I was uncomfortable.
My neck was lying on the couch at an awkward angle. I could feel Nate’s feet on my lap, and I could hear him snoring quietly. I opened my eyes and saw that my head was facing towards the ground. I must have moved in my sleep. I yawned hugely and rubbed my eyes. They felt weird. Like they were prickling.
I moved Nate’s feet and backward rolled off the couch. I got to my feet unsteadily, trying to regain my balance. I looked out the window. Charlie’s cruiser was gone. It must be later in the morning.
I went into the kitchen, to find some breakfast when the phone rang.
I answered it before I had time to think.
“Hello?” my voice was thick from sleep; it sounded as if I had a cold, or had just been crying.
“Bella!” Alice’s wind chime voice snapped me out of my reverie. “You finally answered; I’ve been calling all morning. Are you okay? Is Leah there?”
Her voice was full of worry and concern.
“Um, yeah I’m fine Alice, why wouldn’t I be?” I was tired and confused, she made absolutely no sense.
“So you’re okay?” her voice was still worried. “Is Leah there?”
Her train of thought was making me dizzy and my eyes burn.
“Yes, I’m fine, and no, Leah isn’t here, why?”
“Leah isn’t there?” her voice was sharp now.
“No, Alice, what’s going on? You’re confusing me.”
She was murmuring something to someone in the background. This was starting to irritate me.
My eyes felt really sore now. I closed my eyes and rubbed them furiously.
Alice was still talking to someone in hushed tones.
I cried out in pain. It felt like my eyes were on fire.
“Bella?” Fresh panic layered Alice’s voice. “Bella, what’s wrong?”
I was panting loudly, still rubbing my eyes. I couldn’t answer her.
“Bella! What’s wrong?” Edward’s voice was in the receiver now. “Bella honey, talk to me!” his voice was frightened.
I couldn’t control my scream.
It was as if someone was gouging my eyes.
“Bella?!” Nate’s voice was behind me, worried, yet slightly wary. “Bells?”
He rolled me over. Strange. I didn’t know I was on the floor.
“Oh my god…Bella, I’ve got to get you to the hospital.”
The hospital? What was wrong with me? I was still panting.
“BELLA?!” Edward was seriously frightened now. The phone was still in my hand, “WHATS HAPPENING?!”
There was wetness on my face, but it didn’t feel like tears.
Nate helped me to my feet, and took the phone out of my hands.
“Hello?” Nate was talking into the receiver; I could hear the panic in his voice.
I couldn’t see, everything was black.
“Her eyes…they’re…bleeding.” His voice was scared. “I have to take her to the hospital, call back later.” He hung up the phone and towed me towards the door.
He grabbed his keys and opened the door. The bright light made my eyes hurt more.
I cried out in pain again.
“Bella!” Angela’s voice came from nowhere. “What happened to you? What happened to her?” she went from asking me to asking Nate.
“I don’t know. She was on the phone, and then she screamed, I ran in there and she was on the floor screaming. I rolled her over and saw her like this. I was taking her to the hospital.” Nate’s voice was controlled, yet it seemed as if he knew the words, like he’d practiced them before.
“I’m coming.” Angela’s voice was worried, yet determined. “I’m the only one here for her right now, so I’m coming.”
Nate dragged me to his car, and slid me in the back seat. Angels sat in the seat next to me and pulled my head on her shoulder. I whimpered, as my eyes stung more.
We got to the hospital in record time, and went straight to Doctor Gerandy.
I got holed up to a bunch of machines and wheeled off to the Emergency room by myself. Nate and Angela weren’t allowed to come in until after I had some tests done.
I had never felt such a burning pain; not since James bit me all those months ago in Phoenix. This burn felt ten times worse than that, and more potent. But this one wouldn’t turn me into a vampire.
The medicine they drugged me with made me constantly drift in and out of consciousness.
I dreamt that I was walking along the cliff I had once jumped off, in my effort to hear Edwards voice.
But I was not alone.
I turned and saw Nate, with Ben Cheney, Angela’s ex-boyfriend, and another boy, who looked vaguely familiar. There was also a girl. She was sitting on the edge of the cliff, just watching me pace. Yet Everytime I asked what was going on; the consciousness came back.
I could hear Doctor Gerandy and Charlie murmuring close by, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
I was barely aware that I was being moved.
I must be getting placed in a room. I felt a warm hand on my forehead. This time I could hear what they were saying.
“Bella…my beautiful Bella…” it was Charlie, it sounded as if he were crying.
I stirred. “Dad…?” I mumbled, I tried to open my eyes, yet everything was still dark.
“Bella?!” relief was thick in his voice. “Oh, thank god!” I felt him kiss my forehead.
I reached my hand up to feel my eyes. There was gauze wrapping over them.
“Dad, what happened?” my voice was groggy, but the burning had stopped.
“They don’t know sweetie. Something happened to your eyes, but they’re about to take the covering off, so we’ll be able to see if there’s any damage.”
I nodded, trying to remember what happened. There was a phone call with Alice…then Edwards’s voice…then…nothing. I couldn’t remember anything else.
We stopped moving. I could hear Doctor Gerandy outside the door. I cringed back into my pillows, afraid of what he might say, or what the results will be.
The door opened.
