Thank you all so much for your kind words these past few months. The pandemic had really started to take a toll on me, so it's been difficult to find motivation to do anything beyond the bare necessities.

Our time in this chapter of the story is coming to a close. Please be kind.

The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!- Sufjan Stevens

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Moderato- Sergei Rachmaninoff

The shine of the sun swirled under my eyelids, and I tried to focus on the spread of unused veins beneath the hard skin. I was having trouble fully focusing on anything now. There was a weary pull in my mind from keeping my shield around Alice and Edward at every moment, and I had to be careful to stay within a few feet of both of them at all times. Even here, outside, I was sure to be against the wall of the bedroom where Alice lay, still unconscious in her inexplicable coma-like sleep.

I could hear the crunch of dried leaves under Edward's feet, but I chose to keep my eyes closed and let him come to me. His steps were slow and deliberate, like he was watching where he walked on the worn path that wrapped around the cabin.

I leaned back to balance on my elbows and stilled my movements. My palms were pressed into the soil, and I could feel the life teeming under my fingertips. There were worms slithering through, and ants resolutely marching through their carefully crafted tunnels that wove around the pulsating roots of thousands of blades of grass, and the even deeper anchorings of the tree I sat beside.

"Every d-day, I think you c-can't p-possibly look more b-beautiful…" Edward said softly, standing just over me so his shadow was cast on my face.

"I don't change," I reminded him.

"Y-yes, y-you do."

I looked up at him finally, my eyes half-opened. He looked older. Even with all the horrible things in his past, and everything I had put him through, the past few days had aged him beyond understanding. There was a guarded wariness in his eyes that were so brightened and clear in the evening sunshine.

"You're right," I capitulated, offering him a small smile in apology.

He didn't smile in return, rather, the frown that seemed permanently etched on his face deepened.

"What are y-you th-thinking?" he asked finally, carefully bending down to sit on the grass beside me. His knee knocked into the side of my thigh, and his hand came to rest on top of mine almost without thought, like it was unimaginable to be separated. The flooding of relief that came with his touch was immediate.

"It's nice out here," I said simply, raising my face back up to catch the last rays of sunshine before the sun dipped below the treeline.

Our little cabin was situated almost on top of a rolling hill, and the forest on all sides was open and almost untouched down to the river that snaked below. It was different from our parks, the Palisades were. Not as wet, certainly, with the sun at a constant shine. The slope and valley below were dappled with the blooms of trillium, bluebells, shooting stars, and yellow ladies slippers, coloring the whole area in a vibrant rainbow that contrasted against the rich greens of the trees and thick grass. There wasn't nearly as much wildlife here as there was back home, though. When it all ended, and I could part from Edward and Alice long enough to quench the burning at the back of my throat, I hoped I wouldn't have to do that here. The deer were few and far between, and besides the rodents, the only animals in any significant abundance were birds. I didn't think an eagle would taste horrible, given the desperation, but I didn't want to imagine how ridiculous I would look trying to catch one.

On the subject of food, I lifted myself off the ground and pulled Edward gracefully up with me. "Dinnertime," I announced.

Edward rolled his eyes but went along with me, falling in step as we walked around to the dusty back porch. The short wood stairs creaked under our shared weight.

Esme would have been proud of me. I had a souffle in the oven that was perfectly made and didn't sink at all, as so many recipes warned was possible. I pulled the small ramekin from the warm oven and left it on the range to cool and set.

Edward was at my side the entire time. His hand had found its way under the hem of my shirt so that his fingers were pressed into the skin at the small of my back. Even outside the intimacy of this place we were joined at, I slouched a little in response to the relief his touch brought. It was marginally easier to keep my shield encased around someone when there was physical contact, and each night I had taken care to perch beside them in bed so I could be connected to both for at least a few hours at a time.

Even still, it wasn't much, and the effort was wearing on me. Combined with the building thirst that I was forcefully ignoring-

"H-how m-much longer do w-we need to b-be here?" Edward asked, drawing me out from my similar line of thought.

