I felt it again.
The burning sensation, only this time it was outside of my body too. My limbs started to quiver, there was fire on them, I could feel it. The sting of the flames penetrating through my skin.
Inside my chest I felt the flames engulf my ribs and lungs. I couldn't breathe, the more I breathed the more I felt the fire.
But I found my lungs and found the strength to scream. What would screaming do, now that I was in hell? Without my beloved.
I forgot about the physical pain, and started to feel a hole burn through my chest. There was a loud tearing sound, as if my heart was as thin as paper and was being torn in two. Hell it was.
My eyes flashed open, the blue light! It was back! The fire outside me stopped, and best of all, I heard him.
His voice was echoing my name through the light. It was the sweetest thing I had ever heard. The closer it got, the more anxious and scared he sounded. He had nothing to be scared about though. The light started fading…what was happening? Was I going too slow? Oh how I wanted to run to him. But the light was fading! 'Dear God, Please let me come Home!' I pleaded in my mind, over and over again. But darkness was coming in .
"Bella?!" He yelled out as clear as day, and the light faded even more. I tried to move faster, and felt a deep breath of oxygen fill my lungs.
"She's awake." An unfamiliar voice whispered, it almost sounded gruff, but it still had the same authority that the angels had.
A cold, stone figure curled around my cheek. It was him! There was only a hint of light in my view, I saw him, he was leaning over me. His face gripped either side of my head.
"Can you hear me?" He asked desperately. That's when I saw another figure behind him, and at once I recognized the silhouette of the feathery wings.
"NO! RUN! EDWARD RUN!" I shrieked as I bolted upright. The quick movement brought me back to reality. The fire inside me was still there, as it always had been. But so was the surrounding. I was back in the woods, where the 3 angels had come out of no where. This other angel though, still remained a shadow.
His iron grip was on my shoulders suddenly, pulling me back down on the ground. His face was right at my ear.
"I know!" He whispered roughly. "Keep your calm Bella!" He looked into my eyes, and meant what he said, he was almost frantic for me to compose myself. I knew that by my heavy panting from the burning, and wide eyed expression, I looked fanatical. But still, my beloved Edward stroked my face tenderly, and my heart was beating as well as ever.
The angel that took a few steps back, came back down and crouched over me.
She was…a girl. And she was different from the other angels too. Her hair was white, and she wore it done long and smooth. Her skin was as pale as Edwards, and yet it had a hint of blue to it. Her eyes were still the same jade green as the other angel's eyes were. But her build, wasn't as muscular.. she wore a sleeveless pale blue slip, that aligned with her body perfectly. It was almost like Rosalie's, but not as flaunted. She had a soft, round face that looked down at me.
"Are you still burning?" She asked me, it was the unfamiliar voice that I heard earlier. Edward shifted behind me, so that he was holding my torso up in his strong arms. He lay my head onto his shoulder, so I could almost lie down on top of him.
The fire consumed me again. "Yes!" I gasped as I twitched in pain, his arms tightened around me. "You're almost done…" he breathed, the scent of his breath calmed me. I closed my eyes. But the fire suddenly died. I opened them again and looked to see Edward staring back at me.
"Bella?" he asked, a hint of confusion.
"It's gone." I whispered. His eyes widened in fear a little, and he looked up at the angel.
"Rajani…what happened?" He whispered, anxiety clearly in his heart, but he masked it well. He looked back down at me. Did I mess something up?
Rajani, the blue angel, crouched down next to me. It was almost a childish pose, and the grace at which she moved reminded me of Alice. She looked at me carefully, and after a minute she spoke.
"What is your name?" I would've laughed and scoffed at her, but I was starting to panic. Something went wrong, it was obvious from the fear in Edward's eyes.
"Uh-Bella." I answered, looking up at Edward, confused. "What's going on?" I demanded switching glances from Rajani to Edward. "Who are you?" I asked Rajani. Her eyes darkened, and she looked down on the ground.
