~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~

~Rosaline's POV~

I look to the clock again. The minute hand had only moved one spot since my last glance. My right leg bounces lightly, nervously, as I await Edward's return. He is late by a half hour. In a normal situation, that would have been nothing to me, but this wasn't a normal situation.

I had taken a shower and gotten dressed in the lounge pants and shirt he had given me to sleep in. I wasn't about to go through his drawers and closet in search of something new. That was beyond rude and he had been so... nice wasn't even enough to describe how he had been.

I hear a key in the front door and quickly stand up. For a brief moment, I feel fear strike me. What if it wasn't Edward? What if it was Frankie? But then I see Edward step into the kitchen carrying a grocery bag.

"Sorry I'm late." He apologizes when he sees me standing in his living room. He takes off his hat and sunglasses, setting them on the counter before walking over to me.

"You said around eleven. Eleven thirty is around." I give him a small smile, my nervousness slipping away. I look to the bag in his hand and nod at it.

"That's why I'm late. I realized you had nothing to wear." He sounded uneasy and his eyes darting from me to some other part of the room confirmed it.

"You bought me clothes?" I ask rhetorically. I want to call him sweet, but I hold my tongue. I arch an eyebrow with a grin crossing my lips and cross my arms over my chest. "How did you know my size?"

"I guessed honestly." He gives a small scoff and holds out the bag to me. "You look like a medium, but I got a large just to make sure everything fit all right."

"Edward Dalton, you're good." I give a small laugh and take the plastic bag from him, our fingers brushing gently. I see him stiffen, but don't comment on it. I understand though. He is a vampire and I am human. It is difficult enough being in the same room with me let alone accidentally coming in contact. I give him a smile and walk towards the downstairs bathroom.

I close the door, flick on the light, and hurry to pull out the clothes. I set the pale yellow shirt and jeans on the counter. I peer into the bag again and see unmentionables at the bottom. I give a small laugh and shake my head while I look up at the ceiling of the bathroom. I pull out the bra and was surprised to find that it fit almost perfectly. I am honestly a little uncomfortable with how he guessed that one, but I quickly get over it and pull on the matching underwear.

The shirt is a little bigger than I am used to, but it's soft, it's clean, and above everything it hadn't come from Charles Bromley. I pull the jeans on and can't help but look at my hair in the mirror as I go to open the door. I run my fingers through it, hoping to calm the waves in it some. I notice the bruise on my forehead and make a face while cursing lowly.

I open the door and step out.

"Hey, Edward, you didn't happen to get-"

"Right here." He cuts me off and holds up a pair of socks and shoes as I close the bathroom door. They aren't as nice to look at as my light blue converses, but they seem comfortable. I pull the socks on and then the shoes, standing up once I was done. He grabs his sunglasses and hat from the counter and we head out into the garage where his car sits.

I climb into the passenger's side and close my door, buckling myself in. I swallow hard when I feel my stomach rumble and will the hunger away. Edward situates himself in the driver's seat and locks the car doors. He starts the engine and engages the daytime driving application for the car, the window tinting till there was absolutely no sunlight.

We pull out of the Bromley Marks Estates and take off down the open road. We drive through the city and I watch the monitors carefully, seeing no sign of life. It is as if the city is completely deserted. It's a strange sight.

I hear the clink of metal and look over at Edward, who was holding a lighter with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. I want to ask him not to smoke, but I only look away. The first whiff of the smoke makes my stomach churn uncomfortably. I close my eyes and turn my head away, breathing slowly to try and combat the sick feeling.

"Are you alright?" Edward asks, catching me off guard. I look over at him and watch him look from me to the monitors.

"I'm fine." I reply and look away again, resting my elbow on the car door. I cover my mouth with my hand, looking as though it's only resting there, and try to breath in the scent of Irish Springs that lingered on my fingers.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see Edward pull the cigarette from his lips and stare at it a moment. He lowers it into the cup holder he had turned into an ashtray and blew the last of the smoke in his lungs the opposite direction from me. I smile softly, but don't say anything to disturb the silence between us.

Before long, we are out of the city and into the countryside. I wish quietly that we could have the windows down. I want so badly to outstretch my arm into the breeze and feel the sunlight on my skin. I know that can't happen.

