No Beta this time around. Don't hate me and please ignore the errors!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS AND READS THIS STORY! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!


Chapter 20: Victor's revenge.

Sorry it took so long. Made several rewrites.
Go read Chapter 11 again, after you finish this... at Bella's story of that night... you'll see the comparisons better. ;)

NOTE: Preface has been adjusted/added on to for a better effect.

-- GO TO MY PROFILE TO SEE WHO I CHOSE TO PLAY "VICTOR"!



Officially rated M. ... And again PLEASE REVIEW!

Disclaimer: Twilight/Characters not mine. I just like to dabble.

For what shall it profit a man,

if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.

Mark 8:36


Chapter 20: Victor's Truth

Charlie tiptoed back into the room, looking at me with suspicion.

"Bella? What is it?" he whispered quickly.

I bit my lip, rising unsteadily to my feet.

My body felt like it just got ran over.

And I felt like I could pass out.

"Carlisle and Esme are safe," I whispered to him as we heard the door creak open from behind us, where Edward was.

Footsteps edged closer to us, too light for a human... step, step... step.

Charlie and I glanced at each other, our expressions mirrored.

We were both in shock, terrified and frozen like ice.

"It's a trap, Dad."

"Bella, what are you talki-" Charlie cut himself off, covering my mouth up with his hand.

He pushed me backward, until I was beside him against the wall.

We could hear footsteps edging closer, as well as muffled screams, heavy breathing through the nose, a thudding heartbeat, and shoes kicking the floor at a scattered pace from the room down the hall, and knew it was Edward in there.

And for a brief second, I felt relieved... Edward wasn't dead...

I glanced over at Charlie through my peripheral vision, trying to figure out what our next move was.

He kept his hand over my mouth as he turned his head toward me, his eyes wide and unreadable.

I didn't inhale, didn't blink, didn't think... all I could do was stare at him with fear in my eyes.

Because at that moment, I heard Edward screaming through something that was blocking his lips from moving, like tape, and heard thrashing from the room that was caddy-cornered from us.

Was he being tortured?

Or worse?

Charlie dropped his hand from my mouth when he saw my expression.

"Dad, what do we do?" I mouthed to him without using my voice.

CRASH! I saw a hand bust through the wall behind my father, grab him by his throat, and pull his entire body through the wall.

I screamed as I listened to them struggling behind the half broken plywood.

I couldn't figure out what to do, did I go help my dad or did I go get Edward?

I heard my dad yelling, followed by a crash.

Then it got silent again... Echoing...

I gasped and backed away quickly, my hand covering my mouth.

Victor came strolling in, stepping through the hole in the wall he created. His irises were dark as the deepest pit of hell, and red around the outer circle. Thirsty. Blood driven.

His short, brown curly hair and defined cheek bones made him look the same as he did so many moons ago, during the night he took my mother's life. But he was colder, darker, and the smell of him could only be described as icey... Deceased.

He didn't smile. He didn't blink. He only stared at me. Viciously.

I knew how powerful he was at that moment. His stare said it all.

I knew how strong I was, but knew he was stronger. He drank human blood all these years. I never truly touched a drop. He was rabid. I was trained. He was a thousand years older than me...

And he wanted something...

...Bad.

I kept moving, shuffling my feet, until I was up against the window in Elizabeth's old bedroom.

He sighed, tilting his head at me.

I could hear the muffled screams intensify, and knew Edward realized we were here now.

Victor remained still and un-phased. His staring was intense.

I shuddered as I watched his black coal eyes turn to a bright blue in an instant.

His face was abnormally pale, and his features were hard to look away from.

If he weren't the devil himself, I'd think he was the most beautiful undead man I'd ever laid eyes on.

And when he spoke, his voice was scratchy, like he smoked every minute of his life since birth, and it shook every cell in my body.

"What took you so long?" he hissed, his fingers balling into fists as he took another step toward me.

My back was pressed up against the wall as I stared into his deep blue eyes... I'd never seen anything like it before.

I felt transfixed on him.

He tilted his head in the other direction, inhaling the air around him deeply.

"Ahh," he continued, as a smile grazed his face, "can you smell that, Isabella? It's fresh blood... the blood of a sacrifice."

