A/N: And she's back! I want to apologize for the long wait here, I moved into an apartment so between that and my full time job it's been hard to get this chapter finished, not to mention having no internet. Hopefully I'll have less trouble on the next one. I do want to thank you for all the wonderful reviews, please keep telling me what you think, it inspires my muse. Again, reading/listening to the title song helps set the mood for the chapter, so here is a link: watch?v=4onCcmMux_A
I of course do not own Twilight nor the songs that inspire my muse.
Words I Couldn't Say
Bella watched as Edward tore Victoria's head from her body with a horrible screeching noise, hardly paying attention to the blood dripping down her arm. The female vampire dropped to the snowy ground, lifeless, and she watched Seth drag Riley's dismembered body to pile on top before Edward tossed a lighter, setting the bodies ablaze. She pressed herself against the rock wall, shaking as the dark smoke curled into the sky, her gaze locked on Edward's back. She was stunned as she realized that she felt relief that Victoria was no longer a threat, but she was still terrified. It took her a long minute to realize that she was afraid of Edward.
She knew vampires were vicious when they fought, she'd seen them training for the newborns, but the look on Edward's face as he battled the female vampire shocked and terrified her. She was jerked out of her thoughts as a wet nose bumped her arm with a soft whine and she blinked to see Seth standing next to her with a worried look on his face. She followed his gaze to her injured arm, blood still trailing down the skin to her hand and slowly dripping off her fingers, staining the snow below a deep crimson.
Her mind flashed back to her dream from the night before and she shuddered as she felt the phantom pain of teeth sinking into her neck. Hearing her, Edward turned around and she felt a shiver go down her spine when she saw his eyes were still black. His gaze locked on the blood on her arm and she shrank back as he took a step toward her. In an instant her sight was blocked by a warm furry wall of sandy fur and she heard Seth give a low warning growl. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and sagged into his side, his warmth almost as comforting as Jacob's.
Seth whined, turning his head to look at her and she heard a velvet voice from the other side of the wolf. "Bella love, it's fine to come out now."
She took a deep breath, fingering the wooden wolf charm that hung from her wrist and gently pushed against Seth with her good hand. He rumbled low in his chest, unhappy, but moved aside so she could see Edward. She watched his eyes slowly return to their honey amber color, his gaze still locked on the cut on her arm. She raised a hand to cover it and Edward's eyes rose to meet hers. "You shouldn't have done that love, I could have handled Victoria."
She offered a weak smile and watched as he came closer, ripping the hem of his shirt into a long strip. Slowly he began to wrap the fabric around her arm, his gaze on the stained snow below them and she gave a one shouldered shrug. "It worked to distract her, that's all that matters Edward."
He frowned, finally looking at her as he tied a neat bow and grasped her hand, raising it to his lips. "You shouldn't have had to injure yourself love."
He raised her hand to his face and pressed a kiss to the back of it and she was surprised when she flinched away and gasped, his usual marble skin felt even colder, almost painful for some reason. A wounded look crossed his face and he released her as Seth came up beside her, rumbling low in his chest. Edward looked at him and nodded slightly. "The newborns are all dead, everyone is safe."
She let out a sigh of relief, her mind flashing to the one person she didn't want to see hurt, and she absentmindedly ran a hand through Seth's fur. He let out a faint rumble of happiness and then cut it off with a loud whine. Edward stiffened slightly and her eyes darted between the two as Seth pawed the earth agitatedly and she frowned. "What's wrong?"
"There's one newborn left, Leah is going after him." Seth let out a whine at Edward's words, shaking slightly, and Edward gave a grim smile. "She's trying to pin him...he's strong, flipping her over, he's got his arms around her...he's going to crush her to death."
Bella raised a hand to her mouth in alarm and Seth whimpered in a panic. "No wait, Jacob's there...he pulled the newborn off of her...now he's fighting it."
A heavy feeling of dread settled in her stomach and then Seth let out an earsplitting howl of pain, dropping to his belly so that she ended up half draped on his back, her fist curled into his fur tightly as she stared at Edward in a panic. He grimaced, not meeting her eyes as he said quietly, "The newborn got his arms around Jacob...he crushed all of the bones on the right side of his body before Embry pulled it off of him."
She felt her breath leaving her in short gasps of pain, matching Seth's whimpered cries below her and she let out a half choked sob. "I have to get to him."
Edward's eyes were blank as he stared at her and she turned to look at Seth, his pitiful expression making her heart constrict in her chest. "Seth...can you...can Jacob hear me?"
