Love Bite by Here's To Chapter 22, a twilight fanfic

Chapter 22

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR CHARACTERS

Bella's first instinct was to scream.

Then it was to run.

Sadly, both of these were impractical.

She settled on a silent, stricken, wide eyed stare as Victoria smirked, a hint of sharp fangs peeking out from under her upper lip in a way that was so frighteningly familiar.

Victoria took a step forward.

Bella took a step back.

Victoria's smirk broadened, and Bella read the dark promise in the glint of her ruby eyes. They glimmered red in the faint lamplight, and Bella's heart hammered in her chest.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Why is she here? I thought she was in Italy! Oh no. God, why didn't I check before I opened the door?

But of course, the one time she didn't, caught up in the bliss of loving Alice, her fears were finally confirmed.

"What are you doing here?" Bella blurted, and her breath hitched as Victoria took another slow, sliding step forward, inching towards her with a predatory look on her face that chilled the blood in her veins. Victoria's presence alone always spelled trouble, but when she got that look in her eyes, it was unquestionable.

She could not shake the awful feeling that this time, Victoria was really going to hurt her. As in through pain, not pleasure. Something about the look on her face made Bella's insides squirm fearfully.

This is bad. Really, really bad. She shouldn't be here, not now, not after the Volturi shut down on us for so long. This cannot be good, not if they've sent her of all people.

"Oh, I was passing through town, just thought I'd drop in and say hi," Victoria drawled, the lie discernible through the mockery in her tone. "What? Don't say you're not happy to see me!"

It's not like Bella had to say it. Her hands were shaking visibly so she clenched them to hide it, and locked her jaw and stiffened when Victoria took yet another step, leering her down.

Nope, nope, nope. This is not good.

"I thought you were in Italy," Bella said unnecessarily, holding still and her brain whirling rapidly, trying to think of something to do, anything at all, because it did not matter why Victoria was here, it could only end badly, and she needed to figure something out before that happened.

"I was," Victoria hummed as Bella's eyes flitted towards the staircase. "But I came back."

Obviously.

Bella supposed she could make a run for it, but that would be so hopelessly futile. Her brain began to panic, which was probably the worst thing to do.

I'll never make it. She's so much faster than me. I won't get two steps. Goddamn it, what do I do? I need Alice. She always comes and saves me, no matter what. God, that's really pathetic that I'm that much of a damsel, but what can I really do to protect myself against a freakin vampire? I just have to stall, stall until Alice sees us in her visions.

But Alice was so far away this time, miles and miles away. She had to think. There had to be a way. There had to be.

"Why?" Bella croaked, her breathing beginning to pick up when Victoria ran her tongue over the front row of her top teeth and then smiled fully, exposing every one of them. They gleamed like white Chiclets, and her fangs had never seemed so sharp.

Do something. Quick, before she expects it! All I have is the element of surprise. Move before she moves. But what? What can I do?

Victoria was a vampire. She was impossibly fast and strong. Bella could not outrun her, or hurt her. So then what the hell did that leave her?

"Let's not talk about that," Victoria said, her voice smoky and sickly sweet. "There are much more pleasant things we could discuss, sweet Isabella, much more pleasant things we could do…"

Bella's eyes flitted around the room, and her stomach clenched fearfully when she felt Victoria's pheromones increase subtly, making the air just a little hotter, a little softer on her skin. It felt like the tangible version of her tension. Again they found the staircase. Her phone was upstairs in her room. If she could get to it, maybe she could call for help.

Somehow, some way, she had to slow Victoria down long enough to get to it. Alice's visions weren't a surefire thing, especially not lately. They'd been smeary and inconclusive, and clearly they'd missed Victoria's little surprise visit.

Somehow…

Her eyes landed on the bottle green glass vase that she'd gotten for Charlie last Christmas perched upon the stone pedestal against the wall at the foot of the stairs. Something inside her brain clicked into place, and an idea formed.

Almost immediately the entire rest of her brain scoffed in protest.

That's so stupid. That will never work. It'll just piss her off, Bella mentally swore, but another tiny part of her mind yelled back frantically, It's not like I have any other brilliant plans!

The plan may not have been brilliant, but it was all she had, all she could think of. Her only other option was to stand there and gawp like an idiot, and just let Victoria do whatever evil thing she clearly was going to do, like suck her blood and devour her soul (sexually) like the succubus she was.

