Chapter 14

Edward

I dove into the water. It was too dark, even for me, to make out any shapes. I knew Bella was there, though. I'll find her.

Edward, she's farther out to the west, Alice thought out to me. Hurry, she's going to die out there!

I swam faster. Alice's mind was fading. I had just left the range of hearing when I heard another mind. Victoria's.

She was thinking about surviving Bella's attacks. They were far deep underwater. I dove in deeper. Then, abruptly, her mind cut off. I felt bodies struggling, though. I felt my way to Bella.

Victoria was strangling the wolf. I kicked her away. Bella's eyes were beginning to close. Her body was shifting. In the time it took me to pry Victoria's mangled body away, Bella was human again. I didn't even look at her as I pulled her to the surface.

"C'mon, Bella, breathe," I whispered. But I couldn't hear her heartbeat.

It was like a thousand knives plunging straight into my heart.

Bella

I felt like I was floating. There was time. There was space. And yet there was nothing. Endless vastness and not a single thing to look at, to feel and touch to let you know everything was okay. There was nothing, and I ceased to exist.

Sure, I could feel another part of me clinging to existence. Yes, that part of me wanted something to hold on to. But as that part struggled, another fell. And another. My existence was crumbling. I was running out of time. I was running out of life.

I reached. I tried to grasp onto something or someone that would help me struggle for life.

I saw nameless faces, all familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. An older woman's freckled face. A small lady's face with pixie-cut hair. A bronze haired boy that looked godly.

And then, there was a face so beautiful that I stretched my mind around him and never let go. Copper skin and gorgeous black eyes. His hair was black and messy. And his smile... That was what took my breath away. He seemed so happy. I felt that if I gave up, I would never see that glorious smile again. I loved it. And most of all, I loved him.

I gasped and choked and I felt my heart beat again. I gagged out water and took in a deep, ragged breath. Names swirled into my head, joining the faces. Renee, Alice, Edward... Jacob.

I wanted Jacob. I needed him. I loved him. There was nothing more than that.

"Breathe, Bella," a velvet voice that was not Jacob's said. I felt a cold hand smack my back, trying to get the water from my lungs.

"Jacob..." I moaned as soon as my airway was clear.

"We have to disguise her again," Alice said.

"No... I want Jacob..." I whispered.

"We have to get her to Carlisle," Edward said as if I hadn't spoken.

"Edward, take me to Jacob," I ordered in a hoarse voice.

"Not now, not like this," he answered.

"Edward, dammit, I want Jacob!" I almost screamed. I winced. My throat felt like I'd scraped it with sand.

"Fine, I'll get your dog."

His hands were off of me then, and smaller hands lifted me up.

"It's going to be okay, Bella," Alice told me. "Edward's just not very happy right now. We went through half an hour thinking you were dead. Edward wasn't going to give up, until you took that breath."

I heard footsteps. One set was sturdier, and more hasteful.

"Bella! Oh, my God, Bella, what're you doing here?!" Jacob yelled. I felt warmer hands replace Alice's.

"Jacob," I whispered.

"Bella... Where's Destiny?"

It hurt a little that he was worried about Destiny when Bella was half-dead in front of him, but I understood his confusion.

"Jacob... She's not real..." I said.

"What?"

"I'm only fowe..."

"B-bella?! You're... You're a werewolf?!"

"I hid it from you because I thought you'd order me away. I was afraid. And then I hid it from you even more because I wanted revenge for what Victoria did to Charlie. It was wrong, but I didn't stop to think. I'm sorry."

AN: Would it be cruel to end the chapter right here?

That's my limit. Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!