"I'm sorry." Edward's voice floats to my ear and I look to him with a questioning glance. The expression on his face is all that I need to understand. He wishes, for me, that he were able to drive without the protective shield so that I could see the sun without the small screen we share.

"Do you miss it?" I find myself asking, eyes narrowing in sincere question. Edward looks back at the screen, watching the road ahead.

"It's been so long since I've felt the sun," he starts and I can see that he is really thinking about the last time he felt the sun on his skin, "I don't know anymore."

He turns and looks to me for a long moment. I see a question forming in his eyes, but he turns away again before I can figure it out.

"Ask me." I encourage him as I curl myself up in my seat; left shoulder to the seat, head laying gently against the headrest, one knee to my chest while the other was extended along the floor.

"What does it feel like?" He breaths out his question as though embarrassed almost that he has no recollection of the sun's touch. I smile.

"Like heaven." I reply with a small laugh and close my eyes. I scrunch my nose up as I try to think of how to describe it. "It's hard to put words to."

I open my eyes and see that he is staring at me. He looks away again, expression seeming a bit forlorn. I look to his hands on the steering wheel and reach out, drawing his suit sleeve up to expose his forearm.

"It's like warm, feather kisses grazing your skin." I let my fingers brush gently over his icy flesh; up and down. I lay my hand on his forearm and continue my ministrations. "Heat spreads over you, engulfing you from the outside in like a loving embrace… It's a drug."

I cease my movements and grip his arm, thumb rubbing back and forth. My mind drifts away from me for a moment and then I find Edward staring at me again. His questioning glance is replaced with something stronger; desire.

"If we find a cure," I find my words are confident and not small as I would have expected them to be, "you'll take it. Won't you…?"

Edward stares at me long and hard as though searching for something deep within me. An answer. A certainty. A promise.

I steel my heart and pull my hand back, locking it between my chest and knee. I cannot love him. I am human. He is vampire. We have no certainty that a cure will be found, developed, ever. I cannot love someone who I will eventually lose; whether by my death or his.

Edward looks away and back to the screen where the road was. We sit in an uncomfortable silence as we roll along a dirt road that is heading towards a large oak tree. A woman stand with a crossbow at her side in the middle of the road. I do not recognize her, but the look on Edward's face suggests that he does.

"Is this her? The one from the other night?" I ask and lean closer to the monitor to see her better. She has shoulder length dark hair and is wearing a brown leather jacket with jeans and boots. Edward pulls up until the woman's knees almost touch the front bumper and parks.

"Yes." He replies so softly I almost doubt that I had heard him at all. I look to him, seeing the emotion on his face. I feel a pang of jealousy and slowly slip myself back into my seat.

"He's waiting for you." She speaks into the camera on the top of the car. She steps out of the way and to the side of the dirt road, nodding her head towards the large tree. Edward pulls out of park and creeps along the road towards the tree. He parks beneath the large overcast the branches creates and unlocks the car doors.

"Stay in the car." Edward orders softly as he opens his door, readying to step out. With jealousy still flowing in my veins, I open my door and climb out.

"Rosaline!" Edward calls to me as I slam my door. He pulls on his hat and sunglass. He looks to me from over the top of the car and shakes his head.

"I'm not letting you go by yourself with a bunch of humans." I argue gently and round the front of the car. My eyes catch the woman, who was heading up the dirt path. "One of which is carrying a crossbow."

Edward looks back at the woman and then nods at me, sighing in defeat despite the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I said before that I would protect you from the nasty humans." I reply with a smile. The alarm for UV rays goes off as Edward's door hangs open. He looks to me again, eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses and closes his door.

"Anyways, Edward," I start again with a smirk crossing my lips, "There are a few things you don't know about me."

"Like what?"

"My ability to fight. I'm decent with hand to hand combat. Useful trait these days for any human trying to stay alive." I wink at him and then look towards the tree.

"Just let me do the talking." Edward whispers to me as he passes, hand brushing my arm. I raise a hand to my forehead and mock salute, replying with 'aye, aye o'capitan'. I watch him carefully as he weaves in and out of the rays of sunlight that have managed to break through the leaves of the tree. I wonder just how bad the sunlight hurts vampires.

