This Time Of Year
Written by: wizardtho
Story dedicated to: Bella MacLeod
Chapter 8:
Time passed as I took care of Isabella during her transformation. Each of the teams I had sent out on missions had returned and checked in, other than Felix’s. His mission required time, patience, and finesse, so I wasn’t expecting him back for a while yet.
Jane was the first to return as Isabella was nearing her 24-hour mark, which didn’t surprise me much. She was efficient and liked returning to the castle quickly once her task was complete.
She knocked quietly on the suite door, then waited for me to answer before entering. I told her to enter as I shifted Isabella on the bed slightly. She was having a stubborn period where she was refusing to scream bloody murder, but would occasionally cry out when she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Jane offered softly as she stood outside Isabella’s bedroom doorway, “She’s quieter than I thought for being this far along.”
I nodded, purposefully holding both my changeling’s cheeks as I spoke so my breath caressed her face, “We’re having a stubborn bout. Refusing to scream. Isabella, just let it out, Sweetheart. It won’t bother anyone, and you’re just making yourself tenser.”
I rubbed her clenched jaw to get her to release it, but it did no good. Jane offered, “Try rubbing her palms, instead. Her nails are digging into her flesh, which is trying to heal itself.”
I nodded gratefully as I realized she was right, then asked, “Your mission?”
Jane shook her head seriously, “False accusation, from what my team could gather. The accusing coven was brought in to be read by Aro. Apparently, the two covens were having a beef about territory lines, and the accusing coven made the whole thing up, thinking we’d just punish without having the facts. They thought they’d end up with more territory.”
I shook my head, disgusted by the situation, then offered, “Good call. Aro will make sure there are no more underlying concerns. Any other teams back yet?”
Jane shook her head while pulling out her vibrating phone. “Not yet, but they shouldn’t be far behind.” With a glance at her phone, she explained, “Aro is requesting me in the throne room. I need to go. Seriously, though… her palms. It helps, as much as anything can in this situation.”
I nodded as I moved to unclench Isabella’s tight fists. “Thank you, Jane.” She was gone with only a nod in response.
It was around two hours later that Santiago knocked on the suite door. I called softly for him to enter as I reassured a screaming Isabella, “That’s it, Sweetheart, Let it out. You’re doing so well.”
Santiago leaned against her bedroom door frame, nodding to me as he said, “She’s progressing well, it seems.”
I nodded, “This far in and she still has not begged for death once. How did your mission go?”
He shook his head while making a disgusted noise, “A single abandoned newborn. We had to torch the small town, but wildfires are a common occurrence in that area. All of the town residents were confirmed dead before we set the fire to originate several miles away from town. The surrounding towns are believing the cover. The newborn is currently being read by Aro, to see if she has any knowledge of her sire.”
I hummed, took hold of the hand my changeling was trying to clench, then asked as I gently kneaded her palm with my thumbs, “And the coverage of the fire?”
Santiago said with confidence, “All reports are contributing the death rate to the fire and the time of night… stating that they were likely sleeping and didn’t have time to evacuate. We’re golden, Sir.”
I nodded to him, “Good. Report back to Aro for further instructions. He may need you to go find this sire.”
With a nod and, “Good luck,” he was down the stairs and out the main suite door, its latch catching with barely a sound.
Just after Isabella hit the 54-hour mark of her turning, Alec knocked lightly on the suite door. Isabella leaned into my hand, so I reassured her before calling out to Alec, “I’m right here, Isa. I won’t leave. Come in.”
He softly made his way up the stairs, then leaned against the door frame. His usually spotless attire had several spots of blood, which he noticed me looking at. He shrugged, “It’s… difficult... not to get blood on you when you are dealing with a full-fledged blood farm. It was disgusting. They weren’t even keeping the blood cool enough, so it was spoiling faster than they could harvest more from the hostages. Then they would just pile the bodies in a warehouse on the property when they would die from malnutrition or illness. We counted over 1,000 bodies, plus the 113 living hostages… yet evidence suggested they were only active for the last 4 months. We got it relatively early. I left half my team there with the hostages after warehouse cleanup, per Caius’ order. Aro and Renata will leave in a couple of hours with a team to read them, to see if they saw any of the clients, or others involved in the actual farming. Once Aro has what information he can get, my team has orders to deal with hostage cleanup.”
Isabella groaned as her back arched off the bed, then she cried out as she curled herself literally around my back, her arms wrapping around my leg. Alec stayed silent as ran my fingers through Isabella’s long hair, “You’re doing so well, Isabella. Less than 18 hours to go before you wake to your new life.”
When my eyes caught his again, he offered, “If you don’t need anything, I’m going to find Jane. I need a good run to clear my head of all the putrid blood. I can’t even think about feeding yet.”
I shook my head, “I don’t blame you. You might want to change first, though. The blood on your shirt smells pretty bad. Go clear your head; Isabella and I have everything we need for now.”
Alec was gone with a grateful nod in the next second, the door to my suite closing with a barely audible click.
It was only 10 minutes later that Isabella let out a piercing wail like no other, her back arching high off the bed as her fists ripped the bed cover. Her body fell limp to the bed as her scream died out, then there was only the sound of her slow but suddenly even breathing.
Something about that didn’t seem right. Her breathing had been uneven… labored… since the moment I bit her, yet her turning wasn’t complete. She shouldn’t have been so still or breathing as easily as this with just under 18 hours still left.
My phone was out and dialing Aro without a thought. I didn’t even give him time to say a greeting when he answered, “I need you. Something’s wrong with Isabella. She’s too still… breathing too easily. Come, please.”
One minute and 32 seconds. That was how long it took Aro to arrive. I was pacing for every millisecond of that, fearing I’d done something wrong while making my turning bite. Isabella had not moved a stitch in that time, other than her chest rising and falling with each breath.
Aro was at my side before the suite door even closed, grasping my shoulder to gain my attention and stop my pacing. “Tell me what happened. Walk me through it, Demetri.”
I shook my head, “She was curled around me when Alec checked in. It was going fine. Here… look.” I held my hand out to him, imploring him to see it.
Aro took my hand, his eyes slipping closed to concentrate, then he went right to Isabella as his eyes opened. He watched Isabella’s face for a long moment while he held her hand, then he let out a breath. Catching my gaze, he offered, “She is stable, and actually allowing me to read her. Her shield has expanded and is protecting her mind from the pain, but in doing so, she can not communicate verbally. It is taking much of her remaining resources to shield her mind in this manner. She will need to feed the moment she awakens.”
Aro nodded to himself, patted Isabella’s hand, then looked at me, “I will have a cooler full of blood delivered for her initial feed. From what I gathered, Isabella is keeping a tight watch on her energy level, and understands she may need to stop shielding at some point. Her mind just needed a break. She also directed a single clear thought to me. ‘You did nothing wrong; she didn’t have time to warn you.’”
I shook my head and chuckled, “Only she would be trying to comfort me at a time like this.”
Time passed as I took care of Isabella during her transformation. Each of the teams I had sent out on missions had returned and checked in, other than Felix’s. His mission required time, patience, and finesse, so I wasn’t expecting him back for a while yet.
Jane was the first to return as Isabella was nearing her 24-hour mark, which didn’t surprise me much. She was efficient and liked returning to the castle quickly once her task was complete.
She knocked quietly on the suite door, then waited for me to answer before entering. I told her to enter as I shifted Isabella on the bed slightly. She was having a stubborn period where she was refusing to scream bloody murder, but would occasionally cry out when she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Jane offered softly as she stood outside Isabella’s bedroom doorway, “She’s quieter than I thought for being this far along.”
I nodded, purposefully holding both my changeling’s cheeks as I spoke so my breath caressed her face, “We’re having a stubborn bout. Refusing to scream. Isabella, just let it out, Sweetheart. It won’t bother anyone, and you’re just making yourself tenser.”
I rubbed her clenched jaw to get her to release it, but it did no good. Jane offered, “Try rubbing her palms, instead. Her nails are digging into her flesh, which is trying to heal itself.”
I nodded gratefully as I realized she was right, then asked, “Your mission?”
Jane shook her head seriously, “False accusation, from what my team could gather. The accusing coven was brought in to be read by Aro. Apparently, the two covens were having a beef about territory lines, and the accusing coven made the whole thing up, thinking we’d just punish without having the facts. They thought they’d end up with more territory.”
I shook my head, disgusted by the situation, then offered, “Good call. Aro will make sure there are no more underlying concerns. Any other teams back yet?”
Jane shook her head while pulling out her vibrating phone. “Not yet, but they shouldn’t be far behind.” With a glance at her phone, she explained, “Aro is requesting me in the throne room. I need to go. Seriously, though… her palms. It helps, as much as anything can in this situation.”
I nodded as I moved to unclench Isabella’s tight fists. “Thank you, Jane.” She was gone with only a nod in response.
It was around two hours later that Santiago knocked on the suite door. I called softly for him to enter as I reassured a screaming Isabella, “That’s it, Sweetheart, Let it out. You’re doing so well.”
Santiago leaned against her bedroom door frame, nodding to me as he said, “She’s progressing well, it seems.”
