A/N: Sorry for the delay. I need to thank LJ Summers and her son for going over this chapter and preventing Rosalie from having two husbands. She agreed that one Emmett was enough for her. So, this is the long awaited fight scene. I hope that it's everything that y'all have been waiting for. Thank you all for the reviews!
Twilight and all related content belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I am so not her.
Surreal as it is, I wrote part of this listening to "Spies" by ColdPlay
Bella let go of all intent of keeping up the ruse and ran a few steps before jumping into Carlisle's arms. As soon as Carlisle had her Jasper attacked Mark. Rosalie and Emmett donned their gloves and broke off to separate Adrianna from the group while Alice and I went for Ari and Colin. We had the element of surprise and none of them went for Bella. Alice moved like a dancer, swift and graceful. She watched as Ari made decisions and skirted around slipping through her grasp. Ari matched Alice's grace with her own. They could have been performing intricate choreography. I found that Colin for all of his bulk was graceful as well. He was definitely a fighter and very light on his feet.
Colin and Ari fed each other a series of images while they fought. They stood back to back and orbited around a central point behind them while Alice and I circled from the outside. They were like one being with four arms and four legs, perfectly in sync. Had it not been lethal it would have been a thing of beauty. Colin leaned back to dodge my fist and Ari used his back for leverage to kick at Alice with greater force. Alice stepped swiftly to the side of the intended blow and caught the leg. With a flick of her wrists she flipped the female over onto the ground and pounced onto her back. I took the opportunity to change the path of my circle and stepped between Colin and Ari. I forced him several feet away from his mate who had already jumped to her feet flipping Alice off of her back. I watched Colin lunge at me a second before he did it and I ducked rolling him off my back and into a tree. It creaked from the force of the blow.
I looked up to realize that Carlisle was penned in. He had not made it out with Bella quickly enough. Unknowingly, we expanded the fight in a ring around them. He searched frantically for an opening but found none. Bella clutched his shirt in her fist with her left hand in fear and panic. This was not a safe location for anyone, least of all her. Bella's fragility and terrible luck made her position in Carlisle's arms at the center of a battle between two covens of vampires the most dangerous place outside of Volterra that she could possibly have found. The words, 'danger magnet' echoed through my brain. I foolishly turned from my battle, leaving Alice to watch my back. I searched for a way to help Carlisle and couldn't readily find a solution.
Bella Swan, you will be the death of me.
"Edward!" Edward! Alice's screech shook me on multiple levels. She was screaming both physically and mentally; her vision allowed me a split second to react and turn before Colin's arms could reach my torso.
"Edward!" You can't leave Alice you fool! I need you there! Jasper yelled over Mark's head.
I shifted as I turned and knocked Colin's arms to the side, exposing it and trapping his arms away from me. I couldn't abandon my position to rescue Bella and Carlisle. I cursed and ripped at Colin's shoulder with my teeth. Colin rounded and landed an elbow into my side. His back spun to meet Ari's and the two turned in a sickening circle. Alice and I moved with them, working in tandem to try and separate the two again. Alice and I both made a concerted effort not to come too close to Carlisle. Together, Colin and Ari were unstoppable. Our advantage lay in the fact that Alice could see their decisions and I could hear their thoughts. So long as their actions remained strategic rather than instinctive, they didn't have an advantage over the two of us. My decisions as well as theirs fed Alice a constant stream of visions that kept us one step ahead in the fight. Alice didn't have to read our minds, she just had to watch the future.
Jasper grappled with Mark but neither of them could gain enough leverage on the other to rip off a limb with brute force or use their teeth to sever one from the body. He grunted with exertion and Mark flew a few feet. Jasper took a moment to shoot a murderous glare in my direction before jumping onto the muscular blonde.
I told you, Jasper's just like you. He's probably still screaming at you inside his head. Alice was correct, Jasper was still fuming. She landed a sidekick into Ari's chest that pushed Ari into Colin. The action brought his chest in contact with my waiting fist. He was stunned him long enough for me to run my teeth across his shoulder again. It was a slow process but I was forced to take what I could in the fight.
I had to find help for Bella.
