is about Edward becoming human, going through the new experiences of being human and is all from his point of view. Happy reading!

Chapter One

The Demonic Attack​

On the horizon, I could see that dawn was finally coming. Another day was in sight, another day with my beautiful, precious Isabella “Bella” Swan. Alas, Bella. She hated the usage of the name Isabella. She despised it so much that she preferred to shorten it down to Bella. My oh my, I just couldn’t keep my hungry eyes off her glowing presence. I sat down in her bedroom, admiring her amazing grace from afar, but careful to listen out to her father, Charlie, at the same time. This was how it had been ever since she discovered who and what I was, but also even more since we finally got engaged.

That was right, I was her fiancé. I, Edward Cullen, would be getting married to Bella Swan very soon. We were still in the middle of arranging our wedding – well, my sister Alice was very much concerned with doing the job herself – and she hadn’t told her parents yet. Things were complicated at this point, however, because I was not like the random stranger who walked down the street glancing at the people that walked by him and normally not give them a second glance. For I and my family were vampires.

For nearly a century, I had been immortal. Well, for eighty-eight years to be precise. But I had been existing on this planet for just over a century. I was almost one hundred and five years old – thanks to Carlisle, who gracefully reminded me with each day that counted down towards my birthday. I didn’t want to think about it. Bella and I had just graduated from high school after all. I would have rather rip off Alice’s head about the wedding rather than bug Bella about getting the experience of going to Dartmouth College, just as I wanted her to do so.

Aside from the fact that the entire Cullen family knew, it was mine and Bella’s dirty little secret that we were getting married. No matter how many times I pestered her, she refused to tell Charlie or even Renee. It tortured me to no end because I was very overprotective of this wedding being public. I even told her to tell her friends from high school to come, including Angela and Mike. But I knew Bella was being stubborn without reading her mind. It was such a shame that I could not read her mind … things may have appeared clearer to me.

So as hard as I had tried to persuade – or perhaps even force her to at this stage – her to tell people about the wedding, she was being awfully quiet about it. Was she afraid that people would start to talk about her marrying such an enigma like myself? But the more I watched her sleep in her bed, the more I loved her. The best part would be when she woke up from her sleep and give me that million dollar smile. Unfortunately, she was taking much more time than I’d anticipated. For once, she was not pleasing everyone else – she was pleasing herself.

This ruddy tin opener is seriously going to peck me on the head, came Charlie’s thoughts from downstairs. I was quick to realise and hear that he was perhaps trying to make himself something to eat? Bella always told me that Charlie was unable to cook himself and always cooked for him. But the human was doing it himself this time? Well, I told myself that practice makes perfect. Bella would soon be coming with me after the wedding. She’d be going on the honeymoon and then I would turn her. I could imagine my stomach doing back flips when that came to event, if it was even possible.

“Alice!” I hissed, only realising that my sister had entered the room through the balcony doors. “What are you doing here? I thought that you and Jasper were out hunting!” I was clearly not in the mood for one of those Bella-looks-cute-in-her-sleep moments, which was what I was expecting. And what I was expecting was exactly what happened.

“But I wanted to check up on the bride-to-be,” giggled Alice. She looked somewhat satisfied this time around after hunting. I forced myself to roll my eyes when she stood over Bella’s sleeping body. It felt sickening to see Alice refusing to stop speaking about the wedding and it made her look like she was the one who would be getting married. However, she had sworn to secrecy when Bella said she would tell Charlie herself. It would look bad for her if Alice got there first. “She hasn’t slept lately, has she?”

“You saw?” I asked curiously with a tone of anger in my voice.

“I couldn’t help myself,” Alice shrugged her shoulders. “You should be excited, Edward! It’s time that you stop brooding all the time and get used to the fact that we are welcoming a new member to our family!” I instantly slapped my hand over Alice’s mouth because Charlie was calling Bella’s name. He had heard my sister’s excitement and assumed that it was Bella. I had one reason to be happy about her willingness and refusal to fight me – she hadn’t quite foreseen me doing this. I released my hand from her mouth and took a few steps back to give her some space. “Edward, it will turn out fine, I promise you.”

“Not unless you tell Charlie about the wedding,” I warned her. “Are you sure that you wouldn’t want to repeat our happiness and joy to my future father-in-law?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she sang, which woke Bella up. “Oh, the bride-to-be is awake!”

“And telling you to let me go back to sleep …” murmured Bella, as she threw one of her pillows at Alice, who was easily able to dodge out of the way due to her vampiric speed. She tried to go back to sleep, but she seemed too deep into the real world that she yawned and smiled when our eyes met. “Good morning, Edward.” She kissed me on the lips and held on to me close as if I was the source of comfort. Possibly from Alice?

“Ok, I’m leaving,” Alice raised her hands at last, feeling defeated. “Don’t hold back on my account, Romeo and Juliet.”

“Good to see you’re leaving, wicked witch of the west,” joked Bella, smiling angelically. When Alice had finally leapt from the balcony and into the woods, my fiancé looked up into my eyes and sighed happily. “At least I’m guaranteed to see you here every morning when I wake up.”

“One tradition that won’t change, love,” I said seductively, mesmerised by her beauty.

“Eww, Edward! Don’t do that! I look disgusting and hideous in the morning.”

“On the contrary, you’re more beautiful than Sleeping Beauty could ever be …”

“What? More references? Alice just had to use Romeo and Juliet, but now you’re comparing me to Sleeping Beauty? You know I’m not that perfect, Edward.”

“Yes, you are, Bella,” I smiled in her direction, refusing to take my eyes off her. “Now while we’re having this mere, useless conversation, why don’t you get dressed? Alice almost blew her cover. She was excited to see you sleeping peacefully again.”

“I wish I was sleeping peacefully,” Bella groaned, rolling her eyes and then rolling out of bed. Not in a literal sense, of course. Before I could ask her why, she already delved into the explanation, something I hadn’t quite expected and was unprepared for. “I keep thinking that Charlie will flip when I eventually tell him about the wedding.” I just hummed in response. So she was still considering telling Charlie after all. Excellent. This released a lot of stress from my mind, not that I had much. “But I can’t help feeling that Alice is going to make this look like the biggest stage production of the year, like Phantom of the Opera.” She sighed sadly, as she picked out her outfit of a purple v-neck t-shirt and denim jeans. Well, I was only eternally grateful that Alice wasn’t insulting and condemning her fashion for the meantime. With the wedding coming soon, we didn’t need any mere distractions like that now, did we?

“Love, you honestly think that Alice is going to stage this as the wedding of the year?” I said, sitting on her bed and watching her change. It was mesmerising to see her change into her clothes. But of course, it were her kisses that dazzled me the most. I supposed that in a way, I perhaps dazzled her. The unfortunate and doomed limitation of not being able to read her mind was one reason why I questioned her sometimes. It was a shame and I longed to know the reason why.

“Yes, I do and it’s gotten me worried,” Bella said. She couldn’t suppress that kind of emotion. Like her father, Bella was one for suppressing emotions and not expressing how she was feeling. But with being worked up over the wedding, she had to let it all out. It was like a high pitched scream that broke free from even the quietest child. “Edward, what if getting Alice to arrange the wedding was wrong? What if we should do it ourselves?”

“Do you not trust Alice?”

“Yes, but –”

“Then do you believe she would plan this smoothly?”

“Yes, but –”

“Then I don’t see the need for panic, Bella.”

I kissed her on the forehead and promised her that I would come through the front door in a few hours. Wherever Alice was – probably back at the Cullen house by now – I needed to speak to her, or at least read her mind, to know that she wasn’t planning anything rash to ease Bella’s worries. However, Alice had not moved from the woods. She was there sat in a tree as if she had been waiting for me to come out and join her.

“It’s about time you joined me, brother,” sang Alice as if she was in a daydream. Typical.

“You heard everything we said?” I asked of her. She nodded. Again, typical. “Then you must know that Bella is worried about what you are planning and I can only ask that you don’t make this look like a stage production, as she put it down herself. Please give me your word that you’ll not let this get to your head, Alice.”

“So responsible, so bold,” she observed my behaviour.