Which, forget that. Doing something was better than nothing.

Even if that something working was a huge stretch.

"The Volturi sent you, didn't they?" Bella turned back to Victoria, speaking only to stall her.

It was obvious that they had. Why else would she be here?

Well… She did have a particularly bad habit of furthering her own agenda, but somehow, Bella didn't think she'd have come all the way back purely on her own terms, not in light of the circumstances.

Victoria was staring at her, clearly having seen her eyeing the staircase, and watching her like a hawk. The redhead sighed as if regretful.

"Of course they did, you stupid child," she rolled her eyes, but her smirk stayed in place. "I don't know why you are always so determined to dwell on the negative with me. I was trying to be nice about this, but if you insist on avoiding the pleasantries…"

So it was the Volturi who had sent Victoria back into her midst. There could be only one reason why they would have done that. And that only confirmed one thing in Bella's mind.

She's going to kill me.

It seemed the Volturi were finally going to act on the terms they'd set.

A raw sort of fear made her breath hitch ever so slightly as Victoria suddenly went very still, and Bella's stomach about hit the floor when it dropped. The vampire's predatory expression tightened and she shifted on her feet in a motion so light and subtle the brunette almost missed it.

Oh God was the last thought she had, and then her brain switched into a primal mode of Fight or Flight.

Bella inhaled sharply and her little finger twitched. Victoria's head cocked as if she were contemplating something.

"Surely you're not thinking of ru-"

And Bella bolted.

The terror that filled her bones the moment she turned on her heel and gave that wicked predator her back was one every animal on the planet running for their lives feels. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt and it made the muscles in her legs tingle and snap taut harder and faster than they ever had before. The sudden influx of adrenaline raced through her blood, and Bella actually shrieked when she felt a cold hand close on her wrist at the same time that her own hand closed on the handle of the vase.

Acting purely on instinct, Bella spun, combining her own momentum with Victoria's as the vampire wrenched her around. Bella swung the vase with everything she had, aiming wildly for the redhead's face, barely able to see through a haze of fear and whipping hair.

The smash of breaking glass rang out as Bella sucked in a huge breath and a thrill went through her when Victoria reared back with a cry and released her wrist, hands going to her eyes.

It worked. It actually fucking worked!

Even vampire eyes were susceptible to glass. It would not blind or really harm Victoria, but it would sting like a bitch until she got it all out. Listening to Carlisle's medical rants had finally paid off. It was one of, if not the only, weak spots a vampire had.

Bella could not believe her luck for a moment, but when Victoria snarled, she burst back into motion, lurching for the stairs.

Her luck was so painfully short lived.

Her right foot did not even hit the first step before she was yanked back by her wrist again, so hard she yelped in pain as it twisted, and then the world turned into a blur as Victoria threw her. The impact was brutal; Bella slammed back first into something hard and unforgiving and collapsed, the breath blowing out of her in a whoosh.

It hurt.

A lot.

Victoria recovered from that much more quickly than she'd hoped.

She did not have air to even whimper as she slid to the floor, but was ripped right back to her feet when Victoria grabbed her by the front of her shirt and hauled her back up.

"You little bitch," Victoria hissed, blinking rapidly and glaring right in her face.

Bella gasped for air, eyes screwed up in pain. Her spine was aching and her wrist throbbed. She gazed into Victoria's malevolent eyes, and saw a single tiny glittering fragment of glass on her lashes. Victoria's eyelids were faster than she had estimated. It appeared that was as close as she'd gotten to actually getting any into those terrible dilating pupils.

Well, at least nobody could say she didn't try.

"Is that how you want to play, Isabella? Hmm, kitten? You want to get rough?" Victoria hissed, grinding her knuckles into Bella's collarbone until she whimpered.

And then Victoria smiled.

Oh fuck, this is going to hurt, Bella thought, and Victoria turned and threw her again.

Bella crashed into the floor and rolled a few feet before her head thunked down hard, ringing her skull like a church bell. Black spots popped in her vision and she yelped. Victoria was by her in the same second, fisting her hair and yanking her already pounding head off the floor by it as she straddled her.

She was so cruel, so sadistic in a way Bella had only ever seen hints of. Victoria had made multiple promises of pain before, but she'd never truly delivered…

Until now.

