Chapter Twelve
She arrives out of breath from fear and adrenaline rather than the run over. Her body is powerful even when trapped in human flesh. Will it be powerful enough to conquer Edward? She hopes so, otherwise there will be no future she wants to live for.
And Bella, poor sweet Bella. Doesn't deserve any of this. Rosalie should have left the house earlier. Should have done more to keep Bella safe. The distance between their hearts wasn't enough to fool Edward, and now he is reaping his reward for it: Rosalie's secondary and final downfall.
She won't give him the easy satisfaction of it.
She runs into the clearing, where the hole she'd made is, overgrown with grass and flooded with water. It's raining harshly, each drop a stinging bullet across her cheek. It hurts to even open her eyes but she keeps them open, blinking furiously. Edward stands within the rain, a halo around him, protecting him from the elements. He's smug, Bella behind him, hanging upside from a tree with rope by the ankle. She's flailing, trying to get free.
This treatment of her has Rosalie's heart pounding in anger, each beat promising Edward's demise. "What took you so long?" he asks.
It had taken her five minutes, but she doesn't point that out. "Let, Bella go," she growls out, feeling power thrum within her. A golden aura floats off of her. Alice's training has brought out many things from within her. A power that will have to suffice against Edward's own. "She has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this, Rosalie," Edward growls out, and he's growing upset. And things become clear to Rosalie. It's not Rosalie whom Edward hates, but Bella. How did she wrong him? "She loves you back, that much is clear," he tried to reign in his emotions but gives up. It's their final fight, what does composure matter anymore? "Why couldn't she have loved me?"
Rosalie doesn't know what to say to this, so she doesn't.
"You were always getting everything. Everything that should have been mine. Everyone praised you to the Heavens and back. You could do no wrong in their eyes. You were their bloody savior in that damned war and they would gladly give their souls and bodies to you for what you did. I sacrificed just as much to save humanity that day, but they didn't care! Because you took away their attention so they couldn't see me. And you were so damned cocky and full of yourself.
"I tried to speak up against you, because I wasn't going to be another one of those mindless sheep. Everyone laughed at me for it but I kept going, knowing that I couldn't give up," he shook his head bitterly. "I was Bella's original guardian, but then you saw her, and wanting to stick it to me for daring to have some backbone to you, you asked for a transfer and got her. You knew I loved and cared for her, even if I would never do anything to her. You even teased me with the knowledge that you would make her fall for you, just so I could suffer.
"I knew I had to do something about that. So I bid my time, and I plotted and schemed and then I brought you down so hard, that there was no other option but to rid you of your wings. Cutting them off of you brought me such satisfaction, you could not ever gleam," he concluded on. Rosalie let out a shaky exhale. So, it seemed she had been less than ideal too. But she could not speak for the actions of the past.
"The worst part of this all, isn't that you did that to me," Edward said after a pause in which the rain continued to pour, drowning the world around them. Rosalie's clothes had been soaked through and she was shivering cold to the bone. She could barely flex her fingers. "Angels politics are such as they are. No, the worst part was that Bella fell in love with you!" he shouted out viciously. "How could she love someone like you! You only wanted to ever play with her feelings!"
"That's not true!" Rosalie cried out. She had noticed that Bella had stopped trying to struggle and was listening in to their conversation. She looked hurt to hear Rosalie had used her. "I can't speak for my past self, but when I came to reside in this human body, I had feelings for her. Feelings I could not describe until much later. And they were love. No matter what I had been like before, I ended up caring for her. And I care for her now. So much so that I am willing to fight you to the death about it. But, something tells me killing fallen angels isn't exactly policy."
He scoffed, not believing her words. "And what would you know of policy? The rules were only fit to follow when they suited your need."
She gave a crooked smile here. "Enough talk. Come and fight me coward."
"Rosalie, stop!" Bella cried out. "Don't do that! Don't fight him! He'll kill you!"
"I don't have a choice," Rosalie snapped back. "I never wanted you to see this. I just wanted you to be safe, and now because of me-"
"I told you I would be by your side no matter what-"
"And look where you are because of it!" Rosalie shot back, enraged by this whole situation. She should have left town and never looked back. Her feelings had damned not only her, but Bella too.
"I don't care, I love you!" Bella cried out. This only served to tick Edward off more.
"Shut up you two!" Edward yelled impatiently. He strode over to Bella and she gave a scared yelp as he tugged on her hair. Rosalie quivered with rage.
"Don't touch her!" burst out of Rosalie.
"You can't hurt me as you are right now," he told her. "But I can hurt the both of you, and I will."
"Edward, stop this! We don't hurt humans!" Alice cried out, disgusted by his actions. Both their heads whipped around to spot the smaller girl flying into the clearing. Her wings were big and white made of soft feathers. She landed in between Rosalie and Edward, folding her wings up. They shimmered and then disappeared.
Alice was here? But why?
"She needs to be punished!" spit flecked his lips. He tugged harder on Bella's hair. She groaned in pain.
"You leave me no choice but to bring you down," Alice declared.
Rosalie lit up at this. "Did you bring them then?" Had Alice decided to help her and get the shears?
"There wasn't enough time. I told you it was impossible." Alice said.
The minute hope died down. It seemed it would be time to do things the hard way.
"Alice, you dare take her side?" Edward poised.
"I don't condone the hurting of humans. You have crossed a line," she said, voice not wavering from her convictions.
