Chapter 11:

Edward came barreling in from behind the heavy fabric curtain that occupied the entire west wall of the room. When it parted I caught a glimpse of the wall behind it for the first time. Although, it wasn't really a solid wall at all, it was a wall of glass. One huge window, overlooking a stretch of open forest, the view just brushed along the treetops, if it weren't for the thick blanket of clouds you could see the horizon meeting the sky far, far off into the distance. And, even though it was a usual soggy, gray, day of overcast, it was one of the more beautiful things I'd seen in the last few months, if not the most.

Edward flew across the room and tackled Alice into her chair, his right arm pinning her across her chest, his elbow on one shoulder and his hand, balled up into a tight fist around the fabric of her jacket, on her other. His opposite hand was clamped down hard over Alice's mouth. I was speechless, would he really hurt her for telling me the truth when no one else would? He was snarling at her, his lips were pulled back, baring his teeth. His undoubtedly razor sharp canines were alarmingly close to the pearly skin of her face. His eyes were intense and focused, both black oceans savagely roaring with his unspoken fury, searing each word he wanted to scream, soundlessly, into Alice's flesh. I wanted to say something, I wanted to make him stop. But I was in shock, everything was beginning to click. Alice had said that they drank blood, at prom Edward had said that he'd brought me to the clearing to kill me. Carlisle had said that blood was a problem for them, and Jasper and Edward had attacked me when the thorn had broken through my skin and I had started bleeding. Everything was starting to make total sense.

I started hyperventilating, the room was beginning to wobble on it's axis and spin circles around my head, which became light and surely would have floated to the ceiling had it not been held down by my mangled lower half.

"I knew this would happen." Edward said though gritted teeth. He fled the room, returning seconds later with a small syringe in his hand. The slender needle shimmering in the candle light that was scattered around the room. I started shaking my head.

"Don't worry Bella, it's just morphine, you'll feel much better when you wake up."

"No, I'm fine now. But, I've just learned that the family I'm being kept with are all vampires. Excuse me for being a bit shaken."

His eyes remained on my face through my brief rant, but they seemed to darken at the word vampires. He set the syringe down on the small bedside table and put his face in his hands.

"Alice, do you realize what you've done?" He asked her, his voice was deliberately slow, trying to mask a faint quiver of fear.

"I told her the truth…" She began to answer, confidently, but she was cut off by Edward's rage,

"You've condemned her!" Alice looked shocked and started backpedaling, stuttering for the right words.

"But…no, I…she…all I did was…that…that's not possible…she…Bella…she…she still has a choice!"

Edward squeezed his eyes shut and punched the wall so hard that the room rattled, I half expected his arm to be buried up to his elbow through the wall. He began to growl, like actually growl. Like a predator on the hunt, the noise brought with it flashbacks of that first night when he and his brother had both attacked me. The memory of those sounds I had heard, ripping and roaring from their throats, the threatening noises they had all made as they had fought over my helpless, flailing body, echoed through my head and I flinched away from it. Edward began to speak through the snarls rising up from deep within his marble chest, his eyes remained closed, his knuckles still pressed firmly against the golden wall.

"And what do you think she'll choose? And who do you think will have to do it?" Alice's still face softened into a harbor of sympathy,

"Well Carlisle could. He already has for most of us, but I've seen it, Edward. I already know that she'll…"

"I know what you've seen! But Carlisle's overly confident that I have the control, he thinks that I'll be able to make the right decision!" Alice's sympathy vanished, all of her slight features tightened into fear as she looked back at me. She started nibbling on her lower lip, nervously, her eyes darting around the room, searching for answers.

"Alice, you'd better hope I have the strength to stop. Because of you, she'll either change or die. Either way she can't be human anymore." Edward's voice was so cold, it rushed under my skin, wildly tearing through my veins until it reached my heart, where it exploded into an icy blizzard. All the snow rested on my insides, sending a shiver sprinting down my spine. Alice's frantic eyes hovered on my face for only a moment before tracing the outlines of my slowly healing, human, body through the blood red satin sheets.

"Edward, I…I'm so sorry. If only I had known, I…I never would have…"

Edward's eyes snapped open, there was no emotion in them, they were dead. His eyebrows pulled together, creasing his creamy marble forehead. The sound of his voice was as dead as his eyes.

"Don't. Try and put the fault onto me. What you did was both stupid and irrational. And because of that your friend, My Bella, will die."