My eyes flutter open as my throat closes up and starts to itch. I let out a string of coughs, but no matter how hard I try to relieve the strain on my throat, it doesn't go away.
The door swings open as Seth and my family come in. Their eyes widen at the sight of me. I feel one hundred times worse than I did, so no telling how bad I look.
Seth comes over and climbs into the hospital bed with me. I cuddle up close to him as he hugs me to him, rubbing my back gently. No matter how much Seth smells, I would take that over Seth not being here. He's my world.
"Grace, baby. How do you feel?"
"My throat hurts," I say in a raspy voice to my father. Seth gently pats down my hair as he tries to comfort me. "Do you want some water?"
I shake my head and he nods with a small, sad sigh. "Grace, we have a surprise," Mom says with a small smile and I open my eyes to see our cousin Elizar.
I can feel a smile form on my face, despite the pain in my throat. "Hello, Hermosa. I heard you're not feeling very well. Mind if I try to figure out how to help you?"
I shake my head as Cousin Elizar comes forward, another string of coughs rising. He gently places his hand on my forehead and starts concentrating.
After a few minutes has passed, he opens his eyes and smiles down at me before turning to my family.
"Good news. Gracelyn is quite the gifted vampire."
We all watch him with confused eyes. Everyone but Edward, who has the biggest smile on his face as he looks down at me.
"What do you mean?" Seth says in confusion, tightening his grip on me slightly.
Elizar smiles brightly. "I never even knew this was a power, much less something that could be so complex."
"Well, what is it," Seth growls in frustration. I let out another string of coughs as I lay my head on his shoulder and weakly nudge him.
"Be nice, Sethy," I mumble weakly. Seth kisses my head in response before everyone turns their attention back to our cousin.
Elizar smiles excitedly, "Our beautiful Gracelyn has the best gift of us all. Humanity. I never thought this would be a gift for our kind, but here she is."
"What does that mean for Grace?" Emmett asks as we all share glances. Humanity? But I'm not a human. So what do I even do with a power called humanity?
"That's what makes Grace part human. Yes, it could have something to do with the fact that you tried to extract most of the venom, but I believe this gift is what gives Grace the ability to eat, sleep, cry, and feel pain. If she did not aquire this gift, I believe Grace would be full vampire, yet not as advanced as we are. She would be weaker.
"But with her having so much life, and humanity in her as a full human, that carried on with her now."
I take a deep, painful breath before croaking out, "But what can I do? Don't I have a power?"
Multiple chuckles sound from around me. Elizar smiles as he gently pets my hair before kissing my forehead. "You live. That is your power. You get to have all the joys of being a human. And, if I am correct, with enough time, I believe you will be able to transition from full human, to half vampire."
I feel myself brighten and I look up at Seth to see him staring down at me with the same enthusiasm.
"I can be human again!"
Elizar chuckles, "Well, for a moment. Not permanently. Now, I'm not sure if that is true or not, but I do know powers can grow and develop, so it is a possibility. At the moment, we need to focus more on your health rather than your ability, ok Hermosa?"
I nod, my mood suddenly gloom again. "What do you thinks wrong with me?"
I see everyone share a look and I whine slightly. I'm a vampire now! I shouldn't be left out of the loop!
Edward chuckles slightly before sitting down beside me. "We have an idea, but we're not going to worry you over it until we know for sure that it's an issue. We're going to just try everything we can, alright?"
I nod. I wonder what they're keeping from me.... Maybe I'll ask Seth later. He'll tell me.
"Elizar, is there anything you think we should try? To help Grace?"
Elizar shakes his head slightly. "No, I've never seen this before. I will try to research all I can. I say, for the moment... Let's just keep all possibilities open."
Elizar smiles at me once, "I'm going to try to research more about your special gift, Hermosa. Feel better soon." I nod, giving him a small smile before he speeds off.
After Mom mentions getting me something to eat, everyone starts whispering quietly. Even with my advanced hearing all I can make out is, 'Try', 'No', 'Blood', 'Force', and 'Upset.' That's when everything sinks in.
"No!" I say as loudly as I can before coughing. "I won't do it. I'm not drinking blood."
Everyone quickly turns to me, their eyes wide. I guess they forgot I can hear better now. At the same time, their faces fall, leaving guilty expressions before everyone but Edward, Dad, Mom, and Seth are in the room with me.
"It's just a theory. We're not sure if it's what's wrong, but that is all we can come up with at the moment. We're not going to force you to do anything you don't want to," my Dad says before him and Mom give me soft smiles.
"I'm going to fix some soup. Hopefully that will help your sore throat, ok?" I nod thankfully to my mother and she gives me a sweet smile before her and Dad leave the room. Edward soon follows, after giving me a kiss on the head.
