I hope this isn't too terrible. I've never really written a fight sequence before. Please review, I'd like to know how well/badly I did.

An Abbreviated Lifeline

I knew that thinking too hard about this would make things a lot more difficult for me in the end. This creature's strength was something that alluded me, but if the look of it's muscles were any indication I was in big trouble. However, as a vampire that appeared in most ways to be a frail human, I knew first hand that looks could be deceiving. I tried to shove any intimidation into the back of my mind and focused on what had to be done.

I made the first move, quickly placing myself between it and Bella. The monster growled ominously, narrowing it's big, red eyes and further baring it's teeth. I hissed as we stared each other down for another moment before it breached the barrier between us and threw a kick to my side. Had I not expected it I would've fallen, but my reflexes were fast and I caught the gigantic claws of it's foot and threw it to the ground before it could make contact. I felt the nails creep into the skin of my hands, a searing pain I had not felt in years flowing into them before they began to heal, the work of the excess blood I had ingested earlier. Whatever this was could hurt me, but did not have an everlasting effect. However, the strength of a creature that can break vampire skin was not something to laugh at. I knew now, at least, what I was facing.

I gave myself over to the vampire inside, letting my instincts to destroy my enemy overwhelm every other sense. My body seemed to move on it's own. I threw my fists towards it's massive head first, and a large, fur-covered hand blocked my attack with ease. It retaliated, swiping at air as I evaded and moved behind, grabbing both it's arms and throwing the massive body behind me. A large mass of fur and muscle collided with several trees, cutting them down as the creature twisted it's body and landed on it's two, paw-like feet. I took the few milliseconds given to me to glance toward Bella, who's breathing had turned from erratic and slow to quick, short pants. Her pale skin paled further and her eyes were clenched tight, fists ripping at her clothing in an inane attempt to escape the torment of the venom ravaging her insides. I whimpered softly at the sight. Though Bella was incredibly clumsy, I had yet to see her give way to pain with more than a small "ouch," and seeing her this way was horrifying.

An earth-shattering growl made me turn my head back around to see the creature taking deliberate strides to me before throwing a sliding kick into my shins. I collided with the ground, shocked to experience such speed from a species other than my own. I snarled, baring my own teeth, venom seeping into my mouth in waves that were hard to swallow as I bounced back to my feet. A brief vision later, I dodged another attack thrown at my neck and grabbed the first bit of skin I could reach. My focus was so strong and I felt it in every inch of my body so thoroughly that I knew I would win. I felt the creature's arm snap out of place as I yanked and threw, sending it's body into the trees again. I felt the vampire grin as again the sound of broken trees reached my ears. Bella's flailing heartbeat was the only thing that threw off my attention, and while I looked back again to her beaten body I was toppled to the ground by a black-eyed Victoria.

My back fell against a fallen tree, breaking it in half as Victoria pressed all of her weight into me, trapping my arms with her thighs. "You will not kill my creation, my dear Alice." She spewed venom as she spoke, her hands clamped over my throat squeezing in a motion that would soon tear off my head. "And I will have the satisfaction of not only ripping Edward's heart out, but yours as well. What a treat." The pressure of her fingertips increased, making it impossible for me to breath. She leaned closer, her voice dropping an octave. "You are the one who officially ripped my mate's head off, so I'll make sure to torture you as much as I can." A vision skewed my thoughts, one of her mangy hands pulling at Bella's hair, my screams filling the background.

I clenched my eyes tight and opened them with anger I didn't know existed. "You don't know what you're dealing with," I seethed, using what little breath I had left before I put all of my strength into releasing my arms from underneath Victoria and throwing her hands from my neck. I rolled backwards, kicking her off at the same time and gathering to my feet again. In the distance, I heard the creature growling and moving towards us just as Edward's form appeared. He took my previous stance between the creature and Bella as his voice floated to me, "Protect her, I dialed Carlisle." What anger he had directed at me before was gone, and for a split second he felt like my brother again.

