'Bella!' Alice shouted at her, following her until she had crossed the door and disappeared in the distance.
'Is she okay?' an angelical voice asked from the floor above. That – was – it.
'YOU ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE AT THIS INSTANT AND –'
'It wasn't my fault!' Sophie said, now with real fear, as she backed up and pressed herself against the wall as Alice charged towards her and tried to grab her neck.
'FILTHY WHO– '
'Alice. Stop.'
The raving vampire turned around furiously, but she calmed down a little as she saw her brother. He was sitting on the next-to-last step, just where Bella had fallen down, with his fingers crossed, resting his head on them. He was gazing into space, and had talked with a low, calmed voice, that could only express the only feeling he was feeling: the worst of all the pains in its maximum potential. If he could have cried, Alice thought, tears would have been rolling silently down his cheeks.
'How could you, Edward?' Alice whispered, still holding Sophie against the wall. The boy didn't answer. 'How could you do such a thing? Bella loves you… Bella loves you with all her heart, and you just – sell yourself to a whore!'
'She is no whore,' Edward said inaudibly.
'Come on, Edward!' Alice exclaimed, 'I had a vision of this! I see her face when you don't, I see her act when you don't, I see her smile in satisfaction when you don't!'
'And I hear her thoughts when you don't,' Edward answered, still whispering, calmed, peaceful.
'Edward Cullen!' Alice shouted, leaving Sophie and marching towards her brother in fury, 'You just – sit there, pitting yourself, defending the vampire that has just broken your marriage! But of course you don't care, do you, you kissed the whore after all. You don't give a damn what Bella –'
But Edward had stood up inhumanly fast and grabbed Alice by her neck, glaring and scowling in a most terrifying fury.
' Don't – don't you dare – tell me I don't – care about Bella!' he whispered threateningly, but Alice did not flinch.
'You've sold yourself.'
'I've never –' he glanced at where Sophie had been standing just a moment ago – she was gone now. He turned back to Alice. 'It's not my fault Sophie is in love – she kissed me. And I don't blame her for loving someone, because I am guilty of the same thing. I'm in love – with Bella. With all my might. With all my heart, no matter how dead it is. I love Bella. I love her.'
He breathed deeply for a few moments while he glared at his sister, and then sighed as he threw himself against the wall and closed his eyes. Alice pressed her lips together and watched.
'I've lost her,' Edward whispered. 'I've lost Bella. It's my fault. It's my fault.'
…
The vampire opened her eyes after an immeasurable amount of time. How long had she been lying there? She took her hand to her face – wet. Tears were still rolling down her face. She gave a tiny cough and looked around. Green. Green everywhere. The forest, she thought. I'm in the forest. She could be just a few steps away from Victoria right there – but she didn't care. Death was better than having being witness of what she had seen. No, forget it. You must leave that. Lock it away from your mind – leave Edward away from your heart. He doesn't belong to you any longer. Forget him. Forget him. He's not yours. Not anymore. Love has been cruel many times – but never a torturer. And look at you now. This time, you have been defeated by love itself. Lying there on the forest floor, wet, dirty, sobbing – dying. Not your body. Your soul. Dead. She had always thought that being a vampire meant you were dead – but she had been wrong all along. This was death. She closed her eyes again. Don't you ever make the same mistake. Don't love again. Love is not for the dead. It will just torture you more than ever.
Because no matter how hard you try – you cannot forget.