Title: A Little Too Late

Disclaimer: She stole my story…tears Revenge shall be mine Stephenie Meyers. Revenge shall be mine. In addition, I would like to thank my beta Zinthafan for helping me with my story.

Chapter One- Painful

Her head hurt, driving itself into a frenzy of pain just from confusion. Forest green eyes slowly opening, only to see an array of darkness. 'I can't see.' She panicked. 'I can't see.' Her thought whirled around her mind, too fast for her to focus on one of them as her breath quickened. Where was she? She wondered. Why couldn't she see anything? What was happening? Another bump made her head bounce then land hard against the surface of what ever she was laying on. Some trunk of a car, she realized. Opening her mouth, she struggled to form words, finding they were blocked. Frowning in confusion, she stuck her tongue out and met cloth.

She was gagged, she realized, starting to struggle.

She tried to move her arms around to her front, but soon found that she was bound too. What had happened? Trying to recall whatever had occurred, she thought back to whatever was happening. She could not remember, she panicked. Whatever was happening to her had infected her mind! She didn't know what to do, trying to piece out the answer to 1 + 1, finding it equaled 121- knowing it wasn't right…2 X 2 she tried again, knowing 4 would be wrong, and finally settling that 3/ 3 couldn't be -3, she gave up, trying to recall who she WAS at least, a girl- 'good,' she thought to herself. 'At least you're not a guy,' she whispered in her mind, knowing how horrendous they were, and then was not so sure herself. Green eyes, she knew, always wondering why she'd never had blue, the color of the sky, of freedom and then thought back to why she'd never had black…the color of eyes she'd always wanted- it would have represented the hidden secrets she wanted to hide. With black eyes, she could blind in the crowd, never noticed, never watched, but could easily see. She would see the hordes of giggling girls, whispering comments about the male population, but they would never see her disgust or despise. Her eyes were too dark to read, too mysterious to figure out. Perhaps, she pondered, it would have been easier for her to mess with her brother if her eyes were darker and not easily read.

Her thoughts, being interrupted by another bump, flew from her mind as she closed her eyes and tried to calm down.

"I….know…Ismene…woman…as…hostage." Her eyes snapped open as she realized she had been kidnapped. She remembered now, the two men, the gag, the rope, the bag, her mother, father and brother's frightened faces. She had been taken hostage. Rolling over, she scooted until she pressed her ear against the only fluffy material in this bumpy thing. "Ismene….hostage…girl…money or dies." Her body went ridged. They were going to KILL her. Her mind went into overdrive and she began to struggle, tugging against the tight bonds, screaming into the cloth and squirming in the tiny space. As her breath came in faster gasps of air, she closed her eyes tight, holding back tears of frustration and fear. She was dreaming…yeah. She was just dreaming. This was all a very vivid dream with voices and a bumpy ride. This had to be dreaming…she could not die yet. She had so much to live for! The car stopped suddenly, slamming her into the back of the trunk yet again.

The trunk opened suddenly and trees greeted her eyes. 'I can see. Thank you God!' She thought, one of her problems solved. Two men, dressed completely in black, hoisted her out of the trunk and, non-too-gently- tossed her on the ground. "Listen up girl," one began "If your mother doesn't pay us—" He gestured between the two of them. "You will pay the price." She shivered in unnatural amounts of fear and cried out in shock as one man hoisted her up and placed her on his shoulders, face first, as if she was a mere feather. "Come along nicely and maybe we won't hurt you." She did not trust that statement at all, but while most of her was freaking out, a small part of her imprinted their voices into her mind, just in case she lived to get them arrested. 'Hurry up Mom!' Ismene thought, frantically, glancing at both brawny and evil looking men. Something about their eyes, the way they gleamed darkly, showing deadly mysteries too fast for you to catch one of them, their smirks, firmly imprinted on their faces, holding fatal secrets, torturous scandals, their voices dark, deep and scary. Everything that came out of their mouths, ended in fearful hints, and the fact they wanted to kill her made her shudder in dread, fear and think they were up to no good. 'Duh Ismene! Great way to state the obvious.' She shook her head free of those thoughts, and watched markings go by. Maybe she could escape and make it to the police. 'False hope.' Her conscience whispered to her. 'Hurry.'

Bone-breaking coughs rang through the small warehouse, as she felt her throat dry up, going sore. Glancing at the two men with blurred vision, she closed her eyes. She seriously needed some water, but those men… they were so terrifying. 'Ok Ismene. You have done this before. You have faced your angry father before; compared to that, this will be a piece of cake.'

"Excuse me?" Her raspy voice made her blink in surprise. It was so different from her normal voice; it made her think someone else had spoken. "Can I have some water?" She flinched as their glare burned a hole in her body. One man stood up, grabbed a bucket of water and to her surprise, dumped its contents upon her body. Quickly getting over the shock of it all, she opened her mouth and sighed. It tasted weird and slightly old, but it was still refreshing to her sore throat. Leaning against the wall behind her, she shook extra water droplets from her eyes and studied the two men. They did not seem to be a threat, well considering the circumstances. Squirming until she fell over, she felt her eyelids droop. She would only take a few winks of sleep, just to build her immune system and regain her strength. If those men pulled some funny business, still considering the circumstances, she would have to be ready. As her lashes began to rest upon her cheeks, she focused upon the image of her family, it soothing her to a form of peaceful sleep.

