ARGH! I feel so so so so so so so bad! It has been too long, far too long! I'm sorry, really, I am. I've been incredibly snowed under by uni work, and then there's home stuff, which I'm not even going to go on about...But, this story is almost to its end. *sob*
Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Shoutouts: Everyone who reads this story, everyone who reviews this story, and everyone who is still here after all this time.
Chapter 43 – Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath
Bella waited for the pain, but it never came. Bella opened her eyes seconds later, wondering why she hadn't felt anything. Was she dead? Had she forgotten?
Heaven shouldn't look like this, she thought, delusional. Conscious thought came back to her in a spell of flashes. She was still in the arena. The vest she had been using as a shield was three metres away, next to a dead body. The three vampires were circling something. She shook her head and tried to get a better look.
"We finish this now, bitch," said a voice she recognised. It was Jessica.
A bullet shot hit the chair next to her and she was forced out of her haze. She scrambled on all fours behind the first set of chairs and aimed her gun through the gap she had. It was one of the two of Aro's entourage that was remaining. Bella shot her three times in the chest and then ran back up the steps towards where Alice was hiding.
"I would have got her, Bella, but I ran out of ammo."
Bella reloaded her own gun and gave Alice the back up.
"It holds thirteen bullets. Get the other bastard." Alice nodded and Bella scrambled towards Tanya, who had left her gun on the ground. She was huddled over Carmen's body, sobbing.
"Tanya?" Bella said carefully. Tanya looked up with a tear-stained and bloodied face. She didn't look like Tanya at that moment, she looked vulnerable—like a broken child.
"She...they..."
"I know, Tanya, but you have to get out of here before they kill Jessica." Bella glanced to the vampires. Jessica was still holding her own, fighting.
"I can't leave without Irina. I've lost Carmen, I can't go without Irina." Tanya hiccupped and trembled.
"Who's Irina?" Bella asked. She peeked out from between two seats again to see Edward and Aro shooting at each other and the three vampires still trying to kill Jessica. Bella gasped when she saw the face of one of the vampires. It was Felix. She was certain of it.
"She's a vampire," Tanya said, "But she's my sister."
Bella's eyes widened. "You mean, the white-blonde-haired vampire down there?!"
Tanya nodded. "At first, I wanted to take over what Aro was doing. I used Edward like Aro used you. Then I found out they had Irina...I can let you kill Aro. I can let you destroy the labs. I trust you to do that, but I can't leave Irina here."
Bella let out a frustrated huff and clamped her fingers onto Tanya's shoulders, digging in enough to bruise. It was a method she hoped would work. Physical pain could bring people away from thoughts and imaginings. Physical pain was a reality.
"She isn't your sister anymore. Your sister died a long time ago. Do something for me and get out of this damn building. Once Jessica dies, the person who used to be your sister will kill you."
Tanya looked into Bella's eyes. "You really mean that," she stated, stunned. Bella held back the urge she had to slap Tanya. There were only so many bruises she could give the woman before she started to take offense.
"Cross my heart and hope to..."
"Live," Tanya said, saving the phrase at the last moment.
"Live," Bella agreed. Tanya gulped and nodded.
"Alright, I'm getting out of here." She picked up her gun and looked at Bella. She crawled back to the door, pushed it open, got up, and ran.
Now all Bella had to do was get Alice out safely, but Aro's voice stopped her from doing that.
"Bella," he said. The two syllables were like a stab to her heart, poison to her veins. She did not want to see a dead Edward. It was the conclusion she drew. If Aro was paying her attention, then Edward was definitely dead.
When she turned to face him, her eyes stayed on his face, resisting the temptation that would haunt her nightmares if she ever saw it. She let her anger cover her bitterness. If she could kid herself that killing Aro would solve everything, then she might just survive long enough to actually do it. After that was another matter entirely. She would either die of grief or die by vampire.
