AN: I don't own twilight!
As the panic wormed its way through Bella's blood stream, forcing her heart to beat faster with the effort, so did adrenaline.
Twelve minutes on the clock.
Twelve minutes to save Kate.
Twelve minutes before her world ended.
She was still dressed in the clothes loaned to her by Cali, and so her shoes were a size too big. That meant running, combined with the rain, and slick paths made the urgency of the matter difficult to grasp on too. Running felt slow and Bella surprised herself as she wished for the first time that she could willingly change into a werewolf.
On paws, she would have been unstoppable.
On feet, she was clumsy and unpredictable.
Ten minutes.
Bella tore through the house, hoping to find someone to drive her into town. As she searched frantically through the lower floor, she tried to work up a story for needing to go into town right that second and to be dropped off as fast as possible. Searching proved futile and shouting if anyone was home didn't make any blonde or brunette heads pop out either.
All in all, the house was empty, despite the unlocked door. Time was running out, and Bella was wasting it trying to find help. She would have to find Kate herself. Bella flew out of the back door and into the large garden without knowing why. However, it seemed to be the right call to make, because she had just hit the jackpot.
The Denali's had set up their home in a spot that was perfect for seeing the town below. It was lit up like a Christmas tree as darkness began to blanket the town and so Bella had a breath taking view. Not the point. The point was that Bella could now formulate a plan. Although she could see clearly from the patio, climbing off it left her blind.
When she clambered down onto the grass, her view was taken by trees that bordered the whole garden. That meant that there had to be a way to town through the trees, which should also be faster than going down the dirt path out front. Bella raced to perimeter of the garden and pushed though the sharp branches and leaves.
Crap. A chain link fence that stretched six feet tall at least, most likely to keep people out, and beyond that: the drop down. The drop wouldn't have been so daunting if it was even ground below, but it wasn't. It was a downward slope that seemed to disappear into the night. There was no way Bella could jump and not fall.
At least she would be preparing for the fall this time, and it wouldn't take her by surprise like every other accident she had ever had. She would have to jump, tuck and roll until she reached the bottom, and then work out a way from there. Bella took a deep breath, dreading to think about the time that had passed already.
Bella wasted no more minutes and began to climb the fence, gripping tightly to the metal that sliced into the pads of her fingers. When she reached the top, she didn't stop to worry about the slope, she thought of Kate; bleeding, injured and waiting for her to turn up. She jumped. She tucked, prepared to roll.
That's when things went wrong. Of course. Bella didn't tuck in time, somehow ended up on her back and so instead of rolling down the hill, ended up sliding down it. Air sucked from her lungs and pushed her eyelids open so that she couldn't blink or scream. Out of nowhere a tree loomed and Bella rolled onto her side to avoid breaking her legs.
She didn't seem to be quick enough, because her shoulder caught the hard trunk as she did so and Bella finally managed to scream as the bone shattered from the assault. Dislocated or broken? Bella thought in a daze as she continued to slide. When she finally rolled to a stop and stood, Bella felt and most likely looked, like she had taken a battering.
How do I always find myself in these situations? She thought to herself. Her clothes were filthy and even torn in some places. Her shoulder felt awful but seemed to be healing. She should be worried: Cali had told her that a wolf didn't heal in their human form. But Bella had before, and was now.
But she didn't have time to puzzle the reason behind it. She had to get into town; she had to find Kate. Bella began her running once more, losing a shoe in the process and then kicking the other one off as it slowed her down. She knew the direction she was going in, because she could hear the cars on the road.
When she finally broke out of the tree line, she knew for certain that hers, and Kate's ten minutes were up. By the time she reached the place, she noticed smoke. Bella's heart tripled in speed, making her head swim as she pushed her body into action once more. She didn't have to look far inside the building for Kate.
The minute she got to the door, she saw through the tiny window: Kate curled up on the floor, coughing blood. Bella pounded the glass with her fists, calling Kate's name. She tried rattling the door and hurling rocks at the glass but it wouldn't shatter, and the door wouldn't budge, and Kate was dying.
Becoming desperate, Bella jogged around the back, her shoulder now as fluid as it had been before being injured, and found the doors there. Those didn't budge either, or give way from heavy force. Smoke was flowing out of the building now, which meant it wouldn't be long before the source of the fire wormed its way to Kate.
Why wasn't anyone showing up? Had no one noticed the smoke? Or smelt it? Bella scanned the area, her body shaking with fear when she finally noticed a wheelie bin. She clambered on top of it, nearly falling as it moved on its small wheels from her weight, and jumped several times until her palms caught the edge of the roof.