“I’ve had the past eighty-eight years to consider my attitude. I’d prefer to be responsible unlike you,” I said, refusing to take my eyes off her. Alice could not deny that she would be irresponsible at times because Carlisle and Esme had to show her that quite often enough. It was worrying enough to turn Bella and bring her into our family when Alice would pry into our lives whenever she felt it was necessary. “Has Esme returned from the stores yet? I would rather like a word with her in private.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” giggled Alice. “Esme will not return yet, brother. Something is troubling her. I see great danger in the future, although I don’t know who in Forks will be affected …”

“What?” I was outraged. How long had she known this? “Great danger and someone will be attacked? When did you see this, Alice? Tell me!” I never felt so angry before in my time of immortality. Whenever the word “danger” entered Forks, it only meant one thing – danger for Bella. She wasn’t supposed to mix with that. She wasn’t the most careful person in the world either, however, it was trouble that went looking for her. I knew Bella wanted nothing more than to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, things never quite went our way sometimes.

Alice looked offended at this point. I can’t see who at this point, I heard the serious tone of her voice when I read her mind. I only saw after I left you both alone. She felt uncomfortable with projecting her thoughts to me, so instead, she spoke again. “I would keep close to Bella. It happens in the next few hours, somewhere between noon and dusk.” It wasn’t a good approximation, but it was all I needed. At least it gave me an excuse to be around Bella all day. But there was just one problem standing in my way …

“Do you think that you could keep Charlie company for the day?” I asked her.

“What? After you shouted at me for being irresponsible and also taking in how beautiful that my future sister-in-law looks when she’s sleeping?” She looked somewhat insulted, but decided to let that pass, especially when the thought of playing dress up with Charlie seemed to have cheered her up. “I’ll do it. Now I know that Bella wants to tell him about the wedding and it’s his day off, so I should start sizing up what kind of suit to get him.”

“Fine, but make sure that you don’t drop any kind of hint,” I pointed out.

The deal was set on the table. So as Alice dashed back to the house to inform Jasper of what she’d be doing today, I decided to pursue what I was originally going to do – and go through the front door of the house. That way, Bella wouldn’t have to worry so much about me being in her room and Charlie walking in. As soon as I knocked on the door and Bella noticed it was me from the window, she called for me to come in like she normally did.

I walked through the door and closed the door behind me. As soon as I walked through into the kitchen, I could smell the pancakes that Bella was making. Charlie greeted me quietly and went into the living area to read his newspaper. I smiled when I approached Bella, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead and curiously watched her cook.

“It’s a shame that I’ll never know how good a cook you really are,” I sighed sadly. Bella offered me a sympathetic look, but I didn’t glance at her for too long. Perhaps sometimes, I had to admit that I quite missed being human. Almost ninety years had passed since Carlisle turned me and I had quite forgotten what it was like to be normal, to be ordinary like Bella still was. The more I saw her live her last days as a normal human being, the more that I craved to become human myself. I could not understand why she longed to achieve immortality. It had its gifts, but also had its curses, too.

Maybe that was why Bella wanted to become like me. She despised life itself with all the teenage angst, human emotions, decisions in life and other things that she didn’t want to think about. I could easily bypass all those individual things. I could only about remember my human life and then being on the brink of death … Carlisle had saved me. I remembered some of my human memories, but unable to remember how that human life was.

“I know, but it doesn’t matter,” Bella shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing. That was the way she saw it. I couldn’t remember the last time I had real human food. The only craving I had within me was bloodlust. She’d be feeling that soon when she became a newborn. Every day when we/ neared that fateful day was painful enough for me. To see her determined to live an immortal life with myself pained me so much that I wanted to stop myself. Carlisle was already determined to stand by Bella’s decision. “It’s nice to know that my last remaining human days will be cooking for Charlie. He’s going to miss me when I finally leave.”

I would have wanted to throttle her because of her decision. But because I loved her so much, I didn’t in the end. As she went to give Charlie his plate of pancakes, I shuddered at the thought of her becoming a vampire. Our family would have to move away somewhere far away before she could hurt Charlie or even Renee for that point. What Bella may not have realised was that she would have to sacrifice so much for what she wanted.

*​

When Alice arrived at the house several hours later, Bella made an excuse saying she needed to see Angela and Mike to take back some books that she borrowed from them in the high school year. Charlie seemed to have bought it, judging by the disappointed look on his face. Or perhaps it was because he was getting to spend time with Alice, who had insisted on going through the photo album that contained pictures that included Bella – any reason for us to escape.

Bella hadn’t asked where we were going yet. She thought that we were going back to visit Carlisle and Esme. But as soon as we drove past the road that we should have turned right on, she glanced mysteriously at me. “Where are we going? You haven’t said a single word since we left.”

“I haven’t uttered a single word in case that we make Alice’s vision come true,” I replied coolly. At this point, she looked curiously at me. Whenever Alice had a vision, Bella would always jump to the conclusion that it would be something to do with her – and neither of us could blame her. Ever since she came into our lives, most of the visions were connected to Bella. “Apparently, someone is in danger and I know that it’s you, Bella. You know how trouble and danger aren’t your favourite words.”

“What did Alice see?”

“Her exact words were, ‘I see great danger in the future, although I don’t know who in Forks will be affected …’ To be quite frank with you, I thought she was messing around at first, especially since the trouble we had with those newborns not long ago.”

I drove the Volvo faster, putting my foot down. Bella seemed a little bit scared of my sudden reaction, but took it in well. I began to wonder where this road trip was going. Well, I certainly couldn’t leave Forks because it would be then that Carlisle would be wondering where we left to. After half an hour of driving, we stopped in the middle of the woods. I got out of the car when Bella did and slammed the door shut.

“So who could be after me this time?” asked Bella curiously. “It’s like you said – we dealt with the newborns.”

However, I was quiet. The reason I’d stopped in the woods was because I smelt a presence so unknown in my mind. Bella didn’t get her answer. But I was so sure that the answer was so close by. I motioned for her to be quiet and she nodded. We started walking into the woods – Bella kept right next to my side – and I heard the being, whatever it was, creeping in the bushes. I would have leapt forward and attacked it, but I decided to be cautious this time. What was strange was the fact that I couldn’t hear any thoughts.

Was it possible that this creature was immune to my power like Bella, too? Bella looked so brave. She was perhaps almost fearless. That was what I liked about her, but I hoped she wasn’t acting at the same time. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t have acted like this for a long time. There was no way that she could keep up the act for so long. Stopping myself from concentrating on how irresistible my fiance was, the hunt was on for this creature. I sniffed up and wore a disgusted look on my face. Whatever it was, it smelt like it hung out in the sewers.

And now it was unfortunate at last. Bella made a false move and tripped on a branch, thus, falling down the hill. I ran as quick as I could to catch her in my arms. She hadn’t fallen down much, perhaps nearly a metre. But she wasn’t badly hurt, maybe a gash on her cheek. But I fought every ounce in my body to taste her blood. Now wasn’t the right time. I still wanted her to live as a human, but … no, this was too complicated right now. I couldn’t think about endangering Bella by considering what was right and wrong here. There was a creature here on the loose and it needed to be tamed!

“Stay hidden, love,” I muttered quietly to her. “I’ll take care of this beast.”

I put her down and she went to hide behind a tree. As soon as she was out of sight, but with me still knowing where she was hidden, I turned around to look where the creature could be. It was hidden like Bella, but if it tried to lunge at her, then I’d be there in ten times less the time than it would be. Apart from Bella’s nervous breathing, all I could hear was the silence that had erupted in the woods. The creature had to be eliminated. This is what Alice had warned me about – Bella was the target. I had to ensure that no or nothing hurt her ever again …

And just when I lost some concentration for barely half a second, the creature jumped out at me and kicked me in the stomach. I was taken by surprise, as I hit the tree that Bella was hid behind. The pain was a lot to handle, but I knew that I’d be fine in a matter of seconds or minutes, if that was what it took. I jumped back to my feet looking for the creature again, but it was invisible again. Was that its power – invisibility? I could smell its blood right now, it was something different, all right.

But the creature lunged for me once again. This time, I saw its true face. It was green with yellow eyes and there was a red crystal carved into its forehead. The monster was wearing, what appeared to be, warrior clothes. Perhaps this creature was older than I was? Or maybe it had a choice of what it wore? Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. There was a great struggle between both of us supernatural beings. The monster was strong, too strong actually. But because it was strong did not necessarily mean that it could heal like I could.

When I punched and kicked the creature, it winced in pain. I kicked it out of the way and it went flying back into the wall. It coughed – could it have even done that? – and blood came out of its mouth as the result. The creature hissed at me, infuriated that I had even dared to make it bleed, punched me in the stomach with its blood-stained hand. In turn, my own blood splattered from my lip and poured down on to my hand. Moments later, however, my lip had returned back to normal.

I took the creature’s sword that it had dropped and then thrust it into the creature’s stomach. It fell and the crystal that was once on its forehead smashed and fell to the floor. The creature was dead and I was victorious. But that was where my concerns began to kick in. Bella was no longer around because I felt her running somewhere. I wanted to run after her, but something else stopped me. It was the creature’s blood on my hands. I fell on to my knees.

