Escaping Trains

Chapter 4

I OWN NOTHING!!!!

A branch snapped. Bella looked up, not seeing anyone. Her vampires would have alerted her if it were them. Even Jasper, who moved much more silently then either Edward or Alice, always said his own quiet 'hello' when he returned from hunting. She was on alert. Bella knew better then to say anything first.

"What do we have here?" A voice spoke calmly, nearly child-like in its quality. Bella almost winched at the sound. "She looks so familiar, doesn't she James?"

Bella looked up as two gusts of air moved in front of her. Her eyes widened as she took in the two vampires, both with blazing crimson eyes.

"It's the girl that ran away," the male looked at her and Bella fought the instinct to flinch away.

Her throat was locked up and she was having trouble breathing. She recognized the two beings in front of her. The red-haired woman was from the train station. The man, and the woman, were the same vampires that had killed her parents.

"Are we going to share her?" The woman asked, staring at Bella. "She smells so sweet James."

"Calm yourself Victoria," James spoke again, looking Bella over. "I say we play with her a little bit first."

Bella froze even further. Play with her? This wasn't good. In fact, it actually caused her to scramble to her feet and begin backing away. Not that it did much good.

James leapt forward, over the fire, and grabbed her. Bella screamed.

"EDWARD!"

This amused her tormentors.

"You're little vampire friends are to far away to hear you scream my dear." James traced her face. Bella knew better then to bite, since that would only harm her and not James.

"I want to play to James," Victoria pouted, "you always break them."

Bella tried to break his hold, not that it worked.

James shrugged and tossed her, right into Victoria's hands. Victoria tossed her back. Bella whimpered when she felt her arm crack at the point James grabbed her. She actually cried out when he wrenched her arm roughly behind her back and lifted her.

"I don't think she's enjoying this to much," she couldn't see his face, but she could see Victoria's. The woman was grinning, widely.

"We'll need to fix that," she said.

Bella felt sick. She cried out again as James tossed her onto the ground and let her go. She tried to scramble away, but one of them stepped on her leg and broke it. Bella screamed this time. She continued to cry out as pressure was applied.

Then she smelt it, blood. She recalled Edward telling her humans couldn't smell blood. She could, and described it to him as a mix of rust and salt. This wasn't good. The pain was already making her head fuzzy. The blood, her blood, made it worse as her stomach tried to expel what she'd eaten for dinner.

The pressure was suddenly gone from her leg and loud snarling ripped throughout the clearing. Bella tried to curl up, but every movement caused the pain to worsen. She winched as screeching rent the air. Bella couldn't see what was going on, but she didn't really want to.

Cold hands touched her and she flinched away.

"It's just me Bella," Edward nearly cried at the sight of his love. "I'm sorry it took us so long to get here. You're going to be fine Bella."

"It hurts Edward," Bella groaned out.

Alice kept a hold on Jasper, who was fighting with himself and staring at the clear sight of Bella's blood. Alice moaned as flashes moved thru her mind.

"You need to change her," she cried out, "Bella won't survive otherwise!"

Alice knew Edward could read her mind. Their entire future hinged on his decision. Edward fought with himself. He couldn't damn his angel, his Bella, to this soulless existence. Yet, could he live without her?

That last thought decided him. He bit down, winching when Bella cried out in pain. Quickly, trying to drink as littlie of her blood as possible (and trying extremely hard not to think about what he was doing), he bit both her wrists. He licked each cut to seal his venom inside.

Alice, holding her breath, appeared beside him to help him take care of Bella's leg. Jasper had run off, trying to get as far away from Bella as possible so that he didn't attack her. He made sure all of the two vampires remains burned first, needing a distraction while Edward turned his human.

In his mind, Jasper was going through everything he knew about newborns. He knew that they'd have to keep Bella away from civilization for the first year or so. He was not looking forward to the violent emotions newborn vampires had.

Alice joined him just as the sun was cresting the sky. She sat beside him and leaned into him, offering him what comfort she could give. Alice made sure he could feel her love for him, and the pride she felt that he hadn't harmed Bella even with her blood fresh on the ground.

"How are they?" Jasper asked, finally breaking their silence.

"Edward's feeling guilty and Bella's in pain." Alice sighed. "I don't remember anything before I woke up, not even the pain of the transformation." She shivered. "Is it always that violent?"

"Yes," Jasper replied without hesitation. He didn't elaborate and Alice didn't ask.

"We should get back," Alice broke the silence again. "Edward will need our help, though he's going to be surprised."

So they returned. They found Edward holding Bella, trying to keep her calm as she whimpered in pain and tried to thrash around. Blood was no longer flowing from her rapidly healing wounds. There were already noticeable differences in her appearance.

