Author's Note: hope you guys are liking this story so far, please review if you read it, even if you don't like it I want to hear it because it will inspire me to write what you like to read. Thanks to all of those who have been reviewing! Also, sorry that I don't update very quickly each time, I'm still a fairly new writer. So here's the next chapter anyway, enjoy!

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The Afterlight

Chapter 4

My eyes were too heavy to open when I woke. I was lying on something soft, something warm and cushion-like. It was a small bed of some sorts; a hospital bed? There was silence except for the dripping of something nearby. I wondered distractedly where I was for a moment longer until the dripping next to me became too unbearable. I wanted to determine the cause of the irritating noise.

I opened my eyes. I instantly saw the needle sticking in my arm, the medical tape holding it in place. I whimpered at the thought and let my eyes follow the tube to the IV drip above me. There was a pole next to the bed I was laying on, attached to the top of it was a clear bag with some sort of liquid inside it. Hanging next to it, a bag with a red fluid inside it; blood.

I was pulled into the hours before I was brought here, remembering it in flashes; the sunset, the darkness, the attack, the werewolves, Edward saving me, his house, and then Victoria. Was I still alive?

I tried to move, to take the needle out of my arm. I whimpered louder as I realized that I was strapped down, unable to even sit up. I looked around me, the only light was a bright lamp next to me, shining down over the bed. The rest of the room was covered in darkness. I cried out to the empty room around me, "Edward!" I knew better than to call for him, I knew he had no idea where I was; even I had no idea where I was.

A sudden fear crept over me. Where was Victoria and the rest of the vampires she was with? More importantly, where was Alice?

My question was instantly answered as I heard screams of pain from the next room; Alice. It was faint, the walls were thick but I could hear through the darkness that Alice was in agony. "Stop..." I heard her cry,

It was such a terrifying scream, she sounded so hopeless and lost, I wanted to help her but I couldn't move, all I could do was listen as her screams slowly faded.

Just then light came out from in front of me. A door had opened in the room showing me where I was, a warehouse of some kind. A light was switched on. Two vampires entered the room, blood on their hands, on their mouths, dripping from the corners and down their faces; their eyes beaming red. It was the twins from earlier. Behind them Victoria came and she caught my gaze with her own eyes forcefully.

"Hello Bella", she said, "I'm glad your awake, there is something we'd like to ask you", she finished. "I'm not telling you anything!", I shouted without thinking.

"That's hardly a way to repay us for saving your life, Bella, and barely at that", she went on. "What are you talking about," I shot back. She just glared at me, her eyes narrowing in on me. I looked down at myself, seeing now that I had bandages around my legs where the werewolves had bitten me. I had changed outfits as well, my clothing was not bloodstained from the attack, it was clean and dry, it wasn't mine.

I looked up at her in surprise. "Don't worry, your still human", she spoke again. I couldn't comprehend whether I was relieved or not. I had to stay on top of things. "What do you need to know?" I spoke clearly and with a certain stern tone that nearly matched hers.

"It's about Alice", she said, "Does she have a power?" I wasn't sure if I should answer her. This was Victoria, the wife of the vampire that had tried to kill me and had sworn to avenge his death, the one who took me away from Edward, the one who had hurt Alice.

"Why?", I answered. "So she does have one then.", Victoria said, "I can detect fear in your voice. What is it?"

"Why should I tell you", I said abruptly. I felt like a small child saying it. She was at my side in the next moment, leaning down over the bed to softly whisper into my ear. "Because we will kill her if you don't"

She was back again at the foot of my bed, a vampire on either side of her. I felt so vulnerable. At that very moment the door opened once again revealing a number of figures in the door way, one of them smaller than the rest. "Alice!", I gasped and she was dragged into the room. As she came into the light I could see her leg falling limp behind her, it was crooked and bleeding badly. I hadn't known that vampires could bleed but I knew that it only meant one thing, that she was losing strength with every drop of blood lost. Blood was a vampires only source of energy.

"Alice, oh my god...", I said abruptly when I noticed the blood. "Don't tell them anything, Bella. They'll just use me. They'll kill me anyway. Bella don't-" She was cut off when one of the vampires holding her back kicked her in the side. Alice choked on her own air as she collided with the hard floor.

I tried again to move but failed miserably and I stopped swiftly, for without warning two vampires were on either side of me, they were female and devastatingly beautiful, though nothing near as breathtaking as Rosalie. One of them took out the needle effortlessly. Together, they quickly untapped me and before I could even attempt an escape I was thrown harshly into a metal chair in the middle of the room and handcuffed to the back of it. I nearly got the wind knocked out of me from the force.