The blood shone bright when it was on my hands and it filled me up. The light became a part of me. I screamed out. This kind of pain was unbearable. I thought that I would recover within seconds, but it continued. The pain continued for the next few minutes and then I suddenly fell on to the floor, flat on my face. I started breathing and my fingers touched the soft ground that was beneath them. Even with the light gone, the pain continued. The pain was still unbearable, but it was starting to calm down now that I’d somewhat gotten used to it.

But something bothered me. I was seeing things differently now. I couldn’t believe this …

“I’m alive,” I whispered.

 

[Livi]

I haven't read fanfiction on here in forever, but this really caught my attention. The plot is really well done, and you portray the characters perfectly. Awesome job on all of it so far.

I love Twilight. <3 Can't wait for future chapters.

 

[Faith Crest]

Sorry for the very long wait for the next chapter. Writing in Edward's point of view is quite a tricky and interesting process, so that's why it took so long for me to get this up. Anyway, what happened next? Here's where things take a turn and you now know that Edward has become human. But at what cost?

Chapter Two

The Wisdom of Carlisle​

It seemed that I had lost consciousness for a few mere moments. My world was spinning around just like a rollercoaster. I closed my eyes again – it was too much pain to bear. I hadn’t felt this kind of pain for so long. But then the reality hit me. I said I was alive before … had it been an illusion? I sat up carefully and noticed my own blood still stained on my hands. Everything rushed back to me. The demonic attack … Bella running … and my own blackout. It was a dream that really happened!

But even as I felt nervous, there was the one thing that I hadn’t felt for almost a century. I clasped my hand on my chest, feeling my own heartbeat. The irony behind this situation was the fact that I was alone. Bella had fled in her fear of the attack and panic that she may have been caught up in it. Or perhaps she didn’t want to see the part when I ripped the demon’s head off. Either way, she was gone and now I was powerless. I was no longer the very creature that I despised for so many years and now the man that I never expected to be.

When I rose to my feet, I almost fell again. Thankfully, the tree next to me was my support. My ribs were aching like hell – I thought I’d broke a few of them because I felt like I was in agony. I tried so hard to remember what I was like when I was human. The memories were very blurry, however, due to the fact that I was dying when Carlisle had turned me. Initially, I thought of what was happening to me. But then I considered everyone else. My family and even Bella were on my mind, not myself.

In the world, there were only two things – love and madness. The only part that I felt right now was the madness. As soon as I climbed up the hill in the woods, I found myself on the road again, where we had stopped before. My silver Volvo was still parked there on the side. Bella must have ran off in another direction. I had to find out if she was alive. I hurried into my car, closed the door and swerved the other way to head back to Forks. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to worry about Charlie giving me a parking ticket today – I assumed that Alice was still keeping him occupied to this point.

Since I drove as fast as my vehicle could take me (and I couldn’t run back anyway because I had lost all manner of my immortality) as well as overtaking the traffic that I encountered, I finally arrived at Bella’s house. However, as soon as I opened the door and stepped out, I fell to the ground with a loud thud. The door opened … and there stood Bella, who looked as white as a ghost. She looked like she’d been crying. When she saw that I couldn’t stand, she hurried to my side and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

I was delirious at the time that it took me a while to notice that I was lying on the sofa in her living room. Bella was crying on the floor. It pained me to see her like this. Things looked different now that I realised I was human. The world looked so different. At the moment, all I felt was pain. Was this how Bella felt all the time? I extended my weak hand to her face and caressed her cheek. She was surprised to see I was even capable of such a thing. A smile did not appear, however, just a small scowl. And without any warning, she rose to her feet angrily.

“You shouldn’t have left me!” she shouted, clearly acting out of character. But I had endured so many outbursts from her that it made me fall in love with her more. This time may have been different now that I was experiencing old things. She noticed the blood on my hands when they started trembling. “Blood? But how could –?”

“Demon,” was all I able to murmur. I hesitated for a few moments because my speech was a little blurred. I hadn’t heard myself spoke since awaking. The heartbeat that I felt was overwhelming anyway, so I wondered – how did I sound now? “Our blood … together …” My hands were shaking because I felt scared. I had never felt so scared in my entire lifetime. “Can’t –”

“I don’t know what it did to you, but you need to rest!” insisted Bella, as she gazed into my eyes. But when she did, it was then that everything changed. I looked away in disgust and disappointment in myself. I felt hideous to be seen in this state. It had always been her who had been hurt. Now it was my time. It was funny, considering that I was beginning to understand how she felt in this state. “Your eyes, they …” She caressed my cheek, prompting me to turn and face her like the idiot that I felt like right now. “Green? But that’s … no, it can’t be …” But I nodded, confirming what may have been her greatest hope or worst nightmare.

“I’ve become human, love,” I choked, only just getting my words out to her.

At that point of time, it seemed more of a shock to her than to me. But as Bella fretted about telling my family, I had never considered that until she unwillingly reminded me. My mind was preoccupied with what they would think and of also the very monster that made it possible. Whilst Bella had desired to become a vampire and be with me forever, I had always wanted to be the very thing that she was and have a chance at mortal life again. That very thing was happening – and it felt so strange. I never expected it to be so complicated as this.

I understood that there were a few catches to being human, but I seemed to have forgotten one important one – that being the pain. The wounds that had begun to heal when I was a vampire, shortly before transforming back to my former human self, were now hurting me deep inside. That was one trait I was not grateful and I was beginning to understand now how Bella sometimes (or perhaps often in her case) felt so useless whenever we were faced with danger. That was probably why she ran off.

Bella continued to keep quiet to herself. I recalled her mentioning my eyes as a different colour. Against her wishes, I rose to my feet and walked to the mirror in the lounge, examining myself. For the first time in almost a century, I gazed at what was once (and now, again) my human self. I touched my cheek, where there was a huge gash. I touched my eyes, my jaw dropping. Here I was, looking at the man that I used to be. The man had returned. But was he the same as the vampire? I turned in Bella’s direction.

Was this why she no longer saw me in the same way? Was it because my beautiful golden eyes had faded away? Or perhaps my harmonic, singing voice no longer soothed her very soul? Whatever the reason, I couldn’t run from this situation, considering I needed confirmation that I was human and I was in no state to run, anyway. But I clasped my hand over my chest and felt the heartbeat pounding away as if my life depended on it. I was so nervous in Bella’s presence, so that was why my heart was beating so fast …

I could have had a heart attack when she ran away. Instead, I fell on to my knees because I had been standing for too long. Clearly, I hadn’t enough strength to remain standing. My vision became somewhat blurry, as I felt the world spinning around in my head. I felt so scared that I didn’t know what was going on. My human memories from over a hundred years ago were so clouded that I couldn’t decipher if this was some kind of usual thing for humans to experience every now and again. Bella was one for fainting at the sight of blood, but I …

*​

Unable to complete my sentence, it felt like an entire lifetime or two had passed since I blacked out without a warning. I opened my eyes to bright lights shining in my direction. I heard voices talking in the distance – another loss in regaining my humanity was my vampiric hearing – and was unable to hear if they were people I knew or not. But the place where I was sounded busy, a lot of phones were ringing and footsteps filled the building. I sat up almost immediately and opened my eyes to see that I was in the hospital. I was breathing heavily and quickly. It felt like a nightmare that I’d woken up from – I really hoped that it was.

There was one smell from the hospital that I could not shift out of my mind – the horrible smell of the food here. Although it tasted nice, it smelt horrible. But as the nurse wheeled a trolley full of food past my room, I licked my lips. My stomach begged for food. It was only then that I realised all that I saw was actually real. My heart was still thumping away in my chest, my eyes were still green as I noticed in the mirror and my ribs ached, although the pain had decreased quite considerably. As a matter of fact, the pain was beginning to decrease altogether and make my ribs feel numb.

“Ah, so I see you’re awake,” came a voice that I was hoping not to face anytime sooner.

Carlisle stood by the door holding a clipboard and almost unable to meet my eyes. I assumed he couldn’t believe it as much as I did, too. He walked into the room, closing the door and placing the clipboard down on the small table beside my bed. Now that I had a chance to look around, I realised that I was dressed in these accursed hospital clothes. I rolled my eyes and growled under my breath, which I knew didn’t go unnoticed by my father.

“You didn’t want to see me, I can understand that,” he said, crossing his arms and looked sternly at me. “Alice saw everything unfold right before her very eyes. It took Esme to calm her down by the time that she told us the full details of the recent attack in the woods. It’s been almost a day since that happened.”

