Sorry it's taken me so long to update, everyone. I've been sick, and though I knew what I was going to write, I didn't have the details straight in my mind enough so that I could write them down. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though.
Also, I'd like to thank Reader13lovesbooks for their many, continuous and supportive reviews. You've really helped by keeping my inspiration alive. Thanks to everyone else who has reviewed, as well. I really appreciate your support, everyone.
Wish granted, I thought bitterly, willing my body still against the appetizing scent that permeated the air. It's been over three weeks, and no Edward. There was no escape from the torture as Marcus stood by, looking relatively bored, with a living, breathing human clutched within his grasp. The young man's blood sang appealingly to my scorching throat, tempting me to take his life right here, right now. His fear amplified and increased the speed of his heartbeat, making it even more difficult to resist his blood.
It became apparent to me that after over four weeks of not feeding, I wasn't going to last long in this poor victims presence. Against my better judgment, I allowed myself a deep whiff of the air swirling around me. Fire blazed through my esophagus as his scent became too much, and I leapt at him in an animalistic frenzy.
Strong hands gripped me from behind and I growled in frustration, whipping around to confront Felix who was grinning at me sadistically. I lunged backwards in an attempt to sink my teeth into him, but I was no match. He had just feasted on aromatic human blood approximately one hour ago, judging by the fresh scent of blood drifting from his open mouth. I immediately stopped breathing, intent on continuing my fast to my own accord. Ashamed at what I had been about to do, I let my body fall limp.
I heard a sickening crack as Marcus broke the frightened man's neck, and I struggled to keep from breathing. Glancing up briefly, I witnessed Marcus digging into his dinner before I brought my gaze down once again.
Edward, I thought miserably, I miss you. A ripping pain shot through me, and I glanced up quickly to determine who had stolen a piece of me. Oh, I realized less than a second later. I recognized the pain, the gaping hole that had once tried, and nearly succeeded in swallowing me whole over seventy years ago. It was the same pain as the time Edward had left me so long ago. I vaguely recalled the numbness I had been able to achieve through the thick fog that veiled my human memories, and fought to reenact the protective apathy. The room around me lost focus, the sounds became background noise, and the hole in my chest became second to the burn at my throat, which I managed to ignore, more or less.
It was a sound that awakened me from my comatose state. Several sounds, actually. A distant growling, a louder yelling, a voice. The voice is what caught my attention, for it could only belong to an angel.
"Edward?" My voice was shockingly weak—I hadn't used it in so long I'd forgotten the volume necessary to be heard—and I raised my volume as loud as it could go.
"Edward?" It was louder, but more frightened. Edward wouldn't be able to fight off the Volturi guard on his own, or with the help of the family. There were so many more of them, hundreds more, even.
"Bella!" his voice called, full of rage while still managing to hold a certain percent of tenderness for my benefit. Enraged pounding—footsteps—cut through the air from what seemed to be the entrance of the castle, growing louder and louder as they neared. Then my door was crashing down, and I was grabbed up in familiar arms. I fought and struggled as Demetri pinned me to the wall by the shoulders, his mouth inching closer and closer to my neck.
Even though I knew I was mere seconds away from being decapitated, I couldn't bring myself to fight back very hard. Were I better fed, I would have been able to throw him off easily, but in my weakened state I was no match to his brute strength. A choked sob escaped me as I realized that I would never get to see Edward's face again. I longed to run my fingers through his bronze hair, to lose myself in his honey toned eyes, to be held close to his solid body while he whispered sweet nothings into my hair.
The restraining hand was gone quite suddenly, and I was sure that it was the end—I had died. I didn't fight back as I was once again grabbed roughly and held tightly. This time, however, the arms that held me still were familiar in a good way, the scent relaxing, intoxicating. I looked up and found myself staring into the same honey-golden eyes I had been dreaming about ever since I had been taken prisoner.
I fiercely buried my face into the hollow of his neck, sobbing brokenly. No tears graced my coal-black eyes as I wished they would.
"Bella," he sighed, breathing deeply against the top of my head in a way that I had dearly missed. Clutching him as tightly as I could, I proceeded to stammer out numerous apologies.
"I love you," I whispered finally, ending my rant.
