Chapter 34:
It was as if a calm had come over me, no more fighting, no more arguing, nothing at all, everything was so peaceful. What was happening? I tried to remember but every time I tried, everything got blurry and distorted, so I stopped trying, it must not matter. I waited for something to happen, maybe this was some sort of bizarre dream and I was about to float away to some weird land that my mind makes up. I tried to move, but it was too much work, my body weighed a ton and it was impossible to move.
Suddenly I was slammed with pain, overcoming everything else and filling every single inch of my body. No thoughts could form, tears flowed from my eyes, I screamed out over and over, but there was no relief from the pain. It was never-ending torment, no escape, nothing but this intense agony. It ran through my being, every piece of me was burning and aching. This was death, people might say it was painless, but I can tell you that it's the opposite. This is the end for me, I am never going to wake up, never going to see my friends or family again.
The pain turned into something else, a warm sensation coursing throughout me. I was beyond happy that the pain was finally subsiding and I was feeling slightly better, although the pain made my body ache so much that I wished the heat would go from warm to cold to give more relief. It didn't get cold, but it did get warmer, as if it was trying to sooth the pain that was still there. I winced as it became a hot burning feeling throughout my whole body, it was becoming painful again. Every time I seemed to take a breath, the feeling burned more, slowly making its way all over me.
I tried to wriggle away from it, but once again there wasn't an escape for this pain either, but I think I would rather have the agony pain instead of this burning. I had to scream out, hoping it might help with the pain, but it only seemed to make it worse, completely unbearable now. I could hear my blood running in my veins, feel every heart beat as it pumped more blood through me, making the burn indescribable anymore, it was everywhere and impossible to even think. I waited until I was just going to fade away, there was nothing worse than this, I was going to be like this for all of time.
I closed my eyes and stopped screaming, it didn't help and there wasn't a point in it anymore. It was still painful but my mind began to clear, it wasn't as hard to think anymore, now that I had given into it and stopped the screams. My family were going to be heartbroken, my mom would be torn to pieces, unable to move on. Hopefully dad and Ari would be there for her, help her to get past me dying and heal. My friends would miss me I was sure, but probably wouldn't be too much for them to move on and heal, only time would help them. Jay…I sighed to myself, he was going to probably blame himself for a while, but then get on with his life.
The Cullens and Hales were going to take it hard too…after all they were coming to save me, instead I get gashed and bleed to death. Alice would have wished she could have seen it, stopped it, but Jasper would help her to understand that it's not her fault. Emmett…he is going to flip out, blaming himself and probably me too. Blaming me for not trusting Alice's vision and not telling him everything, blame himself for not being able to save me, not being fast enough. Everything was going well, he loved me and I loved him…yet our love was cut short by Aro and his group of vampires.
I hoped that they wouldn't try to continue fighting, would get away and maybe with me dead, Aro and his people would move on and let the Cullens and Hales live in peace. After all, they said they were here for me. I sighed again, trying to block out the burning pain running through me. But I regret not being able to get back at Rosalie, she was really to blame here. Spying on me, helping Aro capture me, trying more than once to kill me, she was beyond help, crazed and would destroy Emmett if he let her. I wish I could warn him, keep him from going after her, surely he would blame her too, at least a little bit.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts, but regretted it because of the burning pain it caused. I just wished it would end, I wanted it to stop, I couldn't take it anymore. I screamed out again, hoping for the last time and opened my eyes. I blinked a few times, then had to shield them from the bright light shinning on me. The pain was forgotten as I reached out, trying to get the light, maybe it was finally time to move on and get to wherever I was supposed to be going. As my fingers touched the light, the pain became less and less until my entire arm in out, I continued forward until I had to close my eyes against the brightness.