“I’ve been unconscious for a day?” I whispered, daring to challenge him.

“Precisely, Edward. When Alice informed us of the miracle –” I detested the word miracle by the way he was exaggerating it. “– I just couldn’t believe her at first. She then saw you at Bella’s house in the state that you were as close as you are now. I had to come see for myself when Bella rang me and told me that you returned to her house as a human.” He noticed that I was silent throughout the time that he spoke. “Come, Edward. Human you maybe, but you haven’t changed one bit.”

Did he really think that? Or had Bella expressed her concern to Carlisle himself? By knowing her worries, was he assuring me that I was the same and telling a lie at the same time? Was it really the truth, however? I thought about Bella and my heart went out to her. It must have been a difficult time for her, learning that her boyfriend was now like any other boyfriend that she had – a human, as we had all pretended to be in front of the whole world. I felt sick at this point, but fought so hard to keep it back.

“You don’t want to go back, do you?” Carlisle guessed.

“Excuse me?” I hissed angrily.

“You want to remain human and I can understand that, Edward.” I lowered my head, feeling guilty. It felt like I was choosing between a life of immortality or a life of mortality. Being human made my emotions a lot harder to control. While some advantages came of being mortal, there were also some disadvantages. “But it is alone for you to decide what you think is best for yourself. Don’t think about Bella, Edward. Think for yourself for once! What do you want to do with your life?”

“I don’t know what I want!” I yelled, unable to keep my emotions at bay. “I just almost died with that demon and you’re asking me what I want to do with my life? Then I became human and I had to make it to Bella on my own! You really think it was easy when I could have broken my ribs? Do you even understand what I’m going through right now?” My true feelings were being expressed and I could not hold myself back. I was acting clearly out of character right now. However, this was how I acted when protecting Bella. Perhaps this time I was protecting myself? It seemed that way to me – and it would to Carlisle as well if he took myself into account. “I …” But I could not bring myself to finish my sentence. The pain of my ribs began to settle back in again and I was deemed a prisoner in my own bed. I rolled on to my side and groaned in pain.

“It’s quite understandable that you don’t know what to do with your life next,” said Carlisle. “It is a difficult time for both you and Bella. As for Bella, be quite assured that she hasn’t brought up any issue of this matter with anyone else, but Esme, Alice and myself. The others have no idea what has happened to you, considering the unusual circumstances.” I stared at him. Circumstances? “We’ve told Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett that you have simply … left for the weekend to do some hunting. It’s why they are so suspicious. They cannot sense you anymore. Not as a vampire, anyway.”

“And what of when they discover me here as human?” I demanded, trying to get to the point.

“That will not happen,” he promised, wearing that genuine Carlisle look that was etched across his entire face. “Vampire or not, you are still my son, Edward, and I have to protect you. I have to think about what’s best for you and right now, what’s best for you is getting some rest. You must be very tired from your blackout.”

All I had been doing was sleeping. I had slept for an entire day and he wanted me to get more rest? I felt helpless and powerless at the same time to do anything about it. As the nurse came into the room with a trolley of food, my eyes widened. Carlisle laughed as soon as the nurse left.

“I was so sure that you wanted to eat as soon as you woke up,” he remarked. “You could have so much more when you leave here. Edward, listen to me, son.” Carlisle came to my side and sat down on the chair. “You may want to remain human, you may not want to and be turned again. But I want you to saviour the experience of being human. There are so many experiences that I would have liked to have again. I want you to saviour these experiences and keep them in your heart forever.”

As he left the room and I turned to my vegetables, I began to wonder on Carlisle’s words. What if he was right?

However, my heart was torn in two. On one side of the card, I wanted to be a vampire again and turn Bella myself, so that we could spend eternity together, so that she could understand what I truly was. But the other side of the card was so different. Human, I could give Bella so many things I could not as a vampire – a family, being alive and acting so normal in front of everyone else. I could share her experiences and learn from them.

I didn’t know what to decide. But the vegetables in my sight were my satisfaction for now.

 

[Livi]

Omg so cute. D: I loved it! It's so well done, gah.

You should so write another sometime! Thanks for taking the time to do this. <3

 

[Faith Crest]

Thanks for your postive continued comments, Livi! Here's the next chapter, where things get deeper and choices have to be made. This chapter was hugely inspired by Nickelback's song, Far Away.

Chapter Three

Just One More Chance​

I was allowed to leave the hospital the following morning, although the nurse insisted that I continue to take my painkillers for at least another week. I thanked her briefly before making my way towards the front doors of the hospital. I half expected Carlisle to appear now, to embrace me in his arms and speak of the “miracle” that I had become. However … it was different this time. The sun was shining upon Forks; a sight that I never thought was possible. The sun was shining down on the town … on me. I felt its warmth – a feeling that I never thought I’d feel again.

Instead of Carlisle, it was Bella.

I hadn’t seen her since I fainted a few days ago in her house. She looked scared when she came over to me, perhaps almost as frightened when she found out that I was a vampire. Now here I was, standing in front of her, a man, just human. Did I appear the same to her? Was it why she was finding it hard now to glance at my face? Was I not beautiful in her eyes anymore?

“I understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore,” I said, putting my hands in my pants pockets. “Let’s face it, love, the only reason you wanted to be with me was because I was a vampire.” Bella looked disappointed at this point, but dared not to interrupt what was about to come. “You cannot see me in the same way anymore, I don’t sound the same and I’m just ordinary.”

“You’re not ordinary, Edward! Don’t say that!” she argued. Finally.

To this point, I wanted to yell at her and say how I was right. She didn’t want to be with me, I could see it in her eyes. I wasn’t able to read Bella’s mind when I was a vampire, but that didn’t stop me from understanding her now. In my first human life, I had this uncanny talent for empathy. I knew Bella was lying; I hated it when she lied to me. My anger was resurfacing, yet I refused to say anything. I thought that she would embrace me in her arms and reassure me that everything would be fine. However, it was the complete opposite.

“I brought your Volvo,” Bella felt the need to mention when she took my bag of clothes, painkillers and other necessities. “Carlisle couldn’t come out due to obvious reasons. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

Not only was I disappointed with Carlisle’s failure to arrive and bring me to a safe place until the mystery of my transformation could be solved, but I despised the fact that Bella was here. As much as I loved her, I felt hideous to be seen in my human form. The scales of justice had achieved an ironic balance because Bella had always wondered if I knew what it was like to be human. Now I was human, now I knew.

*​

She drove the Volvo to the woods, where we first encountered the demon. Carlisle was there – hidden amongst the trees – to avoid the direct sunlight. I shut the door behind me and followed Bella down the steep path, taking care to hold on to anymore trees that were available. I had once almost been destroyed here – I did not want to injury myself further. When we reached the bottom, Carlisle came out of hiding and smiled a smile that I utterly despised.

“Even as human, your personality is still in tact,” he observed. Was I some kind of experimentation here? Bella seemed not to be intervening here, she merely watched the conversation. “It’s good to see you’re alive, son. However, we do need to precede the very important matter here – which regards your humanity.”

I had been dreading this moment since Carlisle told me that we would be meeting here as soon as the hospital would be releasing me. In a way, I was missing my immortality, mainly due to the fact that I would only feel pain for a few mere seconds. This pain was tolerable for now, although I had never taken any kind of medication. Nothing that I could recall, anyway.

“Carlisle, I have thought about your offer and I am declining it,” I replied coldly, unable to take this tense conversation any longer. “I want you to turn me back, I’m ready to return to my family and continue my immortality.”

“You haven’t discussed this with Bella, have you?” Carlisle hinted, looking towards my love. Bella looked to the floor instantly. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her mind right now; it was very private. There had been a wall that blocked me from reaching into her mind. “Bella, what have you got to say to Edward? You know that you’d have to face this situation sooner rather than later.”

Bella looked up at me nervously.

“I – I don’t know what to say,” was all that she managed to say.

“Say something then!” I hissed, unable to contain my anger for much longer. Carlisle growled, but I glared coldly at him. This was my fight alone; I did not need my father involved. However, after glancing at Bella’s frightened expression written across her face, I lowered my voice and walked closer to her. “Bella, love, I need your opinion here. There are two choices here – I could go back to being a vampire. You and I could get married as we planned and I’ll turn you when the time comes.” She nodded at this point; this had been initially the choice she wanted to make. “Or I could spend my humanity with you, Bella Swan.” And then her eyes widened. However, it did not throw me off what I was saying. “I have a heartbeat, a stomach that needs feeding, injuries that need to heal and I could give you a life that you never thought possible. I could spend it with you, Bella.”