"As I love you," he murmured soothingly, stroking my cheek gently with his fingertips. I had only just melted into his touch when I was violently jerked away by my arms. A cry of protest shot from my lips as I found myself held back by Kristy.
"Bella, Bella, Bella," she chastised, sounding as a person would when explaining something to a three-year-old, "you don't want to ruin our fun, now do you?" Edward snarled from across the room, where he was being held back by both Demetri and Felix, who seemed to be having a hard time holding on to him. He had obviously heard what they meant by fun, and I cringed at the memory of their teasing me over blood that had been going on for weeks, steadily becoming crueler as I weakened.
I turned my attention to Kristy, determined to formulate a plan. Her face was contorted in concentration and confusion, as she glared ruthlessly at Edward.
"You happen to be in close proximity with your problem," he smirked, throwing me a wink. I paused for a moment, questioning his sanity briefly. I'm pretty sure Kristy and I thought of the same thing at the exact same moment. I threw my arms and legs up to wrap around her in a vice grip as she struggled futilely to dislodge me. Ignoring the sharp pains of breaking and healing ribs, I clung to her tightly.
"Not so sure of yourself without your power, are you?" I taunted. She called me a not-so-nice name under her breath, which was enough, I guess, to set Edward off. The vampires that had been holding him previously were air born without the slightest clue as to how they had gained such altitude, Kristy's head simultaneously cracking against the stone wall. I kept as tight a grip on her arm as I could while Edward beat her around like a punching bag, until I was grabbed from behind by a ticked off Felix, and thrown at the doorway. My upper back caught the doorframe, snapping my spine painfully. While I waited for the excruciating pain to subside, signaling that I was up to helping Edward once again, I was completely useless.
Keeping my focus intently on the battle, I noticed when Felix made his mistake. He came an inch too close to me, giving me the chance to be useful. I gripped his ankle securely, bringing him to the ground. Having no special abilities, my power seemed to have a unique effect on Felix, draining the strength from his muscles and rendering him as useless as a rag doll.
With one last resonating pop, my back was completely healed, and I pulled myself up, still keeping a firm hold on Felix. As Demetri rocketed through the air towards Edward's exposed back, I quickly flung Felix into the air. He regained his strength immediately upon losing contact with my skin, but by that time it was too late. The force with which I had thrown Felix sent them both falling out of the window that they usually stood guard at.
I raced quickly over to Edward, forcing him to let go of his grip on a battered Kristy, and pulled him out the door by his hand.
"We can't go downstairs," he reminded me.
"Hold on, let me think," I pleaded, rubbing my temples hard with my fingers. "This way." I pulled him suddenly to the right, into what was seemingly another bedroom. Letting go of his hand, I propelled myself forward and out the window. Even though we were twenty stories off the ground, I had no worries about landing safely as I positioned my feet for landing. Edward's landing made little more sound than a sock being dropped, only seconds after my own.
We took off running, leaping the high city wall when we reached it, leaping over the highway and barreling towards the airport. We stopped between adjacent dumpsters out back, but after a second of silence, Edward had bad news.
"The next flight's not for hours," he announced bitterly, "we'll just have to swim." I nodded silently, and we were off once again.
"So this is going to take…" I trailed off, waiting for Edward to finish my statement.
"At least four days." His voice was deathly quiet, striking up desperation deep within me. There was a long silence, but not in the least awkward. We reveled in each other's presence, drinking the other in, making up for lost time.
"Where's the rest of the family?" I asked, panicked suddenly.
"Relax, Bella," he assured me, a hint of amusement coloring his words, "they're back at the house." Before I could ask why they had let him come alone, he told me. "Alice saw that everything would work out when I first made plans to go in alone. She helped me reassure everyone." I nodded, the pieces all fitting together in my mind finally.
"You need to feed," Edward stated, stopping suddenly to stare into my eyes. My throat throbbed uncomfortably, and I nodded once. His finger tips traced the dark circles under my eyes tenderly before he pressed his lips to mine firmly. He let his lips linger for a moment, before pulling away to stare into my eyes, his forehead braced on mine.
"Let's go." Lacing his fingers through mine, Edward sprinted off towards the west and I followed, enjoying the way his fingers felt through mine, anchoring my sanity in place. I may have needed to hunt, but my thirst wasn't what was on the forefront of my mind. For now, at least, we were safe and together.