A Different Choice

Chapter 1

Edward stood, motionless as a statue, just a few feet from the mouth of the alley. His eyes were closed, the rings underneath them a deep purple, his arms relaxed at his sides, his palms turned forward. His expression was very peaceful, like he was dreaming pleasant things. The marble skin of his chest was bare - there was a small pile of white fabric at his feet. The light reflecting from the pavement of the square gleamed dimly from his skin.

I sprinted towards Edward, gasping for breath and praying I didn't fall before I got to him. The clock tolled and he took a large stride toward the light.

I kept running, I didn't waist my breath with words, Edward raised his foot to take the step that would put him directly in the path of the sun.

I slammed into him so hard that the force would have hurled me to the ground if his arms hadn't caught me and held me up. It knocked my breath out of me and snapped my head back.

His dark eyes opened, "Amazing," He said amused, "Carlisle was right."

I caught my breath as his hand came up to stroke my cheek, "Edward," I said lowly, "Edward you need to move away from the light." But he wasn't listening to me, I rolled my eyes, typical.

"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing, they're very good." He mused to himself.

I huffed, "Edward you didn't feel anything because You. Are. Not. Dead. You're not dead, I'm not dead, Nobody's dead. But if you don't move, now, we both will be."

I looked over his shoulder to see two cloaked people coming out of the shadows behind him. Edward really needed to hurry up before we were both killed.

Edward stiffened as my words finally made their way through his thick skull. He spun me away from the edge of the shadows effortlessly, pushing me hard up against a wall and then turning so his back was to me, his arms spread wide in front of me, caging me in behind him.

I peeked under his arms to see the two cloaked figures had moved closer.

"Greetings, gentlemen," Edward's voice was strained, "I don't think I'll be requiring your services today. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would send my thanks to your masters."

"Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue?" A smooth voice whispered menacingly.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." Edward's voice was harder now, if still strained, "I know your instructions, Felix. I haven't broken any rules."

"Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun, " The other cloaked figure said in a soothing tone, "Let us seek better cover."

"I'll be right behind you," Edward said dryly. "Bella, why don't you go back to the square and enjoy the festival?"

I ground my teeth in silent frustration.

"No, bring the girl," the first shadow said.

"I don't think so," Any pretense of civility disappeared with those words.

I tried to duck under Edward's arms but he kept me pinned against his back, I sighed, this was not going to end well.

"Felix," The second, taller shadowed one cautioned, "Not here." He turned to Edward. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all."

"Certainly," Edward agreed, I tensed wary, there's no way he would give in so easily, "But the girl goes free." And there it was.

"I'm afraid that's not possible," the taller shadow stated regretfully, "We do have rules to obey."

"Then I'm afraid that I'll be unable to accept Aro's invitation, Demetri."

I cleared my throat, two pairs of red eyes turned to look at me, "I'm okay with meeting Ar-"

"Bella!" Edward interrupted, "Stop this."

I glared at the back of Edwards head before looking back at the two cloaked strangers.

They both looked at me before they looked back at Edward and his stance in front of me. "Let the lady go Edward," Felix and Demetri stole closer toward the mouth of the alley, spreading out slightly so they could come at Edward from two sides.

Edward didn't move an inch. Abruptly, his head whipped around, toward the darkness of the winding alley, and Demetri and Felix did the same, responding to some sound or movement too subtle for my senses.

"Let's behave ourselves, shall we?"

Alice skipped lightly to Edwards side, I looked at her desperately, trying to show her how uncomfortable I was with Edward being near me once more. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in how much he had me pressed up against the wall. She nodded in understanding, shifting to stand closer to me before saying, "We are not alone," She nodded towards the family watching us from the square.

Demetri shook his head, "Please, Edward, let's be reasonable," He said.

"Let's," Edward agreed. "And we'll leave quietly now, with no one the wiser."

Demetri sighed in frustration, "At least let us discuss this more privately."

Edwards teeth came together audibly. "No."

Felix smile.

"Enough." A high reedy voice spoke from further within the alley.

Demetri and Felix relaxed their tensed stances as the newcomer strode closer to our group, stepping back from their offensive stances.

Edward dropped his arms in defeat and stepped away from me slightly, letting me breathe a little easier.

"Jane." Edward acknowledged in resignation.

I stepped around Edward and towards Alice, something that did not go unnoticed by the tiny vampire in front of us.

"Follow me," Jane spoke again, her childish voice monotone. She turned her back on us and drifted silently into the dark.

I walked forward, ducking under Edward's outstretched arm, and caught up so I was walking slightly behind Jane. She turned her head slightly to look back at me, her gaze flicking back to Edward where he stood looking after me in shock. I nodded my head at her, I didn't want to be anywhere near Edward.

She looked at me pensively, her gaze flicking to Felix and Demetri, coming back to rest on me. They both nodded, Demetri came to stand behind me while Felix went to stand behind Edward.

I heard Edward snarling behind me but I ignored him, "Thank you." I whispered to Jane. She nodded again before continuing forward.

We came up to a dead end, Jane's arm shot out and stopped me from going forward, she looked at Demetri who immediately walked up and wrapped his arms around my waist, ignoring Edward's echoing snarls of rage, and pulled me close to his chest.

I looked up at him, shivering slightly at his cold hands, "W-wha-"

He tightened his grip, "Hang on," was all the vampire said, "We're going down," and suddenly suddenly we were free falling, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on for dear life.

It was a short trip, I gasped as we hit the bottom with a jarring thump. Demetri moved us away from where we had landed, reaching up with one hand and gently detaching my arms from their death grip around his neck. He steadied me as I stumbled a bit, I looked up at him, "Thanks." Was all I said, he nodded shortly before turning back to Jane who was walking towards us.

She walked past us, stopping to grab my hand as she walked by, leading me through the dark space, the path beneath our feet slanting downwards, taking us deeper into the ground. As we kept walking, light started to bleed through the never ending darkness. Black turned to dark grey as we kept going to the end of the tunnel, reaching an iron grate with a door that Jane pushed open.

It slammed shut behind us as the last of our little party came through. On the other side of the long room was a low heavy wooden door. It was very thick as Jane pushed this one open as well, leading me into a brightly lit, unremarkable hallway.


A lot of this was taken directly from the book, I'll branch out more once I get into it more.