More coughs, an even sorer throat, she found she could barely make out the figures of her captors. A few days had passed, but to her, it easily felt like years. Her body was weak, her mind foggy and her sense gone. She wanted-no needed her mother's help. She needed her mother's "cure for everything" soup. 'Hmmm, soup with chunks of chicken in it and a small dash of pepper.' Her stomach growled in reprimand for such thinking. Sighing, she forgot about the soup and tried to focus on something other than her body. However, it was just too hard. Every time she breathed, it had to be with her mouth and then it felt like the air was filled with bacteria waiting to kill her. Every time she coughed, it felt like her bones were going to pop out of her. Moreover, every time she drank water, it felt and tasted excessively dirty and scratchy against her throat. 'The men keep glancing over here,' she thought, smiling a weak smile. 'They're worried their source of income would die. At least they won't get the money.' Coughing, she fell over again and did not even try to move. She needed just a few more winks of sleep. She knew she would wake up and be fine. 'At least now,' she thought, smiling once more. 'I can dream of some other life, maybe one with my brother playing with me, or me teasing my father about his baldness or even me sneaking tastes of my mother's cooking when she isn't looking.' Her eyelids started to close. Everything would be all right, she hoped. For she knew, she would either be in her family's warm embrace or the Lord's welcoming hands.

"Ismene Diana Masen, step forward." A voice boomed in front of her. Her eyes opened and saw a rather large man standing about a foot away from her, holding a book for her to place her hand on. She took a small and nervous step forward and stared at the book as if it were a venomous snake waiting to sink its fangs into her hand. "Hurry up!" Someone called from behind her. She turned slightly and tensed a bit. 'Such a long line.' She thought, wistfully, wondering what they wanted and just why was she here. She glanced around and began to shiver in fear. There was nothing but darkness. Only four very small slivers of light made its way to her eyes. The very long staircase behind her and three paths. They were a strange misty gray, each leading onto different places. She guessed one was for heaven, the other hell, but what was the third one? She turned back to the man and gasped as she saw his lifeless black eyes. "Please place your hand upon the book." He mindlessly asked, offering her the book once more. She finally did what was asked of her and felt a jolt of lightning course through her body. "You have been chosen to enter the Gates of…" He took a deep breath, his eyes moving back and forth as if searching for something. Ismene glanced at the paths in front of her and noticed the two gates were opening at the same time.

"It seems you are not good enough for Heaven." He whispered. The Gates for Heaven closed with a resounding bang before disappearing into the darkness again. She gasped. She had always been the good one in the family. Okay sure, she had broken her brother's favorite toy car collection on purpose, and yes, she had poured vinegar in her father's shampoo bottle and a few other grievances, but she was not bad enough for Hell. 'But then again. I think I read somewhere, that 99 out of hundred women are cursed to Hell. Was it that weird religion that girl used to go to? What was her name?' She was broken out of her thoughts as the Gates of Hell closed and returned to the darkness as well. "You are also not bad enough for Hell." She smiled a bright smile, ready to do the victory dance. 'I am the one woman who isn't cursed to Hell.' She let out a big breath of relief, a cloud of happiness surrounding her mind, but then gave away to a cloud of confusion. "So for your afterlife, you will be sent back to Earth to live and the next time you die, you will be tested again." He closed the book, muttered a few words and then stepped aside. She glanced at the green and blue gates, before making her way to them. The gates creaked open and she stepped forward, right into a dark abyss that seemed to consume her body.

She continued to fall. 'It's exhilarating, feeling the air rush around me, but come on. It loses its taste after a while.' Her conscience whispered in her mind. She nodded to agree. She had stopped screaming. Was she meant to float here for all eternity? If so, then why scream herself hoarse without any water in sight? Shaking her head, she felt the air gradually slow down. Turning, she saw the ground coming up to meet her. She twisted her body so she would land on her feet. Landing, she noted the soft clicking noise her heels made under her, giggling slightly at the sound. Looking around, she walked a few steps forward before hearing glass breaking.

Glancing at the bottom of her feet, she gasped as the surface she was standing on started to break. Running forward, panicking, and screaming as it broke from under her, the scenery changed, turning easily from black, into a flurry of blue and white. Glancing below her, she smiled as she was finally on Earth. Bad thing was that she was falling from the sky. How was she going to survive the fall? 'Stupid death' she thought, closing her eyes. Feeling the air stop once again, she cracked an eye open and took notice of the blue and white. Glancing below her, she noticed the tiny buildings and people bustling about. What was she doing in the air? Taking a hesitant step, she cried out as her foot met nothing that could be considered a surface. Waving her arms, she coughed as some invisible string wrapped itself tighter around her throat. Lowering her arms, she felt it loosen. Unclenching her hand, she gave a short cry as she began to fall again. What was happening?

Tightening her fist once more, she gasped in amazement as she had stopped falling. Throwing her wrist, she flew upwards. "˜Interesting", she laughed, smiling, as she thrust her fist forward and began to look for a place to settle. Seeing an empty alley, she unclenched her hand all the way and fell too fast for anyone to notice her. Compressing her hands this time, she lowered herself gently as the buildings covered her body.

She smiled and moved out of the alley.

"A new beginning." She whispered, taking in a deep breath. This time, she was going to do this right, knowing that this time- she would not let anyone stand in her way.