Panic tightened my throat. Edward, I prayed, findme
I took a deep breath – or at least attempted one – and tried to calm myself. Nothing around me seemed real. It was all logical and rational – painfully so – but, I couldn't convince myself to get into the fight-or-flight frame of mind.
"At least tell me what we're going to." I demanded, though my mouth was dryer than I had thought and my voice was harsh.
"What we're going to? Like a house? An apartment? A grave in the middle of the woods?" I knew that he had thrown in that last option to scare me, and I refused to let it work.
"Yes. What are we going to?" I said pronouncing each syllable carefully as if he was slow.
"Well, look for yourself." He said and suddenly jerked the wheel to the right, off the highway. But to my surprise there was no crash or anything, just a small dip as we turned onto a small road. It obviously hadn't been used for a while.
I swallowed slowly, and a cool rush of fear ran up my spine. After a few moments of bumpy driving he stopped the car and the next second was hoisting me out of my seat. I fought back but it was impossible to resist; his grip on me was like steel. He pushed me forward through the trees and undergrowth. I tried my best to slow him down and was surprised when he stopped moving.
Then he whirled me around so I was facing him. And despite my best efforts to lean away, I was far too close to him for my own comfort. He yanked my left hand from my side and in a swift motion pulled out a pocket knife and left a thin cut across my palm. I stared at it as the blood blossomed up from the slice and he continued our journey again.
As we walked – or, as he pushed me along – I flashed back to the time after I got lost and was nearly attacked (or worse) by a group of thugs; I remembered Edward asking me when I was going to scream. So I took a deep breath and did just as I should. The only problem was that my voice was rawer then I had thought so it hadn't been as piercing as I'd hoped. And also, merely a second after I had started he had clamped his hand down over my mouth. And not gently either, I felt like maybe he loosened a tooth or two.
We turned left after passing a giant pine tree and I saw it.
A small log cabin type of house; it was very cozy looking. I couldn't help but have my hopes rise for a moment. This place seemed so disarming. But, then again, maybe that was why Keith had chosen it. Or was it really Keith that had chosen it? He was just a pawn right? Someone else was the leader, someone else hated me. The hairs on my arms raised and I felt like I was being pushed through the ocean. Wave after wave of emotion came splashing down on me every second; giving no warning other then the rumbling in my ears.
It seemed to take no time at all to reach the door of the cottage. It had no fancy porch or entrance and it looked a little small for a two-story house. However, when he reached past me and opened the door I saw the inside and was blown away.
It was so open on the inside. It had light blue flower wallpaper in the main room – which he promptly led me into – and an off-white couch in the center of the room. The décor was sparse but cozy, and antique-looking, only making the room seem more spacious. Past this room I could see into a modest looking kitchen. Splayed across the walls were pictures of a family in different events and stages of life. Behind me were the stairs leading to what I was guessing would be bedrooms.
Abruptly, Keith shoved me onto the couch and I had a chance to study the picture on the table next to me as he planned his next move. It showed five people, presumably a family, and though I didn't immediately recognize them, the eldest daughter looked vaguely familiar. I tore my eyes off the picture and watched as Keith walked towards me, wearing a wicked grin.
"What now?" I choked on the last word; or, to be more exact, Keith choked me on the last word. His hand clamped firmly on my neck and I thought that that would be the end of my life. One sharp crack and I would be no more. He picked me off the couch, and in a futile movement of defense I kicked at him and raised my hand to my neck. He laughed in my face and threw me at the stairs. I landed hard on my right side. After the shock wore off I began gasping for breath; being thrown by the neck does not do a windpipe good, trust me.
I braced myself against the stair rails and tried to get up, my side protested but I made it. Keith was instantly next to me. He grabbed my right hand and I found that my arm was also in extreme pain. He took my hand and squeezed it, I heard the bones cracking and instantly the pain in my arm was gone. Now I had a broken hand. That was all I could feel, well, that and a dull throbbing in my throat.
I stumbled back mid-scream and fell against the stairs again, using my good hand to break my fall. He grinned viciously and reached for my left hand. Then, as if I had broken out in boils, he recoiled and left me to stand at the foot of the stairs. Instantly the door was broken through and I saw two figures race into the room. I recognized them both.
Rosalie and Edward.
Edward leapt across the room – growling quite ferociously – towards Keith and Rosalie came to me. But before she could say anything Jasper and Emmett came crashing in.
"You're alive. Thank God." Though she seemed more annoyed by having to rescue me than she did grateful that I was alive. She shook her head and quickly looked at my and my hand, which looked like it had been run over by a cement truck, and rolled her eyes angrily.
Still, she didn't leave my side as we watched the fight progress, I guess she was the one they elected to guard me. Keith was about the size of Emmett and the four of them were really having a go of it, though you could tell Keith was struggling a little.
I felt myself relax, this is over, I thought, the Cullen's are here and they definitely outnumber Keith.
However, the next second the room was full of vampires. Instantly one woman with jet black hair and a nasty nose ring was holding me back, and she didn't care about my injuries. I looked towards Rosalie but she was struggling against two vampires; a man and a woman who looked normal, but obviously were stronger than Rosalie. She was quickly subdued and I looked towards Edward. He and Emmett and Jasper were being held back my seven vampires. I felt sick when I saw Keith standing in the room brushing off his shoulders. Then I noticed that a congregation of vampires where holding back Carlisle and Esme. I lost the ability to breathe. The whole Cullen family was here, trapped. All , except Alice.
