Chapter 1:
(Edward POV)
Even in the middle of tumult and chaos I was surprised to find myself thinking of spring. Feeling the warmth of her glow on my face, the tingle of the breeze on my skin, and the smell in my nose. Ahhh, I sighed, lilac and freesia. The smell was so sweet it made my mouth water… it was too sweet… and my mouth was not watering. It was filling with venom. Then suddenly I was back in the war zone. I heard Alice screaming at me in her mind. Still unable to open her mouth to speak, afraid the overwhelming scent of Bella's pooling blood would be too much for her. At the same time Carlisle was speaking forcefully to me out loud. "Edward, she's too far gone, one of us will have to finish it. I will do it if you wish me too, but it must happen immediately!" Yes, I was back in the war zone indeed. James had bitten Bella. Just once on the hand, but she was already writhing in pain. I was at once jealous of my brothers. I heard in their minds that they were already nearly finished ripping the tracker to shreds. "EDWARD!!!!" Alice mentally shrieked at me again. And I realized my time was up, and so was Bella's. "Edward," Bella's voice came to her no louder than a raspy, broken whisper, "it hurts." "I know Bella, I will make it better" I told her fervently. "I'll do it Carlisle. I have to do this." If it was all my fault as I knew it was; Bella was in this horrific nightmare because of me. It should be me to make the transformation, to bear the weight of it. No need to add another soul to Carlisle's conscious. As I pressed my lips to Bella's throat, I saw Persephone eating the last pomegranate seed. Plunged into the underworld… forever.
(Bella's POV)
The burning in my hand was so intense I could have sworn my whole body was ablaze. I thought of what James had said about Alice "if she was born a century earlier, she would have been burned at the stake for her visions." I was suddenly grateful to any god that might have saved her from that fate. I wouldn't wish this pain on my worst enemy. "Edward, she's too far gone, one of us will have to finish it. I will do it if you wish me too, but it must happen immediately!" I heard Carlisle speak sternly to Edward. Edward, my love, with such an immense pain in his eyes, he looked as though he was being tortured as badly as I had just been moments ago. "Edward," my voice came out as just a whisper, "it hurts." I tried to show him I could be brave, but I felt all the fight draining from my body. "I know Bella, I will make it better" I smiled a small, weak smile at him. Trying to hear the words he was saying to Carlisle. But I couldn't keep my eyes open. The room was suddenly colder and I couldn't find in myself the ability to stay awake. I was slipping away when I felt Edward's lips press to my neck. Our final kiss, a peaceful acceptance washed over me. Then Edward was no longer kissing my throat. He opened his mouth and bit down on my jugular. I felt my eyes fly open and a scream tear it's way from my throat. In an instant the fire was back and was burning hotter than ever. Edward quickly removed his teeth from my neck, and then plunged them into my right bicep. "That's good Son. Find the major arteries first, then you can move on to the largest veins." Carlisle said with an eerie calm. Edward seemed to nod as he bit down on my abdomen. "I'm going to check on Jasper and Emmett." Alice gasped quickly, seeming to run out of air at the end of her sentence. Within a second she was out of sight. Didn't anyone care that I was on fire? I felt betrayed. I thought they loved me. Here I was burning to death and no one seemed to notice. I felt another scream burst from my lungs. "How many more bites!?" Edward huffed at Carlisle, "how many days will the transformation take?!" Ahh I see now. He was saving me. Saving me in the same way Carlisle had saved him. In the same way Carlisle had saved Esme, then Rosalie, then Emmett. Edward was changing me. Instead of a death sentence, he was giving me eternity. I closed my mouth at once. I would not make this harder for him. I would not pain him further with my screams. I would wait in silence for my burning to cease as I knew it soon would. Then Edward and I could finally be together, as partners, as equals, as mates, as vampires.