Flight of the Phoenix
Chapter Eleven – A Cry in the Night
I smiled a little. I couldn't help myself. Bella took a step back and stumbled. Jacob tried to help her before I could get to her.
"Don't touch me, Jacob!" she shrieked. We were all stunned, everyone wondering at why she would lash out that way.
"Sorry, it's just that I have no idea what would happen if you touch me, Jacob," Bella mumbled softly, a blush coloring her cheeks.
"What does that mean, Bella?" Jacob asked hurt by her words.
"I seem to absorb vampire powers. I have no idea if I would absorb yours. In other words, I might become werewolf number seventeen." I shuddered at the thought.
Disgusting, Alice internally said cringing.
"What's wrong with that? It would cure what's wrong with your head," Jacob indicated, taking a step closer. I growled, wrapping my arms around Bella's waist and pulling her closer to me. Jacob glared at me.
"You have healing abilities?" Bella asked Jacob, who nodded in response. "No, it's still too much of a risk. First, the transformation would most likely rupture the aneurysm before any healing could happen. Second, I'm not one of you. It seems wrong. Third, I'm with Edward."
"Exactly my point. You'll become one of us, and…" Jacob trailed off.
"And what, Jacob, you and Bella get to live happily ever after?" I snarled, stepping back several steps with Bella still in my arms.
"No, Jacob," Bella said, a touch of finality to her tone. A thought flickered in Jacob's mind to just sprint to Bella and take her hand.
"Don't forget, mongrel, I can read minds," I reminded him. Jacob's eyes narrowed as his body trembled in anger and pre-transformation. He was having trouble controlling himself.
"You've already put her through enough danger. I can take care of her," Jacob growled, his hands clenched into tight fists.
"Do you think she's any safer with you? You're young. At anytime you could lash out and hurt her," I sneered just as a memory of Sam hurting his fiancée Emily came into his thoughts.
"I would never hurt her. Can you say the same, leech?" Jacob pointed out.
I sighed, he was right. As much as I would love to say that I would never hurt her, I knew that it was always a possibility.
"That's enough, you two. I can take care of myself." Bella huffed in annoyance, her lip pouting. She attempted to pull away from my embrace feebly, and I released her reluctantly.
"Bella, you can barely walk. Please sit down," I pleaded, looking at her ankle. With all the walking it looked so much worse.
"I said, I can take care of myself," Bella stated firmly, and then she levitated just inches from the floor. "See… no pressure on my foot," she snapped, her face flushed with anger. She hated being treated as if she was still a child.
Jacob's jaw dropped as he watched Bella slightly hover. "Freaky, Bella," he laughed, and Bella smiled, shaking her head.
"This is starting to get really strange. If you plan on changing her, have you thought of the consequences?" Sam stepped forward, watching me.
"Consequences?" Jacob repeated.
"Besides breaking the treaty, have you thought about if you'll be able to control her after her change?" Sam clarified.
He's right. There is no way we will be able to control her if she has these powers. The bloodlust will be strong. Her strength will surpass our own, and the powers alone would stop us.
I looked at Jasper as his thoughts flowed through my mind, and it dawned on me. I wouldn't be able to prevent her from killing another human. Bella gasped and fell to the ground. Jacob and Sam were about to reach for her when Bella raised herself and slammed them both against the wall.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. But don't touch me." Bella gasped, and her body started trembling as she released Jacob and Sam. I kneeled beside her, ready to lift her.
"I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't," Bella sobbed, her body racking with shivers.
"Interesting choice of words," I said through gritted teeth.
Bella glared at me and hissed. "Don't start with that again."
Sam and Jacob pulled themselves together before approaching us again. I growled, feeling the rumble in my chest.
"I stay human, knowing that I might just die at any moment because of what's in my head. I attempt becoming a vampire, and I might die anyway. If I become a vampire I might kill humans for their blood because I'm too strong."
Bella almost wretched before continuing. "Or, I touch a wolf and may die before the transformation and healing takes place. If I don't die and become a werewolf, I lose the love of my life."
"Personally, I like the last choice Bella," Jacob said suggestively.
"Everybody stop thinking for a moment," Bella pleaded, grabbing her head. She was having a vision. I listened to her thoughts and heard a young woman screaming. She was about to be attacked by two men in an alley between a coffee shop and restaurant.
"She looks so scared," Bella cried. She was not only hearing but also seeing the young girl's thoughts. It was about to happen.
"Bella, stop listening. Block it out." I held her closely.
"You have to go and stop them. They'll kill her," Bella cried, pleading.
"I can't, Bella. If I do I'll… tear them apart." She couldn't ask me to do that. The anger and blood lust that would come when I stopped them would just bring me back to the monster I once was.
"What the hell is going on?" Jacob asked, kneeling down. My head snapped to him, and he put up his hands up defensively.
"She's reading the thoughts of someone nearby that is being attacked by two men. We can't go help her because there's blood," I said, never taking my eyes off Bella as she continued to sob against my chest.
"We'll take care of it. Where are they?" Sam asked as Embry, Quil and Leah darted out the door.
"Near the school campus. The coffee shop is called Blaire's," I relayed to Jacob and Sam. They nodded and left out the front door. Alice pinched her nose, shaking her head.