It felt like something from a soap opera. I never watched them, but I would often hear many students at Forks High School talking about them. Or perhaps it was like a novel? That seemed to be the better explanation of the two. My choice alone was going to be loosely based on what was best for Bella. I wanted her to make my decision for me. I didn’t want to make a decision without her consent. She walked to me and felt my heart beating faster than it ever had done.

“I can’t make that choice, Edward,” she choked out. “You know I can’t!”

“Bella, this is our future that we’re talking about here,” I said to her, looking down at her soft, beautiful face. “There are two kinds of lives I could offer to you – mortality or immortality. There can be room for only one, love.” I glanced at Carlisle, who immediately turned away. He had come to realise that this choice would indefinitely impact the entire Cullen family. Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett would have to be told what was happening if I became human. If I was turned again, things would be extremely difficult – and they would probably know what really happened to me. “Bella, you have to decide. Every second we’re waiting is making me age. My heart is beating and my soul can’t wait for your answer. I have to know now.”

“But … I can’t … this isn’t … it’s not right!” she cried out, tears flowing down her face. Like me, she too looked to Carlisle for support. But he was only witness to the entire conversation. “What if … what if it’s not what you want? What if you don’t want to be mortal? What if … you don’t want to be immortal? I can’t make that choice for you, Edward! This is your life!”

“And you are my life,” I replied quickly to her, eager to ease the pain that she felt and the burden that was placed upon her. “I wanted you to have a life of your own, you know? When I left Forks … I wanted you to live your life as a human and find someone else. I had that decision to make then and then decided to return when I knew that you were alive.” I placed my hand below her chin and raised it. “Now it’s up to you to make a difficult choice, Bella. You alone have to make it. I made my choice, now it’s time that you made yours.”

With that, I stepped away and glanced at the sun again. For all I knew, I could be immortal again and never be able to look into the direct sunlight. This was just one more chance of being human. As she cried, a few tears slipped down my cheeks as well, the first ones I’d felt in almost a century. Here I was, a one hundred and five year old ex-vampire, waiting for my future to be decided by the one who was my life.

Bella shook her head. Extraordinary empathy or not, I could not even know her decision. Carlisle had no power either, so he couldn’t predict it. However, he had an approving look on his face for whichever choice that she would make. I kept telling myself that it was just one more chance to be human. My heart was torn in two when I thought about making the decision myself. But I just couldn’t, which was why I left it to Bella to decide now.

This was no longer solving the mystery of my recently acquired humanity. This was the decision that would impact many lives, including Bella’s. I had laid down my own future down to the girl I loved.

“Please don’t say the decision that will please me,” I warned her beforehand, which prompted a playful glare from her. It was comforting enough to see that she was taking this seriously. “You spend too much time pleasing others, Bella. Whatever choice that you make, I will fully support it and our fates will be intertwined because of it.”

She ran at me after I spoke my words and she hugged me. I felt confused at this point. Did she need my comfort? Did she long to be embraced? Whatever the reason, I hugged her as well. This time, however, I didn’t squash her. She wasn’t hurting this time. We were both humans in love and awaiting the difficult decision that she had to make. Shortly after the hug, Bella looked up at me, getting ready to speak.

“Human,” she whispered, tears of happiness flowing down her face. “I want you to be human, Edward.”

“I love you,” I murmured.

Our lips connected. Carlisle had obviously heard the decision, which was why he left for a few short moments to let us have our moment. Bella had wanted me to be human. I felt so relieved, but confused at the same time as to why she wanted this. Perhaps she wanted me to see the human side of life? I only just about remembered my first human life; perhaps this was the silver lining that I’d been waiting for. For now, this kiss was enough for me. It was all that I needed.

My heart was beating faster now, almost as if it represented a sign of victory. I could care less about what my family would think of me now; Bella wanted me to be human for her. It was a difficult decision for her to make, but she had decided in the end. I only hoped that it was not a terrible mistake or that she was forcing herself to do it for me. Because after all, she was that type of girl sometimes …

*​

Carlisle could not lie to Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett for much longer. I knew that the time for telling them was soon. The lies could not continue and therefore, they would be angered by the secrecy. Rosalie in particular would keep away from me. Like with Bella, she would be jealous of my humanity. On the other hand, she would admire my enthusiasm for keeping a hold of it unlike Bella, who desired immortality instead.

After the choice had been made in the woods, Carlisle disappeared to inform Esme and Alice that I would retain my humanity. The decision would be surely sending shockwaves throughout the Cullen household; he intended to tell Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett at the same time. Now I lay on Bella’s bed in her room, staring up at the ceiling and wondering to myself – how did my immortality taken a turn like this?

“Stay hidden, love,” I had muttered quietly to Bella when we were in the woods. “I’ll take care of this beast.” Those had been the last words of the vampire – the one I had left behind – to Bella. My voice did not sound the same now, but Bella had described it as still music to her ears.

“Don’t think about Bella, Edward. Think for yourself for once! What do you want to do with your life?”

Carlisle’s words rang throughout my mind like a recurring nightmare. Bella was my life, so I initially wanted her to make that decision.

“You may want to remain human, you may not want to and be turned again. But I want you to saviour the experience of being human. There are so many experiences that I would have liked to have again. I want you to saviour these experiences and keep them in your heart forever.”

Was I truly good enough for Bella? Was I enough as the human that I was now? Well, Carlisle had gotten his wish – I would remain human for the rest of my life. But there were problems on the horizon. Even without my vampire abilities, I could sense those problems coming from afar. I could still protect Bella, but only as a man. I could only protect her from human affairs and conflicts. We would have to distance ourselves away from the world of vampires now that the choice had been made.

Yet I still feared what would happen if the Volturi were to arrive unexpectedly. Would they turn Bella? Would they even turn me again? The angst and the mysteries occupied a lot of space in my head. As Bella entered the room, I caught the whiff of food that filled up the air.

“Pepperoni pizza,” Bella noted, as she brought in the pizza in its box container. “Charlie was called to work and is probably going to be back in late. I couldn’t be bothered to cook anything up, so this will have to do for now.” Instead of replying, I caught a slice of the pizza and began wolfing it down. “Edward? I don’t think you should –”

“OUCH!” I cried out in pain and placed the pizza slice back on the box. “What, Bella?”

“I was going to warn you not to eat it all down at once,” she rolled her eyes. “This is going to be more difficult than I thought.” She smiled at me. “Edward Cullen. Human. Who would have thought of that one?”

“I’d be the last one to think of that,” I smiled weakly, now eating the pizza slowly because I realised how hot it was. “Bella … I hope you didn’t make that decision because you wanted to satisfy myself. And if Carlisle had anything to do with it –”

“Carlisle said nothing,” she interjected, although politely. “I want my chance to be a vampire, but maybe not yet.” I looked confused. I thought she wanted to spend her life with me as a human? “I know you’re still adjusting back to being human, but you wouldn’t want to spend all your life like this, right?” I shrugged my shoulders, concentrating more on the delight of the pizza for the time being. “You deserve to feel like a normal teenage guy and I can help you with that.”

I smiled at her. I stared into her eyes. It felt the same, even as a human. I could not take my eyes off of her for the rest of the night. I remained by her bedside for the duration of the night, holding her in my arms. She snuggled up to me more, partly because I was so warm. Perhaps this was the happiness that I’d been missing …

Some hours later, I glanced at her alarm clock. It was three in the morning, but I couldn’t help feeling afraid. It was windy outside and although the balcony was closed, I was still scared. I briefly left Bella alone in her bed to confirm my suspicions. I frantically searched for my jumper, which I slid on and then put back on my jeans, which were on top of Bella’s desk. Once that was done, the balcony doors swung open.

I fell on my back out of surprise. What I saw next was the big shock of them all.

“Edward … well, this is certainly something. I never expected to see you here.”

Jacob Black was standing at the balcony doors.

 

[Twilight_Path]

^ *GASP* Oh no and here is the appearance of Jacob!!! ^

Lol. Anyways omg congrats on the first Twilight fan fic I've seen on these forums AngelofDestiny!
I like it. It flows well and can grasp a reader's attention. There are some little thingamabobs here and there, but I don't pick at things like that if I like the content.



Waiting for more!

 

[Faith Crest]

I was so happy with that little cliffhanger I left everyone that I decided to get the next chapter up. Now I do have to admit that the story has some connection to the Angel episode, I Will Remember You. However, I'm trying to expand on that because that episode was only shortlived. Also, watch out for a cheeky line from Edward at the end of the chapter! Anyways, here's the next chapter. Thanks to all those who keep coming back to read and review! Could you possibly do it again for this chapter? Enjoy, people!

