SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.

Chapter 32

Bella could hear people talking around her, but she couldn't take her eyes off her father's badly swollen face. His eye was swollen shut, and he possibly had a broken nose, fractured cheek bone or eye socket. She didn't want to think about possible brain damage.

"Bella killed it," someone said.

"What?"

"That's impossible."

"Where's the body?"

The back door opened and banged close. Then they came back in.

"Shit. It's in the fire."

"How did she do that?"

Silence.

"Bella?" Jake was trying to get her attention. "Hey," he said. Putting his hands gently on either side of her face. He turned her head towards his, away from her fathers. "He's going to be okay."

She shook her head. "You didn't see it. You didn't hear it…" she said with a sob. The sickening crack sound was playing on repeat in her mind, over and over again. She remembers Edward telling her that he could easily crush her skull if he wasn't in control and accidentally used his full strength.

"Did you really kill that vampire?" he had to ask.

She got flashes in her mind, Rachel's face frozen in terror, the tearing of his arms, the satisfying noise that she heard when she separated his head from its body. Bella just nodded. "He was hurting Rachel. I just wanted to distract him. I didn't know I could… I should have done something earlier…" She took a shuddering breath, and the tears ran from her eyes freely.

Jake chuckled. "You, Bella Swan, will never cease to amaze me. You took on a vampire by yourself and survived… with no injuries." He shook his head. "How on earth did you do that?"

She looked at her hands, still covered in Rachel's blood. "I don't know," she whispered.

A groan from nearby drew Bella's attention. Seth was waking up.

"Hey," he said quietly when he smiled up at Eva.

Eva was leaning over Seth's face. The first thing Eva did was kiss him, on the lips, upside down. He was a little shocked at first, then he placed a free hand on her face and rubbed his thumb over her wet cheek.

Then reality came crashing down on Seth. "Are you okay?" he asked frantically. "Where's the vampire?" he sat up abruptly and looked around the room.

"H-he's gone," Eva stuttered.

Seth continued to scan the room. "I'm my god, Rachel! Charlie!" He got to his feet, unsure who to check on first. "Where did he go?"

"B-Bella?" a voice croaked behind her.

She whipped her head around and stared at her father, who was gently touching his swollen cheek.

"Dad!" she screamed. She scooted out of Jacob's lap, across the floor and pulled her dad into a too-tight hug.

"Ouch," he groaned.

"Oh, sorry," she said through tears as she let him go. "oh god, I thought you were dead. He hit you so hard. It should have killed you. I thought… I thought you were dead." Bella sobbed into her hands, kneeling on the ground. She felt Jake rubbing her back. He was the only thing keeping her together at this point.

"Sorry to bother you," Sam said quietly. "We are going to drive Paul and Rachel to the clinic. Jake, you good to get Charlie there?"

"Yes, of course," he replied, gazing anxiously at his sister.

Paul picked Rachel up and walked towards the front door, or opening, as it now was. Jake eventually helped Charlie stand up and supported him so that he didn't fall over. Unsurprisingly, he was sporting a whopping headache to go with suspected fractures on his face.

Bella grabbed an old shirt, and Jake tied it into a temporary sling for Charlie's arm. Jacob was much better at this injury stuff than Bella.

Seth asked how the rest of the guys were. Bella felt guilty that she hadn't asked. "Brady and Colin are pretty beat up. Leah and Embry took them to the clinic."

They were all quiet at that news. Bella swallowed down her own guilt. They were out on patrol during her party and had suffered the brunt of the attack before the rest arrived.

Eva asked if Seth could take her home. She was really shaken up, clutching Seth's arm as he might disappear at any moment. However, there was no reason that they had to come back to the clinic.

Jake drove Bella's truck with her and Charlie back to La Push. The drive was eerily quiet. There was too much to say, and no one seemed to have the energy to say it. Bella stayed tucked into Jacob's side, and Charlie leaned up against the window.

Sooner than she anticipated, they arrived at a building in La Push that Bella had never seen before. It was the town clinic. Bella wondered why they didn't take Charlie to the hospital in Forks, but maybe explaining the injuries would be too tricky without supernatural knowledge.

Embry and Leah greeted them and helped get Charlie out of the truck. When they got inside, Rachel was already on a bed with an IV, and blood bag hooked up to her. She had terrible bruising that was appearing around her neck. Brady and Colin were also on beds. They were unconscious and had various limbs splinted and strapped. Their faces were mottled with many bruises.

Sam told them that they were being pumped full of morphine but should make a full recovery.

