Bella
Alice was sitting in the front seat, her eyes moving rapidly underneath her closed eyelids. She was watching the future. I was strapped in the backseat, anxious and helpless. Each phone call sent waves of hope and terror through me. Were they all alright? Was Charlie safe? Was James apprehended yet? I had wound my hair around my finger so tightly it was cutting off circulation. The pain helped clear my mind a little.
Suddenly Alice sat bolt upright in her seat, her face turned toward me with an expression of utmost horror.
"He's coming." She told me, her voice heavy with dread. Fear hit the pit of my stomach like a rock dropped into water.
"Evie?" I asked, my voice barely audible.
"Everyone is okay. They were ambushed by the woman and trapped, but they escaped. Unfortunately so did James. They lifted the address for the Denali house from our school records. We lived there before moving here." She turned to Esme. "We have to change course. Now."
Esme took the next exit. We had recently crossed into Canada, and now were driving west along BC-3. We were heading deep into the wilderness. Alice was on the phone again, speaking so quickly I couldn't understand any of it.
It was then that my own phone started ringing. I checked the ID before I answered.
"Hey, Dad!" I tried to make my voice sound casual.
"Where are you?!" He demanded. I looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was nine thirty.
"I'm in the Jeep with Mrs. Cullen." I told him. If I stuck to the truth it was much easier. Even if it was only a small fraction of the truth. "The game ran late." I added lamely.
"I need you to tell me exactly where you are," the voice on the other end was cold and menacing. I was not speaking to my father now. It was James. "Now, before you speak you must do exactly as I say, or Daddy dearest will pay the price." I squeezed my eyes shut, imagining James holding Charlie by the throat.
"Okay," I choked the word out.
"I already know you are on your way to Alaska. It would be prudent for you to turn around and come back to Forks now. But just in case your friends are not as compliant as you are, I will need your exact location. If you lie to me, you will never see your father again. Answer only yes or no, please. First question: have you reached Canada?"
"Yes." I was so frozen with fear I could barely move my mouth to speak. He seemed to have heard me.
"Excellent. Next question: are you heading north?"
"No," I breathed. I wanted to lie, but I couldn't trust myself to lie convincingly. Not when Charlie's life was on the line.
"Interesting!" His voice was gleeful now, as if he was enjoying the fact that we weren't doing what he expected. "Are you going east toward Vancouver?"
"No."
"Of course, too obvious! West then. Thank you Bella, you've been exceptionally helpful." His cold voice was polite and even pleasant. My fingers gripped the phone as if I could break it. "Now I have one last task for you. You will set down your phone without disconnecting this call. I have to make sure you told me the truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes." I whispered again, anger beginning to replace the fear in my heart. How dare he threaten my family? I would not let him get away with this. There had to be a way. But for now, I would play his game. I set the phone down without ending the call.
"Alice?" I asked, knowing James was listening to every word. "Maybe we should head back toward Forks."
"What? Bella, are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine!" I snapped at her, then bit down on my cheek. I had to act like everything was fine. Or as fine as I was a few moments ago. "I just thought that would be the last thing James would expect. He thinks we're going to Denali, and he doesn't know that we found out his plan."
"She makes a good point," Esme told Alice.
"I don't know what to do!" Alice cried hysterically. "I can't see which plan will work."
"We will just have to try," I told her. "We can't go to Alaska now. What other choice do we have?"
She slumped down in her seat in defeat and I knew it had worked. "I will let the others know," she said and took out her phone once again.
I relaxed now, having convinced them to unknowingly follow James' instructions. I knew there was little chance that my father was still alive, but I had to try. The speedometer was inching toward one hundred and ten as we merged onto highway ninety-seven south. It was a roundabout way, but at least we were heading back toward home. I leaned my head against the window, and the cold glass helped me concentrate on keeping the panic at bay.
We were halfway there when it happened. The Jeep collided with an unseen obstacle in the middle of the empty highway. The front end collapsed inward with the sound of shattering metal, and we were suddenly airborne as our forward momentum flipped the Jeep upside down. My chest slammed against the harness and then I was weightless, my hair hanging down around my face and blood rushing to my head.
The Jeep landed on its roof and skidded off the side of the road. Alice and Esme exited immediately. I couldn't make my arms do what I needed to unbuckle the harness, and panic was starting to incapacitate me further.
"Bella, hold still, I'm going to get you out." Esme's soothing voice calmed me enough to stop fighting with my restraints. She deftly reached in through the broken window and undid the buckle, gently lowering me down so I didn't fall on my head.
