Chapter 21

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. I was pretty busy and this chapter was very hard for me to write. I hate what I made Edward choose between, but, hey, what do you expect? It's Victoria. ARG! I really hate her. She really bothers me.

Btw, the reason Victoria and Vicki are working together is because Victoria has been, like stalking Bella and she saw what Bella and Edward did to Vicki, and she liked Vicki, so she asked her to help her defeat Bella and Edward. Vicki, naturally, said yes.

Also, really the only way to kill vampires is to tear them to shreds and burn the remains, but just go with it. In my fanfic, Victoria, because she has no life other then stalking Bella, has plenty of time to invent things. So, since it is like 90 years in the future, by then they discovered another way to kill vampires.

Also, if you pay close attention to this chapter and you paid attention to specifically another chapter previously, you would have an idea of what will happen in the next chapter.

Tell me if you guys want me to do another copy of this chapter in Edwards POV. That might be interesting. Tell me if you want that.

Not Stephenie Meyer, I don't own anything, you don't have to rub it in!

Previously; (JPOV)

The bullet pierced through my skin, directly below my heart. I heard Bella cry out, "No! Jeremy!" I had never known what death had felt like before. I had wondered about it many times, usually when I was missing Liz. But it didn't hurt. Numbness was spreading through my body. And I closed my eyes.

Liz. A perfect picture appeared in my minds eye. Her perfection was almost too much to bear, knowing that I would never see her in person again. But this was odd. She was walking towards me, beckoning me.

And then I understood. She had come to fetch me. She had been waiting for me. And so, as my spirit drifted away from my body, I followed my angel, Liz into what lies ahead, to a new forever.

BPOV

I watched in horror, trying to hold back my tears, as I watched the Cullens, save for Edward, being pushed into a cage identical to mine. My efforts had been futile.

5 minutes had passed since Jeremy had been shot with that gun. I still couldn't believe that he had tried to save me. After all, he was part of the enemy crowd. But he did try to save me. Now I wished he hadn't. Because of me, he was now dead. I just hoped that he was somewhere, with Liz. Now, because of me, the Cullens might die soon.

I had tried to get them to run, to leave me here, that I would be okay. But they had not listened to me. They could see through my lies. I had begged them to run, with no avail. They would not listen to me. Victoria told them to go into the vampire proof cage. And they listened to her; afraid if they didn't she would just hurt me more. They thought if they stayed they would have a better change of saving me. Run; leave me here, save yourselves! Thousands of clichés ran through my mind, but I did not dare to speak.

Edward's eyes were only for me, he stared at me while his family was being put in the large cages. I stared back at him, looking into his golden eyes and thought how much I wished he had not been here. So he would not suffer. Maybe it would have been better if he didn't know the truth. Because if I was threatened, there was no doubt in my mind he would try and save me.

But at least he would know the truth before I died. Yes, there was no doubt in my mind that I would die today. I just hoped that Edward and the Cullens would be able to get out. I realized that this was the only reunion that Edward and I would get and my eyes feasted on him, drawing in his absolute perfection.

Victoria cleared her throat. I tore my eyes away from Edward, and he did the same. He turned around and glared hatefully at Victoria. I suddenly realized that I still had my powers; I focused all of my energy on making Victoria fly across the room.

She must have realized what I was trying to do, and let out a mad cackle. "That won't work in here." What did she mean by that? Were we in some kind of power sucking room? I caught Edwards's confused expression and realized with a jolt that he couldn't read anyone's mind. It was a power sucking room!

"Now, we had had a different plan to torture you, Bella. But since your friend Jeremy decided to try and get the Cullens to save you, we have come up with a new plan." She finished.

This was it. The master plan, I thought. I reached up to clutch the necklace that Jake had given me all those years ago. I grabbed hold on it like it was a lifeline. I squeezed it really hard, wishing that it was Victoria's face. I looked up again and realized that Edward was the only one of the Cullens who wasn't trapped in the cage opposite me.

"Edward," She started, now turning away from me to face him. "This is up to you." She was giving Edward a choice? I wonder what she would make him choose between. "Who do you want to save? Do you want to save the rest of your family," She gestured towards the other cage, where the rest of the Cullens stood looking pretty scared. "Or do you want to save your beloved Bella?"

