Keeps Oxygen

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Chapter 5
(Lose Control)

Duality.

Carmen was too sensible to do anything too rash.

"It's been near 5 years, Alice. She has to move on eventually."

Nothing Better To Do.

"That poofy girl of yours..."

"I've never been more ready."

Would you die tonight for love?

Earlier that morning...

Irina took a deep breath in. She had gone on an overnight hunting trip to the Northwest Territories, and was just skimming across the Alaska-Yukon Territories border. Yes, she could've teleported, but the weather was so blustery, and it was questionable as to when Irina would be able to run until after the Forks graduation.

Anyone who said the best part was something other than the speed was off their rocker.

She wasn't used to going hunting alone, though. Apparently, everyone was too busy - Kate (ever fascinated with world religion) was re-reading the Qu'ran; Tanya had been on the phone with Edward (those two could chat for hours, even with the speed of vampire speech); Eleazar was painting (again); and Carmen-

Huh.

Irina slowed to a graceful stop - she hadn't seen Carmen at all in the past day. It wasn't like Carmen, who was quite the homebody, and, like Esme, enjoyed spending her time renovating, and designing her home. Irina slipped her hands off of her hips. She shouldn't fuss over it- there was a great possibility that Carmen had also gone on a solo hunting trip.

Perhaps Carmen left early. If anyone lacked patience, it was Carmen. There was really no planning anything ahead of time- if something was worth planning, then Carmen wanted to do it right away.

Irina chuckled to herself, then resumed her trip home - Though she was impatient, Carmen was too sensible to do anything too rash.

"Well, dear Irina was right after all..." Carmen smirked as she circled the remain six, "There is one thing better than a dead Cullen." Her face twisted into a crude smile. "Now...who wants to be the guinea pig?"

She scanned each one's face, hunger resting in her eyes that gave her the likeness of a wolf with six sheep: six sheep with nowhere to go. The smile, though, became a garish beam when she finally set her sights on-

"Rosalie, darling," Carmen purred as she sauntered over to the blonde's still form, "Such a lovely young lady. She would be our perfect guinea pig, don't you agree, cousin?"

Cousin was not happy. "I really don't see the neccessitie in these theatrics, Carmen. We have a tight schedule resting here, and the last thing we need is for our schedule to be interrupted by that-" Victoria attempted to make several hand gestures to get the point across, but when it wasn't working out, and she soon gave up, "-that, that poofy girl of yours to return."

Carmen's smile never faltered, yet her words took on a more tense tone. "Then I suggest you quit bitching and complaining about the situation and help get the rest of them off my hands, cousin."

"Goody." An equally twisted expression of happiness flight across Victoria's face. "I'd like nothing more than to succeed where both James and Laurent could not."

Irina's thoughts moved from her Alaskan family to her Washington family- Edward in particular.

What an eventful year and a half for that boy. When Edward arrived in Denali a year and a half ago, he was wild with emotion, refusing to speak to anyone but Tanya. For almost three days straight the two were holed up in Tanya's room, Edward's muffled yells and Tanya's soothing tones echoing through the house. The memory made Irina smile - Tanya was always so maternal with everyone. It was unfortunate that she had been damned to such a dead and lonely life, as she would've made an extraordinary mother. According to Tanya, however, she would make do with that she could, and worked part-time at a day-care, and was contemplating distance-studying to receive her degree in Elementary Education -"So I can have many children." Tanya would say with a great beam across her face.

Irina rolled her eyes. It made one wonder whether or not Tanya was trying to imitate Carlisle in acts of compassion, or was running for patron-saint. The thought nearly caused Irina to burst out laughing; A vampire as a patron saint? That would be the day.

Eventually, it became harder to hear Edward's voice, and things were much less tense. At the end of the three days, the two emerged from the room. Tanya had her usual look of serenity on, and Edward looked a lot less troubled. Later that night, Carlisle paid a surpise visit. The love and respect that was between Carlisle and Edward was apparent, and Irina was thankful they had each other.

Tanya did not discuss what she and Edward had talked about until Edward, Carlisle, and Eleazar went for a "boys hunting trip," and even then was rather tight-lipped. "He feels something for her," She mused not long after the three had left.

"Well, why doesn't he just tell her?" Kate muttered crossly, "Why did he have to run to us?" Out of the four of the girls, Kate was the least romantic.

"Well, Katie, think about it - he's lived so long, and he's only just experiencing these feelings. It should get interesting from here on in."

And now he had Bella. Tanya had such faith, and she had ended up right.

Irina was just contemplating whether or not she should purchase a gift for the happy couple when she saw the smoke.

Yes, finally, Irina cried out in her mind as the Welcome To Washington sign crept into view. The moment Irina hit the border, that familiar feeling of weightlessness that came with her teleporation arose, and were a car passing, they would never have noticed a statuesque brunette vanish from the freeway.
"Now, you two..." Carmen sneered, as Victoria pulled Edward closer to Alice, "We have special plans in store for you two. With your talent, dearie - " Carmen stepped forward and pinched Alice's cheek, " - we would be utterly foolish to put you in the same situation as the others, and not keep you for ourselves. As for you, boy - " She glared towards Edward, " - you will be going on a nice vacation. Far, far away from the hustle and bustle. It'll give you a chance to rest your mind." Carmen beamed gleefully at her cousin. "Ready for take-off?"

Victoria secured each hand securely around the necks of the two Cullens. "I've never been more ready," She vowed.

Carmen had just snaked her arm around Victoria's waist when the door flew off its hinges.

Irina had a mouthful of colourful things she had wanted to say upon her re-arrival at the Cullen home, but all of those things were lost as she became paralysed with shock at what she was seeing.

It was as if she was watching a malfunctioning television screen. The bodies of the four vampires in front of her gave off the appearance of defragmentation; as if pixels were being pulled away from their bodies one by one. The bodies were fading into transparency. She could see Edward try to say something, but no sound came from his mouth, and that action snapped Irina out of her stupor. She lunged forward to try and grab Alice and Edward, but it was like grabbing at a hologram - the picture was there, but there was zero substance. Irina could only watch in horror as Victoria, Carmen, Edward, and Alice faded from sight.

For hours afterwards, Irina simply sat against a wall, eyes glued to the spot where they had been.

I failed, pounded through Irina's head. I failed my family, and I failed the Cullens.

She knew she had to return to the girl- Bella - but first she had some recovery business to do.


Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the ball is definitely starting to roll now!
Also, I don't know how many of you are actually following this story, but posting is going to be taking a bit of a break, as I will be going on holidays until the 18th of August.
//N-S//