IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ECLIPSE OR ANY OF THE TWILIGHT SERIES DO NOT READ AHEAD FOR SPOILERS ARE UP AHEAD!!!!!  

Thank you.  :D
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I sat up and looked around me.  My loving family surrounding the bed, all of them with relieved smiles on their faces.  I looked at Edward with a smile.  

“Welcome to the family,” he said.  He cupped my face and put his forehead against mine.  I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent.  It smelled even better now with my more sensitive senses.  It wasn’t the only thing I smelled however.  What I also smelled hit me like a tidal wave, and it was something I was afraid would be the end of me.

Blood.  I turned my head towards the smell and saw it.  There were three of the tiniest drops of blood on the pillow from when Edward had bit me.  This was what he had been resisting all this time?  The aroma…it was still powerful even from a couple days ago.  My eyes grew wide as I smelled it, and my hand slowly started to reach for the pillow.

“Bella?  What’s wro-,” Edward started to ask.  His gaze followed mine.  Fear and understanding came upon him.  He grabbed the pillow and threw it to Carlisle, who left the room as soon as he caught it.  He grabbed my arms and kept them by my side.  I stared into his eyes.  He was afraid.  Afraid of what would happen if I had acted upon my instincts; what he would have to do if I did?  Afraid of what I was going to say?  I didn’t know.  I just knew he was scared.  My voice came out broken.

“You- you resisted…that all this time?  The smell was so...  Edward…I-I..”

“Don’t, Bella,” he crooned, “don’t.  Mind over matter, remember?  It was definitely hard at first, you know that.  I overcame it didn’t I?  You can too; you will.  I will help you with this challenge, and together we’ll overcome it.  I promise you, Bella.  I swear it on my existence.  Are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” was all I could say.

He pulled me against him and I melted against him and let tearless sobs escape my throat.  “Hush, love, it’s alright.  I know, I know…it’ll be ok.”  

'Will I be the monster I’ve been so scared of becoming?  Am I going to lose control?'

“No, Bella, I promise, that’s not going to be you.”

I froze.  Did Edward…reply to my thought?

“Edward…I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes you did, you were just talking about losing control and becoming a monster.”

“Edward, she didn’t say a word,” Alice said with an excited look on her face.

“How could that be pos-,” he stopped.  He pushed me a little from him to stare into my eyes.  His look was one of astonishment.  “No…could it really be?”

‘Oh my good gosh…Edward?!’

“Bella!  I-I heard your thoughts!  This-this-I-this is incredible!”  He crushed me to him and laughed.  We all were laughing with joy.  How had this happened?  Would my mind always be open now?  Then I got scared.  I didn’t want Edward to hear everything I thought.  That was something I had always been thankful for.  What if I randomly thought about how Jacob was doing or something?  I would break his heart.  He’d tell me otherwise, but I would know it to be true.  Then something even more disturbing came into my mind, and I shuddered.  I thought one word, and it made both me and Edward become deathly serious.

Jane.

“Edward, Bella, what’s wrong,” Jasper asked, feeling the tension in the air.

“Bella just reminded me about our little problem with the Volturi.  Jane particularly.”

A hiss came from all in the room.  Alice gasped, and Jasper caught her by the shoulders to steady her.  “What did you see, Alice?”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, then started to laugh.  “Oh Edward, you really are going to love Bella’s talent,” she continued to laugh.

‘What on earth is she talking about?’

“I don’t know, read her mind!”

Another gasp came from all in the room, except Alice of course who was still having a giggle fit.  I heard Edward’s melodic voice…while no one else had.  I could hear Edward’s thoughts as well.  

“Bella can open and close minds.”

“WHAT?!”  I was flabbergasted.  “Is..is that what Edward does?”

“Oh no, Edward has no choice in the matter.  You on the other hand, do.  If you want to listen to someone, you can, and if you don’t, all you have to do is close your mind.  It’s something you will have to train, but it’s your personal talent, Bella!”

