Sorry for the delay. Life is super-crazy for me right now.
Arfalcon is my super-beta and friend.
This chapter is for mad4hugh. More about that at the end of the chapter.
*0*0*
Bella cried as she ran across the parking lot and over the overpass back to campus, but by the time she reached Padelford again, she'd wiped the tears away. She stopped, slumping on a bench just outside the building. Her throat burned from exertion and crying. Her breath was coming in huge, hiccupping gulps.
She pulled her cell phone out of her backpack but her hands were shaking too hard to make the call.
She took a few deep breaths trying to rein in her hysteria, but it was no use. She could still feel him all over her. His hands in her hair, his body pressed against hers, his mouth…. Any doubts she'd had about Edward's otherworldly nature were eradicated after what just happened. The person she just kissed was not human. Nothing about him was right, not his too-firm skin, not the strength in his arms when he held her, trying to be gentle but almost hurting nonetheless. Certainly not his lips, which felt cool. Even his tongue.
At the memory, she closed her eyes and gasped. Because it still didn't matter. More than ever, it didn't matter. That ocean of unknown was threatening to close over her head for good. Her life as she knew it felt like it was balanced on a cliff edge, about to crash to pieces on the rocks. She was scared. Terrified, in fact. But she felt helpless to stop it. She didn't even want to. She felt strangely reckless, ready to throw away everything she knew with both hands so she could grab hold of some phantom she didn't even understand.
Whatever happened next, one thing was certain. There was one thing she had to do. Something she should have done much sooner than this.
Willing her fingers to work, she scrolled to Riley's number and pressed send. It rang three times and she wanted to scream in frustration at the thought of getting his voicemail yet again. He picked up just before the fourth ring.
"What's up?"
"I need to see you."
"B, I can't. We're putting the issue to bed tomorrow night and—"
"Now! It's important! I need to see you right now!"
Riley was silent at her outburst, finally recognizing her frantic tone.
"Bella—"
"Now, Riley!" She was crying again and she knew she couldn't do this much longer. He just needed to come talk to her now.
"Okay, okay. Where are you?"
"Outside Padelford. I'll meet you at the Stevens Way entrance."
"I'm on my way down."
Moments later, Bella was waiting at the door on the dark sidewalk outside Riley's building. It was nearly ten p.m. now and almost no one else was out. Her hands twisted around her backpack strap over and over. The side door to the stairwell opened, spilling a rectangle of light onto the sidewalk. Riley stepped out, spotting her immediately.
"B," he murmured, taking in her tear-streaked face, her wind-blown hair, her skittery anxiety. "What's going on?"
He reached for her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Bella let him, needing one more dose of reality and familiarity before she pulled the pin on everything. She gave herself one last moment to smell him and feel his warmth and the security of his embrace. It was only a second, though, before she pulled back and swiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"We need to talk."
"Okay, let's go home and—"
"No, now. Here." She turned and walked a few dozen feet down the sidewalk, finding herself back on the same dark path behind the Communications building where everything had started spiraling out of control two days ago. Was it only two days? It felt like a lifetime. The location gave her the creeps, but it hardly mattered. She wasn't alone anyway.
Riley followed her and once she was well off the main sidewalk and there were no stray pedestrians to hear, she turned to face him again.
"You're starting to scare me, B. What's wrong? Is this about what happened the other night?"
Bella shook her head. "No, it's not about that. But yes, something happened. Something's happening. I don't—God, I don't know what to say."
"Say something. What happened?" He stepped forward again, reaching out and holding her face, turning her chin up, making her look at him. Bella met his eyes once and couldn't keep her tears back.
"Sweetheart, what is it?"
"Oh, Ry…You know I love you, and I… I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"What for?"
She shook her head. "I didn't mean for any of this—"
A flicker of movement over Riley's shoulder, out of place on the still, dark sidewalk, caught Bella's attention. There was something in the tree several yards behind Riley—something large. As she squinted into the dark, trying to make it out, the shape dropped, quickly and silently, to the sidewalk.
And then it stood up.
Her skin prickled with foreboding and she took a shaky step back. It was a woman, tall and thin, with a cascade of full, curly hair. That was all she could make out when she was in shadow. What on earth was a woman doing crouched in a tree? Riley turned and looked over his shoulder, unconcerned with the woman walking in their direction. But he hadn't seen her drop out of the tree the way Bella had. She didn't drop like a person would drop. There was no noise at all. She didn't even seem to impact the ground.
