A/N: At least I'm trying, dammit.

I write bad action scenes, IknowIknow.

WRITER'S BLAAAAAAAAAAAAWK

Chapter 2-7: White Fire

"I'll take the window. Bella and Jennifer, you stay here and take care of the main group."

With those words, Alice casually strolled up to the wide window facing towards the road, opened it, and flipped herself out with an effortless movement. Jenna bit her lip and muttered under her breath. "Main group my ass. I dunno who your friend is, but if she's trying to get us killed, I'll rip her head off." I leaned against the wall, listening for any possible intruders. "I hate to ask you, but how many do you think you can take?"

Jenna flexed her fingers in a probing manner, like she was moving them for the first time. "Well, I guess if I'm pissed enough, I could take ten or fifteen. The scrap we had out there felt like nothing." Was it actual skill or just arrogance? "You really think you can? I took a bullet to the chest out there, and it hurts like a bitch." It felt awkward to talk about being injured in ways that would kill a human instantly so casually, like it really was nothing. Of course it was.

"Fuck it. They're coming. I'm gettin' psyched now." She pushed herself away from the wall with a flick of her left hand and turned to face the door.

It really went so fast, even by the standards I had by now. I wasn't sure if it was Jenna, me or just my refusal to see what was going on.

The instant the door opened, Jenna grabbed the first hunter by the throat and pulled her arm back, giving a clean snap as his eyes rolled back in his head. Someone leapt out at her, knife in hand, the fervor in his expression making his eyes light up like twin torches in the dimly lit room.

Jenna took the blade clean to the chest, barely grimacing at nine inches of steel sinking in between her ribs, seized the man's arm and slammed him into the wall.

As the hunter, struggling for breath, raised his arm again, Jenna grabbed his hand and, with a sickening salvo of cracking bone, twisted both his hand and the knife it held towards his chest. Instead of running him through with his own knife, though, she swiped the blade upwards, sending a wave of blood pulsing from his throat.

As Jenna fought, something inside me was churning. This was a massacre. We had an advantageous position in a large room, and the hunters were struggling to even move inside the hallway. Would it be right to step in? It was going to be a bloodbath if I stepped in.

Whatever. This was my chance. I'd never be able to get revenge on Aro if I couldn't even deal out payback for being shot in the chest.

As the rush of hunters intensified, their morale heightening in a burst of fear-induced zeal, Jenna's advantage was rapidly fading. A hunter's bullet had ripped away her left cheek, baring her teeth in a horrific grimace. Her clothes were torn, and a hunter had pushed past her, pulling what looked like a wooden stake from his clothes.

No fucking way.

So many times, looking back, I've felt equal pride and horror in the thought of how that hunter must have felt. As he pulled out a hammer from his coat, I grabbed his head, tugged him backwards, and spoke the first words I thought of in his ear.

"Not my friends."

With my right hand, I twisted his head backwards over my shoulder, a trickle of blood from a small tear in his skin dripping down the back of my jacket. Baring my teeth in preparation for a vengeance that would never come, I heard Jenna wheeze out a cry of victory.

"You're th' last one, you son of a bitch."

She'd seized a hunter by the head, her nails digging into his face, and was holding him a foot above the ground. "How'd you ever think you could win, you fucking runt?" Her face was covered by a multitude of cuts and tears, rendering her nearly unrecognizable in the darkness of the hallway. The hunter laughed, a hollow, coughing sound that seemed more sickly than humorless.

"Smile while you can. The more of us you kill, the harsher your judgment will be the day you're thrown into Hell. Do me a favor and kill the newbies back there. I'll be looking down from Heaven and laughing."

For a moment, Jenna froze, as if something inside the ocean of rage in her eyes had cooled down. Then, pulling her lips back in a maddened smile, she dug her fingers into his head, grinding her hand through bone and flesh like it was air.

"Bullshit. Let's wait an' see."

I was equally paralyzed and fascinated. She was a total monster, yes, but all the less need for me to kill as much. I sensed the hypocrisy in feeling better about making someone kill for me, but something like that didn't matter now.

Jenna strode forward, with me following in her wake like an owner with his dog. Grabbing a knife from a dead hunter's hands, she stalked down the hallway, the flesh on her face knitting together in a patchwork of crimson tissue. Two hunters were cowering in a dead end, by a locked door. Something about them made my heart twinge, but I couldn't care less why as Jenna, smiling, walked down the hallway and raised her knife for the finishing blow.

Fuck. Angela and Ben. Angela was standing up, clutching a gun like it was a security blanket. Her eyes were wide, and her face was drawn and haggard. Ben was leaning against the wall, looking like his legs had stopped supporting his weight.

As Jenna brought down her knife against Angela, I grabbed her by the shoulder and attempted to move her away. The knife ripped across Angela's left temple, scratching deeply across her eye. As Jenna turned to shake me off, I swept her legs away from under her and threw her down the hallway.

I took her by the wrist and ran down the hallway, back into the room.

She stared at me, the air of familiarity in her eyes replaced by something different, primal and utterly empty.

"Why'd you let them get away? They're gonna bring more of those wankers, and then they'll know how many people to bring."

I flinched, taken aback by her sudden hostility, and then tried to get back my composure.

"They were friends. I promise they won't..."

She sneered, tugging at the silvery-red scar tissue at the corner of her mouth.

"Fucking good friends, trying to off you. I'll tell you, from what I've met of your friends, I don't like them at fucking all. Give me an opening, and I'll kill them. Don't even dare to interfere with me."