He whined softly and she stared into his eyes, tears falling from her face onto Seth's muzzle. "Jake, I'm coming, please just hold on."
He moved his muzzle up to her face, whining miserably and then gave a faint shudder, slowly swaying up to his feet. "Jacob phased out, so did the rest of the pack to help him."
She let her death grip on his fur loosen so she could stand, still leaning on him. "Seth can...can you carry me down the mountain on your back?"
He blinked in surprise and she heard Edward's intake of breath behind her. "Bella love, that's too dangerous."
She ignored his protest and stared at Seth who lowered his head slightly for a long moment and then folded his legs under so he was crouched low to the ground. She took a deep breath and carefully swung her leg over his back, settling right behind his shoulders and gripping the fur there tightly. "Let's go Seth."
"Bella, love, this is foolish. You'll get hurt." She ignored Edward's protest as Seth carefully rose to his feet, the height making her dizzy for a moment. She risked a glance down at her fiancé's face and bit her lip as she saw the worry and disapproval clear in his eyes. Taking a deep breath she gave him a pleading look.
"I have to see him. Seth will make sure I'm safe." Beneath her Seth grunted an affirmative, and she offered a small smile. "I'll see you soon."
His eyes darkened to an unreadable expression and he reached into his pocket, pulling the ring out of it. Her breath caught in a panic and she could only stare at him as he gently took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. "You're free to wear this now."
She swallowed and barely kept from flinching as he raised her hand to his lips, the icy pain shooting through her. Slowly she pulled her hand away and she gave him a faint smile as Seth took a step forward, her hands grasping the fur tightly.
"I'll see you at the bottom love." She nodded; turning to bury her face in Seth's fur as he carefully picked his way across the snow to the trail, his long legs quickly eating up the distance. He paused at the top and turned his head to look at her, checking she was secure. She nodded and he took off at a gentle lope down the mountain, not nearly as fast as he could have run of course but she knew he wanted to be careful with her. She laid her head against his back and closed her eyes, trying to sort through the tangled thoughts in her brain.
Edward's ring made her hand feel five pounds heavier; she was surprised to feel the spike of anger that he had placed it on her finger. She had a feeling he had only done it because she was going to see Jake. She felt a strong wave of annoyance that he felt as though he had to claim her, as though he didn't trust her love for him. "Doesn't he have a reason to doubt?"
She scowled at the little voice in her mind and tried to shove it to the side but it turned her mind to remembering the look on Edward's face when he had seen her kiss Jacob. She had immediately been overwhelmed with guilt and tried to explain but he merely shook his head as he gave her a faint smile. "It's okay Bella. I understand, you feel for him. There's no reason for you to be sorry."
Of course that only made her feel more guilty and she had mentally buried all of the thoughts and feelings she'd had from the kiss and locked them away, focusing her thoughts on her love for Edward and their forthcoming wedding. Of course that had scared her almost as much as when Victoria attacked a few minutes later.
Now that she was alone she let her mind turn to the kiss she and Jake had shared. Again she felt the waves of heat roll over her and she briefly raised a hand to her suddenly tingling lips. She felt the tug in her chest, the wanting to be close to Jacob and she closed her eyes to picture him as she had seen in her vision of their wedding. Surprisingly, the thought of marrying Jake didn't scare her, unlike the thought of marrying Edward in a few months. She frowned slightly, running her thumb over the band of the pretentious piece of jewelry. It wasn't her style at all; it was flashy and opulent, definitely something from Edward, not at all what she would have chosen.
"Jacob would know what you like. He would pick something simple." She imagined Jake down on one knee in front of her, maybe on First Beach by their driftwood log, laying his heart out to her as he asked her to marry him. A surprising wave of giddiness swept over her at the thought and she bit her lip as she asked herself a question that she had been burying for months now. "Am I in love with Jacob Black?"
She held her breath, waiting for the wave of guilt that she had dared betrayed Edward in such a way but she only felt a faint prick, quickly overwhelmed by the flow of honesty in her silent reply. "Yes."
She let out her breath and looked down at her hands, still clutched tightly in Seth's fur. On her left hand rested Edward's ring, on her right wrist, Jacob's bracelet, his wooden wolf charm catching her eye more than the diamond heart from Edward. She frowned, wondering why she had allowed Edward to claim her that way, on something that Jacob gave her no less, and decided the first chance she got she would remove it.