Chapter Four

Return of the Lone Wolf​

Jacob Black stood there in his human form, glancing down at me as if I was inferior to her. Next, he took one look at Bella and smiled at her amazing grace. I was about to dash to her side, but he was there before I could even rise to my feet. I reflected on what I thought about before about protecting Bella from human conflicts. This was one of the supernatural conflicts that I could not shield herself from. As far as I was aware, Jacob had fled home because Bella heard from Charlie, who heard from Jacob’s father, Billy.

“So the rumours are true,” Jacob licked his lips, eyeing me as his next target. “Carlisle certainly didn’t look too happy when he found out himself.” I wanted to strike him down right now. I knew that he was still pained by the choice Bella had to make sometime ago – which was to remain by my side and continue to be in love with me, whilst he ran away. “Why do you look so glum, Edward?”

“And why have you returned, wolf?” I growled. “You always said that Bella wanted a normal life. She has it now, so there is no need for your input.” I turned away from him and glanced at myself in the mirror. Jacob never thought that this would happen, but he was only taunting me for this happening. It was something quite unusual, having this brief encounter some days after my transformation.

But Jacob growled at me instead. “Of course it’s what Bella wanted! But even if you are human, filthier than you were –” I felt my fist clench at this point. “– And I have to admire you for that.”

“Admire me?” I literally spat. “You could care less about me, Jacob. We may have been fighting the newborns at one point side by side as comrades, but it hasn’t changed my feelings about you whatsoever.” I expected him to point out how I didn’t have feelings. But the words were lost in his mouth when he made an attempt to reword what he would say. “Becoming human has only drawn me closer to Bella, so I am warning you once, Jacob. Stay away from her.”

“I’m her best friend, so how am I going to stay away from her?” he winked, nearing Bella and watching her sleep peacefully. These were the things I had not thought about. Jacob was now stronger than me; the wolf was getting a lot of satisfaction by my fall to humanity. However, I still had the upper hand.

“She doesn’t care about you anymore, Jacob,” I said, prompting an angry look on his face. “It’s true. Bella made her choice a long time ago, but it didn’t stop her wondering where you’d disappeared to.” He backed away from her. Now I felt relieved. So I went to sit on the edge of her bed and glanced up at Jacob with sympathy. “I think it would be best if you stayed away … permanently.” Now the mongrel was shaking his head in disbelief at what I’d said. “It would prompt painful memories that she’d rather forget.”

“But I can’t simply forget her, running away didn’t help me either,” whispered Jacob, his voice somewhat shaky when he spoke. “What about the wedding?”

“You were going to attend, weren’t you?”

“Even human, you appear to read my mind. Why is that?”

“I had the extraordinary uncanny talent for empathy in my first human life, so it must be what contributed to my power to read minds. So I must retain this uncanny talent even now in this life.” I noticed his sad nod. “Jacob, it’s for the best. If she even knew you were tonight, then you know what would happen.”

“Bella would hunt me down and probably tell me that I’m a fool, which I’ll admit that I am.” Jacob realised he was almost breaking down and looked up at me, still a little angry. “This doesn’t mean that I’m on good terms with you. The pact still remains, but I suppose it may not affect you anymore …”

“In that case, I will allow Bella to bring you up in a conversation and I will inform her that you were here. What happens from there is up to her alone. Whether she finds or forgets you is entirely her choice. I wouldn’t like to see her sad because these things have been happening to us in the past few months.”

*​

Ever since Jacob left last night, I couldn’t help, but feel sorry for the poor soul. If Bella had chosen to be with Jacob, I supposed that I would be in his position right now. However, she had chosen to be with me – and that was the knife in the heart for the wolf. The next morning, I realised that there was another trait to being human, which so happened to be changing clothes because of sweat. In my immortality, my family and I had always changed our clothes regularly, mainly because we didn’t always like to wear the same clothes all the time.

But there were issues here that I found myself unable to deal with. For one, Bella had to remind me that I probably stank by now. I had a shower, taking extra care to choose the right gel to wash my body and also the shampoo to wash my hair. I recalled glancing at myself in the mirror when I’d combed my hair. I felt afraid when I glanced at myself. It felt like this was a big step into the human world. What was waiting for me out there? What surprises would sneak up on me?

So when Bella suggested that we have breakfast at McDonald’s, I hadn’t the faintest idea what she was talking about. It was human language obviously. Apparently, it was a fast food restaurant with branches all over the world. Bella hardly ever went, but felt the need to celebrate the choice on which I had upon made. When we arrived, I had no idea how hungry I really was.

“I wonder how it tastes to deer,” I blurted out loud, then receiving some strange looks from a few children with their parents.

“Edward!” whispered Bella. “You’re not supposed to say things like that in public!”

“This is a public place, I assume?” I enquired. I didn’t realise how loud I was; in my vampiric life, I had been quiet, almost not speaking before meeting Bella. One of the children near me giggled and ran off to her mommy. “I apologise, Bella. I didn’t mean to be so loud.”

Then she burst out laughing. I stared at her.

“What did I do now?” I said, crossing my arms sternly.

“Edward, you’re so funny without meaning to be!” smiled Bella, as we now stood at the queue to the tills. “Anyway, what do you want to eat? I’m paying.”

“I would pay right now, but I’m unable to,” I pointed out.

However, she gladly reminded me that I could always owe it to her one day, or then again, she added that she didn’t need to because I had protected her with my un-life. So whilst I told her what I wanted to eat, I went to sit down. When she returned, my eyes feasted upon the food that she brought. Feasting my eyes on the muffin in front of me, I grabbed it and almost choked when I felt hungry.

And then unexpectedly, Bella decided to talk about a lot of things, including what we were going to do with my human experience. She suggested that we should go to a sunny place like Spain and even go to concerts to have some fun. I was suddenly taken aback by what she said. I never expected her to be like this. She was bubbly and so full of life when she talked to me in this way.

“So what do you think then?” she asked me when we – or rather, she – stopped talking.

“I can see where you’re coming from with all these wonderful and exciting experiences with my humanity, but I want to take things slowly,” I said to her, wanting to calm her down. It seemed that she was taking this too fast for my liking. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, Bella, but –” My face broke into a smile. “We have all the time in the world now. I’m going to grow old just like you. You won’t have to worry about being wrinkly because I’ll be there with you, holding your hand along the way and my love for you never dying.”

Bella’s face didn’t fall, as I first expected. It, too, broke into a huge smile. She hugged me tight. I hugged her back, now not having to worry about whether I was crushing her or not. Perhaps being human had its positive side, apart from the fact that my stomach was aching with hunger. We continued to eat. To the world, we now looked like we could be together at last. Then I was painfully reminded of Jacob’s latest appearance at the balcony doors.

Jacob strode through the fast food restaurant, eager for something to eat. I couldn’t hear his stomach rumbling, but he was licking his lips. What was he doing here? I thought that he had gotten over Bella now. He glanced in our direction before even reaching the long queue. Bella took notice of him and froze. I rose to my feet, remaining in a defensive stance to protect her.

“I didn’t come to hurt anyone. Not even you, Edward,” said Jacob, raising an eyebrow because he had seen me eating my food. “Don’t get too cosy with being human.”

“He knows?” Bella whispered to me.

“Yes,” I nodded, confirming that. I turned to face and look down at her. “He came into your room last night in the early hours of the morning. He wanted to see if the rumours were true – that I am truly human again.” Whilst Bella took the shock in, I faced off against Jacob in my angry tirade. “Why do you say that, Jacob? I’m human now; it’s the end of the story.”

“It’s not,” he shook his head, although his facial expression was quite serious. “I might be back, but I’m not here for Bella anymore. I’ve realised that … maybe you two are fitted for each other … and it’s also the reason why I’ve come back to Forks.”

“What about Billy? Does he even know you’re back?” hissed Bella angrily.

“He knows, so don’t get into that touchy topic, Bells,” said Jacob, offering a sympathetic look at her. But his expression turned back to serious when he looked at me again. “Edward, you and Bella need protection. You’re both vulnerable to attack by the demon that turned you human.”

“I thought you killed it?” Bella looked towards my direction.

“I’m certain I did, love,” I replied, my voice slightly hoarse. Was the demon still out there? Could it have regenerated and come back to life? The possibilities were endless, considering that this was a new species of demon that not even Carlisle had even heard of. “I killed the demon, Jacob. How could it be alive?”

