Lotus Fervor

By Lucine Raven

"A Touch"

Bella

"Are you absolutely sure that this is your decision?"

"Yes, I am."

"And nothing can sway you? You are certain you do not want more time to consider your options?"

"Yes. She is the one. I feel it. This is not just about her already present abilities or her innate draw to the supernatural. There is something about her. Something more about her. She is selfless, kind and curious. She is good."

"Well, this will certainly be interesting. I'm not condoning your decision. I still think you are being hasty. It took me over two-thousand years to choose you, but-"

"This is my decision to make. I will change her whether you agree with me or not. I merely asked for your opinion-"

"Yes. I know. Once you make your mind up about taking a course of action there is not a thing that can sway your steps. Of course, I can't fault you for that. It is one thing I truly love about you. That quality, above all others, was at the forefront of my reasons for changing you."

"Thank you."

"Alright, enough talk. I am eager for you to set everything you have planned into motion."

"I just place my hand over her head like this, right?"

"Yes. You are doing this perfectly. Now allow your energy to flow into her. Completely bathe her in it."

"What an intense feeling this is."

"I know, my dear, but you must be careful not to give her too much. Just a little more will be enough."

"With every moment this feels… I feel… I have never felt-"

"Stop. That's enough! Too much more and you will smother her spirit-"

"But-"

"STOP! Any more and she will die!"

I woke abruptly, sucking a massive amount of air into my lungs as I sat up. My fingers worked their way into my sheets, grabbing huge fistfuls roughly. I felt lightheaded like I was coming off of a huge burst of adrenaline. I felt slightly dizzy as well.

What a horrible nightmare that had been! In it, I had been floating up near my ceiling staring down at my sleeping body. It was a terrifying experience because it felt uncannily real. Panic had begun to set in when two beings appeared, commanding all of my attention.

The pair was so strange. They looked mostly human except for the fact that their eyes kept changing colors and they were both glowing. One appeared to be a male and the other one, a female, but only just. It was very difficult to tell because they were both wearing white robes and neither was fully masculine or fully feminine.

I shook my mind off of the dream, allowing the focus to shift fully onto my stomach. What had started as mild queasiness mostly in my head when I awoke, was now full-blown nausea concentrated entirely in my stomach. Without another thought, I flew to the bathroom where I would be spending the rest of my night.

Charlie kept staring down at me with an unconvinced expression upon his face.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the doctor's, Bella? You're looking pastier than normal."

I scowled at him and almost snapped back at his last comment, but managed to reign in my irritation.

"No, Dad. I'm fine. I talked to Doctor Cullen and he recommended I spend the day in bed. If it gets worse, I promise I'll call him and then," I said, stressing the then, "if I need to go, I'll let you take me."

He looked past me, clearly deep in thought. I waited, keeping my eyes doe like and my lower lip slightly stuck out. When he looked back at me it worked like a charm. All of the fight went out of him and he nodded.

"Alright Bells," he sighed.

I fought hard to not smile at my victory. Well, semi-victory. I really did spend the entire night rotating between bowing over the toilet seat and laying my head on my pillow next to it on the floor. While I may have not felt sick to my stomach anymore, I certainly felt tired.

"But, I don't want Edward coming over."

I looked ready to argue with him, no longer struggling to keep a smile off my face. I thought he liked the Cullens!

"It's not up for discussion," he said authoritatively, but then added, more gently, "Bells, if you have something I don't want you giving it to him too."

I stifled a laugh, covering it up with a cough. The thought of Edward getting a cold was preposterous! Of course, Charlie didn't know that Edward was immune to all illness. He couldn't know that.

I was a bad liar, but I forced my face to fall in response and my head to nod slowly as if to say 'okay, but I don't like it'. It probably wasn't very convincing and I'm pretty sure he knew I had started to laugh a moment ago, but he didn't push it. Charlie had been living around the weird and supernatural for longer than I had, yet, as most sane people were want to do, he preferred to just ignore it. He had simply accepted the blindness via ignorance, which was supposedly bliss.

I wouldn't know. My bliss came tall, dark, handsome and vampire.

"Remember, you're home to rest, Isabella Marie Swan. No Edward."

He waited until I nodded again, which he followed with a quick jerk of the head.

"I've got to get going."

"I'll see you tonight, Charlie," I said, probably too quickly, but he didn't pry.

Charlie walked out my bedroom door, shutting it behind him. I listened as he descended down the stairs and out the front door. Shortly thereafter, I heard his cruiser pull out of the driveway. I sucked in a breath and waited.

"Miss me, love?" My angel's voice of gentle breezes and tinkling bells whispered into my ear.

I giggled and turned around to stare into his extremely bright, honey-colored eyes. Good! That meant he had fed very recently, which also meant he couldn't fault me for doing what I was about to do. Smashing my lips to his, I began kissing him with as much vigor as I could muster up. Considering my God-send of a partner, it was quite a lot.

After a few moments, which really felt like only seconds, Edward pulled away. I found myself panting heavily, while he reminded entirely silent and still. Clearly, he had cut off the flow of air into his lungs. I watched him as his lips moved slightly as he struggled between his different desires for me.

Normally I would be very understanding of the measures Edward took to maintain control over his inner beast. Normally I would sit as patiently as possible, waiting for him to calm himself down, for however long it took. At these times I would always very thankful that he was never witness to the havoc his constant withdrawals wreaked on my mind. But not this time!

