I Didn't Want The End To Come Chapter 22: Will You Join Us?, a twilight fanfic

My breath caught in my throat and I stared at the one that had spoken.

"What do you mean?" I finally asked.

"You heard me," she sneered.

"Is he here?" I asked hopefully.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Did you kill him or not?" I asked.

"Will you join us?"

"No."

"Then you won't find out."

"You killed him," I decided. "You're just trying to get me to join you."

"Believe what you want," she said with a shrug.

"Are you ready for more torture?" the leader asked.

"If it's that time again," I answered.

Once again, the pain started, and then the part where I got thrown around. But this time, I started seeing things.

A vampire entered the room who looked exactly like Alice. But when I looked again, she was gone. The same thing happened two more times, only instead of Alice I saw Carlisle and then Edward. I cried out for Edward, but before I could even blink he was gone again. I knew they couldn't be real. But I wasn't sure how to explain them. It couldn't be another vampire's gift, because I couldn't be made to see things using a gift. Unless maybe the vampire could create something for a few seconds before making it disappear, which would be the most logical explanation.

After the fake Edward left I laid in a heap on the floor, sobbing as hard as I could. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you join us?" someone whispered in my ear, but when I looked no one was nearby. I felt a touch on my shoulder, but there was no one there either.

"No," I sobbed. "No, no, no. Never, ever."

"Will you join us?" the voice asked again.

"Leave me alone!!!" I shrieked, finding the strength to stand up. "Leave me alone!!!!" I tried to run out the door, but strong arms pulled me back in the room.

"Will you join us?" the voice repeated.

"No!!!!!" I shrieked, fighting against the hold on me.

"Will you join us?"

"Leave me alone!!!!!" I yelled, still sobbing.

Everyone started whispering then, and the words, "Will you join us?" echoed around the room, surrounding me. The room started to spin, or maybe it was me, I wasn't sure. I clamped my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn't help. I could still hear the chanting, still hear the whispers as they asked me to join them.

When they threw me back in my cell several hours later I was sobbing, and I just curled into a ball in the middle of the room. Andria was sleeping in the corner, and I could smell that she had been crying. Her blood had clotted around her wound, which was good. She didn't even stir when they slammed the door.

"No, no," I kept moaning, answering the continuous question in my mind.

Will you join us?

The question never ended, never let up. The room spun, my ears felt ready to break, and yet the question never stopped. It was like it was a music track on repeat. Sometimes the question came one voice at a time, and other times it came as a round, with one voice only getting halfway through before the next voice would start.

"Stop it!!!!" I shrieked. "STOP IT!!!!!"

"What's wrong?" Andria asked groggily.

"Make it stop," I whispered.

"Bella?" she asked, slightly more awake. "You came back!"

"Make it stop," I repeated.

"Bella?" she asked worriedly, crawling over to me. "What's wrong?"

"Make it stop!" I sobbed.

"Make what stop?" she asked. "Bella, what's wrong?"

I didn't answer, so she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me close and rocking back and forth.

It was like this for a very long time. Once a day they would come take me away, bringing Andria food while I was gone. Every day they would throw me around, cause me pain, and then torture me with the sight of my dead family members before bombarding me with the whispered, "Will you join us?" Every day I would return to Andria sobbing, and she would hold me, rocking me back and forth until my sobs subsided. She would sleep once she was sure that I would be okay, and then we would start over again the next day.

Every day my strength and resolve grew weaker. It didn't look like they were going to kill me. They wanted my talent.

One day, once I was thrown in the torture room, I realized that the atmosphere was different. They seemed smug, almost as if they knew I wouldn't refuse today.

"I won't join you," I warned them before they could ask.

"We know," they answered. "But we thought we would ask once again."

"No," I said.

The usual torture began, and it ran its course. The only difference was the very end.

"We have killed Andria," they informed me before releasing me to the guard.

Sure enough, Andria was not in my room once I returned. I sobbed alone that night.

The next time they came to get me I didn't even bother answering or fighting. They knew my answer anyway.

"You want to die, do you not?" the leader of my torture sessions asked once they were done torturing me.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Then we shall grant your wish. You shall die today." He nodded to the guard, and a moment later the guard came back with someone in tow.

I had been seeing Edward in my torture sessions for so long that it didn't hurt to look at him anymore. I knew it wasn't Edward anyway. Edward was dead and had been for who knows how long. My Edward would never have the deep red eyes that this Edward look-alike had. My Edward would never glance at me emotionlessly like he didn't know me. No, this wasn't my Edward, but he sure looked an awfully lot like him.

"Edward, meet Isabella," the leader said, motioning at me. "Bella, I do believe that you already know Edward very, very well."

"That's not Edward," I whispered, somehow finding the strength to stand up once again.

"On the contrary, it is Edward," he told me. "Edward was given the choice to die or work for us, and he chose the latter. He has adapted to our lifestyle very nicely." He gave Edward a pat on the shoulder, and then turned to look at me again. "Edward has been ordered to kill you. He won't fail."

"Edward," I begged, knowing that if it was my Edward that he would melt and come gather me into his arms. I thought that if it really was my Edward that he would be bluffing, biding his time until he could scoop me into his arms and carry me away, far, far away, back to our house.

But this Edward stared at me with hatred in his eyes. His eyes, which had been red moments before, were now a deep and solid black.

"We'll leave you to your tragic ending," the leader said, smirking at me. The other vampires left, locking me in the room with this Edward look-alike.

"Edward, please, it's Bella," I reminded him. "It's me, baby. It's your wife. Don't you love me anymore?"

Edward didn't say anything. He just circled me, preparing to attack.

I thought about my life while he circled. I knew that this wasn't Edward. They had managed to trick me once again, though how they had done it I wasn't sure. I thought about my Edward, and all the good times we had shared. I thought about my families, both of them. I thought about Mark and his gothic appearance, if he had actually followed through. I thought about Charlie and Renee and Phil and Andria and everyone that I had ever loved.

But mostly I thought about Edward. I hope that I would see him again soon.

I never thought that I would die this way. I never thought that my entire family would die before me, and that I would be the last one alive. I never thought that we would face an enemy so strong.

I never thought I'd actually die.

I mean, I'm a vampire, and though I'm technically dead anyway, I never thought that I would cease to exist. But that's what was happening. I was going to die, and no one could save me, because anyone who cared about me was already dead.

But despite the fact that I was going to die, I was calm. I didn't care that I was going to die. After all, everyone in my family was dead. Edward had died trying to save me. Everyone else had been killed in various ways. There was nothing left in this life for me to live for. I was actually almost grateful that I was getting killed. Life isn't worth living without my Greek god and our family by my side.

I stared into the black eyes of my killer, this Edward clone, calmly, welcoming the end. When he saw I wasn't going to fight, he snarled, and then lunged.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain, and then the end. I just hoped it would be quick.

I didn't want the end of my happy life with my family to come. But come it has, and I'm not afraid.

I felt the physical pain as this Edward clone tackled me, trying to tear me to pieces. I felt the emotional pain as I recognized Edward's smell. I felt the mental pain as I lost control of my gift, calling everything in the room towards me, weakening me even further than I could handle. I crumpled to the ground, motionless, as the Edward clone kept tearing at me despite the objects all flying into him. My vision started to black out. Just as my vision completely faded the pain stopped.

I knew then that the end had finally come, and I was dead.