"Alice." I croaked, though I hadn't meant to say it out loud. I saw Carlisle and Esme look at me and then at the floor. My heart jumped. Apparently it was loud too, because all of the vampires looked up at me. Somehow, I remembered how to blush, though I wish I hadn't.
Alice was gone? (I refused to think the word dead) Not Alice. The first of Edward's family to accept me was gone.
I looked helplessly at Edward and he looked angry, scared and worried at the same time. However, I doubted that anyone other than the Cullen's and myself could see that he was anything other than angry, but he showed it in the way he knotted his eyebrows and set his jaw.
Then I saw a woman step into the middle of the room. Victoria. I realized that I had been looking at her picture by the couch. My heart rate must have picked up a little because the vampires around me glanced at me again. A few of them were eyeing my hand, which was still bleeding.
"Finally, you have all made it. I've been waiting for a while for this." She grinned at us all.
"Since James died I have been leader, and all of us took on his fierceness in the hunt." She said proudly. "We have never lost our prey. We have decided to continue James' hunt, in his honor. And look at us. We have done it! With the exception of one – Alice – but we can find her later, if need be. I think it almost wise to leave James' one lost kill to roam free though. Now, we are the winners." she said and raised her fist. And the vampires all grinned in response. "We have beaten the strong, vegetarian Cullen family." She laughed mockingly. "How easy it was too. Now enough with this, we shall have our fun." She turned towards me and raised an eyebrow. The woman holding me pushed me down the stairs. I fell past Rosalie and landed with a sickening thud on my bad hand. I let out a little yelp of pain, but managed to bite back the scream that tried to escape.
I was only glad to know that Alice was alive. But, I couldn't help thinking, that looking around this room that might not be for too long if Victoria was serious.
I heard Edward growl at Victoria and struggle against his captors. I was lifted up and brought in front of Victoria.
"I'm sure Edward has heard of how blindly he fell into our plan." She said and I saw Edward wince as if he'd been stuck.
Then something hit my stomach and I grunted in pain and fell backwards five feet. Victoria had kicked me.
"That," she said, "was for James." The crowd cheered.
She pulled me back into the center of the room and threw me against a wall and I felt a picture frame break underneath me. Now everything hurt, but the worst was watching Edward's face. He looked like he was dying right then and there.
"That was for me." she smiled and a few of her coven laughed. Edward growled and snapped his teeth at her.
Then she slapped me across the face and I went reeling. But I refused to make a sound, I was determined that if I was to die; I would die with dignity. Edward yelled with rage.
"That was for Carlisle." She grinned at him and he fought against the crowd that held him. I noticed vaguely that all of the Cullen's appeared to be struggling to get to me.
It went on like this, her hurting me and naming one of the Cullen's to be blamed for the injury and me watching only my angel's face contort in pain and anger. At Emmett's name blood began to flow and the crowd seemed to fidget. She kept on this pattern until she reached Edward's name.
She looked menacingly at him and said, "The rest is for you." His jaw dropped and he lunged forward breaking from one of his captors. By this time I was nearly unconscious and couldn't move if I wanted to. He reached for me but Victoria and the crowd fought him back into place. Then she turned to me and I was flying across the room and felt myself land on something hard. A stove, she had shoved me into another room. I swallowed another scream and she was instantly there kicking me into the main room. I knew that soon enough I would pass out. I wasn't fighting unconsciousness, I was too drained to try, and it was coming slowly. Then she looked at me and must have seen that I was growing hazy.
She smiled and held me up to face Rosalie. Her captors instantly began to punch and beat her. She yelped once but held back all other sounds. The I was facing Carlisle and Esme, their captors began to do the same. Each time I watched one of the people that I loved being hit I felt a small part of myself scream in agony that was unrelated to my physical injuries. She moved on to Emmett, then Jasper, and finally Edward. She made me watch for what seemed like forever while they beat him. I felt tears of fury and pain bubble over my eyelids. That seemed to get the crowd even rowdier.
He didn't show any sign of pain from their beating other than a small grunt that almost escaped my ears. I wanted to kill Victoria. I think she realized that I was getting angry. She had them stop beating Edward and gave me a vicious grin.
"Now," she said and clapped her hands together. "for the fun part." The crowd seemed even more anxious to move but they didn't question her.
"Edward, I want you to watch this carefully." She bent down to me and raised up my hand. I winced with pain as she spoke.
"This is the scar that James left. He died," she shook my hand for emphasis and I fought back a groan. "to give this scar to his prey. Now, I will finish the hunt we started." She lowered her mouth to my hand and I felt her razor teeth as they effortlessly broke the skin.
Then there was the horrible feeling of my blood being sucked right from my veins. I wanted to scream and fight back in any way I could. I tried to move and found that if I did my whole body screamed in blinding pain. I looked at Edward, I wanted his face to be the image that I carried to my grave. He looked so tormented when he caught my eye that I wanted to pass out. I wanted this to be the end. They had everyone I loved here.
I closed my eyes and waited for death to take me.
AN: I am so glad that I got this all out! Please tell me what you're thinking…I'm not Edward for godsakes! (Cheesy joke, but I love it!)
R&R Folks!