From there it was the process of trying to swing her leg onto the roof and pull herself up before she pushed the bin away with her other foot. Bella had hoped she would find some sort of latch to an emergency stair way or attic, or something, but instead there was just a plain glass window in the center of the roof, just to the right of where Kate was curled up.
Bella pried a tile up with her finger nails, gasping and clawing and screeching with the effort until it finally came away from the roof. Then she threw it through the glass. She heard Kate scream in surprise as her back was to Bella and she hadn't anticipated the screech of glass giving way. Sticking her head through the open space, Bella called, "Kate! It's me, I'm coming!"
Kate whimpered in response, and Bella's heart twisted. She had never heard Kate in pain, or seen her looking weak. Kate was a sherriff, a protector, and she did nothing but save and care for people. She had never been in this position before and it physically pained Bella that because of her, Kate had been reduced to a whimpering, screaming and injured mess.
Bella took a deep breath and plummeted from the hole, managing this time to tuck and roll along the bed of glass. A few shards pricked her, but none seemed to impale her and slide under her skin, which was helpful as she really didn't want her skin to heal over the shards for her to have to sit and cut them out later.
Bella slid over to Kate on her knees, turning Kate over onto her back. The moment she did, Bella gasped. Blood. So much. Staining the floor, her hair, her skin. How had Bella not seen all this? Her eyes pricked with tears at the site of Kate's throat which was covered with a shallow cut. Not enough to kill her, but a terribly injury all the same.
There seemed to be something wrong with her stomach too, because blood was staining the crisp shirt Bella had loved seeing her dress in this morning. It took Bella a moment of assessing Kate's injuries to realize why it was beginning to get hard to make her out. It was because the fire was spreading, and the smoke was thick.
Simultaneously her and Kate began to cough heavily. Panicking, Bella noticed there was a pad lock on the door. Getting up and inspecting it through the thick gloom, Bella tried to find something to break it open. Minutes passed by, letting the fire spread through the room and soak her skin with sweat from the flames.
When her search proved fruitless, and she couldn't go to the back doors because of the barricading flames, Bella looked to Kate, who was nearly unconscious and tried to work out how to tell the independent and strong sheriff that they were going to burn to death. It was looking at Kate that made Bella's eyes zero in on the gun in Kate's holster.
'Fuck sake, Bella!' She thought to herself, running to Kate and gently ripping the gun from its hold. Back at the door now, Bella aimed, screwed her eyes shut, turned her head and fired. Yes! It had indented it. A couple more. The rounds fired off and echoed around the walls until finally the pad lock fell with a hard thud.
Bella pushed the door open, letting in beautifully crisp and cool oxygen. Sirens rang through the night and Bella nearly cried with relief. Help was there! Thank God, she thought as she looked at Kate. If she didn't get help soon, then Kate was going to die. Bella ran back over to Kate, knowing she couldn't carry her.
Instead she hooked her arms under Kate's armpits and began to drag her out of the door. When they were both outside, Bella looked down at Kate's black and sooty face, noticing that beneath it she had passed out. Bella's heart pounded against her ribcage and she frantically searched for a pulse in Kate's neck.
It took a heart stopping few seconds, but Bella pinpointed a quiet, fluttering pulse. Finally, the sirens reached them as the windows in the building shattered from the impact of the fire. Bella realized she was crying and tried to resist the urge to shake Kate awake. If she woke her now, she would be bringing Kate back into a world of pain.
But by letting Kate stay passed out, was she letting her slowly die? Bella didn't know what to do and cried heavy sobs of relief when people began to clamber out of their vehicles and over to Bella and Kate. That was when Kate stopped breathing. Bella felt the shallow, heavy breaths stop and Kate's chest lock up with stillness.
Beneath her eyelids, Bella saw Kate's eyes roll into the back of her head. Bella began screaming. A whirlwind of events followed that. Someone took Kate from her, even though she screamed herself raw and cried a thousand tears between great, hiccupping sobs. A thousand different voices told her that she was going to be alright.
She had to force the words through her cries and screams: "I don't care about me, just help Kate!"
Which everyone ignored as they looked her over and shone lights in her eyes and told her she was in shock. It finally got to a point, as Kate was lifted into the back of the ambulance on a stretcher, crowded by at least three people and wearing an oxygen mask, that Bella seemed to have screamed herself blue, because she passed out.
When Bella awoke, her head was fuzzy, her eyes felt heavy and a numbing cold seemed to cover her entire body. When her eyes were open, she found that tubes were hooked into her arms, and attached to machines. Bella frowned in annoyance. This was over the top, wasn't it? She had only fainted for God sake! It wasn't like she was even injured.
