Edward snarled as he attacked Demetri. This vampire had caused him so much fear for so long, but no longer. Edward had sworn to himself that he would end this today, once and for all. He would finally destroy the vampire he hated most in the world.
Pulling Demetri along, Edward rushed into the forest, as far away from Sadie as possible.
As soon as both vampires disappeared, Sadie quickly crawled to where Mark had fallen. She tried not to gasp as she saw him. His wolfish body was mostly covered by the enormous tree; his muzzle was spotted with blood, most likely his; his eyes were closed.
"Oh, Mark," Sadie whispered at the sight of her best friend.
Mark opened his eyes before closing them once more, and his breathing grew irregular as he tried to transform. He fought the urge to howl, but he couldn't hold back the whimpers as the pain of his injuries increased during the transformation.
Sadie bit her lip as she saw what Mark was trying to achieve. With every whimper, she winced, but she forced herself to keep watching.
Mark stopped his efforts, panting. His body was halfway between wolf and human form, grotesquely misshapen. The tree shifted slightly.
Seeing what was wrong, Sadie urged, "Come on, Mark. You can do it!"
Mark gritted his teeth and forced his unwilling body to cooperate and adopt its usual form. Finally, he lay there, fully human.
Sadie would have sighed in relief, but she saw how much worse her best friend's injuries looked now that he was in his true form. Her face twisted in worry as she carefully evaluated the wounds she could see.
Mark managed to open his eyes and he spied Sadie's expression. He forced out a weak chuckle. "Do I look that bad?" he asked.
Sadie, whose worry had only heightened when she heard her best friend laugh, answered him quietly, "No."
"Liar," Mark accused her gently, before coughing loudly. A drop of blood escaped his mouth and rolled down his cheek.
Sadie's eyes widened, and she touched the drop of crimson liquid, as if to reassure herself that it was really there. The blood stuck to her finger, and she hurriedly wiped it on her pants, so Mark wouldn't see it.
However, Mark's sensitive nostrils had already caught the scent of his own blood, and he knew what Sadie had wiped off her finger. He sighed.
"That's not good, is it?" he asked her.
A tear rolled down Sadie's face as she gazed at Mark's calm, but pained, face. She shook her head dismally.
Mark raised the only free arm he had and brushed the crystalline drop from Sadie's face. The gesture only made more tears appear, and soon, Sadie's face had a light covering of freezing water. It was a hopeless situation. Vampires were battling nearly; their plan had failed; Mark was injured.
Her face suddenly becoming determined, Sadie stood up. "Wait here," she told Mark, who smiled grimly. It wasn't like he was going anywhere.
Sadie went to a spot lower than Mark's body, and tried to lift the tree off him. She ignored the pounding in her head as she used all of her strength in a fruitless attempt to save her friend. The tree only shifted slightly, and Mark groaned at the movement.
"Sadie," he called, "it's not going to work."
Sadie paid no attention, and continued uselessly squandering her strength. Finally, she gave out, and she dropped the tree the few inches she'd managed to lift it. Mark yelped, and then coughed. Sadie began to sob.
Tears still running down her face, she crawled back to Mark.
Mark gazed at Sadie sadly, before telling her gently, "It's ok."
A sob caught in Sadie's throat as she looked at Mark's peaceful face. He didn't seem to mind the situation; he only wanted to keep her from crying.
Only sobbing harder, Sadie lay down on the snow, against Mark. He hugged her with his free arm, and let her tears run over his shoulder and what was exposed of his chest.
Neither of the pair felt the cold against their skin, especially not Mark, who couldn't feel anything below his chest. They lay there quietly for a few seemingly interminable minutes.
Finally, Mark sighed. "I never thought it would be like this," he stated.
Sadie looked up at Mark. "What?" she asked, curiously, despite the situation.
"When I died. I never thought it would be like this."
"Don't say that," Sadie hissed at him, as if Death would be attracted to Mark's morbid words.
"Why not? It's true," Mark insisted weakly.
"You're not going to die," Sadie told him, trying to convince them both of her positive words. "You'll be all right, just you wait."
"Really, Sadie?" Mark asked her, his eyes shining with tears despite his calm expression.
