Hey guys! So here is chapter 36 .. FINALLY! Sorry for the wait but life got busy. This chapter is rather dark, bloody and graphic so if that's not your thing you might want to give it a miss. Just want to give a big thanks to all the reviews, followers and favourites Enjoy reading and I'll see you at the bottom
The foyer of the assembly hall entrance was stormed by screaming students and angry werewolves. You could practically smell death in the air. Blood was splattered and smeared across the walls and floors. It looked like a scene from a horror movie, our own personalised horror movie. The fearful screams of the students tore through the night like knives.
I could hear the thud of Alice's body hitting the floor with a force. The sound vibrated through my entire body and made my blood boil. Her fragile, tiny body hit the ground with a force that was sure to knock the wind right out of her. With the big furry werewolf lingering on top of her, it was impossible to discern where their bodies didn't touch. The angry wolf was too close to her and it made my blood boil even more so. All it had taken was a split second for the ferocious wolf to tackle tiny Alice to the ground, but whether or not that slip second it took me to react will cost Alice her life was unclear. It was weighing heavily on my mind and fuelled my anger.
I screamed at the top of my lungs as I lifted my hand and focused all my anger and rage into one powerful swing that threw the werewolf away from Alice's body and against the wall. The giant werewolf hit the wall with a sickly crunch and toppled to the ground. I was vibrating with adrenaline and rage. I stalked towards the wall across from me where the werewolf was struggling to get up from the floor.
I placed all my focus on the werewolf in front of me. I concentrated until I could feel his heart frantically beating through my veins. I directed the feeling of his pulse towards my outstretched palm and clenched it into a fist as the wolf managed to get on his feet. The wolf dropped to the floor and let out a painful howl as I continued to clench my fist tighter as I imagined it was his heart. I could feel his heart in my palm, pumping frantically. His fear and pain was like an aroma that surrounded my senses.
I slowly stalked closer to him, enjoying the pain I was causing him. I could feel a darkness within me that encouraging me to torture the wolf further. The darkness started sweeping into my veins with a delicious rush of power. It was seductive and dangerous. Warning bells went off in the back of my head but as the dark power simmered through my body I ignore the warning.
The closer I got to the wolf the tighter I continued to clench my fist and the louder his howls of pain grew. Each of his howls of pain fuelled the delicious darkness inside me. I craved more, I needed more. I could hear my name being called in the distance, but I was too focused on the pain I was inflicting on the now defenceless wolf lying in a pile on the floor whimpering in pain. I relished in the way this giant powerful creature was lying on the floor like a pathetic mess and it was at my hands he was suffering.
As I stood less than a foot away from the wolf I scanned his body, sadistically enjoying the knowledge that I was inflicting the pain that caused his body to shake so violently. I raised my other hand and focus on his ribs and clenched my fist closed. I listened intently to the sound of his ribs breaking and being crushed as he howled out in pain. The darkness was spreading through my veins like a wildfire, whispering in my ear to break more bones, too cause more pain.
I could feel myself slipping away, giving in to the dark force that was driving me at that moment. I broke another rib as the wolf's heartbeat started slowing down. The calling of my name was getting closer as I broke yet another rib. The wolf's agonizing howl was all that could be heard in the foyer. I could feel his heart beat slipping away. Before I could break more ribs, inflict harsher pain before the werewolf died, strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me to the ground.
The attack took me by surprise as I was so intently focused on the wolf's detreating heartbeat. I landed on my back with a loud thud and the strong arms grabbed on to my wrist and restrained them above my head. I blinked a few times as my vision was distorted from the fall.
Hovering above me was my beautiful Edward. He always managed to take my breath away with his god-like beauty no matter how serious the circumstances are. Edward was breathing heavy and looked both worried and angry. My admiration of Edward's beauty wore of very quickly as I remembered what I was busy doing.
"What the fuck are you doing?! Let me go!" I screamed at Edward while trying to get out of his death grip. I knew I could use my power to simply throw Edward of me, but I never wanted to use my power against him. Edward's grip tightened on my wrist as I continued to struggle to get away.