I have seen the movies about vampires, but that's all pulp fiction. Garlic, holy water… it's fake. This is real. Edward is real. If even a small speck of sunlight hits him, will he burst into flame? Will he turn to ash? Will he die? Where would he even go? Heaven? Hell? Do vampires have an afterlife?

I watch Edward carefully with wondering eyes. He meets my gaze and I can tell that he understands what I am thinking. He averts quickly, surveying the area. I move closer to him, my arm brushing his as we round the tree together. We spot an antique car parked beneath the shade of the large oak tree and I cannot help but find the car familiar; the paint, the style, the emblem. They spark something deep within my memory, but I simply brush it off.

I grab Edward's arm and halt him in his advance when I see the toe of a shoe. Someone was sitting on one of the large branches low to the ground. I pull Edward back a little in a protective manner and slowly stand before him as though to shield him from the stranger.

"Trees… they're the oldest living things on this earth." A voice, deep and worn, speaks up from where the owner sat on the branch. I try to peek at the person hidden by the shade and the tree's trunk, but can only make out a silhouette. I see their head turn towards me. "Did you know that?"

I look back at Edward with uncertainty and he gently tugs me back to his side.

"They say some are over four thousand years old. Someday, though… this tree will die. So will you." The shadow speaks freely again and I swear his voice is familiar as though a faraway dream trying to pull me back in. I can make out his outline; his jeans and red jacket that reminds me of a vintage varsity football jacket. I can also see the outline of the rifle sitting in his lap.

I instinctually shield Edward with my body again, arms back to lock him behind me and watching the man in the tree with a steady gaze. The man gives a laugh, honest and entertained, shaking his head at my actions.

"Maybe you won't die of old age like her," The man's head nods in my direction and I feel Edward's hand on my back stiffen. He tries to move from behind me, but I turn my head and give him a hard stare.

"But you know, that thing you're holdin' on to?" The man begins again and I can see the white of his teeth from the shadows. He made me nervous and I could tell that he made Edward nervous too. "That last breath of humanity… It'll vanish as soon as the blood does."

The air falls silent around us. The leaves rustle as the wind blows through them and the dying brown grass around sounds like sandpaper scraping against each other. I feel Edward's hand slip from my back and fall to his side as he steps around me. I can sense something within him has changed. What this shadow had said had struck a chord within Edward.

"What do you want?" Edward asks slowly, defensively showing his fangs as though to frighten the bold man in the tree. The man takes a deep breath, refusing to look at us now as he stared out across the fields that bathed in sunlight.

"I want the same thing you do."

"And what do we want?" I find my voice and ask gently, eyes narrowed.

"A future." The shadow replies as a crow calls out from the sky. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I look around the empty fields as though I may see something that doesn't fit, but I don't. I move closer to Edward and look around the fields again. I sense something is wrong.

"Edward…" I whisper so only he could hear me as my eyes danced across the fields. Something is out there. I feel it in my blood; in the cold tingle running down my spine. Edward looks back at me for a brief moment, eye questioning me what was wrong. Before I could elaborate, the shadow spoke once more.

"I was like you once." The man pulls on the collar of his shirt to show a scar of a bite long passed healed. "But not no more."

My face twists and my mind falls away from the impending sense of danger. My eyes glue themselves to the scar on his neck, the two healed holes that had once made this man like Edward. The shadow lets go of his collar and steps down from the branch he was perched on. He is an older man, late fifties with a full goatee, wearing jeans, a varsity jacket, and hiking boots.

"Lionel Cormac." The man introduces himself. "My friends call me Elvis."

He holds out his right hand in the sunlight with the rifle resting on his left hip. Edward watches him as he approaches with his outstretched hand and stops right before the shade he took cover in. He looks down at Lionel's hand and looks back up. I too am wary of this man. Not for the same reasons as Edward though.

"I promise I ain't gonna bite." Lionel smiles. Edward slowly raises his hand. He keeps it in the shade and Lionel slowly reaches over and takes it.

"Elvis?" Edward asks carefully as they shake hands and Lionel nods, confirming the name.

"You know, like," Lionel begins to snap a beat and something within me burns. The way he snaps, the way he hums, the way he moves to the beat is all too familiar, "Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising. Higher and higher, it's burnin' right through... to my... soul."

