I'm feeling generous. Of course, this is only the climax...the conclusion is still to come!
Chapter 8
Bella was unresponsive. Her breathing was shallow and laboured, her heartbeat struggling against the infection invading her body. The wound on her leg was a horrible thing to look at, but the already obvious lines of infection streaking off in every direction was making Edward's non-beating heart clench in his chest. Blessedly the dim lighting in the locked prison wasn't enough for any of the other captives to see how bad it was. But they didn't need to.
'Just hold on,' he whispered to her, voice barely loud enough for even another vampire to hear. 'Just hold on.'
He was trying to come to terms with the situation. He knew, logically, that Bella was likely beyond help. Even if they could get her to a hospital in Santa Cruz or La Paz, there was no guarantee she would recover. And he couldn't take the chance that she wouldn't. They would have to change her as soon as they got the other humans to safety. Edward was toying with whether to try to make it to the Isle before he bit her or to do it here, as soon as Alice got them out. It would be a challenge, but they could probably still make it to the Isle even with Bella in transition. It would be safer to change her sooner rather than later. It was her life, her eternity, and Edward wasn't willing to take the chance that they would be too late. Her heart would soon struggle to keep up with the evil invading her body.
The sun was setting. Edward shifted the form in his arms as gently as possible; even so, Bella gave a low moan, agony clear in the sound.
Outside the men were settling in. A large group of ten had left in the afternoon, as they had been discussing the day before. With the hunting party still gone, there were only seven men left in camp clustered near a burning fire in the centre. Very soon it would be time to act. Edward hoped Alice would send him a sign that they had arrived, but an hour passed, then two. Edward could tell some of the men outside had retreated to their cabins to sleep. There was never going to be a better time. The others still at the fire were not paying attention to anything except the liquor in their cups.
Edward called softly to the woman. 'Will you take her?'
He got no verbal answer, but he watched in the darkness as the woman shuffled over to them, bumping into Edward's leg. With his night vision he easily shifted Bella's limp body into the woman's arms. Without hesitation she cradled Bella gently.
'Thank you,' Edward whispered, standing up and heading over to the door.
It was obvious the other occupants of the shack wanted to ask what he was up to, but the short time as prisoners had already engendered a tendency towards suppression.
Edward took advantage of it. Outside, he could see three men still sitting around a fire, passing a bottle – likely alcohol – around. The others had disappeared and were asleep – four men in a cabin to the far right of camp. The men at the fire were occupied in their discussion. Edward paid attention for only a moment, enough to be certain he could catch them off guard.
For a moment longer he hesitated, pondering once more whether to wait for Alice and Jasper. A soft moan behind him made him flinch. He leaned his head against the hard wood of the door. No, he would not wait a moment longer.
Edward's hands curled into the gaps around the door on either side and he took an unnecessary breath. He would need to be fast to incapacitate the three still awake men.
Edward! Alice's voice screamed through his mind. He was so shocked he stepped backwards away from the door, blinking stupidly in the darkness.
Edward, we're here. All of us. I'm so sorry it took so long but we're here. We'll take care of the men. Give us thirty seconds.
He waited, counting the seconds and hating every single one of them. He could hear the minds of his family. Emmett was entirely too gleeful for the situation as usual. Rosalie was determined to make the men pay, her thoughts quite clear. Jasper was efficient, as always. Alice was standing back with Esme, waiting. And Carlisle.
'Edward,' he said, speaking on the other side of the door. Edward grasped the wood once more and wrenched hard. The wood splintered around the lock with ease and he pushed the pieces aside. Carlisle was standing on the threshold, gold hair shining in the distant firelight.
Only one thing came to mind. 'Bella,' Edward breathed.
Carlisle looked past him into the darkness of the shack, his eyes immediately finding Bella where she lay in the Mexican woman's arms. He turned back only briefly to meet Edward's eye and read what he needed to in them before he moved into the confined space. Behind him, Alice appeared.
She drew Edward into a hug, despite his rigid protest. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,' she whispered into his chest, as close to tears as a vampire could be. For a moment, Edward just let her get on with it. He knew it wasn't her fault; it wasn't anyone's fault except the men out there who were, if not dead, at least wishing they were. But he could not give in right now. Bella still needed him to be strong, for a little while longer.
Awkwardly he patted the pixie on the back until she released her tight grip. She stared around him into the interior of the space, biting her lip at the scene.
