I don't own anything!

Chapter 32

Goodbye friend

"I'm dreaming." Tan was staring at Bella with horrified eyes. Bella had not moved, was still sitting Indian-style on the cold stone floor. She shook her head.

"No."

"Then I'm insane. Locked up somewhere. Hallucinating. Someone gave me some bad acid. Something …"

"No."

"How can you say 'No'? This shit is not possible."

"I sometimes find it hard to believe, myself. I've only been a vampire for a few days, and I was human less than a month ago. You grow accustomed to it pretty quickly, though."

"Somebody wake me up," Tan moaned. Bella shrugged.

"Okay. I don't really care whether you accept this or not, right now. How about this? At least play along. It will make things easier in the long run." Tan sighed, shrugged, and said,

"Fine. You're a vampire. I'm a vampire, too, I guess? What do we do now?"

"Do you want to get out of the cell? I can take you upstairs to meet the others … or Edward, at least."

"Who's Edward?"

"Edward and the girl, who made you, Rosalie, were made by the same vampire. If you follow the whole vampire lineage thing, I guess he's something like your uncle." Tan grimaced.

"If I pretend to believe you, will you let me out of here?"

"You have to promise me a few things."

"Like?"

"Like first, you're not going to bolt out the door the moment I open it. You wouldn't make it past me, and you definitely wouldn't make it out of the mansion. Edward would know what you were doing before you got up the steps. Even if you did get outside, you'd have to deal with Alice, and I think she'd probably kill you. So when I open the bars, let's stay calm, okay?"

"I can do that, I guess."

"Good. Second, try to keep an open mind. I know how hard that is … believe me, I know. Try to at least give what you're seeing and hearing a chance, before shutting it all out."

"I … okay, I'll try." Tan didn't sound like she held much faith in herself on this point, but at least she had regained some of her composure.

Bella produced the key Edward had given her, unlatched the door, and opened it.

"Okay. Let's go upstairs."

It was evident to Bella, simply by the expression on Tan's face, that she was no more accustomed to such opulence than Bella had been.

Tan seemed unable to decide what to look at first, and was moving her head about in quick motions, like a bird, taking it all in.

"Interesting, huh?" Bella was walking slightly behind Tan, letting the girl take her own meandering course through the first floor's many interlocking rooms.

"It's incredible." There was silence for a time, as they walked. Eventually, Tan spoke again. "So … you said the girl I met in the bar was Rosalie, right?"

"Yes, her name is Rosalie."

"Who are you?" Bella laughed. She'd forgotten to introduce herself. "My name's Bella."

"Do you live here?"

"I do now, yes. For the time being, anyway. Like I said before, I'm pretty new to all of this myself."

"Did Rosalie do this to you, too?" Bella suppressed a shudder.

"No. Rosalie is, well … it's complicated. Rosalie is Edward's sister, so to speak—sister vampire anyway; the same person made both of them. She and Edward, and another girl, Alice, were created by the elder vampire who lives in the other wing of the mansion. His name's Carlisle, and if you never meet him, then consider yourself lucky.

"Edward created me, but I'm not really his daughter. More like his girlfriend or wife, I guess. Like I said: complicated." Tan said nothing.

She glanced briefly at Bella, and the expression spoke volumes about her scepticism.

"I know you don't believe me, Tan. Just … let's go on, okay? Maybe Edward can convince you." Tan shrugged.

"Don't get your hopes up."

Edward was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Bella lead Tan back to the media room.

"We might as well wait here for him. You can watch TV or something."

"I want to get out of here."

"We can't, yet. You need to talk to Edward first. Trust me."

"Why?" Bella opened her mouth to explain, but before she could, they were interrupted.

The mansion's front door opened, closed, latched. Footsteps in the hall, growing louder, coming toward them.

Bella turned, expecting Edward. She was greeted instead by a nightmare.

Rosalie. It had to be Rosalie. She was standing in the doorway, drenched in blood. The red liquid coated her face, her neck, the collar and upper buttons of her blouse. Her hair was tousled. Her eyes burned like embers.

"What are you doing in this room, with my child?" Rosalie's voice was calm, but her expression bore malice beyond anything Bella had thought possible.