"I see," he said slowly, before walking away from them. "Two of you against me. But this will be no problem." He flexed his arms over his head, cracking his neck. Then, he lunged at them. Alice reacted first, screaming out to Rosalie, "get Bella out of here!"
Rosalie nodded her head, not needing to be told twice. Alice's body slammed against Edward's loud enough to rival the thunder and Rosalie skirted around the clearing, going towards Bella.
"You think getting her out of here will make any difference?" Edward bared his teeth at Alice as they struggled in a hold. "I'll just find her again, and rip out her heart for breaking mine!"
With that he gave a vicious shove and pushed Alice off of her feet. Then he turned onto Rosalie, who was with Bella. The rope was high up. She would have to climb the tree and run down fast enough to catch Bella before she fell. Or she could-
"Rosalie, behind you!" Bella called out in warning. Rosalie ducked without looking back, sensing the fist being swung over her head. Edward missed, shocked by this, and Rosalie took this chance to uppercut his exposed jaw. His head snapped back and spittle flew from his lips. He stumbled back a step and then another, when Alice suddenly latched onto his back. "Hurry!" she hissed out and Rosalie took this chance to quickly scale the side of the tree. She got to where the rope was and began to hurriedly undo the knot as Alice and Edward began to exchange blows.
"I should have known you'd pick her side, even with how disgraced she is! She always did have that nasty habit of charming others to do her black deeds!" Edward cried out as he hit Alice hard in the stomach. She barely flinched, swinging her foot up and catching him in the shin.
Knot undone, Rosalie pulled it up along with Bella, her weight no trouble for Rosalie. With shaking hands, Bella latched onto Rosalie's neck once they got to the top, but Rosalie couldn't enjoy this moment. She bundled Bella up to her chest and jumped down, before letting her go. "You need to go and now."
"Rosalie I don't want to-"
"Don't be stupid, and go!" she cried, shoving Bella roughly before running to join the fray.
Edward had spread his wings out and was about to take flight. Grabbing the gun she'd tucked into her waistband earlier, Rosalie took aim and fired. Right into his precious wings.
She missed some, a few hitting his back and leaving holes in him. But a few got his wings. He let out cries of pain before Alice took this chance to kick him hard in the balls. He hit the ground hard on his knees. "You bitches!" he hissed as he trembled in pain.
The gun clicked empty and she tossed it away, stepping on his hurt back. He howled in pain. "You're the bitch here," she declared and grabbed one of his wings in her hand. She might not have the shears, but she had god damn hatred and determination. She wretched it free from where the bullets had cut into the base of it, loosening it. Golden blood leaked from his wounds.
"No, what are you doing?!" he struggled to get to his feet but Alice kicked him right in the face, keeping him down. Blood splattered from his teeth. She gave a wave of her hand and chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles, connecting to the ground.
"I'll take the other one," she said and began to pull out his left wing. His screams turned high pitched as he struggled against the bonds of the spell Alice had used on him.
"Together," Rosalie affirmed and with one last unified tug, they pulled his wings free with a shred. He fainted from the pain, and his blood turned red. Rosalie nearly stumbled back from the effort she'd put into pulling the wings out. But it was done. She'd spared his life, but he would no longer be able to torment her.
The wings dissolved into nothing and she felt tears prick at her eyes. She'd never get her set of wings back. But it was alright. She was going to adjust to her life as a human. She was going to spend her days with Bella. There was yet a silver lining in these clouds.
The chatter of several voices breaks through the pouring of the rain. Bright lights cut through the dark from the direction of Bella's house. "I have to go," Alice says and with her wings, she takes flight and disappears into the clouds above. Rosalie stays put, putting her hands up. Charlie's there, in his police gear, along with another deputy. Their flashlights train onto Rosalie's face. She blinks against the light. Bella's there too, wearing an oversized police rain jacket.
"Rosalie, what the hell happened here?" Charlie asks and she nods her head over to where Edward lays, unconscious.
"The bastard who abused me came back. I took care of him," she said without much emotion. "I think he's still alive."
Charlie hurries over to Edward, cursing under his breath at the bullet holes in him. "Get a paramedic team out here, quick!" he barks off to his deputy but otherwise makes no other effort to help him, other than to strip off his own jacket and put it on him.
"Are you okay?" Bella comes to Rosalie, hesitant. She wants to touch her and Rosalie wants to be touched by, but isn't Bella horrified by what she did to Edward?
"I think so," Rosalie says with a shaky exhale. She's so cold she's numb now.
Bella nods her head and then wraps her up into a hug. They stand there like that, hugging in the rain, as the noise of a siren gets closer and closer.
After a long three hours of Rosalie being debriefed by the cops, Charlie gives it a rest.
"You're cold, tired, probably traumatized. I think you deserve a good night's rest," he tells her and sends her home. Bella's waiting for her at home, cup of hot tea waiting for her.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Bella asks as Rosalie chugs back the hot tea without regards for it scalding her tongue. But she's still so cold despite having a warm shower and change of clothes. She feels like the cold will never leave her.
At the last the storm has let up and for that she is grateful.
"I'm worried about you. He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Bella shakes her head no. "What does...what does this all mean for us?"
"He's alive, but he shouldn't be able to hurt us. Hopefully, he'll go behind bars."
"That's not what I meant. I meant...us. He's no danger to us anymore so...?" the hopeful expression on Bella's face is the same one on Rosalie's.
The blonde smiles, placing a hand on Bella's shoulder. It slowly comes up to her cheek. It's so soft and warm. "I think we're okay now," she says softly and leans in to kiss her gently. Like a lover should.