Bella lifted her upper body, nearly tearing the tubes from her arms to sit upright and scanned her empty room. There was a chair with a coat over the back of it, and a tray with untouched food on her bedside table. Someone had been here, watching over for her while she slept and worrying about her.
"Kate?" Bella shouted at the door. "Hello?"
Bella wasn't left unanswered for long. A young, red headed nurse entered the room and began to fluff Bella's pillows and then push Bella back onto them before she even spoke. When the nurse was happy with where she had placed Bella against the pillows, she finally said, "how are you feeling?"
"Do you know where Kate is? The sheriff?" Bella asked instead.
The nurse began to straighten the blanket over Bella's legs as she answered, "Sheriff Denali is going to be okay. She had to have some emergency surgery, but she's recovering nicely."
Bella's heart fluttered with relief and the joyous feeling sang through her veins. She opened her mouth again, to ask who it had been sitting in the chair and watching over her, as she doubted it was any of the Denali's; they would all be with Kate, especially as Kate had gone through emergency surgery. Bella wasn't resentful, she was happy they were looking after Kate.
Before she could ask however, her door opened once more. A very over the top, and ecstatic, "Bella!" Was screeched and then Bella was being slammed into by a slim body. The scent hit her straight away, before Bella registered the blonde hair or the pretty green eyes. Bella had to bite her tongue as Lisa pulled away and revealed the two police officers behind her.
"I'm so glad you're awake, Bella!" Lisa's grin was wide and her eyes were earnest.
Bella tried not to scowl as the nurse excused herself and the police officers stepped forward, making it blaringly obvious that they wanted to question Bella. They soon proved this with a: "we're glad to see you awake. I know this is a little fast, but we were wondering if you could answer some questions. For instance: how did you come across the sherriff?"
Lisa's face swam before Bella's vision, her sly smirk hidden from the officers as she asked, "yes, Bella, how did you find the sheriff?"
Bella kept her face straight but on the inside she was furious. "Honestly, I think it was luck," she answered smoothly, and then elaborated: "I was on my way home, when it began to rain. I diverted into town as it was nearer than home to ask Tanya or Kate for a lift, as I knew they were both working-"
The first police man paused her and asked, "you were just going to ask for a lift? Not to be rude Miss Swan, but Kate Denali is the sheriff, and I believe her sister: Tanya, owns a book store. I also know they didn't attend work the day before the incident that took place yesterday, and so I'm sure they would have had a lot of work to do."
Bella raised an eyebrow at the accusation in the police officers tone and face. Her tone of voice was a little more pissed off because of it. "They took the day off to celebrate my birthday as I have absolutely no one left on this earth to celebrate it with, and then we celebrated the return of my sister, who had been missing for quite a while, officer."
Bella was surprised when Lisa played along and lay her hand on Bella's shoulder, as if swept up in remembering their joyous reunion. The police officer looked shamed and made a hand gesture for her to continue. "The book store was closed when I arrived, I don't know where Tanya was. That's when I smelt and saw smoke. I investigated. I found Kate. Luck."
The police officers scribbled everything Bella had said into their note books before thanking her and saying their goodbyes. Bella and Lisa were left alone and Bella turned her head sharply to Lisa, ready to cuss her until her skin peeled off from the assault, but Lisa beat her to the mark, and got her sly digs in as soon as she could.
"You shouldn't lie, Bella, it just comes back to haunt you," Lisa taunted.
Bella growled. "Should I have told them the truth then? That my psycho werewolf adoptive sister who I killed a while back is playing mind games and tried to kill my girlfriend?"
Bella flushed the moment, 'girlfriend' came from her mouth, because as far as she knew, Kate didn't even want to see her again. How could she? Not only did Bella first plague her with the death of her sister, but then said sister come back to life, and put her through excruciating pain, and left her with injuries that led to emergency surgery, and quite nearly the end of her life.
"I'm not your adoptive sister, I am your sister," Lisa answered coolly. "We're family, and you'll see that soon."
Bella gaped at her in astonishment. "You're actually nuts, aren't you?"
Slap. Lisa's palm connected with Bella's face, turning it sharply to the side and leaving a fire in its wake. Bella growled and tried to lunge from the bed, but she was held back by the wires and machines. Thank God she wasn't linked up to a heart monitor or there would be a whole flock of nurses in here.
