Here's the next chapter! Eep! I'm excited! Are you excited? Urgh, ignore me! It's midnight and I'm completely over-tired, not to mention I founded some chocolate and ated it! Yeah, I ated it! Lol, anyway, I've got the next chapter ready, I just need to edit it so it should be up later today (aka at a more acceptable hour -.-)
HPobsessssssed7: Thanks for the review! I know this might not be 'soon' but it's better than last time! :)
Mummyanimal: Thank you! I haven't gotten calls from the school saying that I can't do my chosen subjects next year, so I think I passed everything! Yay! Thanks for your review – both of them! And there was no way Tali was being left out of the action XD Thanks for your confidence in me and my writing!
Msfrannyblack: Yep, she got him! Ha, I had to humiliate James by letting a human get him before the other vampires XD Thanks for the review!
BRITISH VAMPIRE: I'm very sorry, but here's the new chapter now! Thanks for the review! XD
Bubble .Gum .Green: Glad you like! Thanks for reviewing! :)
Sexy-Vampirita: Wow, that means a lot! Thank you!
xxxPurplexxx1: Well I was kinda eating strawberries when I was writing the chapter and my brother kept kicking his soccer ball against the wall outside my door and it was really irritating and I just kept thinking 'go on, throw the strawberries at him' but I didn't cause my parents would get annoyed at me. So I made Tali throw them instead! I think I may do a sequel now! And I think she does, but she's too stubborn to admit it cause of Edan. Like she told Jasper, she's not too good with the whole feelings thing (and no, I don't even know cause I just write and see what happens XD). But who knows, I may be wrong! Thanks for reviewing!
TLS: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it!
Baillieboo: Yeah, sorry it took so long! Lol, I try to leave good cliffies, I'm glad they work! And the Bella and Jasper thing shall be revealed in the last chapter (which isn't too far away now!). And Kiv has changed way too much ... Thanks for reviewing!
DBZLOVER, marc, Freehawk, jack, murtaghthetrueheroineragon: I gotta thank you guys, so thank you! (And murtaghthetrueheroineragon, I could not agree with your name more!)
ME: *Sigh* Do you people realise how close we are to the end?
Phoe: Stop being so depressing Tali!
Katie: Seriously, you need to lighten up and stop being so emo.
ME: Oh hey Katie! Nice to see you again! Where's Priss?
Katie: She's been disposed of.
ME & Phoe: O.O'
SM: Just somebody say it already!
ME: NEVER!
SM: Fine, I will. Those three freaks above me DO NOT own Twilight, I do.
ME: YOU SUCK! *Goes to cry in a corner*
Katie: Now look what you've done! Grr...
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, but I do own Tali, Zoltan, Zander, Raines, Rainey, Fawn, Kevin, Edan, but not Lee, cause he's mentioned in like, one line of the book XD.
25. Ashes
I staggered to my feet in total relief. They were here. Edward was the one that had thrown James away, but he was back at Bella's side in a flash. Jasper and Emmett had tackled James before he could renew his assault on my sister and I stumbled over to Bella's side.
"Oh no, Bella, no!" Edward cried, running his cold fingers across her face. Emmett, Alice and Jasper were snarling like crazy, slashing and ripping at James who was trying to defend himself – but was failing miserably. My gaze was drawn to my sister however, her eyes were closed and she looked like she was in immense pain. I couldn't tell Edward about the bite before he started pleading with her. "Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, Bella, please!" I grabbed my sister's hand – the one that wasn't infected with vampire venom – and squeezed it tightly, keeping my eyes fixed on her deathly pale face. She looked like a vampire. Her lips twitched.
"Carlisle!" I called, just noticing the doctor jump through the broken window the others had all entered through. Edward was still sobbing tearless sobs and murmuring to Bella. I just held her hand for dear life. Carlisle's eyes widened as he shot to our side and knelt down beside us, his fingers working softly through her hair to check her head wound.
"Bella," Edward cried.