"There won't be any sacrificing tonight, unless it's you."

"Oh yeah? Well your boyfriend doesn't think so..." he replied. "Edward told me that I could have him as an exchange for my wife, which your father took from me..."

I stole a quick glance behind me, out the bedroom window.

The clouds were rolling in dark and heavily as the lightning crashed around, with my mood being so uneasy at the moment.

We were three stories up now, and I could see the porch to my left. There wasn't any other windows, so in order for me to make it to Edward this way, I'd have to jump out of the window, latch onto the gutter, swing my body around in a ninety-degree angle, around the corner, and into that other window...

I didn't have much time either.

I took a deep breath, glancing my attention back to Victor. "Well you took his wife away from him... Why don't you call that even, and we all go on our merry little ways?"

Victor snickered, taking another step, "If only it were that easy, Bella... If only that were all I wanted..."

He shook his head, walking closer to me.

I held still. "What is it that you want, huh?"

"Take a guess."

I held my breath as he was a mere two feet from me. "Fame? Money? Glory?"

He tilted his head back, letting out a bellowed laugh. "No. Hardly, actually..."

I curled my fingers into fists, trying to keep my focused and ignoring Edward's screams. "Then what is it?"

"You." he hissed, as the power went out of the house.

I stopped breathing as the lightning flashed over his cold blue eyes. I couldn't see anything else but his irises, and how enchanting they were.

My body shook I couldn't remove myself from his eyes.

It was as if he had me locked in that position, as if I were super-glued this way.

He took a step closer, breathing heavily as a growl burrowed in his chest. "I've always... wanted... you... I've always wanted to kill ...you... even when you were just a fragile human."

I shook my head in disbelief, but no words could come out.

He smiled, his blue eyes glowing as the thunder crashed.

His voice remained calm, and raspy. "I wanted to have you. I wanted to own you. I wanted to make you mine... forever. I knew that I could do it, and that it was my perfect night... So I called the town on your father, told them what he was, and that he wanted to murder his own family, and all of the town as well... And guess what Bella? They believed me. I set it up, it was a trap all along... I didn't care about Renee, or Jamee even... It was all about you, Bella... I wanted to save Renee and Jamee, and I wanted to turn you for myself... I wanted to give them to you, because you would have been a newborn. My newborn. ...You were such a beautiful, stubborn, young soul... Then I thought, if I used Renee and Jamee as a poll, and turned them... then Charlie would think I were honest. And a true friend... then I'd get back to what really mattered to me. I could do anything I wanted with you, and I would have... except for Charlie turned you before I got done with Renee..."

Lightning crashed outside, making his eyes more transparent.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Victor shook his head, taking a step closer, until he was inches away, "He didn't give me any other choice...so I took her life instead. To show him that he could hurt like I did... he could ache, like I did... like I did for you, Bella."

Thunder crashed around us as the house shook.

I was trembling as I tried to process all of this.

I had no idea where Charlie was, and I couldn't hear any movement besides Edward's struggles to get free in the other room.

"I-If this was what you w-wanted," I stammered, closing my eyes to focus through my trembling frame, "then why didn't you just get to me somehow? Why involve everyone else, why involve Edward?"

He chuckled, his cold hand rubbing my left cheek, "because... Edward got you."

I held my breath at the mention of that name.

He let out a gust of wind. "All of you, didn't he?"

I closed my eyes, my body feeling like it was falling apart.

His hands crashed on my shoulders as he yanked me forward, my chest crashing into his.

"DIDN'T HE?!" he shouted, as his body towered over mine, "didn't he -- that stupid, pathetic, human boy -- get... ALL of you?"

I was shaking as I gripped his biceps, trying to pull myself away from his metal-like grasp.

"Yes," I confessed, gasping for air as he squeezed me tighter, "he did."

He stuck his face to mine, inhaling my scent, as his voice became calm again.

"...There. ...That's better... Honesty is very important in our relationship, Bella... we must have that from the start."

I whimpered, feeling my bones start to give in.

He was much stronger than I'd ever be. He was too powerful for me.