Lionel lurches his hand out and grabs Edward's, pulling it flat to his chest where his heart is. I latch on to Edward's arm, fearing that Lionel was going to pull Edward into the sunlight.

"Feel that? Hadn't been beatin' for nine years." He states and slowly let's Edward's hand go. Edward stares at Lionel for a long while with uncertainty and what looks like unease, "Seems impossible, don't it?"

"Nine years…?" I breath out and look away from the two men. Something clicks in my brain, the gears struggle to turn and recall what I have forgotten. Something from my past; something my brain doesn't want me to remember. It is too painful. I shake my head free of the memories that were trying to resurface.

"That's impossible." Edward replies slowly. He is having a tough time believing this man who claims he has found a way to cure vampirism. He looks to me and I know he sees I am having a tough time with it too. There is something more though that I hope he doesn't see. We both had been led to believe that a cure could only come from my blood. So, had these people truly found another like me and made this cure already? Or was it something else?

"So is walkin' around without a pulse." Lionel challenges swiftly. "Yet here you are."

"How did you do it?" I ask in a rush, all too eager to know the secret. I can hear the hope laced in my own voice. The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand up again as a cold shiver runs down my spine. I look to where Edward had parked his car and watch as the woman appears from behind the tree trunk.

"Edward." I speak up and grab Edward's hand, my eyes glued to the woman and the hunter that stood behind her with a tranquilizer gun. Edward and Lionel both look at the sight. Lionel quickly aims his rifle, which happens to actually be a crossbow, at the hunter and waits to fire.

"Put the gun down." The hunter ordered as he forces the woman to stop walking towards them.

"Frankie?" Edward suddenly asks and steps forward, letting go of my hand. Frankie lifts up his mask, his pale white skin looking sick against the black suit he wore.

"Put the gun down." Frankie orders again, but Lionel doesn't listen. Edward takes another step forward, seeming to be completely taken aback.

"What're you doing?" Edward asks, knitting his eyebrows together as Lionel moves up behind him.

"Get away from them Ed." Frankie orders lowly, a growl nearly escaping his lips. Edward steps in between Frankie and Lionel, looking between the two of them and their weapons.

"Put the gun down Frankie." Edward motions his hands, hoping to soothe his little brother out of making a huge mistake.

"Don't make things worse, Ed! Move away from them!" Frankie is dead set on his mission. A soldier till the day he dies. "You already fucked up with keeping that one hidden at your place. Do you know how sick this is? Did you think you could keep her like some kind of pet?"

"It's not like that! Frankie, put the gun down!" Edward shouts, anger beginning to flare.

"This is serious Ed. They could put you away for a long time because of this." Frankie snaps at him, his weapon never lowering. The screeching of wheels disrupts the small intermission of silence. We all look towards the dirt road that led to the tree we were under to see a Humvee rapidly approaching.

The woman Frankie had taken as a hostage whirls around and elbows him in the nose, making him turn around into a large ray of sunlight. Lionel rushes past Edward and knocks the butt of his crossbow into Frankie's face, knocking him unconscious.

Lionel and the woman run towards their car when the Humvee begins to fire. I let out a loud scream and throw my arms around my head, falling to my knees to protect myself from the oncoming fire. Edward looks back at me and runs to my side. He grabs me by my upper arm and hoists me onto my feet.

The shots hit Lionel's car, making it unusable and causing him to curse. He spins around and sets off a shot at the Humvee, but it had no effect against the armor plating. Edward drags me towards his car and calls out for the others to follow.

He tosses me into the back seat and slams the door shut before climbing into the driver's. Lionel takes the passenger's seat as the woman sits in the back with me. Edward rushes off down the opposite side of the tree to where a main road laid. We hit the road and another Humvee comes up behind us, near feet from us. The Humvee began firing at us and blows a small hole in the rear window by my head. I hear the whizz it makes as it soars past my ear and I scream, slouching down.

"Rosaline!?" Edward shouts, looking back at me from the rearview mirror. I say nothing and shut my eyes. My head pounds as my mind races. A streak of sunlight burns through the hole and illuminates the inside of the car. The alarm for UV rays goes off; over and over and over again. The woman beside me covers the hole with her hand as more shots are fired. Another hole is blown in the rear window all the way through the windshield. Next, the camera on the roof is taken out, leaving Edward blind to the road ahead.

