Yin & Yang
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters, they belong respectively to Stephanie Meyer. These words however are my own.
AN: This is another reason why I rated this story 'Mature'. This one may seem a little out there but I really wanted to get some face time with the darker side of the Vampire world. Please don't hate me everyone! I promise things will get better. Although you may want to advert your eyes Heartsandroses :(
Also as you can see I'm in desperate need of a Beta Reader. School and work sucks up too much of my life to be able to commit to making these FF's as great as I would like them. Also, I'm slightly stupid when it comes to grammar. Anyone willing to sign up for the job please PM me :)
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I was running so hard that I couldn't even feel the bits of rocks and snarled tree roots dig into the bottom of my feet. Trees, with their branches curled like a thousand tiny fingers, scrapped at the bare flesh on my arms and bit into my clothes so that they ripped easily.
But I ignored it; I ignored all of it. There was only one thing on my mind that mattered and anything beyond that wasn't needed. I had to find Edward, I needed to find him before the Hunter did.
"Bella!" a voice called from behind me "Bella, you have to stop running!"
It was Alice and I was sure the others weren't far behind. I didn't want them out here; they could be in danger as well!
I knew I should stop and explain what was going on to all of them--but I couldn't--not until I knew every last one of my family members were safe. The wounds on my arms were already weeping fresh blood down my limbs and I knew because of that they wouldn't get to close. It hurt my heart knowing that I had to resort to something so low but I didn't want anyone else's life to be in jeopardy.
I was going to save them the same way they had saved me.
"Please come back Bella!" it was Carlisle this time and I knew the scent of my blood hadn't affected him by the closeness of his voice "It isn't safe out here".
But still, I pressed deeper into the woods.
I continued on and on until each breath I took tore at my lungs with a painful jab to the chest. Soon the echoes and cries of the ones I held so dear had faded into the darkness. I had screamed Edward's name so many times that my voice had gone hoarse and my vision had gone blurry from exhaustion. I dropped to the forest floor and hugged my knees tight as a lance of pain shot through my temple; I steeled myself against it waiting for the onset of what would be a devastating headache.
There was a crunch of leaves from just ahead and a branch snapped. My head whipped up and I scrambled to my feet.
"Wh-who is it? Whose out there?" I struggled to keep myself calm as my eyes searched the dark abyss for the intruder.
The branches swayed and were pulled back "Bella?" the voice asked, "Is that you?"
I faltered a bit as I tried to put the name to the face as an older male stepped into view. I suddenly knew who he was by his dark blue uniform and his shiny gold badge.
"Officer Horton?" I asked, recognizing him as a member of my Father's police force "What are you doing out here?"
The man's brown hair was tousled and his jacket was torn but his kind eyes and soothing voice lured me into submission and so I ignored the nagging voice that told me to run away.
The Officer scratched the side of his face and shrugged his shoulders "I could ask you the very same thing. Does your Dad know you're way out here Bella? I bet he'll be awful worried if he did", he had taken a few steps closer to me and I hadn't moved from my spot. I didn't have time to play twenty questions right now—every minute I wasted could have been Edward's last. I shuddered at the thought.
The man noticed "Are you cold? Geez, what were you thinking not brining a coat out here with you. And your not wearing shoes either? Bella, I thought your Father taught you better than that" he moved even closer and reached out a hand towards my face. It was then that I saw that his fingers were stained with blood, I gave a startled cry and backed away.
And then there was suddenly so many things happening at once that had I blinked I would have missed it all. From our left there was a low guttural cry as a grizzly figure covered in fur jumped from the trees and ensnared my would be kidnapper with its giant hair covered hands.
"Bella run!" it yelled and I registered the voice after a moment's pause.
"Jake, what are you doing here? You shouldn't have come for me, you have to get out of here!" I yelled at him desperate for him to follow me to someplace safer. The voice that had spoken from my lips shook with the realization of what had happened to him; the Hunter was telling the truth when he told Edward that the magical powers he was bestowed affected the transformation of both of Jake's forms. He had been caught in between to become half man/half wolf.
Officer Horton tumbled to the ground and was up in an instant, he pulled his gun from his belt and shot a few rounds that grazed Jacob's mangled half wolf half-man form. I screamed and covered my head with my hands on instinct.
"Get out of here Bella! This guy is being controlled by the Hunter's magic, you have to make a run for it, you have to make sure everyone else is safe!" Jake didn't turn to face me even as he tried to wrangle the gun from the other mans hands.
I stood terrified even though I knew his words were true.
"But Jake…" I whispered "What about you?" He laughed then and the sound was darker than I remembered but light enough that there was no hint of regret in his voice.
"You don't think I can handle this guy? Give me some more credit than that" he grunted, as he sent the man sprawling to the ground "I'll be right behind you Bells, after all somebody has to chase those shadows away right?"
He grinned then and I saw a trace of my personal sun beneath the layer of thick shaggy fur that coated it. I nodded and turned around not being able to speak past the lump in my throat. I ran into the woods and soon the grunts of Officer Horton and Jake's were cut off by the silence of the forest.
