Phase
Defeat

"Time is gonna take my mind and carry it far away where I can fly,
The depth of life will dim my temptation to live for you.
If I were to be alone, silence would rock my tears;
Cause it's all about love and I know better; how life is a waving feather."
"Dancing" Elisa

My final sleep was uneventful; in fact, it passed so fast that I almost forgot I'd even slept. When my eyes opened, I felt extremely rejuvenated, and very content—I was staring up at Edward's heavenly face, which was always a magnificent thing to wake up to. However, his teeth were clenched and his eyes were serious, looking forward fervently. I shifted a bit in his arms, and he looked down at me, forced a smile, and put me on my feet.

"That was quick," he said, and directed me to take a left down a hall I'd never seen before.

"How long was I out?"

"Five minutes?"

"Really?"

"You're humanity's slowly being used up—you technically shouldn't even be sleeping. It's all right; but that's the last time you'll sleep. Remember it."

"What's going on?" I was alert now, though my body was aching from the thirst that bit at the back of my throat. "Do we have a plan?" I staggered to remain standing due to fatigue, but he wrapped an arm securely around my waist. "Where… where are we?"

"South part of the building," he answered tightly. "We've got a bit of a plan… but so far it's nothing great. Get out of here, and run." He paused and looked at me, and then looked toward where Alice and Carlisle were having a quiet conversation. With my acute senses, I would've been able to hear it, had I not been so focused on Edward. "Have you ever tried outrunning a dog?"

My thoughts flashed back to my tenth birthday, and my uncle's big German shepherd, who'd decided that he wanted to play tag with me. I gritted my teeth and looked down at my feet, trying to hide the nonexistent blush that would never spread across my cheeks again. He tiled my chin up. "Habit—and yes, I have. Haven't we got, like, superhuman speed, though?"

"So have they. However, we really haven't got much else of a choice, unless we'd like to develop flight anytime soon."

"We're chancing it," I translated.

He studied my features for a moment, and then turned away. "Precisely."

Just by the tone of his voice, I could tell that something was bothering him; something to do with me. The way he was looking at me—or, rather, trying not to look at me—was something that frightened me. It had never happened before, nor had I ever wished it to happen. Yet, here I was, now finally his eternally, and he was looking at me like that first day we'd stumbled upon each other. Like he wanted nothing to do with me.

Surprisingly, this hurt me a lot more than I'd thought it would. "Edward?" I asked, my voice a whisper. "What did I do?"

Keeping his jaw set, he shook his head. "Nothing, Bella." His voice was cold, and I shivered.

"Edward, what's—"

"Nothing," he snapped, and I took a step back, shocked. His eyes read apology, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Bella, it's just—"

"Forget it," I told him. "We'll talk later." I walked away from him and met up with Alice and Carlisle, who were still going back and forth. Something about Alice's visions—she couldn't see a thing, since the wolves were involved, so she was trying to figure a way around it. Carlisle was trying to figure out a map of the building and decide which way to escape from.

After a few moments of conversation, Carlisle nodded his head once. "We're going out the west door," he said, and passed the three of us. We followed dutifully, not asking questions, simply abiding by his rules. We wound down hallways, and I was surprised by how many different

"Wait." Edward stopped walking, and left us for a moment. I could tell he was reading the wolves' thoughts when his face twisted into anger—probably Jacob. "What if one of us waits here, and the other two take Bella and escape? We'll leave the door open, and some of them are bound to get whoever's left."

"Edward, that's ridiculous," I seethed. "I'm no longer the damsel in distress. I'm prepared to fight for myself."

"You're ready to fight Jacob? And Sam, and Quil, and Seth?"

I froze.

"Exactly," he pointed out.

"But aren't the wolves are going to chase after whoever leaves?" Alice asked, cocking her head to the side. I could tell she was cooking up an idea in her head, one that was probably unsafe, but probably very effective.