I opened them when I figured it was safe and flashed them around, staring at all the odd things around me. Everything was so focused that I actually couldn't focus on anything. I could see the particles in the air, dust mites and everything you could possible think of. My ears were listening, I heard footsteps, the soles of shoes scraping against the soft carpet. I felt weird, my body was light, as if it was made of nothing. I could see the rays of light coming from the ceiling lights, along with the mixture of the sunlight coming in from the windows. I sat up, although it seemed as it I shot up from the wind going by my ears.
"Ariel?" I snapped my neck around to the sound, it was loud and I knew it. My eyes quickly focused and I stared at him, he was holding his hands up slightly, his eyes keep moving all over my body, was he really checking me out right now? I swore I was dead! He should be beyond happy right now, taking me in his arms and spinning me around. Something was off and I wasn't sure what it was. "Are you alright?" he asked me and I thought he sounded funny, but I brushed it off, I must be thinking too much. "I'm fine." I replied and then stopped, I sounded funny too.
It was strange, my voice was my own, yet different, it had a lightness to it, almost angelic. He held out his hand for me, but his eyes continued to move from every part of me. "Come over here." he asked and I smiled, finally, he was going to act like my boyfriend. I felt the wind fly passed my ears as I rushed to him, he let out a huff as if I knocked the wind out of him as I wrapped my arms around him. He felt amazing, even better than I remembered, I guess almost dying changed the way the world looked to me. "Easy." he breathed out and I leaned back and smiled at him. "Why? It's not like I'm going to hurt you."
His eyes were bright, but I saw worry and caution in them, making me wonder what happened back with Aro and the others. "Emmett?" I whipped around in his arms and faced the person that entered the room. It was Carlisle and his eyes too took in my entire body and his eyes held caution as well. "Well?" he asked Emmett, who just shrugged slightly then I had to speak up. "What's going on here?" "How are you feeling Ariel?" I blinked for a moment, they were both acting strange. Everything seemed to be off a bit, everyone sounded different and even looked a little different.
"I'm alright…I think. What is going on? What happened to the others and Aro and everything?" I chimed in that voice that was mine but also not mine. They shared a look before Carlisle came over to me too, his hands up like he was worried I was going to hurt him. "I need you to stay really calm alright. Can you do that for me?" I nodded, I was the calm one, they were acting funny, not me. "Well a lot happened after you were attacked…" Carlisle started but faded out soon after. Something was itching me, my throat, I felt like I had something caught in it and there was this annoying itch.
"Can I get some water?" I cut in as he was talking, making them both stare at me with sharp eyes. "Of course, I'll get it." he left and I looked at Emmett, unable to clear the blockage from my throat, the itch was still there. A moment later, Carlisle was back with a glass for me. I gulped it down and sighed, the itch was going away. I went to tell him to continue talking when it hit me. This intense itching burning feeling covered my entire throat, then my body began to ache and I groaned. "Ariel?" "I don't feel good. Was that water?" I asked and Carlisle nodded, but was already on his cell talking quietly.
"Ariel, I need you to look at me and listen very carefully." Emmett was breathing into my ear, making me turn and stare into his eyes, which I could see black flecks in the golden color. I was just about to ask him what was wrong when I saw it, I could see myself reflected in his eyes. I could see how dark my eyes were…when they were normally so bright, I could see how white I was, but that could be from almost dying. "Emmett…" "Yeah?" "What's wrong with me?" I asked, feeling like my throat was closing up from the burn and it was becoming hard to swallow.
"Drink this Ariel, it should make you feel a bit better." I heard Carlisle say, but everything else faded away as the scent filled my nose. It was like pure heaven in a dark cup, he held it out for me and a moment later I was gulping it down like it was the only thing that mattered in the world. It was gone before I wanted it to, although it cooled the burn and made my whole body feel better, whatever was in that cup was like a pure fire that burned through my core. "More." I demanded, not noticing that my voice had changed and my throat gave a slight growl. All I noticed was the burn was coming back and I needed the stuff in the cup to sooth it…and I was going to get it one way or another.