As she advanced and the dim light of a nearby street light caught her, she came into focus and Bella gasped.
Bella knew instantly that whatever Edward, Alice and his family were, this woman was one, too. She had the same pale, flawless skin, the same unearthly beauty, the same hint of unreality about her. Bella wondered how she'd ever missed it in Edward and Alice, because now it seemed so patently obvious. Nothing about this woman looked human.
"Do you need something?" Riley asked, a hint of exasperation in his voice. He clearly didn't see what Bella saw. To him, she was only some stranger intruding on a personal conversation.
She smiled, a slow curl of her lips, as she continued her unhurried pace towards them. Her smile was anything but friendly, though. It was slightly mocking and hard. She shook her heavy red hair back over her shoulders and the light caught her in the face. Bella felt a knot of dread form in her stomach. How could she have thought this woman was anything like Edward and Alice? Yes, the grace, the beauty, but her eyes—they were deep, dark red.
Riley squinted at her, finally noticing that something was distinctly odd about this encounter. When the woman was only ten feet away, he spoke again, his voice slightly more urgent. "What do you want?"
She smiled wider, showing her teeth, and Bella shuddered.
"What do I want?" she said softly. Her voice was lovely and high, but hard. "Well, I wanted to kill that one, but now I think I have a better idea."
"Just get the fuck out of here," Riley snapped, half-turning to face her.
"Oh, I will," she murmured, "Just not quite yet. You see, he has to suffer. At first it was going to be him, but he was too hard to get to. Then I saw him with you," she turned her head and her eerie eyes locked on Bella. She took another step back, even though in some corner of her mind, she knew it was pointless. Her instincts told her they were both powerless against this thing. "When I saw you with him, I knew I didn't have to kill him. I could just kill you. It would be so much easier and it would hurt him just as much. Worse. It would hurt him like he hurt me."
Riley turned to face her fully and pushed Bella behind him. "Look, lady, I don't know what you're talking about. We've never seen you before. So why don't you just move on and—"
"Does he know?" The woman looked back to Bella as if Riley had never spoken. Bella swallowed hard, her mouth feeling papery and dry. She reached out to grip Riley's arm. She wasn't even sure why. What did she think she could do? Protect him? Save him?
The woman took another step closer and Riley bristled, tensed to move. "Does he know you love someone else and not him?" she pressed.
Bella shook her head, willing away this horrific moment. She wondered if there was any hope in running. She'd only seen the barest hints of Edward's speed, but she suspected that running would do her no good.
"Please…" Bella whispered, unable to say more.
"Yes," the woman murmured, almost to herself. "This is a much better idea. He'll have all of eternity to know you'll never be his."
It all happened in less than a second. Bella barely registered her movement. Riley took one step forward in preparation to push the woman away and then she was on them. Bella reached for him, grasping at his arm, his shoulder, anything, but then he was ripped out of her hands.
The woman had one hand on his neck, cradling him, her face close to his, almost like a lover's embrace. She lowered her face as if she was leaning in to kiss him. As she bared her teeth, it all clicked into place in Bella's mind in an instant. Every single thing she'd ever noticed about Edward and Alice and now this woman… it all added up to this one impossible, undeniable answer.
Vampire.
Riley cried out and Bella took a step towards him, but then he was flung ten feet away, curled on his side on the ground, moaning and clutching at his throat with both hands.
She only had time to look at him, to see him looking back at her, his eyes filled with confusion, panic and fear, before she felt something cool brush past her face. She felt her hair shift, she sensed the woman's closeness. Her heart thudded so loud in her ears that she thought she might pass out. She managed one more step in retreat and then a hand curled into her hair, so tight, painfully tight. Her head was wrenched backwards and Bella gasped.
"Bella…." Riley's voice was weak and raspy and seemed to come from miles away.
Then there was pressure, right where her neck met her left shoulder and then—pain.
Bella raised her hands to fight, panic flooding her, but the hand that held her immobilized was like stone. She couldn't get so much as a millimeter of space to move.
The pain grew and sharpened until it whited out everything else. The hand released her hair, but it was too late. The muscles in her legs refused to move. She felt something warm and wet trickle down her chest and realized with horror that she was bleeding. A lot.
"This is much better," the woman murmured again, right next to her, in her ear. "This is perfect." And then the air around her moved and she was gone.