He paused. "Well… that's what their thoughts are reading, yes. But maybe—"

"What if we left Bella here, in the basement, and the rest of us left? They'd follow us, which would give someone time to shoot back, pick her up, and run the other way." She closed her eyes, probably attempting to see it happen before her eyes. "As long as we could get the dogs to follow us, it would work."

"Absolutely not," Edward shook his head, clearly enraged, "and that's final. We are not leaving her here. Say the dogs turn around and smell her still in here? She's done. Jacob may show a bit of mercy, but his friends won't. While his friends can feel his anger, they don't see the human side of Bella, like Jacob does, anymore. To them, she's simply an enemy, an easy thing to destroy. She's the reason the pact is destroyed, and they'll take any chance they can to take us apart." His face was twisted into a scowl towards the end. "Especially because of the way Jacob feels about me," he added in a growl.

"Jake would never—"

"He would now, Bella," Alice said sadly, a frown appearing on her face. She turned to her brother. "Edward, we both know that there'll be enough confusion to make the dogs chase directly after us. Bella has never run before, and she won't know where to go—the last thing we need is for her to get lost out in the woods. If we leave her here, we know where she is, and we'll be able to come back for her, even in the worst of cases. If she gets lost—"

"I'll follow her—" he stopped, and bit his lip, looking down. He looked… sad. Why was that?

"Edward?"

Horror-stricken, I looked at Alice, who was staring at Edward with concern. Then, it was comprehension, and she turned away from him, back at me. "Bella. I'm going to show you where the basement is… when you're down there, don't do anything. Don't move, don't breathe. We'll be back to get you." She grabbed my arm and dragged me toward a flight of stairs behind a door I'd barely seen; it was camouflaged well.

"What's wrong with Edward?" I demanded once the heavy stone door was shut.

As if she'd known the question was coming, she sighed. "I don't think I should tell you."

My beatless heart fell like a brick, and I stopped walking.

She yanked my arm, and I started to walk again. "It's not bad," she quickly covered, coming to the end of the stairs and pulling me across the room into a small cranny. "I just think it's something he should tell you. Don't worry, it's not like he hates you or anything. And he's not leaving." A pang of emotion hit me, and she cringed. "Sorry, sorry. Just sit here, and we'll be back soon enough. If anything happens, we'll show up and kick some ass. Clear?"

I swallowed hard. "Crystal."

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and wave goodbye, and then she shot up the steps. I sighed, and then remembered the no breathing rule. Right.

What could I have already done that upset Edward? I'd been changed, something that he admitted to wanting for himself, though not for me. I was now with him forever. He hadn't killed me in the process, and now, I was beautiful. He'd seemed so happy when he'd seen me in the bathroom, and felt bad for putting me through the pain that I now realized was worth it all. I was a Cullen now. I was part of his family.

Absently, I spun the ring on my left hand and smiled, as I always did when I saw it. Our wedding day had been a great one. Alice had, of course, gone overboard planning it, but had, of course, done a beautiful job doing so. I'd told the entire family that I'd be visiting soon, though I was aware that it wouldn't happen. I'd cried, hard, and so had Charlie.

For that matter, there wasn't a dry eye at the reception. Jacob had found me and nearly crushed me in a hug, apologizing for everything he'd done, and how much he wished I'd remain human. I told him he was still my best friend, no matter what I turned into, be it a vampire or a toad.

And now, here I was, destined to a life of Edward all day everyday, something that I'd only dreamed of. He would be mine, I would be his, happy ever after, right?

I guess not.

I withheld my sigh and realized that I hadn't been checking if I'd been breathing or not. Crap.

That was when I realized the door upstairs had been thrust open, and someone was now traveling down the stairs. Not a werewolf, but a person. I nearly cried out Edward's name, thinking he had come to save me, but instead of pushing my luck, I kept my mouth shut and didn't breathe, like a good girl.

Then the person was on the floor, level with me, quickly doing a sweep of the area.