Rosalie and Emmett fought Adrianna together. The tiny vampire would have been no match for just one of them had it not been for her ability. She flailed like a helpless girl trying to get a hand on any portion of bare flesh she could find. Emmett and Rosalie deftly stepped around her. The two wore long pants with long sleeved shirts and gloves. Their shirt collars were turned up to cover as much skin as they could. Adrianna had to touch a neck or a face in order to gain the upper hand. Rosalie and Emmett were engaged in an intricate dance around her. Rose moved like a dancer swirling from one side to the other and placing blows while carefully keeping her face clear of those dangerous hands. Emmett's strategy was more up front than Rose's; he would knock Adrianna's arms to the side and make a grab for one part of her body or another. She would always come dangerously close to touching him. Of the five of us, he seemed in the best position to help Carlisle. He hadn't noticed that Carlisle and Bella failed to depart.
I saw Alice find an opening to separate the lovers and I took it. Colin and Ari had a miscommunication and temporarily shifted away from each other's backs. Alice and I pulled into the gap created and drove the two back away from each other.
A squeak came from Bella as Carlisle spun to avoid Jasper and Mark. Carlisle gave me a pleading glance. He was completely helpless to do anything with her in his arms and she would be dead in moments if he set her down. He evaded the rest of us as best he could when we found ourselves thrown or stepping into the center of the circle but his luck could only last so long.
"Emmett!" I yelled at my hulking brother. "Help Carlisle!"
Rosalie locked eyes with her husband and nodded. The two maneuvered together; Emmett faked to one side while Rosalie spun around and the two forced Adrianna out of the way. Carlisle only needed the opening for a few seconds to successfully escape. He bolted with Bella clutched firmly to his chest and took off back into the woods. I didn't have time to stare back at her but I could feel her watching me as they faded into the trees.
Colin took advantage of my momentary distraction and lunged. He pinned me to the ground. I kicked my legs up and managed to force him onto his side preventing his teeth from meeting my neck. He grunted with exertion as he tried to push me back over. I felt my arm start to give and quickly pulled my knees into my chest to shove him back away from me. His grip broke from my arms when I kicked his chest and we jumped to our feet. He started to circle again and form a strategy. I had to keep him from regaining his preferred fighting position next to Ari. He wanted to get to her. Alice and I danced very carefully keeping the two as far from each other as we could.
Adrianna spun away from Rosalie and laid her hand directly onto Emmett's cheek. He fell like a brick. I didn't have the opportunity to see what happened next because I found myself having to focus solely on Colin. He had stopped thinking. Without Ari guarding his back he had no need to plan ahead and he acted solely on instinct. I refused to let him circle back to Ari. We stepped from side to side mirroring each other. He dove at me and bit into my left shoulder. The venom burned into my arm but I was able to shove his face off of the shoulder and land a spinning back kick to his chest.
A high screech and a metallic ripping sounded from behind me but I couldn't look. Colin was up on his feet again. I quickly checked on Alice through her thoughts to find that she had ripped off Ari's right arm at the shoulder. The appendage wriggled on the ground behind me. Colin looked up and I took the opportunity to tackle him. He fell with a solid thud that shook the ground and I sunk my teeth into his neck, slicing his head cleanly from his body before he could react. I made quick work of dismembering the rest of his body and turned.
Alice and Ari continued to circle but Alice's thoughts indicated that she could handle the female on her own. Emmett lay motionless on the ground. Jasper and Mark were still locked together, arms on shoulders each attempted to pull a knee up and gain enough leverage to damage the other. Then, I noticed that someone was missing. Rosalie was gone, as was Adrianna.
I felt Alice's mind turn from the task at hand into a vision. It pulled her completely from her fight and she stopped stock-still where she stood. Jasper and I both reacted without thought. I turned and charged Ari at the same moment that Jasper flipped Mark to the side, breaking his grip and rolling him partway down the hill. Jasper left Mark to protect Alice. Although I reached Ari first I was forced to turn and chase Mark as he sprung back up the hill and made a b-line for the trees.
Alice's vision caught me before I reached Mark. Bella stood in a clearing behind Esme and Carlisle. The couple crouched low in front of her facing the trees. Bella's compression bandage had been removed and she held the wound on her right arm with her left hand applying as much pressure as she could. The suit jacket was thrown over her left arm and the vision looked too similar to Alice's most recent one of Bella bloodied and on the ground.
I only partially heard Jasper finish dismembering Ari before I took off for the clearing. I recognized it as where I left Jasper, Emmett, and the werewolves to fight earlier. The vision had to be several minutes off; I abandoned chasing Mark to run. Alice recovered and ran behind me but I left her in the dust. The plan was suddenly seeming a lot less brilliant as I flew past trees. I caught a scent off to my left, Rosalie and Adrianna.
"Alice!" I called behind me.