Bella reached up to touch her neck. Her fingers slipped in the thick wetness, touching ragged edges of skin and missing flesh. It hurt so much. And around the edges and deep inside, it was starting to burn. Oh, God, it was burning.
She managed one last glance at Riley, seeing him curled on his side in the ground, writhing and moaning. She wanted to go to him to help, but instead, her eyes rolled back, her knees gave out, and she sank to the ground herself.
The burning in her neck bloomed and spread. It felt like fire, streaking through her veins. The pain that chased it stole the last of her rational thoughts. She heard a high, keening wail and her last conscious thought was that it was her own.
*0*0*
Edward stayed on the ground right where she left him, holding his head in his hands, wondering where he'd gone so very wrong. What had he been thinking? He hadn't been thinking. He'd been feeling. Ignoring every rational thought that told him "no," that told him to stop. And now he'd ruined it all. She was gone, very likely out of his life and Alice's for good.
He'd taken monstrous, unacceptable risks. She had to know about him now. He trusted her, in his way. But to expose them all to a human the way he had—it was unconscionable.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and knew without looking that it was Alice. No doubt she'd seen what he'd done and was calling to console him. He couldn't bear it. He ignored the call.
He should have done what he told Carlisle he was going to do. He should have left. At least until she graduated and moved away from here. Instead he lingered, he tempted himself, and it was a disaster.
His phone began to buzz again moments after it stopped and he groaned. She wasn't going away. He loved her, but her persistence was maddening at times. She likely wouldn't stop until she knew he was all right, so he retrieved the phone.
"Alice, I'll call you soon. Just give me some space," he grumbled as he opened it.
"Go! The same place she was on Tuesday ! GO!"
Alice was screaming. In all their years together he'd never heard her sound so frantic. He was on his feet and sprinting across the vast, dark lot before she even drew a breath.
"What's happening, Alice?"
"I didn't see her, I swear I didn't. She must have been here all along."
"What?"
"Just get there! Jasper and I are on the way. Less than five minutes. You'll need help." Then she was gone.
Fear curled in Edward's chest. You'll need help. What on earth could have happened to Bella that he couldn't handle himself?
In a matter of seconds, he was across the lot and the overpass and racing through the shadowy, dark campus towards that same stretch of sidewalk. There was almost no one around at this hour so he spent little effort concealing himself.
He was still several hundred yards away when the smell hit him and nearly floored him. Her blood. She was bleeding. He fought with everything he had to force the instinct down and focus on her. She was bleeding. Whatever had happened, she needed him. Not the animal ruled by its instincts, the man who loved her.
In moments, other smells made their way through the haze of her blood. Someone else's blood. Riley's. He was almost sure of it. And something else. One of their kind. One of the nomads from Forks.
No.
She couldn't be dead. No no no. She had to still be alive. It was the only thought consuming his brain as he sprinted across the campus roadway and down the narrow, dark path winding behind the Communications building. A moment later he felt a flood of relief when he heard her heart, thready and frantic, but unquestionably still beating.
Then he was on them. They were both still alive, both on the ground, both bitten. He couldn't understand who would do this to them and why, but he also didn't have time to figure it out. Riley was curled on his side, moaning, but Edward could hardly spare him a glance once he'd spotted Bella.
She was further into the shadows, flat on her back, face turned to the canopy of branches overhead. She wasn't screaming, or even moaning like Riley. Her hands and feet were twitching and the only sound that came from her was the raspy, raw sound of air dragging in and out of her struggling body. Edward crouched at her side and turned her chin.
The wound in her neck was huge and ragged. Blood was pooling everywhere underneath her body. Her eyes were open but unseeing. In just the seconds that had passed since he'd first heard it, her heartbeat had started to slow. The miserable bitch that had done this to her had been too vicious and taken her too close to the edge of death.
"No. No, no, please, please…" He heard his own voice, murmuring almost like a prayer as his frantic hands brushed over her face and shoulders. Her blood trailed after, smudging her red everywhere. Edward stared at the pulsing, gaping wound in her neck, knowing that he had just seconds to act. He had to let her go or try to save her in some form.
It was no decision at all. He couldn't let her go. It was impossible.