"Victor," I gasped, my head feeling dizzy. "...You're hurting me..."

"All in the name of love, my dear."

Lightning crashed, closer this time as the thunder echoed outside.

I closed my eyes and locked up, as I felt his frigid lips press against mine. I held still, digging my fingernails into his frozen, stiff skin.

Then I heard Charlie scream, and as Victor pulled away, my dad ran through the doorway, charging at him too fast for him to react.

They collided and crashed into the closet beside me, with Charlie on top of him.

Victor threw him up in the air and kicked him, and I watched as my father's body flew over the box spring, crashing into the long dresser on the far wall.

Dad rose to his feet as Victor charged for him, and they crashed through that wall, then another, then another.

I could hear them wrestling and screaming at each other, but decided it was now or never. Edward had to come first.

I ran over to the dresser, grabbing the only drawer that wasn't smashed into wood chips. I held onto it and busted out the window and the metal. Then I jumped out of the window. I grasped the gutter with the tips of my fingers and lunged my body forward, twisting my torso around the corner of the house.

Before I could blink, I flew through the other window, and landed heavily onto my stomach along the wooden floor, with pieces of the glass crashing around me.

I saw feet moving and recognized black shoes.

When I looked up, I saw Edward.

He had silver tape wound around his head, covering his mouth tight. His eyes were red and bloodshot. He had been crying.

He looked weak and confused almost, like he wasn't sure where he was... Disoriented... then I saw the gash on the left side of his head.

He had been struck with an object, possibly a bludgeoned attempt... or maybe Victor was just trying to get his attention, like a test. Blood was in his hair, down his face and on his cheeks. I noticed his hands were bound together too, and he was chained to the middle of the floor.

I closed my eyes and held my breath, not focusing on the blood. Then I regained my composure.

You can do this, Bella.

I crawled over to him as he whimpered and used my fingernail to bust through the tape covering his mouth.

He gasped as I continued to rip it off, shaking his head violently.

"Calm down, calm down Edward," I cried as I tried to hold him still.

Once the tape, and some of his hair, was ripped away, I went to work on his hands.

The tape was put on thick, so I first chose to run over to the middle and yank the metal spike'd claw trap from the floor.

Wood panels flew in the air as I threw it on the ground.

Edward's body fell forward and I crawled back over to him, ripping the chain links apart with my fingers.

"I'm so sorry Edward, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I kept repeating to him.

He wasn't talking, just gasping for air, like he hadn't taken a normal breath in days. Probably because he hasn't.

Once his wrists were free, I pulled him to his feet.

"Listen to me, we've got to get you out of here," I said to him, trying to keep my voice low, "but you have to stay calm, can you do that?"

He nodded profusely, then his body went completely still.

He didn't even blink.

I stared at him for a second, trying to figure out what he was doing.

Was he going into shock?

"Bella." was all he said. One word. Calm.

With that, I felt something strike me on the back of my head, hard.

I fell forward onto my knees and tried to grab Edward in order to protect him, but his body was lifted up before my hands met his legs, and he was thrown against the wall behind him.

I heard Charlie scream as he ran inside, and he leaped over me to get to Victor.

"Bella!" he shouted as they fought each other. "Get Edward out of here! NOW!"

I ran over to Edward, lifting him up in my arms. He was limp almost, but awake. Confused.

"I'm so sorry Edward," I said as I ran, out the room, along the hall, down the broken steps, around the living room, and out the front door.

It was pouring outside and darker than night.

I ran through the long yard in the rain, gripping onto his body with all my might.

I got him all the way to the car, opening the front seat and shoving him in.

The keys were left in the ignition, thank God. Charlie was prepared.

I fastened the seatbelt around him. "Edward, I want you to take this car and get out of here. Go to the Omni Hotel, on water street. Your brothers and sisters are waiting for you. They have plane tickets. Take the next flight available out of here, and no matter what, don't wait around. This is very urgent, can you do that for me?!"

He shook his head, fighting against my arms as I tried to keep him buckling his seat, "No Bella, I'm not leaving you, no I-"

I cut him off, shouting at him, "EDWARD! This is NOT a negotiation! You have to go, NOW!"

