Changing and Getting Help

It felt like I was on fire. Magma and acid running through my veins. My bones sort of undulated, separating themselves from their sockets and joints, extending a small amount and then reconnecting.

This continued, over and over and over. My bones cracking as they not only extended in length but also expanded in size.

My muscles were doing the same thing - wiggling, tearing, expanding and then reattaching themselves back to where they were but with better and stronger connections.

All of my body, I just felt pain. Blinding pain.

My bones, my muscles, my organs...even my skin felt like it had countless little needles working their way through it, trying to pierce through and out of my skin to the outside world. It was horrific to feel all of this, especially with my sense of touch allowing me to feel it all with such clear clarity that it made me feel like I'd go mad.

I saw flashes of a moving scenery, so I figured that Edythe was carrying me somewhere.

With this in mind, I tried to delay whatever transformation was happening. I didn't want to think what would happen to not just Edythe but the people of Forks if I truly let loose. But that worry was still mainly toward Edythe.

But I had one question: What was happening to me?

Shifting for the first time shouldn't hurt. I knew I wasn't the same as Sam and the others but I was generally thinking that Shapeshifters would have the same rules apply to them when Shifting for the first time and just the outcome would be different.

However, that seemed to not be the case. Though in my opinion this made me think that I might not have been a Shapeshifter in the first place...or at least not one fully.

The lack of a scent. The heightened physical abilities. The other enhancements I'd gained that the other Shapeshifters didn't have. I was definitely a Shapeshifter when I thought about it - I had quite a lot of similarities with them. The absurd body temperature, the overall demerits to my mood, the animalistic instincts.

But I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't fully one. When I looked at that blue moon...I felt different to other Shapeshifters.

There seemed to be more to my supernatural origin than I thought. Figures. Just as I began to get a hold on what I was and things started looking up - Edythe and I kissed! - I was dragged back into confusion by the world.

My thoughts were put on hold by another bout of pain as I felt my entire skeleton fracture and each individual bone separate from their joints at the same time.

. . .

POV Change - Carlisle Cullen

Sitting down, I enjoy a glass of some predatory animal's blood - I think this belongs to a bear I hunted once with Emmett - as I looked through a book I'd read countless times before but still enjoyed.

The Old Man and The Sea. A story about a dignified if not stubborn old man who wants to catch a big fish that he can proudly sell.

I'd just gotten to the part where the first shark appeared when I heard the doors to our house burst open, followed by a shrill and worried, "Help! Carlisle!"

Edythe.

I flashed to her position, my book and glass left behind. As I soon as I heard her, I knew she wasn't alone. But the person I saw did surprise me.

William Riley. Jessica Riley's younger brother.

I remember him because of the unusual nature and changes he showed. He was boiling hot like a Quileute Shapeshifter...but he didn't have their scent. He grew taller and more muscular nearly every day and had already surpassed Emmett in height and brawn. Well, he looked more muscular, at least.

But unlike Emmett, he was a bit leaner, a bit more compact...and much sharper-looking.

Though right now he didn't look at all like that. He was a shivering mess on Edythe's back. Upon a closer inspection, multiple points on his body were bulging and snapping back into unnatural positions. Mainly his back and parts on his face.

Edythe looked to me, her face full of worry and no doubt a slight mania that even surprised me, "Carlisle! You need to help William, please!" she said, walking toward me.

When she got a bit closer, I really began to feel the heat billowing off of William. It was like being next to a Smith's Forge. No, it felt even hotter than that. I was surprised Edythe could even handle having her body that close to him. But despite the pain that it caused me, I grabbed William from off of her back, gently easing him to his feet and carrying him by supporting his weight with my shoulder.

I dragged the boy down the stairs and toward the small operating table I had down there.

I'd reinforced the walls to be able to handle the most fierce of threats. Even Emmett would be locked down here with no escape. I placed William down on the table before securing the restraints around his wrists and ankles.

He was getting awfully energetic and I did this to stop him from hurting himself more than him hurting me.

Once he was secure, I turned to the nearby cupboard and began rummaging through it.

His cries and shouts of pain had attracted the attention of most of the house at this point, and the first to come down was Rosalie. The first thing she said caught me attention as well.

"Edythe? Edythe, are you okay?!" she said, sounding somewhat worried and I turned to see Edythe looking down at her upper arm.

Five distinct claw marks were left there, letting the glittering flesh below be shone to all.

Edythe came from her stupor and looked to Rosalie, "Yes...I think I'm fine, Rose. I-I'm just surprised is all. William's claws easily broke through my skin and I'm still trying to process how they did," she said and my eyes instantly narrowed as I looked back to William's hands. As you'd expect, I saw that each of his fingers ended in a curved claw.

How did I miss that?

The next second I got my answer. The claws retracted back into his fingers and a few seconds after that, they came out again. This continued to happen and once I saw that it wasn't a one-time thing, I turned to Edythe as I picked up a syringe.

"Edythe, I need you to explain to me what caused this," I said before turning to William and pressing the needle against his skin.

The needle bent and snapped, causing me to stop and stare at him in slight shock.

From what I could gather, he was a Shapeshifter. They're much harder than humans but they shouldn't be needle-proof. I ignored the broken needle and disposed of it before collecting a special needle used to collect Vampire Venom.