She leaned her weight on one hand, resting on the door frame. Her fingernails made repeated clicks against the bevelled wood. Bella breathed deeply, steeled herself, met Rosalie's gaze and held it.

"Talking."

"If I wanted you talking with her, I would have given you my permission."

"You weren't around. Your better half went out hunting." Rosalie retained her composure, but her lip curled up at this. She glared at Bella for a moment, and then her lips formed a smile. Her eyes still held nothing but hate.

"The woman you're referring to is gone. She gave up. She let me in. First time in my life I haven't had to wait for the stupid bitch to go to sleep to take over. She just … gave up. It was marvellous. She gave me control, and that tells me everything. I know it, and she knows it: I am the better half."

Bella opened her mouth to reply to this, and Rosalie held up her hand.

"Save it. Rose's stupid and scatter-brained and she doesn't remember anything about me, but I remember lots of things from her time in this body. Like what Edward's planning. His little parting gift to his sisters. I know all about your little plot: the priest and the prostitute, safe and happy and away. I know what Edward has planned for me and Alice.

"But oh, Bella, he doesn't know what I have planned for you!"

Without further warning, Rosalie sprung forward into the room, moving at the same uncanny speed that Bella had seen before, in the forest.

Tan shrieked something incoherent, terror in her voice. Bella felt adrenaline flood her body, felt herself springing to her feet as if propelled by some outside force.

She shoved the sofa at Rosalie and backed away, holding her hands up. Her hip bumped an end table, and she put it between herself and her oncoming attacker.

Rosalie vaulted the sofa with ease, came to rest on the carpet in front of it, and leapt again in one fluid motion. Her timing was nearly perfect, and Bella was only able to dodge out of the way by fractions of a second.

Rosalie hit the hard oak end table with the full force of her weight, and it shattered under the impact, vomiting pieces of itself in a spray around the room.

Bella dodged flying debris and moved behind the couch, looking for escape. The door led to the hall, but then what? Rosalie would catch her before she reached the mansion's entrance. The other vampire, the woman who shared the body with someone Bella considered a friend, almost a sister, was back on her feet and raving.

"You weak, stupid, useless whore! Where is your protector? Your lover? Your Superman? He is with Carlisle. Carlisle called to him, and he went, and left you helpless. I'm going to bring Carlisle your heart on a plate, and he'll laugh and laugh, and there's nothing Edward will be able to do about it!"

"Rosalie, Rosalie, wait! You don't have to do this. It doesn't have to be like that!" Bella heard herself speaking, heard the fear in her voice, and could accept it. It was the tone that made her hate herself.

The pleading tone sounded like old memories, like her time with Mike, like empty despair.

This situation was out of Bella's control and there was no hope for salvation. Edward was not here to swoop in and save her.

Rosalie snarled, racing around one edge of the couch. Bella moved swiftly to the other, keeping the sofa between herself and Rosalie's claws, hooked into talons and ready to tear at flesh.

Her foot landed on something: a table leg. It rolled, and Bella was unable to cope with the sudden shift in balance. She stumbled backward, fell to the carpet and landed on her back with a thud.

The plush softness of the material seemed somehow obscene in light of the situation. Rosalie howled in triumph and flung herself again into the air, so fast that Bella could barely track her movement.

It was too late to roll, too late to dodge, too late to do anything. Time seemed to stretch out. Rosalie was in the air above her, a vision of death and hate and horror unlike any Bella had ever beheld.

Bella's hands scrabbled at her sides, looking for something, anything. Her hands touched something cylindrical, grabbed it in a panic, and brought it in front of her.

The table leg. Twelve inches long, three in diameter, the leg had splintered into a sharp point when the table had disintegrated. Bella held it out against the oncoming impact in desperation. Rosalie's eyes flared wide in surprise just before she landed.

The sound the piece of oak made as it entered Rosalie's breastplate was indescribable. Splitting flesh, cleaving through bone, it pierced her body, the force of her landing driving it further and further in.

Bella felt a sudden liquid warmth gush across her hands. She shoved out and up, flipping the girl over on her back.