Edward was looking at me incredulously, as I was to him.  I couldn’t believe it.  I never would have thought I would be able to do anything like Edward.

“Why though?  It’s not like I could read minds when I was human.”

“Well isn’t it obvious?”

Everyone had a look of confusion on their faces as they looked to Alice.

She sighed.  “Bella, you know how you always seemed to know what was going on whether we told you or not?  How you could ‘read’ our minds by looking at us?  Edward rarely could ever fool you on what he was thinking.  You always could tell something was wrong…and usually what was wrong…like you ‘read our minds’.  So, I guess you could say you just could ‘read’ people well.”

I pondered that for a moment.  The thoughts of his cold stares, his smiles, his laughter, and his pain, all were able to tell me something about what was going on in his head.  The concept of the idea was starting to make sense to me.  Then Edward turned my face to him and kissed me softly on the lips.

“What is it,” I asked.

“Your thoughts.  You have a very good memory you know.  You remember lots of details.”

If I could’ve blushed, I would have.  Then I was hearing voices other than mine and Edward’s.  Alice was thinking about how cute Edward and I looked at the present time, and wondering how I would adjust with this new revelation.  Jasper was, to my surprise, scared for me.  He was pondering about how the first couple weeks would be for me and was sympathetic.  Rosalie was looking at my hair and thought of how nice it looked.  ‘Not as messy’ she had thought.  Esme was wondering what Carlisle was doing with the pillow and was watching me intently to see what I would do next.  To my amusement, Emmett was thinking about our arm wrestling match.  Then all their thoughts changed and everything inside my head became chaotic.  I could hear Edward.  ’Oh no..’

I grabbed my head and winced.  “How…how can you stand it?!  How do you sort it out?  How do I close my mind?  What am I supposed to do,” I yelled.

“Everyone, leave for just a moment!  Please,” Edward pleaded.

They left the room quickly with thoughts of remorse.  None of them meant to overwhelm me.

“Bella?  Are you alright now?”

I breathed in deeply, and then exhaled.  It wasn’t required but felt natural and calming.  Edward’s thoughts were quiet, almost so I couldn’t even tell they were there.  I could tell they were worried, however.   “Yeah, I am now.  Thank you.  I’m sorry, I just don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with this yet.”

“I can teach you.  I don’t know about the closing of the mind, considering it’s not something I can do, but I do know how to tune people out.  Quiet their voices in a way.”

“Then by all means, teach me what you know.  I can’t believe how unbearable that was.  It was so loud…  Your thoughts sound quiet; how do you quiet your own?”

“We’ll get to that.  Carlisle and I will do as much as we can to help you with this.  After all, Carlisle already knows somewhat how to deal with this talent.  I will teach you a basic step now so you can get through the day.”

“Ok.”

“Focus on my thoughts, Bella.  Listen to them.”

His thoughts grew louder again, and I couldn’t help but laugh; that’s what he was wanting me to do.  He had thoughts of Emmett and my match and how sad he was to be so badly beaten.  Much different from Emmett’s version.  Then he thought of Alice skipping around praising my amazing feat.  Thoughts of Mike Newton rather flushed as he ran around school in only boxers.  

“Now, think as hard as you can that you want quiet.  Just think ‘Hush’ and keep repeating it.”

I concentrated on Edward’s thoughts, and thought the words over and over.   ’Hush.  Hush.  Hush.  Hush…’  The thoughts got a little quieter.  Not as much as Edwards thoughts had been a moment ago, but it was a start.

“Good, you’re doing great.  Just keep practicing.”

So Edward and I practiced for a good two hours before anyone could come back in.  I had learned how to quiet thoughts for now, and then later I would learn to control my mind better.  But now it was time to eat.  I was starving.  What would I be like?  How would my body react to the running I was now able to do?  Would I go mad with the hunger?  As I pondered those things Edward merely rubbed my hand while everyone discussed where we would hunt.

