Chapter 2 – The next day

Bella POV

I woke up thanks to a beeping. No scratch that. Three beeping noises. Why had I set three alarm clocks? I raised a hand to rub my eyes when I realized I couldn't open them. Yeah, I know. A little slow on the uptake. Raising both hands I patted my face trying to get the cotton like thing off my eyes.

When I finally succeeded my vision was blurry. I blinked a few times and looked around me. I was in a hospital. the dull white walls, the IV's, the ugly green curtain separating my bed from the rest of the rooms told me so. And the annoying beeping wasn't an alarm clock. Of course not. It was a heart monitor.

How did I land myself in the hospital this time? Last thing I remembered was... crying by the water behind the Cullen house. I blinked trying to order my memories. They were spotty, like out of order photos. I remembered the early fireworks party at the Cullen house. Alice had said it'd be fun. It wasn't. I was helping Emmett tear into the fireworks packages and gotten a paper cut. I was instantly food, not Bella. Jasper had made a move at me, Edward protected me by sending me flying back to the table with the food.

It would be ironic if some idiot hadn't thought of placing there crystal flutes into which I crashed and got a cut in my inner arm. Suddenly I was in everyone's radar. Six pairs of coal black eyes met mine and only Carlisle was sane enough to kick them out of the room and paced me up. After that I had wanted to go home.

Today after getting my leg cast off, Edward took me to the woods and broke up with me. That I remember. He left me there and left. I followed and at some point I reached the creek. After that my memory was a blank.

I was interrupted by my musings when the door opened with a woosh and a strawberry blond woman rushed in, took a look at me and began pulling curtains until she reached a sleeping girl that she grabbed in her arms rocking them both back and forth.

"Oh baby, oh baby"

She cried. I looked away to give them privacy. The third and last bed in the room was occupied by a girl. She had dark hair and red eyes.

Wait. What?

My eyes snapped to hers again. A pair of curious red eyes caught mine and my heart skipped a beat. A vampire in the hospital? Then my eyes locked on the heart monitor hooked to her chest and I furrowed my brows. A vampire girl with a beating heart? I rubbed my face again confused and she offered a smile

"Hi. I'm Joy"

Her voice was melodic and slightly alluring but the sun shone from the window. She wasn't sparkling. I looked at her face again. Her eyes were a clear blue. I rubbed my eyes. What kind of meds am I on?

"H...Hi"

I stammered. The door opened again but this time it was mom who came in followed by Charlie, an old woman and a doctor.

"Mommy"

I whispered and buried myself in her arms. She hugged me tightly and I felt Charlie putting his arms around us as well. I've never been one for hugs but this felt normal, needed even.

NO POV

The doctor smiled slightly watching the three girls hug their families for all that was worth. The girls had been brought in a few hours ago but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with them. They were normal, healthy seventeen year old girls. Their blood pressure was normal and their tox screens had come back negative. Besides some alcohol one of them had consumed but no one really cared about that. No one knew exactly what the man had done to them.

Besides the obvious.

Charlie was the first to let go and wiped his eyes before trying to be professional. He was glad they were safe, that Bella was safe; he would gladly kill someone again if it meant his baby girl was safe but it was strange looking at her. She looked so different!

The doctor coughed slightly. All hugging stopped and six pairs of eyes turned to him. He quickly calmed the parents telling them their daughters were fine, that they could go home but that they had to take an optometric test and come back later on for follow ups. He was confused as the three girls furrowed their brows, looked at each other and then him.

It was kind of unsettling actually as all three did the same motions, together. Almost synchronized.

"Why do we need an optometric test?"

Joy asked her blue eyes wide. The doctor coughed again uncomfortable.

"Well.. You..."

"What do you remember from last night?"

He would be eternally grateful to Charlie from saving him from answering. No one replied, each girl thinking how to answering whilst protecting their secrets.

"Miss Chamberlain?"

Charlie pushed the green eyed girl in her mother's arms. Mother and daughter exchanged a look before the girl exhaled resigned

"Call me Faye"

Charlie bit back a smile and rephrased his question

"What happened last night Faye?"

The girl licked her lips.

"I was with my friends at another friend's house. We had a sleepover"

She looked at her mother imploringly

"And ordered pizza. It arrived soon, very soon. My boyfriend opened the door and... The delivery guy shot... at him"

She threw her mother another look. in reality there was no delivery guy. Instead it was a full blown fight between them and four dark wizards' intent of gathering up their sisters and killing them all. She had no intention of telling that to the cop.

"He shot everyone and was after me. I dove in the water to hide"

"Is that all you remember?"

Charlie asked. Something felt off with her story but Faye nodded. Biting his pen he turned to the blue eyed girl sitting on the last hospital bed with her grandmother. This time he ignored the formalities.

"Do you remember anything Joy?"

The girl shook her head.

"I woke up this morning and saw you. That's all"

"Where were you last night?"

Charlie was wondering why her grandmother hadn't declared the girl missing.

"I had gone for a swim"

The girl replied. She wasn't lying; she had gone for a swim, letting the moon take over her body. For her the strange thing was the man choking her and pouring that liquid on her. Charlie wrote the information down tapping his pen on his block before turning to Bella. He could see in her eyes the wheels turning. She was trying to figure something out.

"Bells?"

Bella bit her lip deciding to stay as close to the truth as possible

"Edward and I broke up. I went for a walk to clear my head. I remember crying near the creek behind the Cullen house"

"And that's it?"

Charlie asked. Bella nodded confirming his theory. The kidnapper had taken all girls from the water and drugged them. Whatever was used was simply not in their bodies anymore. Renee lifted an eyebrow

"The dogs found your blood in the forest"

"I trip over thin air mom. The woods are deadly"

Bella rolled her eyes causing everyone to chuckle.

"Why do we need an optometrist?"

Joy asked cutting short all laughter.

"The man that took you, he did something to you"

Dawn replied. All thee girls sat straighter, instinctively hugging their bodies fearing the worse.

"Not that"

Joy's grandmother soothed them.

"He... hurt your eyes"

Renee finished lamely.

"What?"

Faye asked raising a hand to her eyes. She could see perfectly.

"What do you mean?"

Joy asked.

"He was pouring a liquid of sorts on your eyes when I stopped him"

"He bleached our eyes?"

Joy shouted. She too could see perfectly.

"He changed the color"

Renee finished. Three pairs of eyes widened. The doctor fished small mirrors to hand to the girls.

Joy gasped seeing her sapphire blue eyes. They looked like someone had taken a sharpie and drew on her brown irises.

Faye let a wry chuckle. When she played with her magic she always gave herself green eyes but the spell was always over within a few hours. Now her eyes were permanently green, the shade of emerald.

Bella felt bile rising on her throat. Her eyes were purple! Light pinkish purple, almost violet, but purple none the less. They were foreign on her pale face. A big contrast with her dark hair. She raised her eyes to the other girls.

They felt like freaks.