I slid onto the rickety old stool beside Edward at the kitchen counter, and his hand slid from my back up to lace his fingers through my own. He picked up a fork with his free hand and tucked into the spinach and egg concoction that I hoped would be a success. The teenage boy who had brought us that first delivery of essential groceries had returned the next day with perishables and a massive load of eggs and cheese.

"I was hoping to give them at least a few days to try to sort this out. They're young, so not controlled or refined. They can't keep this up for very long without revealing themselves"

Edward nodded and, fork in hand, rubbed the back of his hand thoughtlessly against his forehead. "Charlie's g-got t-to be out of his m-mind…"

"I'd imagine we're in for a fair bit of trouble with the human authorities in general," I observed.

"Alice c-can't g-go to that p-place," Edward warned, turning to look at me straight on for the first time since he had come to find me outside.

I nodded, completely in agreement. "We'll have to arrange something else. With enough money and connections, we can make anything happen." I sounded more sure of myself than I actually was since, in truth, I had no idea how we would sort out the mess we had left behind as far as Alice was concerned. Edward and I disappearing, well, that could be played off as two young people in love. Alice, on the other hand, was in a far more complicated predicament.

"You th-think she c-can s-s-stay home? With me?" Edward sounded hopeful, uncharacteristically so.

"We'll see if we can make that happen. But we certainly can't let her be locked up with humans who will treat her like she's insane."

"I knew she wasn't," he said darkly.

"I didn't," I admitted, ashamed. Even with all my awareness of the supernatural, and knowing how abilities manifested themselves in humans, I had wrongly dismissed Alice's behavior as human mental illness understandably brought on by the trauma in her past.

"Alice was n-never wrong. The th-thing's she's t-told m-me that came t-true… I l-learned a l-long t-time ago t-to never b-bet against her."

I swallowed thickly, pushing the still-warm ramekin back in front of Edward to remind him to finish eating. "I wish I had had the same faith. Maybe I could have done something to prevent… this," I waved my hand in the direction of the bedroom where Alice still laid staunchly asleep.

"She d-didn't t-tell us, though. She d-didn't t-tell me anything."

None of this was Edward's fault in the least. It was me who should have seen the signs and investigated it all further. Alice had grown so close to my whole family, even Rose. "Do you know how it works? How she… sees?"

Edward shrugged. "She j-just knows. I n-never asked m-more than that, it w-was always j-just a given with her, f-for as l-long as I can r-remember."

I figured as much. Even in our kind, it was difficult to divulge the intricacies of our abilities, especially to those who didn't experience something similar. Laurent had simply shrugged when I asked if he knew how James's tracking worked, and no matter how many times I explained it, I didn't think any of my family besides Carlisle ever understood my shield.

Until I had kept it extended for days on end, I guess I didn't really understand it either. After I gained the abilities to shift it from me and encase others, I took it for granted and never gave a thought to how draining doing it long term was.

It was difficult to focus on anything but that weariness, but Edward swallowed thickly and set his fork down with great deliberation.

"Have y-you heard from anyone?" he asked, turning to me with the ghost of hope surfacing in his expression.

I shook my head, and his face fell noticeably.

That familiar pressure in my chest built to compete with the wear of the shield in the back of my mind. I hated disappointing him, letting him down like this at every turn. For once, I wanted to lay down and rest, not to experience dreams, but because I was genuinely tired.

"Let me call and check in," I offered quickly, slipping out the cellphone that had become a fixture in my pocket.

It was futile- they would have called if we could come home- but even still I was holding on to that pebble of hope to which Edward was also clinging. It was the only thing we had to hold besides each other.

I flipped the phone open and it ringed for half a beep before the kitchen phone was off the hook and Esme was warmly greeting me on the other end.

"Hi, Mom," I said, trying to swallow the pain in my voice. Edward squeezed his hand that was still on top of mine. I flipped my palm to lace my fingers through his and tightened my grip as tightly as I could without hurting him.

"Oh, Bella," Esme cried on the other line, and I could tell that she was almost as impacted by the pain of this separation to at least some degree comparable to what I was experiencing. "Are you safe?"

