And so, the secret is revealed. That's the reason why Raab has to do as Malikai commands. It's like he's forever bound to Malikai, for he possesses his ring, leaving him with no choice. What an evil little bastard.

As you'll find in this chapter, writing gruesome things is my forte. If you get queasy reading about explicit wounds, you may want to skip this chapter, give me an email, and I'll give you basics of what happened.

Senses Fail – To All The Crowded Rooms: "I'll give blood to your dry veins. We do this for the passion, and not the fashion or fame."

Chapter Nineteen—Heart

Sometimes you just get the feeling that you know you're screwed. And if you're lucky, you have an idea to get yourself unscrewed. THAT'S how I felt. Edward could easily get in touch with Alice and have her bring the others to help us out. It would make seven against one… Unless Malikai forced Raab to fight against us. However, I think he'd rather kill himself. And surely Alice could see that we're about to be murdered. So, why wasn't she coming?

I looked over at Edward, who appeared to be concentrating angrily.

Edward?

He looked at me. I felt like his eyes were going to burn a hole through my skull. It was obvious that he was furious.

Where is Alice?

He slightly shook his head.

I was confused. If she could help us, why wasn't she coming? Or had the family turned against him because of me, and this was all just a set-up?

Why?!

He tossed a glance in Malikai's direction, and heaved his chest a little.

Then I remembered that Malikai could hear us, and I thought that maybe Edward was just trying to throw him off. Or, maybe she really wasn't coming. My primary concern was Raab and the lighter that Malikai was holding. I began to formulate plans in my head without making it obvious. If I didn't think it specifically, he wouldn't understand or pick up on it.

"Well, Raab, we don't have all night; we have some chaos to create! And I also have plans of my own when we're through here…" Malikai smiled, tossing Raab's ring into the air.

If I could get that ring, Raab would be free from Malikai, and he could easily take him down…

"Make your choice." Malikai pressed.

Raab looked at me, clearly hurt and distressed. Then he looked at Edward, watching him hard. He held his hand out for the lighter.

Malikai laughed and handed it to him.

"I knew it! You never did like vampires… Of course you'd pick him." He shook his head. "And you..." He looked at Edward. "You move, and sweet little Miss Scottie dies oh-so-slowly."

Raab flicked the lighter open and gave Edward the same look.

No…no, Raab… Don't… Look at me! LOOK! Pick me, Raab! Please don't… Not him… I can't…

I began to panic, not knowing what to do next. I pleaded in my own head, hoping that Raab would not put the lighter to the gasoline.

To my dismay, he advanced toward Edward, who stomped the ground and growled at him.

"I'm sorry…But I'm afraid this is the best choice… Think about it… Do you really want to watch her die?" His voice was strong. "Do you know what it's like for a werewolf to die?"

Edward softened slowly, understanding.

Raab! DON'T!! I felt tears welling up.

Malikai watched me, snickering.

Edward took in a deep breath and blew it out as Raab backed up, toward me, away from the gasoline. I could have easily reached out and taken the lighter, crushing it, and thus saving Edward... But I couldn't make my body move. I thought I had even stopped breathing. Raab took in a deep breath, and tossed the lighter to Edward's right foot.

I screamed out, jumping toward him, but Raab caught me, holding me back. The gasoline exploded, and before I could catch another sight of Edward, he was gone. I looked around, but he wasn't there.

"You son of a b –" Malikai looked into the air.

I looked up, too, and to my surprise, spotted Edward. He had jumped at just the last minute.

"I warned you!" He roared, then started to come toward me, but the gasoline snaked up a small stream and caught his legs on fire. He let out the most horrible shrieking noise. It was high pitched, causing Raab and I to cover our ears. Edward landed on Malikai, knocking him to the ground. The ring fell out of Malikai's hand, as Edward pinned him and began to beat him mercilessly.

"EDWARD! Get away from the fire!" Raab yelled.

The fire was making it's was up Malikai's legs, toward Edward. He jumped up and grabbed the ring, then ran toward us. Raab grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind him. We began to make our way back to Edward's house, but I was suddenly knocked to the ground, snatched from Raab's grip.

I kicked at whatever was on top of me, clawing at my throat. I finally got the chance to open my eyes, and realized that my attacker was Malikai. He hit me hard in the face, then grabbed me by the throat and dug his nails into the skin slowly, holding my hands above my head with the other hand. I heard Edward and Raab running back toward us.