"She's lost some blood, but the head wound isn't deep," Carlisle told us, "But watch out for her leg, it's broken." Edward let out a cry of rage and his enraged gaze turned briefly on James who was still fighting against Emmett, Jasper and Alice. Needless to say, he wasn't doing too well. Carlisle's hands ran lightly across Bella's ribs and I heard a barely audible hiss escape from her lips. "Some ribs, too, I think."
"That's not all!" I cried, carefully holding up her other hand, "Carlisle, he bit her!"
"It hurts," Bella whimpered and Carlisle stared at the bite mark, appalled.
"Edward," Alice was next to her brother now, staring worriedly at her friend, "You have to do it!" Alice's fingers ran across Bella's eyes, wiping her tears away.
"No!" Edward yelled.
"She's not changing Alice!" I snapped, "Suck the venom out!" Three sets of eyes snapped to me.
"You think it will work?" Edward asked desperately.
"It did for me! Just do it!" Carlisle was rummaging around in his bag as I spoke and Edward looked at me, a battle raging in his eyes.
"I don't know if I can do that," Edward whispered.
"Well you bloody well better try or she's gonna be like you soon enough!"
"It's your decision, Edward, either way," Carlisle told him and I hissed, "I can't help you. I have to get this bleeding stopped here if you're going to be taking blood from her hand." It was just then that I noticed Carlisle was patching up the wound in Bella's head. I thought I saw a needle in his hand and I quickly looked away. I hated needles more than Bella hated blood.
Bella had started writhing in agony between us and Edward's gaze was fixed on her. "Edward!" Bella screamed and I hissed.
"God damn it Edward! Just do it!"
"Alice, get me something to brace her leg," Carlisle commanded and then turned his gaze to Edward, "Edward, you must do it now, or it will be too late!"
Bella's eyes were opened, watching him through her haze of agony. And that one look seemed to convince Edward of what he had to do. With determination blazing in his eyes, he picked up her hand softly and his cold lips met her skin. I almost sighed in relief that he was finally going to save her, but my relief dried up a second later when Bella began to writhe around in agony and she began to scream and thrash around as Alice, Carlisle and I held her down so she couldn't hurt herself further.
But slowly, slowly, her struggles faded and dimmed. I knew what she was feeling. It felt like the fire in your body was dying, disappearing to be replaced by blissful numbness. Her eyes were fading too and I held onto her hand tightly. "It's okay now Bella," I whispered to her and brushed her sticky hair out of her face.
"Edward," she murmured and I rolled my eyes. Of course, she wants the vampire.
"He's right here Bella," I said quietly.
"Stay, Edward, stay with me ..." she breathed.
"Tali!" Emmett called, "Got your lighter kid?"
"How do you think the bastard got that burn in his arm huh?" I growled in satisfaction and picked up my discarded lighter, throwing it the massive vampire who caught it easily.
"Nice job," Emmett laughed, though there was still a growl in his voice. I looked to Jasper who was staring at the pile of twitching limbs that I now noticed with the scariest look I've ever seen him have. His eyes were black with rage and he was growling under his breath. With a snarl, Emmett set the pile on fire and a sickly sweet smell began to permeate the air. I hissed as I stared and with a broken bit of floorboard, I collected James shirt. After a second of staring at the flames, I threw it in there with him. Now, nothing of him existed.
Except Kiv. Shit.
In the whole burning of the evil vamp, I had completely forgotten about my sister. But somehow, even though I knew she'd be devastated, I couldn't bring myself to regret James' death. Yes, he'd saved me, but he'd also tried to kill Bella. This was his own fault and Kiv would see that.
We three, Emmett, Jasper and me just stood and stared at the flames and I could feel the blood drying on my head, but I couldn't dwell on anything else before Emmett let out a laugh and picked me up, spinning me around in circles as he almost crushed me in his hug.
"Can't ... breathe ... Emmett!" I choked and he dropped me to the ground.
"Sorry kid," he smiled. Jasper was still snarling quietly at the fire, his hands curved into claws at his side as the flames flickered in his eyes. He was on the other side of the fire and he made no move to change that. I guessed that my blood and Bella's might have something to do with that.
