Pinned but Fluttering

Chapter 35

“Isabella, our family are vampires.”

I lay back limply in my bed, stunned by Carlisle's words. My glance flew from one unearthly beautiful face to another, and between the serious expressions I met in each set of identical golden eyes and the agony in his dark eyes, I knew immediately that Carlisle was telling me the truth.

Finally, I had the truth.

But, my god—what a truth!

My hand, trembling like the proverbial leaf, rose to my mouth in shock as my eyes widened.

Vampires.

No fricking way.

My eyes went round the room again, and each Cullen was unnaturally still, watching me warily. Each familiar figure looked strangely foreign at the moment, more like a gorgeous Greek sculpture of ideal beauty than my friends.

The shock of Carlisle's revelation was so great that I felt as frozen as they were, absolutely incapable of movement except for the continued trembling of my hand over my mouth as a wave of nausea washed over me; I swallowed back the burning bile and tried to gather my scattered thoughts.

Vampires.

Werewolves.

Vampires!

Oh god.

What kind of world did I live in? A world of supernatural creatures? A world of werewolves and vampires, right here in tiny, boring Forks and miniscule, po-dunk La Push where I had lived my entire life?

Impossible!

My gaze rested again on each Cullen in turn, lingering just a moment longer on Edward whose agonized eyes bored into mine, making my heart leap strangely.

Impossible.

My eyes returned to Edward's incredible features, tracing his chiseled jawline, his Grecian nose, his wide forehead, his full lips. His was a beauty too intense to be merely human.

Impossible?

No.

It was oh-so-possible....

My chest ached, and unconsciously I lifted my other hand to press against the dull pain.

Carlisle patted my hand firmly to get my attention; I had forgotten that he was holding my hand in his icy fingers. “Breathe, Isabella,” he advised quietly, his usual comforting smile absent now.

I sucked in a deep breath and the ache in my chest dissipated; I had not realizing that I had been holding my breath while my mind spun out of control.

Unfortunately, not only my mind was spinning. The walls were spinning, too, and the seven sets of eyes fixed on me whirled sickeningly. Another wave of nausea crashed over me, and I swallowed bile again as my sight narrowed into a weird blackness, pressing my chest and stealing my breath.

“Isabella?” I heard Carlisle's voice as if from a distance although he was sitting beside me; I still felt my hand in his cold grasp...which tightened as he called my name again, his voice worried and sharp.

But the blackness was whisking me away, and I couldn't fight it; I didn't want to fight it. I let the darkness steal me away, and I was strangely grateful for the welcome oblivion.  

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My limbs felt oddly heavy, as if I had walked for miles. In the distance I heard a humming sound that slowly morphed into voices. But it took a while before the words made sense to my confused mind.