The Doctor, Connor Witt, was working on Rachel. She was the main priority. First, they needed to find out if she had any neck injuries and why she was still unconscious.

Sue Clearwater arrived in a panic and immediately went into nurse mode, asking all the relevant questions Bella hadn't even thought to ask. Charlie remained stoic and didn't complain when he had to wait for Rachel to be x-rayed first.

Colin and Brady's parents arrived, as well as Old Quil and Billy. Before Rachel was wheeled back into the room, Billy and Charlie shared a tense moment, staring at each other.

Quiet conversations were going on all around the clinic. Bella received several questioning glances, but no one approached her or asked her anything. For this, she was grateful. She wasn't ready to relive it just yet.

Eventually, Jake and Charlie convinced Bella that she needed to get cleaned up. She didn't want to leave Jake, so he came with her. They found a small bathroom, and Jacob helped wipe the blood off her face with a damp cloth. She avoided looking at herself in the mirror.

When they exited the bathroom, the mood in the clinic had turned ice cold. Paul was standing in the corner of the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. He looked torn between needing to be with his mate and needing to fight someone.

Billy was at Rachel's bedside, holding her hand and sobbing.

Bella risked a glance at Jacob and saw pools of tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Rachel has a broken neck. Her C4 is completely shattered."

Bella gasped and looked back at Rachel. As if the words being spoken allowed, for probably the second time, triggered something in Paul and he started violently shaking. Sam walked up to him and pushed him towards the exit.

"NO!" Paul roared. "I need to stay with her."

Jared joined Sam, and they grabbed him by the arms and dragged him kicking and screaming from the room in a blur. There was a moment of silence in the clinic before they all heard the moanful howl of a wolf just outside.

Bella closed be eyes, and the silent tears leaked down her face. "H-has it damaged her spinal cord?" she asked, no one in particular.

"We don't know. She needs an MRI, but we don't have one here. So all we can do is wait to see as the swelling goes down and she regains consciousness," Doctor Witt spoke quietly.

"She needs to go to a full hospital. Forks is probably not big enough. Seattle maybe," Bella was talking to herself and planning.

"We can't get her there. The journey is too risky right now. But, we can discuss getting her to a good hospital for the care she will require soon," the Doctor said.

Bella sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting room. No one seemed to want to leave just yet. She watched in a daze as Charlie was taken away and his arm was x-rayed. Then a temporary plaster cast was put on.

Seth woke with a groan. Man, his head hurt. Even before he opened his eyes, he felt her fingers in his face. Eva. His imprint. He knew it was her's without even opening his eyes. Her gentle touch on his skin tingled and soothed at the same time.

He opened his eyes and met her gorgeous blue eyes. She was upside down to him. "Hey," he whispered.

Then, he noticed the tears on her cheeks. Before he could ask what was wrong, she leaned down slowly and kissed him tentatively on the lips. He hesitated for a split second before his lips moved with hers.

Seth was so wrapped up at the moment that he had completely forgotten where he was or what was happening around him. He felt euphoric; his imprint had just kissed him. Then, it all came crashing back down on him.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, immediately concerned. "Where is the vampire?" he had to make sure his imprint was safe. Shit. He had passed out while his imprint and a vampire were in the same room.

He quickly surveyed the room. He spotted a few of the pack, he smelt the blood in the air, and he smelt the unmistakable scent of burning vampire remains.

"H-he's gone," Eva said, confirming his suspicions.

Seth continued to scan the room. "Oh my god, Rachel! Charlie!" He got to his feet, unsure who to check on first. "Where did he go?"

Charlie woke up then, and Seth breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't take long for everyone to leave the house, leaving Eva and Seth at the Swan's residence. Seth had promised Jake that he would get Eva home safely.

The front door had been smashed in, taking the door frame with it. From the street, it would have been evident that something untoward had happened in the house. So Seth propped the door up against the remaining door frame as best he could and leaned it against a chair inside the door. It didn't look perfect, but it should hold for the night and hopefully, no one would call it in to the police station. Someone would need to do a deep clean to get all the blood out of the floorboards and repair various walls throughout the downstairs area.

Eva was very quiet. She was usually quiet, but tonight she hadn't said more than two words since he had woken up. She was nervous playing the end of her braid while sitting on the front steps, waiting for Seth to finish up. She had taken their relationship to the next step, a place that she had promised Seth that she didn't want to go.