"Ewww… I had no idea the smell would be that bad," Alice complained as she walked to the door.
"Is she going to be okay, Alice? I can't find her future anymore," Bella mumbled, her head peeking and looking over to my sister.
"I can't see anything, Bella. Once the wolves got involved, there was nothing," Alice indicated, her voice soft and soothing.
"I lost everything too. I'm too scared to listen for her."
"You probably shouldn't, Bella. I don't know what the pack will do to the men," I whispered softly, picking her up in my arms, bringing her to the sofa and sitting her on my lap.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," I consoled her.
"Do they really stink to you all?" Bella giggled softly.
"Yes," Alice, Jasper and I said in unison. Bella shook her head and leaned her head against my chest.
"Edward, what did you mean about the monster you were before?" Bella asked, looking in my eyes. "I heard you thinking about something, but it was too fast for me to see."
I sighed this was not something I wanted her to know about. "Bella, you have to understand that even though I currently have a 'vegetarian' diet, doesn't mean I always had one," I said warily.
"What do you mean?" Bella asked, her head cocking to one side in question.
"I rebelled against Carlisle and left him. With my ability, I passed over the innocent and only fed on the evil and guilty. The guilt of what I was doing finally made me return to Carlisle," I finished, waiting for her to go screaming and running away from me.
Alice and Jasper sat back in the chair near us, looking away but still listening.
"I guess that makes sense," Bella whispered.
I gaped, stunned. "That… doesn't scare you?"
"No, I mean… in a way, yes. But it makes sense that you'd want to make your own choices. You did come back, and you stopped doing it." Bella shrugged her shoulders. Bella sighed. "Can you look for the girl to see if she's okay now?" I nodded.
I closed my eyes in concentration and let my mind listen for the voice of the frightened girl. I could see through her human eyes that she's against the wall on the ground. I gritted my teeth when I saw that she was bleeding on the back of her head. "Thank you," she whispered as she took Jacob's hand and was lifted up. I could not see where the others were.
"Jacob has her. She has a wound on her head, but it's minor. She'll be fine, Bella, they didn't get to –"
"I understand." Bella sighed. "My ankle hurts. I need ice." Bella smiled at me weakly.
"My pleasure, love." I propped up her feet on some sofa pillows and placed my hands gently on her swollen ankle.
"What are we going to do, Edward?" Bella sighed, tears falling slightly from her eyes.
"Bella, I see you becoming a vampire. That hasn't changed," Alice said, thinking of the vision of Bella and me running through the forest.
"Yes, it looks like we're hunting. So, I live through the transformation, but do I kill humans?" Bella whispered, barely audible to anyone but us.
"You know it doesn't work that way, Bella. To see something, a decision or course of action must be made first." Alice got up from Jasper's lap and sat beside Bella's feet.
"When I first met you, at that moment I saw the plane crash, I saw you dead, and then it suddenly changed to you as one of us. Just meeting Esme and me caused that vision because James must have been watching," Alice indicated and started thinking.
"We won't know what will happen until you decide to do something." Alice shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't think I can live an eternity knowing I killed someone." Bella sighed and leaned her head on my chest.
"I won't let that happen. If you have to be changed, I will do everything in my power to protect you even from yourself," I said, an edge to my voice.
"I know you will. That's what scares me," Bella sobbed.
"What do you mean, Bella?" I asked, trying to look into her eyes.
"I mean that you will all try to stop me, and I may hurt you in the process."
"Bella, we don't know what's going to happen. It doesn't do you any good, dwelling on something you have no control over right now," Alice stated, looking at Jasper. Jasper started to send calming waves towards Bella.
"Thank you, Jasper." Bella smiled after a few moments, closing her eyes. Exhaustion was taking over her small body.
"They are on their way back," Alice whispered. I nodded and listened for the "voices" of the pack.
"Edward," Bella whispered, her hand clutching the front of my shirt. "My head hurts." I looked at her face; her eyes were scrunched up in obvious pain that she was trying to hold back.
"Bella, explain how it hurts," I pleaded looking at the face of my angel. I quickly looked at Alice, who just shook her head. She didn't know what was happening.
"Too many voices, so much pain and so much sadness," Bella gasped. Tears started flowing from her eyes.
"With her ability to hear thoughts and my ability, it's like she's feeling all those emotions she's hearing," Jasper exclaimed in a whisper. Sorry, I never should've touched her. Her human mind can't cope with it.
"Bella, just calm your breathing and try to block them out like you block me out," I whispered against her forehead. I removed my hand from her ankle, which Alice quickly replaced with one of her own. I placed both of my hands on each side of her face. Bella whimpered. I sighed. It was difficult when I'd first become a vampire when I'd first heard many minds at once.
It had taken a great deal of time for me to get used to the buzz of the hundreds of voices in my head at once. Bella seemed to be picking up the neighbourhood and possibly the whole town. We had tested her abilities to send thoughts to Alice and Jasper, and it had been well over three miles away before I'd stopped, not wanting to push her any further.
Bella slowly opened her eyes to look at me and smiled. "I love you," she whispered, and then her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she lost consciousness.
AN: beta'd by lisa89, thanks. Please review.