I knew Jake had come for me when I had spoken to him on the phone earlier that night. He had sensed something was wrong and crossed the boarder in order to search for me. I wanted to go back, I wanted to take him with me so that we could find Edward together but I knew it wouldn't have been any use. He was just as stubborn as I was when protecting someone.
I ran harder and faster then I had before and burst through the trees to end up on a deserted street corner. I looked around for something familiar but everything looked the same as I whirled my head to the right and then to the left. There was something odd about how silent everything was. There were no lights on in the homes that lined each side I looked; even the moon above hid its face as well as if it sensed something sinister was brewing in the air.
And that's when I heard it—beyond the deafening silence I heard someone call my name. With a burst of energy I bounded down the deserted lane and turned the corner onto a new road; one that looked very familiar.
My heart jumped in my chest when I realized it was the street in which I lived on. My house was just a few feet down now and I wondered if maybe Charlie was finally home. I could go to him and tell him that robbers or murderers or something had attacked Edward and his family. We would be able to find Edward in time…we could save him together.
I almost laughed hysterically as I pushed through the door and stumbled in through the front porch. I tried flicking on the hall switch only to find that it was dead. Had the power been cut off by the storm? Was that the reason why there were no lights on anywhere? I ventured in towards the kitchen feeling a sick prickling sensation bubble all the way up into my throat.
Something was wrong; something was very wrong.
"…Charlie?" I asked as my voice cracked "Dad, are you here?"
I tripped on something hard on my way into the kitchen; I was falling face forwards when I caught myself by using the edge of the table to steady my legs. I turned around slowly as fear gripped my shoulders. The obstacle that lay by my feet that I had assumed was nothing more than a pair of my father's shoes was large and motionless. There had been something off about it; there had been give in the side of the object when I had hit it with my big toe. I knelt to examine it and discovered that it wasn't clothes or a pair of my father's shoes at all.
It was a body. And there was more then one of them.This isn't happening…This isn't… I wanted to scream as loud as I could but every time I opened my mouth nothing came out of it, I was frozen in fear, in shock, my heart pounding at such an incredible rate that I was sure that it was going to burst from my chest.
Run, I told myself, If you want to live then run. But I could not. The terror was so deep within my veins that my legs would not obey the command. I could not move.
My eyes ticked to my right and then to my left as if I was an animal cornered; I had no escape route. I threw my gaze again onto the ones that caused me so much fear, so much agony, and whimpered a little. They were all their: Jessica, Eric, Angela, Lauren, Tyler and all were staring with unseeing eyes as each neck jutted out in odd angles. Charlie and Renee, my mother and father, were there to, there bodies mangled and propped together as if they were sharing one last moment—a lovers embrace.
Tears rushed from eyes, burning all the way down my cheeks to mix in with the blood at my feet, I didn't even have try to ignore the feeling of disgust that was rooted in my belly by it. I was convinced I was going to die here…
"Bella?" the voice was light, musical, and I recognized after a moment that it was humming a lullaby I knew so well.
I whirled on the spot "Edward!" I breathed; I nearly wilted at the sight of him "We have to get out of here before whatever monster comes back to kill us like they did to…"
I couldn't finish the words, they were choked off by hard sobs that racked through my body. I looked up at him and was astonished to see him smiling, he hadn't moved from his spot and I was much too weak to go to him but I saw it there. My favorite smile was placed serenely upon his lips.
"Monster?" he repeated, almost amused "My dear sweet Bella is that anyway to speak about your fiancé?"
I swayed a little, my legs buckling, as the gravity of his words hit me with full force.
"But James would do this…not you…never you…" I gulped, and started again more frantic this time "You don't kill humans Edward. That's not what you do--it just isn't in your nature!"
But Edward Cullen just laughed, it was a cruel and violent one and I flinched at the sound it made as I looked at his angelic face.
"It isn't in my nature? Bella, I'm a Vampire, I kill things all the time" he paused, and turned his head to one side "I told you this before though haven't I? That I murdered people—rapists, abusers, and thieves and yet you never so much as blinked an eye, you just turned the other cheek. How is this any different? It's human nature to have faults—envy, greed, lust, there all there you know. In each and every one of you, so how is this any different than when I judge criminals? I'm doing this world a favor".
I couldn't handle what he was saying, I wanted to scream now more than ever "This isn't you, please God, remember who are Edward!"
The smile faded from his lips then, his expression turning cold "Your wrong Bella…" he paused, and appeared to be studying me "This is exactly who I am".
He made his way to me, reached out with both of his hands and grasped the sides of my face, wiping the tears from my cheeks; he pulled me to him. His teeth slipped easily into the soft flesh of my throat.
"This is what you wanted Bella" he loosened his grip on my shoulders and I slowly felt myself slip from his arms.
"To be like me…"
There were others behind him now, all with glowing red orbs.
"To be like us"
And then there wasn't anything anymore except for the slowly dying beat of my own heart.