"Nicely done." Said a familiar voice from behind her. "It wouldn't do to have her knocked out before the game even begins." I heard a sickening crack, and then Esme's body fell to the ground in front of me. Her neck was broken.
A bloodcurdling scream rose up in my throat, and I heard Alice drop her phone and run to my side of the Jeep.
"Well, if it isn't the one that got away." James spoke to Alice with a voice like velvet. "It's lovely to see you again, Mary Alice."
"Who...who are you?" I had never heard Alice sound so shaken up.
"You don't remember me? I'm insulted!" James purred, his quiet voice deadly in spite of the friendly tone of his words. "Perhaps this will jog your memory."
I scrambled to the broken window and cautiously peeked out. James had grabbed Alice by the shoulders and was bent over her as if...kissing her? No, that couldn't be right. I took advantage of his momentary distraction to check on Esme.
"Esme?" I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Esme, can you hear me?" I gingerly shook her shoulder, not wanting to move her too much. There was no response. My shoulders shook with sobs as I looked down on the lifeless form of Evie's mother. Her warm brown eyes stared up at me, unseeing. My fault.
I heard the sound of a struggle, and turned back toward Alice and James. He had lifted her off the ground and into his arms. Her head lolled to the side, and I glimpsed an open gash in her neck where he had bitten her. Blood seeped down the front of her shirt.
"Leave her alone!" I screamed, heaving myself up off the ground. My head was pounding and the ground spun around me, but I managed to stay upright.
"Don't worry, Bella. I haven't forgotten you." James walked toward me and set Alice gently, almost tenderly, on the ground beside Esme. Then he advanced on me. I held my ground.
"Please, don't hurt them anymore." My chin quivered as fresh tears flowed down my face. "I did what you said. I'm the one you want."
"How right you are, Bella." He tilted his head to one side, appraising me, and his look raised the hairs on the back of my neck. "Although, it really was a little too easy. Hardly any fun at all." He took another step toward me. "'Bella, where are you?'" he intoned.
I started forward in shock. His voice was a perfect imitation of my father's.
"You...you never had him!" I shouted, trembling with rage and terror.
"It turned out I didn't need to involve him. You were quite willing to comply. All we required was his phone, which Victoria obligingly lifted from your home."
"That's why you went there," I whispered. My knees wanted to collapse with relief: Charlie was safe. But I wasn't, not yet. I forced my legs to keep me standing.
"But make no mistake. If you had proven to be difficult, I would not have hesitated to take his life. In fact, I had been rather looking forward to an appetizer." He sounded wistful.
My hands closed into fists. "Don't you touch him!" I growled.
He laughed heartily. "Oh you do have some fight in you! This might turn out to be fun after all."
I shut my eyes, trying to block out his ravenous gaze, wanting instead to fill my last moments with Evie's face. I pictured her amber eyes gazing at me alight with mischief, and her perfect crooked smile. I sighed, and I wondered if it would hurt very much to die. I realized then that even if I were to die in the next instant, I did not regret a single moment that led me to this one.
But death did not come for me.
Silence closed in around me and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. I cracked my eyes open slowly. No sign of James. Fear spiked through my veins anew.
"Ahh," His voice came from behind me. I whirled around. "Your fear does make you smell even more enticing. But I'm not ready to eat just yet." He sauntered sideways, circling me like a wild cat. My muscles quivered with adrenaline, screaming at me to run. Don't do it! I told myself. That's what he wants! This was a game to him- he wanted to chase. He lowered his head and bared his fangs at me. I was still frozen. Then he dropped into a crouch, his lips curling up into a snarl, and released a terrifying growl that ripped through the silence.
It was enough. Reason was overpowered by panic and I turned around and bolted away from him. He was on me in half a second, grabbing me by the hair and flinging me into the forest. A crushing blow forced the air violently out of my chest as I smashed into a tree. I heard a crunch as my head hit the ground hard.
He walked toward me slowly, smiling as I tried in vain to draw oxygen into my lungs. Finally my airway reopened and I inhaled with a huge gasp. With the air came a blinding pain in my head and back, and my vision went in and out. I pushed through the pain and forced myself onto my hands and knees.
