Chapter Twenty-Six

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I woke up at what seemed like a very early hour judging by the light filtering through the blinds, feeling thoroughly dazed. It took me a few minutes to remember everything that had happened yesterday, and when I had, I still wasn't sure if it was real. It all felt like a nightmare, a horrible, traumatic nightmare. But no, even without looking at the disturbing thin white scars- which were scarily all that was left of the injury I received yesterday in the ritual - on my arm, I knew that what I had thought happened was accurate.

It was because of the numbness inside of me which made it certain, the numbness of knowing I was going to die today, the numbness of knowing that Edward and I would never share another word, nor another kiss, nor another exclamation of love, the numbness of knowing everything that I had done and realising that I would never be able to apologise for it, not even fleetingly.

I wondered what other people did when they knew they were going to die soon. Usually, I remembered- from television shows and inspirational newspaper articles- that they would make up for the wrongs they had committed, and live life to its fullest until their short time was up, despite the length of time they had left. I could do neither, although I supposed that my death was technically my way of making things right, of achieving my greatest wish- keeping Edward safe and alive.

I also wondered about what would have happened with Edward and me, future-wise, if life had been fair and let us both live. But life was cruel, and it was inevitable, if I lived, he would die, and if I died, he would live. There was no question of which option I was going to choose. The decision had been made as soon as it had become necessary. Still, I couldn't help but fantasise about what would have happened if we were both allowed to be together in this world, if the witches didn't exist.

I imagine that I would have married him in a few years' time, that we would have had an intimate ceremony just between the two of us and our close family. One of no extravagance, where I would have worn a simple white dress, one where maybe the dress wasn't even white, and the decorations were minimal. One where all we did was exchange our vows, one where I was officially bound to him forever.

Irrepressible emotion, deep sadness, began to inspire in me when I realised that I could never have that, I could never fully belong to him. Not now, not ever.

Still, I couldn't stop my imagination from conjuring up even more desirable but also painful- because death was going to steal them from me tonight- images.

I imagined that after the wedding, he would whisk me away to some romantic setting of our choice. Paris, Venice, London, Rio, Sydney, and maybe even all of them, despite the fact that they were all so far away from each other. Then again, we'd probably rarely see the sights; I imagined that we'd be stuck in our hotel room all day, and not just because of the sun. We'd probably be so consumed by the other, that we'd forget everything else, including the location.

My cheeks turned a faint pink when I realised how much I longed for that, and at the visions which had been conjured up in my mind.

My head tried to tell myself that it didn't matter anyway, that I would have grown old while he would have stayed young, as a vampire forever, that he would have tiered of me. But my heart knew that the second he asked me to join him in eternity, I would have accepted. We would have been together for time without end; even death wouldn't have parted us because we would have been unyielding to it.

I cut off my fantasies abruptly when I realised that dwelling over what I could have had wasn't going to make passing on or sacrificing myself any easier.

It was either him or me.

And I chose him.

All thoughts were cut off and were replaced with the same feeling of detachment from before, when Ava strode in, her eyes wary, and her mouth in a tight, serious line.

"I see you're awake. Does the insignia hurt?" She asked, her voice predictably cold, a contradiction.

"No," I said dully in response.

"Good, everything seems to be working then. Do you need any resources to make the concentration?"

"No," I replied just as drearily, the numbness making it impossible to feel any emotion anymore. Perhaps the witches' presence only made the fact that I was going to die feel more real.

Feel more final.

"Where do you expect to get the resources from?" She demanded scathingly.

"I have holy water in the cupboard downstairs," My voice was monotone as I explained. "My uncle gave a small vial to us to bless some household items with. We never remembered to use it, so it's still efficient,"

"What of the other requirements?"

"I have a piece of his hair in my pocket," I patted my pocket absently.

"Is that all you need?"

I managed a frown. "Yes, well besides privacy,"

"Why do you need privacy?" She asked suspiciously.