Her feet were moving of their own accord, taking her down the steps to face the monster that had been under her bed since day one. She had to destroy it if she was to ever have any peace.
Aro was holding something in his left hand, but it wasn't a gun. His right hand held the gun by his side, unobtrusive, harmless—yeah, right.
He lifted his left hand and Bella lifted her gun, aiming it at Aro's head. He smiled in amusement. It made her hesitate.
"Do you know what this is?" Aro asked her.
"No," Bella said, "And I'm so not waiting to find out." She sighted down the gun, her hand slowly going to the trigger.
"Kill me now and Edward will die. He has barely minutes left, Bella. No-one can save him but me." Bella's finger eased off the trigger. She could feel the perspiration running down her back in cooling droplets.
Aro pressed the needle lightly against his skin. "This is the revolution. If I inject this into myself, I will become what Felix, Jane and Irina are."
Bella looked at the needle and at Aro's deceitful face.
"And?" she said as blandly as she could. Cogs were churning in her mind. Her thoughts were betraying everything she had said to Tanya.
I mean, Jessica is the same as she was. She saved me.
"I will become immortal," Aro said. It was the wrong thing to say.
Bella shook her head. "You're wrong, Aro. Everything dies. Some things are just harder to kill than others."
She shot him in the head and he fell to the ground. The needle rolled across the floor and she picked it up. The syringe was made out of cold glass.
With her heart pounding and her head foggy, she ran to Edward. His eyes were open and his jaw was tense, straining against the pain. Bella could see the blood, but there was so much of it. She didn't know where it was coming from. She was thinking that there was too much blood, but she knew that was stupid. There was always too much blood with death. It was just seeing someone she knew and cared for that was changing how she thought.
"Edward, Edward, Edward," she said, her breathing shaking as much as her hands were.
His eyes locked on hers, but they didn't hold his cold expression or his amusement. It startled her. He looked scared.
She felt her eyes start to blur and she tensed her fingers around the syringe in her hand, focusing.
"Edward, I'm going to save you," she said. Her heart was breaking as every word left her lips. She could almost feel the heart strings snapping as her soul began to keen. She held the needle in front of him and he took it from her—no, he grabbed it like a starving man.
She smiled. It was going to be alright.
He used the last ounces of his strength to smash the syringe. Glass shattered across the floor, the sound stabbing against Bella's every pore. Its contents leaked across the floor. Bella started to shake in horror. Her trembles were so great that she was certain her muscles were going to rip out of her skin.
"Why?" she screamed, pounding her fists against the floor. Her hands were covered in his drying blood.
"I don't want to become a monster," he murmured, gasping with pain. "I thought I was a monster. All my life I thought I was a stain to everyone, Bella, but now I know I wasn't. It wasn't my fault. None of it was my fault."
His voice was going quieter as he muttered nonsense.
Bella leaned her face over his, brushing her lips against his. She could taste his blood.
"I love you," she said. She hadn't understood what her heart had been telling her, but now she did and it was too late.
She took his hand into her lap and watched the tears fall onto his skin. He coughed and she lifted her head.
"I love you too," he said.
Bella hadn't expected that. She started to sob. Her chest was heaving and she made sounds that shouldn't have been able to come out of her throat. She cried as if she could push out her own soul and heart so she wouldn't have to feel such pain.
She felt Alice behind her, tugging at her arm desperately.
"Bella, we have to get out of here."
Bella didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave Edward here. She didn't want to move. Her body was numb but her mind was dense with pain.
"Bella, come on," Alice said in a higher, panicked pitch.
Bella let her lead her away like a confused, anguished child.
They reached the door and came face to face with two figures in black. Bella barely acknowledged their presence. She didn't care. They paused, looking at Bella and Alice. Then they stepped aside, letting Alice and Bella escape.
A/N: I was going to end it there. Seriously. I was going to be all, "MWAHAHAHA!" but because of my evilness, I have written an epilogue, which will be up soon. I promise. Send me a review if you think I deserve one...
