Carlisle ran through the trees at lightning speed, holding the squirming bundle in his hands, as tight as he dared. He couldn't believe that the plan had gone so badly. After all the careful planning they'd done, in the time it had taken Demetri to bite Sadie, it was all ruined.

Ducking behind a tree, he lowered Sadie to the ground, where she lay twitching and moaning miserably. Blood ran out of her mouth, and Carlisle deduced that she'd bitten her tongue from the pain.

The sound of running feet was suddenly heard, and Carlisle jerked up quickly, only to see Edward heading his way.

The older vampire sighed in relief, and then turned his thoughts to where Emmett was.

Reading his father's mind, Edward answered, "He went to continue fighting." After a slight pause, he continued, a bit of amusement coloring his tone, "He said he didn't want to miss anything."

Carlisle nodded before kneeling next to Sadie and inspecting her closely. Edward followed suit.

"Has she been bitten?" Edward asked, a little fear seeping into his voice.

Carlisle only looked at Edward sadly as the answer appeared in his mind.

Edward cursed under his breath and his father's thoughts reached him. Everything had been in vain; what they'd been trying so hard to prevent, had happened anyway. The Volturi had won.

"Sadie," Carlisle began to call the girl's name.

Edward looked at the older vampire questioningly.

Carlisle sighed before explaining, "She has a choice to make."

"To be a vampire or…" Edward began.

"Or to die," Carlisle finished.

Edward raised his eyebrows in shock. He'd never imagined his father would feel that an innocent girl would have to die.

"He bit her in the carotid artery," Carlisle continued, not paying attention to his son's reaction. "If we draw the venom out, she won't survive."

Edward's expression transformed from shock into concern. Sadie had a terrible choice in front of her: eternal life or death.

-)-(-

Sadie thrashed around on the ground as she felt the wound on her throat begin to burn. She didn't scream, however, since she knew it was vital that she stay quiet. Instead, she bit her tongue until she tasted blood, and then dug her fingernails into her palms. However, the pain in her mouth or on her hands was nothing compared to the one that was steadily growing on her neck.

Suddenly, a voice made its way through all that Sadie was suffering.

"Sadie," it said. Then, it said something else that the unfortunate girl couldn't understand.

After a moment, the voice continued. "Listen to me," it said insistently. "I know it hurts, but you have to try."

Sadie gritted her teeth and nodded jerkily to show that she would try to listen.

"Sadie, you've been bitten," the voice explained. "If we let the poison run its course, you'll turn into a vampire. We can suck it out, but you'll die, Sadie."

Sadie froze as strong emotions filled her. She definitely didn't want to live forever, all alone; to see her whole future blur into a continuous line, never varying, never ending. It was a terrifying concept. Sadie opened her mouth to tell the voice that she'd rather die.

However, faces began to invade her memory.

Gasping, Sadie recognized the people in her mind. They were her parents and her sister. The Volturi had taken them, Demetri had said so. He could have been lying, but, what if he wasn't? It was all because of her, Sadie. If it hadn't been for her, her family wouldn't be in danger. It was all Sadie's fault.

Sadie owed it to her family to save them, but she wouldn't be able to if she was dead. She had to defeat the Volturi, and to do that, she had to be a vampire.

Sadie reopened her mouth and whispered three words. Those three words determined everything: her future, her life, all of it.

"Let me change."

The moment after she made her decision, a new face burst into Sadie's mind. It was Mark's face.

"Will I ever see you again?" he was asking.

"Yes," she'd answered, "I promise."

Now, Sadie was breaking her promise to her best friend; betraying his dying wish. She was trading an oath for her family.

Sadie stiffened slightly, before promising Mark silently that she would make it up to him somehow. That they would someday meet again.

-)-(-

Carlisle nodded as Sadie asked to live as a vampire. He then reached into his pocket, while thinking at Edward to keep the girl still.

Edward instantly grabbed hold of Sadie's thrashing limbs. "Don't scream," he said to her, as Carlisle extracted a small vial and a syringe from his pants pocket.

Edward looked at Carlisle questioningly. His father's mind was strangely blank.

Carlisle, seeing the look on his son's face, only said shortly, "Morphine."

"To stop the pain?" Edward asked, and then blanched as the answer rose up in his father's string of thought.

"No," Carlisle affirmed what his son had found out. "To stop her from screaming."

Edward's mind was flooded with memories of when his beloved wife had gone through the transformation herself. She'd said that the chemicals had kept her from feeling the pain, yet it had been the complete opposite. During the transformation, his wife had felt the horrible burning feeling every vampire had felt, instead of the drug-induced haze. For a moment, Edward reeled as his mind grasped the fact that Bella had felt the pain he'd hoped to save her from.

Then, Sadie tried to wrench her arm out of his hand, and the vampire turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

Holding Sadie as still as he could without killing her, Edward watched as his father filled the syringe with the liquid from the vial, and then aimed it at Sadie's arm. Carlisle, after finding the best spot, inserted the needle into Sadie's skin and pressed on the plunger.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. In just a couple of seconds, Sadie stopped struggling as the morphine traveled into her system. Her eyes fluttered slightly before closing, and she breathed out a small sigh.

Seeing that the chemical had worked, Carlisle withdrew the needle and stood. Edward gathered up Sadie's now-still body, and stood up as well. With a look at his father, he took off at a run, getting farther away from the battle, to a place where Sadie could finish changing in peace.

(A/N) Hello you guys! I just thought I'd post this today, especially since it's such an important day. It's the anniversary of both of my stories! Yep, just one year ago I was uploading both these babies up, and sending 'em into the world. Sure, I haven't done very well with the updating department, but I'm hoping that'll change.

Oh, and I do not own Twilight, by the way.