So, I know a lot of people are doing stories like this, but I decided, 'Why not?' It's a pretty intriguing plot, but if there are any similarities it's purely coincidence. I haven't read any of the others. I've only noticed the summaries.
Disclaimer: To even consider claiming ownership to a story of Stephanie Meyer's would be a disgrace to Stephanie herself! The fact that I even need one of these is both flattering and insulting!
I looked around, hoping for some point of recognition in the surrounding trees. They all looked the same. Just giant green poles sticking out of the ground; a giant maze of mossy trees. I listened to the squishing sound of my hiking boots against the forest earth, a monotonous song forming in my ears. I focused on it, instead of my direction like I should've been. Distracting myself had become a habit. My arms were locked securely just under my chest, and my breathing was forceful. In, out, squish, squash.
The day droned on and my aching calves reminded me just how long I'd been walking. It would've been nice to have owned a wristwatch. The entire day could've passed by without my knowledge. Even if Forks wasn't the cloudiest place on Earth, the mile high trees did their job just as thoroughly. And still I could find nothing familiar in the foliage I came across.
I became so desparate to hear his voice again that I began to sift through old memories, hoping I'd be able to find my last journey to the meadow without finding him there as well. I didn't do a very good job. So I simply decided not to notice who my companion had been last time. That I had basically gone alone then too.
I remembered being told that we would walk five miles from the truck. If only I knew how many I'd already gone. The treck had taken at least the entire morning, or so. It had to be late afternoon by now. The trees had gotten lighter after a time, but that was due in large part to the sun, my only ally currently fighting the hateful clouds in the sky. I looked up, trying with my weak eyes to see past the canopy of leaves, the clouds' partners in crime.
And, after pulling out of my little memoir, I noticed a brightening in the trees ahead. Not allowing myself to anticipate, I looked for the treetops in the area surrounding it. The leaves had yet to waver in their determination to add to my misery. Still, I decided to investigate the change in light. And that's when I heard it; the first change in my monotonous song. The sound of rushing water was added to the consistent squish, squish, squish. I stumbled along at a much faster pace, falling more but never really stopping.
I gasped as I broke through two arched vine maples and into the meadow. The place was definitely the same. No other could be just as perfectly symmetrical. It was just as I remembered it, yet somehow... not. Too early for flowers, too late for snow. The ground was covered in plain, tall grass. The light from above had only gotten a few wats brighter, and I looked up at the deep gray murk above me. It would rain soon. By the look of the clouds I was surprised it wasn't already pouring. The place was suddenly very depressing.
The disappointment that had flooded through me just seconds after my entrance quickly turned south. The dull ache in my chest that I had all but forgotten about during the course of the day flared back up ina blazing fury. Crumpling to the ground, I locked my arms as tight as possible around my midsection, the only thing holding me together. I rolled onto my back, hoping to ease the force gripping me. It helped, but only just.
It was probably a good thing that I hadn't found this place with Jacob. This was the last thing he needed to see. Maybe he already knew how broken I was. Maybe that's why he decided to hang out with new friends. Normal friends. It made sense. The realization only added to my pain.
It took nearly ten minutes to calm my heart-and the hole within it-down, and then I had the task of regulating my breathing. I loosened the grip on my body, relaxing into the damp earth beneath me. Closing my eyes, I pretened that I wasn't anywhere special. Just resting in Charlie's backyard.
The rustling of a tree branch broke through the silence around me. If I had had any concern left for my personal well-being I would've looked up to see who had disturbed my peace and tranquility. But in the dark depression that had become my mind I could find no reason to know the identity of my intruder. There was a chance it was nothing more than a squirrel.
A low, malicious chuckle disproved those suspicions; and managed to catch my attention.
My head snapped up from the soft earth, my brown eyes landing on an olive-toned figure huddling in the shadows. I squinted, hoping to recognize the face. It didn't take long. Those blazing red eyes were impossible to forget.
"Laurent?" I asked softly, knowing if this was indeed who I was looking at, the question wouldn't have needed to bee spoken any louder.