The girls stepped to the side of Victoria and waited patiently. Alice was picked back up carelessly from the floor and held in place by the two vampires that had brought her in. She looked up at me. In her eyes I could see only fear and pain. She had a large gash in her cheek that was bleeding. One drop of blood fell down her face. It hit the floor with the slightest drip and Alice looked down at it. She moved slightly, as if attempting to reach for it. I looked down as well only to see her hit the floor for the second time.

"Stop this! What's wrong with you!", I tried to sound stern but the tears I'd been holding back began to make their way down my face. "Don't watch, Bella." Alice shouted to me. I shut my eyes instantly but my hands were restrained, my ears could not be covered. I tried not to hear, I tried to shut it all out but It was impossible. I listened as they continued to hurt her, I listened as she tried to fight back screams and as her body cushioned each fist, each blow from Victoria's vampires. Tears streamed down my face endlessly.

I opened my eyes to speak. Alice was on the floor, nearly motionless, she was shaking slightly. A vampire raised his leg in a motion to kick her. I finally gave in, "Stop! Stop!", I screamed between tears, "I'll tell you, please just stop hurting her!", I couldn't find words that would fall together smoothly. "Please stop!"

Victoria was at my side then, "Well..." She waited for my answer. I was hesitant to give it to her. I was still in shock for what was happening. My eyes darted back and forth. Should I lie?

"You can't lie to me, Bella." It was as if she had read my thoughts, though she hadn't. She turned again to the other vampires, the one's who had been beating Alice. She nodded to them and they grabbed Alice off the ground. Alice closed her eyes to prepare for the next shear of pain.

"No..." I bellowed. Victoria turned to me again, her eyes burying deep inside mine like sharp knives. I let the tears fall as I said the words that I knew would save Alice's life. "She's a psychic", I said, "She has visions that allow her to see the future." "How does this happen?", Victoria sounded interested. "I don't know, it just does..."

In an instant I was pulled from the chair and dragged out of the room before I could see what was happening. I was down the hall and turned the corner when I was then picked up and slammed against something hard. I heard Alice close behind me, her pain still hovering in her delicate voice. She was next to me then, having been thrown in as well. Her tearless sobs echoing in the tiny room. The door closed then and I listened as she let herself flow to the floor.

I followed her soft cries to where she was located in the dark room. I couldn't see her fully, but I sat down next to her, carefully pulling her head into my lap. Her face was scratched and bruised, though she was still exceptionally stunning, like a war goddess that had just returned from a battle. Her leg was still laying crippled in front of her. I could sense that she was in so much pain, her body weakened from such a loss of her blood. She was still shaking slightly. "Please don't die", I said softly, unsure of whether she could hear me or not.

I caressed her cheek softly and began fingering through her hair, gently attempting to make her more comfortable. "I'm so sorry", I softly said again. As we sat there, I wondered if Alice would ever wake up from her daze, I wished I could help her. I tried to think of something.

I knew what I would have to do if I wanted Alice to be strong the next morning. I wasn't ready for a life of immortality I told myself. I had just been saved from death. I would have to be creative. I bent slightly on the floor to place Alice's cold hand in mine. Its normally firm surface now felt nearly as weak as my own. I brought her hand closer to my face to examine it. Even her pale hand was statuesque inside my possession. I let her hand fall slightly until only her finger tips remained in my grasp. Her finger nails were long and slender, quite sharp at the very tip, sharp enough to cut the skin of an animal, especially a human; me.

I sat there for a few moments gazing into the darkness, trying to find the courage inside that would help me save Alice. I took Alice's index finger alone and pressed the end of her nail to my wrist. I just had one thing left to do; drag it across my skin. I trembled as its sharp edge broke through the surface of my skin and opened up the passage way to my blood. I now had a small amount of blood dripping out of the wound, about two inches long.

"Alice", I said as I pealed her lips open with the other hand. "Take it..."

I could feel Alice's body stiffen beneath me as the smell of my blood hit her senses and filled her lungs inside. Her eyes grew fierce, the blackest I'd ever seen them. She exhaled completely. I could tell she was fighting it when she didn't breathe in again.

Out of nowhere she sat up, shoving my bloodied hand into my shirt. "Put it away Bella, get rid of it." "Alice, I'm trying to help you" "I could never do such a thing, you should know this, Bella. I could never take you like this, I may not be able to stop." "I just wanted you to get better, to be stronger so that maybe we had a chance against them." "Bella, we never had a chance against them, there are just too many."

I had never seen Alice act like this before, so negative. She rolled over, "Don't ever do that again." "I'm sorry", I said, "I didn't mean it like that." I rolled over in the opposite direction and began to drift to sleep then, wondering if I would live through this, and starring into the endless darkness, trying not to think of what would happen the following morning.

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