"We're fine," I lied. If anything, the past three days had been harder than any other day of my existence. Not when I had left my human family to wander alone as a nomad, not a day of fear whilst living with the Volturi and then escaping, none of it could measure up to this peaceful little cabin in the Mississippi Palisades State Park.

The weather had been a cheerful summer shine the entire time. Birds chirped and sang their songs every day, and not just in the morning when they alerted us to the early and clear rise of the sun. The only clouds in the sky were sparse and a fluffy white, and otherwise the sky stretched out a brilliant and deep blue. And, as promised, this cabin was invariably isolated. The only non-animal presence had been on our first day here when some backcountry hikers wandered through the deep ravine in the valley below, but within a few hours they were gone too.

"It's okay to not be fine," Esme said, and I could hear both Carlisle and Rose in the background. I could just picture them standing beside Esme in our kitchen, the huge windows letting in as much light as the Pacific Northwest could give in the late hours of the afternoon.

"I'm assuming you're calling for an update?" Carlisle chimed in from beside Esme. I guessed that Edward could overhear at least a little, because his brows twitched up in recognition of Carlisle's voice. After a moment of hesitation, I clicked the speaker button and put the phone between us so Edward could listen and not have to wait for me to recap it for him.

"We haven't heard from you in a few days," I said in explanation. I tried to push the blame out of my voice. How hard could it be to catch up to two almost-newborns with no resources? But it was an unfair thought, and I was already asking for so much from them.

"I didn't want to disappoint you," Carlisle admitted. I knew he understood exactly what I was feeling, even if I didn't intend for the implication he picked up on.

"We saw the woman yesterday," Rose said bluntly, getting straight to the point. "She was inside the town, just near the diner. Esme was patrolling and gave chase, but she seemed prepared and disappeared before Esme could even call us."

"She's very fast," Esme chimed in, still closest to the speaker. "I know that Laurent had called her slippery, but it was like she vanished."

"Couldn't even find her tracks, or trace her scent anywhere," Rose added.

"Does she have an ability, then?" I asked.

"We would need Eleazar to be sure," Carlisle said, seeming skeptical. I understood why he would doubt. The likelihood of both James and Victoria having powers… especially given that they had 'raised' (which seemed a poor term, but for lack of another) two other humans who had showed exceptional promise.

"I've learned to no longer be surprised by these things," I admitted with a sigh. It seemed almost like I was a magnet for these types of things now, like

"Emmett is watching Charlie," Rose reported matter-of-factly. "He and I are switching off every so often, so someone is always with him. And Esme has been monitoring the town. Carlisle is going to work to keep up appearances."

"How is Charlie?" I asked, knowing that would be what Edward would want to hear next. As I guessed, he leaned forward in anticipation, waiting for Rose's answer.

"He's understandably worried," Carlisle said first. "But we can deal with the fallout later. It's more important that you stay where you are, and stay safe."

"Speaking of," Rose said quickly, "Where are you exactly?" There was a pause, then Rose continued, sounding more defensive, "I just want to make sure that we know where they are, in case anything happens. Worst case scenario, okay?"

"We're in the Mississippi Palisades State Park, a few hours west of Chicago," I answered. Rose had a point. We were keeping hidden from James and Victoria, not our family. And if anything happened and I was indisposed, they would need to know where to go.

Rose hummed in questioning. "Why Illinois?"

"Edward picked, actually," I said, squeezing his hand gently. He avoided my gaze, instead choosing to stare at the open phone that sat between us on the peeling vinyl counter.

His voice was soft and reticent. "Just the f-first f-flight I s-s-saw."

"Excellent choice, though," Esme chimed in encouragingly. "Isolated but not too much, and I'm sure the summer weather there is just lovely."

"They should have come home," Rose murmured, quiet enough that I knew Edward couldn't hear her through the speaker. "Either come home and be a family again, or go far away while we deal with this."

"We've only been away a few days," I reminded her sharply. "That's not nearly as long as some of your vacations. And we needed somewhere for Alice to rest and recover."

"Of course, dear," Esme placated, and I was sure she was shooting a stern look that only a mother could manage at Rose.

