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In the handful of days that followed, more vampires arrived at the Cullen house, friends they told Bella, who were prepared to help fight Aro. Fight for her, fight for their chance to be human again. Bella mostly stayed hidden inside Edward's bedroom. The way they looked at her, the hope and expectation in their eyes had been too much for her, for Edward. They were getting everything they ever wanted, while she and the love of her life were losing everything they wanted. Life wasn't fair. No, death wasn't fair.

The first to arrive were the Irish Coven made up Siobhan, Liam and Maggie, who had the ability to know if someone was lying or telling the truth. She hadn't believed Carlisle when he told her Bella would be turning them back into humans, giving her a second chance at life. That was until she stood face to face with Bella. Something about the look in Bella's eyes convinced her, even though her power didn't work on her any more than anyone else's had. The Irish Coven were excited about their renewed chance to live, unlike Alistair, Peter, and Charlotte who continued to express their displeasure.

Next to arrive were the Egyptians. Amun and his mate Kebi brought Tia and her mate Benjamin, who were also skeptical, yet curious if Bella was really going to be able to 'cure' them. At least Alistair, Peter, and Charlotte had witnessed Bella changing her parents back into humans, they just didn't want to be humans again. The Egyptians, mainly Amun, were afraid of what the Volturi would do to them if they fought and failed to stop Aro. How would he retaliate if they failed? Especially with Benjamin's ability to manipulate the earth and wind, creating boulder or tornados on a whim. He would be a great addition to Aro's guard, they said. But Bella knew if they failed, they would die and Aro would end the world, so either she changed them back into humans, or he would kill them along with everyone else walking the earth. They didn't even know their days were numbered.

Seven days after their meeting with the wolves, Bella found herself standing in the middle of the field full of wildflowers. Her eyes were closed and she enjoying the peace that the field offered, the only place other than Edward's arms that she felt peace and comfort, but the voices inside his head had gotten to be too much, and her shield wasn't keeping them out, so he went for a break, and she escaped to her field. Cain and Abel had set off before the sun started rising to meet the rest of the Sentinels, who were traveling in their direction. There were a dozen coming, they told her, men and women who had faith that she would set them free from their prison once and for all. As long as there wasn't any pressure, she thought.

"Bella."

Her eyes opened and she turned, finding Carlisle standing several feet behind her with his hands shoved into his pockets. He'd been trying to get her alone for days, ever since he told her they needed to talk when they went to meet the wolves. She knew they did, but she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he had to say. He'd been the one to offer her the chance to live, and he was the first who knew it would be taken away, too.

"Am I interrupting?"

She shook her head. "Just enjoying the quiet for a little while longer."

He nodded. "You've been avoiding me."

"I have," she admitted. "I've been trying to avoid everyone, actually. Easier if I don't let myself keep getting close to them just to lose them in the end. Not that I'll know. I'll just cease to exist, won't even be a memory."

"Then don't do it." Bella's eyes snapped to Carlisle, who shook his head and said, "Don't do it, Bella. Don't give up everything for us, for any of us. We'll find another way to stop him, to save the world."

"You saw the writings, Carlisle. You know what they said."

"Fuck the writings!" he exclaimed, taking a step toward her, but stopping when she stepped back from him. He put his hands up in front of her and said, "Fuck the writings, Bella. Stay with us."

"Don't you think I want to?" she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to die. I don't want to lose him, to not even be a memory for him to hold onto, Carlisle, and it's not fair! It's not fucking fair that we are losing everything we've ever wanted, but it is what it is. We can't change course now, not when Aro knows that I'm here."

Carlisle shook his head, his eyes closing for a moment before they opened and he said, "His mother asked me to change him. Did you know that?"

"I did."

"There was so much death those days. His father had already died, and she grabbed the front of my white coat and pulled me down to her with more force than a woman as sick as she was should have been able to. Like with you, I could smell death coming for her. She had the brightest green eyes I had ever seen a human have, the same eyes he had, too. She cried, Bella. She cried and said he was special, that he needed to live, but unlike with you, Bella, I didn't give him the choice. I was lonely, so lonely and selfishly I changed him without asking what he wanted."

"Do you regret changing him?"

"No." Carlisle shook his head. "No, Bella, I don't regret changing him, or saying yes to you," he added with a strained laughed. "I just . . . He was so alone and lost for so long, and then he saw you and I saw him — the real Edward that he had always been meant to be emerge from the shell he put around himself, to protect himself, and I can't stand by and let him lose the only person he's ever really, truly loved. I can't, Bella. I can't."

She sighed and turned away, wrapping her arms around her torso. "Tell me how to stop him without sacrificing myself, Carlisle. Tell me, and I'll do it. I don't want to lose him, I don't want to die, but I don't . . ." She looked back at him. "There's a girl in town. Her name is Angela, and she's in love with a boy named Ben. I've watched them, the way they look at each other, the way they only see each other, Carlisle, and I want that with Edward for the rest of eternity, you know? I do, but if I don't do this, if I don't stop Aro from taking my power, killing Eve, that little girl will lose the love of her life and her parents and her friends. They'll all die, and I cannot let that happen. Even if that means losing everything I want. I just can't be that selfish."

"Why does it have to be your job to save the world?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Because a woman named Eve chose me, and you said yes," she whimpered, biting her lip before she shook her head.

"I knew the minute I saw you there was something special about you. There was an aura around you, this Eve perhaps."

"Maybe." She paused, bringing her hand up to her chest. "Are they okay?"