"No Bella, I'm not leaving you! I can't, I can't just go away and let you stay here and get yourself killed! NO!"

I tried to fight with him, but he kept shouting, "NO! NO! NO!"

"EDWARD, listen to me! Okay?!" I shook him, fastening the seat belt one last time, "I'll come back for you. I promise! But I can't leave my dad in there, or Victor is going to kill him... Charlie is fighting so that you and your family can be safe. He's fighting because he knows how much I love you, and need you. So you have to go and... I'll catch up."

He shook his head and creased his lips, not saying anything.

"Stop being stubborn, Edward! GO DAMN IT!"

He shook his head as tears fell from his bloodshot eyes, "Please don't make me go."

I leaned over him and stuck the gearshift in reverse. "Go."

Then I slammed the door and turned away from him, refusing to meet his eyes.

I could hear the car revving up but it stayed in place.

"Come with me!" he shouted after he scraped away the broken glass I caused from my force.

"NO EDWARD," I hissed through my teeth.

I turned around again, showing him my dark eyes as lightning bolts crashed into the yard, around me.

He froze, his body stiff as he stared at my pitch black eyes.

He was scared.

"GO." I hissed one last time, making my threat clear.

He peeled backward, staring at me the whole time before whipping the car around in a circle, onto the road.

Then he stared at me through the passenger window for a few seconds.

All I could do was glare at him. Make him leave.

Make his safe.

He shook his head slowly.

And then he was gone.

I closed my eyes, the feeling of emptiness surrounding me whole.

I took a steady breath, trying to focus.

Then I turned around and ran back to the house, toward my father. I could hear them screaming and things breaking.

I ran up the steps, avoiding the three-forth's of them that were smashed to crumbs at this point.

Once I reached the bedroom again, I saw Victor straddling my father, with his fingers locked around his neck, in a death grip.

His eyes were an even brighter, more saturated shade of blue, and there was a clear ring surrounding their bodies, like a large soap bubble.

That's when I figured out his power... he has shields. Protective shields. That's why Charlie couldn't see through the walls and find Edward before it was too late. When his eyes turn to different shades of blue, he can turn on different shields... One to make him and whoever is inside it invisible, one to block out the outside world so we couldn't get in to him, and many others I couldn't even think about...

But what could destroy them?

I accessed the situation, running around them to the other side.

"LET HIM GO!" I shouted, reaching out to touch it.

I was knocked backward, flying into the wall with the broken window.

The wall cracked down to the floor, but didn't break through.

They continued to fight and Charlie continued to struggle as I watched Victor try to rip him apart.

I watched him dislocate my father's right shoulder first, then his left leg. He was going to kill him.

I closed my eyes as flashes of everything from the night my mother died all the way until today swam over me:

Renee, Jamee, that night, my turning, the fire, the flames, the isolation, the different towns, different high schools, the friends that i made growing up and dying, my abandonment with all the people I knew, the many nights alone with my father, the many nights alone period, the hunting training, the school halls, Julia, Ashley, Mike, Jessica, Angela, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper,

Edward.

I popped my eyes open and flew to my feet.

Within that same second, a lightning bold blasted through the window and struck his shield, sending both him and my father flying in opposite directions.

Victor flew sideways with a crash, through the far wall, while dad flew to my right, landing into a pile of broken wood that I caused earlier.

I stomped toward Victor as steam fumed through my body.

Thunder crashed around the house as the wind all but ripped the roof off.

He jumped to his feet the same time I did, and when we crashed, his weight overpowered mine, sending me backward with him on top of me.

We smashed into the ground and busted through it, falling down into the first level of the house. We landed hard on the ground, busting it with our bodies. We were now in the kitchen.

I threw him off of me with a wail-like scream, and watched furiously as his body smashed into the open counter that locked the kitchen with the dining room.

He fell into a heap onto the floor, then he flipped over in a backward motion, landing with his right knee on the ground and his left leg arched out.

He was in attack mode now.

I jumped for him the same time he did again, and this time I was smashed into the fridge, the door and glass shelves crashing beneath me.

He held my neck in his hands as he climbed over me, hissing loudly, "that wasn't NICE, BELLA! Why would you do that to me, someone who loves you?"