"It's a part of the ceremony. It won't work unless the one with godly connections is alone,"

"Deceit leads to death, you better not be planning to commit it. Look at your arm if you need a reminder," She said harshly before exiting the room and signalling for me to follow.

I flinched at her words, but followed her obediently. It took me a few seconds to realise that she was leading me to the kitchen. Her sisters waited with purpose outside the kitchen door, disappointment replacing their usual malice.

"We'll wait here, while you go inside and make the concoction," Ava instructed, joining her sisters' patient guard outside the door.

"Remember," I said in a last-minute attempt to increase my chances of succeeding. "I have to do this alone; I can't be watched otherwise it won't work,"

"Convenient, isn't it," Aphrodite glared at me.

"I swear that what I'm saying is the truth,"

I didn't even feel guilty for lying; my conscious didn't seem to be tainted at all.

"See, now go in and make the damn thing," Scarlett stepped forward to push me lightly, impatient for her revenge. Being the klutz that I was, the slight push sent me sprawling to the linoleum kitchen floor. The door slammed shut behind me without warning and I was suddenly alone.

For the first time since early yesterday, I was finally in no other company but my own.

But I couldn't dwell on it, I had to do what I had to do.

My fingers searched blindly in my pocket for the lock of Edward's hair which I had so sinfully obtained. The sight of it, of even an insignificant part of him, caused tears to spring to my eyes, and I couldn't help but to stroke the fragment of hair delicately.

This was the last thing I had of his, the last thing of his I had to hold on to.

And now I had to let it go.

I had to let him go.

In both a symbolic and physical gesture, I wiped away my wet eyes with the back of my hand, and placed the lock of hair aside on the kitchen counter. Staring at the kitchen floor, I half-expected Charlie to be still lying unconscious there, but of course not. They must have moved him as to make my job easier.

I hoped that the Cullens would look after him when I died. Edward would know what I would have wanted had I still been alive.

Pushing all other thoughts from my head, I decided to focus on my task.

I couldn't screw this up, not when so many lives depended upon on it!

I knew that the sound of running water would arise the witches' suspicions, so as an alternative, I had to rummage as quietly as I could through the cabinet below the sink for a clear looking liquid. In the end, I decided lemonade from the fridge would do the trick. I could just pass off the bubbles as being an effect of the vampire hair in the liquid.

My heart began to race frantically, as I searched for a possible poison, knowing that this was the vital part of my plan. My seeking hand came across some rat poison, and I knew that it was the best that I would find; Charlie didn't keep any sort of poison in the house unless it was for vermin.

I felt incredibly anxious as I dropped the rat poison into the glass of lemonade, as if it would blow up precariously in my face or I would die straight away for acting in betrayal towards the witches'.

To my great relief, neither occurred.

Now, I had to let the handsome lock of Edward's bronze hair fall into the ghastly mixture. Unable to help myself, and in a way, it was a silent goodbye to Edward even if he would never know of it, I kissed the strand of hair and closed my eyes as I let it fall into the concoction.

Finally, I had to get two more glasses from the cupboard and pour an even amount of the stuff into all three glasses.

It was done.

"I've done it," I called out shakily, but with a suitable volume of noise. The door swung open almost immediately.

"Did you have to mix it around for five minutes or something? Why did you take so long?" Scarlett grumbled, while Aphrodite agreed with her distractively, her eyes fixed greedily on the glass I held tightly in my sweaty hands.

Well at least she didn't sound suspicious, just impatient.

'You all have to drink it all at once, otherwise it won't work, and only one of you will be able to kill him. I'm sure you want to have an equal share on the victory," I tried to say nonchalantly, like I understood what vengeance entitled.

"Of course," Aphrodite snapped. "Now give it to us,"

"It needs to be drunk at the exact same second," I warned. They all grabbed a glass regardless, but thankfully they didn't drink it straight away. Aphrodite and Scarlett looked to Ava for instruction before doing anything, who had taken no action also.

"On the count of three," Ava began, her voice breathless with excitement.

"One,"

They all clutched their glasses just a little bit tighter.