"We'll let you know if anything happens," Carlisle promised, shifting the conversation away from Rose. "Rose and Emmett are going to patrol out further and see if they can catch a scent and track them down the old fashioned way instead of hoping they come to us."

"A regular van Helsing," Esme commented.

"I'd rather be Buffy," Rose deadpanned. "What?" she defended in response to what I was sure was an eyeroll from Carlisle. "Buffy's hot."

This exchange drew an actual chuckle from Edward, warm and familiar though it had felt like forever since I had last heard him laugh. Was that baseball field really so long ago? Or was it before, before we thought Alice was going to be shipped off?

There was a pause on the other end, as if our family had also registered the significance of that exchange, and then Carlisle quickly picked up a quibbling line of bickering with Rose, sensing that maybe we both needed a distraction. It was all tangential- about who was stronger, Buffy or van Helsing, where the obvious answer was Buffy, and then about whether Buffy would manage to destroy an actual vampire. Carlisle was strongly opposed to this idea- mostly for the benefit of the entertainment- and an argument devolved between Rose and Carlisle, with Esme acting as the intermediate moderator and Edward and I just along for the ride.

It was a relief to see Edward lighten even a fraction, but the second our connection was severed, his mood darkened again, just like the twilight sky.

"Do you want to play a game?" I offered after quickly clearing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. There was a stack of rusty board games under the ancient and broken television set, but Edward shook his head. I noticed how his fingers found that soft patch of skin on the inside of his wrist again, and I frowned and pulled it away before he could begin absentmindedly scratching at the scars that stretched there.

I pulled him back outside with me, along the little garden path that circled the house. I coulkd feel the band around Alice stretch, and I forced it to push out and keep her enveloped until we circled back to the patch of grass against the bedroom wall that I had taken up residence at earlier. The distance of just a few feet seemed to make a great deal of difference at this point, but it wasn't like I could ask Edward to sit in the bedroom all day and night for my own convenience.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," I observed, pointing upwards. Edward did seem momentarily caught off guard. The sun had completely sunken so there was no more light reflecting into the sky, and any light pollution was far away from our isolated little cabin.

Edward craned his neck to look directly up, through the sparse canopy of trees that peppered the top of our hill. I leaned back to lay on the grass, patting the spot beside me for Edward to join. He folded his legs in front of him, then realized it wasn't as comfortable as laying prone and soon joined me. His hand found mine instantly, like a force was pulling us together. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a physical pull of my shield that was feeling tighter by the moment.

"That's Saturn, over there," I pointed in the southwest direction to the only planet visible, just above the peak of the hill. "It's right inside Virgo right now." I pointed out each star in the constellation, and then told him the story of Persephone and Hades, which was said to be the mythical basis of the constellation.

"That's y-your s-s-star s-sign, isn't it?" he asked.

I hummed an affirmative.

"Am I y-your Hades, I w-wonder?" he murmured, more to himself than an actual question.

I took offense anyways. I sat up quickly to look over at him, my jaw set tightly with anger and in trying to refrain from crushing his hand in mine or letting the shield waver.

"How could you even think something like that?"

"Am I d-dooming you? I've only brought t-trouble and p-pain to you, to y-your f-family. Have I d-damned you to an existence of running away, of being chased, because you're with me?"

"If hell is with you, there's no place else I'd rather be," I said stubbornly, meaning every word. Edward just snorted and shook his head dismissively.

"What's the s-s-story of Gemini?"

"It's not in the sky now," I said, grateful for the change in subject. There was only so much darkness and despair I could take. "It's only visible in the winter through early summer."

"Just curious," he shrugged, still not meeting my gaze. I didn't bother looking back up at the sky and the blanket of stars that grew ever brighter as the night darkened.

"It's the Greek story of Castor and Pollux. Twins," I looked at him pointedly, but his eyes seemed fixed upon the sky. I rolled onto my side to stare at his profile- the strong nose and sculpted jaw, his bronze hair curling around his ear. "Castor's father was a mortal and Pollux's was Zeus, but they shared the same mother, Leda, who was also the mother of Helen of Troy, then of Sparta.

