Chapter 5
EPOV
I gasped at the monster gash on Emmett's arm, supporting Bella who was close to fainting. Carlisle immediately took charge.
"Esme, go get my bag from the medical room." She promptly dashed toward the direction he was pointing at, kicking her shoes off before sprinting full speed. "Rose, out of my way." Rosalie was sobbing hysterically as Emmett dropped down to his knees; his face going pale as his blood was staining the floor.
Alice's head rested on Jasper's chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her as he murmured words of comfort into her ear, glancing around nervously. Bella's dad was in his chair, white as a ghost and limp like a rag, slowly sliding off the chair centimeter by centimeter.
I towed Bella toward him; when she saw him; she sprang into action. "Dad, Dad, Dad" She gently smacked his face. "CHARLIE!" She bellowed, desperate for him to respond. His eyes snapped open, holding his head. He sat up correctly with the help of me lifting him onto the chair. I propped him up, making it seem like he was presentable.
"Wha- huh?" His head swiveled to Emmett. I could feel him stagger on the chair. He moaned, hand out, ready to go over there and comfort his son. I glanced at Bella. She shook her head, so I restrained her father to the chair.
"Bella, do you think you can handle this by yourself?" She nodded, swiftly dabbing at her father's face with a napkin. I bounded toward my father.
"Edward, good you're here." Carlisle relaxed, but reflexively stiffened. He looked back at Emmett who was surrounded by two to three medical doctors.
"How is he?" I questioned, heart racing.
"Stabbed by a knife," Carlisle gestured to the steak knife onto the floor, its points ragged, blood on its gleaming surface. "He lost a lot of blood, so we might need to give him a blood transfer. Obviously stitches are going to be needed, but first we should get the bleeding stopped." I nodded curtly, jaw locked.
BPOV
I felt like my insides were crumbling. My big brother, my personal teddy bear has been injured! Tears flooded my eyes as I imagined for the worst: my brother losing use of his arm. Intense worry masked my need to gag due to the heavy scent of blood around me. I concentrated on fanning Charlie with a napkin. Thankfully, Jasper brought Alice to where I was. She was as pale as a ghost, breathing heavily and her expression full of unspoken terror.
"Bella, look over there." Jasper mumbled, pointing towards something on the ivory wall.
There, written possibly with my brother's blood, in crimson dripping down from the vertical surface was:
Captain Swan, Your daughter's next.
I saw white flash through my eyes, dragging me down into a pool of black, choking me. A deathly thought crossed my mind.
What if Charlie was next after I was gone? Was it possible that the killer would go after my mom Renee too? Or even to go as far to aim for Phil?
"Sis!" In the back of my head, I could have sworn that my brother was calling me. A pair of strong hands caught me before my head met the floor.
"Edward?" I whispered. No, it was Jasper, staring at me with an exasperated look. As I met his eyes, I felt strangely emotionless, and somewhat high. "Uh, thanks Jasper." I looked to where my brother was, only to feel sick. My brother was in a stretcher with Carlisle, Edward and the rest of the medical staff, by his side. My eyes trailed to the wall on the opposite from the warning message...
There, with even more blood was:
Carlisle Cullen, your children are going after Isabella.
I started to convulse, a thousand emotions whirled around me like a hurricane. Slugging me, kicking me, tearing at me, I was being torn. Edward's arms constricted me to his chest.
"Bella, Bella, calm down, nothing is going to happen."
"'Nothing is going to happen?'" I quoted him sourly. "For the love of God, my brother was just STABBED," I screamed at Edward. I was going hysteretic; I knew it. I glared at him, for being so calm, for trying to tell me that I wasn't going to be the one next when on the wall it clearly stated that I was. "I'm next. Can't you see my name written in my brother's blood? That you and Alice are going be after me?!" I shrieked at him, completely shunning that the other people in the room was staring at me. I opened my mouth to shout more, but Edward's hand came down to clamp my mouth shut.