"Bella, you need to stop! This isn't you." Edward pleaded with sad eyes.
"No! He killed Alice! He deserves to die! Let me go, Edward!" I cried out.
"His already dead Bella! He did deserve to die, but you tortured him to a level that is not like you!" Edward argued as he tightened his grip on my wrist.
"He fucking deserved everything he got! He should have been tortured more!" I screamed as I sat up and started pounding on Edward's chest. Edward grabbed my hands in his once more and pulled me into his lap.
"Bella, you broke half the bones in his body, you tore out his heart after squeezing it into pulp. The howls and screams from the wolf and students were enough for the remaining wolves to retreat and run away. What you did was not like you." Edward tried to explain. I froze at his words. Had I really gone that far? Had I really tortured the wolf to such an extreme level? I knew I was destroying his heart and breaking his ribs, but I didn't realise the extended to which it went. I felt physically ill at what I had done.
I had always struggled with the idea of ever killing anyone and here I was getting lost in torturing creatures. I could feel the hot wet tears rolling down my cheeks. I felt like a monster as I looked over to where the wolf laid lifelessly, his body mangled and covered in blood. What was left of his heart was lying next to his body in a river of blood. As I looked at what I have done I remembered why and the intense feeling of darkness. I would deal with the tempting darkness late as Alice was my main concern.
"Where is Alice?" I breathed out as I stood up from Edward's lap. Edward helped me up with an arm around my waist. In the middle of the foyer was Jasper crouched on the floor with a limp Alice in his arms. It was clear that he was crying as tried to wipe her hair from her face with a bloodied hand. Alice wasn't moving, her body lifeless in Jasper's arms.
The foyer was empty apart from the four of us and the dead wolves and students that littered the floor. It was a scene that not even my worst nightmare could compete with. Some wolves were beheaded and lying in pools of blood while others had been set on fire. I had assumed those on fire were killed by magic. Magic such as the affinity for fire, like Edward, has. Amongst the dead wolves, there were students. They were torn apart or bitten so savagely that it was impossible to identify them. I could feel the contents of my stomach threatening to come up as I looked at scattered body parts of my fellow students.
I stumbled over to Alice and dropped to my knees next to her body. She looked even smaller than she was. Her dress was ripped and torn apart. She had blood splattered over her body but what chilled my blood was the werewolf bite to her neck. He had gone straight for the jugular. Alice's neck, chest and torso was covered in blood. Her eyes were closed and her lips were parted. She looked peaceful. My heart clenched painfully at the thought of never seeing her again.
Tears were streaming freely down my face. I was shaking violently as ran my hand over Alice's pale cheek. The usual rosy colour that tinted her cheeks were gone.
"Don't do this to me Alice. Come back to me." I whispered softly as I placed a kiss on her forehead. Sobs wracked my body as I muffled my pleas against her head.
"Bella, she's gone." Jasper sobbed as his arms tightened around Alice's body. He was crying and he looked so broken.
"No, she can't be!" I yelled. In a desperate attempt I pulled Alice's from Jasper's arms and laid her flat on the ground. I tried to perform CPR. I placed my hands between the valley of her breast and started compressions. Jasper and Edward tried to pull me away but with a swipe of my hand they went stumbling back.
"Bella, love stop. You are only hurting yourself more." Edward pleaded with me. I couldn't stop. I couldn't accept the death of my friend. Edward placed his hands on my shoulder, pleading with me to let go. I knew he was right and I was only prolonging the inevitable. I stopped the compressions and simply placed my hand over her heart as I continued to sob.
I looked at my friends face, wanting to commit it to memory. Alice had a small delicate face. She had big blue eyes that always shone with happiness. Her cheekbones were high and well defined and was usually tinted with a rosy colour. She had pouty lips that made her look adorable. She was a unique beauty and had a colourful soul. As I memorized every feature of her face I felt a light thump beneath my hand. My eyes grew wide and I looked down to where my hand was gently placed over her heart. Then there was another light thump. I took a deep breath and focused on Alice's heart and the thumps below my hand.