"So, you managed to save your bit on the side. Congrats, Bella." Lisa clapped slowly, acting as if she hadn't just whacked Bella seven ways to Sunday. "I have something I know you'd love to hear," she whispered softly, settling into the chair besides Bella's bed.
Bella began to rip the tubes from her arms, not even whimpering as scores of flesh came away with the needles. Lisa eyed her actions warily, standing quickly from her chair. She held up one finger towards Bella, looking slightly panicked as she hurriedly said, "Ah, ah, ah! Let's not do anything rash now!"
Bella held the needle in her sweaty palm and raised it towards Lisa. "You have two second before I use this very sharp needle to slit your throat, and trust me, I know how to keep you down this time."
Lisa's eyes flashed with fear before she pulled a smirk back on her face. Despite the bravado, her voice shook with her next words: "I forgot to mention the bullet, that came from Kate's gun, and has Kate's prints on it, well, it's about to be discovered in about… an hour."
Bella snarled and raised the needle once more but Lisa jumped back, shoving the chair between her and Bella to keep herself safe. Bella could see the pulse pounding in her neck and decided that was where she was going to jam the needle and tear until Lisa bled to death. Screw the consequences.
"Bella! If you kill me now, you'll never know how to fix your little problem!"
"No more fucking games!" Bella shouted, pushing the chair into Lisa with the intent of pressing her against the wall.
"Hey! You and your whore started this game, Bella! I'm just playing it. The bullet will be found with mutilated bodies, and the bones of children. But you have a chance to fix it. They're at the old mines complex, nothing there but abandoned buildings and coal. It's away from the city, and private. Good luck."
Lisa started to shuffle away from the chair, her eyes and movements weary. Bella jumped on the chair, even clad in a hospital gown as she was, and intended to jump over the back and jam the needle into Lisa's neck on the come down. But then the door knob rattled and Bella dropped the needle in a panic and clambered off the chair just as it opened.
Lisa fled through the open door, whipping her coat off the back of the chair as she did so and left Bella to explain to the nurse why she was out of bed, why needles and tubes had been disconnected from her and why, despite the rough manner in which she had pulled them out, her arms were neither marked nor injured.
The nurse told her that now she was awake she wouldn't have to be hooked up to the machines again and handed her a bag that was apparently brought by Tanya when she brought an overnight one for Kate. The nurse went on to tell her that Bella could dress and wait while she sorted her discharge papers, and then she would be led to the Denali's, and Kate's room.
As soon as the nurse left, Bella fled into the cramped bathroom attached and had a quick wash. A quick investigation into her bag turned up fresh clothes, her hair and tooth brush and some spare bobbles and shoes. Once she was ready to go, she left the hospital gown and her bag on the bed, and debated on a way to escape without being seen.
Bella hated that she would have to run out on Kate, and the Denali's once again. But she knew that Kate would understand when she explained later on. She was doing this for Kate. But how to get out of the hospital? She couldn't wait to be discharged because it was too long and the Denali's wouldn't just let her stroll off with an excuse.
No, the front door wasn't an option. But was a window? Running back to the bathroom, Bella located the tiny window about the toilet and swore. She wasn't as lucky this time as it would be a struggle to get through this tiny slit. It took longer than she would have liked, but Bella finally got out of the window and onto the pavement below.
It was a bright and sunny day which made her feel slightly worse. How could the weather be so joyous when her life felt like a nightmare? Bella had no idea how to get the place that Lisa mentioned so she had to ask a few locals until one person was kind enough to draw her a quick and vague map.
It was better than nothing. First was the forest then a long, tiring hill that lasted for nearly twenty minutes and she was there. Bella was panicking, but a more rational part of her questioned Lisa's motivations. Why did she have an hour to sort this? Why was it in a place so close to the hospital? Why even offer her the chance to stop it? It was if Lisa wanted her to.
When she broke through the tree line, Bella gasped and fell back into it. The police were already there. Lisa had lied. Of course she had! She had made this mess! No wonder she had offered Bella a 'chance' she had wanted her to walk right into the crime scene and be arrested. Bella pressed her fingers into eyelids as her head swam.
She couldn't work out what Lisa wanted. Sometimes she acted like it was just Kate that needed to cut off and then she would have access to Bella, and therefore Bella could be her 'family' again, and then other times she tried to kill Bella, or have Bella killed, or even arrested for that matter. Lisa was truly psychotic. What did she want? She didn't seem to know herself.
Bella took a deep breath and tried to assess the situation. Three cars, and a van. She had to get that bullet, and then nothing else could link this to Kate, or her. But how could she do that? She couldn't just stroll in there, retrieve the bullet and stroll back out. She didn't even know where it was. Had Lisa left it on the floor? Pushed it into someone's skin? Bella shuddered.