I feel tears burn my eyes as they slide down my cheeks. My head hurts so badly. I wish it all to stop. Memories flash before my eyes from another time, when I was only a child.

Nine years ago... – a voice calls out in my mind as the memories speed up; flashing, bursting, confusing me. Many things had gone dark when my brother had killed himself before my eyes. Years had become blacked out; memories gone. Whole chunks of my life vanished. Now they were surfacing. Too quickly and all at once.

- Edward's POV -

"Move!" Lionel shouts at me. He pushes me towards the passenger seat and takes the driver's. Lionel takes the wheel, looking through the small hole in the windshield as I sink in my seat, trying to keep out of the rays of sunlight in the car. The car bounces and skids, jerks and swerves as we try to outrun the, now two, Humvees behind us.

I look back into the backseat at Rosaline. Her eyes are shut tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks as her hands push firmly against her ears to drown out the noise. I can see her eyes moving back and forth quickly beneath her eyelids. Something is wrong. It is not the Humvee's, not the vampire soldiers that are frightening her. It is something else. I try to reach out to her, but my hand catches a ray of sunlight and I recoil with a sharp hiss.

"Hold on!" Lionel calls out as he turns a hard right, sending sunlight directly onto my left cheek. I give a loud scream of pain and cover my face with my hands. I feel a pair of hands on mine, trying to pry them away to examine my face. I look up and see Rosaline, panic stricken and eyes wide as she leans over me with a hand on the headrest. She is blocking the sun for me with her back, turning my face in her hands. I see her head hit the ceiling of the car and see her wince. I try to force her to sit back in her seat, but she fights me almost violently as though fighting something else entirely.

What is wrong with her? – I question silently, watching her as she examined my burns that were certainly already healing.

"It's not that bad. It's not that bad, Ed." She rushes to say and comfort me. I know now that I am a distraction from whatever was haunting her. I give a small, forced smile and laugh, though it sounded more like a nervous laugh.

"Rabbit, you might want to sit back." Lionel states, causing me and Rosaline to both look over at him in question. I see the look in her eyes; recognition and fear. Does she know this man? Was there something she wasn't telling me?

"What is it?" I ask and look past my arm to Lionel. I move slightly to look out the small hole in the windshield, seeing the broken train tracks ahead.

"What the Hell did you call me…?" Rosaline breaths out so softly that I doubt the man had heard her question. I look back at her again. Her eyes sat wide and I see her swallow hard.

"Oh my God..." the woman in the back seat breathes out and grips my headrest as tightly as she can. I look back out the hole and understand what is about to happen. I try to brace myself as Lionel pushes the car past the wooden fence in place to keep people from the tracks. I snap my head to Rosaline, grab hold of her and pull her onto my lap. I secure her there with my arms, bracing my feet to the dash as her arms wrap around me tightly. She tucks her head into the crease of my neck. I feel my grip slip on her for only a moment as we hit the metal tracks, wheels over the sides.

"I've got you." I breath out to her lowly as I feel her hands weave into my hair. I hold her tighter, turn my head and breath into her hair.

This can't happen. – I tell myself, eyes open wide and trying to control myself. I can feel the thirst rise up in my throat, but also something else in my chest. I know this feeling. I know what Rosaline does to me, but I allow myself this moment to be a guise so that I can feel it without regret.

"I've got you." I repeat as I move my arms, right arm to her waist and left over and around where her knees are. She says nothing. She doesn't move either. Her fingers are tight in my hair, gripping at though afraid to let go.

The car rocks from left to right dangerously and jumps off of the track. It lands onto road once more as an explosion erupts from behind us.

"Everybody okay?" Lionel asks as he continues to drive us out of the way of harm, even though there was no more danger for the moment. Rosaline doesn't say anything, but I can hear her breathing; choppy and heavy.

"Not really." I respond with an edge and close my eyes again. I feel her heart hammering against my chest. I swear it was about to burst. I place a hand to her back and rub, hoping to calm her down. I listen to Lionel complain about his car being made into Swiss cheese and feel Rosaline shift in my arms.

"Do you want me to move to the back?" She asks softly, trying not to let the others hear her words. I can sense the meaning behind them, the hidden message, the plea: please say no...

"No. You're fine here."