I struggled under his weight, trying to break free.

"You call this love?!" I scoffed through my strained voice, grasping his wrists with my fingers, "Are you insane! You're just a pervert who was in love with a minor and took all his aggression on the wrong people, including my mother!"

He picked me up and slammed my body back into the busted scraps, my head crashing into the tile and breaking it.

"Oh, I loved you Bella. Always. This shouldn't have happened, and wouldn't have, if Charlie hadn't been so stubborn such a long time ago."

I glared at him, the fuel burning deep. He's said too much.

"...My father loves me."

Then I kicked him hard, sending him soaring through the air into the living room again.

I could hear tires screeching from outside. Was that a car?

Then I heard Charlie's voice, raspy and desperate.

"DAD!" I shouted, as I twisted my body around, crawling one more time up the two flights of steps.

Something wasn't right, I could feel it.

I found Charlie laying in the pile of debree, with his right arm and left leg unmovable, gashes and scrapes along his neck, and a piece of wood stabbed through his left side, by his rib cage.

I ran over to him, sliding on my knees once I got close enough to reach him.

"Dad! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry daddy, what can I do?"

"You have to get out of here," he cried through his straggled breath. "Now, Bella. Get out of here before it's too late."

"No, I can get you out!" I replied as I yanked the wood from his leg.

"Bella don't!"

I ignored his screams as I lifted him in my arms.

"Dad we're gonna be fine, just hang on!"

"No Bella!" he winched, trying to get me to let go. "You need to worry about yourself! GO! NOW!"

"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" I yelled back as I turned around.

Then I was smacked across the face with a piece of plywood and kicked in my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I felt another lightning bolt fly over my head, followed by another and another, and then I saw the room light up bright as they struck Victor one after another, going through his chest.

I released Charlie and felt myself flying through the air, out the window, and down the three stories, landing hard onto the porch and busting through it, onto the cement foundation beneath it.

My entire body felt like it had been stabbed through with splinters, swords, knives... anything that was sharp.

I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what happened.

Did I kill Victor? Was dad safe now?

Suddenly everything became very distant.

All the sounds faded away.

The rain began to drown me.

I glanced at my body, seeing pieces of wood piercing my skin at every angle... and one object sticking out of my stomach.

And then I knew it was over.

I felt my body begin to tremble as the fear began to wash over me.

Suddenly my life was mapped out very differently...

I saw Edward laughing, but it wasn't with me.

I saw him holding hands with someone, but it wasn't my hands.

I saw him growing older, having a successful career, raising kids, being a good father, growing older and wiser...

...And I saw all of this without me.

And it wasn't because he didn't love me.

No, that'd never be the case.

It was because I wasn't going to exist...

I closed my eyes as echoed voices crashed around me, distorted and muffled beyond repair.

Then it all became black and fuzzy...

Like I wasn't real at all.

Like I was in a dream.

"BELLA!"

I laid my head back onto the broken slab of concrete, gasping for air as my trembling hands covered my stomach.

Edward was safe now, that was all that mattered.

He was gone, and he was safe.

And that was my dream... for him to live happily.

Because he deserved happiness, after all the heartbreak and struggles he had to go through.

Losing his parents. Losing all he knew in his life before.

He could have that all back now... or a new life.

A better life. A safer one.

I could remember that dream, the one of him being happy... and I could be okay knowing that he was safe.

I smiled for a brief second as the thunder crashed over me.

Have you ever felt like you were living inside a dream that you couldn't escape from?

Like you were reaching out, trying to find a hole to climb out of, or a crack to slide under... and yet, all you found was more walls?

Have you ever felt like you could be calling out for someone, anyone to help you, but all you heard was the sound of your voice as it echoed and bounced around you?

This is how I once felt. I was trapped, excluded. Forgotten.

I never gave my existence much thought before. I just was.

As time went by, I accepted this fate.

But today -- today was different. I was not prepared for Victor.

I should have been, but I wasn't.

I never even expected to find myself in this type of predicament.

All I wanted was for someone in this world to notice me for who I am, not for what I was.

I wanted one single soul to look at me in my eyes and see a person behind them, not a monster.