Forcing the air out of his lungs and steeling his resolve, he bent and swiped the blood from the wound with his hand. Then, fighting with every fiber of his being, he licked her. His tongue swept over the gash again and again, praying that it was enough, that his venom would help seal it and keep her from bleeding out before the attacker's venom could start its transformation. The taste raged through him and every muscle tensed. His chest rumbled with a growl and his hands curled into claws. But he kept her face in his mind and he fought back. Bella, Bella. He had to be strong enough to save her.
When her blood filled his mouth, he spat to the side, terrified that he'd never be able to control himself if he swallowed it. He licked again until he could see the blood flow lessen, until he could hear her heartbeat level out and grow slightly stronger.
Edward leaned back and looked into her face, ashen and streaked with her own blood. He ran his fingertips over her temple and down over her cheek.
"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry," he whispered.
She moaned and her back arched up off the pavement. The fire was starting, he knew, the fire that would burn away her humanity and hurl her into a whole new existence. He gathered her into his chest, arms wrapped around her body, his face buried in her hair as he curled over her.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
He was still murmuring it into her ear a minute later when Alice and Jasper arrived after an almost-soundless sprint. Alice didn't pause, lifting Riley into her arms, cradling him somewhat awkwardly against her small body.
"Edward, we have to go. Now," she said. Jasper crouched at his side and laid a hand on his shoulder. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were black, flicking down to Bella, to the blood all over the ground underneath her. His nostrils flared, but he held onto himself.
"Edward, take her and go with Alice. You have to go before someone comes. Emmett is almost here. He and I will clean up and cover up. Now take them and go."
Edward straightened up, Jasper's words finally reaching him. He stood, lifting Bella with him as carefully as possible, settling her head on his shoulder.
"Edward, now!"
He nodded and turned to follow Alice.
*0*0*
Edward was crammed in the back seat of Alice's tiny car with Bella still curled on his lap. Riley was in the passenger seat, slumped against the window. Alice drove like the wind, pressing the gas pedal to the floor as soon as they'd cleared the outskirts of Seattle.
Bella began to tense, arching her back and neck, moaning loudly as the burn began. Riley had never stopped moaning. Soon, very soon, the screaming would start. Edward winced, imagining the torture Bella was about to endure, wishing there was something, anything he could do to ease it for her. But there was nothing. They were both past the point of no return now.
Neither of them had said a word as Alice drove out of the city, too focused on getting back to the house. Now Alice inhaled, bracing herself to speak.
But Edward cut her off before she could. "What the hell just happened, Alice? You saw that creep come after her two days ago and you missed this?"
"I'm sorry, Edward. I'm so sorry. I didn't see her at all. She must have been there since we came back from Forks, watching us. I don't know why I didn't see that."
"How could she hide from you? From me? Why didn't we see her coming?"
"Carlisle guessed that she was gifted. Maybe this is part of it. She can hide herself. Oh God, is she okay?" Alice twisted in her seat to look at Bella, still cradled in Edward's arms.
"No, she's not okay. Jesus—" He dropped his head, his face close to hers. "I'm so sorry, Bella."
"Edward—"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm sorry, Alice. I shouldn't have accused you that way. You're upset, too."
"It's okay," she murmured, turning her eyes back to the road. Riley twisted in his seat and moaned loudly. Edward had almost forgotten he was in the car, too. Two of them. She'd done it to both of them. Why?
"Why would she do this to them?" he said out loud. "I don't understand it."
Alice paused for a moment. "You really don't know?"
In her mind, Edward saw what Alice had seen: Bella embracing him, him hugging her back, their faces so close together and then… the kiss.
"What does that have to do with anything?" he growled, embarrassed at seeing his indiscretion so openly displayed.
Alice's thoughts were full of apology. She didn't want to see it, he knew that. "This wasn't about Bella and Riley. It was about you. And James. This was her revenge."
Edward lowered his face, pressing his cheek to Bella's, so flushed and hot. No. His guilt made him feel almost physically sick.
"She must have been watching you, looking for a weakness, a way to get at you. And tonight she found it."
"But why Riley? Why turn him, too?"
Alice shook her head. "I don't know. I saw her deciding to do it, but not why. Her thought process wasn't exactly linear. Maybe he was a mistake. Maybe she meant to kill him."
"She almost did kill Bella."
"I saw all the blood. Edward, how did you stop it?"
"I—" Edward hesitated over the truth, hating how barbaric it sounded. "I licked her. To close the wound and stop the bleeding."
Alice gasped. "How?"