Her eyes strayed to the ring again and she was surprised that she suddenly wanted it off, never to see it again. She let out a breath as she realized that she couldn't marry Edward, she didn't want to, she never wanted marriage, especially forced on her like this. But instead of respecting her wishes, he had blackmailed her into what he wanted from her, something Jacob would never do. He always let her make her own choices, even when he disagreed with her; he respected her as an equal. She waited for the agonizing pain in her chest at the thought of losing Edward, but all she felt was a small pang of sadness.
Edward was her first love, she'd never deny that she hadn't loved him, but at some point that love had turned into obsession, which only got worse when he left her in the woods. But Jacob had brought her out of her addiction, taught her how to start standing on her own again without depending solely on someone else for her happiness. Yes, she'd needed Jake around, but not the same way she thought she needed Edward. He had told her from the beginning that her blood was like his own personal brand of heroin. What she hadn't realized was that he had become hers, when he'd abandoned her she'd been a junkie forced to quit cold turkey. She'd almost been over it when he'd come back, but she was constantly afraid of him leaving her again, afraid of losing her fix.
Jacob was...different. It wasn't an addiction with him, she just felt at home with him, that she could relax and they could just be Jake and Bells. And now that she realized she was in love with him she knew she'd have to tell Edward that she didn't want to marry him and become a vampire, she wanted to stay human with Jacob, to have a life with her family and friends, to have her and Jake's children and watch them grow up. She was worried about how he would take it, how the rest of the Cullens would react, especially Alice. She smiled sadly, hoping that this wouldn't end her friendship with Edward's family. She still loved all of them; she had just finally seen what Jake had been trying to convince her of; how much she had to live for.
She let go of Seth's fur to pull the ring from her finger when he let out a whine and she looked up to see they had arrived in the clearing. Seth trotted up to where the Cullens were standing and Bella looked towards the woods to see Sam and most of the pack carrying a russet body on their shoulders, carefully maneuvering through the trees. Even across the clearing she could hear Jacob's cry of pain as they had to shift their grip on him. Tears sprung to her eyes as Seth folded his legs under and she quickly slid off of him, falling to her knees as she let out a gasping cry "Jacob!"
She tried to push herself to her feet when her view was suddenly blocked by two sets of dark legs and she looked up to see Paul and Leah staring down at her. Paul swept his hard gaze over her and she saw his face grow colder as he glanced at Leah. Ignoring them she started to move past them when Leah's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "Where do you think you're going Swan?"
Bella tore her gaze from the Packs' disappearing forms and met Leah's bitter and angry gaze. "I have to get to Jake, I need to see him."
Paul came around Leah and sneered at her. "He doesn't want to see you, leech lover. He wanted us to tell you he's done throwing himself at you, he never wants to see you again."
Bella felt her heart stop at those words and she looked towards where Jacob had disappeared as tears blurred her eyes. Leah let go of her arm and she stumbled back, bumping into Seth's furry form. Her fingers latched onto his fur as she tried to keep from bursting into tears as Paul and Leah stared coldly at her. Seth whined softly and turned his head to bump his nose against her arm, his eyes full of sadness. She stroked the fur on his neck to keep herself calm, feeling his warmth reminded her of Jake and helped to ground her slightly. "He...he wouldn't say that..."
Paul cut her off angrily, glaring at her. "He's done with you, go back to your precious leeches and stay the hell away from La Push."
Bella flinched and she felt the rumbling growl from Seth as he glowered at Paul who rolled his eyes. "Don't start with me pup. Sam said everyone back to the Rez, we did our part and the alliance with the bloodsuckers is over. Let's go."
Leah and Paul turned away and started for the tree line, leaving Bella to collapse to her knees, her hand still clutching Seth's fur. He whined, turning his head from his departing Pack members to Bella and she choked her tears back long enough to say "Go Seth. I…I'll be ok."
She forced her hand to slowly let go of the hair along his neck and a sob escaped her as she realized she'd never feel the supernatural warmth again. "Jake…"
The broken whisper was all it took to let the dam burst and she wrapped her arms around herself as deep, body wrenching sobs tore through her throat. It was worse than when Edward had left her in the woods, when Jacob sent her away when he first phased; nothing could compare with the pain that ripped through her at that moment. She was so upset she didn't hear the movement behind her until she suddenly found herself surrounded by heat and soft fur. Blinking past her tears she looked down to see a sandy furred body curled protectively around her, a dark eye staring up at her with pity and sympathy. "Seth? Wha…what are you doing?"