I drew back a few feet, keeping my gaze on Victoria as she recovered from my counterattack. I breathed deeply, regaining my focus and readying for the next move. Her eyes caught mine and I was met with the beginnings of another vision before it immediately retracted itself. The wolves were close.

I smiled, growling softly as Victoria began to circle, her brows furrowing and her nostrils flaring. As Victoria slowly approached, I saw in my peripherals that Edward and the creature were finally battling each other, and I knew almost immediately that something was wrong. "I can't read it's mind, Alice." Edward managed through gritted teeth just before Victoria merged with me.

A brick fell into my stomach. Edward wasn't a bad fighter, but his best feature was that he could read his opponent. My fight with the creature was substantially easier than it would be with Edward due to my clairvoyance. It wasn't a sure thing now that Edward's usual advantage was of no use.

Victoria's hands met my shoulders as my hands met with hers. "Your brother is no match for her, Alice." The bitch's voice was starting to get on my nerves. I dug my nails into her skin before she pushed me away, scowling and holding her wounds. An inappropriate "HER?" went through my head before I made my next move, running full speed towards the red head, throwing punch after punch and dodging a heavy blow to my skull. I ducked down as Victoria's leg flew over my head, her pointy heel only centimeters away from my scalp. I used the position to drag her other leg out from beneath her, gaining a steep advantage. My fist collided with her face before her body even hit the ground, cracking her porcelain nose into pieces. "Aren't you pretty," I said before slamming her head against the forest floor with every bit of strength I could muster. I felt some of her hair come out into my fisted hands and smiled deviously before I was quickly dislodged from my place and thrown to the ground as Victoria switched our roles. She didn't have me underneath her for very long before I punched her in the face again, knocking her off of my body and sending her into a tree. She landed gracefully, though, and advanced again, sending an unexpected kick to my chest. I was, for the first time, knocked through the forest like a rag doll and when I emerged I was unfortunate enough to be stuck in Victoria's death grip. She grabbed me by the hair and pulled her other hand around my neck until she had me in a perfect headlock, ready to tear my head off.

It was a perfect place for her to show off what the creature was doing to my poor brother. I watched helplessly as Edward was pressed against a tree. The creature held him in place and threw blow after blow to his abdomen. Edward took each hit with grace, though, and kicked the creature away, uprooting the tree behind him and throwing it into her chest. She roared fearlessly before picking out a large splinter that was lodged in her shoulder and charged him. Edward, the fastest in the family, couldn't get out of the way in time and was lucky to get most of himself out of the line of attack. It wasn't enough, though. The creature grabbed the arm still within reach and pulled, a sickening crack resounding through the trees as Edward's arm was detached from his body.

Victoria's arm tightened around me, again choking the airways till they were useless. I had no breath and could not respond when she whispered into my hair, "You're all going to die, dear Alice. Before the venom I injected into Bella can fully transform her, I will kill her. She will feel every bit of agony of the transformation before she is slaughtered. And I will watch as you surrender yourself to me, begging me to kill you." Her other hand went from gripping my hair to stroking it, causing me to feel nauseous. The creature threw Edward's arm aside, bounding towards him with her nails growing from her fists. I tried to struggle, but in this position any more wiggling and I would accidentally pull my head from my own body. "You see, I don't wish to take your existence away, Alice. I want Edward, you, and your whole family to feel what being murdered is like in it's most pure form. I'm going to take away the thing that you cherish most so you will feel the pain of loss for the rest of your miserable existence." I could feel the smile in her voice and the rage boiled inside of me, my whole body shaking with it. "When you beg me to kill you, I will refuse. You will be so overwhelmed with hatred for me..." Her voice drifted off before making it's way back to my ears shaky, "...you will release me from my own pain."