She had a heartbeat, a very faint, nearly non-existent one, but it was there. As I focused on Alice's faint heartbeat mine sped up with a rush at the possibility of having my friend back. With everything I had left, all my remaining energy, I squeezed Alice's heart using my power, to try and speed up her heart rate. Slowly but surely her heart started beating stronger and faster. After a few seconds, Alice's head shot up as she gasped for air.
Jasper rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her. Alice's was breathing heavily and her eyes blinking as they try and focus. Edward kneeled down beside me and wrapped and arm around my waist. He looked both amazed and happy with tears in his eyes. Alice wrapped her arms around Jasper and embraced him.
Jasper had a triumphant smile as he held Alice.
"How is this possible?" Jasper asked as he placed a loving kiss on her head.
"I'm not sure, but I could feel you, Bella. I could feel your energy sweeping through my body." Alice said as I glanced at me with a thankful smile.
"I could feel a very faint heartbeat. I focused all my energy on trying to get your heart rate up and I guess it worked." I explained as I smiled like an idiot from the happiness of Alice being alive. I leaned over and gave Alice a tight hug.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" I admonished her.
"I'll try my best," she chuckled.
"Welcome back pipsqueak," Edward joked as he gave her a hug.
"Ha! It's good to see you to Eddie," Alice retorted with a smirk.
"Urg! My dress is ruined and I'm covered in blood!" Alice complained. Edward, Jasper and I went silent as we watched Alice fuss over her torn, blood stained dress. Alice might be alive and smiling, but she was still bitten by a werewolf. There was nothing we could do to change that and as the night was not over yet and the full moon still shone brightly, she will start her transition.
"What's wrong guys? You all look like you have seen a ghost," Alice asked as she looked between our grim faces.
"You were bitten by a werewolf," I said quietly, giving Alice a sympathetic look.
"Oh," Alice said as her hand instinctively went up to her neck where she was bitten. The open wound left by the werewolf bite was no longer bleeding but looked awfully painful.
"We need a plan," Jasper said jumping to his feet. We all stood as Jasper extended his hand to help Alice up.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked in a small frightened voice.
"Alice, once you get bitten by a werewolf the venom will rush through your blood, infecting you. With the first full moon after the bite, you will go through transition and turn into a werewolf. It is a gruelling process and many don't survive. When we find someone that was bitten by a werewolf we usually kill them. As it is still a full moon your transition will start tonight. We need to get you out of sight before someone finds you while transitioning," Edward explained.
"I'm going to turn into a werewolf?" Alice asked frightened.
"Yes, sweetie. But don't worry we will be there with you all the way. We will monitor you and make sure you get through this. We won't lose you again," I promised.
"What are we going to do? We need to hide until the transition is over without anyone finding us. With what happened tonight every werewolf or person bitten will be killed, no one will be spared," Jasper said with worried eyes. It was clear how much Alice meant to him and I was truly happy for them. I was determined to help Alice. There was no way I hell that I was going to lose her again or deny her the chance at happiness Jasper represents.
"We can take her down to the dungeon. Lizzie kept Liam shackled there. We can used the shackles so that Alice won't be able to hurt herself or any of us during her transition," I said looking at Edward for help. I knew going back down to the dungeon will hurt Edward dearly as Liam's body was still down there.
"That could work. Everyone will be up here looking after the students and cleaning up. No one will venture down to the dungeon. We can use the shackles as you suggest Bella. They should be strong enough to protect all of us from the transition phase. Are you ok with that Alice?" Edward asked softly.
"Are you guys sure about this? Are you really willing to put your lives at risk for me like this? If anyone finds out I'm a werewolf they will kill me and punish you guys!" Alice stressed. She was clearly oblivious to just how much she meant to all of us.
"Alice, we love you. Of course, we are willing to risk our lives for you. We wouldn't have it any other way," I assured her.