"Two,"

Grins surfaced on all of their faces.

"Three,"

At precisely the same second, they all tipped the contents of the glass into their awaiting mouths, caution no longer present in their zeal. The effects of the poison began working immediately.

"Something's wrong," Scarlett perceived with a frown. "I feel…quite drained,"

"She's done something wrong, I know it!" Aphrodite hissed.

"If she did, then why isn't she dead yet?" Ava snarled.

Yes, why wasn't I dead? I made an act of betrayal towards them, didn't it work? Was the rat poison insufficient? What was I going to do if it was true? Would neither I nor Edward live now? What would…

Before I could even finish my panic-streamed thoughts, Aphrodite was stalking towards me, her steps sluggish and faltered, a crazed look in her eye.

"You should be dead," She shrieked. "I know you betrayed us! Our powers won't work, and I can feel myself growing weaker by the second. It must be your shield, it's protecting you. We should have realised that it was far stronger than we thought,"

"But the healing spell worked, why not this, why must the fates turn on us?" Ava screeched.

"Since the insignia didn't kill you, I will," Aphrodite shakily pulled out the same dagger that I'd used to make the initials in my arm, and drove it through my abdomen. I let out a tiny cry of surprise, as blood began to pool from the wound and stain my shirt. The pain was unendurable, but I bore it well, cowering back immediately and resisting the urge to cover the wound with my clammy hands.

Fortunately, due to Aphrodite's weak state, the wound she caused was not deep, but it did cause me to become dizzy and slightly nauseous. I held back the bile with tremendous effort, and instead pushed Aphrodite into the wall with as much strength as I could muster; ignoring the immense pain it caused me to move.

My violent push caused for Aphrodite to collapse onto her sisters, and sent them all sprawling to the floor.

They never got up, clearly unconscious.

I doubted it was my push which did the trick; the poison had obviously weakened them greatly, thankfully to the extent of unconsciousness.

I knew only had a few minutes now.

The poison had caused its final effect, and this concluding effect would only last ten minutes. The severity of my wound was making my vision go blurry, and I could tell that I was losing an ample amount of blood, but I had to do it, I had to kill them.

No matter the cost.

I had to do it for the Cullens, for Edward, for our future.

Screw every possible risk, if I didn't kill them, then I'd face a death worse than blood loss, I was sure.

I raced to a specific kitchen cabinet, ignoring how everything seemed to be on a tilt due to my dizziness, and flung open one of the drawers, searching for a deadly weapon. I knew I couldn't use the witch's dagger; it may have no effect on them. The best I could see was a cook's knife, so I grabbed it quickly and dropped to Aphrodite's side- she would be the first to die.

Rolling her seemingly lifeless body so she was lying on her back, and I could have greater access to her heart, I raised the dagger above her chest. I really shouldn't have felt any hesitation when I glanced at her innocent-looking face. I guess it was the fact that I was about to kill a living creature, that I was about to steal someone's life from them. But then I realised that these things were monsters, they had no souls or any sort of good in them, despite their appearances, and all my hesitation drifted away. A second later and I drove the knife through her chest.

It didn't work quite the way I wanted.

Blood gushed out of the gouge, and trickled down her pale skin and onto her clothes. The blood was a weird, silvery substance, and was the only physical thing which differentiated her from a human.

But the cut that I'd made was only a thin line. There was no way I could reach in and squeeze her heart with even just one hand, or touch it with one finger. Frustrated, I drew the knife through her skin again, but the same thing resulted. My eyes grew wet as I realised how impossible the task I was trying to attempt was, and how little time I had. I tried again, and again, to make a deep abrasion in her skin, in the area of her heart, but all that came of my attempts were tiny cuts that drew little blood.

My efforts were hopeless, my head was pounding, blood still flowed precariously from the wound in my abdomen, and I felt the sickest that I'd ever physically felt in my life.

They were going to wake up again, and I, and everyone I loved was going to die.

Was it wrong how badly I wanted to give up?