"She's passed out Tali," Carlisle called me and my head whipped around to see the little group surrounding Bella, "We need to get her to the hospital." I nodded. "You need to go too," Carlisle was looking at the blood on my face, but I shook my head. "Take Bella, I'll come later." He held my gaze for a moment before looking away, letting Edward pick Bella up carefully and I watched as the room quickly emptied, the fire burning lower as it ran out of fuel, until eventually it was just me and Jasper standing there around a pile of burnt vampire and floorboards. The smell was really giving me a headache, it was too sweet.
"You think it's safe to wait for her?" he asked and I smiled. Of course he'd guessed my plan.
"She's my sister, she needs to hear what happened," I told him. "Go Jasper, she won't hurt me."
"Tali, you don't know how vampires get when we lose our mates. It doesn't matter if she wouldn't normally hurt you, she won't be thinking straight."
"You don't know her like I do Jasper," I said firmly, "I'll be fine."
"If you're sure..."
"Jasper!" I snapped. I wasn't in the mood for people to question my judgement, especially not when it came to my big sister.
"Alright," he sighed in defeat, "But I'll be just down the road. Call me if you need me."
"I won't."
"But just in case," he said firmly, and without another word, he was gone. I vaguely heard the door to the studio close and I just stood and waited, staring at the flames, until Kiv showed up. I knew she would, and I was hoping that she would be okay. No doubt James' death would hurt her badly, especially after he had had such a huge impact on all our lives.
I could see the sky outside through the shattered, broken windows of the studio set high up in the walls. The stars winked at me and I could feel the glow of the not-quite-full moon flow in through the windows. I was almost positive that by now, Kiv would know there was something wrong. She always had that instinct, of when something was wrong. Of course, I thought wryly, the one day we'd needed it, it had failed her. I couldn't help but let my mind delve into my past, into what I was going to say to Kiv, how I was going to explain my injuries and Bella's to my parents, when we would be going home. I wondered idly if my mother had already been told of Bella's injuries and I felt a pang of worry for my sister which I quickly shoved down. Bells was strong, the venom had been removed and Carlisle was apparently one of the best doctors in America. But considering how old he was, I suppose it wasn't surprising.
A choking gasp wrenched me out of my thoughts and I spun around to see Kiv standing right beside me, staring at the flames with more pain than I thought could exist in the world. Her arm was wrapped tightly around her middle, as though holding herself together (AN: familiar anyone? These Swan girls are alike :) ). Her usually red eyes were now black with pain and I had a twinge in my stomach that was telling me that maybe I had underestimated the love between vampire mates.
"Kiv?" I asked. She didn't appear to have heard me. She had crouched down by the smouldering ashes that were now all that was left of James and she ran her fingers through them wordlessly, her mouth closed, not gaping in shock like she'd been doing only seconds before. "Kiv?" I asked, louder. She still didn't respond, but after a few seconds, her pain filled eyes locked on me.
"What happened?" she murmured and I shuddered at her tone of voice. It was icy, deadly, not to mention riddled with more pain than was even in her eyes.
"Jam - " I stopped as the pain in her eyes redoubled and I continued down a different track. "He tried to kill Bella. He tried to kill her, and he tried to hurt me too. The Cullens didn't give me these wounds you know," I pointed out dryly, motioning to my head with my uninjured hand. I was pretty sure my left wrist had been sprained, it hurt to move.
"The Cullens ..." Kiv murmured, "What was their part in this?"
"They came to save Bells and me," I managed to get out. There was something very wrong. The tone of her voice was giving me the creeps, it was raising goose-bumps on my skin. Her eyes were worse. They were clearing, and they were truly scary now. I was beginning to regret sending Jasper away. "This was the only way to stop him Kiv, he would have kept going until he killed her!" She was silent, her fingers still buried in the cooling ashes. My own fingers twitched nervously at the growing tension in the room.
"They murdered him," she whispered.
