A/N: Having a moving plot is one of the rarest things in my stories/fics. That may come from me originally being a slash writer. Oh yeah, I like reviews. Give them to me.

Chapter 6: Curse

The silence lasted for five minutes, the longest until now. After that, it was punctuated by Alice's periodic snarls and growls as she seemed to find more and more details about it. As Edward listened to her thoughts, his face seemed to turn even paler, and his face contorted into a frustrated grimace. When he spoke, his voice was flat and monotone.
"Alice thinks it's something that will change us, change what we are. She can't see more than that. Aro has really covered up after himself this time."
The last words came out in a sarcastic growl. He cocked his head an inch to the side, like he was intently listening to something. His eyes widened, and every bit of anger vanished from his face, replaced by pure desperation. "It's coming. No more than a couple of minutes." Only a matter of minutes? What about those who weren't prepared, such as the Quileute and... Nessie? What was going to happen to her? As far as I knew, she was still at Lily's. If something happened, she would be helpless.
But should I run away from the others to find her, or should I betray my daughter to be with the rest of my family? The decision was too heavy, and I sat frozen on the couch, grinding my teeth. The strained silence was suddenly broken by Alice crying. No, trying to cry. She clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut to stifle the reflexive sobs, but she was still shaking from the effort. This time, Edward didn't need to speak for her as she struggled to choke out a few words.
"Now. Get... ready. Don't be... afraid." Emmett just had time to growl under his breath before a wave of cold slammed into my chest and cut off my vision. I didn't feel like I was falling or floating - I was nowhere, and there was nothing to fall through or float in. A familiar thirst ripped through my throat, leaving behind a feeling of vulnerability and hollowness, like the spark of life that distanced me from my instincts was being ripped away.
My body tensed, then relaxed, letting a sensation of raw power fill the hole in my soul. In a moment of stillness in the dark, I was free to think the feelings through. Something in me felt more human, not quite so unnatural and alien. A rising power was peaking behind the pain in my throat.
The nothingness vanished. It was still dark, but I was somewhere again. I struggled to open my eyes, but nothing changed. Only after several minutes had passed did I realize that the darkness had faded, and I was clutching my head in my hands, eyes wide open. The first thing I noticed was that my heart wasn't beating. Somehow, it felt so much more absolute now, an emptiness in my chest that I couldn't ignore. I felt dead. Not just inhuman, like before, but truly dead.
My hands were smooth and dry against my face, lacking the thin sweat of life. I had to concentrate on every breath, pulling so much useless air into my lungs. I could still sense Edward's familiar lilac-honey-and-sun scent and Alice's sharp, sterile hospital stench, and the faint sound of cars on the freeway was still reaching me.
Theoretically, everything was normal. With me. But I had to check on the others. What if I had been lucky?
I was the first to open my eyes. Nothing had happened. Not as far as I could see, at least. Everyone was sitting or standing where they had been before. But somehow, something felt off. Wrong. Alice slowly opened her eyes, and I saw my confusion and fear mirrored in them. Her eyes were still a golden yellow, but the wrongness was still there. Something about her had changed, but I couldn't seem to notice. She was just as dead as before - the word felt easier to think now, when I didn't feel so inhuman.
Oh. That was it. Alice was still pale, faultless and perfectly beautiful as always, but the marble-like white of her skin had changed to a more human tone. She was still pale, and I felt no warmth, breathing or heartbeats from her or anyone else, but she wasn't as overtly monstrous as before.
Something began to sting on my neck and arms, and Alice's eyes widened and her mouth fell open, like she knew what was happening. She darted forward, attempting to shove the others out of the room. When she had the others moved under the stairs, she ignored their confused questions and Emmett's swearing as they woke up, and stared at me with a mix of incredulousness and anger.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at me. "Are you really that stupid? Get out of the room, now." When I sat still, uncomprehending, she threw herself across the room in a hurried movement, as if braving some painful danger, and slung me across her shoulder. She sprinted into the adjoining room, laying me in a dark corner by the stairs, and stared at me, confused. "Are you really as stupid as you seem?" she asked me, though her tone was more curious than patronizing. The only thing I could manage to stammer out was "What are you talking about, Alice? What's wrong?"
Alice rolled her eyes, then pointed at my arm. "That's what's wrong, Bella." When I became conscious of what I saw, the stinging pain flooded back into my body. My arm was red and blistered, with blackish, charred marks on my shoulder. Emmett had woken up and was mumbling expletives through his teeth as he took in the burn that, judging from the pain, spread across my left arm, my neck, the left side of my face and my right shoulder.
Alice began inspecting the wound, muttering sourly at me. "I can't believe that you didn't feel it, Bella. If I hadn't gotten you out of there, I guess you would've burned up. I can't be sure, though. Whatever Aro's done, it's huge. It's not just the sun, I can feel it. It's much more, too much."