Edward shook his head. "I don't know. I just wanted her to live. That was more important than anything else. So I did what I had to do."
Alice said nothing else and they were both silent as she sped towards the Cullen house. When she screeched to a stop minutes later, Esme and Carlisle were out of the house and helping them before she'd shut the engine off. Carlisle took Riley, carrying him into the house and setting him down on one of the sofas in the living room. Riley howled in pain, but it was impossible to tell if it was from the movement or the burning. It didn't matter, Edward thought. There would be a lot more of both before it was all over.
Edward was right behind Carlisle, still holding Bella, unwilling to set her down. Carlisle took a moment to check the bite on Riley's neck before moving to check on Bella's.
"This is savage," he muttered. "She could have died."
"She nearly did," Edward said between clenched teeth. Carlisle looked up at him then, taking in his blood-stained hands and shirt, the traces of blood on his face, on his lips.
"You did well, Edward. She'll be all right."
Edward almost scoffed. "All right? Nothing about this is all right."
"Well, you're right about that, at least." Rose was standing in the entryway to the living room, her eyes flicking from one tormented human to the other. Alice pushed past her into the living room.
"I know what you're going to say, Rose, and just save it."
"Save it? Look what's happened, Alice! Because you and Edward couldn't stay out of her life. Just look what happened."
Carlisle stepped forward, raising a hand to settle her. "Rosalie, Edward and Alice didn't mean for this to happen to them."
"But this is the danger they put her in by getting involved."
"That's hardly helpful now," Esme snapped, moving to crouch next to Edward. She reached up and brushed the hair off Bella's forehead.
Rosalie threw her hands in the air in disgust and left the room. Carlisle watched her go, then turned to the others. "We need to get them out of here. We could conceal the transformation here in the house, but once they wake up, they can't be this close to civilization. As difficult as it will be, I think it's best to move them now."
Edward nodded, hating the idea of it, but recognizing that Carlisle was right. He'd already had the same thought himself.
"Where to?"
"Denali?" Esme suggested. Edward and Alice exchanged a glance. "I know it will be uncomfortable," Esme rushed on, "but we'd have help there."
"We can't have both newborns there," Carlisle said. "We can take one there, but we need a second location. Someplace we can get to within a day or so."
"Oh!" Esme sat up straighter. "What about the lodge in Canada?"
"That old hunting lodge?" Alice asked, wrinkling her nose. "We still own that?"
Carlisle nodded. "We do. It's Spartan at best, but certainly remote enough. Of course, none of us have been there in nearly thirty years. Who knows what kind of shape it's in."
Alice shrugged, "Even if it needs a little repair, assuming we can get there quickly enough, we'll still have a day or so to shore it up before…"
She didn't finish, but she didn't have to. Before a new vampire woke up to the world.
"I think I'd better call Denali," Carlisle said. "Carmen and Eleazar just got back, so I'll speak with them. It might go better. Alice, can you start packing the cars? We'll sort out who's going where as soon as Jasper and Emmett get back, but we'll have to leave soon after that."
She nodded and stood, running her hand over Bella's hair and squeezing Edward's shoulder before she slipped upstairs to grab what she could.
Esme moved to Riley, holding his hand in both of hers. "Poor thing," she murmured, wanting to mother Riley even though she'd never even met him.
Edward stayed silent and still. He listened to Esme reassuring Riley, to the thump and thud of Alice throwing things around upstairs, to the quiet hum of Carlisle's conversation with Eleazar in the other room. He listened to the rapid flutter of Bella's heart, so close to his own chest. He shut out every thought and voice in his head. He couldn't bear it. He couldn't face what had happened to her because of him. It was too much.
By the time Jasper and Emmett returned, reeking of dried blood and bleach, it was all decided. Riley would be taken to Denali and Bella to the old hunting lodge in the Northwest Territory. Edward and Alice insisted on staying with Bella. Carlisle decided he'd be better off in Denali for the time being. He wanted to discuss the situation and its possible ramifications with Eleazar. Esme chose to go with Edward and Alice, feeling the two of them might need her support more.
Jasper shrugged. "So what about me and Em? Where should we go? Alice, can you see which one is going to be harder to handle?"
Alice shook her head. "Newborns. They're impossible to predict."
"Well, do you get anything? A feeling even?"
She glanced back and forth between Bella and Riley, then she pointed at Riley. "He's going to be hostile. It's just a hunch, really."