"They had great travels and adventures. Castor and Pollux were even Argonauts on Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece, and Pollux's strength was instrumental to their success. And then they fell in love with two sisters, Phoebe and Hilaeira, who were already betrothed to Castor's and Pollux's cousins, Lynceus and Idas.

"Well, Castor and Pollux stole away with Phoebe and Hilaeira, and each had a son with their new wives. But naturally, a feud was born. Lynceus and Idas were obviously furious with their cousins, but didn't have the power to meaningfully act against them.

"The division never quite mended, but an attempt was made to work together. The twins and their cousins carried out a cattle raid together, but then they quarreled over how to divide up the meat they had one. Lynceus and Idas saw their opportunity for revenge, and schemed on how to take it. They picked one cow from the herd, butchered it and cooked it. Then, Idas proposed a bet. Whichever pair finished their steaks first would win the entire herd, and the other pair would leave empty-handed.

"Castor and Pollux weren't used to losing, but Idas knew that he was an exceptionally fast eater, and when he devoured both his and his brother's steaks before Castor and Pollux could eat their own, Castor and Pollux realized they had been duped. But a bet was a bet, and Lynceus and Idas got to keep the entire herd. And Castor and Pollux vowed revenge.

"The opportunity came. Idas and Lynceus visited Sparta at the same time as Paris of Troy. Castor's father- Pollux's adoptive father- left for Crete, and he left Helen in charge of entertaining the visiting parties. While everyone was distracted with the festivities, Castor and Pollux snuck away and left to steal back the herd that Idas and Lynceus won from them.

"They didn't give themselves enough time, though. Lynceus and Idas eventually set off to head back home, leaving Helen alone with Paris, who kidnapped her and started the Trojan War. If Castor and Pollux had been home, rather than sneaking off…

"But there they were. Castor climbed a tree to keep watch while Pollux freed the herd. But Lynceus, who had an exceptional ability to see in the dark, rather like a lynx, which," I pointed just to the right of Virgo at the thin constellation barely visible to even my eyes, "is also the name of the Lynx constellation, so named because one needs the eyes of a lynx to see it."

Edward squinted in the direction I pointed at, his dark brows furrowing in concentration. I just barely suppressed the urge to caress his face with my free hand, to let my fingertips trace along the stark and strong profile that cast a shadow from the light emanating from inside.

"So when Lynceus noticed Castor," I continued, though it seemed like Edward barely registered a word, "he knew exactly what was happening. And Idas and Lynceus were again furious- I mean, first their fiancées, then their cattle? Lynceus continued to the range to get to Pollux while Idas ambushed Castor. Idas wounded him with a spear, but Castor had just enough time to warn Pollux, who then whipped around and struck down Lynceus.

"But, as we saw with the steak eating, Idas was a large man, and he was able to best Pollux. Just as he was about to deal the fatal blow, Zeus interceded and threw down a thunderbolt to kill Idas and save his son.

"Pollux rushed to his brother's side, and Castor was shakily inhaling his last breaths. Pollux had a choice. He could immortality either ascend to Mount Olympus as an immortal, at his father's side, or he could give half his to his brother and save Castor's life.

"He chose the latter, of course. And in payment, they spend half their time in the heavens as the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini, and the other half as mortals on earth. Always fated to linger between both worlds, one foot in each but never fully belonging," I finished, deliberately choosing the moderately happy ending version of the story. The other one involved Castor dying and Pollux being so sad he had Zeus kill him so he could join Castor, and I wasn't sure I wanted to put anything remotely within that realm in Edward's head. Not when his own twin lay in a coma just inside, and danger seemed to be peaking around every corner.

"What about Helen?" Edward asked quietly, drawing me from my attention of the tightening invisible band that was encasing him and seemed to almost be snapping around Alice.

"What about Helen?" I repeated back. "Ah, the most beautiful woman in the world!" I exclaimed. "Can you imagine? Whole wars waged over her, just to behold her beauty."

Edward shifted on his side to face me, our noses almost touching and his breath like a warm summer breeze fanning across my face.

