Beyond The Dawn - A Twilight Fan Fiction

Book 2 - Billy - Chapter Three

                                                                                  3

                                                                        "Awakening"

The pack was ready; at least, as ready as we were ever going to be. Two days had passed since Charlie had been attacked; we were all pretty much in a permanent position as we awaited the arrival of the Volturi. Seth was heading up the welcoming committee in the clearing. They remained hidden amongst the bordering trees, ready to send up the alarm when our unwanted guests approached. Paul and Jared patrolled La Push, keeping focus on the surrounding waters, while Brady and Collin patrolled the reservation and the surrounding forest.

Sam had taken on the job of rounding up and welcoming new pack members. Since the inevitable danger arose, five teenage boys had begun to change. Sam had offered to coach them through phasing and bringing them up to speed on the impending war. His reasons for volunteering were undoubtedly partially selfish; nevertheless, I was grateful for the help.

Jacob, Leah, Quil, and Embry continued to patrol the area around the Cullen house. They had set up a perimeter wide enough to overlap the clearing and what was left of Charlie's house. I occasionally ran spokes within the perimeter, sometimes travelling back and forth between La Push and the Cullen house, but I realized quickly that, as the pack's leader, I needed to be in the thick of things and in constant contact with the Cullens.

The Cullen coven remained incomplete; Rosalie and Emmett had yet to return, and hadn't contacted Carlisle either. He had heard from Esme pretty recently, however, and he already knew that she had located the American Nomads, and was sending them ahead while she searched for more of their friends. The remainder of the Cullens kept a constant vigil around Charlie; he remained strapped to the table in Carlisle's office, his body continuing to quake with the burn of the ever spreading venom.

For hours they would sit, perfectly frozen, watching Charlie as he stared madly at the ceiling directly above him. Periodically, Bella would stand over him, purposely making his eyes find hers. She would murmur words of encouragement, though she knew he couldn't hear. When Bella's facial expression turned from that of determined courage to painful sadness, Edward was despondent. It was no secret that he couldn't bear to see his wife or child in pain; when he wasn't tending to Bella, he was consoling Nessie, whose eyes hadn't managed to completely dry since Demetri attacked Charlie. Their close knit family had bonded even further since Charlie's burning had begun.

No one in the house knew what Charlie would be like when he awoke; Carlisle made sure to stockpile bags upon bags of human blood, in case Charlie couldn't be dissuaded from the usual vampire diet. He stored it in the basement, in a walk in refrigerator similar to something one would find in a restaurant kitchen. The thought of standing a floor above hundreds of gallons of human blood made me uneasy; I did my best to shake it off as I watched Charlie continue his transformation with a heavy heart.

On the outside, his changes had already become dramatic; his once broken body had mended, and if it hadn't been for his visible struggle against the inevitable, he might have looked like he was sleeping. His skin had paled; it looked almost like ivory in contrast to his hair, which had darkened considerably. He looked ten years younger; the salt and pepper look that his hair had taken on had completely vanished. His eyes remained wide open throughout the transformation, and were gradually turning crimson; Carlisle had warned me of it, but I found myself no more ready to see it than if he hadn't given me that information.