"She's right Ally. We need you in our lives," Jasper told her and gave her a small kiss. I noticed he neglected to tell her he loves her. I had a feeling it was because he didn't want to tell her given the circumstances and not because he doesn't love her. It was the same reason I haven't told Edward I love him. I didn't want it to be tainted by the fear of losing him. When I did tell him I love him I wanted it to be special not because I was afraid I won't have another chance.
"Life without you would be too boring to bear, Alice," Edward added with a wink.
"Ok, we need to get moving. Edward, you and Jasper take Alice down to the dungeon and I will go find Rose and Emmett to make sure that they're ok and let them in on the plan," I said as I scan the room for anyone that might have come into the foyer.
"Bella is right we need to get moving before someone finds us. We can figure out the rest while we are down there," Jasper said as he lifted Alice into his arms. I took a look at one of my best friends that had come to mean so much to me in such a short time. She looked paler than before, she was shivering and beads of sweat rolled down her face. They were all signs of the transition. Liam had gone through similar symptoms when Emmett and I found him in the Unknown.
"Bella, you should go down to the dungeon with Jasper and Alice and I will go find Emmett and Rose," Edward insisted. He knew my secret. He knew once I found Emmett and Rose I would go after Lizzie. He knew I would stop at nothing to get to her and inflict the amount of pain she has caused others onto her. I would follow her into the darkest depths of the Unknown if I had to.
"Edward.." I tried to argue, but he cut me off.
"No, Bella. I won't let you put your life in danger for revenge. Lizzie is most likely ran and hidden in the Unknown by now. I promise you I will find Emmett and Rose, make sure they're ok, tell them about Alice and come back to you," Edward promised and kissed the top of my head.
"Ok, but be careful and hurry. I can't lose you," I whispered and kissed his luscious lips before those three words escaped my lips. I knew Edward was sensible and wouldn't let his anger get in the way of helping Alice. He was right, we needed to focus on Alice. Lizzie has been exposed and we will hunt her down like the animal she had become. Just thinking about her and what she had done made rage surged through my veins like fire.
"Be careful man," Jasper said to Edward with a worried smile.
"Promise me you will be careful. None of us knows what lies beyond that door," I pleaded with Edward not wanting to really let him go.
"I promise I will be, love. Now go help our friend. She's going to need you now more than ever," Edward said as he gave me a quick tight hug.
And with that Jasper and I made our way down to the dungeon as Edward ventured into the assembly hall. I shiver of terror ran down my spine at the thought of what he might find. Will he find Rose and Emmett alive and well? Are they hurt? Are they afraid? A million questions ran through my head and all I could do is hope that my best friend and Edward's sister was safe and well. Before I could give more thought to my friend's safety Alice let out a loud cry of pain. She was sweating more profusely and shaking like crazy. Jasper started to walk faster with Alice securely in his arms. We made it down the stairs when we heard the first sickly crunch of Alice's bones starting to break. Her screams grew in volume and you could practically feel the waves of pain role of her. Tears stung my eyes for her. She must be in so much pain as her bones kept breaking. Jasper placed Alice's body down on the floor in one of the cells that were not damage beyond repair. She was shaking violently and her small body was twisted in pain. As much as we didn't want to tie up Alice we had no other choice. I helped Jasper place the shackles on Alice's wrists and ankles. It felt wrong doing this to her, but I kept reminding myself that it was for our safety as well as hers.
Alice started screaming louder and was struggling against the shackles. Jasper had tears in his eyes as he watched Alice struggle with the transition.
"We need to make sure no one will hear her. We need to place a spell on the dungeon that will sound prove it," Jasper said in a voice raw with pain.
"Do you know a spell?" I asked softly as I continued to look at poor Alice withering in pain as her bones continued to break.
"Yeah, I do. You stay here with her and I'll do the spell," Jasper said as he walked to the entrance of the dungeon.
I sat down on the cold hard floor as Jasper started chanting the spell. Alice was out of breath and crying as her body continued to go through the transition. It was both horrific and fascinating to watch. Her bones continued to break and extended. Her legs and arms grew thicker and longer. Hair started sprouting out from all over her body. When her torso started expanding, breaking her ribs and spine I had to look away. I have watched enough movie about werewolves too know what comes next. Her body will turn and so fill her face. I couldn't stomach watching the final stages of her transition.