"Because we can get rough if you want to, kitten," Victoria drawled as slow trickles of agony began to permeate her system. Bella fought to open her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. Victoria appeared in her vision as a swaying flame, her hair shimmering. Pheromones tasting like cinnamon and wine coated the inside of her mouth, and unlike the other times Bella had experienced Victoria's allure, she wanted to retch.

This sick, twisted bitch… Oh god, this really, really hurts… She really meant it… How can someone be like this? This evil, this cruel?

"I'm so tired of playing nice with you. I tried so very hard to, I honestly did. Even when I was sent to end your pathetic life, I was going to do it nicely. I was going to go the whole nine yards and shit, tell you it would be alright, it won't hurt, lie to make you feel better and all that. I was even willing to make you feel good first with what little time we have to spend alone together," Victoria said, her voice silky soft and dangerous.

Bella's whole body shook with terror at it. She could see her death in Victoria's face, felt her scalp stinging from the grip on her hair, her spine aching, her gut sickening, her skull throbbing.

Alice. Oh god, Alice, where are you? Please, I need you. I'm going to die. She's really going to kill me this time. Please, Alice, please.

It was finally starting to sink in. The realization that she had an honest to God, healthy chance to lose her life here and now was kicking in.

It was absolutely terrifying.

Victoria sighed and her grip slackened just enough to where it didn't feel like she was ripping out every strand. Bella felt a different sick feeling well up in her when Victoria reached out her other hand and gently stroked her cheek, her eyes swimming with a newer, darker kind of promise. The redhead took a deep breath and then purred, lowering herself fully onto Bella's lap. The air thickened.

"It's cute, really," Victoria murmured. "I see Alice has finally sealed the deal with you-Or smell it, rather. Mm, I bet that was fun for you, huh Bella? It's not hard to see Alice is one of those girls who's been around the block so many times that she's surely got to know what she's doing…"

Anger pulsed faintly in her temples, but Bella only trembled, digging her fingers into the carpet.

What a slutty, filthy hypocrite, to speak of Alice like that has she straddled Bella like a prepaid whore.

But anger had no place in the heart of prey; Bella fought to control her hysterically rising emotions, her swelling hatred for Victoria, who had invaded her home, who was hurting her like this, who was intent on killing her, taking away the precious life that Bella was suddenly determined as all hell to keep no matter what she had to do.

But there was nothing she could do.

I don't want to die. I'm not ready. Not like this. Not now. I can't. I won't!

"I told her if she didn't want to share you with me, all she had to do was prove it and claim you. But a funny thing about me-I lie a lot."

Big surprise there.

"You see, sweet Bella, where other vampires would turn away from you, repelled by Alice's scent, I find it wholly erotic," Victoria continued, and dipped down a bit as her thumb swiped over Bella's cheekbone. She smiled so her pointy canines winked at Bella. "I don't mind sharing. More than that, I like taking things from other people. You smell better than ever, kitten, with Alice all over you. It's almost like a two in one prize…"

Pheromones flooded the whole room as Bella felt her aching head simmer in them. But this time, when Victoria leaned down to drag her lips up her neck, the expected arousal did not come. All that came was a dark revulsion, insects crawling over her skin, a powerful urge to jerk away from the vampire.

For a brief moment, Bella thought it must have something to do with Alice's claim. She realized quickly that no, it could be nothing other than the unbridled hatred destroying the vampire's seductive visage, ruining her projected image that hid the killer inside her with beauty and sexual power.

Bella did not want her. She didn't want anyone but Alice, and even if that nonexistent chance in hell existed that she might want someone besides her, it sure as fuck would not be Victoria.

Not this bitch. Not anymore. Seeing how cruel and sadistic she really was in such a blatant manner eradicated any pull she might have been able to exert. Gone was the arousal, gone was the attraction.

How did I ever get turned on by someone like this? She thought disgustedly. Was I really so blinded by her, her pheromones? Was I really so desperate? Did I really not see how dangerous she was right from the start? No, I didn't, because I'm an idiot, and now I'm going to pay for it. Oh god, oh god…

So even though fear was clouding Bella's brain, pumping through her, making her very soul quiver anxiously, she did not succumb. Her panic resurfaced as she desperately began trying to think of another way out, another way to survive, to get away, anything to stay alive at least until Alice came for her, even though it felt like this time, Alice was not going to be her hero.

That hopeless, dreadful feeling was still all too real. It didn't look like Alice was going to be turning up anytime soon.