“You did kill it, but there’s a whole clan of them,” Jacob explained, “like there’s us being a whole pack of wolves in La Push. You may have killed that demon, but the others have sensed their brother’s death.” I nodded and crossed my arms. We were in danger again, not the surprise I was looking forward to. “What you killed is a Mohra demon.”

“It had green skin and looked humanoid,” I said, now openly speaking about the demon. After my transformation, I began to forget the subtle details of the beast, but as Jacob told me what it was; the flashing images of the fight came back to me. “No wonder Carlisle has ever seen these. I recall legends about them, their blood – which made me human when mixed with my own – is known as the Blood of Eternity. It is green, glows and has strange regenerative powers. The demon is virtually immortal.” I paused for a moment, coming to one conclusion. “It isn’t dead.” I turned to Jacob. “The demon may have appeared dead to me, but I left moments after turning human. It may have regenerated then and escaped to its brothers. Perhaps the clan is seeking vengeance.”

Jacob nodded. “… Which is why I sniffed you out as soon as I heard the news from Sam. They had been detected something strange in the air, worse than the vampires. Oh, and no offense to your family either, Edward …”

“None taken.”

He continued to speak. “Then Seth said about your battle with it. He followed you because he smelt the demon as well. Sam was against this, of course, but you know how much of a brother you are to him, Edward.” I had never understood what drew Seth to my presence. Perhaps it was the fact that he saw me as a good guy and not some bad vampire. Well, I was no longer a vampire. Would that change our friendship? “He hurried back to inform Sam, who told me about the whole thing. I wanted to talk to you about it last night, but I wanted to do it with Bella awake.”

“The next time you come into my room uninvited, I’ll kill you,” said Bella, crossing her arms and in a not-so-sarcastic tone of voice.

“I’ll welcome it,” Jacob rolled his eyes.

Bella turned to me. “So what are we going to do, Edward? This demon is going to come after you.”

I thought about the possibilities.

I was human.

So was Bella.

Jacob was a wolf.

But my family were all vampires.

Surely, they could tackle the problem, right? But it meant telling them the truth and risking my life in front of Jasper, who had the most trouble controlling his thirst for blood. One slip of a paper cut and he’d be lunging at me for the slightest taste. Bella had been unfortunate one time; perhaps it really was best if I told Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett.

“We need to bring my family into this,” I said, sitting down again and playing around with the fries in their little red box.

“Are you sure, Edward? Maybe it’s best if –” Bella began to say.

“No, they need to know the truth, Bella.” I looked up at Bella, who was still stood up on her feet. “I cannot keep anymore secrets from them. Carlisle said I had gone to Canada … how long do you expect that lie to hold up? Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett must know the truth.” Then I turned to Jacob. “And you need to come with us.”

“Why?” he asked, raising his hands. “I only came to warn and protect you.”

“Because you know more about this than Carlisle and he’ll need to know everything,” I said. I rose to my feet again and picked up my fries. “We’ll leave in my Volvo now, but there’s no way I’m leaving these fries. They’re heaven.”

 

[Faith Crest]

Chapter Five

Unable To Look Back​

The descent to humanity had somehow released me from the guilt I placed upon myself for the past century or so. There were feelings that seemed so new to me. As much as it pained me to worry for Bella’s safety, I felt so happy to be with her. I knew how she felt, what she was going through! I felt as helpless as she was, but still so grateful for the gift that the Mohra demon had given me. Perhaps I had treated my humanity as a curse at first. However, my opinion had changed …

I never realised how beautiful Bella was until the moment my heart was beating again. She stood side by side with me, as we faced the house containing six ravenous vampires. How would my brothers and sisters (excluding Alice, of course) feel that their brother had become human again? Maybe they could smell me now and feel outraged at the lies that Carlisle, Esme and Alice had been hiding. After all, we never had secrets in our family.

“Are we going to stand here all day?” moaned Jacob.

For a moment, I almost forgot that the mongrel was still standing there with us. Despite mortality sneaking back into my existence, my feelings for my rival hadn’t changed one bit. I still viewed him as a threat that would take Bella away. But viewing her sudden smile that she offered to me after the wolf’s useless remark, I was rest assured that she was determined to remain with me no matter what.

“Do you have anywhere else better to be?” Bella threw him a disgusted look.

“Bells, you know that I’d love to, but I have to obviously protect your boyfriend here.”

Jacob glanced at me immediately. I looked away, feeling disgusted with myself. Humanity did have its disadvantages, which meant that I was defenceless when the Mohra demon came looking for me again. It was intent on its revenge that I had to submit to the non-negotiable protection of Jacob Black himself. At least my family would have the willingness to help.

“The Mohra demon will be moving swiftly to find you both,” he continued to say, “and to be quite honest with you, I don’t want to be waiting all day for you to tell your vampire family that you’re not one of them anymore. So will you get a move on already? I’ll be in the neighbourhood when you’re done.” And with that, Bella and I watched him walk off back into the woods.

“Not exactly the friendliest thing to say,” remarked Bella.

“Not to worry,” I shrugged helplessly. “We have six anxious vampires inside waiting to hear the truth.”

After sighing sadly and mentally preparing myself, I made the difficult task to open the door. Upon doing this, I still noticed that the house was the same way as I had left it. If I had my vampiric senses right now, then I would have heard Alice beating Jasper at a game of chess or perhaps Emmett bragging of how he would win arm wrestles. But I heard nothing, not even Rosalie’s growling.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Sensing that this was a classic one liner, I made no hesitation to walk into the living area with Bella following in my wake. However, I was met by the furious Jasper. He grabbed my throat and thrust me up against the wall, much to the anger and dismay of the others (perhaps for the exception of Rosalie; she craved for humanity more than anyone). It took Carlisle and Emmett to bring him away from me. I coughed and struggled to breathe for air before he finally released his grip on my throat.

“What was that for?” Alice shouted angrily at her lover.

But he was silent. He glared coldly at me and then furiously at Carlisle.

“He is angry that you didn’t tell us anything,” Rosalie told Carlisle. While she had Jasper’s best interests at heart, I had to resent her for being so selfish. This was all for nothing! But Bella held my hand tightly; a sign of her affection and support. Next, Rosalie turned to face me. “And I thought that you would have the decency to face us sooner rather than later or else –”

“He wants to tell you, but he’s so afraid of your reaction,” Alice interjected. “I saw Edward telling Bella his fears … which happened ten minutes ago, if I’m not mistaken.”

“So Edward had his chance to tell us, he blew it!” yelled Jasper. “You know how we do not keep secrets from each other, brother.” He walked up to me, noticing the bruise that I now sported on my cheek where he had pushed me against the wall with his bare hands. “You are no longer a brother of mine.”

“Then what will you do with me? Disown me? Forget me? Cast me aside?” I shouted, now unleashing my true emotions. My anger was consuming me, the hunger for confrontation swallowing me up inside. When he did not answer, I shook my head and announced how I truly felt. “I was attacked by the legendary Mohra demon. They live as a clan, a clan that Carlisle has never crossed before. Its blood mixed with mine when I ‘killed’ it. I became human.”

I paused at this point, allowing them to take in the story that I had to tell.

“I was torn into pieces. I had to fend for myself. Battered and bruised, I had to hurry to Bella’s house alone. No one ever came looking for me. Alice may have foreseen the attack, but could never have expected the outcome. Our bloods mixing were a split second event that could never have been predicted.” My green eyes scanned the six vampires sadly. “I don’t understand what has happened to me, or even why it did. I only understand that it has happened.”

And then I looked to Carlisle for support. He had been silent. Until now.

“It was my fault,” he told Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. “I kept the secret because I knew of how you would react.” He eyed Jasper. “You in particular, Jasper. A new scent would drive you crazy, want you to crave his blood and take away the only chance he has of mortality.”

“Then why not seek the Mohra clan?” suggested Rosalie. She was only too eager to embrace humanity more quickly than I had done so. “He is ageing. His heart is beating. He needs to eat and drink, to do human things! So why can we not have the same chance?”

“We don’t know the extent of this yet,” Carlisle pointed out. “Human Edward is now, but for how long? The blood may have this impact on him for a limited amount of time. Perhaps only for a few months, even weeks or days – I have yet to analyse the blood sample I took from the woods.”

I was surprised at this point. Carlisle was adamant to discover how I had become human, but I never thought that he would play detective in order to do so. In thinking about this, I forgot to breathe and found myself coughing, gasping for air. Emmett laughed playfully, Rosalie rolled her eyes and Jasper stormed off into the other room. Esme sat down now looking proud, Alice hurried in pursuit of Jasper and Carlisle watched Bella and I carefully.