"GET BACK UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO KILL HER NOW!!" He screamed. "Watch here, Edward Cullen, as your precious girlfriend suffers!"

Then I remembered my ring; it was still in my hand. I had to get it away from me, unless I wanted to die. I couldn't protect it against Malikai. He was much stronger than I was, but I still had a chance – even though it wasn't a very good one. I managed to pull my knees up in between us, and push him up. He accidentally let go of my hands and I punched him square in the nose, hearing it crack. Then I shoved him off of me and jerked my ring off. I started to throw it to Edward, who was standing next to Raab, the two of the frozen with horror. But before I could throw it, Malikai reached for it. I jerked away from him and turned on my side, but he stood and kicked me in the ribs with enough force to knock me about ten feet away. I landed on my stomach, and he ran over and pressed his knee on my spine, gradually putting more pressure down. I felt my temperature rising, and I could feel not only the pressure from his knee, but also from the inside. My insides felt as though they were being tossed around.

"SCOTTIE!!" Raab roared. "Put it back on and FIGHT! DON'T CHANGE! NOT YET!! IT'S NOT SAFE!!!"

But I couldn't put it back on, so I did the only other thing I could think of:

I swallowed it.

Malikai laughed, "You, bitch." He turned me over and pinned my wrists under his knees. "Do you think that's going to save you?!"

"No, but it just saved you, you bastard!"

"Oh really?" He laughed. "HOW SO?"

"Because I would have mauled you to pieced thousands of times worse than Raab did to your pathetic girl friend." I spat in his face.

His face turned hard.

"Oops. Did I press a button?"

He began to shake, clearly becoming angrier.

"I wonder, did she scream as loudly as you did before?"

He roared and then impaled me through the stomach.

I spat up my dark metallic crimson blood, and noticed Edward cringe and ball up his fists, cursing under his breath.

I spat my blood in Malikai's face and then he began raking through my insides with his claws. The pain couldn't have been as bad as it would have been had I still been human, but it definitely hurt worse than even the time my ears were upgraded. I screamed, tossing my head back, my anguished cries joining with Edward's. Malikai was suddenly thrown off of me, and I looked down at my stomach. It had been ripped open, and my blood was spilt everywhere. My hands were shaking as I gently touched the edge of the hole. Everything had been ripped to shreds and was spilling from the hole. I tossed my head back and screamed again, the pain coming in pulses. Malikai was suddenly pinning me again, and Edward was patting fire from his arm.

"That's the biggest mistake you'll ever make, Evans." He clawed down my chest, ripping through the center of my rib cage. He plunged his hand inside and found my heart, then ripped at it, as he did my stomach.

Edward knocked him off of me and hit him in the face. Raab ran over to him and pulled him to his feet, allowing Edward to sock him again.

I began to choke, and the pulsing pain in my stomach slowed. I looked down at the hole in my stomach, noticing it was slowly getting smaller. The rip down my chest was growing back together as well. I only wished it would heal faster. I laid there feeling like I was dying. I had no choice but to wait on the wounds to heal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw as Malikai was tossed out into the woods behind me. Edward ran over and picked me up, as I heard this gruesome ripping and shattering noise. It reminded me of what would happen if you put a body in a trash compactor. I looked over Edward's shoulder to see Raab's body contorting into a huge beast. His bones could be seen shifting under his skin. His vertebrae were snapping, his muscles were stretching, and his skull was breaking and re-mending itself. As the transformation came to an end, Raab appeared to be a massive wolf standing on its hind legs. He was maybe six feet and ten inches, with dark brown fur with a black undercoat, which got thicker on the mane, making it look as though the brown faded up to black around his neck. He had light blue eyes and long clawed fingers. He growled, exposing long sharp teeth. He was slightly hunched over, and panting. Then, he spoke to us, without opening his mouth to do so.

"Keep her safe, Edward. I trust you with her… and my ring."

He ran into the woods where he'd tossed Malikai.HeH

Linkin Park – Hit The Floor: "One minute you're on top, the next you're not. Watch it drop. Making your heart stop just before you hit the floor. One minute you're on top, the next you're not. Missed your shot. Making your heart stop. You think you won, then it's all gone."