Emmett shrugged. "Good enough for me. We'll go with him, then. You three okay with Bella?"
"We'll be fine," Esme said. "Rosalie?" she said, making it a question.
Emmett shook his head tightly. "She's not coming. Says she can't right now. She'll handle the loose ends here, though."
"That will be helpful," Carlisle said, choosing to focus on the positive. "Tell her I'll call from the road and we can discuss a plan for this."
Edward stayed silent on the sofa, where he still held Bella's writhing body. A plan. For staging her disappearance or death. Riley's, too. Bella Swan was dying tonight because of him. He felt sick all over again.
"Edward," Alice said, as if she could sense where his thoughts were heading. "We have to go now."
He nodded and rose to follow her, still clutching Bella to his chest. There was nothing to be done at this point anyway except see it through.
*0*0*
Even with Alice driving as fast as Emmett's Jeep would go, it still took over twenty-four hours to reach the endless wilderness of the Northwest Territory where the lodge was located. The trip went even slower once they ran out of roads and had to make their way down long-forgotten hunting trails. Several times they had to get out and uproot trees and move boulders to clear the road.
Bella had started screaming in earnest as they drove out of Seattle. By the time they reached the northern border of British Columbia, her vocal chords were gone. For Edward, it was almost worse. She still screamed, her head thrown back and her mouth open in a grimace of pain, but nothing came out of her throat but a raw rasp of air. He held her in his arms for every moment, except those few times Alice and Esme needed him to help clear the way.
There was nothing he could do but hold her. He whispered tiny nothing words of comfort in her ear and sometimes it seemed to calm her a little. Sometimes it made no difference at all. Still, he did it. He stroked her hair and held her hand and told her everything would be okay, even though that was a lie.
It was nearly dawn when they finally reached the hunting lodge, although it was a weak grey light at best this far north this late in the year. Edward was finally forced to let go of Bella, leaving her in the back of the Jeep while he checked out the property with Esme and Alice. The lodge was a small, two-story house—more of a cottage than a lodge— built of solid grey stone, with a sloping shingled roof and small, shuttered windows. The roof needed repair, but it had done the important job of keeping the elements out. The chimney had all manner of creatures nesting in it, but luckily for them a fire, although pleasant, wasn't immediately necessary. The shutters had kept the windows intact, so while everything inside was heavily coated with dust, it was all dry and usable. The generator that ran the well pump needed gas, so Esme left again immediately, headed back to the nearest outpost on the river for supplies.
Edward carried Bella inside and Alice directed him up the narrow stairs to the low-ceilinged upper floor. She sprinted ahead of him to the small white bedroom at the end of the hall. Edward stood with Bella while she hurriedly threw a set of sheets and a quilt onto the bed, smoothing the spot where Bella would endure the final hours of her transformation.
Finally, Edward set her down, stroking her face before he stood back up. Alice laid her hand on his shoulder.
"Edward, why don't you go hunt?"
He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "I'm not leaving her."
"I need to clean her up and change her clothes," Alice pressed gently. "You can sit with her as soon as you get back."
Edward looked down at Bella, seeing for the first time in hours the remnants of the horror she'd endured. Dried blood soaked the front of her shirt and was matted into her hair. Her face and neck were still streaked red-brown with it. She shouldn't be left this way. He closed his eyes and nodded, entrusting her to Alice.
Once he was back downstairs and outside, he took a deep breath, letting the clear, cold air fill his lungs. He knew he needed to get a handle on himself. He had no idea what would come next, but he knew that Bella would need him. And he would be there for her.
*0*0*
A/N: This past week, the fandom lost one of its own, the very lovely mad4hugh, who died in a tragic accident at ComicCon. While I didn't know her well, she was a loyal reader/ reviewer of mine since my very first fic. I always loved seeing her name pop up in my inbox and the news of her loss was a terrible shock.
With its usual generous spirit, the fandom has rallied to remember Gisela. You can read all about it here:
fandom4twifang . blogspot
(remove all the spaces)
There is a memorial fund to help her family with funeral expenses and also a link to a charity close to her heart, The Alzheimer's Association. A $5 donation to either will get you a compilation of outtakes and one-shots from a lot of truly great fandom writers. I've volunteered to write for it, though I don't know what I'll write yet. Let me know if you have a request! Please consider making a donation to remember one of the best people in our fandom. She'll be greatly missed.