So Bella was on her own.

Her brain quickly latched on to another idea, this one only marginally more effective, and probably twice as likely to piss Victoria off.

But it was all she had…

Do something. Anything. Anything but to lie down and die without a fight. No, no, no. I won't. I refuse!

As Victoria's lips slid over her jaw, Bella lassoed her terror and tried to translate her fearful quaking into an acceptable pretense of arousal.

"V-Victoria…" she whimpered, breath hitching. She laid her hands on the vampire's waist hesitantly, and tried not to puke in disgust when she felt more than heard Victoria purr.

"You're so easy," Victoria giggled into her ear. "I just bashed your head off the floor and you still can't help yourself, can you? Oh, but I think we both know that's the kind of girl you are, kitten. You really do like it rough, hmm?"

Sick, twisted, foul, loathsome…

Bella hated her. Hated her for the pain she was inflicting. Hated her for ever being able to arouse her. Hated Victoria because she represented everything that kept Bella awake at night, her fear of dying, of being murdered, because she worked for those damnable Volturi who had no right to steal her life away as if it were justified.

Hated her because it was the only thing keeping her together.

Victoria's hand caressed her cheek. Bella turned into the motion. Victoria's tongue flickered over the shell of her ear, and Bella wanted to scream, but she held herself together, barely.

"You still want it. Even with your precious Alice, you're still getting all hot and bothered. It's too bad I'm running under time constraints. I've love to see how long it takes to make you beg again…"

I'm not ready to die. I'm not, I can't, I WON'T!

Victoria's hand pressed harder into her cheek. Her muscles tightened up.

Do it now. NOW!

Bella lurched and tried with everything she had to lock her teeth onto Victoria's wrist hovering just by her mouth. For the briefest moment, she thought she could in no way fail to do so because she'd caught the vampire so off guard, but she missed the redhead by… Well, the skin of her teeth.

Bella didn't even nick her. Her teeth clacked together painfully hard as Victoria yanked her hand away and drew back swiftly, swifter than possible.

"Ah ah ah," Victoria tsk-ed, eyes flashing. "Not a fucking chance."

Oh man.

She was really going to pay for that one.

Victoria suddenly drew back her fist and then slugged Bella right in the ribs. The move was so quick that Bella blinked and missed it, would never even have known she was hit if she didn't hear a loud snap and feel the right half of her diaphragm give out in an agonizing stutter step under the impact.

Oh my fucking god.

Bella screamed.

It was unbearably loud in the otherwise silence of her house; the ceiling fan swatted limply at the air that Bella could no longer draw into her lungs. She arched and Victoria let go of her hair as Bella clawed at her, sobbing in blinding pain.

"Oh relax," Victoria chuckled as Bella gasped desperately, every breath burning fire through her side and chest. She was breathing a firestorm, so it did not even feel like she was breathing at all. Her lungs felt like ash, and Bella whimpered helplessly, writhing, trembling. "None of this is anything compared to what the venom will feel like in your veins when I drain them dry."

"S-stop," she choked out. "Please, stop."

It was a hapless, futile plea. Even speaking it now in the depths of her agony drew shame through her like a hot wire, but she had never hurt like this before. Bella's worst injury in life was a sprained ankle when she was eight, and maybe falling into that cactus patch.

She had expected pain, but not at this level. This was a cut above. She was not trained to handle torture, never experienced something like this, had no idea how to handle or resist such brazen pain. Her ribs were undoubtedly broken, possibly even shattered. Her skull felt like it was cracked open, leaking out her brain. Her back felt like it had taken a sledgehammer blow to each vertebrae.

It hurt. It hurt so fucking much.

It is frightening how quickly physical agony can break a person.

And so she broke.

Victoria laughed.

"I thought you might try something like that. Wouldn't it be just the best turn of events for you if your toxic, bratty little mouth made me human? No, I don't think so…" Victoria simpered, and rubbed at her throat tauntingly, well away from Bella's mouth now.

She fisted Bella's hair again, and Bella wished with everything she had for this to be over.

No more. No more.

Everything hurt. She couldn't breathe. She wanted the pain to stop. She was so useless, vulnerable beneath Victoria, being tortured by her and she hated it, hated being so helplessly weak, and she knew she was going to die now, without a doubt.

Alice was not here, and if she was not here by now, she was not coming at all. Even if she did, she would never get here on time.