For the last part of the transition, I pulled my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms tightly around my legs. I placed my head down to rest on my knees and listen to the screams and cracking of bones. My heart ached for Alice having to go through this. As much as I loved her, I could watch any longer. Having to listen to her screams and the tearing of flesh, breaking of bones was enough to make my stomach turn.
After a few minutes, everything went quite. I listened carefully for any sounds before I lifted my head. There was someone breathing loudly and that was it. I slowly lifted my head. Jasper was sitting next to me in a similar position with tear stained cheeks.
I looked over to the cell where we had shackled Alice. Alice was no longer there. In her place was a medium sized werewolf compared to the ones I have seen. The wolf had a long fur coat that was a staggering silver colour that glowed. It looked soft as silk. The wolf's eyes were a soft powder blue that felt like it looked straight through the deepest part of your soul. Alice in her werewolf form was still breathtakingly beautiful.
I was waiting anxiously for the wolf to be exactly that, a wolf. But it never came. There was no howling, or baring her teeth and snapping at us. There was no struggling against the shackles. Instead, the wolf laid down with her head on her front paws and looked at Jasper and I. As I looked into those magnificent blue eyes I saw Alice. My crazy friend that was always happy and smiling and that was madly in love with the man sitting next to me.
For the first time that evening I allowed myself to smile and be a little bit happy. Alice had made it through the transition and even though she is a werewolf now, she was clearly still my crazy friend inside.
Before Jasper or I could move or say anything the door into the dungeon crashed loudly against the wall. Emmett and Rose came stumbling down the stairs. They had blood splattered over them and Emmett was limping. I quickly got to my feet as did Jasper and went over to help.
"What happened? Are you ok?" I asked in a rush.
"I'm fine but Emmett broke his leg," Rose said worriedly.
"Yeah, one of the werewolves manage to smash me against the wall and the way I landed twisted my leg and broke it. It's not too bad like, it just hurts like a motherfucker," Emmett said, brave as ever.
"Em, that's shit. Sit down and rest your leg. What can I do? How can I help?" I asked frantically. I hated seeing my best friend hurt.
"Relax Bells. It's not the first time I've broken a bone. Edward told us about Alice. How is she? Did she make it through the transition?" Emmett asked anxiously.
"Yeah, she made it. It was horrible to watch her go through that and it looked so painful, but at least she made it." I assured them.
"That's good. We need to start coming up with a plan to protect her secret. No one can know about this." Rose stressed.
From the tone of her voice, it was clear that what had happened in the assembly hall had been horrific. We had already known that there was no love lost for the werewolves and after tonight's massacre they will become the priority of witches to hunt and kill. We need to devise a plan that will protect Alice and her secret.
As I tried to formulate some sort of plan I was reminded of Edward. Only Rose and Emmett had come down to the dungeon. Edward wasn't here. I frantically looked around the dungeon to make sure that I didn't just miss him coming down, but he wasn't there. Panic washed through my body and my heart clenched in fear.
"Where is Edward?" I asked as I jumped to my feet.
"I don't know. He saw something near the side of the stage in the assembly hall and told us to go down to the dungeon. Well actually he looked mighty angry and kind of barked at us to come down here," Rose explained. I could feel the blood drain from my face.
That was part of Alice's vision. She saw the cloaked figure, which we now know is Lizzie, disappear into an entrance at the side of the stage area. The entrance that we had found that lead to the room of mirrors and that also lead to the Unknown. Edward had seen Lizzie try and make her escape.
Edward had followed her down to the mirrored room and perhaps through to the Unknown. My heart went into overdrive and my palms grew sweaty. He promised me he would come right back and now he is chasing after his lunatic of a sister.
"I need to help him," I said as I ran past my friends and up the stairs. I could hear them protest, but all I could think about is that I needed to find Edward before he gets hurt.
Alice didn't die! Woohoo! Next chapter will be the chase after Lizzie