Unable to take it anymore, I let the knife slip from my fingers and clatter to the ground, and put my face in my hands, there was no point stopping my own blood from flowing, I was going to die anyway. The sickness was of such that I was compelled to lie back, I might as well have gotten as much comfort as I could before I died.

But just as I fell back, I felt myself being supported by a pair of very cold, but comforting arms. I turned my head weakly to see Edward.

Edward!

He had come, he knew everything, I could tell by the rueful look in his topaz eyes. Tears filled in my own at the sight of him, making his form even more blurry than it was before.

"Edward, I'm so sorry. I did so many horrible things, I'm sorry," I whispered to him, as he cradled me in his arms. His siblings and parents filed in a few seconds later, and began to rip the witches chests open, their mangled organs now visible.

"I know, Bella, I know. You were so brave," His voice broke. "I wish I could kill them for making you do those things, I wish it could have been me who they tortured,"

"I was doing it for you, I had to let you live. This world can't function without you," I blubbered, the tears streaking down my cheeks now.

"And you think it can function without you?" He said tenderly, kissing my forehead.

"I don't want to close my eyes, but I can feel myself drifting into unconsciousness," I frowned, stroking his face weakly with my hand.

"Bella, sweetheart, I hate to ask you of this, but would you be able to finish off the witches by squeezing their hearts? Nobody else is capable of doing it since we're all vampires, and when it's done, we'll have all the time in the world," He smiled at me anxiously.

"Oh," I said stupidly. To tell the truth, I had completely forgotten about anything else but the fact that Edward was with me. "Of course,"

"Alice, Emmett, Jasper. Could you please haul them over here," Edward asked.

"I only wish that I could do the job," Emmett eyed Ava, the witch whom he was holding, with disgust. The other two agreed with him sincerely, and dropped the witches by my side.

"Could you hold one upright," I asked Alice, cringing. "Can I close my eyes; I think I'll be sick if I look,"

"Of course," Edward and Alice both agreed at once. Shutting my eyes tightly, I held the slimy object firmly in my two hands and squeezed with all that I had in me. I felt something stream down my fingers, like juice being squeezed from an orange, and I had a horrible suspicion that it was blood.

"Did it work?" I asked, forcing myself not to look.

"Yes," Edward replied, his voice relieved. "Her whole form is withering away,"

"Next one," Emmett said with anticipation, and I could hear his hands clapping together as if he thought what we were doing was a game.

"All right Bella, I've got the next one ready," Alice told me. Reaching out blindly, I found the witches' vital organ quickly; I knew from touch that this was what I was searching for. I clutched it just as tightly as the last, and knew that the witch had died when I could no longer sense life in her.

I didn't know if it was just me, but I felt as if I was growing stronger, that my weakness was fading as the witches passed on.

With the last one, I knew exactly where to look for the heart, and it took me half the time to squeeze her heart tightly in my hands, and drain the life from her. When I felt that it was done, that it was finally finished, I opened my eyes to see all of the Cullens triumphant, proud faces which were fixed on me. Every one of them wore a smile, and I could tell that they were holding back themselves from hugging me in gratitude and celebration.

"Oh Bella, I can't believe you did all that for us. You are the strongest, most bravest person I have ever met," Alice told me sincerely.

"If only we knew," Esme said remorsefully. "We should have realised that something was up. Edward did," She turned to smile at her son proudly.

"How did you know?" I asked him, shocked.

"Even though I can't read your mind, I can still read your face like a book. I could tell that something was wrong, but I didn't realise that it was this," His face clouded with regret.

"Edward," I told him gently. "You couldn't have protected me from this. They would have trapped you again or maybe something worse. They're dead now, they can't hurt us,"

"And they never will," He said, his glorious face glowing in his exultation.

"How did you know to come here?" I questioned him curiously.

"I'm guessing that the witches blocked our powers, did they not?" Edward asked me with a frown. I nodded. "Well, when they were weakened and all their powers were taken away, ours were given back. Alice could see where you were this entire time and who you were with,"

"And then everything made sense," Jasper murmured.