The pain was a useless, unnecessary precursor to an unavoidable doom.

End it now. Just make it stop. Make it go away, she mentally pleaded, mouth hanging open, eyes squinted nearly shut.

"Oh, you don't want to play anymore, Isabella?" Victoria smiled her deadly smile. She jerked Bella's head back and leaned down to hiss against her lips, close enough to kiss. "I thought you wanted to play with the big girls? But it was just a show, wasn't it? You are weak and small and helpless, human and pathetic. Without Alice you're a sitting fucking duck, so easy it's almost laughable. You're so vulnerable without anyone around to save you, and guess what?"

Bella whimpered as Victoria licked the corner of her mouth, just to taunt her further. The tears streamed in twin rivers down her cheeks. Breathing was a distant dream.

"No one is coming to save you this time, sweetheart. Not even Alice," Victoria whispered.

Victoria was right; no one was going to save her this time, and she had failed to save herself. Bella despaired, mind torn between her physical torment and her emotional psyche giving out.

Stop. Let it stop… Even death is better than this. She's right. I'm worthless. I'm so weak. I can't defend myself at all. I need Alice, and Alice isn't here. Where are you Alice? It hurts so much… Why aren't you here to save me this time? It hurt so much. Everything hurts…

"And you know what else?" Victoria murmured, nuzzling her neck now. Bella only whimpered in her agony, and Victoria giggled. "When it comes right down to it, even with that pretty little mouth of yours, you're all bark and no bite."

On the last word, with no further warning, Victoria's fangs flashed into her throat and ripped into her veins.

Bella gasped and jerked once before going still, eyes screwed shut.

She expected the fiery, unbearable pain that would shroud her current suffering in its power when Victoria's venom hit her system, but it never came. Instead, a most curious sensation fluttered from the points of penetration. As Victoria groaned and began to drink from her deeply, pulling on her life force, numbness spread throughout Bella's body. Her throat seemed to swell shut, and tingles led the way through every nerve until they felt nothing at all, paralyzed, from the top of her head down to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Bella's eyes rolled back as her blood was stolen. A fuzzy static washed over her brain, and everything went smeary and dark. She lost all conscious thought, did not know she was dying, did not even know she was being murdered, knew nothing at all anymore.

She had no time to cry out or panic, see her life flash before her eyes, have any last thoughts.

Bella just silently slipped away, into the veil of the blackest infinity.

Alice crouched behind a tall tree, low to the ground, peering around its thick trunk. Stars glittered through the forest canopy as she gazed hungrily, eyes locked on the doe pawing the earth gently at its hooves. The doe was painfully unaware of the most powerful predator on earth zeroing in on her.

Normally Alice avoided deer, especially doe. Ever since meeting Bella, she could not look into their eyes and not be reminded of her lover. Even before they became what they were today, Alice could not shake the feeling. They were quiet, peaceful creatures who were hunted enough by humans. Alice preferred larger game. Somehow slaughtering an animal with her bare teeth and hands didn't feel so violent when the animal she killed had even the tiniest chance of fighting back.

And yet, she'd been hunting for the past hour. She had intended to make a quick run, hunt down a bear that had been wandering this side of the mountains, foraging too close to humans for either the bear's safety or theirs. But she had not located his scent, and she was frustrated. She'd promised Bella she would be back before she fell asleep.

The doe would simply have to do. So what if their eyes resembled her lover's uncannily? This was the unfortunate circle of life. For something to live, something else must die. And it wasn't like she hadn't hunted deer before. She just didn't prefer them.

Just get it over with. Do it quickly. Before she even has a chance to realize she's dead, Alice thought, her mind beginning to be swallowed by her bloodlust.

The huntress came out in her. Conscious thought gave way to primal hunger. Her nose zeroed in on nothing but the doe's scent. Her fangs extended and Alice shifted around the tree, chest going still, her habitual faux breathing stopped. There was only the predator and her prey…

Chik.

Alice froze at the unmistakable sound of claws on rock, as did the deer. Together they whipped their eyes up and saw the mountain lion perched on a nearby rocky overhang, hidden by sparse brush, luminous yellow eyes glowing through a break in the trees where the moonlight illuminated it.

Alice and the cougar leaped instantly, simultaneously, claws outstretched. The cougar did not see her as it let out its snarling cry, having eyes only for the deer that spun on its spindly legs to bolt. Alice zipped through the air, aiming right for the mountain lion, blood lust screaming in her ears.

