I couldn't stop. Her blood was so sweet, and with every sip of it I felt amazing having it running through me. It was so invigorating to finally consume the blood that had tempted me for so long. It was as though the abstinence from drinking it made it that much more perfect when I finally was able to drink it.
I blinked through tears and tried to stop myself. I was able to stop drinking for a second, but then the craving for the rest of her blood became so strong that I had to keep drinking.
Through the heady delirium that resulted from Bella's sweet and perfect blood, I heard Charlie outside her door just in time. I pulled back from her neck and was torn between staying right where I was to continue draining Bella's blood, I could deal with Charlie after that, and bringing Bella with me into the woods to finish her there. But the door was opening and I was so disgusted with myself that I managed to slip out through the window before Charlie saw me, with a longing and terrible glance back at Bella.
As I ran from the house I heard his intake of breath and then the sound of three numbers being dialed on a phone. I came to my senses in the fresh air and realized what I had almost done, what I may have succeeded in doing. I stopped dead in my tracks.
I felt a surge of loathing for myself, of love for Bella, of horrible, heavy guilt rush over me like a stampede of something dark and unbearable. For a second I couldn't think. Then I listened. I listened to determine whether it was worth me going on living. But I couldn't hear. I couldn't hear Bella's breathing.
After a second of panic, I registered that I couldn't hear Charlie either. In fact, I didn't hear a heartbeat anywhere. I tried to run back into the house to make sure that everything was okay, but I couldn't run. I mean, I could run, but only slowly.
Suddenly everything was duller. I stood on the edge of the trees outside Bella's house and couldn't smell anything. I was startled out of my world that had suddenly gone silent by the abrupt sound of a bird chirping. I fell to the ground and heard the sound of a stick break under my knees, but not the much quieter reverberating sounds that normally echoed off of trees after things snapped in the woods. Everything was so dull. I couldn't hear the little noises that allowed me to hunt. I couldn't smell the wildlife that surrounded me. I listened for Charlie's thoughts to find out what was going on inside his house and got an earful of nothing. What had happened to my strong senses? And what would happen to my Bella?
I heard the sound of the ambulance headed for Bella's house and realized that I hadn't heard it coming from far off. I watched men rush into the house and held my breath until I saw them carry Bella out on a stretcher, encouraged only by the fact that she wasn't covered in a white sheet. So she wasn't dead.
But my senses were. I felt blind and helpless. And I knew that, if Bella had lost enough blood to kill her, I would be helpless indeed, regardless of whether or not my vampire enhancements everr returned.