"I c-can imagine." His voice was serious, his green eyes piercing and unrelenting. His pupils had dilated with the darkness so that they consumed his iris, and the delicate leaves of color that struck out from the black were darker than I had ever seen. Our hands were still joined between us, but his other reached out to cup my face as I had longed to do to him not long before. His skin was warm against mine, and I could feel each beat of his heart as if it were my own. "'W-was this the f-face that l-launched a thousand sh-ships, and burnt the t-topless t-towers of Ilium?'"

The next lines of the quote came to me immediately-

Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss:

Her lips suck forth my soul, see where it flies!

Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.

Here I dwell, for heaven be in these lips,

And all is dross that it not Helena.

"I d-don't r-remember the rest," Edward admitted, barely speaking above a whisper. "B-but I know it had s-s-something to d-do with a kiss. So c-come, Helen…"

He didn't leave a moment to pass between us before his lips were on mine, pliable against my unyielding form but also demanding. His hand slid down to the back of my neck so his fingers were splayed along the base of my head, and I could feel how he was pressing himself into me, as if he could keep us together with sheer force.

His tongue snaked out to part my lips, and his own mouth parted in invitation to my advances. Moving almost as one, Edward's hands slid down to my back as we rolled gracefully so I was hovering over him, my knees on either side of his hips in a straddle.

I could feel his heart pounding in my own chest, it was all I could hear, along with the shallow, thready breaths that came from him as I kissed along the hollow of his throat while he caught his breath. I sucked gently, careful not to pull his skin too taut in my mouth and giving my teeth a safe distance from the pooling blood at the surface there, so delicious. My throat ignited in the same licking flames I felt in my chest, and now in the pit of my stomach.

There was a frenzied aspect, as if laying out amongst the stars had laid us bare before one another. And it had been so long. I had grown accustomed to his touch, to his kiss, and, more recently, to the white-hot pleasure he could make me feel with what seemed like just a look. Returning to the chaste holding of hands with no other tangible contact had been just another test on my restraint, a demonstration of how much I could hold myself back.

Our lips joined again, and I traced the dramatic arch of his Cupid's bow with my tongue in a way that always seemed to make him shudder. I wondered whether it was from pleasure or from cold, but I was too preoccupied to ask him. My hands were in his hair, and I gently tugged at the silky strands that slid through my fingers like finely spun gold, darkened with the night sky and only a smattering of stars that flickered above us.

His hands found their way under my shirt again, to that sensitive skin at the small of my back where he pressed his palms into me as if he wanted to tighten his hold. I let him, and ground myself down on his the lower part of his abdomen, where his muscles rippled and clenched under the flimsy fabric of his T-shirt.

Our tongues slid against one another, his slippery silk carrying that elixir of his taste. I couldn't recall ever tasting anything so sweet. It felt like his hands were everywhere, slipping under my shirt and burning a path along my sides, up to my ribcage and then down to the safe skin of my back again. Teasing.

I couldn't hold back the needy moan that had been building in my chest, guttural and embodying the base of my desire. Edward opened his mouth to swallow the sound, his teeth coming out to pull at my bottom lip. They weren't sharp, but scratched at the sensitive skin, and my needless breath hitched.

I barely noticed Edward adjusting himself underneath me, passing it off as trying to get more comfortable when being held against the ground. But then his hands slid further down to grip at my thighs. There was an increase in pressure in his hands, and his lips slowed against mine. I realized what he wanted, that he was trying to get me to move. I tried to follow his movements, letting him lead. Always letting him lead and be in control, even when there was nothing more I wanted than to tear into him right here. What better place than beneath the stars to reclaim that instinctual desire?

He was still laying down, our mouths still moving languidly against one another. He kept using his teeth to scrape against my tongue and tips, and I wondered if he knew just how sensitive I was, how I could feel every ridge of his teeth as they bared down on my nerves.

He propped one of his legs up and sat up, one hand coming to the back of my head to hold me against him. I let him, I followed him where he was leading, and jumped as he pressed his leg up to the apex of my thighs.

Was that a smile on his mouth? It disappeared as soon as it appeared, his tongue wrapping around mine and his fingers burying into my hair and my thigh. My hips seemed to flex of their own accord, eliciting that delicious, warm sensation that pulsed through my abdomen.