"I used to be an angel. A messenger of God." She shook her head. And looked back up at me. "That's not the point though. I suppose that you're going to want to know what's going on."
I nodded my head eagerly and Edward supported me so that I was sitting up by myself. His right arm held my waist close to his as his lips softly touched my hair, he trembled a little, and I looked up at him. I could still see some anxiety in him, but the fear was more prominent. I heard him whisper something, and it almost sounded like "I'm sorry." I was about to say ask him what he said, but Rajani started on queue.
She took a deep breath, and shifted her pose so that both of her legs where on top of each other, but bent to her right side. "Well-" she started, and folded her hands across her lap. "-to begin with. This wasn't even supposed to happen." She looked from me to Edward, contemplating how to explain. "You two. Bella, you were supposed to die in that crash. Do you remember?"
"Of course." I said, slightly stunned that I was supposed to die, but Edward was the only one there to save me.
"No, no. It's not like it's a bad thing. Death happens to everyone." Trying to comfort me, she patted my hand, it had a warm glow around it. It even stung a little. I flinched slightly. "That's part of it too. Those angels were sent here to kill you. You aren't supposed to be…." She paused and looked at me painfully.
"A vampire." I answered. "But now that I am...what?"
I looked up at Edward, it was only then I noticed that he was staring at me the whole time.
"Bella…" Edward started. There was a mixture of uncertainty and sorrow in his eyes. "You're not a vampire." He finished. I froze, and instantly the sorrow in Edward's eyes deepened.
"For some reason…probably because of the 'divine exposure', or maybe because of the force of the blow. What ever happened, it stopped the transformation."
"The blow?" I questioned.
They explained to me what happened while I thought I was dead…it actually made sense.
"Edw-!" Bella started to scream, but suddenly, Rajani clobbered into the angel that was breaking Bella. Even though it effectively stopped Bella from being killed, the overwhelming force of the blow, flew her into the air. If Bella would've been the one hit, let's just say that she would be a flap-jack.
Bella flew into the air, so high. She reached up above the trees, twirling back down to earth. But a tree branch got in her way, and caught her before she made it back down to earth, it knocked the wind out of her.
By this time, the angel that was unsheathing his sword for Edward's defeat, was trying in vain to catch Rajani. But Rajani calmed the three angels, as the biggest one held Edward in the vice of his arms. Edward couldn't fight back at all, the power of angels was infinitesimally greater than even a vampire's.
"Ardin! Loosen your grip! You'll kill the boy!" Rajani hissed at the angel holding Edward back.
"They are supposed to be killed." The one that had Bella, Malic, hissed back with more venom.
"Maybe you should go check your orders again. The Holy One has changed their course." With that, all the angels loosend completely, and Edward was free. He ran over to Rajani's side and gave each of the other angels, Malic, Ardin, and Japhim all nodded in unison. Since they Rajani was no longer at their status, they avoided her. They all flew back up to the heavens, up in the sky, they as appeared as no more than stars.
After explaining to Edward what she was, and that she was on 'their good side'. They set in search for Bella. But heard her screaming up in a tree top for Edward. She wasn't conscious, so they brought her back to the ground and Edward revived her.
"Like I said before….you haven't changed though…"
I was confused. They were saying I hadn't changed, but I felt like a completely different being. I could still feel my heart beating though. And I wasn't icy cold either…no blood lust…yet.
No. No. No. It couldn't be true. I shook my head.
"Bella, your heart is still beating." Rajani shook her head to. "You're still mort-" She stopped midsentence and her eyes locked with mine. It look like something just clicked in her mind, that by just looking into my puipils, she finally got it.
After a minute of freaky gawking, she finally jumped up and laughed. Edward looked from me to her.
"What!? What is it?" He demanded, anxious and yet, still remaining his calm, velvet voice.
"I have some very good news for you Bella." Rajani laughed.