Jasper sent out a heavy wave of every good emotion his mind could come up with to try and keep them all calm. He and Alice cleaned up the small clearing, hiding all evidence that a fight took place.

For three days they sat there, watching as Bella became one of them. Sometimes it became to much for Jasper and Alice and they had to leave. Edward never left and he never let go of Bella. Near the end of the third day, her heart stopped and she opened her eyes.

"Edward?" Bella blinked her now crimson eyes, taking in what her human senses had been unable to show her. All she could remember at the moment was the never ending fire which was now concentrated in her throat.

"Bella," Edward spoke in a pained whisper. "I'm so sorry Bella, it was the only way to save you."

Bella, not fully understanding, kissed him to stop his talking. "You have nothing to apologize for Edward," she looked down, slightly embarrassed. "I wanted this, ever since I knew I loved you. I want eternity with you Edward. Please don't regret saving me."

"You wanted to became a monster?" Edward shook his head, winching when Bella, not realizing her strength, hit him in the head.

"You aren't a monster Edward." Bella glared at him. "And, yes, I did want to become like you. My blood doesn't hurt you with its scent anymore. You can't harm me if you squeeze me to tightly. You don't have to be so afraid of hurting me."

Edward stared at her. She had actually thought this through before. He sighed. He'd thought Rosalie could be stubborn. His sister had nothing on his Bella.

"I'll never regret saving you," he told her. "Are you thirsty?"

Bella nodded, the thirst becoming more demanding now that Edward had brought her attention to it.

"Let's go hunting then," He stood up and set her on the ground. He still couldn't read her mind. He wondered if that was her power, being able to shield her mind.

They set off together. It wasn't until the wind shifted that Edward became concerned. Humans were nearby and Bella was a newborn. He looked at where his Bella had frozen. She stepped forward slightly and he prepared to leap at her to stop her from attacking the humans. Then she did something completely impossible. Bella turned around and ran away.

Edward followed her. He caught up with her in just enough time to see her leap at a large mountain lion. He was in complete awe as she drained the beast.

"Bella?" He approached her slowly. She turned to him.

"I…I couldn't…I wanted to…" She sobbed, launching herself at him. She had wanted the humans, but had stopped herself.

Edward held her. "It's okay Bella. You didn't hurt anyone. I'm proud of you," he made her look up at him. "I have no idea how you managed to run away, but I'm proud you."

Bella grinned at him and licked the last of the blood off her lips. "I see why you like mountain lion so much. It taste delicious."

Edward laughed at that. Only his Bella.

"Come, I'm sure you want to clean up." He watched as Bella took herself in. She looked at him and nodded.

Edward didn't watch, but he listened as Bella bathed in the cold creek they had come across. He'd already gotten her clean clothing and was currently burning her bloody ones as he told her what had happened. Bella listened as flashes of memory went through her mind.

"Edward," Bella stepped into camp dressed in pants and a shirt, just like she always wore. Only now, even if she cut her hair (which they had both agreed she wasn't going to do), no one would ever mistake her for a boy again. "Where are Alice and Jasper?"

"I'm not sure," Edward replied, "I think they might have gone into town for a bit. I don't know when they'll be back."

"They are coming back though, right?" Bella didn't want to lose the blonde who'd become her older brother or the tiny pixie who was both her sister and best friend.

"Of course they will," Edward assured her. "Alice would have told me if they weren't coming back."

Bella nodded. She approached him, amazed at her graceful she now was. Running earlier had been an interesting experience.

"You know," she kissed him, "I'm not so breakable now." Not knowing what she was doing, she ground into him. They'd had similar insistences where they'd nearly broken the boundaries Edward had set in place.

"I know," Edward kissed her, pouring in everything he felt for her without fear of crushing her skull. "Are you sure?"

"Extremely."

Alice grimaced. "I didn't need to see that," she muttered just soft enough for Jasper to hear her.

"See what?" Jasper wrapped his arm around her. They had come into town to, he shivered, shop for a few articles of clothing. Bella would be going through, according to Alice (and he never bet against his mate), several before she learned the trick of not getting blood on her clothing.

"I think we should avoid the campsite for a while yet," was all she would say.

Jasper wondered what she meant for about five seconds. "Already?" He'd honestly thought they'd wait. Not that he and Alice had, but Edward was far more stiff then Jasper had ever been.

"Yes," Alice told him. "I never want to see that much of our siblings ever again."

Jasper hugged her. He was glad he was far enough away not to be able to feel their emotions. Otherwise, none of them would have been able to move for awhile. He looked at Alice when she giggled.

"You know," she smiled coyly at him, "it has been a while."

"Are you done shopping for the day my lady?" He asked her, voice deeper as his eyes darkened.

"For today."