"If only…" I trailed off with a gasp as I realised what, or more specifically who I'd forgotten about. "Charlie, they stashed him somewhere in this house, and he's unconscious and needs to go to hospital. We need to take him now!"

"Yes, the witches spell to stabilize him has now faded," Alice also gasped. "We need to take him,"

"Why didn't we do this straight away," I moaned, going into panic mode.

"Don't worry Bella, we'll do that," Rosalie told me, gesturing to herself and Emmett, who grinned eagerly at me. I smiled at them gratefully.

"They put him in the laundry," Alice informed them before they left the room.

"Bella!" Edward said loudly in horror. "Why didn't you tell us that you're hurt?"

Jostled, I remembered what Aphrodite had done. I'd completely forgotten about my chest wound. Strangely, alarmingly, it didn't hurt anymore. It was like I was stained with someone else's blood but not my own. My sickness had also faded, it was as if I had taken the witches strength and given it to myself unknowingly when I killed them.

"It doesn't look like it's just happened. It looks as if it occurred a few days ago. Have you been hiding this from everyone?" Carlisle asked me sternly, in doctor mode immediately at the sign of an injury.

I reassured them quickly. "No, of course not. I wouldn't have hidden something as bad as that. One of them, Aphrodite, stabbed me around half an hour ago. I'm not in pain though," I told them, my forehead pinching together in confusion.

"The wound should be still bleeding then," Carlisle frowned.

It's not bleeding?

I looked down at the abrasion bewilderedly, and was startled to see that he was right. The wound had patched itself up already. I may have not been a doctor, but I knew this wasn't normal.

"I have a theory," Alice said calmly.

"That is quite plausible," Edward agreed, picking the thought out of her head.

"It's not something bad is it," I winced.

"Well it depends on how you look at it," Alice's head cocked to the side, a little indecisive for once.

"Lay it on me," I sighed, ready to take anything.

"Well, when Bella killed the witches, she took their life essence. But where did all the power go? It's evident that Bella has acquired some of their powers. I'm not sure to what extent, but your wounds healing themselves present some healing powers,"

"What! I can't be like them. I can't" I shook my head wildly. I refused to be like those monsters, I refused to believe that Alice's theory was correct even if it was the only one which made sense.

"You're nothing like them," Edward promised me, embracing me reassuringly.

Alice agreed with him. "Edward's right, you may have inherited some of their powers, but that does not mean that you will be forced to act like them, or be as cruel as they were. It's just a theory in any case,"

"What are we going to do with the bodies?" I asked.

"There are no bodies to dispose of," Esme commented. "They all turned to dust the second they died,"

"Now that's convenient," Alice said, trying to uplift our anxious moods.

Edward and I cracked a smile.

"There was something else," I remembered suddenly. "Something about me having a shield. The witches said that none of their powers worked because of my shield. What does that mean? Why do I have one but no one else does?"

"Early manifestation of a vampire power," Jasper said softly.

"Humans often show signs of the power they would possess should they be turned into one of us," Alice explained.

"It doesn't mean you have to become a vampire," Edward said hastily.

I took a deep, necessary breath before I spoke "All of this can be discussed later, and it will be,"

"Of course," He agreed, his eyes turning soft as he gazed upon me.

"What matters is that we're together. And nothing can stand in our way," I said fiercely, pulling his head down to my level and engaging in a fiery kiss with him. Oh, how I had missed this, the feeling of his mouth on mine, the feeling that everything was right in the world, the feeling of our breaths mingling, and most of all, the feeling of him. Nothing could compare to his kisses, nothing in this world, or in the next. His kisses were heaven, literally.

And now nothing could tear us apart. Before, I'd been worried of dying too early, that I'd lose everything before I'd even gotten it. But now I could experience all the things that I'd dreamed of, all the things that I'd desired and much, much more that I'd never even contemplated.

I had so much life ahead of me, so many opportunities.

And I had Edward to share it with.

There's only the epilogue to go now :(

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