“Well, there is a clearing to the west that has some small game.  We could go there,” Alice stated.

“Good, but Bella needs a little something now.  So Bella, if you would follow me.”  Carlisle motioned for me to follow and I got up quite easily.

‘Hmm, limber…,’ Edward thought.  I smiled at him.  Then saw my reflection as I started to walk out of the room.  I was…well I didn’t want to sound ‘full of it’ but…beautiful….  My hair really was less messy, but not how you would think.  It was smoother than usual, and shone in the light.  My skin was pale, of course, but it was a pleasant tone.  It reminded me of Alabaster.  My face was unblemished and smooth, and my red eyes stared back at me.

I was stirred back to reality when Edward put a finger under my chin and closed my gaping mouth.  He smiled and led me downstairs to where Carlisle was going.

“It’s a good thing I did this before we left,” he called to us.

“Did what,” I asked.  He didn’t have to really tell me though, for as I asked the question I saw what he was referring to.  I wasn’t sure what kind of animal it came from, but Carlisle had a few blood bags to help me gain my strength.

“You should drink about two of these I think before we make the trip west to hunt.  Just to have a little something at least.”

“Is this how all of you started out?  Drinking from bags at first??”

“Well not all of us, but most,” Edward said.  “It’s an easier transition for when you hunt if you do it like this.  You’ll have learned to control the lust for the blood, then you can focus on the hunt later.”

“Oh I see.  So do I just…”  ‘Bite?’  

His beautiful laugh filled my mind.  ‘Yes Bella, just bite the bag.  The rest is instinct.’

I took a bag and stared at it.  The smell was inviting.  Sweet.  I looked to Carlisle, who nodded, then to Edward, who smiled encouragingly.  I was very thirsty, and I raised the bag to my lips.  Then instinct did kick in.  I bit into the bag and started to drink.  The taste was amazing.  It was hard to describe, but I compared it to warm lemon honey.  My senses sharpened, my eyes grew wide.  Then when that bag was finished, Edward handed me another and I eagerly took it.  I felt rejuvenated, strong, and alert.  Carlisle took the bags from me and left the room.  

Edward looked at me briefly with his black eyes that I was sure reflected my own.  He grabbed me behind the neck and lick the little blood that was on my mouth before proceeding to kiss me.  Thoughts of our wedding night flooded my mind.  He broke away with a smile as he looked at me.  ‘Later.’  I began feeling uncomfortable; not because of his thought, but because of what his thought did to me.  Forgot to breathe.  He had been right; not breathing was neither pleasant nor unpleasant.  Just uncomfortable.  I drew in a shuddering breathed and he let out an airy laugh.  He kissed me again before leading me back upstairs.  

I looked at my family with a warm expression.  “Ok…let’s hunt.”  

“Try to keep it simple at first, Bella,” Carlisle cautioned.  “If you go for something strong at the beginning, you are most likely going to lose control.  Stronger the animal, the stronger and fiercer you must become to take it down.”

My thoughts went back to when Edward scolded me for wanting to see him hunt.  I hadn’t grasped it much then; now I was on a whole new plane of understanding.  Edward suddenly had a look of pain.  

“Edward?  What’s wrong,” I asked concernedly.  His thoughts were so dang quiet!  What was he thinking?

“I didn’t realize just how scary I looked…”

“Oh, Edward!”  I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his face.  “Please don’t be sad!  It was a justified reaction, I mean you know how crazy I am.  Please, please don’t hate yourself.  Hey, I love you remember?  Even the fierce parts.”

He gave me a small smile and a kiss on the cheek.  “Well, we should get going shouldn’t we,” I asked.  Then I dashed out of the room and out the door.  I heard the directions in Alice’s head and decided to get a head start.  I was running.  Really running.  It was amazing to feel how fast I was moving.  Edward was by my side within 5 seconds.

“Hey beautiful.  Race ya.”

“Oh you’re so on.”




END OF PART SEVEN