Hello everyone, Elise here and I want all of ya'll to know how happy I am to FINALLY get this story out. I've always had it on my mind, finally written it down and edited it myself, had someone else edit it and let my sister edit it(because she thinks it's her job, not really) so it can be perfect for you guys. My other story, Searing Assumption WILL be getting updated this weekend so I hope you enjoy this and review so I can post the already done pages. It all depends on you guys and my inbox!
Thanks a Whole Bunches,
Elise H. M a.k.a
-RiceBunny
oOo
Darkness overtook her vision. An ending of a snarl evaded her sense of hearing. Bella commanded to open her eyes but her sight swallowed the darkness once more. She grunted in frustration, trying to shake the dusk that nipped at the edge of her heels, only to fall short on the hurdle of consciousness.
Growls erupted around her; one sounded purely female. Bella's breath hitched in her throat. Victoria. Bella's heart was hammering in her chest with recognition of the danger she was about to face.
Her vision condensed to a vague, hushed scene that played before her. A bleak shadow of a crouched male beast left her behind in limpid disarray. Seth?….Jake? Suddenly a fierce whip of deadly cold snipped at her cheeks.
She opened her eyes to a war between lions, a battle for dominance, for possession. A sandy furred werewolf prowled toward Victoria, barring his teeth and clawing the space between them. Oh gosh, Seth. Bella started to move towards him, only to suddenly be held back by a force stronger than gravity.
A sharp, intense cold tightened in her cheeks. Bella's eyes darted around to land on a set of scorching red eyes. Brown met crimson.
"Ril-?"
"Shut up!" He tightened his grip on her cheekbones, and Bella cringed at the pressure. The familiar man's arm wrapped tightly around her frame, pinning her to his rock hard form. Bella struggled under his grasp, whining and twisting away from his icy touch.
"Ow." She looked up into his eyes, begging to let up a little.
His tremulous scarlet glare softened as he let out an exasperated sigh. He unclenched his hold lightly, relieving the misery from her fragile cheekbones. Bella flexed her jaw slightly and looked up at her capturer.
Riley Biers.
The boy that had been missing for over two months back in Portland. His pallid glow invaded her steady gaze. Riley was…beautiful. His strong features and dark, almost black hair made him handsome and dangerous looking, intimidating even. His eyes were squinting, intently watching the battle before him. His lips moved slightly as if chanting something quietly, something she could barely hear.
"Come on Vic. Come on baby, end him. Come on." He repeated this over and over again. Bella hesitantly looked away from him to what he was watching. Victoria swiped at Seth with a menacing growl, throwing him against a tree. She stalked toward his vulnerable form.
Bella's heart raced for Seth, her mind jumping to different outcomes of what would happen if she got her arms around him. Without thinking rationally, Bella screamed at the top of her lungs through the little mouth movement that she had.
"SETH, GET UP! Please get up, Seth!" Victoria stopped mid-saunter and turned to look at Bella with a lethal grimace. Bella stared back at her with pleading doe eyes. Her lungs were aching from the cry she had forced out on impulse. Seth grunted from his place.
Victoria locked her gaze with Bella's, demeaning her very existence.
Suddenly, as fast as light traveled through space, Seth tackled Victoria beneath his massive body. His teeth snapped viciously at Victoria's throat as he planted himself, towering over her.
Victoria struggled, clawing his face with her dagger-like nails, pushing his teeth away from her. Snarls ripped through her chest as she attempted to heave the gigantic lump of muscle from her frame.
Seth only pounced harder, enjoying her while she squirmed. Riley barred his teeth, growing more concerned and savage with each centimeter Seth's jaw came closer to Victoria's pale neck.
Suddenly, the maddening savage within Riley overpowered all civil maturity as he gnarled in agony. Bella shook violently at the sound so close behind her. His grip tightened dramatically, squeezing her ribcage to point where Bella could barely breathe. Her jaw was going to shatter if he pushed anymore pressure to it. A deluge of hot tears spilled down her cheeks, watering down his slender fingers to run down the arm of his leather jacket.
