Swan Diaries (crossover between Twilight and The Vampire Diaries)

E I G H T ∘ Fragile

I gave up trying to recognize the voices.

"Well, what do we do?!"

"Here. Take this."

"You'll be all right, love. I promise."

"You better pull it together, Bella. You're stronger than this. Fight for it. Don't give up."

They were right. I'm not ready to die. I need to live. For my family. For myself. For my son.

But before I could gather the rest of my strength, I lost the only sensation I had left—my lungs.

I was drowning.

"Kol, take the baby," Klaus begged.

"Make yourself useful, brother," Elijah demanded.

I couldn't focus. All I wanted at this moment was to be able to breathe.

The next thing I knew, I was gasping for air. My eyes finally opened. I could see the scene before me. But it wasn't a gory birth, filled with frantic people. It was a quiet room, and the only other person here was my husband.

When he heard me, he looked up suddenly, his eyes red and tear-stained. "Bella?" he cried.

"Klaus..." I cupped my throat, the oxygen feeling oddly heavy. "What hap..."

"You're alive," he marveled.

"I'm what?" I wheezed. "When was I not?" Then it hit me. I stood up immediately. "Where is he?!"

"He's fine, love, he's fine. He's with Rebekah and Elijah." Klaus cupped my face. "How... How are you alive?"

"How should I know?"

While he still had a shocked expression on his face, I took the opportunity to get a feel for my surroundings. I felt the air particles brushing against my skin. I smelled the dead bonfire a mile out in the forest. I tasted...

"God, I'm so hungry."

I heard Klaus's intake of breath and turned to face him again. "Evan."

"What about him?" I wondered.

"He's part vampire. You died with his blood in your system." He scooped me up in his arms. "You need to feed."

"I can walk, Klaus."

"But you don't have to."

I sighed.

"Bella!" Bex and Freya screamed, both joyfully and full of fear.

"I'm capable," I whispered to him. He put me down reluctantly.

They both slammed into me, and I had to gasp before hugging them back.

"Do you want this?" Elijah asked from behind me.

The girls let go, and I turned around.

Do I want this?

Do I want to let go of being a witch so I can be a vampire? Nobody can be both. And I loved being a witch. Even if it was only part-time, since I was a siphoner.

Do I want to be with this family, the Mikaelsons... my family... forever?

No part of my soul answered no.

"Yes."

Klaus smiled and held out his hand for me to take. "Then shall we?"

I grinned back at him.

My vision was suddenly blurry. I heard another voice calling to me, but I couldn't make out who it was yet. I looked over to ask if Klaus heard it as well, but he was no longer there. My hand reached out to no one.

"Bella." I heard him again. And again.

My happy memory faded entirely, and the picture went blank. I blinked, and my eyes followed down a long black tabletop.

"Bella?" Edward Cullen lightly touched my shoulder, still trying to get my attention. Had I fallen asleep?

"Yeah?" I muttered, barely.

"Thought you were dead." He chuckled.

I could feel moisture on my forehead and reached up to wipe it off. "Yeah... Thanks for waking me," I said almost bitterly. I doubt he noticed.

"Not a problem."

He walked off to his next class, giving me one last glance.

I gave myself a minute to wake up. I didn't necessarily care if I was late to gym class, but I didn't want Aaron to worry. I was starting to care about him. It was nice... having a big brother figure again.

Evan was everything to me. And being married to a Mikaelson meant I had even more siblings, half a dozen of them. But I lost all of them. Even though, technically, Klaus and I weren't divorced. I was gone before they all knew what I'd done.

Dreaming about one of my favorite memories took a toll on me... I put it away for later thought and stood to go before the second bell could ring.