"Oh no you don't," he was instantly standing over me, and with his toe kicked me over onto my back. Then he stepped down onto my leg, hard. I heard the awful snap of the bone breaking in half and let out a scream of agony as the pain overtook me. I tried to twist around and grab for my leg, but he was there blocking me, only inches from my face. "Any last requests?" His voice was smooth and upbeat, his eyes excited. His enjoyment intensified when I tried to speak and a bubble of blood poured out of my mouth. His eyes changed now, turning black with thirst.
Through the waves of nausea and pain I now clung to one shred of hope: my blood, as it dripped down my chin and stained my shirt, was controlling him now. He wouldn't be able to draw this out any more. The pain would be over soon.
He lifted my hand, exposing the tender underside of my arm, and ran his fangs along my skin. I retched, spilling more blood down my front. He couldn't hold off any longer. He plunged his fangs into the vein in my wrist and drank deeply.
My head spun as blood left my body, and I felt as if I was floating up and away from myself. The pain was receding into the background. Then suddenly, the tracker flung my arm away from him in disgust.
"What is this?!" He cried, and the veins under his eyes were turning from red to black. "What have you done to me?!" He voice was a guttural growl. He dropped to the ground writhing in pain. I stared transfixed as the black veins travelled further down his face, turning his skin gray as it went. His thrashing ceased and he let out one final strangled cry before his eyes rolled up into his head. He was dead.
I stared at him, too shocked to feel relieved at the sudden turn of events. Then a wall of pain broke through the shock and slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I hurt all over, but superseding everything was the burning pain in my left wrist. I stared at the crescent shaped wound where James had bitten me. Pain lanced through it like I had been scalded, incapacitating me. The fire was moving, travelling from my wrist through the veins in my arm and up toward my heart. I knew what was happening.
One bite, Evie's voice echoed in my mind. One bite is all it takes for the venom to spread.
I was becoming a vampire.
Evie
The gas pedal was flush to the floor as I raced west along highway two. I pushed the 'vette to its limit, taking the winding mountain pass at almost two hundred miles per hour. I was going so fast I almost missed it.
The Jeep, flipped upside down on the side of the road. Cold dread filled me as I slammed on the brakes, jamming the wheel all the way to the left so that I spun to a stop. Then I was running, not knowing what I would find when I got there.
There were shards of glass everywhere, and then I saw them: Esme and Alice lying prone on the ground. I ran faster, falling to my knees when I reached them. I fought back the panic that was rising within me and tried to evaluate the situation. I looked inside the Jeep for Bella. There was no sign of her. I went back to Alice and Esme. They were both unconscious but stable. It was clear to me that they had not been thrown from the Jeep: someone had placed them here. James.
My heart shattered as I realized he had taken Bella. I let the anguish wash through me for just one second, and then I let the fury build up inside me. I turned around and began searching for his trail. When I finished with him, there would be nothing left of him for anyone to find.
It didn't take me long to follow his trail into the woods. What I found there shook me to my very core.
James lay face-up on the forest floor. His skin had turned a dark gray, his eyes and lips black. His face was frozen in an expression of crazed fury. I reached out with utmost caution, fearful of a trap. When he still did not stir, I lightly tapped the side of his face. His skin was rigid, as if rigor mortis had already set in. There were no thoughts in his head now. That left no doubt in my mind. He was dead. But how?
I knew of only two ways to kill a vampire: burned by the sun or fire, or decapitation. What I was looking at now was something entirely different. As elated as I was to find James deceased, a tremor of real fear ran through me. What could have done this?
"My Jeep!" Emmett's cry startled me. I ran back to meet my family. Carlisle was cradling Esme to him, and Jasper carried Alice to the Mercedes.
"Carlisle!" I shouted, and everyone stopped and looked at me. "Come quickly!" I led them back to James' body, and they stood around him staring down in consternation. Carlisle knelt down and examined the body.
While he worked, I resumed searching for any trace of Bella. Even after finding James dead, I had little hope that she was still alive. I had only taken a few steps when I smelled the unmistakable scent of her blood. I froze, holding my breath. What would I do if I found her dead? Or worse, what if I found her bleeding and unwillingly killed her myself?
I forced myself to follow the scent. The pull of her blood drew me forward almost magnetically. I had to know if she was alive, and I had to be strong enough to keep her that way. I did not think I would survive it if I became the instrument of her death.
I saw her then, a pale figure lying on the forest floor ahead of me. It appeared she had been crawling away from James. Her blood had left a trail along the dead leaves and branches on the ground. I held my breath tighter, focusing on placing one foot in front of the other to reach her.