They stopped moving. I watched them do it, with my freakish vision. They were nothing more than a silhouette, but I couldn't tell who it was. Her hair was long. Rosalie?

They turned to face me and shuffled over as fast as they could. They bent down, stuck their face into my little hiding spot, and I shrieked. It was not Rosalie Hale. They weren't even female.

I, Isabella Swan, vampire, was staring into the face of Jacob Black, werewolf. My best friend… but now, my nemesis.

Quickly, I covered my mouth, and Jacob's breath stopped coming. A snarl rose in his throat, and then it was cut off, and he backed away, holding his head. As stealthily as I could, I escaped my hiding spot and went into a crouch, as I'd seen Edward do numerous times.

"Jacob," I said, and then noticed that my strict no breathing policy was sort of going to hell. "Jacob—I—please don't—"

"Bella," he whispered, and I could tell he was trying to control himself. His back was facing me, and he was leaning against a wall. "You—I can't believe you…" he was cut off by a cry from deep in his throat, and then I added it up: Jacob Black was sobbing.

"Jake!" I hurried over to his side, and felt my instincts acting up. My body wanted to be nowhere near him, but my heart wanted to help him. "Jake, I'm sorry, you know I had to do it—" my voice bubbled out almost incoherently. His shoulders were heaving, and had I been human, I would've been crying too.

"Bella!" he shouted, and then backed away from the wall, knocking me from my feet. He towered over my body, still monstrously taller than me. "You… you're a bloodsucker!" he turned his head violently, and I could see the veins in his neck creeping up to his head, throbbing where his temples were.

Now I was terrified, slowly backing away. "Jacob—don't—"

"Bella!" he leaped across my fallen form, and now his feet were at my head. My eyes closed and I prayed to whatever God I'd been close to joining, trying my hardest to not screech. I didn't need vision to know that he was phasing—I could hear his clothes ripping, and the vicious roars that were leaping out of his throat without warning. He let out a loud howl, and then a wolfy yell, and his paws were on top of me, trying to rip me apart.

Terror leaked into my brain, and adrenaline kicked in—my body flailed back and forth and I let loose a scream of horror. Petrified, I rolled out from under him and shot across the room, keeping my eyes on the predator that had once been someone I'd loved.

"JACOB!" I shouted, tearless sobs wracking my entire body. "Jacob, it's me, it's Bella! I'm not going to hurt you! Please, I just—don't—Jacob!"

Without mercy, he launched himself at my body, knocking me into the stone wall behind me. "Jacob!" I yelped, struggling against his huge frame. "Please, Jacob!" My vocal cords were raw from yelling. I was thirsty. My newly strengthened body was being pushed too soon, and I felt like my heart had been ripped into various pieces. I was going to die. Jacob Black was going to kill me, and I'd never get to see Edward again. Never get to kiss him. Never get to…

There was an inhuman battle cry, and then Jacob was sailing across the room, and Edward was in front of me, crouched, as I had been minutes before, ready for an attack.

Jacob was clearly still in battle condition, but instead, he lay there, phased, crying in canine form. His body heaved up and down and he whined, something that made me want to hug him, stroke his fur, tell him it was all okay. Which it wasn't.

When Edward turned around, I was still dry sobbing, and he wrapped his arms around me. "It's all alright, love," he promised into my neck, rubbing my back tenderly. "We'll talk about it as soon as we're safe."

Swinging me onto his back, he hurried up the stairs and out the door, and just like that, I was free from my hell, on my love's back, running to an unknown destination.


See my profile for the playlist; these lyrics fit ridiculously well.

FYI – I just realized that "phase" is also the word Stephenie uses when the Quileutes turn into wolves—that's not why the title of the story is what it is. The title is "phase' because that's what the moon does when it changes: it phases.

This is a particularly long chapter, I don't feel I did a great job with it, but I hope you guys like it. (:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE GREAT REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU ALL.