After the Sun Goes Down
Chapter 1
The End
"Edward, it hurts, why won't it stop?" I cried. Where was I?
Dry sobs filtered through to my eardrums. "It will Bella. Please. Please, just stay here. With me."
Through the dark haze in my mind, I managed to be confused. "What are you talking about Edward? I would never leave you. Never in a million years. You are my life, my world. My -- OW……oh help me Edward please….." The pain seemed to be coming from somewhere below my chest, but I couldn't quite place it.
"Bella….can you hear me? Don't close your eyes Bella, stay here, STAY," Why was his voice so pained? He shouldn't be like this, he should be happy, what was happening?
"Edward…..EDWARD!"
"Yes, Bella I'm here. Please, Bella, Please don't go," he spoke in a voice saturated with anger, angst, and most of all complete and utter helplessness.
"Edward, I don't understand. Where am I? What is going ON!?" I was getting frustrated, though it was hard to concentrate with the pain flooding through my abdomen, piercing my thoughts every time I breathed.
"You….you were in an accident, Bella. I couldn't….I can't……" then from somewhere farther away, "Oh God! Oh, God please help me!"
Alice's voice startled me, "Edward, you must compose yourself. There is nothing you can do. Be with her now. You may not have any other chance….." she broke off in sadness. Why was Alice sad too?
A theory popped into my head. Perhaps it was just my subconscious trying to comfort me instead of telling me what was inevitably going to happen in the next few moments, but I couldn't deny the suspicion. I tried to whisper, not knowing who else was around, "Did…did you change me, Edward?"
"Oh, Bella. Oh, Bella, no. I wouldn't. I'm sorry that you must be thinking this now, not now. You were, you are …." - a strange gasp of pain- "…..pinned against a building. The car is the only thing keeping you-"
"Alive." I was startled by my coherence. What he was telling me most certainly would have knocked the ability of speech right out of me. But for some reason I quickly made the decision to accept that this would be the last time I would see him. The last time……
"BELLA!" His anger awoke me from me thoughts and without thinking I pulled him to me and kissed him with the last ounce of passion inside of me, most definitely breaking the previous boundaries that were surely useless at this impossible occurrence. For me to leave him, how unthinkable.
After I fell away, out of pure loss of strength, he held my face in his hands. "Bella…..Bella, I Love you. I love you with every ounce of my existence and if this is the end, then,…..then I hope to see you soon" If he still had tear ducts, his shirt would be soaked. His sobbing was sending me into a weak frenzy.
"No, Edward, please…..I have to know that you will be here. You are my life, and you will continue for me until……until……" At this time, the last moment I would ever have, I couldn't bear to waste it thinking of how I would be without him for the rest of eternity. " I love you Edward. I will always love you." With that, my eyes fell closed and he kissed them with an intensity that burned me.
"I love you and I will see you again." Before I could object, ease swept over me and his presence escaped my grasp as I was released from the hold of existence.
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And then it happened. The love of my life, gone. I knew. Because for once, her face did not glow with the soft rouge of her warm presence. Her heart had stopped. The soft, yet sometimes erratic, pulsing of blood through her veins had ceased. Her life was over. My life was over. The thoughts racing through my mind at that exact moment were so painful, so agonizing, that my mind wanted to burst into flames.