I snuggle closer to Seth as we sit in silence. Seth hugs me closer to him and kisses the top of my head. "I'm not doing it Seth," I whisper quietly.
I feel Seth tense slightly. "If it keeps you alive, you will."
"I refuse."
"I don't care."
I start to get angry, so I shove away from him, glaring as hard as I can. "It's my life Seth."
Seth glares right back. "I'm not letting you die when I can prevent it."
"I don't want to drink blood. You can't force me." Seth laughs without humor. "After all the crap we've been through, you want to just end it all because you don't want to drink a little blood! It's the exact same thing as me eating meat."
"No it's not, and you know it," I glare back, tears forming in my eyes. Seth's eyes soften slightly, but he says, "It is. It's the same principle. We don't know for sure if that's what's wrong, but if it is, then I'm not letting you die. I'm sorry. You can get mad, hit me, scream, yell, whatever you want. But I'm not letting you die."
I feel my bottom lip slowly start to quiver, so I turn away from him and lay on my left side so he can't see me fixing to cry.
I don't want to be a monster. I don't want to drink blood. If I drink even a drop, the pack will never let me see them again.
Seth sighs softly before gently rubbing my shoulder. "Gracie," he says softly. "I'm sorry."
"Just leave me alone Seth," I whisper quietly as I sniffle. He sighs again as he opens the door. "Do you want me to bring anything up here for you?"
"No. Just leave me alone."
I hear him shut the door before heading back downstairs.
"She's going to be fine, Seth. She'll get used to the idea," Jasper says quietly from downstairs.
"No. No, she won't. Unless we force it into her, she's never going to drink it," Seth says back before letting out a puff of air in frustration. "I'm going to help Leah and Emily settle everything in. Maybe they can help me. Call me if she gets any worse."
"Will do, Seth. Can you call Willow back inside? Maybe she will cheer Grace up."
I hear the door shut again, then reopen with the sound of barking and tiny paws hitting the ground.
"Grace," Edward says as he knocks on the door. "Willow wants to come in and see you."
"Ok," I whisper back. The door opens and I hear her bark excitedly. I don't turn to face Edward, but I do feel my lips curl up slightly into a smile as Willow gets placed beside me.
Willow barks as the door shuts, nudging her nose into my back to get my attention. When I don't turn, she huffs before barking even louder, and pawing at my back.
I slowly turn over, not having much energy to do anything, as I face her, seeing her bark happily before licking my face.
I let a small smile fill my face as I pull her into my arms and pet her. She snuggles close to me and lays her head on my neck with a huff.
"Hey, pretty girl. Where have you been, hm?" I whisper quietly despite the pain talking gives me. She peers up at me with bright eyes and I smile.
"You're so cute," I whisper as quietly as I possibly can. "I'm never going to hurt anything as cute as you. I promise." Willow huffs quietly again and I hug her closer before falling asleep.
Seth's POV
"And she won't even consider it! She's gonna die if she doesn't even try, but she won't! I'm not letting her die. I told her this, but now she's upset with everyone! I don't know what to do anymore!"
I throw my hands up in the air before sitting down on Leah's bed with a huff, ending my rant to Leah and Emily.
"I know she's not doing it because of the pack. She's been told it's monstrous, and that it's the worst thing in the world. She knows she'll never have a chance of being welcome at La Push if she is even remotely like a vampire. But if she's alive, it doesn't matter!"
I rest my elbows on my knees as I hold my head up, trying hard not to break down. I feel someone place their hand on my shoulder, and I look up to see Emily with tears in her eyes.
"Seth, Grace is like my daughter. She's one of the best people I know. I'm going to talk to Sam. I'm going to do my best to help, I promise. We've just got to make sure she doesn't get any sicker. I'm going to go talk to her tomorrow. Maybe I can help."
I nod thankfully and give her the best smile I can muster. Leah sighs loudly. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can do? We can't just assume this is the problem, then scar her for life if we force her to drink blood when she never needed it. She'll really hate everyone."
We all sit there in silence as we try to think of another solution. Emily's face soon lights up with a smile.
"What if I cooked a steak or something for her. But I don't cook it all the way, so only the outside is cooked. If she likes it, and seems to get better, then we know it's the blood in the meat that helped her. If she dislikes it, and isn't able to eat it, then we know that blood isn't the problem. Besides, we all know Grace only eats well done steaks, so if she likes the one I don't cook, we know what to do to help her."
I grin at Emily before jumping up and pulling her into a gigantic hug. "Emily you are the smartest person on the planet. I'm going to run to the Cullen's and let them know our plan. I'll see you around lunch at the Cullen's, ok?"
Emily laughs, "Yes. Now get going." I smile and nod quickly before running out of the house and towards my imprint.
