It had taken three days, but eventually Charlie's screams had died down and his heart rate had slowed down to almost nothing. In that time, Maya had not left his side once. When he was calm enough she laid down beside him and when he thrashed too much she moved to the chair that Jasper often occupied to keep her company.
She had watched the changes that overtook her father with amusement tinged by sadness. He had always been one of those ruff-around-the-edges type of men. One you knew wouldn't hesitate to get dirty or one you would picture more often in an old shirt and jeans instead of fancy clothes. It was something he was proud of, that he looked like exactly what he was; a working man and not one of those "fancy movie star boys that had never seen a day of work in their lives". Seeing his transformation into a mix of fancy "movie star looks" and "rough working man" made her want to smile. At least until he would make another small sound of pain and she would be reminded of how and why he was changing like this.
(By the way, no hate on actors. I know it's a real job and takes serious effort and skill, but some how I can just picture Charlie saying something like this about them when talking about the kinds of boys his daughters should be dating)
As his heart gave one last beat and then went quiet Maya leaned forward from her position in the chair. She watched as his red eyes fluttered open and he blinked in confusion. Slowly he sat up and looked around the room before turning to her. "What the hell happened?"
At the sound of his voice, smoothed out by the transformation but still unmistakably her dads, Maya threw herself at him. He caught her in his arms, nearly crushing her with his new strength but she didn't care. "Thank god" she sobbed, relieved he was finally awake.
His transformation had been touch and go for a little while given that Bella had nearly killed him before the venom had a chance to spread. Maya knew her dad would pull through. He was far to stubborn not to. But that didn't stop the worry and the "what ifs" from running through her mind as she stayed with him these past few days.
Charlie for his part, though confused as to what had happened, just held his daughter close as she cried against him. He rubbed her back just as he had done when she had cried as a child until eventually she managed to stop crying. "Feeling better?" he asked, leaning away so that he could see her face.
She sniffled and nodded her head, pulling away as well so that they could have the discussion she knew they needed to have. "What do you remember?"
Charlie sighed, the action of drawing in breath feeling odd to him. "I remember hanging out with Billy and someone knocking on the door. I assumed it was Jacob and was joking with Billy about him trying to rush us old men. But after that, nothing but pain."
Maya closed her eyes at this, unsure if that was a good or bad thing. On the one hand it meant that her dad wouldn't remember being attacked and almost killed by his own child, but on the other it meant that now she had to tell him. "I wasn't Jacob" she confessed quietly. "It was Bella."
At her dad's look of confusion she decided to start from the beginning. "You know how my family in Italy and the Cullens here are special? Well they are what most people call vampires." At her dad's lack of shock, Maya gave a breathy laugh. "But you already knew that didn't you?"
"None of you have been very subtle about it" he told her with an eyeroll. "But so long as no one was going missing or turning up dead, it was no business of mine."
Maya let out a snort at that. Her dad must be the only person in the whole world to discover the existence of vampires and decide it changed nothing. "Yeah well Bella didn't feel that way when she found out and has been bugging Edward to change her ever since. Which he finally did on the condition that she marry him first."
Charlie groaned at that. His biological daughter was not what he would call the greatest or smartest when it came to making big decisions. "I'm guessing Bella is also the reason why I'm now a vampire."
Maya nodded sadly. "Ever since her and Edward returned she's been trying to get us to let her see you. But given that she is a newborn with no control and its against the law we said no."
Charlie sent her a questioning look and Maya looked down, not wanting to admit that they had planned to fake Bella's death and lie to him. "When a human is turned they're not allowed to see their family or anyone they knew as a human anymore. It would be impossible to hide the changes and they would be practically announcing to those people that the supernatural exist. Which is why we couldn't let Bella near you; you may know a lot, but so long as it was never discussed out loud then no one could ever prove it and thus you could never be accused of being in violation of the law. Bella showing up would have destroyed that plausible deniability and I and the Cullens didn't want to risk anything happening to you."
Charlie just pulled his daughter into a hug, reassuring her that he understood where she was coming from. He may have never asked for details, but he knew where he stood in the supernatural community. He walked a very fine line between knowing too much and being safe in his ignorance. So while the thought of his daughter choosing Edwin and eternity over him hurt, he was not upset at Maya for trying to do what she could to keep him safe. "Its okay, I know you were just trying to keep me safe and follow your laws. Though I'm still not sure I understand what happened. Did Bella lose control when she saw me?"
Maya sighed, "I don't know. I don't think she really understood what it really meant when we told her she could never see you again because ever since she came back she has been going on and on about it. That day she finally pushed me a little too far and we got into a fight. She and Edward took off and the next thing any of us know Jacob is calling saying Bella attacked you and uncle Billy."
Charlie sucked in a breath at that. "Are Billy and Jacob okay?"
"Yeah, Billy has a broken arm and needed a new wheel chair, but Carlisle got him all fixed up. And Jacob ... well since you're one of us there is no real point in hiding it anymore. You remember the giant wolves I told you about?" Charlie nodded. "yeah, those are the boys from the Res. Apparently shifting is something that has been passed down through their tribe for generations so that if they were ever threatened by vampires then they could defend their people."
Charlie blinked in shock, trying to process the fact that a kid he has known and watched grown up apparently turned into a giant animal like his daughter. "Is that why you two were always arguing as kids? Because he is a dog and you're a cat?"