She wasn't moving. I braced myself for the worst, then gently took her shoulder in my hand and turned her over. Her eyes were unfocused, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her heart beat was faint, but it was there. She clutched her left hand to her chest, which was drenched with blood.
"Carlisle!" I cried again, hysterical. He would know what to do. I heard him approach behind me.
"Don't touch her!" He commanded harshly, and I obeyed instantly.
"What's going on?" I shrieked, "what's wrong with her?"
"She is transitioning." He told me calmly, and gently pulled her arm out to show me the wound on her wrist.
"He bit her?!" I was incredulous. If James had fed on her, she should be dead right now. Instead, he was the one lying cold a few feet away.
"It would appear that her blood is poisonous." He told me, and everything clicked into place. He had fed on her, and her blood had killed him. Uncontrollable laughter bubbled up inside me and exploded from my mouth, startling my family.
"What is with you, Ev?" Emmett grumbled.
"He...had to...have her...and she...she killed him!" I gasped in between fits.
"I guess that is pretty ironic," Emmett agreed, laughing with me now.
"Are you two quite finished? I'd like to get out of here sometime tonight if you don't mind." Rosalie snapped me out of my hysterics.
Emmett's expression sobered as well. "Sorry Hon."
I focused back on Bella. I remembered my transition vividly, and knew the excruciating pain she must be suffering right now. I took her hand in mine. "I never wanted this for her." I whispered to Carlisle.
"I know, Eva. But perhaps it is better this way." He murmured.
"How can you say that?" I lashed out.
"I only meant that, well it is obvious you have grown very close to her. Won't it be easier for you now?"
"I would never have willingly traded her mortality for my comfort." I told him.
"I know that. Perhaps that is why it happened this way instead."
"I don't need one of your 'everything happens for a reason' diatribes right now."
He sighed. "You know me better than any of the others." He put his arm around my shoulders. "You know I would not wish this on anyone. Forgive me if I was selfish in wanting happiness for my first daughter."
My anger dissipated instantly. "There is nothing to forgive." I told him, and we turned back to our vigil over Bella.
I watched the transformation working on her frail body. The bite on her wrist was already sealed, the only trace of it left was a shiny crescent-shaped scar. The scrapes on her arms were gone, and her two broken ribs popped back into place loudly. I could hear her internal organs being repaired, and finally her broken leg snapped back together. I winced in empathetic pain for her, knowing what she must be experiencing now. The broken bones, scrapes and bruises would be nothing compared to the fire consuming her from within.
I sat holding her hand and singing a wordless lullaby for what felt like hours.
Finally I felt her fingers flutter in my palm. She was waking up. I stepped back, confused and frightened. Her heart still beat as strongly as ever. The venom should have taken hold of her heart and stopped it. Only then would the transformation be complete. I grabbed hold of Carlisle's arm and watched as Bella rose gracefully, inhumanly to her feet.
The being that stood before me was a stranger. Bella's pale, creamy skin was now a pearlescent white. Her unruly dark brown hair now fell in shining black ringlets down her back. Her full, pink lips were now as white as her skin, and caked with dried blood. Her heart beat as steady as a metronome. And worst of all, the intoxicating, maddening scent of her was stronger than ever. I stumbled backward in fear. Carlisle reached out to steady me and held on, probably worried that I was about to make a run for it.
And then the creature opened her eyes. The warm, chocolate-brown irises darted erratically in every direction. She focused on me, and I froze under the weight of her gaze. In the depths of those eyes I saw confusion, then recognition, and finally elation. Through those eyes I was looking at my Bella.
With a strangled cry I tore myself from Carlisle's arm and crushed her to me. The arms that wrapped around me held me just as tightly. I broke our embrace and held her out at arms' length, drinking in the sight of her. I filled my eyes with every detail of the girl I thought I'd lost forever.
"Bella," I breathed. "Are you alright?"
"I…think so. I feel…different." Her eyes were filled with confusion again, and now fear. "Where is he? Where's James?"
"We don't have to worry about him ever again. He's dead."
She frowned, as if trying to remember. "Did you kill him?"
"No, lass. You did. He fed on you, and your blood poisoned him."
Her eyes widened, and she looked down at the scar on her wrist. "I remember now. The bite, the fire. I was burning." She looked up at me then, wide eyes fathomless. "Is it done? Am I…am I a vampire?" Her question was barely a whisper.
I looked at her for a long time, trying to figure out what to say. Luckily Carlisle stepped in to help.
"No Bella," he told her gently. "You are not a vampire."
I watched her expression intently, searching for her true reaction. Would she be relieved or disappointed? To my eternal frustration, I still could not hear her thoughts. Apparently Alice was wrong. The transformation did not open her mind to us.
"What am I?" she gasped.
"Not vampire, but nor are you human. You are something new."
Her breath quickened, and I could feel the fear rolling off of her in waves. "It will be okay. We will figure this out together." I told her and squeezed her hand. She smiled at me in return.
Then she looked back to Carlisle, mouth open in horror. "Carlisle!" She cried. "Esme, she…she…and Alice!" She fell to her knees, overcome with grief.
Carlisle and I knelt with her. I placed my finger under her chin and turned her face toward me, then took my other hand and wiped away her tears.
"They will both be fine," Carlisle told her, and her body sagged into me with relief. "but we need to get them home as soon as possible." She nodded, and I helped her to stand again.
"Carlisle," I said in a low voice. "What about James? We need to dispose of the body."
"Emmett!" Carlisle called, and Emmett stepped forward. "You know what to do. Pull him apart and burn the pieces. Rosalie, you help him." Carlisle whispered something to him that I couldn't hear, and I was too distracted with Bella to read their thoughts. They nodded and hurried to take care of it. Carlisle turned back to me. "Eva, take Bella home, she needs rest. Bella, I spoke with your father earlier this evening, you have permission to stay at our house tonight."
Bella released my hand for a moment to throw her arms around Carlisle in a sudden embrace. "I am so sorry that I endangered your family tonight." She told him. "But thank you, for everything."
He looked taken aback, but pleased. "As I said before, you are one of us now. We protect our family." And they smiled at each other. Then I put my arm under Bella's and helped her to the car.
I drove home with her hand in mine and her head on my shoulder. With every second that she was still beside me I became more grateful that she was here, still breathing and still Bella. I resolved to never let her out of my sight again.
We reached home and I carried her up to bed. I gave her a spare set of pajamas and took her torn and bloody clothes downstairs to burn them. I still had no idea how toxic her blood might be. As I was lighting a fire in the large fireplace in the living room I heard the others return.
"We'll go back tomorrow and I'll help you repair it." Rosalie was telling Emmett as they helped Carlisle and Jasper carry in Esme and Alice. I ran down to the cellar and grabbed a handful of our emergency blood bags from the freezer. Back upstairs, I emptied the bags into two large cups and warmed them in the microwave. The aroma set my throat on fire and I felt suddenly parched. But this blood was not for me.
I carried the cups to where Esme and Alice lay on the couches in the living room. Carlisle gently opened Esme's mouth and held the cup to her lips. As soon as the blood touched her mouth she sat up with a gasp, then stretched and popped her neck back into place.
"Ouch!" She cried, rubbing the back of her neck. Carlisle held her close to him.
Jasper did the same for Alice, who needed to drink the whole cup before she regained consciousness. She had lost a lot of blood when James attacked her. As soon as she was done kissing Jasper she ran to me.
"Evie, I am so sorry." Her voice broke with emotion. "I couldn't protect her, it's all my fault!"
"Alice, shh, it's okay. Everything's fine." And I explained everything to her.
She sat staring in shock. "Not a vampire…" she mused.
Esme had been listening to my explanation of the events of the evening, and her expression mirrored Alice's. I looked around at my family, certain we were all wondering the same thing: what had Bella become?
"So what is she still doing here?" Rosalie asked. I was halfway out of my seat before Carlisle eased me back into my chair with a hand on my shoulder.
"She's with me," I growled through clenched teeth.
"We have no idea what she's capable of, or what her intentions are."
My answering snarl was loud enough to rattle the frames on the walls.
Rose was undaunted. "She just killed one of us." She reminded me.
"James was not one of us!" I spat.
"You know what I mean," she rolled her eyes, "a vampire was just killed and we have no idea how. She's dangerous!"
"Let's not be too hasty, Rose." Carlisle told her. "Bella has never given us a reason to mistrust her."
"Even so, we should be cautious don't you think?" Jasper asked, his tone colored with worry.
"What are you suggesting?" I snapped.
"Just that we keep an eye on her."
"I intend to do just that." And I stomped out of the room.
I climbed the stairs to my room knowing one thing only- that no matter what she is, Bella is the one I love. It had all become clear to me when I had almost lost her. I could not imagine my existence without her, and regardless of what my family might think I was going to be with her.