Chapter 02

Excerpt from "New Moon" Ch. 3 The End, Pg. 74-75

It was then that I heard the calling again. It was farther away this time, and sometimes it sounded like several voices were calling at once. I tried to breathe deeply. I remembered that I should answer, but I didn't think they would be able to hear me. Would I be able to shout loud enough?

[*skipped a paragraph*not relevant*added a couple of sentences in following paragraph*]

The rain continued, and I could feel the water pooling up against my cheek. Or was that my blood? I wasn't sure. I was trying to gather the strength to turn my head when I saw the light.

At first it was just a dim glow reflecting off the bushes in the distance. It grew brighter and brighter, illuminating a large space unlike the focused beam of a flashlight. The light broke through the closest brush, and I could see that it was a propane lantern, but that was all I could see - the brightness blinded me for a moment.

End of Excerpt

"Bella?" a familiar voice said, shocked. "Oh my god, Bella!" The light came closer to me and I could tell that whoever was holding it was scanning it over my body to see if I was hurt. The light fixated on my face, trailing over my arms, wrists and hands that were lying on the forest floor. The figure paused. "SHIT! What the FUCK happened to you?" The figure knelt down and I could see his face in the light from the lantern. It was Jacob Black. Come to rescue me, I guess. Charlie must've been really worried if he'd sent people to look for me. I had no idea how long I'd been gone.

I watched Jacob's face as his eyes caught on the pocket knife on the forest floor that was still opened. The blade was covered in my blood. He gasped audibly and turned his face away for a moment.

"Oh god, I have to get you to a doctor."

Jacob's POV

I'd been looking for three hours. The note Bella had left on the counter said she'd taken a walk in the woods with the Cullen boy, but why couldn't we find her? When Charlie had called my dad, I insisted on going. He didn't want me to, for some reason, saying it probably wouldn't take long to find her, but I had a bad feeling. I got a ride from Quil, who'd been hanging out with me at the house at the time, and we headed straight up. After an hour of searching, I was sure something bad had happened. I'd hung out at the house with Charlie for the first half-hour or so. We were both pacing back and forth in the kitchen by the phone, waiting for it to ring and someone to say she'd been found. I couldn't take it anymore, so I went out to help. I had to do something. I couldn't just stay in the kitchen. It was stifling me. I felt like I was choking.

We searched those woods for what felt like forever. When it started to get dark, we'd all reconvened at the house to get all the available flashlights and lanterns we could find before setting out again. Some people paired up in twos or threes, but I knew I would move faster and cover more ground if I was alone. After searching through the dark woods for a couple more hours, I noticed something lying on the ground floor. When I got closer, I could make out the still form of a person lying curled up on their side. I quickened my pace, and stopped cold when my lantern lit up the face of the person lying there. It was Bella, as I knew it would be.

"Bella? Oh my god, Bella!"

I went closer to her and let the light from the lantern pass over her, trying to visually check if she had any injuries. I couldn't see any at first. Only when the light hit her head, and her arms, wrists, and hands that were lying on the ground beside it, did I make out the blood. Torrents of it. Pouring out of her wrist and over her hands and upper arms. SHIT! What the FUCK happened to you?"

I knelt down beside her still body to examine her wrists closer. I looked around, trying to figure out what she had cut herself on so badly. My eyes lit upon a pocket knife lying on the ground beside her. It was opened. And it was covered in her blood. I gasped and looked away for a moment, cursing silently to myself. I picked up the knife, shut it, and shoved it in my pocket.

"Oh god, I have to get you to get you to a doctor."

I took off my shirt and ripped it into two strips. I wrapped one tightly around each of her wrists, trying to stem the flow of the bleeding. Then I scooped her up in my arms, staggering a little bit as I got up, and picked up the lantern with a couple of fingers. Then I began to run. I ran as fast as I could, which was decently fast. After a few minutes, our surroundings started to brighten and I knew we were nearing the edge of the forest. When we broke through the trees, I could see a swarm of people, and the lights of the couple of police cruisers that had arrived were lit up brightly.

"I'VE GOT HER!" I yelled at the top of my voice. I was a little out of breath. At once, everyone looked at us as I ran towards the crowd. They began running towards me as well.

I recognized Charlie pushing his way to the front of the crowd. He was running the fastest and made it to us first. He took her out of my arms and hurried towards the house. The crowd of people parted to let us through. When we got closer to the house, and the light from the house and the cruisers illuminated us, Charlie noticed the pieces of my shirt that I'd wrapped around her wrists. He stopped in his tracks and turned to me with a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong with her wrists?" he asked me in a low undertone. His voice was scared and slightly panicky.

"This was beside her when I found her in the woods." I pulled the pocket knife out of my pocket, and slipped it to him as sneakily as possible. I was well aware of the people around us, watching. "Charlie . . . I'm pretty sure she cut herself. It's . . . pretty bad." I could hear my voice break a little bit. "I think she needs a doctor. Right away."

Charlie looked shocked. We both looked on as splotches began to appear on the outside of the fabric. The blood was running so much it was seeping through. At that moment, I saw Bella go limp in Charlie's arms. She'd fainted. Charlie beat me to the punch.

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

Charlie's POV

God, how long had it been since Bella had been missing? Three? Four? Why couldn't we find her? I knew I should go out there and help look, but I couldn't make my feet do anything besides pace back and forth in the kitchen, waiting for the phone to ring. Someone had to find her. I mean . . . how big was that damn forest, anyway?