Carlisle tensed, he nodded. He'd told her he had a contact in Phoenix, someone who would keep tabs on her parents. They'd arrived back just like they had never left. As Bella feared without a single memory of her. Not even a picture. When she changed them, she had erased herself from every single part of their lives, and the same was going to happen with Edward.

"I should get back before Alistair or Peter start a revolution against us," Carlisle said.

She almost smiled, but didn't, because they had been trying to rally everyone around them to stop Bella, to let them stay immortal. The problem was, Bella knew, there wasn't any either/or. It was change everyone, or everyone died. "Good luck with those two."

"How much longer do we have?"

"A day, if we're lucky. The closer they get, the faster he's moving," she said, bringing her hand up to her head, raking her fingers through her hair.

Carlisle opened his mouth, but promptly closed it before turning and running back toward the house, leaving her alone with just her thoughts. She wished it was as easy as he was making it, to be selfish and greedy, but it wasn't. Making the rest of the world suffer because she wasn't ready to die just wasn't something she could live with.

—Stay—

By the time Bella made her way back to the house, the sun had fully crept over the horizon, one of the few sunny days Forks, Washington had, and Edward was standing on the small balcony outside of their bedroom. His eyes locked onto hers as soon as she emerged from the trees, though when he physically tensed and looked away, she knew someone was coming. He leapt down, hitting the ground with a soft thud and was standing by her side as everyone inside the house trickled out and they turned toward the southern line of trees as one by one a large group of Amazons trickled past the tree line.

Bella could tell each and every one of them were vampires, their eyes as red as those around them. They were led by a young man with long dark hair. The Shaman Carlisle had told them about, she figured. He put his hand up, stopping the three dozen vampires that followed him. His eyes shifted from Carlisle and Zafrina to Bella, and he smiled, but before she could question him on who he was, and why he was there, Carlisle spoke.

"Nahuel, you are a long way from home, friend."

The Shaman shifted his eyes from her back to him as he nodded. "We've come to stand guard, to help."

"Why?" Bella asked, and when he looked back at her, he bowed his head toward her. "Why are you here with us?"

"I received a vision. From her. She said we must make this journey, we must serve as witnesses."

"Witnesses for what?" she asked, and when she took a step toward the vampire named Nahuel, he bowed toward her even more. "You can look at me."

He tilted his head back, and smiled. "I apologize, but you . . . you look like her."

"Her?"

He nodded, and the way he smiled was breathtaking. "Eve."

"You received the writings, didn't you?"

"I did, yes, and just a few days ago, I received another vision from her."

"You did?" Bella asked, feeling everyone watching her as she slowly, methodically walked over to him. He nodded, so she asked, "Can you tell me about it?"

He shook his head, though he raised his arm holding his hands out toward her. "She said I must show you."

Bella turned and looked at Edward before she raised her hand and placed her hands in the middle of his palm. Like with Alice, she felt her eyes roll backward and her body tingled as she tensed. Her vision went black before she suddenly found herself in the middle of the field full of wildflowers she had just left. Only she wasn't alone.

There, on the other side of the field, stood Eve. As Nahuel said, she looked just like Bella, only she didn't. She was spectacularly beautiful and magical, almost translucent. She was wearing a long, white dress with lacy sleeves that swayed gently in the breeze. She smiled and brought her hand up to her chest, and when she spoke, her voice was mesmerizing, pure and sensual.

"Oh, I've been looking forward to speaking with you for a long time, Bella."

She felt her eyes fill with tears as she asked, "You have?"

Eve laughed. "Yes."

"Why?"

"To thank you for your service, your sacrifice."

"Why me? Why did you pick me?"

"It was destiny that put us together. Time and time again, our souls were meet, and though I proved too strong for your human body. This time, however, he was there to save us, to bring us back from the brink of death. Only he had the power of life."

"He?"

Eve tilted her head the side. "Your blood drinker."

"Edward has the power of life?"

Eve nodded. "He's the other half of your soul, Bella, and only he had the power to save us."

"So if he hadn't been the one to change me, none of this would have happened?"

"I would have faded away to be lost in the darkness forever, and you would have lived until Adam found you, until he stripped you for your powers. Your blood drinker powers, of course. Your blood drinkers love for you freed me, and by doing so, we have the chance to stop Adam once and for all."

"By dying."

Even frowned. "Yes, by dying, but by living, as well."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Eve was standing in front of her, her hand coming up to cup Bella's face. She felt a surge of energy fill her, causing her to lift to the tips of her toes before coming back down to rest on her feet.

"What did you do to me?"

"I gave you the strength to hold on, Bella. Your sacrifice will not be for nothing. Be strong, have faith, and never forget who you are fighting for. You are more important than you realize, and by giving in and freeing me, you are freeing yourself, as well."

"Are you saying I'm not going to die?"

Eve frowned. "You will die, Isabella, but you will also live."

"I don't understand. How can I die, but live at the same time?"

"You will know when you know."

"How much time do we have?" Bella asked.

Eve closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath before her eyes opened and she said, "You have until nightfall. Adam is most desperate to stop you, to stop us. You must hold steady, Bella. Do not lose yourself to the mission at hand."

"And you'll be with me until the end? You won't leave me, will you?"

"I will be with you until the end, Bella, as I have been since the beginning."

She whimpered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek and she brought her hand up to the side of her head. "It's going to hurt, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Bella lowered her hand to her mouth, trying to muffle the sob. "I'm scared. I'm . . . I'm so scared."

"Oh, my beautiful, Bella." Eve brought her hand up and placed it on the side of Bella's face, a warm tingling spreading through her body. "I'm waiting, Isabella. I'm waiting for you to set me free."

Eve dropped her hand before she turned and started walking across the field, before she faded away entirely.

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