I'm with you. Her mind called from behind me. I continued toward the clearing for a moment before turning to meet Alice and follow Rosalie. It wasn't what I wanted to do but after some thought there was no way that I could leave Rosalie and Alice to fight by themselves. If something happened to either of them then I wouldn't have to worry about what I would do if something happened to Bella because I would be ash. Bella had Carlisle and Esme to protect her and with any luck one of the wolves would have recovered enough to help by the time she needed protection. I ran ahead of Alice again and grudgingly followed the trail which weaved in and out of trees and doubled back on itself several times before Rosalie was close enough to hear her thoughts. I watched the fight in her mind while I ran.
"Oh that is it! Bring it." Rosalie baited Adrianna. I've had enough of this! No tramp in twenty dollar shoes picks on my husband's manhood and lives to talk about it.
Rosalie spun around and landed a fist into Adrianna's back. Adrianna groaned and reached her arm up to Rosalie. The action forced my sister to dodge to the side. She growled in frustration. She stepped in an intricate sideways pattern trying to predict her opponent's next move. Adrianna lunged thrusting her hands in front of her and Rosalie carefully sidestepped the little vampire. Rosalie threw a punch that went wide and Adrianna ripped at her arm, Rosalie's sleeve tore.
She ripped it! She just ripped my favorite shirt!
She retrieved the arm quickly before skin contact was made and cursed. Adrianna smiled sweetly at her before launching a new offensive that Rosalie anticipated perfectly.
If Rosalie could hold out just a bit longer Alice and I would be there. I pushed my pace and caught a glimpse of the two of them through the trees. Rosalie took one wrong step she went right instead of left and Adrianna reached her hand up to my sister's face. Rosalie dropped like a rag doll. Adrianna heard my approach and smirked at me before running off. I grabbed Rosalie and propped her up against a tree before Alice caught up.
She looked wide eyed around the clearing. Where is she Edward? The future is shifting again.
"Adrianna ran off." I explained and Alice shook her head. It took a moment before her thoughts sunk in and I thought about what she was saying. "What's shifted Alice?"
"There are two differences."
The first is more of a clarification but I'm positive that this will happen. Alice went back to the series of images she showed me when she and Jasper found Bella and formulated the plan. The first three she flew past but she paused on the fourth:
Bella stood outside somewhere with her hair blowing, her eyes were closed. Alice hovered on the image and I noticed that the sky behind her was overcast and that I had been correct before in thinking that something about her skin didn't look right. It was too perfect.
Do you see that? I don't think that she's human. Look at the next one:
Bella and I standing in a meadow, the image seemed the same as the last time Alice showed it to me until she focused on my hand on Bella's cheek. There was a ring on my finger. The vision changed and Bella paused before the kiss. Her eyes opened lazily and they weren't brown but red.
Here's the second, it's just a continuation of what we saw before:
Esme and Carlisle crouched in front of Bella again. The vision went further and showed Adrianna emerge from the trees.
"Go Edward." I think that you may have to change Bella to save her. I'll take care of Rosalie.
I was on my feet and careening through the trees after Adrianna in a flash.
This was what I wanted; I had been thinking about it all week but the visions refused to come. Had Bella made up her mind, or was I about to violate her free will?
I knew where Adrianna was going but the forest was unfamiliar and I didn't know a faster way to get to the clearing. I was forced to follow her. I don't know how she managed it but Adrianna laid two trails. I chose the wrong one. I should have been able to catch her before she reached the clearing but instead I found myself staring at the river. I splashed the water with my foot and doubled back to find her second trail, the real one. It was hidden well. She took advantage of a game trail and some areas where she and her coven had been previously to mask her scent.
I ran hoping that I wouldn't be too late.
I was not prepared for the sight that met me when I finally reached the clearing. Carlisle and Bella laid motionless on the ground, Rachel crouched in wolf form over the remains of Adrianna, and Esme sat a few feet away from Bella with her hands over her mouth. She rocked back and forth like a small scared child and Quil stared at her in shock. Their thoughts rushed at me.
I need fire! Fire now vampire!
What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?....
She bit her. Edward, she bit her....
Edward, is her heart still beating? You need to see if it's beating. I can't hear it from here.
Rachel slammed into my leg and demanded fire once more. I quickly grabbed some pine straw from the forest floor and lit it before walking away and leaving Rachel to burn the pieces that remained of Adrianna. Then it dawned on me. Carlisle, Esme, and Quil's thoughts focused on Bella, not Rachel. I was beside her pale form without thinking.
