A/N: Hi everyone! After about a thousand years, I'm back with a new story. It's already finished, and I will be uploading a new chapter every couple of days as the fancy strikes me. Without further ado, here's chapter one of True Night =)
True Night
Chapter One
"Shoot," I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.
It all happened very quickly then.
Edward threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table…
I tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. I felt the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow.
Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm—into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.
Faster than a snake, Edward bit me. Once, twice, three times.
Before I could do more than let out a yelp of surprise, a deafening bellow filled the room as someone detached themselves from the group and threw themselves at Edward.
Frozen like a still in a movie, I saw the agony in Edward's eyes as he realized what he'd done. The slight widening of his lids, framed by his lovely dark lashes. The dilation of his pupils in irises that were suddenly too bright.
A scream filled the air.
"Jasper, no!"
That was Alice.
I blinked dumbly. Why had Jasper attacked Edward instead of me? Why hadn't she stopped him?
"She's mine!" I heard Edward roar.
"You'll never hurt her again," Jasper hissed. "I'll make sure of it."
"Carlisle, get Bella somewhere safe!" Esme cried. She had disappeared then reappeared with a jug of bleach, which she proceeded to pour all over the mess at my feet.
I felt someone pick me up. I couldn't think – my mind had gone blank. All I could hear was an awful screeching sound, like metal being rent. All I could smell was the sharpness of the bleach, obscuring the richness of my blood. All I could see were Edward's beautiful eyes, seared into my mind like an afterimage.
That image would not leave me for a long time.
Vaguely, I recalled Carlisle setting me down.
"I'm sorry Bella, this will hurt," he murmured.
I felt a tugging sensation and realized he was pulling shards of glass from my arm.
It was like I'd been dunked in freezing water – the shock to my system caused my senses to crash back with painful clarity. A paralyzing, splintering pain was shooting through my neck, my shoulder, my jaw. It was a hundred times worse than the last time. I let out a piercing scream.
Carlisle swore, then hissed in dismay.
"I can't stop the change now Bella, I'm truly sorry. Too much of Edward's venom has penetrated your system."
"It had to happen this way, it had to happen this way," I heard Alice muttering.
I screamed and screamed and screamed. I screamed until my throat tore and I could taste blood at the base of my tongue. I retched, coughing up the cake Esme had so painstakingly baked for me. I gasped and shuddered for air, feeling tears prick my eyes as I lost control of my bowels.
The pain seemed to go on for an eternity. The sounds of tearing metal, the crash of glass and plates from downstairs, rang in my ears for what felt like an inordinately long time. I smelled smoke, pungent and sweet, and wondered who had built a fire in this house. I heard broken sobbing and couldn't tell if it was coming from myself or someone near me.
I could only feel the pain – the blinding, numbing pain.
It burned through me, sparing nothing.
I heard someone say, "He shouldn't have done it."
I heard someone else say, "What on earth are we going to do when she wakes up?"
"It had to happen this way, it had to happen this way."
"I am awake!" I wanted to shout, but I was too exhausted to do anything other than pant. If I made a sound, I would fly apart at the seams.
An indeterminable amount of time later, the pain changed. A sensation like pins and needles traveled up my fingertips and toes, leaving coolness in their wake.
I realized that someone had changed my clothes and washed my skin and that I was now lying in a bed in a darkened room, surrounded by satiny material.
My eyes, which had closed at some point, popped open. I let out a gasp as my heart thrummed, like a jackhammer trying to drill out of my chest. With that gasp, I was bombarded with an onslaught of smells and sensations.
This room was musty. It had not been used in a long time. It was day. I could smell the warmth in the air, the delicate notes of pollen in the wind coming from the slightly open window at my left, by my head. I heard the murmur of voices from downstairs, the clink of glass as it was dumped in the trash outside. I smelled a horrible smell, similar to burnt meat, but more acrid. I wondered why no one had cleaned that up yet.
And then, with a sound like a hollow drum, my heart thudded to a stop.
It was like all the air and sound had been sucked from my ears. I laid still, not breathing, stunned that the soothing thump would never be heard from my chest again. Amidst my shock, I felt something else. There, like a sheen of oil on my skin, I felt something. It was plating my body like a second skin. Flexible, supple. Thin, like tissue paper.
I heard footsteps and sat up, faster than the twitch of an eye, as the door opened and I saw Alice with my new eyes for the first time.
"Oh, Bella," she breathed. "I'm so sorry."
But I did not see her.
With her entrance, she had displaced the air and blown more smells into the room. And there was one that burned my nostrils, set my senses on fire.
Before she could do much more than flinch in surprise, I had shot out the door, barreling right past her. I tore straight through the railing in the outside hallway and launched myself into the air, landing with a crunch on the first floor, in front of my prey.
"You!" I screeched, in a voice I could hardly recognize as my own.
"Bella!"
"Bella, stop!"
"You killed him!" I roared, and Jasper made no move to stop me as I took his head and began to bash it into the floor.
"Bella, no!"
"Carlisle, she's hurting him!"
"Let her, he deserves it."
I was leaving dents in the hardwood with how hard I was pummeling Jasper, but it gave me no satisfaction. I wanted him in pieces. I wanted him to burn.
I was shocked out of my murderous rage by the sight of my hands. Curled like claws, my fingers had turned a shiny, deadly black. I sprang back and shoved myself into a corner, looking at my hands in shock. Even as I watched in horrified fascination, I watched the pigment fade, sucking back into my skin.
I realized then that the sensation of oil on my body on my body wasn't oil at all.
It was death.
A/N: I figured I'd change things up with Bella's "love shield" - I found the end of Breaking Dawn to be super anti-climatic.