The Pain

Bella

Pain.

Ever since she became immortal, absence of pain was something she took for granted. She believed she fulfilled her lifetime quota of pain in those three agonizing days she spent during her conversion. Perhaps that was true for all immortals of her kind.

So as awareness slowly crept up on her, she was surprised the first thing she felt was pain. It wasn't the dull, tiring body ache she remembered from her human life. Nor was it like the pain she experienced after her encounter with James. She called back to her human life, thinking of the times she had injured herself, memories that she had aplenty. And the closest thing she could compare it to, was a paper cut.

A deceptively small cut for a pain so intense.

And as Bella regained consciousness, she felt like she was riddled with a thousand paper cuts all at once. Both her cheeks were smarting and she felt like her face was on fire. Save for the pain of her transformation, this was the most intense pain she had ever felt. Her throat burnt too, as if she had gone by one too many weeks without hunting.

A whimper left her lips and Bella immediately felt hands on her.

"Mom?" her daughter's voice called out to her. "Mom, can you hear me?"

Bella opened her eyes, the deep blue canvas of the night sky sprayed on with the diamond like stars greeting her. Slowly her vision cleared, improving with each passing second. She could first make out the blurred night sky which turned clearer and then her eyes started picking up on more minute things. The dust. The pollen. A dandelion. Fur. Grass under her.

The crystal clear vision of the Italian countryside was interrupted as her daughter's face swung into view. Her brown eyes dry, her face red and swollen.

"Nessie?" Bella called out, sitting up straight and spinning to her side so that she could face her daughter. "Baby are you alright?"

Memories came rushing back soon enough. The large vampire. The pain as her head was ripped off…

"How…" she whispered to herself, her eyes fixated on her daughter.

Renesmee said nothing. Instead she threw herself at Bella who was quick to open her arms and hold her daughter in an embrace.

Behind Renesmee, she could see the massive, reddish-brown wolf. Jacob.

He let out a low growl and Bella stretched out her hand. He touched his muzzle to her palm and then stepped closer, nudging her shoulder.

The heavy breathing and deep rumble from the other two wolves reached her ears as her hearing attained the clarity of her immortal self.

She turned, Renesmee's grip tightening on her shoulders as her daughter guided her and an involuntary scream left her body.

Carlisle sat, crouched down with his back to her. And before him, lay a pile of her family, torn to pieces.

A tightness developed in her stomach and she was certain if she could throw up, she would. She had to peel her eyes away as Carlisle pulled a torn leg from the bottom of the pile and its movement dislodged a spherical object from it. Alice's head rolled to a stop at her feet and Bella staggered back, pulling Renesmee away with her. She would have fallen backwards had Jacob's large form not provided her with something to lean on.

Her hand fisted into his fur and Bella could hear him hold down a whimper.

"Carlisle?" she called out tentatively but received no answer.

Instead, her eyes followed his actions, Renesmee, herself and the wolves staring, unable to look away.

He placed the leg he had retrieved on the grass before him. Then reached out and pulled a hand, placing it where the hand would have been in relation to the leg had the person not been in pieces.

Carlisle stopped for a moment, his head bowed before he reached into the pile once again and this time, pulled out a much larger body part. The familiar blue shirt, the dark trousers…

Bella gasped as Carlisle placed Edward's torso on the ground, adjusting his leg and hand according to the body. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. Yet every instinct in her predatory body screamed at her to not move, not approach, not rush to her husband's side.

Instead, she stood rooted to a spot, silent as she could be. The four heartbeats and breathing the only sound produced by the audience of the sick puzzle game Carlisle was forced to play.

Carlisle leaned up, and with both hands, cradled a face, topped with matted bronze hair. Renesmee's hand around hers tightened and she let out a sob.

Bella, try as hard as she might, was unable to look away from her husband's decapitated head.

Her father-in-law placed the head over Edward's neck before he took a step back. Reaching for the separated hand and arm, Bella watched with a revolting intrigue as Carlisle held the two together and leaned down, sinking his teeth into both parts at once. He moved back an inch before he leaned down again and touched the edges of the two parts with a flick of his tongue circumventing the plane completely.

Bella's sharp eyes could see his venom at work. She could hear the bone reattaching, the muscles stretching, vessels reaching out to reconnect and soon enough, the skin closing together, sealing the wound save for a faint scar that would not be visible to the human eyes.

Carlisle moved lower, repeating the process near Edward's upper thigh, reattaching his leg to the rest of his body.

The perverseness of what Carlisle was forced to do revolted her to the core. She thought about reaching out to him. Asking him if and how she could help. But her instincts screamed at her to hold her ground. To stay low, to not grab attention.

For the first time in either of her lives, Bella was terrified of Carlisle. And try as hard as she might, she could not explain to herself why.

So, she decided to do what her daughter and the wolves were doing, and she watched.

Carlisle cradled Edward's upper body against his chest and carefully placed his head over his neck. He repeated the process, biting him to inject his venom and then sealing the wound closed with a lick of his tongue. He held Edward's still unconscious form in his arm, gently rocking on the balls of his feet till Edward groaned.

The sound was her unspoken cue and within seconds, without even turning back, Carlisle handed Edward over to Bella and Renesmee. As consciousness slowly dawned over her husband and his features contorted with the unfamiliar sensation of pain, Carlisle was already at work, pulling out a much smaller torso this time.

Bella peeled her eyes away from Carlisle's back and focused on Edward, gently coaxing him to open his eyes. Her heart ached to see him in agony. Almost involuntarily, he reached out towards his reattached thigh, rubbing it as a deep growl sounded in his chest.

The circles under his eyes were dark. But nothing compared to the pitch black of his iris as he opened his eyes. Bella reached for him, helping him up into a sitting position. He looked around, taking in the sight of his wife and daughter before he looked the other way, at his father.

In an instant Edward was on his feet.

"Carlisle," he called out, his voice thick with tears he could not shed. He staggered a step in his father's direction and suddenly stopped, as if on command.

Bella rushed to his side, steadying him as his leg readjusted to holding his weight. Edward's mouth hung open a little before he took a couple more hesitant steps towards the pile that was his family.

"Carlisle, let me help," he whispered, his fingers extending out towards where Esme's hand lay.

Bella heard four hearts lurch with speed and a surprised yelp left even her own lips. With an animalistic snarl Carlisle spun around, slamming Edward to the ground right at her feet. Visible cracks radiated out from behind his head as Edward held his hands out in a gesture of surrender.

His eyes, terrified, he kept on repeating, "It's okay. It's me. I won't harm her."

Carlisle, crouched over him, leaned down even further, giving out one final warning snarl before he let go of his son's neck. He shifted a step back, and then another, and at last, Bella looked the leader of her coven full in the face.

His face contorted, rage and confusion battling to take charge of his feature. A continuous growl sounded from his chest, his lips pulled back to bare his teeth.

And yet none of it was what caught Bella's attention. Instead, she looked Carlisle straight in the eye.

Two pools of bright red stared back.

A/N:

If the next chapter takes a little while to update, feel free to blame the brilliant Vinelle whose brilliant, brilliant writing made me fall in love with Aro and the Volturi. And now I have to re-read the outline for this story to get back in the Villain!Aro mindset once again.

But yes, check out her work if you love some good Carlisle content. In a single story she made me laugh out loud as well as go on a hmmm spiral.

P.S. If you recommend me some good Carlisle stories, I will love you forever.

P.P.S. The update will not take all that long, don't worry though.