Bella mewled softly. Her heartbeat was faint but present. I smoothed the hair back from her forehead and then I noticed it. A crescent shaped bite stood out on her neck. I looked down at her arm and noticed that the wound there no longer bled. I pulled her into my arms and the world stopped spinning, time ceased. Bella was changing. Her back gently arched and she whimpered again; her skin was hot and perspiration dotted her entire body.
"Her heart is still beating." I finally remembered to confirm. Esme crumbled into a ball and sobbed and Carlisle mentally sighed in relief. I ignored Quil and Rachel for the moment. This was not something that I was prepared to see and I needed more time to take in the situation before explaining it.
"Edward, the fire, I'm burning." Bella's voice was weak and pained. I pulled her closer. "I'm on fire, put it out." She cried.
"I can't love. I can't put it out. It's not real fire, it's venom." I spoke into her hair. It only faintly carried the smell of strawberries under the smell of river water. I longed to hold her all day, to know that she was alright, but not like that. Bella seemed to understand my words, she gave me a slight nod and her face contorted back into a grimace.
The clearing, he would have taken her to the clearing. I heard Jasper's mind long before his feet or his voice.
"Carlisle!" He shouted still quite a way off.
"Over here Jasper!" I called back. It only took Jasper a moment to reach my side and crouch down. Emmett wasn't far behind him.
"Where are the -?" Emmett stopped mid question and dropped to the ground next to us.
Is she...? I shook my head at Emmett.
"What happened?" Jasper looked from Bella to Esme.
Esme finally looked up and her eyes were tinged to a more ocher shade than topaz and I knew what had happened. She ran over the memory in her mind.
Adrianna stalked out of the forest toward her and Carlisle. They advanced on her to protect Bella but Adrianna successfully faked an attack on Esme to catch Carlisle off guard. Neither of them were prepared when Adrianna's hand grazed his cheek. Esme's vision went red. She pummeled the brunette and fought her a small way from Carlisle. Esme was unaware of Bella's stance behind her and didn't watch where she led the fight. Adrianna knocked her to the side and advanced on Bella before she could get to her feet.
Less than a second after Adrianna sent Bella flying across the clearing with a blow to her back, Rachel phased and ripped the vampire to shreds. Esme ran to Bella. Her landing was anything but soft and she was barely breathing but still conscious. Esme bent over her and frantically looked for any help she could offer. Bella took in a slow, ragged breath before speaking.
"I'm cold Esme." She whispered and gasped for more air; she grimaced as she attempted to suck in enough air to speak again.
"Be still, be still." Esme rubbed Bella's arms.
"Don't let me die. Change me." Her voice was weak and difficult for even Esme to make out. Esme protested. She shook her head vehemently until Bella uttered, "Edward." and finally, "do it" before she closed her eyes.
Esme panicked. Carlisle was incapacitated and she had no medical training or experience but Bella definitely thought that she was dying. She certainly seemed to be fading away quickly. Her heart rate was slowing and her breathing became more shallow.
I can't loose her again. Esme thought before leaning down and biting into the soft skin of Bella's neck. She drew in Bella's blood and lost herself to the sensation, it was too overwhelming for her. She swallowed again and then Bella went rigid in her arms. Esme stopped and scrambled back from her.
When Esme looked up at me her eyes were filled with sadness. What have I done?
"She asked you." The words escaped my lips but offered little in the way of comfort. My tone was flat and lifeless.
"Esme, did you?" Jasper was the first to put the scene together. He touched the bite mark on Bella's neck before looking up at our mother.
She sat up from disheveled heap and nodded to him. I had to.
"I know." I responded to her mental voice again.
We're almost there Edward. Alice approached from the South. It was a different direction than Adrianna had led me. She showed me an image of myself cradling Bella in my arms to indicate that she knew what was going on.
"Alice and Rose are coming." I didn't move my eyes from Bella's face.
"Good, we need to get her out of her and get to someplace secluded." Jasper's hand sat squarely on my shoulder. "It's not likely that we'll go undiscovered for three days here."
Jasper made preparations for us to move. He and Emmett fashioned a stretched and coaxed Quil onto it. Emmett relinquished his shirt to Rachel who phased and gladly wrapped the large article of clothing around her body. I sat and held Bella. Carlisle shocked me when he came to and laid a hand on top of mine.
"It's time to go son."
I nodded and collected Bella up in my arms to carry her to the jeep and take her home. There was no way that I would leave her side again. We set a swift pace back to the cars and I tuned out the entire world, including Alice.