It wasn't long until I was almost keening in his arms. Both of his hands had slid back under my shirt, one to hold me at my side, right at the dip in my ribs where that newborn had crushed me all those months ago, the other softly cupping my breast. His thumb reached up to brush along the stiff peak of my nipple at the same time he pressed his thigh up into me and bit down on my bottom lip.

There was a familiar warmth that was spreading where I was connected to Edward's thigh, and it seemed to snap out and encompass me completely. I couldn't help myself but to whimper in relief, and Edward's hand slid from my side up to my sternum, his knuckles brushing against the swell of my unattended breast.

"Oh, Bella," Edward sighed, staring up at me from the unfathomable depths of his eyes that I felt like I was falling into, like tide pools along the ocean's edge that plunged deeper into the mysteries below. "I'm s-s-sorry."

It was like he understood everything at that moment. Like, with one hand on my breast and the other over the ache of my still heart, he comprehended how I burned there, how I had to force aside that baser, animalistic, vampiric instinct that screamed at me to become the Helen of Doctor Faustus and make him immortal with a kiss, to suck forth his soul and watch as it flew.

It took me a moment to realize that the scream wasn't in my head. I was so focused on the ministrations of the rough pad of Edward's fingers against the sensitive pebble of my nipple, and how that had such an immediate and shocking connection to the apex of my thighs as Edward pushed his leg up into me again.

But it was quiet for only a moment before her scream pierced through our intimate bubble and echoed through the sleeping forest. I thought I could hear the leaves ruffle in the response, like the wildlife was responding to the cry.

It sounded like she was shredding her vocal cords, she was yelling so harshly, so shrilly. It was the absolute loudest I had ever heard a human. If there was any in my body, I was sure the blood would have curdled at the sound.

I froze for just a fraction of a second, cold washing over me that came with a wave of terror.

My shield.

I could feel it, pliable and flexible and firmly in my own head, no longer wrapped around anyone else.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Before another moment could fly by, I kicked my shield back out and snapped it around both Edward and Alice, the light of their lives flickering in my register and a quick but fleeting reassurance that they were both alive.

I flew off of Edward before he could even open his eyes again, pushing up off of him and racing through the cabin without even a moment to mourn the loss of his warm hands on my body.

I tore the door off the hinges, rust flaking off the old metal as it screeched apart. The discarded wood flew behind me, and I was standing over Alice in just a few more steps.

The bedroom smelled like sickness. I hadn't noticed… How had I not noticed? Was I so unobservant? But with Edward, of course, it was always a different story. He seemed so consuming in the way he had the power to draw me in and hold me there. But this wasn't his fault, of course. It was mine, and mine alone. They were my responsibility, this was my job.

Alice was still screaming, her eyes clenched shut and her mouth stretched open to allow the piercing cries escape. She had spiked a fever without me noticing, but it couldn't have been long that I was too distracted to hear the thunder of her heart or smell the salt of her sweat.

She was soaked, her dark hair plastered to her forehead and the sheets around her dark with dampness. Every inch of her skin seemed to be covered in that sheen, and the small drops that beaded at her hairline seemed to almost sparkle in the starlight.

"Alice," I called, crouching beside her. I reached a hand out to press against her skin, her flesh burning against my cool touch. "Alice, please," I said, trying to be reassuring. She hadn't made so much as a groan in the past two days, staying completely silent in her sleep. This was a stark contrast to that, and she thrashed against my touch as she continued to scream. My hushing words weren't working, and I held her down as gently as I could to keep her from pulling out her IV or G-tube ports. Even still, a few drops of blood leaked from the disturbed wound in her abdomen, and I needed to get her to stabilize before an infection could creep in.

And then, somehow penetrating the still-continuing scream that was tearing out of Alice, I heard a high-pitched, almost childlike giggle from just outside. So close it was like they were right beside me. I spun in place, looking around the empty room.

Alice grew still and quiet, her breath still coming in pants but the screams had ceased.

But I couldn't hear anything. I stood still and listened, and couldn't hear anything else outside.

I couldn't hear anything outside.

Oooooo