A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.

Yes, yes, I know. This was supposed to be the final chapter before the epilogue. But I've got things I must get to, and I wanted to get at least this out, for now, so Muse won't feel offended at having to be cut short today. :)

You know what? Let's just say this will be complete soon. ;)

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.


Chapter 9 - Fury

"You selfish bastard!"

I flew against Edward's rock-solid frame, the force and momentum so severe that we met the wall behind him. It exploded in a million different directions, disintegrating into rubble and forming a silhouette of his general size and shape, like a silhouette. And for the most minute moment, for a hundredth of a second or so, I stopped to marvel at my strength. Then, I threw brutal, unrestrained punches.

"You self-involved asshole!"

Edward grunted, yet he made no attempt to evade me or the blows I rained on him. Instead, he stood stoically, receiving jab after jab and barely flinching even though with every hit, I dug us deeper and deeper into what was left behind the drywall – breaking wood beams, twisting studs, splitting cable wires, and bending steel. I straddled him and acted on violent impulses, on an entirely new and much more primal set of instincts that outweighed reason – like an untamed animal in the wild. I hit him, and I hit him; on and on, nonstop, never feeling weary. I would've kept going, but a strange, feral sound, eerily reminiscent of a wildcat's roar…and reminiscent of the roar I vaguely remembered Edward making when we made love, erupted from me. At that point, I flew backward and off of him, bewildered, and momentarily snapped out of my rampage.

Edward sat up, then slowly stood, resting his palms on his thighs and breathing heavily. He winced, groaning quietly under his breath and shaking his head hard as if to refocus. Particles of what once was a wall bathed his face and hair like mounds of snow. I saw another bedroom behind him, no longer separated from this one.

He lifted his hands and held them palms up in a placating, calming manner, just as if one were dealing with a rabid beast.

"It's okay, Bella. It's okay, my love. I know you're confused, but it will be okay. We'll figure this out together."

His reassurances, as if I hadn't literally just put him through a wall, served to heighten my fury. My own chest heaved, though I wasn't at all tired. It was more like…I expected my chest would heave after such an exertion – further confirmation that I was now something entirely other. It added fuel to the indignant fire burning within me. Even more so, as Edward took me in through black eyes that reflected an insulting amount of tenderness, it fanned the flames of my outrage.

"I told you I didn't want this! I told you I didn't want to be like you!"

"I had no choice, Bella." Slowly and cautiously, he stretched out a hand in my direction. When I smacked it away, I caught his quick flinch, the hurt in his eyes. "Bella, you're my mate, and-"

"Bullshit!"

Again, I lunged. However, this time, he appeared more prepared and less willing to have his ass kicked. He caught me by the forearms and held them firmly, and although I could've easily shaken him off, the maddeningly gentle tone with which he spoke momentarily startled me. For the present, my confusion kept him alive.

"Stop, my love."

My eyes narrowed, my mind disoriented. Shaking him off, I grinned when I tapped him lightly in the chest, and he stumbled backward, almost losing his footing.

"I barely even touched you that time," I scoffed.

"I know. You're much stronger than I am right now. You will be for a while."

I tilted my head to one side, considering that. "Good. Maybe I'll use my newfound strength to kill you."

Shaking his head, he spoke carefully yet confidently.

"If you'd wanted to kill me, you would've done so already, and yes, quite easily. But you didn't use your full strength on me because as furious as you are, you know I'm your mate."

"Stop calling me your mate!" I snapped, once again vacillating between outrage and disconcertment.

Edward took a cautious step forward. "You are my mate. You sense it; you always have, even as a human. And now…no, you wouldn't have killed me."

As much as I resented the conviction in his voice, this time, I only lashed out with words, though not ones meant to reassure him.

"I wouldn't be so cocky about that if I were you," I snarled.

"But I am. I trust you, and I want you to know that from the very beginning."

"Well, I don't fucking trust you!" I howled, the scales of my fluctuating emotions landing back on livid. "You planned to turn me from the moment you first saw me in your sister's visions, regardless of what I wanted!"

"You would've wanted me to turn you!" he yelled back, no longer quite so patient. "Had we had the time, I would've waited for you to ask, but make no mistake, you would've begged!"

I laughed in his face, and his eyes flared.

"You would've wanted me forever! Had I never left, you would've pleaded with me to turn-"

"But you did fucking leave," I screamed. "I don't give a damn what your sister saw in her visions! That's not the life I led! I lived a life without you – a human life I loved, experiences I enjoyed, and I begged you not to turn me!"

"You would've preferred death to an eternity with me, Bella?"

"Yes, I fucking would've!"

For a long moment, he held my gaze – searching for the lie, I supposed. The problem was, at that moment, I wasn't lying.

"You only say that because you don't understand what that means."

I rushed him and fisted his hair hard. "Don't patronize me, you arrogant asshole!"

"I'm not patronizing you. I'm merely stating the truth."

"Why did you come looking for me?" I shook him by his hair. "If you took yourself away, you should've stayed away! You should've stayed away from me forever!"

For a long moment, Edward and I held one another's furious gaze. I wondered if my eyes were as black as his now. And then, in horror, I wondered if they were as crimson as the other vampires who'd been in that field on that day, which felt like ages ago, but I knew couldn't have been much more than a week ago.

"My love," he said calmly again, "I know this wasn't the best induction into this world, but with time-"

"With time, what? You think I'll change my mind about this entire, nightmarish situation with time?" I spat. "I DID NOT WANT TO BE A VAMP-"

With my recent, enhanced hearing, in the distance, I heard a flock of birds disperse in fright; an avalanche cascade down a hillslope. I heard a herd of larger animals – Elk? Deer? Moose? – stampeding in panic, their fear heightening their scent. And…and I suddenly felt something else, something more intense, more immediate than anger and confusion. It was a deep, arid dryness in my throat, one that suddenly closed off my esophagus and made it hard to breathe.

No, that wasn't right. It didn't keep me from breathing since I no longer needed to breathe. It resembled pain; pain bordering on agonizing…excruciating…murderous discomfort that grew more unbearable by the second. I wrapped a hand around my throat.

"Oh, God, I'm so thirsty." That's what it was called; Thirst. Instinctively I knew that. It was a thirst unlike any I could've ever imagined, one capable of bringing me to my knees, one I'd give anything to sate.

Edward nodded once. This time, when he reached for my hand, I allowed it.

"Let's feed."


A/N: Thoughts?

Once again, my chapter estimates are out the window. Let's just go with it. It'll end when it ends, lol.

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