"Bella?" he questioned in a confused, yet unsurprised voice. But it didn't concern me, as it most likely should have. This was my first connection to the mythical world since they left. And so I didn't care that his eyes were red, when they were supposed to be a gentle golden-brown. I didn't care that the relative confusion in his eyes had quickly turned to an indescribable pleasure the instant he realized who I was. And I didn't care that he was cautiously slinking in my direction while I remained frozen across the meadow. My only focus was the cringe in my heart.
"Fancy meeting you here," he continued, for my lapse in communication was to be expected. What did I have to say to him, anyway? It's not like we were old friends or anything special like that. He had merely warned us of James's strength and plot so he wouldn't be underestimated.
Remembering last spring break brought another pang to my racing heart.
"I could say the same," I retorted calmly. I don't know why. He was still advancing; rather slowly for a vampire. "You're an awful long way from Alaska."
"Yes, well, I prefer to hunt away from where I live." So he was hunting? Well I guess that made sense. Forks did contain a vast amount of forest. But why should he hunt so far from his new family? I voiced this question.
"Well, Bella, you see I have a terrible habit of cheating when it comes to my new diet. After all, nobody's perfect."
Get up, and look calm. I shouldn't have been so surprised to hear that commanding voice in my head, not angry at me for once. But I couldn't stifle the small gasp that rose from my throat. The corners of Laurent's mouth turned up.
I lifted myself, as placidly as I could manage, out of my lying down position and onto my unbalanced feet. I brushed the dirt, mud, and grass from my body as normally as I could.
"And they just look the other way if you go out of town?" I realized too late that that was the wrong thing to ask a vampire, especially when the two of you are secluded in miles of forest, with no one around as your witness. Not that having someone there would've stopped him anyway. Two people were still no match for one thirsty vampire. Especially with blood as delicious as mine was said to smell. I gulped rather loudly and took a step back.
But his only response was a sinister grin, and a few more deliberate steps in my direction. I could feel the dilation in my pupils as I understood what this now meant. I was a goner.
A snarl ripped through my head, nearly unbalancing me.
"Ah, but that's the beauty of having one of the members of a family are wrapped around your finger. You can pretty much get away with anything you want," he explained. So Laurent was a player? I glared at him briefly, before looking around the forest in a desperate plan to escape. I must not have been as stealth as I would've liked. "Bella, I would've thought you of all humans would know about the impossibility of escaping a vampire."
I looked back to him, placing on my best brave face. Thoughts of Charlie and Renee and Phil and Jacob and all the other members of La Push ran through my brain as I braced myself for what was to come. I knew I was going to die, so why die running like a coward? I would face death head on, literally allowing my life to flash before my eyes-a bitter thought of how this was his fault slipping in before I pushed it away.
If I hadn't allowed my heart to slip into his clutches, only to be torn apart, none of this would be happening. I never would've gone searching for the hidden meadow he had taken me to almost a year ago. I would be safely tucked in bed at my house, wishing that I had never decided to move to this reproachful, sodden town. I couldn't blame him, not now. He had tried to warn me the year before that getting involved with him would be dangerous. For one second I considered the possibility that this was his plan, the reason he left. To protect me. But that didn't seem right. How was I any safer now than I had been with him? I quickly refocused my mind on my family and friends as Laurent reached me. With one last, desperate attempt for mercy I asked, "Why are you doing this? Don't you want to try for a better life?"
"I did try. But the temptation was too great to pass up." For emphasis he inhaled my sent with more noise than a vampire could possibly need. I shut my eyes resignedly. I was doomed.
No Bella, NO!!! And his face, scared and angry, appeared in my brain and I knew with out a doubt that this was it.
Laurent's lips pressed onto my jugular, followed by his tongue; tasting, obviously, the blood pulsing just beneath it. It didn't help one bit that said blood had been steadily increasing its pace. I clenched my jaw with all my might as his teeth penetrated my skin, refusing to give him the pleasure of my pain. I barely choked down the scream building up in my throat as I felt my blood flowing into the mouth of this creature.