Seth gently grabbed her hand and helped her stand up. He continued to hold it as he walked her towards his car. He opened the door for her and smiled at her as she nervously sat down.

He knew that she had been through a lot tonight. The girls had not said too much about what had happened, and what he had seen was impossible. However, the vampire was in the fire before any wolves returned. Something epic must have occurred.

They drove in silence. Seth held her hand the whole time, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. When he arrived at her walkway, he pulled the car over and turned the ignition off.

He turned to her. "Are you okay?"

Eva nodded without looking back up at his face. He could feel that she was nervous about something. He might have expected her to be scared or upset, but not nervous, unless she was anxious about what he might expect from her, now that she had kissed him.

He put his hand under her chin to gently bring her gaze back to his. "I am happy that you kissed me, but we don't have to do it again if you don't want to," he said slowly.

Eva did a nervous chuckle. "I think I'd like to do it again, but I need to talk to you about something else first."

"Sure," Seth smiled. As much as he didn't want to push Eva into something she wasn't comfortable with, he really would like to kiss her again.

"Tonight, I think I… heard something," she said quietly.

"Heard something?" Seth repeated, confused. "As in…" he tapped his ear.

"Yes, when the gun went off. I heard this loud bang. It scared me so much I screamed."

Seth smiled, "really?" A second impossible act for the evening.

"Well, the other day, I thought I heard something in the forest while I was walking, but it didn't happen again, so I ignored it. But tonight, since the gun, I have heard a few other noises as well. I have heard a few things you have said also. It is muffled, and I don't hear every word, but it is getting clearer and clearer."

Seth's smile got impossible wide, "wow, that's amazing. Why now?"

Eva shook her head, "I don't know."

"Well, why don't we ask your Grandma?"

Eva hesitated, "I'm not sure that is a good idea."

"Why?" Seth frowned.

"I don't know," Eva shrugged, continuing to play with her hair.

Seth would have thought this was wonderful news. It took him a minute to piece it together. Finally, he slowly grabbed her nervous hand and held her fingers. "Are you concerned that she won't get her hearing back, and you will?"

"Maybe," she admitted.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sure she would be so happy for you."

"You don't know that," she muttered. "She's been living with this her whole life. Why me? Why now?"

"I don't know that, but," he tilted his head to the side. "I can think of someone who might know a lot more about what is going on than we do. Tonight has been a crazy night. I'd love to hear about what happened if you are up to it?"

Eva sighed and nodded her head. Seth got out of the car and ran around to meet her. They walked hand in hand toward her little house in the woods, along the dark path. Seth felt so content holding her hand. It was like he was holding the most precious thing in the world, and he never wanted to let it go.

When they arrived at her house, the outside light was on. Eva opened the door and walked in. Sybil was on the couch reading. She looked up towards the pair in the doorway, then frowned. "What happened?" she sighed after putting the book down.

Eva and Seth sat down on the two-seater couch, their legs touching. Seth wasn't ready to break contact with her just yet.

Eva started telling her Grandma about the night. She signed and talked simultaneously. She described how Bella's birthday had started and then about the guys being pulled away. Seth hadn't had a chance to speak to the other guys yet, so he didn't know what they encountered.

Eva explained about Seth being knocked out and Charlie pulling a gun on the vampire. She thought that Charlie was dead after he slumped to the floor, and Seth flinched as he heard how the vampire had taunted the girls.

Seth put his arm around Eva's shoulder and pulled her in closer to his chest. He kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent. He hadn't realized how close he had been to losing Eva tonight.

Both Sybil and Seth were surprised to hear about Bella attacking the vampire and how she dismembered him with relative ease. Sybil started to smile as Eva's explained her role in holding the vampire down; Seth growled a little; he couldn't help himself. Then they dragged the body out to the fire.

"Wow," Seth said quietly, shaking his head. "How on earth did you guys take out a vampire? That should be impossible."

Sybil just continued to watch Eva with an incredible smile on her face.

"And, there is something else," Eva said nervously. "I think I'm getting my hearing back."

There was a pause before Sybil started talking. "You know, my grandmother told me that I would see the fulfilment of the prophecy, but in my elderly age, I had truly begun to doubt it." Then, she turned her gaze to the confused boy on the couch. "Seth, I need you to tell me everything you know about this Bella Swan, Jacob Black and their relationship?"

A/N This chapter has given me so much grief. It took me almost a week to beat it into submission. Lol. Thanks for all the reviews. They really keep me going.

The next chapter is a big one, and we will finally get some answers. I wanted to put some in this one, but it became too long.