"After we get out of eyesight I promise you can yell at me all you want." His eyes were genuinely hurt, and without my permission, mine softened. "Alice, Jasper, come on." Jasper nodded stiffly, gently pulling Alice with us into the hallway. As we passed through the doors of the room, I noticed that everyone was gone, probably in their rooms, scared out of their wits.
Staff was already attempting to clean the walls of its blood, as soon as one of the medical doctors gained a few samples to confirm it was my Emmett's blood on the walls.
Edward led us to the deck. The smell of the salty water slammed into me at full force, adding to the smell of salt and rust of blood. Once again, I restrained my need to throw up.
"Alright, Bella, as I promised, you may feel free to yell at me." Edward released me and ambled to the side of the ship, leaning onto the rail, his arms locked around the bars as he crossed his legs, waiting patiently for me to burst.
EPOV
I laid a mask of slight interest onto my face, concealing my overwhelming worry of losing Bella. She took a deep breath through her nose. I cringed; hopefully she didn't see that.
"Edward Anthony Cullen," She began, "My brother has been stabbed." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jasper was cradling my sister in his arms. It seemed like they were cowering from the rage I felt radiating from Bella.
"Yes, I seemed to have acknowledged that." I attempted to make my voice strong, but it came out as a mere squeak.
"So how can you say that everything will be alright?" Bella's eyes flared up, grinding her teeth. I saw that those deep brown pools were about to overflow, but I didn't dare comfort her. "I'm next; the message on the wall clearly states that I shall be his or her next victim."
"I wont let them lay a hand on you," I declared, conviction ringing in my gaining tone. "Even if it meant sacrificing my life," I murmured under my breath, if Bella heard me, she would've pounced on me then and there.
"Which is why I've come to a decision," Bella's eyes became hard, however, very vulnerable. Almost similar to fossils, breakable, and full of ancient sadness…
My eyes widened as the muscles in my calves tensed.
"Edward, we ca-" I jumped on her, clamping my palm onto her mouth while allowing her to breathe.
"Don't say that!" I all but snarled at her.
"But Edward," Her tears moisturized my hand; I released her jaw, keeping my two hands onto the side of her face.
"'But Edward what?" I asked harshly, gazing into her overflowing eyes.
"I can't endanger you too," Her voice broke, crushing my heart with it.
"But you won't," I denied.
"We won't know until it happens, and I'm not willing to take that chance." I felt as if all my strength has been drained away as Bella tore away from me, running away, tears dribbling down her cheeks.
BPOV
I slammed the door from the deck behind me. I covered my mouth to stop the loud sobs, but it was futile; it felt like my world just collapsed. Escaping into my room, I fell onto the bed, crying hysterically. I didn't even bother switching on the lights.
"Bella?" Alice's small voice emitted from the thick door of my room, "Please open up." Weakly, I pulled myself up, shuffling to the door. I opened it a crack to see that Alice was alone. "Jasper's with Edward," She explained. "Come here, Bella." I let her tow me to the bed; my legs felt detached from my body.
"Why are you here?" My voice sounded so lifeless.
"To talk," She replied simply.
"What do we need to talk about?"
"Edward."
I shot up from the bed, "No," I hissed.
"Come on, Bella," She pleaded, "My brother is dead without you. Jasper had to drag him to his room. It was pathetic. Just talk to him, please?"
"No."
"Did I fail to mention that Jasper is going to drag Edward down here in about five minutes?" My head whipped to her direction.
"Say what?" I screamed at her.
Right on cue, a deathly knock sounded from the hall. "Come out; come out, where ever you are," a silky voice cooed from behind the door.
BN: O.O
AN: -pushes frozen beta aside-
I know; I know; I haven't updated in FOREVER and that this chapter is so much shorter than it should be. I'm sorry for everything, and please don't 1) hate me 2) ditch me or this story 3) throw virtual rotten or spoiled food at me. Anyway, tell me what you think of this short chapter and the cliffy. XD We were just two reviews short of beating the record, so help me get 14 reviews for this chapter. Sil' vous plait. =3