With an abrupt, swift motion Riley thrusted Bella out of his lethal hold and charged towards his love. He hurdled his body on Seth's massive back and held his arms around him, squeezing the air from his lungs. Seth howled in pain, trying desperately to defend himself.
Bella's arms flailed in the air as she was propelled away. The sight of a prominent earth stone welcomed her with sharp jags.
Bella squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the intense, oncoming pain. She met the sturdy rock with a thud and opened her eyes to a pair of combat boots brushing against her nose. Bella breathed in quick rasps of oxygen.
"Oh, sweetie, are you hurt?" The plastic voice asked in a sickly sweet tone. Sarcasm dripped from her mouth on Bella's cheek, burning through the layers of skin. Bella was done for; no one could save her now.
Her head spun as dainty black and white strips of film played before her eyes. Ushering her through her memories of her faraway past. Edward. Her Edward. Beautiful dandelions, tulips, violets and poppies surrounding their bodies, their love, their halos.
Alice. Sweet Alice. Prancing in and out of rooms, dancing and arranging.
Suddenly a serene vision clouded Bella's mind - a graceful swan dipping into a tranquil pond. The film paused on this particular scene, zooming in. Bella's peaceful memories ravished her mind. The swan was her, and the pond - her life. All of it flowed in perfect harmony. That was what her life had been - harmonious, a balance.
Everything was perfect - the way it was supposed to be... well, at least in her mind.
On the outer edge of the pond, the silver waters suddenly rimmed with a filmy rose pink which soon melted into a charred rose. The beautiful swan cocked its head to the side in confusion and curiosity.
The hue of the water began to change. The charred velvet waters rippled slowly toward the swan, enveloping her, inviting her into death. The once whimsical scene succumbed to the dark tresses of misery and grief.
Bella couldn't even imagine something happening to her and not seeing Alice... Edward...The Cullen's...Charlie… The Pack… Renee and Phil …and Angela...Her friends….
The crimson and scarlet mixture flooded the swans virgin feathers, soaking it to oblivion.
The stained red angel spread its wings to fly up to its haven where safety awaited, only to be tarred back down to the deathly red pond.
The swan yelped and flapped in rebellion.
The thick, coarse, crimson liquid matted down her wings. She was stuck. Frantically flapping and shrieking only made her sink further into the depths of death's palm. Like quicksand, it devoured her.
Her helpless squeals and pleas were inaudible to everyone but her. The film scratched with black splotches rimmed in red, purple and yellow. The moving blemishes marked the screen as the charcoal memories dimmed her mind.
Bella felt a breath of bitter sweetness on her ear.
"Ready to have fun?"
Bella's eye scanned her surroundings to see where the danger was and as her eyes fell on it, it smiled humbly. She was serious…and lethal. Victoria's smile abruptly turned into a sour sneer.
A stone-hard hand gripped her arm, and suddenly a wave of searing, burning pain conquered her being. Bella yelped with tears stinging in her eyes.
"Shut up, you little baby." Victoria threw Bella over her shoulder and started toward the pitch black forest.
"Riley, darling, let's go!" she called over her shoulder. Bella began bobbing limply up and down, and knew Victoria had started walking again.
"What about the-" Riley started referring to the wolf, but Bella kept her mouth shut. The pain she was in was enough.
"Bring the mutt," Victoria scoffed. Bella heard a grunt and footsteps. The bobbing began even more, but this time the wind hit Bella like strike from a match, burning her open wound and on her hair-line and her neck. Her arm razed over in pain. Bella kept it in and accepted it.
She wasn't God, she didn't have wings or a nocturnal glow.
No point in fighting with The Reaper.
oOo
Alright, I really hope you enjoyed this and will have enough hope for this as I do and review! Thank you!