He blinked and she felt him curl tighter into her, cocooning her in his warm while her tears soaked the fur on his back. "Seth…you should go…"
She looked across the field where Paul and Leah had paused, glaring impatiently at Seth. Leah jerked her head at him. "C'mon let's go."
Seth gave a faint whine, glancing briefly between Bella and his sister before chuffing out a sigh and laying his head on Bella's lap. Her eyes widened and she looked back at Leah to see her shooting her brother a look of pain and betrayal, before glaring at Bella. "Fine! Pick the leechlover! See if I care!"
Bella flinched, feeling Seth do the same beneath her, but before she could say anything Leah turned and vanished into the forest. Paul shot her one final dirty look before he followed and Bella was left staring after them in shock, her hands fisted in Seth's fur. Before she could fully absorb what had happened she suddenly felt a cool breath of air at her side and looked up to see Edward crouching next to her. She let out a faint shriek and tried to jump away, tumbling over Seth and landing on her back on the hard ground. More tears sprang to her eyes as she rubbed the back of her head and suddenly she felt an icy cold hand on her face.
"Bella love, are you alright?"
She opened her eyes to see Edward crouched over her, worry written over his face but she didn't answer, instead jerking her face away from his fingers as the strange burning sensation spread across her cheek. She felt heat behind her and heard Seth whine in concern and she automatically reached to clutch onto his fur, the iciness fading as she leaned against him. Edward stared at her in shock but before either of them could say anything Alice appeared next to them. "The Volturi are coming, we only have five minutes before they reach here."
Bella felt her heart leap into her throat and Seth growled deep in his chest as Alice crouched in front of them, blocking her view of Edward. "Carlisle needs to talk to you Edward, let me handle Bella."
Alice ignored him as he started to protest, pointing towards the other Cullens and Bella watched as he slowly stood and walked away, never taking his eyes off of her. Alice's hand on her arm startled her and she looked to see her friend with a sad smile on her face. "Bella, we don't have much time. Your future disappeared before the fight, I already know why and I've kept it from Edward so far but he'll find out soon enough. Obviously we still have the Volturi to deal with so we've come up with a plan. You see the girl with Carlisle and Esme?"
Bella followed Alice's pointing finger and saw a small girl, probably barely sixteen, standing between the Cullens, eyes locked on Bella with a pained look. "That's Bree. She's one of the newborns. Don't worry, she didn't fight, that's why Carlisle spared her. But she has a gift. She can temporarily make a human appear to be dead by shutting down their body for a short period of time and then restore them. She's going to do it to you, so we can convince the Volturi you're dead and they won't come looking for you. Seth, you need to phase back and hide downwind, we can't have them knowing about the pack. Bella, come on, we need Bree to be close to you."
She suddenly found herself on her feet and being pulled away by Alice, looking over her shoulder she saw Seth hesitate before he moved towards the woods to follow the pixie's instructions. When she turned back around she found herself in front of the Cullens, staring into the crimson eyes of the frightened young girl. Emmett had his hand on Bree's shoulder and Bella saw her swallow hard, the newborn's gaze locked onto the pounding pulse in her throat. Alice kept them a safe distance apart and nodded to Bree. "You need to do it now; they'll be here any minute. Remember, stay close to Emmett and just keep Bella under."
Bree nodded, her gaze briefly flicking to meet Alice's before it locked back onto Bella. Alice squeezed her hand gently and gave her a small smile. "Bella, don't worry, you're not really going to die. It'll just feel like you're going to sleep and you'll be aware of what's going on but you won't be able to move or see. Once the Volturi leave Bree will bring you back and you'll wake up, okay?"
Bella couldn't find her voice to say anything so she just nodded slowly; hoping Alice was right about this working. Not that it mattered too much to her. Jacob had pushed her away and never wanted to see her again, what did it matter to her if she died or not? Her thoughts were interrupted as a sudden wave of drowsiness swept over her, making her sway slightly. Out of the corner of her suddenly heavy eyelids she saw Edward move forward to catch her but different stone arms looped around her and she sighed in relief as she felt Alice steady her and carefully lower her to the ground. "It's okay Bella, just relax."
She tried to thank Alice, knowing that the pixie vampire purposely prevented Edward from catching her himself, but found that she couldn't speak, her mouth refused her mental commands to move. She felt panic welling up in her throat as her eyelids slid shut against her will and she could feel the steady beat of her heart slow as a numbness crept up her body, effectively paralyzing her.