Charlie, Renee, Jacob, the images of them flashing in a pattern through my mind. Jacob-before he sheared off all of his hair-and his silly grin. Charlie, splayed lazily over the couch as he focused on a game. And Renee, her childish antics and knowing eyes. As I thought of them, I felt a silent tear slip between each of my tightly shut eyelids. I would never see them again.
I felt Laurent's maniacal chortle against my neck. He thought I was crying from the physical agony.
It had been less then two seconds and already I had lost so much blood that my head felt dizzy and I could feel my consiousness drifting away, hopefully to return in heaven and away from all of this misery. Maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to uncover the whereabouts of my other family.
Just as I was about to succumb to the blackness waiting to engulf me, a violent snarl ripped through the air behind me. It wasn't from a vampire I was familiar with, but I didn't pay it any mind. I was too far gone to care what was going on around me.
Then, suddenly, Laurent's teeth were ripped from my flesh and the scream I had been trying so desparately to hold in my throat slipped out as I fell to the ground; unbalanced now that the hands of the vampire that had been keeping me standing were no longer bracing my upper back and shoulder.
I was momentarily aware of a fight, made obvious by the snarls and grumbles and cries of anguish, before I began to feel warm again.
With the amount of blood he had consumed an icy chill had crept through my veins and limbs. So this growing warmth in my body, beginning at the neck no less, was a major shock. How was this even possible?! I was even warmer than I had been before he had arrived!
My short relief quickly spiraled downward as I realized that I was getting hot, and I so desperately wanted to remove my jacket. But I feared movement would only cause my body more heat, so I remained perfectly still.
Another moment and I was on fire. I wondered if the forest had gone up in flames and that's why Laurent had stopped feasting (internal shudder). Afterall, fire was the only known destroyer of vampires. I was farely certain, however, that they needed to be in pieces for that to work.
But even if that wasn't true and vampires could be destroyed by simply being lit on fire, that wouldn't explain the fight. It was possible I had imagined it. After all, the meadow was filled with silence now. Were they both dead? Or was it me? My mind was quickly distracted by the flames that had now reached my entire body. I was trapped.
For fear of bringing attention back to myself-how did I know that one of them was simply waiting for a sign of life from me to strike?-I locked my jaw and body into stillness. I would make no sound or movement until I died. I knew there was no living through two vampires warring over my blood plus a personal hell. It would be physically impossible. Even more so than being consumed by a vampire.
And, after what I was positive was an eternity of burning, I heard a whisper. I couldn't make out the voice or the words, only that they had been spoken. An earthquake began underneath me; just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.
And then I was flying. This must be it, I thought. I must be ascending into heaven. But something wasn't right. I was still on fire. No, now it was even hotter. Dying was not supposed to be like this. Could it be that I was going to hell?
I had never considered that an option. I always tried to be a good person. Sure, I wasn't a regular church goer, but I had a strong belief in God. I never talked back to either of my parents; I always did my chores and then some. I was a straight A student, never once turning an assignment in late. It was just these past few months that I had really started getting into trouble. But I was only risking my life. Could that be it? I knew killing oneself was a sin, but I never actually did. I just lived on the edge. Was that so bad? People did it all the time! Did they wind up in hell too?
I continued to ponder these questions my entire flight, wondering how far beneath the earth Satin's home was. Could it be at the earth's core, I wondered. And then I was set down. I wanted to open my eyes and look around, see what hell looked like. But I couldn't find my eyelids. I couldn't find anything. I heard more whispering but, same as before, I knew neither who spoke nor what they said. I wanted to feel around, learn my surroundings the Helen Keller way, but I couldn't locate my hands. The same problem came to my feet. So was this what hell was like? Literally burning for all eternity?
Well, this should be fun.
---
The voices were becoming clearer. I could make out the words, just not their creators.
"How long is this supposed to take?!" the voice sounded mad. Pissed even. Could that be Satin?
"I dunno son," another voice asked. At least I assumed it was another voice, considering it had said son after the first voice had spoken. Son? Where am I?!