"What? No! They were protecting Bella! This wasn't murder! This was defence!" She rose slowly to her feet until she was standing over me. Kiv had always been tall compared to Bella and I, and it wasn't helping my nerves at this moment.
"It was murder," she hissed and grabbed my wrist – my injured wrist. I hissed in pain as she squeezed lightly on the sprain – lightly for her. I held back a whimper as the pain shot up my arm again and I tried to pull my hand away. Obviously, that didn't turn out too well. She didn't let me go, but merely squeeze my wrist tighter.
"You didn't see what he did to her," I growled at her. She was the enemy now, not my sister. There was no trace of that girl left, I could see it. I felt a rush of hate. Bloody vampires! Bloody Carlos!
"I don't have to!" she spat. "What he did to your sister or not is none – of – my – concern." She accentuated every one of those last four words with painful squeezes to my wrist. I felt my heart drop to my toes as I realised she'd said 'your' sister, not 'our' sister. That was more painful than any physical blow that I'd ever been dealt.
"She's our sister," I growled at her. "Ours, not mine! Come on Kivvy! Don't you remember anything!" Now I've never been one for begging, but I think that's about as close as I'm gonna get.
"I remember James saving you! I remember him sparing you both! I remember him being with me! He didn't deserve this!" She spat, throwing my wrist down by my side and I growled at the pain as it once more lanced up my arm.
"So you don't care that he tried to kill Bella?" I asked incredulously.
"Quite honestly? No!" she spat at me and my knees shook. This was not what I'd thought of when I'd even entertained the idea that James was right and Kiv had changed. This was worse than anything I'd imagined. Because in my mind, Kiv had always been my sister, and I didn't think anything could change that. But clearly, I'd never known how much the vampire venom could change a person on the inside, not just physically.
"You don't mean that Kiv!" I growled at her. I was still clinging to the hope that this was just the grief from James' death talking.
"No Taliah!" she spat at me, "I do! What would it take to make you believe that?"
"Nothing will make me believe that!" I hissed at her, "You know you care!" But Kiv wasn't listening to me anymore, she was walking slowly around the pile of ashes, lost in her thoughts, but I could hear her murmurs from here.
"Cullen... This is his fault. If he hadn't been sooo over-protective ... But no matter ... he will pay for this murder ... he will pay as I have paid ..."
"Kiv, what the hell are you going on about!" I snapped at her, "This was James' fault and no-one else's!" I stepped back in shock as she appeared right in front of me.
"Never," she hissed at me, "Never, speak his name to me. Never try and pin the blame on my love!" I didn't even see her arm as it shot out, but I felt it. Something caught me hard in the stomach and the wind was knocked out of me as I felt my feet leave the ground. I couldn't pinpoint where I was going to end up, but I didn't need too, for seconds later, my head slammed into the mirror. I could hear it shatter and I felt it pierce my skin as I landed on the broken fragments. I rolled over weakly, the blood cascading down my forehead and into my eyes. It was all I could do to stay conscious and I could barely manage that. I tried to pick my head up off the floor but it fell back against the glass covered ground. My vision was blurry, and my eyes were now filled with blood as it flowed down into them, but I still sought out Kiv.
She didn't seem to notice the blood at all, in fact she was seemingly oblivious to me altogether. She was back by the pile of ashes. I could see her eyes were red once more, and they were clear. She ran her fingers back through the ash and smeared it across her face (AN: I saw this in New Moon and I thought it was just an awesome idea. Hope you don't mind that I nicked it!), creating lines across her pale cheeks. Suddenly, just as my eyelids began to droop, her head shot up like a dog that had caught a scent and she leapt upwards – I couldn't see where. But all I knew was that seconds later, two echoing growls reached my ears, and I gave in to the blackness and willingly lost myself in it. There was only one word reverberating through my head as my senses faded.
Kiv.
And so begins Kiv's revenge campaign. Poor Tali, everything she believed of her sister is gone. And I know it's shorter than normal, but I think I got what I needed too. Anyway, please review! I'd appreciate it! And remember, the next one is written up and should be posted later today! Thankies!