The needle pierced the skin but it definitely wasn't easy. It didn't feel like Vampire flesh...but it was hard like rock and refused to move. Even as I pierced through the flesh on William's arm, it started to wiggle and bulge, trying to push the needle out. But it didn't stop me from taking the blood - I needed to know what was happening in his body and a blood sample was one way of knowing that.

As I did this, Edythe began speaking, "Bella - William's cousin - s-she was being harassed by some men," as she said this, I could already feel Rosalie's disgust and prior hatred welling up inside of her, but Edythe continued despite this, "William got there before anything happened and he was absolutely furious. He was already quite close to changing when Edward and I arrived," I held back the questioning of why Edward and Edythe arrived in the first place, knowing that there was more to it than what could be said right now that William was in so much pain and possible danger, "But I calmed him down. He was fine! He went back to normal and we were just about to go when..." she paused for a brief moment, like realization was coming over her face, "H-he looked at the moon, Carlisle. He looked at the moon and this happened!" she sounded worried and I knew why.

Turning into a creature when there's a full-moon.

A characteristic owned purely by the Children of the Moon or Werewolves as they're usually called by humans.

I pulled the now full needle from William's arm and I pulled a small tissue sample along with it before I flashed upstairs along with some devices I'd need to research this blood and the sample.

Why? Because I was sure he was a Shapeshifter. Even in Human form Shapeshifters and Children of the Moon have very different scents. I'd met my fair share of both species and by now I could easily tell the difference. But William smelt like neither of them. He had a...fresh scent to this old nose of mine.

He was something new.

I came back to the downstairs room with free hands and I grabbed Edythe and Rosalie before dragging them both back and behind the sliders for the room. I went to close the sliders but before I did, I spoke to William who I knew was still conscious, even through all the pain, "Edythe is outside of the room now, William. You can stop restraining the change now, son," I said with an expression that bordered on empathetic pain as I locked the door.

How painful was it to hold back a transformation that changed you bone, muscle and overall body structure? Terrifyingly painful. The kind of pain that knocks people out or sends them into shock and ultimately leading to them dying. The kind of pain you'd do anything to stop feeling.

Pain William could have stopped feeling if he just let go of his control.

But William had withstood it. The better question would be: How strong are the clear as day emotions he holds for Edythe?

It took me hundreds of years to be able to restrain my thirst despite the pain it caused me and any Vampire who chose not to drink. Yet this boy who is barely 18-years-old is able to hold off a transformation which should be beyond painful for a woman he seems to hold dear? I'm truly in awe of the boy.

Edythe spun around and snarled at me with an expression I'd never seen on her face.

A mixture between anger and something like worry. A volatile combination it would seem, as she tried to strike at my face, "Why did you lock him inside? Help him!" she yelled.

But I shook my head, "There is nothing I can do, Edythe, other than give him a place where he can transform without the possibility of him hurting someone. You know what he is and what that means - he will turn and experience the pain of the Moon tonight," I said with a sigh before I massaged the bridge of my nose.

Despite being a Vampire, I still felt extremely tired as this situation unfolded.

Children of the Moon were to be turned over to the Volturi as soon as they appeared. To withhold infomation and help them...it was a punishable offence. Punishable by death, that is.

But as a Doctor...could I really be so cruel as to turn in an 18-year-old boy, to a fate of death, purely because of my own fear? Because he just so happens to be a part of a species that made a grave mistake many, many years ago?

...No, I don't think I could. Especially with how Edythe seems so attached to the boy. I've never seen her so protective of someone in the entire time I've known her. She's much different to the usually reserved and dignified Edythe we'd all gotten to know. For once, she actually seemed like a teenager.

I couldn't take that away from her and nor could I send a child to his death.

Sometimes, I muse that my compassion truly will get me killed...but at least it would be a death I would hold no regret of. A death that followed my ideals.

Upon hearing what I said something in Edythe's eyes just shattered before she turned around and looked at William who was thrashing more and more as time went on. She just leaned her head against the glass of the slider, looking at William.

I wanted to help numb his pain but at the speed his regeneration had picked up...there was little chance the morphine I had in the house could do anything to help. He'd simply burn through it with his fast metabolism.

Turning to Rosalie, I spoke to her, "Rosalie...please go and inform Emmett to come down here, please. If Jasper is in the house, tell him to come down as well. Tell Esme and Alice to stay upstairs," I said, feeling it odd that no one other than Rosalie had come down to the basement. Rosalie nodded and flashed away, leaving just me and Edythe.

"...Will he be okay?" she asked, causing me to turn to her. She didn't turn back to look at me, she just watched William.

Walking next to her, I put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Yes. You know he will, Edythe. By sunrise he'll be back to normal," I said with a gentle smile before it turned to a severe frown as I looked to William, "Though he definitely isn't a normal Child of the Moon, that's for sure. I just hope these walls can hold him," I mused before turning around and collecting a few other instruments I needed for the tests I wanted to perform.

A sudden crash came from inside the room and the operating table William was just on, was colliding with the 'glass'. A few small scratches were left over. That was specially made bulletproof glass that was thicker than it ever needed to be.

Even a newborn vampire wouldn't be able to break through it.

Though I'm not saying it could hold a Child of the Moon indefinitely, it could definitely hold them for as long as their transformation lasts. Let's just hope the same applies to William.