I heard a shout from outside. It sounded like Jacob's voice. I bolted out the door as quickly as I could, only to see the figure of Jacob running towards me, carrying someone in his arms. I pushed my way through the crowd that was already beginning to run towards him. He wasn't wearing his shirt, which I found odd. I reached them first and took Bella out of Jacob's arms, turning to run towards the house. Everyone parted to let us through. Jacob followed me towards the house. Bella looked dazed and exhausted. I hurried as fast as I could, wanting to get her inside as fast as I could. When we got closer to the house, the lights from inside and the police cruisers illuminated us. I noticed some cloth wrapped around Bella's arms. I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at Jacob.

"What's wrong with her wrists?" I asked him in an undertone. My voice came out a lot more scared and panicky than I would've liked, but I couldn't seem to be able to control anything at the moment. I was even starting to feel a little dizzy, but I pushed the sensation back as strongly as I could. I couldn't afford to lose it right now.

"This was beside her when I found her in the woods," Jacob said to me quietly. He slipped something into my hand, and I could tell by the cold handle that it was some kind of pocket knife. I think he was as aware as I was of all the people around us watching. "Charlie . . . I'm pretty sure she cut herself. It's . . . pretty bad." His voice broke a little bit. I think she needs a doctor. Right away."

I knew the shock I was feeling showed clearly on my face. I looked down at Bella. As I looked at her, I noticed splotches begin to appear on the outside of the fabric covering her wrists. At that moment, Bella went limp in my arms. She'd fainted.

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

Someone ran inside to use the phone. I don't even know who it was. I laid Bella down on the ground and got down on my knees beside her. She was lifeless and, I could tell even by the insignificant light we were seeing by, more pale than usual. I had no idea how long she'd lain bleeding in the woods, but I knew just by looking at her that she'd lost . . . so much blood. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. Not my Bella. Not my daughter.

I placed my hand on her forehead. It was clammy and beaded with sweat. "Bella?" I said to her. I shook her shoulder a little bit. "Bella, speak to me. Come on, baby, you've got to wake up. Come on, baby, please!" I was vaguely aware of Jacob kneeling down beside me, even more vaguely aware that a few tears were running down his face. But he didn't say anything. I don't think he was even capable of it.

It seemed to take an eternity for the ambulance to come screaming down the street and up the driveway. Two ambulance workers rushed out of the back of the truck, bringing a stretcher with them, to where we were situated on the ground. They got on the other side of her. The lifted her together onto the stretcher, strapping her in. After pulling the stretcher to its standing position, they began to wheel her quickly to the ambulance. Jacob and I followed, half-running, both of us almost in a daze. We left the crowd of people behind and got into the back of the ambulance behind the workers after they'd loaded Bella up. One of them shut the door behind us and we were on our way.

They immediately hooked her up to tubes and monitors. Her heart rate was really slow.

"Can either of you tell me what happened?"

I couldn't speak. I couldn't even open my mouth. It was like my lips were glued together. My mind was on hyper drive, but in slow motion at the same time. It felt like when Renee had left me . . . only ten thousand times worse . . . .

I think Jacob sensed that I was having trouble speaking. He looked at the EMTs and said, "She went into the woods with her boyfriend - the Cullen boy." His voice was hoarse, and it sounded like he was trying desperately to control the anguish in it.

"Which one?" the other one asked, interrupting. He pulled a small notepad and a pen from off one of the seats, like he was an officer taking notes.

"Um . . . Edwin . . . I think?"

"Edward," I snarled out. He had been with my daughter in the woods. If he'd had anything to do with this, I swore right then I would kill him.

"Yeah, Edward," Jacob continued. "When she didn't come back, Charlie called a few people to help him search. We looked for hours. When it got dark we got lanterns and flashlights and kept looking. I found her lying on the ground. She was bleeding really bad from her wrists. I found a pocket knife on the ground. It . . . It was covered in her blood. I put it in my pocket, and then gave it to Charlie when we got back to the house. I'm pretty sure she used it to . . . to cut herself." He looked down, his words breaking off, like he couldn't go on. I knew how he felt.

"Can we have the knife please, Chief? We need to make sure it doesn't have any rust or anything on it. She could get a deadly infection if it did."

I pulled the knife out of my pocket where I'd unconsciously put it. It was like I was on auto-pilot. I had no idea how Bella could do this. She'd never done anything remotely like this. I just . . . couldn't understand it.

I handed the knife to the EMT, and he put it in a plastic zip lock bag. Then he put it on the seat. "What happened after that?"

"I . . . uh . . . I saw the bleeding on her arms, so I took off my shirt and ripped it in half so I could wrap her wrists up. I did it the best I could. Then I just picked her up and ran back to the house with her as fast as I could. He took her from me then we headed to the house. He noticed her wrists and asked me what was wrong with them. I told him, then she fainted in his arms. He yelled for someone to call an ambulance, then laid her on the ground. He tried to wake her up, but . . . it didn't work. That's when you guys showed up."

All the time Jacob had been talking, while the one EMT was taking down notes (so he could tell a doctor, no doubt), I'd been watching the other EMT very slowly and carefully peel the pieces of Jacob's shirt away from Bella's wrists. When he finally got them off, I almost fainted right there. The blood painted her skin, but I could still see where she'd cut herself twice on both arms. I could tell the cuts were deep. A sob escaped my throat, and I reached out to brush the sweaty hair from where it'd fallen across her forehead. She was still clammy. "Can we get her a blanket please?"

"We need to get these bandaged better first, Chief. Besides, we're almost at the hospital. She's lost a lot of blood, but by the look of the positions of the cuts, I think she's going to be okay."

The only thing I grasped out of what he said was "she's going to be okay". I couldn't comprehend more than that. I let out a sigh of relief, but I was still sobbing, the tears starting to run in torrents down my cheeks.

We screamed into the emergency entrance of the hospital, and the sirens cut off with an ominous silence.

Hope you like it. I'm doing my best here, lol. Let me know, good or bad. I love my reviews. J