Sadie didn't answer, since she didn't trust her voice at the moment.
"I'm scared," Mark whispered, his voice so quiet it was a miracle that Sadie heard him. "Do you think there's something after this?" he asked worriedly.
Sadie had never been extremely devout, but she did believe in life after death. "I think there is," she answered quietly.
Mark was silent for a moment before asking his last question. "Will I ever see you again?"
Sadie knew that Mark didn't mean in this life, but in the next one. "Yes," she answered. "I promise."
"Ok," Mark sighed, and Sadie felt his body relax. She listened to his breathing steadily begin to decline and turn into gasps. His arm tightened around her as he struggled to get enough oxygen into his lungs.
Suddenly, the wheezing stopped. Mark stilled, and his still warm body began to cool.
Sadie didn't move, seeming dead herself, except for her unsteady breathing and the tears running unchecked down her face.
Mark was dead.
Sadie's world began to crash down around her, and she shut her eyes against the peaceful surroundings and into the turmoil within. Pain rose up in her throat, in her chest, in her heart. Mark, her guardian, her best friend, was dead.
A choked sob escaped Sadie's throat, and she hugged Mark's body fiercely to her. She felt as if she'd died inside.
Suddenly, she felt a cold hand wrap around her arm and pull her up brusquely. She was incapable of resisting the brute force that made her move against her will.
She found herself facing crimson eyes that gazed hungrily at her out of an evil face. Her mouth opened automatically to scream, but she'd barely drawn in breath when a snow-white hand clapped itself over her mouth. Sadie looked up at the enemy vampire fearfully. It was the one she'd seen fight Mark, it was the one that injured him. She glanced down at his arm to make sure, and saw that Mark's bite had done the job; the vampire had cleanly lost his hand.
"Don't scream if you know what's good for you," he hissed at her.
Sadie did know what was good for her, and this vampire definitely wasn't, but she didn't scream as the creature slowly lowered his hand from her mouth. Screaming wouldn't help her anyway, since he would probably just snap her neck as soon as she even thought about it. Her only chance of being saved would come if one of the Cullens or the pack were to find her.
Then, her already pained heart froze. Where was Edward? Last Sadie had seen he'd been battling this vampire.
Had he been defeated? Was he lying out there somewhere, dead, just like Mark?
Memory assailed Sadie, and she suddenly remembered Tanya's terrible screams as she died as well.
Sadie's breath grew more and more agitated as she began to go into a full-scale panic attack. The vampire looked at her, eyes narrowed, and then said to her, "Don't do anything funny, or your family will die."
At these words, Sadie stopped mid-gasp. They had her family?
Satisfied, the vampire grabbed Sadie still body with his one hand and threw it over his shoulder. Then, he took off into the forest.
Sadie's chest and stomach hurt from the diamond-hard shoulder digging into her, and she closed her eyes from the pain and horror.
Suddenly, the vampire cursed and ran faster, as if he'd heard someone following. He flew through the trees at lighting speed, fleeing from the yet unknown opponent.
Seeming to sense that he wouldn't get away, the vampire pulled Sadie down from his shoulder and into his arms, stopping at the same time.
Sadie's eyes opened in surprise, and she tried to gaze calmly at her kidnapper, although inside she was terrified of what he might do now.
The vampire said nothing, and only forced her head back, exposing her neck. He licked his lips and bent over Sadie, sniffing her before biting in, right into her carotid artery.
Sadie would have screamed from the pain, but the threat to her family was still very much on her mind, so all that escaped her lips was a strangled moan.
As her vision began to darken, the vampire jerked. Sadie was taken from his arms, her head lolling slightly as the puncture wounds on her throat began to scab over.
"You'll be all right," a voice murmured to her. Sadie sighed as she recognized the Cullen patriarch.
Carlisle took off running, Sadie in his arms. Behind him, he could hear snarls, growls, and loud snapping noises. Edward and Emmett would be done shortly.
(A/N) Heh heh. Sorry? Please, don't kill me. I'm sorry I took so long to update... I blame the SAT! Oh, and sorry about Mark. I cried while writing that. Mark's death was important, you'll see why soon enough. *runs away from angry readers*
Catty - Rissa don't own Twilight, trust me.