“If what you say is true, then perhaps you and Bella need to get away from Forks for a while,” suggested Carlisle, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room. “I propose that you both leave tonight and go to Phoenix.” Bella’s face fell. “It would be a good excuse to visit your mother, Bella. After all, she wants to hear all about when you attend Dartmouth College.”

“But I thought that –” she began to say.

“These are unforeseen circumstances, love,” I whispered in her ear, seemingly relaxing her. How was that even possible when my voice wasn’t even magical anymore? There was nothing special about being human surely. “Phoenix would be perfect. And as much as you’d want to spend time with Charlie until you go to college, you might not see Renee for quite a long time.”

I could imagine her reply to that.

“But I wasn’t going to see her for a long time anyway,” would be the words that she would use. “I’m going to be turned into a vampire.”

That would be the reply before humanity sprung back into action.

“We’re going to figure out how to work this,” would be the words she’d use now.

Her facial expression said exactly that. I looked disbelievingly into the eyes of the betrayal. She wanted me to be turned again and turn her! How could she want this after all that we’d been through? It had been her decision to allow me to remain human. Carlisle refused to gaze at either of us. Alice looked shocked by what she’d just seen. Rosalie could not stand the tension and had left the room. Esme disappeared in a blink of an eye.

“You should have picked honesty instead of betrayal,” I told Bella.

“Edward –” whispered Bella.

“Perhaps I was wrong to come back to Forks,” I said, regardless of how much it hurt for her to say my name. She tried interrupting me, but I cut her off. “Cry me a river, Bella. You might as well find your mongrel and be happy. He’s much more special than me. I’m only human after all. He might as well imprint on you.”

“I’d give him time,” I heard Carlisle utter to Bella when I left the room. “We still don’t know the extent of the effects of the Mohra demon’s blood. It runs through his veins, plus added to the fact that he is adjusting to the changes in his body.”

“You mean hormones?” Bella dared to ask.

This froze me.

Perhaps I was underestimating the situation after all.

“Exactly,” nodded Carlisle. “Although I may not classify myself as an expert on this particular topic, it must be the only excuse. His anger as a vampire was on a high level, but it must have came from his first human life. Edward must have anger issues, or other problems at hand. You must remember that this is hard for him, Bella. When you first came, he found that hard. Change is something that he cannot adjust to easily. All you need to do is give him time.”

Well, Carlisle had nailed the point. I never had quite adjusted to change so quickly.

And then for the first time since breathing again, I realised one important thing.

I was unable to look back.

*​

To escape reality, I took it upon myself to sit in the park alone. I sat on the bench and watched young children play on the swings, slides and anything else that they could find. My heart was filled with sadness. These children had no worries. They weren’t over a century old, worrying about a demon that was out for revenge for its death and was happening to bring its entire clan to come destroy Bella and me. Even now, I wondered if my family would become victims, too.

“I knew I would find you here,” commented Alice, smiling sadly.

“And you’re sure that you didn’t see it happen?” I snapped.

“I assure you that my natural instincts led me here, not my talents,” she replied. When I didn’t answer her back, Alice turned to face me. “You were afraid of coming back, weren’t you?” I nodded silently. “So why have you come back? You could start your life over and grow old with Bella now that your decision has been made. What is it that makes you want to come back for more, Edward?”

I glanced at Alice and shook my head. “I can’t stay away. You’re my family, the only family I’ve ever known since gaining my immortality.” At this point, I lowered my head. One part of myself was urging me to tell her the truth and that I still longed to have ties with them. However, the other side wanted to lie and say that I didn’t want to be around them anymore, particularly Jasper. My beating heart was torn into two pieces. Then there was Carlisle, who indicated that he had yet to discover the extent of me being human. What was there that I could do? “You can see the future, Alice. Then look into my future. What is going to happen?”

But Alice was the one shaking her head this time. “I can’t know of that until you make your decision,” she whispered desolately.

And for the first time, I saw uncertainty in her eyes. Those golden eyes that she possessed … I once had them. But I looked down at the small puddle of water in front of me and took note of my green eyes. To her, I was ordinary. To me, she was like a goddess sent down from the heavens. Even now, I was beginning to understand how Bella felt at our first encounter. I finally understood her ordeal.

“Bella made your decision, didn’t she?” Alice spoke again, easing the awkward silence. “You asked her to make the choice of whether you return to immortality or stay as you are. It was funny, considering that you once told her that she was your life and she made that exact option.”

“Bella is my life, yes,” I said, confirming that. “On the other hand, I didn’t ask you to pry into my future.”

“It’s my gift, Edward. I can’t always control it, you know that. It happens almost all the time and there are only certain times when I can control it. You were like that once yourself, remember? You remember how you tried to read Bella’s mind, but couldn’t. She has a very private mind and you know that.” Alice paused for a brief moment, watching me breathe. Again, she smiled sadly. But I did not smile back at her. I wanted to be alone, yet I couldn’t be with her here. “You’re no longer the monster that you thought you were, Edward. You’ve always desired to be human. So why are you so anxious?”

If she could read my mind, which she couldn’t, then she would know the answer. I was anxious about the changes that would occur in my life. Whilst there were many great advantages to being human, there were also the disadvantages. Bella and I couldn’t climb up the trees anymore to get a view of Forks itself, I could no longer be the hero she saw me as either and I felt that my relationship with my family would deteriorate. Jasper was the one sibling that I feared for.

“Take care of Jasper for me,” I told Alice.

“What do you mean, Edward?” she asked.

“I just want you to look after him, protect him. There’s something that I have to do and it was the original plan.” I rose to my feet. “Bella and I applied to Dartmouth College. Well, that’s where we’ll be going. She has to have that human experience … and so do I.”

Alice looked defiant. “You’re leaving Forks?”

“What do I have left, Alice?” I half-shouted. Thankfully, there weren’t many people left in the park to this stage. It was becoming dark now. “I’m no longer part of this family. I may as well throw away the name of Edward Cullen and resume my name as Edward Anthony Masen.” It was unbearable to see her horrified expression, but I wasn’t part of the family anymore. I was human. So that only meant one thing for me. “I’ll be leaving as soon as possible. I’ll be away from you all and then Jasper doesn’t have to worry about killing me.”

“But – But you can’t leave!” she stuttered, completely shocked by my decision.

“I do what I must,” I whispered sadly. “I am unable to look back.”

“The Mohra Clan – what if they come looking for you? What if they kill you and Bella?”

“They won’t dare attack in front of thousands of present humans at the college.”

“You can’t leave yet, Edward! I … actually, I have a surprise for you.”

I glanced suspiciously at my sister and raised an eyebrow. At times like these, I really did wish that I could read her mind.

*​

After my heart to heart conversation with Alice, we walked back to the house. I didn’t know what to expect if I had to be honest. I may have expected Jasper to pounce out and turn me, so that the whole mess could be resolved. But my expectations withered away, especially when Bella ran out from the house and threw her arms around me. I was taken aback by this. As Alice went inside, she refused to let go. Neither did I have to worry about hurting her when I hugged her tightly.

“I was so worried,” Bella whispered in my ear.

“Isn’t everyone?” I grinned, now releasing her and looking down into her beautiful brown chocolate eyes. She was the reason why I existed. She was my whole life now. “If I did ever turn you should this not have happened, I would have described you as being very … graceful? But you are now that I see through these new eyes.” I held her in my arms yet again and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know how long I’ve waited to feel what you’re feeling right now, but I love every single second of it.”

As she rested her head against my chest, I could feel her smiling. There was the silver lining that I had been waiting for.

“Let’s go inside,” she said eagerly, now being the one to let go of our hug. She was smiling awkwardly, which prompted a confused expression from my face. “Come on, there’s something I need to show you.”

“I’ve lived for over a century, what could it possibly be?” I joked, as I grabbed her hand tightly.

Now I could see Bella relaxing so peacefully. My warm hand was pressed against hers. It felt somewhat strange because we were both hot with our hands joined together. We came nearer to the door and I did not know what to expect. My expectations were low at that time. After everything that I said to Alice, would she tell everyone? However, what I told her may have just changed my opinion of life itself …

“SURPRISE!”

That was the one word we both heard as we walked through the door and into the living area. My eyes widened when I saw that the room was especially decorated, there were balloons and plenty of good food on the table.

“Happy birthday, Edward,” Carlisle was the first to speak, as he smiled angelically.

 

[Twilight_Path]

Two new chapters, YAYZ! :3 (I hope this isn't too late, lol?)

OMG so good. Awesome story development. Birthday, lol!

I absolutely love this. I'll be waiting for the incoming chapter(s).