Edward took a deep breath and turned around himself.
Bella still lay in the woman's arms as Carlisle crouched next to them. Edward knew the hope blooming in his chest was useless the moment it occurred; he could read Carlisle's expression just as well as his half-veiled thoughts. They were out of options.
'Emmett and Rosalie are going to take the men to Santa Cruz and turn them in. They'll meet us in a few days. Rosalie wants to track the others who left yesterday.'
Edward nodded above her, not really paying attention to what Alice was saying, out loud or in her head.
'Jasper and I will take the others to La Paz. We'll make sure they're safe. You and Carlisle can…I looked, Edward, and it's the best option. You can reach the island in less than two days. You'll be there before she wakes up.'
He squeezed his eyes tight, as if this pronouncement was unexpected. He knew, but hearing it from Alice and Carlisle was still hard. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
'Edward?' Carlisle spoke softly. 'We need to get these people away from here.'
That snapped him back into full awareness. 'Yes.' He turned to the other captives. 'My sister and brother will take you back to La Paz. They'll make sure you get there safe. Please go with them. The men have been…taken care of.'
He thought there might be questions, but was surprised when no one spoke. The men rose and moved towards the door, the German man at the back. 'Danke,' was all he said as he passed Edward. Edward just gave him a nod. There was no need for words. They had both suffered a loss here.
He stepped forward to where Carlisle was still kneeling. Ever so gently he took Bella's form in his arms. The woman squeezed his shoulder gently and leaned in to peck his cheek. She offered no words, convinced there were none, but at the door she stopped beside Alice. 'I will pray for her, but I know that she will soon have peace.'
Alice gave her a slight smile, but Edward couldn't even garner up that much.
'Now?' was all he asked Carlisle.
'Yes,' he whispered back, though his thoughts went one step further. It may already be too late.
'I….I can't,' the bronze haired vampire said, a mountain of grief in his voice. 'She wanted me to, but I can't.' A small hand on his back was all the comfort Alice could give; her thoughts were running in multiple directions and there was not yet a clear future.
My son, Carlisle said to him. She will understand.
Logically, Edward knew that. He leaned down and kissed her burning lips softly before he nodded. Gently the two men laid Bella's form on the floor. Edward hated it, that this place would be her death, but maybe there was something in it. Better here, under cover, than out in the jungle. And they wouldn't be staying long.
The doctor brushed fingers across Bella's sweat-soaked forehead for a brief moment. Alice's hand tightened on Edward's shoulder and he reached up to grasp it in his impossibly trembling one.
It took almost no time at all. Whether a blessing or a curse, Carlisle was familiar with how to do this. Bella did not react as teeth sliced into her throat, first one side and then the other. The scent of her blood grew almost unbearable in the room. Above him, Alice had stopped breathing, but Edward couldn't. He couldn't bear to not breathe it in, the last few minutes of his beloved's life.
They waited impatiently for the venom to start to spread. It seemed to take forever, and even Alice's thoughts had no yet solidified in the first moments. But then…
'It's going to be alright,' Alice sighed. At the same moment Edward saw the vision coalesce in her head. Bella shinning in the sun on Isle Esme; eyes red as blood. He choked on a sob even as the struggling beat of the human heart suddenly increased. It nearly pounded in his ears, echoing around the enclosed space. Their prison.
'Out,' Edward hissed. 'Get us out,' he begged.
Carlisle scooped Bella's still body in his arms as Alice pulled her brother to his feet. Then they were outside in the cool air of the night, surrounded by trees and mountains and sky and still he couldn't breathe. Esme's comforting presence wrapped around him and he shuddered in her arms.
'She's safe now, Edward. She's safe and soon she will be well. Soon, nothing will ever hurt her again.'
He was aware of Rosalie and Emmett and Jasper nearby, of the sounds of the captive men who would never hurt another living soul. Of the humans shivering in the cold. For a minute it all passed him by as he was surrounded by his mother's arms. But then reality returned. They were not entirely safe yet.
'I'm fine,' he lied as he drew back from the embrace.
Esme smiled sadly at him. It was a lie, but she knew it was a necessary one.
'Alice,' Edward turned to the small figure beside him.
'We'll take care of it. You best start running if you want to make it to the island in time,' she smiled and it reached all the way to her eyes.
Edward couldn't help but smile back.