As she shuddered, Bella remembered her spine rolling when she changed, and then the answer was obvious. She had to change. She needed to scare the police away, or at least be in some kind of disguise. Of course they would never think it was her if they saw a wolf. But so many things could go wrong with that plan.
They could shoot her in the head, and she would temporarily die, like Lisa had, making them aware of the supernatural in town. They could start keeping an eye out for wolves and end up killing some of her fellow pack. Not to mention that they were going to shoot at her anyway, because that was what humans did when they were scared.
Just because the injury healed quickly, didn't mean that it didn't hurt. Knowing she was going to walk into an onslaught of bullets wasn't something that was an easy decision to make for Bella. But she had to do it for Kate. Finally settling on the decision, Bella prayed that she could pull this off.
During all her training, Cali had gotten naked before her and therefore tempted the wolf within her with the body of willing mate. There was no one here now, and Bella's heart was racing, her head was pounding and she was scared stiff. What if visualizing wasn't enough? What if she couldn't change? Well then she was screwed.
But she had to try. Bella first stripped, and then screwed her eyes shut, picturing Kate. On the sofa, asleep. On the sofa, relaxed and baring the skin of her stomach. In bed, with Bella, their bodies entwined. In the shower, her naked limbs wet and glistening. Bella's stomach tightened and her mind exploded. Kate was the focus of everything, her name punching into Bella's brain.
Kate, Kate, Kate.
Bella opened her wolf eyes, smelled rotten bodies with her wolf nose. She followed the scent.
Kate.
She sent a silent apology to the heavens as she ran at the police officers, her large paws ready.
Kate.
The police were alert from her pounding paws. She took one down immediately.
Kate.
Bella used buildings for cover, listening to the men communicate: "guns at the ready, it could be a bear."
She hid her large body before launching herself at the group of three. She took them off guard. She used large teeth to throw one into the other and claws for the other one. Help arrived and started shooting at her. Bullets tore through her fur and muscle, digging down into her bone and ripping a howl from her muzzle.
Kate.
Healing hurt just as much as being shot, because the bullet wormed its way out of the entrance wound, as if coaxed by a magnet.
Kate.
Bella made quick work of the other officers. Teeth, claws, large paws and all her weight left a sprawl of bodies on the floor. Regret and remorse clouded her vision but it had to be done. The police couldn't be looking out for wolves and Bella had to get the bullet out of there to ensure Kate was safe.
Done with her wolf body, Bella shifted back into her human one, screaming in agony from the change. She had to take a moment to collect herself. Her body wasn't ready for another shifting so soon and it was letting her know it. When she was dressed again and no longer dizzy, Bella began her hunt for the bullet.
The next twenty minutes were something Bella never wanted to remember. Searching the dead bodies, the floor, the buildings and then repeating it all again until she was sure she hadn't missed it. The bullet wasn't there. Had the police already retained it? Bella left to check their vans and cars, and their bodies, when she heard a familiar and spine tingling laugh.
Lisa.
She ran. Lisa stood around the corner, laughing heartedly with a tall, tanned man with multiple scars on his face. When Lisa saw Bella, she grinned. "How good did that feel?"
Bella had to fight back tears. "The bullet was never here." It was a statement, not a question.
Lisa smirked. "Of course not. I didn't want the games to stop just yet."
"You wanted me to kill them," Bella realized and couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
The man beside Lisa laughed, as if Bella's horror and shock was hilarious. Lisa answered her: "of course. I proved that you're just like me: you're willing to kill for the ones you love, like I killed for you."
Bella's face twisted with disgust beneath her streaming tears, her chest heaving and throat rattling with repressed sobs. "And Kate? What was the motivation behind that?"
Lisa shrugged and make a 'psh' noise with her lips. "That was just fun. I enjoyed it, like I know your wolf enjoyed killing those men."
Bella heaved at the horror of the situation and Lisa rolled her eyes as if Bella was being entirely dramatic. She didn't know what to do now, she couldn't stay and look at all these people she had killed. She couldn't run, the guilt would follow her. Lisa stole her attention when she caught site of something over Bella's shoulder, and then suddenly started laughing.
"Right on time," she forced out through stomach clenching laughter.
Bella turned her head in confusion and felt the blood drain from her face. Wrapped in bandages, white as a ghost, eyes wide with horror and hand pressed to her mouth in disgust.
Kate.
AN: Thanks to LeighJ11 for being my beta.