And a vision clapped through her.

"So?" Jane said, leaning against Bella's truck as Victoria stepped off the Swan front porch and trotted over to her.

"So what?" Victoria smirked back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand nonchalantly. Her hand came away smeared black in the shadows of the night, tinged faintly red.

"How did she taste?" Jane drawled, arms crossed.

Victoria paused, and her eyes glinted as she smiled and revealed teeth dipped in blood. She ran her tongue over them with a moan of appreciation that was almost sexual in nature before replying.

"Divine," she purred.

The corner of Jane's mouth twitched, and then she sighed.

"I figured as much. She smelled better than any human I've ever come across. I don't know why you always get the fun part while I'm stuck out here on watch. I'd have loved a taste," Jane lamented, absentmindedly dragging her nails over the fresh coat of paint on the hood of Bella's truck. Her nails shrieked along the metal, gouging deep scratches into the surface of it. "We didn't even need a watch tonight anyway, with Sulpicia and Omi running shield duty. There's no way Alice would have known…"

"She will now," Victoria chuckled, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "They were scheduled to stop at 12:30 exactly. I suppose she'll be having her annoying little visions again soon. You have no idea how nice it was to be uninterrupted with sweet Isabella for once. She screams so… Exquisitely."

Victoria gave a sick little shiver and Jane hitched an eyebrow at her.

"And don't complain at me; it's not my fault we didn't get to bite the girl together. If you would show a little more interest in the finer aspects of vampiric life, Aro would surely assign you the more… Tasteful duties more often," Victoria added.

"Just because some of us can control ourselves doesn't mean we want to," Jane scoffed and lifted off of the truck, jerking her cloak further onto her shoulders.

Victoria suddenly leaned forward and swiped a finger across Jane's lip, the motion so quick that Jane only started in surprise before she stiffened. The blonde's eyes flashed and she growled as she licked her lips furiously, fangs extending with a soft click.

Victoria smiled.

"Now tell me a lack of self control can't be rewarding sometimes," Victoria sneered as Jane shuddered and took a deep breath to regain her composure after the tiniest taste she'd gotten of Bella's blood. "I should have shared, I know. But you see why I didn't. She really was delicious."

"Did you drain her dry completely?" Jane inquired, her voice hard. She seemed to be considering whether or not to go into the house and check for herself. "She won't change if you did."

"Of course not… Although," Victoria hesitated. "Her reaction to the venom was rather odd…"

"How so?"

"She didn't scream or anything. She just kind of passed out really quickly. Instantly, really. That shouldn't happen until the end of the first day."

"Did you kill her?" Jane said sharply.

"No," Victoria snapped defensively. "You say I have no self control, but that's probably the best execution of a change I've ever performed. If she can be turned, she will be. It's not like the little shit has ever been anything close to normal. She's… Different. Like Aro said. And really, really stupid. Getting her alone is too easy."

Jane seemed slightly mollified, but a moment later Victoria collapsed to her knees with a yelp of pain, her body contorting oddly. She stayed there for only a few seconds before Jane averted her eyes and her spasming fit relented.

"Careful, Janey," Victoria breathed, staring up at her with a feral grin, barely glaring. "You know how hot it gets me when you do that…"

"Don't touch me again," was all Jane said, sounding bored now. "And don't call me that, or I'll make you learn to hate it. Now come on, or we'll miss our plane. I'm not staying in this godforsaken town a moment longer than we must."

"Yes, your Highness," Victoria drawled sarcastically, and they both disappeared down the Swan driveway in twin blurs, leaving Bella behind them.

Alice gasped and reared in mid air. She sailed over the cougar in her shock and crashed down into the underbrush, slamming into a wayward tree before she came to a ripping halt in the clutches of a bramble patch.

The blood lust evaporated like a breath dies in an exhale, overwhelmed by a powerful terror.

NO!

Alice let loose an explosive snarl and lurched to her feet, ripping through the snatching vines and thorns like wet paper. In an instant she was gone, dashing past the oblivious mountain lion who pinned the struggling doe in its strong jaws, tearing into her throat as she kicked and flailed, too slow to get away.

She did not hear the sound of the doe's pained whine, nor did she stop and look back to see the light in the doe's glassy, big brown eyes fade away in her death throes.