A/N: I'm terribly sorry that this chapter has to be so short and uneventful. I just wanted this scene to be all its own, you'll see why in the end (don't you dare skip down either). I'll have the next update soon, I promise. Thanks for reading and to those who are reviewing, you make me happy to be a writer. Also, the plot and reasoning for the previous chapters will be coming up shortly within the next few updates.

Enjoy!

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The Afterlight

Chapter 5

"Bella, Bella, wake up, they're coming." It was Alice, an unfamiliar panic in her voice as she spoke. I sat up quickly; too quickly and wearily laid back down. I was still light headed from the night before.

"Bella, no, please wake up..." I was sitting upright again, Alice had helped me to lean against the wall. "What's going on?", I asked blankly looking up at her. She was standing. I suddenly remembered something. "Alice, your leg!" My hands shot to the hem of her jeans. I lifted it up to view the damage. I saw what it would have taken weeks to heal, Alice's leg was just dried blood and slight bruising now, the crookedness nearly faded. I was speechless.

She smiled down at me as I starred at her in confusion. "What did you expect? I'm a vampire, remember?" I noticed then that the scratches on her face that would surely have left scars now had disappeared almost completely beneath her porcelain skin. I looked down at my wrist, it was bandaged with a grey cloth. I recognized the material from the torn sweater Alice was wearing. "Thanks", I said smiling back. She grinned and nodded to me.

But in the next moment, her smile faded, her teeth were barred and her gaze was focusing rigidly at the door in front of us. "Get to the corner", I heard Alice say faintly. I obeyed.

The door opened then, letting in a light that nearly blinded my eyes from being in the darkness for so long. From the floor in the corner of the small room, I could only watch, sitting, waiting, but nothing happened for several long moments. The anticipation prevailed as I watched the empty doorway. I wanted to ask Alice who she had seen coming.

My mind shifted then, were we free? My question did not remain unanswered however, as the low growls echoed from the hallway, flying into the room until it was filled entirely, the sounds continually reverberating off the walls.

But the source of the growls was not a mystery to me. I had remembered those sounds of evil, recognizing them from a memory that scarred my past.

Alice was by my side again, her face close enough to mine so that I could see her expression, despite the blinding light from behind her. "Stay", was the only word she spoke. There was only one thing I could depict from her voice then; ambivalence.

My gaze fell beyond her shoulder as I starred up at the filthy creature, its eyes more brilliant than I had remembered. I wondered silently if it could sense where I was in the room, hidden only by darkness. Alice stood up to challenge the animal.

The two figures in front of me were incomparable. The intimidating structure of the werewolf, to anyone, would seem overpowering to the small frame of the vampire. I starred back at Alice who was taking a striking pose, her eyes narrowed, her flashing teeth and her secreted strength. I still was unsure if the animals had seen me, there were three.

Alice's eyes had gone dark, her expression barren and seemingly empty. But underneath, her mind and body were connected and targeting one thing, the attack.

It was nearly overwhelming to witness such a sight. A beautiful creature face to face with an animal so malevolent, that just by looking at it, you could sense its true hatred. It was then that I realized something very important. It was then that I could finally face the reason why Edward had refused to change me. Seeing Alice like that, her indescribable beauty that once seemed far from human, now revealed itself before me. It was more than just an eternal life that Edward's fatal kiss would be giving me. It was a different side of humanity all its own that would be forced upon me and threaten to show itself if anything dared to resist my values.

Watching Alice then, I discovered a fact of the essence of vitality. Inside every living thing lies a hidden evil, for it is human to be inhuman.

Before I could think any further, the light faded before me and for the second time in two days, the deadly claw of the evil werewolf stole away my sanity.