"You can bet I'll kill you, Victoria, but it wont be without pain. Trust me." I said, making one last attempt at freedom. I threw myself into her body until we collided with the ground together in a heap. While doing so, I happened to smell the god-awful stench of wolf and was pleased to see Jacob jump over our fighting bodies to collide with the creature in mid-stride toward my brother. I smelt my family members as they began to pore through the trees at full-speed, each taking their places accordingly. I could see from where I was that Carlisle and Esme had moved towards Bella while Emmett joined Jacob and Edward. Victoria froze in place underneath me, her arm still around my throat. "Fuck." I heard her growl fiercely as Jasper and Rosalie flanked us.

I felt her arm release as Victoria quickly untangled herself from my body and threw herself in the opposite direction, running as fast as she could away and into the trees. Jasper quickly fell in pursuit, Rosalie only a step behind. The urge to follow and help my two siblings was overwhelmed by my need to help Bella. I turned around, running towards her.

Esme and Carlisle met my eyes, fear and what I could only read as regret plastered on their faces. I crouched down to Bella, whose head was cradled in Esme's lap. Her screams had died down, but her body was shaking with pain. "How long will it be, Carlisle?" I looked up to him as he crouched down to my level, holding one of Bella's hands and studying her response. "It wont be long." His voice was worn and gravelly, so unlike how it usually sounded. "A day at most, I think. It's impossible to know for sure." "What about the pain? Is there anything we can do?" I heard myself say as I put my hands on her face, hoping the coolness of my skin would help temper the burning she felt. My eyes again landed on her mangled form. She was covered in cuts and bruises, but the only open wound was her bite. "Again, I'm not sure." Carlisle didn't let go of her hand but gripped it tighter, lovingly placing his other hand upon it. "I had planned on trying morphine, when the time came, but I have a feeling that her body heat would burn it away quicker than it could take effect."

Esme took my hands in her own and gently signaled for me to take her place. I nodded, silently thanking her, before moving to place Bella's head in my own lap. I put my hands back on her face and stroked carefully. Carlisle placed a hand on my shoulder, quickly giving it a reassuring squeeze before getting up and moving further to the side. As I held Bella's head, Esme put her hands on her face with my own. The coolness seemed to help a little. "I think this is all we can do, sweety." She whispered.

We watched the battle before us as we held her. Edward had recovered his arm somehow, though it was hanging limply as he, Jacob and Emmett surrounded the monster. The creature was now covered in gashes, it's blood seeping with a distinct smell that was all it's own. It was crouched, waiting to be brutalized, and fear finally fell into it's seemingly cold eyes. The growl she had earlier emitted sounded more like a dying engine, sputtering slightly. Emmett had retained a spidery crack along his left arm where claws had no doubt sank deep, his sleeve ripped away. Jacob looked unharmed apart from a slight limp as he moved toward the creature's right, keeping it in the middle of the two bigger foes. Edward stumbled a little, his leg now also damaged at the knee, sinewy lines covering it and his shoulder where the arm was removed. His eyes moved from between the beast in front of him and where I held Bella, anguish and remorse sent in his gaze.

Jacob made the first move, tearing the monster's flesh from it's arm in one swift motion. A howl, high-pitched and frightened tore the sky as Emmett simultaneously aimed a kick to her middle, sending her into a large, thorny bush that tore more flesh from her back. Relief swam through me for the first time since the battle began, knowing that this would be the end of at least half of our problems here. But as soon as it came, it went.

As Edward was about to make his move, having quickly made his way to her front and placing her giant head between his two hands, the creature's body began to shrink. In astonishment, Edward took his hands away and we all watched wide eyed as she further transformed. The fur along her back retreated into her wounded skin, which was paling and smoothing from the leathery texture it held before. The head that was once massive was steadily gaining a more human appearance, the mane reddening and the snout forming to be a small nose. The claws, once terrible and large shrank to fingernails on small and dainty hands. By the time it stopped, all that was left in the creature's place was a small girl, in her late teens or early twenties at most, lying in a curled, fetal position fast asleep.

A roaring fire could be heard in the distance, but apart from that and Bella's slowing heart not a sound was heard.