...Somehow, deep inside, I never truly thought it would happen.

So when it did, it took me like a windfall and knocked me off of my bearings.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't think, and most of all, I couldn't process one single surrounding.

It was uncontrollable.

Because I fell in love.

And the search for myself was now over.

I knew who I was.

For the first time in my entire life, I knew.

I was Isabella.

I was strong.

I became beautiful.

I fought for what I wanted, and protected who I could.

And I was happy once...

All because of him.

I could hear screams and shuffles above me as someone crawled down throug the busted wood on the porch, dropping down to the cement beside me.

The blurry presence fell beside me, and suddenly made me calm.

It was an angel... I could feel it...

I was going to be carried away from here.

Away from this cold, dark world.

"Look at me, Bella!" the beautiful creature shouted at me.

I felt his firm, warm fingers on my skin, gripping my jaw, shaking my face until my eyes found his.

His eyes were a deep green, deep as the meadow I laid in once before with Edward, when I confessed my identity and he accepted it.

I wanted more than anything to be back there once again.

I began to close my eyes, imagining we were there. Warm. Alone now, but together.

"Stay right there, love! Don't you dare close your eyes! Don't you do it!"

This angel was Edward?

"Edward..." I choked out, reaching my trembling hand to stroke his warm face.

My body began to shake and I felt the cold start to take it's effect on me.

My eyes filled with tears, something that happens to my kind once every ten years or so.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

The idea of leaving him forever...

Of never touching this cheek of his again...

Of never looking into those eyes, or seeing that smile, or kissing those lips...

"E-Edward," I croaked out, reaching up to grab one of his perfect hands. "I-I am so sorry. I didn't mean to -"

"No!" he shouted forcefully, my angel cutting me off. "Don't you apologize to me, Bella! You're going to make it. You're going to be just fine. Do you believe me Bella?"

I felt his hands grip my body and yank me up off the ground, the pieces of wood inside my back coming with me.

My body began to unravel, shaking and convulsing in his lap. I couldn't think now, couldn't breathe.

I felt the exhaustion of this long world take it's toll on me, and I began to slip under the weight of it.

Further, deeper... I was definitely going down.

I felt his hand slap my face hard, trying to keep me awake, keep me here with him.

Oh how I wanted to stay with him. Forever.

"BELLA!" The struggling, defeated scream echoed around my ears, as the sheer sound of pain blasted around the outside walls of that empty, cold, dark house.

White lights began to flicker in and out of my subconscious, and I knew it was too late.

I was dying now. My body was going numb and I was dying.

"Oh my God, Bella! Don't you leave me! I can't breathe without you, you can't leave me now! Hold on, Angel! Hold on!"

I felt my shoulders grow numb, and knew my time was up.

"Don't do it, don't you say goodbye to me!"

I felt nothing.

Emptiness.

My heart had broken completely, and now I was gone. I deserved to die.

This was my fate.

I struggled to open my eyes, to gain enough strength to find his.

I wanted one everlasting memory of the angel that came into my life so unexpectedly, flipped my world upside down, stole my soul from me, and taught me how to love again - despite my imperfections.

And when I found his eyes, I was at peace again.

One last time.

And then I closed my eyes to rest, the first time in over a hundred years.



So there we go, Chapter 20! Keep the reviews and compliments/suggestions/positive feedback coming in!! They are always welcome. Stay tuned!

ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS/RESPONSES:

-- Thanks to everyone who's continued to be faithful with their reviews per chapter, their positive feedback, advice, and their constructive criticism, etc. It's been amazing and so enjoyable to come home from a long day's work and see the number rise from people who enjoy the story just as much as I do! I can't say it enough: You're the best!

-- Yes there are a few more chapters of this story... but does Bella survive? Or does the story go on in Edward's POV?
Hmm... I shall never tell beforehand. You know me better than that.

-- If you're in the mood for some drama, go check out my latest Edward/Bella fanfiction "The Ex Factor", subscribe and review! Rated Mature!

-- IF I MISSED SOMEONE'S QUESTION, I TRULY APOLOGIZE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL ANSWER IT ASAP!

Sincerely, Angela.