“Ah, your awake Bella.” His voice was professional. “That’s good. Lets look at your test results, shall we?” I heard him approach the bed, flipping pages as he did.
“Hm…that’s odd.” His voice was confused.
“What’s odd?” Charlie and I asked this at the same time. If it weren’t a serious situation, we would have laughed.
“All of her results come back as normal…but how could they be normal? Your eyes were bleeding…” he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. “Well, let’s take a look see at your eyes, and see if they’re okay…”
I braced myself. Charlie squeezed my arms gently. He was just as anxious as I was.
Doctor Gerandy’s hands were taking off the gauze, I felt sick. Not a bad sick, just nervous.
It was no longer black. I could see a very white light, in my left eye.
“Unbelievable…” Charlie’s voice was stunned, but it didn’t sound bad.
I saw the white light in my right eye now. I blinked trying to focus on something. After about 6 blinks I could see. I saw both Doctor Gerandy and Charlie looking at me with stunned faces.
“What?” I asked, my voice shaking due to the nerves. “Is it that bad?”
I thought of several possibilities of why they weren’t saying anything. None of them good.
“Bella…” Charlie’s voice was full of awe. “No, it’s nothing bad…your eyes…their…their…”
“Green.” Doctor Gerandy finished his sentence for him, his voice equally filled with awe.
My jaw dropped. This had to be a joke. My eyes were a chocolate brown not green. I had never had green eyes, this couldn’t be real.
“A real pretty green too,” Charlie was saying. “Sort of a mix of blue and green…it looks like the ocean.” He smiled at me.
I looked from Gerandy to Charlie, trying to find hints of them joking.
There was none.
There was a light knock on the door.
“Can we come in?” it was Leah. She poked her head in just a fraction.
“Yeah, come on in Leah.” My voice sounded calm and sure, yet I felt anything but. She came in followed closely by Angela and Seth.
They all stopped dead when they looked at me.
Seth’s jaw actually dropped.
“Is that really you Bella?” Angela was squinting at me, but Leah had a smile playing around the edge of her mouth. Her voice was amused.
“Dude…that colour suits you!”
I looked at all the faces that surrounded me. My eyes stopped at Gerandy.
“Do you have a mirror?” I asked timidly; I was nervous, I was so used to having brown eyes; green would be an adjustment.
He nodded and left the room for a minute. It was silent while he was gone. Seth was still staring at me, his jaw slightly open, Angela was smiling at me fearfully, as if she didn’t think it was me, and Leah was trying her hardest not to laugh at my expression. I looked at Charlie.
“Bells, I’d better call your mom. She’s been calling every few seconds checking up on you. I’ll be back.”
I nodded as he headed to the door.
Almost exactly 2 seconds after Charlie left the room, Gerandy came in with a hand held mirror.
I took it from him nervously, holding it close to my chest.
I looked at the friends that surrounded me, and they all nodded in encouragement. I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. I lifted the mirror up to my face, and opened my eyes.
I gasped. It was like looking at a stranger. A very pretty stranger. The colour was like the water in the Caribbean ocean, that I’ve seen pictures of. Not quite green; not quite blue.
There was another knock at the door. I tore my eyes away from the stranger girl, and looked towards the door.
Nate was standing awkwardly in the doorway. He looked upset yet determined.
“Um, would you guys mind if I have a private minute with Bella?” his voice was strong and gruff. It sounded surprisingly like Charlie. I looked at him confused.
They all nodded and headed towards the door. Once they were all gone, he closed the door and sat beside me on the bed.
“What’s up Nate?” I asked, trying to catch his eyes. He made it hard by looking at the floor.
“I have to tell you something…about our family…and about what happened to your eyes…” he trailed off, finally looking up from the floor and meeting my eyes. I never noticed how green his eyes were before. Almost the colour of celery.
I stared right back never breaking contact.
“Go on.” I said when he didn’t seem inclined to go on.
He took a deep breath, and looked down.
He let out a gusty sigh and stared at me with such intensity that I felt the urge to step back.
“Bella…I know what kind of people you hang out with…and I use the term people loosely…I know that your boyfriend is a vampire and your best friend is a werewolf…”
My jaw dropped. How did Nate know this?
“Your not just some unimportant human Bella, you and I have a purpose in this world, and human doesn’t quite cover it.” he took another deep breath before he grabbed my shoulders in his hands. “Bella…you and I…we’re…we’re…” another breath, “Bella we are witches. It is our job to keep the vampires and werewolves out of the human eye; to protect the secrecy of the magical world, and to protect the human world from the unknown. You were born for this purpose, and your eyes mark you for what we are. Good witches. Green eyes are good, purple eyes are bad. We’re like vampires in that way.” He let go of my shoulders and put his hand under my chin so he could read my newly founded witch eyes.
“Bella, this was only the first of your transformations…the eyes are the starting point…your lucky…”he added bitterly, “Only your hair has to change now. Of course you’ll get thinner and stronger. And not to mention fast.”
I tried to figure out what my face felt like. It felt cold. I tired to blink in a healthy rhythm.
“You’re not the weak little human Bella now. Now; you’re the fast, strong and even more beautiful Bella. No more getting left behind, and no more of this damsel in distress business. Now you’re the hero…enjoy it.”
I stared at Nate’s eyes and held it for an immeasurable moment.
I smiled at him.
“When do I start?”