"So this is what dying feels like." Was Isabella Swan's last coherent thought before her last breath left her lungs and an overwhelming blackness dragged her down into nothingness.
There's not supposed to be pain in death. So Bella couldn't figure out why there was a branding hot point of agony piercing her chest as a voice (was it hers? She couldn't tell if she was hearing it through her own ears or if it was in her head) practically howled in anger. {This isn't supposed to happen! Not yet! Why on earth would he say that, doesn't he know? Of course, he's a man, they never listen. Stupid ignorant males, no wonder they need us to run everything.}
Apparently her inner voice had lost her mind, not that Bella cared at the rambling, broken sentences running through her brain. She was too focused on trying to figure out why death hurt so much. {Oh you're not dead you nitwit.}
Her inner voice had gotten meaner with death as well. Bella was confused, what did she mean she wasn't dead? {Just that. We aren't. Remember what that pixie said about the newborn?}
A memory trickled into her mind, something about the Cullens…a newborn...the Volturi. She shuddered as the name sent a cold shiver down her spine.
{Bingo! Way to get your head back in the game.} She was beginning to want to strangle the inner her.
{Good luck with that.} She ignored the voice and instead focused on the faint hum that she discerned were other people talking.
"Edward, she's fine. Don't worry, you need to focus, they're almost here." She could feel Alice's arms still around her, lifting her body off the ground, before she was handed off into another set of stone arms. Instantly white hot pain shot through her body and she tried to twist away, desperate to make the agony stop, but she was still paralyzed, leaving her no choice but to be cradled against a hard chest.
"Don't worry love, we'll be alone soon."
Edward. The voice in her head snarled angrily, wanting nothing more than to turn him into a pile of ash. {Stay away you bloodsucking leech!}
She winced as she felt Edward's lips brush her forehead, icy pain shooting through her. She tried to think of something, anything, but the torture of her vampire fiancé's stone arms around her. Fortunately a new voice gave her something else to focus on. The terror that shot through her veins.
"Well, it seems we arrived too late to be of any help to your family Carlisle. Quite surprising, the seven of you against a newborn army, and yet not a scratch. Your coven is very...lucky."
Jane. She was glad that she was unable to move; otherwise she would have been shaking like a leaf. Her inner voice let out an almost animalistic growl and she was distracted by the sudden picture of Jane's blood red eyes staring at her as her body went up in flames. A wicked grin crossed her face at that and what almost sounded like a purr came from inside her head.
"Yes, we managed to get it under control. I'm sure if you had been here earlier you would have been much help to us." Carlisle's calm voice gave no hint that they were preparing to deceive some of the deadliest members of the Volturi, risking death if they were caught.
{Makes you wonder what else they can lie about, hmm?} She chucked a stone at the voice's snide comment, smiling when she heard the satisfying 'thunk!' as it connected with its target. {Ow.}
She tuned back to the conversation between the demon spawn and the Cullens in time to hear Jane's sugary sweet reply of "Of course Carlisle. Aro would be heartbroken should anything happen to your family."
Bella rolled her eyes as she ground her teeth together in anger. She was sure that Jane wasn't as ignorant as she claimed; the only thing that would break Aro's stone dead heart was hearing that Edward and Alice had been killed. Even then she suspected her life was the only one he really wanted. She wished she could see the look on his face when Jane would have to bring the news back to her master that she'd let his new trophy die. A slightly sadistic smile crossed her face at the thought of Jane fearing for her own life.
{Serves the bitch right.} For once she agreed with her inner self.
"Well unfortunately Jane, not all battles are without casualties." Carlisle's voice was heavy with remorse and she felt Edward step forward as he cradled her body. The burning agony returned as his hands clutched her tighter, the voice in her head snapping her teeth together in anger.
She heard Jane suck in her breath sharply, her voice tight with barely controlled rage. "What happened?"
Bella panicked, realizing they hadn't discussed how she had died, before Edward's broken voice interrupted her thoughts. "I was fighting their leader, a vampire called Victoria. She distracted me long enough for one of her newborns to grab me so she could slice one of Bella's veins open and drain most of her blood. She bled out before I could kill them and her heart had already stopped, even my venom wouldn't have saved her."
