33.
Aro stood in the doorframe, clothed in bloody red garb.
"What have you done here?" Carlisle asked accusingly.
Aro feigned a look of hurt. But before he could speak, I cut him off. "We don't have time for these mind games, Carlisle." I turned to Aro. "Give us Lisa."
Aro chuckled. "I'm afraid Jane is a little busy with her at the moment." Another scream confirmed his statement.
I saw Emmett moving out of the corner of my eye and reached out my hand to grab his arm just as he prepared to lunge at Aro. He screamed in furry while Aro stood smiling down at him. "Calm down that dog, Carlisle," he said with a smirk.
Carlisle took a step forward and stuck out his finger. "Don't insult my family, Aro," he said in a strained voice. It was taking everything in him not to harm the man. "You've done enough damage and in my eyes, you are no longer fit to rule over anyone. Don't insult me further by laughing at my son."
Aro was silent for a long time as he processed what Carlisle said. Then, in a tight voice, he replied, "Carlisle, you will never be able to stop me. You lost your say with us when you abandoned us to fulfill your little dream of being a nice vampire."
"We don't have time for this, Carlisle," I whispered under my breath.
He stood still as he worked on pushing back his anger, finally nodding. "Let us in, Aro. All we want is the girl."
Panic started rising in my chest. We seemed to be stuck in this place between Aro and the dumb guard. I knew it was completely irrational, but the sound of Lisa screaming was making it hard to keep calm.
Jasper was the first one to move. "Cover me, Bella," he whispered as he passed her by. The bubble floated with him as he moved towards Aro, who was watching him with a sort of amused grin on his face.
What are you doing, Jasper?
Before I could blink, Jasper's hand shot out and pushed Aro's head back. Suddenly it was like the world was moving in slow motion. As Aro fell, Jasper reached into the man's shirt and pulled out a little flask. He turned and caught my eye. The flask came flying through air, turning in circle before it landed in my hands. I glanced at it and recognized it immediately. It was the same flask Aro had kept his holy water in before. I turned on my heel and sprinted to the guard, who was watching everything going on in a slow fascination. As my legs propelled me forward, I pulled out the cork and sent the flask flying straight into the guard's chest. At first nothing happened. The guard stared down at his chest, his hands coming up as if he was going to catch the little bottle. But instead it smashed against his rock hard abs and broke into a million pieces. Water spilled down his chest, rippling over his belly.
Suddenly, the man's face contorted in pure terror as he sank down on one knee, grabbing at his chest. A scream ripped from his throat, joined by two others. One I recognized as Lisa's, and the other I confirmed as Aro's when I whirled around.
Aro had sunk to his knees as he watched his creation die. In a moment, he would be up and charging at us. "Move!" I yelled as I pulled my shoulder forward to ram open the steel door.
Something was lying just inside the door; I didn't see it until I was sliding across the floor after tripping over it. Emmett flew in behind me, dodging the obstruction, heading right for Jane. She stood screaming in rage over a blonde rag doll.
As I pushed myself off the ground, I realized it was not a rag doll, but Lisa, lying completely still, a look of pure horror on her face. Her mouth was open in a silent cry, her eyes blind to what was going on around her.
I had no time to figure out what looked off about Lisa before Jane's eyes turned up to my face and I was hit by a battering ram of immobilizing fear. Emmett had fallen short of reaching Jane, probably frozen by the same thing I was. Stupidly, we had left the safety of Bella's bubble.
A second passed before Bella realized what had happened. Her bubble encased me once again, pushing into the room to cover Emmett and Lisa.
When Jane realized, we were no longer responding to her, she glanced up in confusion. Her hair hung wildly in her face, dried blood staining her mouth like lipstick. She glanced around the room and screamed in anger when she saw Bella. "You!" she screamed at my wife.
But Bella was not paying attention to the raving mad woman. Her round eyes were fixed on the limp figure laying in the corner of the room, curled up into a tight ball. Blood had formed a circle around the girl, who was shaking like a leaf. Carlisle moved past me and fell down next to the small body. He carefully lifted her head up and all I saw were the whites of her eyes. Her eyes had rolled back into her head. Her dark hair was pushed against her sweaty face, contrasting wildly with the white of her bloodless skin. I could hear her pulling in small, ragged breaths. Her lips moved slowly as her arms fell away from her legs, revealing bite marks and cuts, which seeped red.
Jane's eyes moved from Bella to the girl. "She deserved to die!" Jane yelled out frantically.
Aro's head appeared in the doorway, jerking around frantically as he scanned the battlefield. Jasper grabbed hold of the man, pulling his arms behind his back. Aro's eyes fell on Lisa and he uttered in shock, "Jane, what have you done?"
My eyes moved to the limp body on the floor. Finally, I realized what was so off about Lisa. All that was left of her was her leg and half of one arm. I glanced at the door in horror and realized what I had stumbled over was Lisa's right leg. "No," I heard Alice utter in disbelief. "No, no, no!" She grabbed up Lisa's leg and sank down beside her friend, pulling her limp frame into her arms. "No, no, no, Lisa!" Her blonde hair fell over Alice's arm like a waterfall, waving as her head bobbed around. "Wake up, Lisa!"
Body parts were scattered all around the room. Alice was reaching frantically with her free arm to gather them to her. I stood to help her. "Help me, Edward," Alice whispered, sounding like she might cry.
I spit into my hand and grabbed the lower part of Lisa's right leg, attaching it to the other part with my spit. Her skin sizzled as it reconnected, and slowly, I pieced her together.
"What are you doing?" Jane cried when she saw us. Emmett grabbed onto her before she could grab us. "She doesn't deserve to live for what she did to me!" she screamed as she tried to wriggle her way out of Emmett's grip.
A soft moan left Lisa's lips as her eyes fluttered open. Slowly, her faint voice filled my head.
Edward…Edward, you found me…
Her eyes rolled down to look at my face. I couldn't make out her pupils because her eyes had gone pitch black.
She needs blood.
As if she had heard me, Lisa echoed my thoughts back to me. Blood, please.
"We need to go," I whispered to Carlisle, who was still sitting by the girl. Her breathing had stopped and I could hear her heart slowly give in from the blood loss.
He nodded and stood slowly. Alice tried to stand and pull up Lisa, but she crumpled down. Jane began screaming again when she realized what was happening.
What did you do to her, Lisa?
I gave her a taste of her own medicine and she didn't like it.
I smiled inwardly, wondering how it was that Lisa could hear me. What had happened here?
I grabbed hold of Lisa's arm and pulled her body over my shoulders. When I turned around, Aro was no longer standing in the door. I heard his grunting somewhere outside.
"Don't take her!" he screamed when he saw me. He grunted as Jasper pushed his knee into Aro's chest. He had him pinned down in the middle of the hall, a little ways away from the door I had just walked through.
Edward, I swear, if you take her, I'll come back and make her mine for good, and I'll kill her measly little husband.
"You're not laying a hand on her ever again, Aro," I growled at him.
Carlisle had squatted down next to the giant, examining him slowly. "What have you done to this man, Aro?"
He growled but didn't respond. He was trying to push himself off the floor, but he could go nowhere with Jasper on top of him, pinning him down.
"Someone needs to know about this," Carlisle muttered as he pulled out his cell phone.
"Nooo!" Aro screamed. He tried to jerk up but couldn't move.
"Someone has to know what you've done here, Aro," said Carlisle sternly.
"No, please, please," the man begged. "Take the girl! Just leave me be!" A sob left his throat. Something inside me warned me that this was a trick, that Aro was just acting, but I pushed it aside.
"Come on, Carlisle," I said over my shoulder as I made my way for the stairs.