Edward stared at her in horror. A low roar overtook my hearing. It had to be in my imagination, didn't it? Was she really making Edward choose between saving me or his family? For once, the rest of the Cullens were silent. There were no jokes now. In fact, their faces all displayed different emotions. Emmett's was sullen, a huge contrast to the normal joking smile that was usually pasted onto his face. Mary, Chris, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme and Rose all had similar expressions.

After looking at them, I knew what I had to do. I had already caused enough discord in his family. This was all my fault anyway. If I had just stayed out of their lives, they wouldn't even have to be here now. Victoria looked on, her smile growing bigger and bigger, watching the unconscious play of emotions on all of our faces.

Before I could say that she should kill me, Edward spoke up. His tone was defiant. His eyes were determined. "Kill me instead." He spoke, staring straight at Victoria. For a second, Victoria's confident smile flickered, and then faltered.

Then it was back, even more so then before. "If you do not choose, then I will kill you. Along with all of the Cullens and Bella." Now Edward had nothing to say. His eyes were desperately flickering between his family and me, unsure of which to choose.

I had to make this easier on him. "Edward," I called softly, knowing he would hear. He turned to face me. I beckoned for him to come closer.

As he strode towards me, I felt the ground rumble beneath me feet. I looked down, but saw nothing. It must have been my imagination. "Edward Cullen," I said fiercely, looking up into his golden eyes, when he got closer to my cage. "If you don't save your family, I seriously will murder you."

"But--"

I didn't let him finish that sentence. "But nothing. Edward, look at the numbers here. There is only one of me. There are eight of them. Do the math." I tried to be tough, to not show how scared I was. But I think he saw through me, probably from the tears beginning to materialize in my eyes. The rest of the Cullens, even though they could hear everything that I was saying, pretended not to and started up small conversations between themselves.

"Bella, we'll find a way out of this. Don't worry, I'll get us out--"

I cut him off again. Even I could tell he was grasping at straws. "Look Edward, There is no way out. You can't get us out of this one. Victoria won. Game over. We can't win. She has us cornered." His expression hardened, then softened when he saw that I was trying to hold back the tears from spilling over.

"Bella. We can get out of this. I'll tell you what we're going to do--"

"No Edward. I'll tell you what we're going to do." He didn't interrupt, just waited patiently. "You are going to let Victoria kill me." He opened his mouth to object, but I plowed ahead. "Listen. You are going to let her kill me. Then you are going to get on with your life. You are going to find someone who is so much more deserving of you then I am." The tears were falling fast and heavy now, but I didn't make a move to brush any of them away.

"You are going to love her, and forget all about me and live your life. But you will not die. You will not kill yourself. Do you hear me, Edward? You will not die. You will find someone else. And you will love her and spend the rest of forever with her." I swallowed, hard.

"Bella," He started, but I wouldn't let him talk. I already knew what he was going to say.

"No Edward. There is no other option. Everything that has happened tonight has been my fault, and I can't let anyone else die because of me, like Jeremy just did. For once in your life, stop being so stubborn and listen to me. For me."

I looked up again, and saw the love in his eyes. "No Bella, I won't let you do this." But even he could tell who was going to win this argument.

"Edward you have to. There is nothing else we can do." And finally he saw that I was right.

"Fine, Bella. But everything else that you said will not come true. I will be following after you as soon as I can. I am not going to fall in love with someone else, because I never could. You are the only one I will ever love."

"Edward, just promise me that you will try. Try to get on with your life. Forget about me. Please. It's all that I can ask of you now." He looked down, shielding his eyes from me.

"Okay Bella." He agreed. Looking up at me one more time. I reached my hands through the cold metal bars of the cage. He took them, and I felt a pang of sadness as I realized that this would be the last time I would ever touch Edward again.

"I love you Bella." He murmured.

"I love you too. Forever. Never forget that." I told him.

"Aww, this is so touching, but we need to get on with the show here!" Victoria cheered.

"Now, under each of these cages are ten hungry newborns. Edward, it's your call. Whoever's name you say next, I will press this button which will open up the floor, sending them into the room of vampires below."

Edward's face was torn. He glanced frantically between me and his family.

"I love you Bella. I am so sorry." He whispered. I looked up into his topaz eyes one last time. "Bella." He whispered, though everyone in the room could hear. I saw the Cullens faces, torn between wanting to save themselves but didn't want me to have to die to do that.

The floor in the cage suddenly pulled apart. "I love you, Edward," I said softly before falling into the darkness.

Jamie