She waited in the resounding silence for some sign that Jane saw through their lie and would order them to their death. After a long minute she felt another stone cold hand on her body, grabbing her arm and pulling it towards them. Edward's body tensed again and she heard Jane's hiss of displeasure as her arm was released and the sound of cracking wood followed by a ground rumbling crash clued her in that a tree had just suffered Jane's wrath. Everything was silent for a long moment and then Jane spoke softly, almost too softly for Bella to hear. "She has no bite on her arm. How did she manage to be drained without it happening?"
She could feel the tension thicken in the air before Alice finally spoke from behind Edward. "She didn't want to risk Bella being turned. She was trying to hurt Edward, to avenge the death of her mate James. She used a rock to cut open Bella's arm and then drained her without biting her."
She would owe Alice more than her thanks after all this was over. Jane seemed to accept the explanation for now, her voice questioning "And who is that?"
Bella felt Edward step back, towards Alice and Jasper as Carlisle answered Jane. "Bree, one of the newborns. She chose not to fight and surrendered to us in exchange for asylum."
"That is not yours to grant Carlisle." Jane's response caused a whimper of fear to come from somewhere near Bella's head and she realized it was Bree.
"This is where my family lives Jane, my coven's home. Aro and the others do hold judgment over other vampires but she surrendered to us without a fight and now is one of us and under our family's protection. Do inform Aro if he is overly concerned I would certainly speak with him about it."
Carlisle's response seemed to shock Jane into silence for a moment before she coolly replied "Very well. Bree, you seem tense. The last of the human's blood does smell heavenly doesn't it?"
There was a faint mumble from Bree and then Bella heard Jane's voice close to her again as a hand ripped away the bandage on her arm. She heard Edward give a low growl before Carlisle shushed him as a cold finger swept over the cut on her skin. "So sure about staying here and drinking animal blood for the rest of your life Bree? You've already tasted humans; you know how sweet and satisfying the blood is. Animals will always leave you needing more, never fulfilled. Maybe another taste will convince you."
There were sounds of a small struggle before Bree gave a faint moan of bliss and Jane laughed gaily, making Edward snarl "That's enough Jane."
Her laughter stopped abruptly and Bella felt Edward drop to his knees as he grunted and she knew Jane was attacking him. After a long moment Carlisle interrupted with a pleading voice, "Jane please, our family has many things to attend to and Edward is already distraught."
Jane waited a long moment before Bella heard her turn away and Edward sucked in a deep breath. "Very well Carlisle. I will be sure to inform Aro of events here, I'm sure he will be in touch concerning your new member and the human's death. You will take care of it I assume?"
Carlisle gave his assent and Jane paused as she turned back to the Cullens. "You all of course know that deceiving the Volturi is a death sentence, one I would take great pleasure in delivering myself."
Her only answer was the faint chirping of the birds and she gave a simpering laugh as she walked away. There were several minutes of silence before Alice spoke. "Edward?"
"They're gone."
Bella let out a sigh in tandem with her inner voice and she heard the Cullens give their own sighs of relief. After a moment she felt a pair of cold arms carefully extracting her from Edward and the burning pain finally started to fade, her voice quieting as well, and she heard Alice speak softly. "Let me take her Edward."
He said nothing and Alice carefully cradled her as she called over her shoulder "Carlisle? We can't let her near Bella; can she wake her up from here?"
She heard sounds of a struggle and a growling noise as Carlisle gently spoke "Bree, please we need you to wake up Bella. We'll take you hunting after this; show you how it's possible to survive without human blood."
Bree was silent for a moment before Bella felt a slight warmth begin to crawl its way up her legs, chasing the cold and numbness away. She could feel herself being pulled through the darkness as the warmth reached her midsection and slowly stretched out towards her heart, and she heard the faintest 'thump thump' as the organ fought to start again. A loud growl sounded to her left and she heard what sounded like a boom of thunder as a screeching cry of feral hunger broke over sound of her struggling heart.
"Emmett, Jasper, get her out of here!"
Alice quickly backed away and she heard Bree's struggle grow fainter until all was silent, save the slowly steadying 'thump thump' from her chest. She could feel her skin growing warmer and slowly her lungs expanded as they drew in fresh air. She was set down on the grass and her head pillowed on a cold lap as she felt herself being slowly drawn out of the darkness. Suddenly another cold hand touched her arm and piercing pain shot through her as the voice in her head broke its silence with a feral snarl of rage. The fury shot through her body as pure adrenaline and she felt herself jerk up with a gasp as her eyes opened in panic. "NO!"
A/N: Yet another cliff, I know so evil. I'll be working hard on the next chapter, hopefully it will be ready before next weekend. As always your reviews are appreciated. :)