Maybe it was because I spent last night barely sleeping as I struggled with the worst pain I had ever experienced, second only to that from the feeling of James' venom coursing through my veins. Maybe it was because I was still feeling slightly disconnected from reality after having that frighteningly vivid dream. Maybe it was just because I had had enough of being denied. For whatever reason, I was pissed beyond my normal level of frustration and everything in me screamed that Edward needed to know it.

"DAMN IT!" I screamed.

I had only meant to give him a piece of my mind, calmly, but confidently. Screaming obscenities at him had not been on my agenda.

"Bella?" Edward chocked out.

Surprising myself was nothing in comparison to how much I had shocked Edward. The look on his face was priceless. I really couldn't stop myself from giggling in response.

"Bella?" He repeated. This time there was a hint of worry in the tone.

I barely heard him behind my laughter, which was now up to a loud, probably unflattering, roar.

Edward's hands gripped my shoulders as he stared at me. His voice was shaking slightly as he asked, "Bella did you do something to your eyes?"

Well, that was an unexpected question. It was also very sobering.

"No," I said, very confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Your eyes."

"Yes, I understood that from your question. What is it that is wrong with my eyes?"

He didn't respond. Instead he silently took off into the hall in a blur. When he returned, in less than a nanosecond, he kneeled down before me. He was holding up a tiny mirror from the bathroom. It was titled so I could see my eyes.

"What am I supposed to be looking for, Edward?"

When I starred into the small surface, I didn't notice anything different about my eyes. They looked exactly like my plain and boring brown eyes, albeit the slight redness in the whites from a lack of sleep. I also had bags beneath my eyes for the same reason. As ugly looking as my appearance was, it didn't seem like a cause for alarm.

"I was sick last night, remember?" I snapped. "Some of us don't have vampirism to protect us from getting sick or to keep us looking flawless all of the time."

I scowled at him.

God, what is wrong with me? That was a really low blow! Why are my feelings jumping all over the place?

"There it is again. Look in the mirror, Bella. Really look into your eyes. Can you see that? Do you see what is happening to the color in your eyes?"

I noticed that the brown of my eyes was much darker than it had been a moment ago. I started to panic, and watched as my eyes turned dark brown, to chocolate brown, to a muddy brown, to a light brown and so forth. It was only subtle, but it might has well have been a strobe light with how obvious it had become. Plus, the more I watched the worse it seemed to get.

"Edward?" My voice cracked when I tried to say his name.

He pulled me close to his chest and ran his hand soothingly over my head. I tried to look up at his face, but he stopped my movements by crushing me closer. The glimpse I did get had me feeling even more frightened. Edward's usual calm and collected mask had slipped. He had looked terrified.

"Don't worry, Bella. I am going to call Carlisle. He will be able to help us figure out what is happening to you."

He reached into his pocket for his phone. I wasn't sure if he retrieved it because my head started spinning and my vision grew weak. When I regained control of myself and looked at Edward, I found him in a defensive crouch. He was hissing madly at something on the other side of the room.

I turned to find a cloaked figure. Oh my God! I felt my fear spike as realization set in. The dream from last night had felt so real because it actually was real.

"What do you want?" Edward growled at the being in a voice so demonic that I involuntarily shuddered.

I watched as the stranger reached out with a slender hand and pointed a finger at Edward. Without warning, Edward collapsed to the floor where he laid completely still.

"EDWARD!" I roared as loud as my vocal cords would allow.

I was next to him in a flash, attempting to lift his marble body up off of the floor. He proved to be too heavy, so I settled for holding his hand while I whipped myself around to glare daggers at the cloaked figure.

"What have you done to him?" I demanded. My voice wasn't as imposing as Edward's had been, but I did my best to make sure every word dripped with acid.

"He is fine. His brain in merely in a relaxed state."

If I wasn't mistaken it was a she.

"Why would you do this to him?"

Her voice might have been soft and sweet, but I wasn't buying the obvious act.

"I need to speak to you uninterrupted. He would have deterred our conversation."

I folded my arms across my chest.

"I refuse to speak to you until you restore Edward to consciousness."

She laughed and at a speed, which I was afraid to admit could revival Edward's - I didn't even see her move - she grabbed my arm.

"I am your maker. You will listen to what I have to say."

I felt a soft, bubbling sensation start in my core. It built and built until it felt like I was going to explode. Just before I spontaneously combusted, the feeling blasted out my limbs as the room disappeared from my sight.

To Be Continued…

A/N: After over a week of trying to write the second chapter of "Becoming Isabella" and watching the midnight showing of New Moon (which was incredible) after the special, prior showing of Twilight (what can I say? I'm hooked! Guilty Twilight junkie...) I came to the conclusion that it needed some serious reworking. I had no idea just how much it would demand until this chapter poured out. Basically, this new story has taken the basic outline I had going for "Becoming Isabella", flipped it upside down, translated the words into ancient Greek, splattered them with paint, and got a sex change. And it named itself "Lotus Fervor" for several reasons, which will come to light during the unfolding of this story. Then it demanded its own spot in the fan fiction archives. So blame the story… preferably in the form of a review. Oh, but you can send your compliments via review to me ;]

Wow… that was random… ^_^

Updated 10/03/10

~ Lucine Raven