I nodded, “This far in and she still has not begged for death once. How did your mission go?”
He shook his head while making a disgusted noise, “A single abandoned newborn. We had to torch the small town, but wildfires are a common occurrence in that area. All of the town residents were confirmed dead before we set the fire to originate several miles away from town. The surrounding towns are believing the cover. The newborn is currently being read by Aro, to see if she has any knowledge of her sire.”
I hummed, took hold of the hand my changeling was trying to clench, then asked as I gently kneaded her palm with my thumbs, “And the coverage of the fire?”
Santiago said with confidence, “All reports are contributing the death rate to the fire and the time of night… stating that they were likely sleeping and didn’t have time to evacuate. We’re golden, Sir.”
I nodded to him, “Good. Report back to Aro for further instructions. He may need you to go find this sire.”
With a nod and, “Good luck,” he was down the stairs and out the main suite door, its latch catching with barely a sound.
Just after Isabella hit the 54-hour mark of her turning, Alec knocked lightly on the suite door. Isabella leaned into my hand, so I reassured her before calling out to Alec, “I’m right here, Isa. I won’t leave. Come in.”
He softly made his way up the stairs, then leaned against the door frame. His usually spotless attire had several spots of blood, which he noticed me looking at. He shrugged, “It’s… difficult... not to get blood on you when you are dealing with a full-fledged blood farm. It was disgusting. They weren’t even keeping the blood cool enough, so it was spoiling faster than they could harvest more from the hostages. Then they would just pile the bodies in a warehouse on the property when they would die from malnutrition or illness. We counted over 1,000 bodies, plus the 113 living hostages… yet evidence suggested they were only active for the last 4 months. We got it relatively early. I left half my team there with the hostages after warehouse cleanup, per Caius’ order. Aro and Renata will leave in a couple of hours with a team to read them, to see if they saw any of the clients, or others involved in the actual farming. Once Aro has what information he can get, my team has orders to deal with hostage cleanup.”
Isabella groaned as her back arched off the bed, then she cried out as she curled herself literally around my back, her arms wrapping around my leg. Alec stayed silent as ran my fingers through Isabella’s long hair, “You’re doing so well, Isabella. Less than 18 hours to go before you wake to your new life.”
When my eyes caught his again, he offered, “If you don’t need anything, I’m going to find Jane. I need a good run to clear my head of all the putrid blood. I can’t even think about feeding yet.”
I shook my head, “I don’t blame you. You might want to change first, though. The blood on your shirt smells pretty bad. Go clear your head; Isabella and I have everything we need for now.”
Alec was gone with a grateful nod in the next second, the door to my suite closing with a barely audible click.
It was only 10 minutes later that Isabella let out a piercing wail like no other, her back arching high off the bed as her fists ripped the bed cover. Her body fell limp to the bed as her scream died out, then there was only the sound of her slow but suddenly even breathing.
Something about that didn’t seem right. Her breathing had been uneven… labored… since the moment I bit her, yet her turning wasn’t complete. She shouldn’t have been so still or breathing as easily as this with just under 18 hours still left.
My phone was out and dialing Aro without a thought. I didn’t even give him time to say a greeting when he answered, “I need you. Something’s wrong with Isabella. She’s too still… breathing too easily. Come, please.”
One minute and 32 seconds. That was how long it took Aro to arrive. I was pacing for every millisecond of that, fearing I’d done something wrong while making my turning bite. Isabella had not moved a stitch in that time, other than her chest rising and falling with each breath.
Aro was at my side before the suite door even closed, grasping my shoulder to gain my attention and stop my pacing. “Tell me what happened. Walk me through it, Demetri.”
I shook my head, “She was curled around me when Alec checked in. It was going fine. Here… look.” I held my hand out to him, imploring him to see it.
Aro took my hand, his eyes slipping closed to concentrate, then he went right to Isabella as his eyes opened. He watched Isabella’s face for a long moment while he held her hand, then he let out a breath. Catching my gaze, he offered, “She is stable, and actually allowing me to read her. Her shield has expanded and is protecting her mind from the pain, but in doing so, she can not communicate verbally. It is taking much of her remaining resources to shield her mind in this manner. She will need to feed the moment she awakens.”
Aro nodded to himself, patted Isabella’s hand, then looked at me, “I will have a cooler full of blood delivered for her initial feed. From what I gathered, Isabella is keeping a tight watch on her energy level, and understands she may need to stop shielding at some point. Her mind just needed a break. She also directed a single clear thought to me. ‘You did nothing wrong; she didn’t have time to warn you.’”
I shook my head and chuckled, “Only she would be trying to comfort me at a time like this.”