Maya laughed at that. "Naw the reason we were always fighting is because he is too easy and fun to rile up."
Her dad rolled his eyes at that. "Okay so let me get this straight; my one daughter is a cat shifter who considers two groups of vampires her family and is magically connected to and dating one, my best friend's boy and his friends turn into giant wolves to fight vampires and my other daughter has now become a vampire and turned me into one as well?"
"Add in the fact that my family in Italy are the rulers of the vampire world and the most feared of all the covens and ... yeah, you pretty much covered everything" Maya said with a wince.
Charlie just blinked down at his child. "How on earth did you meet people like that?"
Maya shrugged helplessly, looking away from him. "I was out in the desert exploring and came upon them destroying a group of vampires that had been causing trouble. I shifted back to ask them a few questions and apparently I peaked their curiosity enough for them to follow me home."
Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long tired sigh. Of course she did he thought tiredly before pushing the matter aside. It was in the past now and he couldn't argue that the apparent rulers of the vampire world hadn't been kind to her. "So what happens now?" he finally asked, choosing to focus on the present.
"Now we hunt down that brat daughter of yours" Demetri told him, leaning against the frame of the bedroom door.
Maya gasped at the sight of his and moved to throw herself into his arms. "Demetri!" she squealed excitedly. She had called her family of course to update them on the situation and ask for advice, but she hadn't thought they would send one of her siblings here right away.
"Hello little sister" Demetri greeted her fondly, hugging her back. "You might want to go downstairs; the whole family has just arrived."
Her eyes widened in shock at the news and she quickly sped downstairs to see that he was indeed correct; all three of her uncles, both her mothers and the rest of her siblings were indeed standing in the Cullens living room. The Cullens were standing as far from them as they could without being seen as rude and Maya quickly rushed over to greet her family and help break the tension. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she asked accusingly as she hugged them all.
"Because apparently we are no longer being honest with each other" Caius told her accusingly, directing a very pointed stare at the newborn in the room that Maya had lied to them about.
Maya followed his gazed and winced as it landed on Bree. She probably should have guessed that she hadn't actually fooled her siblings and her family was just waiting for the opportune moment to point it out. "Sorry" she muttered, looking down at her feet.
Athenodora smacked her husband in the back of the head. "Enough of this. We are here to deal with Isabella and Edward. Those two have caused more than enough trouble and it is time we stepped in to deal with it before more people are hurt by their actions."
"Indeed" Aro agreed. He was secretly delighted that the foolish pair had acted out so quick. When Maya had informed them that Carlisle was taking charge of training Isabella, he ahd feared that they would have to wait a whole year before they could enact their plan to punish her and young Edward. "We must decide what shall be done about those two."
"I would prefer it if you didn't kill her" Charlie said as he entered the room.
"How are you dear?" Sulpicia asked, moving over to give him a hug.
Charlie returned her hug awkwardly. "I'm adjusting."
"Unfortunately Charlie, while we have great respect for you, we cannot make allowances for two that have already shown that they have no respect for our laws" Marcus told him sadly, knowing this would sadden his child's nieces father. Of course the punishment they had planned for the two was not death, but he had a role to play in order to convince Charlie that it was the better option.
Charlie sighed. He knew from Maya that asking for forgiveness in regards to supernatural law would be impossible. It was far too important to them that the supernatural be kept secret. "Will they be killed?"
Carlisle and Esme flinched at that. They knew their former son had gone too far. He had been lucky with Bella, that Maya would speak up in his defence of them for the sake of Charlie. But there was no way their rulers would accept him or Bella breaking the law again. No matter what the king's child Maya said in the pairs defence. Not that she would given it was her father that was attacked and almost killed.
"It has been decided that they will be imprisoned for the next fifty years" Caius grumbled, playing the role of being upset by the "lesser" punishment.
"With a chance for early release if they show remorse and that they will change" Aro added with a bright smile. He was particularly pleased with this idea of his as on paper this punishment would look exactly like a human one and would make Charlie more open to it. It also helped that since the pair would be imprisoned in Volterra, it would give him the chance to study and make use of Edward's gift without having to worry about what foolish decisions the boy was making.In his mind it was a win/win. His lovely little paintagrane would be able to live her life without having to deal with that horrible girl and the boy that enabled her, and he would be able to study the boys gift to his hearts content.
"Think of it as a long time out" Marcus added, noting Charlie's and Cullen's looks of shock and concern. "Vampires have the potential to live forever, as such time does not mean the same for us as it does humans. Fifty years to us will feel more like a decade than five." Carlisle and Esme looked reassured by this, having experienced themselves time as a vampire, but Charlie remained unsure.
"If it still bothers you, do remember that Isabella did kill you. If not for the supernatural aspect she would be spending her life behind the bars of a human cell instead of ours" Sulpicia pointed out.
Charlie nodded absently as he thought it over. "I suppose I can't argue that."
"Excellent!" Aro said, clapping his hands together. "Then Demetri, Felix, Jane, Alec, if you four could please go and track down their wayward children and escort them straight to the plane."
"Leave them with the other guards stationed there and then come back" Caius added.
"Yes my lords" the four said as they bowed and left.
"Now then" Aro said delightedly, "I supposed we had best begin planning your deaths!" And hopefully your move to Italy he added silently.