Rosalie somersaulted, flailed in the air, and crashed to the floor on her back. Bella rolled away, blood on her hands, her clothes, the carpet, everywhere.

Rosalie was making strangled choking noises, clawing at the stake in her chest, unable to get a decent handhold through the blood and the pain. She writhed on the floor, unable to lie flat.

The point of the table leg held her back in an arched position. She screamed, and the scream became wet and strained, filling the air with red mist. Then she fell back again and was still.

Bella lay on the ground, waiting for her limbs to stop shaking. It seemed an eternity but was in truth only moments. She pushed herself to a sitting position and looked at the body on the floor in front of her.

She was vaguely aware of Tan's presence beside her. The half-vampire spoke, her voice taut and breathy with tension.

"Holy shit!" The body on the floor jerked at this sound, arms flailing, and clawed at the entertainment centre to its left. Rosalie's nails dug into the wood, splintering it.

With an effort, she hauled herself upward, leaning against the wall, coughing blood. She brought her feet around and slumped into a sitting position, leaning against the cabinet, looking at the stake in her chest.

"Oh, God," Bella moaned. She scrambled backward on her hands, like a crab, away from the figure. At this, the girl's head jerked upward. Her eyes locked with Bella's. Not Rosalie's eyes, Bella realized. Rose's.

"Oh, God!" Bella cried. "Oh, no! Rose …" She crawled back toward Rose.

The wood had pierced the lower part of Rose's breastplate, traveling at an upward path and emerging just to the left of her spine, some six inches above the spot it had entered.

Not knowing what else to do, Bella grasped at the stake and began to tug, trying to pull it from her friend's body. Rose regarded her calmly, opened her mouth, tried to talk. A crimson bubble formed, burst at her lips, and the words came.

"Bella. Bella, stop. It hurts. Please stop."

Bella stopped, looked at Rose, tried to say something that would make up for what she had done, and instead burst into tears. Rose took her hand.

"Its okay, Bella. Thank you. She's gone. She's dead, Bella. You killed her. Thank you. I'm dying too, I guess, but that's okay. I told you: I was going to die anyway." Bella was making whimpering sounds, between her sobs.

She wanted words to come. She wanted to apologize, to take it back somehow. Her throat seemed incapable of forming articulate sound.

She pressed her forehead against Rose's, tilted it up, pressed her lips against the bridge of Rose's nose.

"Sisters." Rose's voice was weakening. She turned her head; coughed blood again, looked at Bella in apology. Bella reached out and smoothed Rose's hair away from her eyes.

"It's not so bad. It's all right. I don't even feel it anymore. I'm all numb. It's not so bad, Bella. It's not so bad, Edward." Rose's eyes moved away from Bella, focused on a point behind her.

Edward stood in the doorway, motionless. His expression was calm, almost peaceful, but there were tears in his eyes.

"Is it not, Rose?" he asked.

"No. Edward?"

"Yes."

"Thank you … for being my friend for all these years. You gave me more than I deserved."

"Rose. My sister, you deserve far more than anything I could ever have given." Rose closed her eyes for a moment, opened them, and looked back at Bella. Her voice was little more than the movement of air past her lips.

"You're going to be a wonderful vampire. He loves you. An eternity of love, Bella. Don't cry." Bella found her voice at last, a brittle croak that made her throat ache.

"I'm sorry for this, Rose. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I'm free. You're free. Don't be sorry." She looked again at Edward, who had moved to kneel beside her, and opened her mouth to say something else.

It never came. As she drew in breath, her chest hitched once. Twice. Settled. Rose's eyes grew wide and distant, distant and dark; like a glass reflecting eternity.

Bella made a low, sorrowful noise, closed her eyes, and held Rose's hand. Edward spoke, but his voice was distant. Distant and dark.

"Peace be with you, Rose. If there is a God, and if he is just, he will bring you to a better place than this."

Bella felt herself rising, felt herself moving away, running away, as far away as she could go. She made it six feet before she tripped, stumbled, fell to the floor. Her hands clenched at the carpet, as if to tear it from the floor.

Death, despair, love. The love made it worse, somehow. An eternity of love.

Bella put her face in the soft loops of wool, sobbing.