"She's all over the news," a voice stated-possibly the first, almost as if a reminder to whoever else was around. I was officially lost.
I wanted to ask these voices some of my numerous questions, but I had yet to manage locating any part of my body. It was still just a giant flame.
No new changes came for a long time after.
And then, I could feel my toes, my fingers following quickly in suit.
I was eager to move them, but did not for fear of the flames returning. Maybe I was just growing accustomed to them.
"You know we're gonna have to destroy her once she wakes up," a voice, male I ascertained from the pitch and tone, announced. So I wasn't dead? Or were they talking about destroying whatever happened to be left of my soul? Neither choice sounded appetizing.
"No," a different voice argued. I was fairly sure it was the first voice I'd heard.
"We cannot allow it to continue existing. I heard that when they wake up is when they're most likely to strike," a new voice chimed in, a little more remorse in his tone than the other.
"No."
By now I could feel my arms and legs, as well as the majority of my head. I decided I was laying down, definitely on something soft. I could feel a pillow beneath my head. I could also feel my eyelids. But I refused to open them. I was still on fire, and I didn't want to watch that.
The voices, there were five discernable ones, all male, were still arguing; four against one. A new one stepped in, the second voice I'd heard since coming around.
"I think we should wait and see how she reacts to all of this." I could feel the silence in the air and, though I couldn't be positive, it felt as if all six pairs of male eyes were on me. I felt as if I should be blushing, but didn't think I could manage it.
"Bella?" the first voice asked, breaking the tension. I wanted so desperately to respond, but my chest and neck were still engulfed in painful flames. Though they had ceased burning the rest of my body, I was in no less pain than when they had started. It was as if they had all just moved, I was fairly certain they were heading for my throat. The fact that the pain was increasing upon one direct location almost broke through my resolve of making no sound. Almost.
"How long does this take?!" he asked, it didn't sound like anyone in particular, angrily. "Bella, can you hear me?" he repeated. It was a familiar voice. Yet different somehow. Only my collarbone, neck, and shoulders were left in this blazing pit of flames. It almost felt as if my upper back was rising from the soft bed. Perhaps it was.
"Is she ok?" one of the opponents of my survival asked, sounding more disturbed than concerned.
The flames were dancing around my neck, wrapping it in a necklace of scorching fire. My neck was most definitely hovering in the air, but that was the only part of me.
"Bella, open your eyes if you can hear me!"
'Why on earth would I want to do that?!', I wondered. The first voice sounded desperate now. I wanted to assure him that I could hear him, but the flames were miraculously gaining heat.
My heart, which I was suddenly aware was still beating, was out of control. I should have suffered a heart attack, of that I was certain. But my body must have been too preoccupied to really notice what my heart was doing. The pulse of my blood thudded wildly in my throat, the center of attention for my relentless flames. There was no longer a beating to my heart. Just one long, endless note of pulsing. My back was still suspended in an arch.
My jugular and my fire had declared war on each other. There was no other way to describe it. But it was a lose, lose situation. There was nothing left for my fire to burn except the pulse in my neck, and that caused my blood to pulse uncontrollably through my veins, to keep it from all burning up at once.
And then, as quickly as it had started, my heart slowed. I could hear each distinct pulse again, though it was still wild and unsteady. Thump. Thump. Thump.
It was all over. I could count six beating hearts beside me, but could not hear my own. I no longer felt blood pulsing through my veins. But most importantly, my fire was gone. And for a moment that was all I could focus on; release from my firey hell. I was fully resting on the cushions once more, this time aware of it. It was still warm, but that had to have been from the other bodies within the vacinity. Maybe more, if some of them hadn't spoken.
Once more my hand was engulfed in flames. I pulled it back with such speed I wondered if I had imagined it. But the heat left behind from this strange fire still lingered.
"Bella?" the voice of Jacob Black inquired once more. "Can you look at me?"
And, finally, I complied.
Ok, so please review and let me know what you think! I'm not sure how often I'll update, probably again tonight since I'm really inspired to write this one!
Luv Wendy! :)(:
