Chapter 91 – Assailment
Alice and I had spent a few hours trying to piece everything together but no matter how many different directions we took the results were always the same.
What had happened and was still happening was cloaked in mystery. Reuben was a mystery. Why now? Why after all this time?
"I wonder if Sam and the pack have found anything" Alice asked as my fingers played with her silken tresses. She was laid on her back, her head resting on my lap. Her eyes were looking up at me intently. My phone started to beep. I retrieved it from my pocket and glance at the screen.
"It's from Jake" I replied, as I read the text aloud.
"Charlie is okay. I had to go back to the reservation to collect some things they forgot. Come and meet me alone before I head back. We need to talk"
I looked at Alice who was frowning. "I dislike the idea of you going anywhere alone" she replied, lifting herself graciously from my lap. I placed a quick kiss on the top of her head as she rested against my shoulder.
"Edward and the others are out there, remember" I answered, although I still felt Alice stiffen beside me. "Besides you can always come with me as far as the reservation?" I then suggested, as Alice seemed to visibly relax.
"Then we can find the others and re-group?" she asked, as I nodded. She lifted her face so the tip of her nose was against my own.
"I'll wait for you Bella, on the perimeter"
I smiled.
We walked towards the reservation; I wasn't entirely sure where the perimeter started until Alice suddenly stopped.
"We're here" she whispered, as I stopped beside her.
"I hate this, Bella" she continued, as I squeezed her hand.
"Nothing can get to me in there" I pointed towards the reservation. "Not all of Sam's pack is out looking for Reuben. Some stayed behind… and there is Jake…."
"Mmm, that's what bothers me" she replied caustically as I squeezed her hand again.
"Alice…"
"I know I know…." she pouted, as I placed my hands on the side of her face.
"Shut up and kiss me" I demanded as her lips descended on mine…
I walked slowly towards the direction Alice had pointed me in. Someone at the reservation was burning a fire. If I hadn't seen the smoke, I could certainly smell it. As I walked, I could see the dark smoke rise steadily into the late afternoon sky. As my pace quickened I could make out a small clearing where the fire was burning.
I had always been fascinated by flames. Every time I had visited Charlie as a child he had taken me camping in these woods, toasting marshmallows as a treat on the flickering and curling flames. Tossing dry leaves and twigs on the apricot and scarlet, hearing them crackle had always been my favourite part. I loved how they were devoured, giving the flames more strength to rise…
But now? Now I had quite an aversion to the flames, especially after what I had read in the Myths and legends book…
Fire kills vampires…
Fire could kill Alice, and her family. My family….
Fire could kill me.
Okay, so fire could in essence kill anyone but now it seemed more…potent a threat. Very little could harm vampires… could harm me… but fire….
Before I got close to the reservation, and the fire it happened.
Jake wasn't the first person I saw. Nor did I meet any of the wolf pack.
As I slowly approached a burning fire in the distance, I heard it.
A scream.
And then I saw it….
I watched as a familiar shape seemed to literally fly over the top of my head. Everything around me was happening so fast, yet this…
Slow.
It was almost like I was watching a scene from a movie in slow motion.
The body finally landed hard against a tree stump with what could only be described as a loud thud. I turned to face the now slumped figure.
Bloodied, battered and broken.
If my heart was still capable of sustaining a beat, it would be hammering in my chest right now… making a thump far louder than the noise made by the body landing on the woodland floor.
What had happened?
What was happening?
Those same questions echoed around my head again.
Without another thought I found myself crouched beside the figure, my eyes flickering across the body searching for the smallest hint of movement…. I found one as it twitched a little under my gaze.
She wasn't dead…
The way she was slumped over reminded me of the rag doll my mum had given me for my fifth birthday. I had named her Lucy. For such a long time we were inseparable and I knew if I looked in a box under the foot of my bed I would find her in there, buried under old school books and makeshift diaries I had attempted to write in as a child, though I had always lost interest part way through. Nothing I deemed interesting ever happened to me as a child, ergo I often struggled to write anything even remotely interesting in my diaries…
How things change.
She twisted a little, a look of pain etched on her pale face…
The way her head was hanging to one side reminded me of Lucy again, her legs and arms dangling, the similarities between Lucy and this body was startling, the way their limbs both hung at their sides, lifeless… only this rag doll was bleeding profusely from her arms and legs, so much blood I wasn't entirely certain where her wounds started or how deep they were… and her face… so very different to Lucy's. No rosy red cheeks or pink lips on a smiling face could be found here. No wide and bright blue eyes looking up at me now, only an ashen face with cuts and bruises and more blood.
And eyes… eyes that were flickering and now trying to open marginally, pain etched deep within her orbs…
"Bella…"
Her voice, like her body, was broken. The pain was unyielding and oppressive. I felt helpless.
"I'm here" I whispered as I took her hand in mine. Her fingers were small stalagmites, icy and rigid…
"What happened?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.
Reuben.
"Reuben" she mumbled as fresh blood that had curdled at the side of her lip started to drip down her chin.
Her response and my thought had appeared simultaneously.
"You shouldn't have approached him alone" I continued as the eyes opened a little more.
Reuben, always causing so much pain and anguish and now I had visual proof of what he was capable of. He could inflict so much destruction like a tornado; earthquake or great flood can destroy everything in its path… only there was nothing natural about Reuben.
Was she going to die? I wasn't an expert when it came to vampires…. If you believed in the movies she would be back up on her feet in minutes…. She hadn't been staked through the heart, her head was still intact and as far as I could tell, Reuben hadn't spent their meeting throwing garlic at her, squirting her with a holy water pistol…
Bella, get a grip….
I visibly shook my head to try and disperse the erratic thoughts that were cascading around my brain. If she wasn't going to die, it was going to take a very long time for her to heal… I needed Carlisle…
Why was she here, alone? Where were the others?
"You shouldn't have gone alone" I whispered again as my eyes followed a trail of blood that was slowly falling from a cut on her forehead, dripping down past her eye, down her cheekbone, slowly – so slowly…. I could smell it, and I was mesmerised by it…
Blood.
There was so much blood….
My stomach growled as her eyes now shot open. The sudden movement brought me out of my trance as I looked directly at her eyes… the look she was giving me could only be described as…
Arrogant.
Something I was used to. Her life, her body and seemingly her ego had all been vandalized by Reuben,
"Why the hell not?" she spat, fresh blood congealing on her bottom lip making her cough.
I gripped at her hand, "because of this, Antara" I motioned to her crumpled body with a quick nod.
"You went alone" she replied, in between fits of more coughing. My eyes rolled. She was even argumentative when in pain… and by the look on her face, she was in absolute pain, though she was trying her best to cover it….
She tried to move but it was a futile attempt. Her legs were clearly broken in more than one place…
"This isn't your fight" I replied, my voice now laced with concern. I needed Carlisle….
"This isn't about you" I finished as she closed her eyes, nodding slowly. Even this small movement caused her pain as her face contorted….
"And I am stronger than you" I finished, as her eyes shot open again. I smiled. I knew that would take her mind off things…
"Go to hell" she spat again before breaking out into a wry smile.
"You first" I replied calmly as a shadow appeared and covered us both…
A/N... One final chapter to go... please stick with me!