Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Rush
Dialogue Flex: "He doesn't want to be bothered right now," she said.

Air flowing over me offered no soothing, no cooling, to the fire that burned within. Cold liquid pressed to my forehead gave no relief. My body was frozen, unable to move as it burned. That was the only thing that gave any comfort; Edward thought I was fine.

"Respond when you can hear me, when the morphine wakes up," he whispered repeatedly beside me. But then it did wear off, and his whispers turned to desperation as he called my name repeatedly. I didn't answer. I couldn't, not and not scream.

With teeth clenched and eyes firmly shut I tracked the progress of the venom through my body. How long does wood burn? How long does a human? How long does a human turning into a vampire? Surely, as flames consume wood, leaving glowing and eventually cold coals behind, the same would happen with my body. It didn't. My body became ash, but the heat remained.

Others came to the cottage. Voices from a distance being told to leave by Alice. "He doesn't want to be bothered right now," she said.

"We need him for the discussion. You've said the Volturi will be here in days," came an angry, desperate, reply.

"He's a little busy…"Alice began, only to be cut off by someone else.

"She can burn without him. He can leave her for a few hours."

"Gentlemen, if this were your mate…" Carlisle answered them. He was answered with huffs and retreating feet. "How much longer, Alice?" he asked when the others were gone.

"At least a day, maybe longer. It's hard to tell with the pack so close by." Was she talking about the Volturi or me?

Cool water touched my forehead again, followed by a sigh of air. "Bella, I love you. I'm waiting for you." Edward, calling me. If my tongue were between my teeth it'd be bitten off with how tightly I clenched them. He can't know my pain.

The venom moved, or rather, left some places. My toes were colder than the water. Then my fingers. Maybe the coals were finally going out, but as the heat drained from those places it coalesced in my heart, causing it to burn even hotter, a thing I'd thought impossible. A gasp escaped my lips when it doubled. Edward called me again. It tripled. He called for Carlisle.

A breath in, assaulting me with scents familiar but different. Pain drained from my arms and legs, funneling into my heart deeper and hotter. "Bella! It's almost over, love," Edward cried. Warm hands on my arms, holding me down, holding me together. A scream filled the air.

"Can I help?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, leave." Alice's voice was sharp. A sigh, moving lavender air past my face. "Sorry, Jacob, you're blocking me. It's probably better if you're not here when she wakes, anyway. We don't know how she'll react to you. Why don't you watch over Marta?" A door opened and swung on its hinges as running feet became pounding paws, a beating heart became larger and lusher with pumping blood. Why can I hear that?

"Give her time and space, Edward," another person said. Jasper. "She won't react well to being crowded, even by you. You can't rush this."

"She's even more beautiful. I didn't think that was possible." Esme, her sweet voice almost made me relax enough to smile. Can't chance another scream.

A door opened and closed, more scents filled the room. My heart raced, unable to keep up with the flames.

Silence. My heart stopped. No one was breathing. Even the air was still.

Someone took a breath. "Bella?" Edward, calling again. Something warm touched my arm.

"Everyone get back!" Jasper called, and bodies moved, including mine, in the opposite direction.

My back was against a wall as I took in the roomful of people, strangers who looked similar to people I loved. One was moving toward me, arms outstretched, his tone pleading and full of love. "Bella," he said. I growled.

"Edward, careful," Jasper's voice warned, but it came from the most different face. This one was covered in scars. He gave me a wry grin.

Edward moved. Another step forward. I scanned his face, finding his eyes, feeling the pull. It was as if two huge magnets were charged, one inside of me and the other inside of him. Remaining at this distance was a battle, one I didn't want to fight.

"Oof," he said as I slammed into his body and we went crashing against the wall. Laughter bubbled out of me as my arms wrapped around his body and his lips met mine.

"Maybe we should come back when they're done reuniting?" Emmett asked through his laughter.

Edward's lips felt amazing, distracting me from anything else in the room.

"I wish we could," Alice said. "Edward, what you have in mind might be fun, but she needs to feed and we need to prepare."

The memory, foggy though it was, of why I was changed washed over me like a bucket of ice water. Everything was frozen, except for my throat. It felt like the Sahara. I clutched at it, swallowing to try to coat it. A truly pointless effort.

"Come on, love, I smell dinner," Edward said, rising swiftly and pulling me with him. "See if you can keep up." He was a blur as he left the house with me hot on his trail. Others came with us. My hackles went up but they stayed pretty far back, neither gaining on us nor falling further behind, just maintaining their distance.

I sniffed at the air and easily picked out the direction the rangy scent came from. "It doesn't smell that great," I said, running just a pace behind Edward.

"Remember when I said it was like eating tofu instead of filet mignon? I wasn't kidding." He gave me a wink and took off. Man, he was fast.

A couple minutes later we ran into the middle of a small herd of elk. I held back in spite of my thirst to see how Edward did this. It didn't look too hard. I came up for a breath after my third beast; my stomach sloshing around to the point that I was afraid others could hear it. The rest of the family was arrayed out, chasing down the animals that got away.

Alice came into view, her hands raised as she met my eye and approached me slowly. "Why are you acting like I might bite you?" I asked, laughing at her. She stood up straight and dropped her hands. I was disgusted with how neat and clean her clothes were, mine looked like I'd bathed in blood.

"Because you might. I was being careful." Her eyes got that far off look again and Edward rushed to my side.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She gave him a disgusted look. "Of course you are. Bella, we need to get back, now."

"Why?"

"Because the Volturi are landing to refuel their plane in New York in the next hour. They'll be here in the morning."

Happy Monday my lovelies!