Lilith Swan

It didn't take a rocket scientist nor my gift to realise that Bella was the reason the Volturi were now after us, and shortly after Alice's vision, a letter had arrived from Aro addressed to Felix and I, stating that if we joined him during the trial that we would not be considered as a part of the guilty party during the investigation. But it was a difficult decision to make. On one hand, Felix had been with the Volturi coven for centuries and his allegiance would be unquestioned, all his friends and everyone he considered family were with the clan and it would be both unfair and unquestionable to ask him to risk it all for a family that he, for the most part, couldn't even stand. Minus a certain trio. But alternatively, we knew that Bella was relying on false truth to push the Cullens to extinction.

By technicality, Dorothea was immortal or would be if she so chooses to fully turn as an adult. But for now, she was only half-vampire and therefore no rules had been broken. It would take a lot to convince Aro of the Cullen's innocence, or at least we assumed that it would. The biggest advantage that we had on our side was that he cannot access Bella's memories due to her gift. It was pure hope we were relying on to show that Bella was lying. If all went well we could possibly use Dorothea's own gift to our advantage. But she was only a child, she wouldn't fight, not that we wanted this to come down to one.

Even worse, the last of my days with dad were now over and I had to be turned. I would have been leaving for Italy had Bella not ran off due to her own envy and wrath but now I was confined to the Cullen house until the trial was over and Felix and I could leave. I would have preferred to stay human in Forks however the threat looming over our heads was too great. I would simply not survive if I kept my humanity and a fight broke out with the Volturi. The burning of the venom in my chest was second only to the feeling of saying goodbye to dad. Watching his glassy eyes as we shared one last hug as I left home for what would be forever. Felix and I had gone to one of the Cullen's homes off in Alaska, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had harmed Dorothea in any way. She still had blood in her veins and having a freshly turned newborn near her would have been disastrous.

The burning felt like it lasted for a millennia, Felix hadn't lied when he said it would be the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. Burning alive could not come close to describing the sensation. Almost as if in a delirium I was confronted with flashes of moments from my human life. I had forgotten most of them, as with almost all vampires when turned, we only got to keep the most important ones. Felix kept memories of the colosseum, Rose only kept her memories of life with Royce, Jasper with the military so on and so forth. The only exception was Alice who couldn't remember anything due to her time in an asylum.

Strange didn't even begin to describe it, vampire memories were stronger than human ones due to the inherited ability of perfect recall therefore most human ones are destroyed with the pain of the venom. I can no longer recall my childhood friends or my mother. I now can no longer remember the faces of the uni students I used to see every lecture or my old school teachers. But I could remember ice skating with Charlie and the time I spent with him. Being driven around in the cruiser and listening to terrible pop hits on the radio where we would both sing as awfully as we could or watching sports during the summer holidays with Billy and Harry. I still clearly remember each moment with Felix after meeting in Italy as well as the Cullen trio we had both come to love.

As the fire in my veins finally extinguished and my eyes opened the pain seemingly transferred somewhere else in my body. The burning in my throat now took over, it felt like I hadn't drunk in over fifty years. Every swallow of my undead tongue sent the feeling of sand scraping down inside my neck, with seemingly no relief. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Felix hadn't left from when he bit me. My head still in his lap as I gazed up at his handsome face, no longer being able to feel the coolness of his body through his clothes.

Looking at him now seemed unreal, I could perceive each small detail that my human eyes couldn't have possibly known. His eyes were much more complex with enhanced senses, the darker crimson of his limbal rings showed that he hadn't fed in at least a few days. It also clicked into place what Felix meant when describing the mate bond. Looking at him felt much more intense than it did when I was human, it was almost an ineffable sensation. Everything just felt right as if it had fallen naturally into place, like my inner soul was soothed just by being near him. There was a comforting warmth spreading through my chest at our proximity and I can almost forget about the feeling in my throat. Almost. His scent was stronger now too, he smells like campfire smoke, black tea and the pumpkin pie we used to make every Halloween. My three most favourite scents in the world.

"Here drink this" His baritone voice was much softer than usual as if he were speaking quietly, my ears though were now more sensitive and I could pick up his voice both louder and with more clarity than I could as a human. Tones that would have been impossible to hear before now being picked up with ease. It was near impossible to not be overwhelmed with everything going on but my thoughts and sensory overloads were cut short by an irresistibly sweet smell that permeated every cell of my being.

Every sense now snapped to the larger than average red medical bag in his hand like it was a target, the burning in my throat flaring stronger than before. "Come on mia dolce regazza, you need to eat" and I didn't need to be told twice and I was moving faster than I could even comprehend. My newfound fangs sunk past the plastic like a hot knife, the sweet nectar inside tasting almost euphoric as it slides down my neck. The burning was now almost completely soothed aside from a very mild but manageable itchy feeling that remained. But for now, it was now manageable. "We have more if you need it, we'll try hunting for real once you've adapted more"

After the slightly manic feeding had quenched my thirst, I wanted nothing more than to spend some time with Felix. We didn't have a plan for the trial, what we would do before or after. Life was yet again becoming more complicated and I was just ready for it all to finally be over. But for now, I just wanted to spend time with my mate before I joined the guard.

Thank you for reading~