Grace's POV
I wake up to a small knock on the door. I slowly open my eyes, yawning as I see Seth come in with a bowl of soup and a bottle of water in his hands.
I slowly sit up, pulling Willow into my lap as I slide over to make room for him. I stare at my lap and pet Willow to avoid looking at him as he sits on my right side.
He nudges me gently. "I brought you some potato soup. It's really good."
I nod as I continue to pet the dog. "I might have some in a little bit. I'm not that hungry."
"Hey, guess what movie is fixing to come out?"
My lips twitch slightly into a smile as Seth tries to nonchalantly talk to me.
"What?"
"The last Harry Potter movie. Wanna binge watch the movies then go to the theater and watch the last one next week?"
I start to smile before it suddenly drops. A few problems. First of all, I may not be alive next week. Secondly, if I am, I might not be able to get out of bed, and even if I am able to, I won't be able to be near so many people.
Seth must have noticed my frown, because he quickly says, "Or if you don't want to go to the theater, we can wait till we can rent it. I just wanna do something with you, and I kinda thought maybe you'd like to catch up on some Harry Potter. We haven't watched the movies in forever."
I let a small smile fill my face as I sheepishly look over at him, seeing him grinning hopefully at me.
"You're not trying to butter me up, are you?" I ask honestly as I slowly lean closer to him. Seth playfully glares. "Do I have fleas or something?" I tilt my head in confusion and he wraps his arms around me in response, pulling me close to him.
I let out a small smile as he forces me beside him and wraps both arms tight around my, now thin, stomach. "You act as I have fleas or something!"
I lean closer to him and sigh in content at him warmth. "Sorry," I mumble as I watch Willow move around till she is comfortable on top of both mine and Seth's lap.
"Wanna watch Harry Potter?" I nod and I feel Seth grin as he grabs the remote and turns on the television.
"Seth," I say sleepily during the middle of the movie.
"Yeah, Gracie?"
"Why do you think I'm so tried all the time?" I ask with a yawn. Seth hugs me closer, and I lay my head on his collar bone as he lays his head on top of my own. "Probably something to do with you losing so much sleep a few weeks ago. Don't worry about it, ok? Just go ahead and rest. I'll pause the movie and we can finish it when you wake up."
I nod, and fall right back to sleep.
I yawn as wake up. I look over beside me to see Seth passed out with his arms still around me and his head still on top of mine. I smile before trying to push myself upwards. My face falls, forming a frown as I use all my strength to sit up.
Letting out a small breath, I close my eyes, dizziness overwhelming me. What's happening to me? Just as I go to close my eyes again, I feel like I'm fixing to be sick.
I quickly sit up again, waking Seth in the process as I hurriedly try to get out of bed.
"Grace, what's wrong?"
As my feet hit the floor, my legs crumble and I hit the floor with a cry before dry heaving. I hear Seth shout my Dad's name before rushing to my side as I gag, coughing harshly.
"Shh, shh. It's ok," Seth whispers quietly as the door gets thrown open. I feel cool hands pull my hair back and I try to control my breathing as I look up to see my father worriedly watching me.
"Come on, love. Let's get you back to bed so I can check you, ok?"
I nod as Dad and Edward grab me and help me back into bed. I lay down and close my eyes tightly. I have never been this sick before. My Dad's a doctor, I have a good idea what's happening. I don't want to think on it.
I feel a tear slide down my face, but it quickly gets wiped away. I open my eyes to see everyone looking at me, but what makes it worse is the sad, worried look Seth is giving me as he dries my eyes.
I stare back at him and give him the best, tight-lipped smile. He returns it and says with that sad, forced smile, "You're gonna be fine. We're gonna get some food in you, and then you'll feel so much better. Emily is coming over tomorrow. She's gonna bring your study books and some lunch for us. It's going to be completely fine."
I nod, sniffling as I say, "I'm sorry." Seth gently shakes his head, smoothing my hair back as he kisses my forehead. "Shh, no. It's ok, it's ok. It's going to be just fine, alright?"
I nod and he gives me another forced smile. "I think your sisters were gonna help you get ready for bed. I'll wait for you in here ok?"
I shake my head, "Can't we sleep in my room?"
Me and Seth both turn to look at Dad at the same time. He gives us a smile and nod. "I don't see why not." I give Seth a small smile which he returns with a wink. My smile brightens before Alice and Rose help me up and out of the room.
The last thing I hear is Seth let out a small, pitiful sob before my sister's distract me. I'm sorry Seth.
Hey, everyone! So this is definitely not my best work, but I hope everyone still enjoyed it. I'm starting to get back into the flow of things, so hopefully my writing will get better. I hope everyone is doing well, and Happy Holidays to all you who celebrate. Love y'all! 💕