BELLA

I sat beside Seth on the cliffs. It was bright out. Seth was in a bed of pine needles. I could feel that my hair was a wild mess from kissing Paul, so I straightened it out, by dragging my fingers through my hair. Then I gave up after a moment. Who cared what I looked like anyway?

People were about to risk their lives for me and I was worried about my hair. Ridiculous. I didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve to have these many people, risk their lives for mine. Although, I didn't think I could survive any more of Victoria's torture. I was so worried for Paul. Would he make it back? Would he get hurt?

I was restless. I walked up to the tent and grabbed the canteen we had left outside, and took a swig of the ice-cold water. I looked back at Seth. His eyes were trained on me, he was probably ordered to not have me out of his sight. I sighed. I knew there was food somewhere nearby, but I didn't feel hungry enough to look for it.

I started pacing across the bright little space, feeling Seth's eyes on me the whole time. Because I wouldn't look at him, in my head he became the boy again, rather than the gigantic wolf. I wanted to ask Seth to bark or give some sort of sign when the battle started.

I walked over to him and sat down close by with my canteen in hand and asked

"Can you give me a sign when the battle starts?" He yipped in response.

I stared out into the skyline and watched the sunrise. Then I laid down, my back hurting against the rocks beneath me, as I decided to watch the clouds and guess their shapes, to pass the time.

I could tell when the battle started by Seth's reaction. He yipped, looking right at me and then dug his paws into the ground, kicking pebbles everywhere and turning some to dust. "It started?" I questioned him. He yipped again.

"Okay," I said.

And then sat up, in a sitting position, crossing my legs in front of me.

I thought about all of the lives that were currently risking their lives for me, and might potentially not be alive to see tomorrow. All the wolves and all of the Cullens. Paul. Jacob. Jared. Sam. Leah. Quil. Embry. Seth. Edward. Alice. Jasper. Carlisle. Esme. Rosalie. Emmett.

They were all in the midst of risking their lives for me. They were ripping apart newborns, piece by piece and burning them. Or they were getting injured, being attacked, getting killed. I shivered.

I was a nervous wreck but I could never show it to the whole pack while they were fighting for my life. So I fidgeted with my bracelets that hung on my wrist and continued to stare out at the horizon and peer at Seth every couple of seconds.

I was interlacing my bracelets between my fingers when I was pushed sideways by Seth's snout. I looked up at him confused when he pushed my body sideways again. My hands fell into the rocks and my hand started bleeding.

"Stop Seth!" I yelled as confusion swept over my face.

The next thing I knew he phased human, and his naked form was looking me dead in my eyes.

"I'm going to phase again, and Bella you're going to have to get on my back, okay? A vampire is coming!" I nodded, dazed.

"Do you understand? Get on my back once I phase. And hold on tight." He repeated slower as if talking to a baby.

"Yes. I understand." I said.

He took a few steps back and quickly phased in one motion. Then he yipped at me and got down so far low that he was lying down in front of me.

I took a step forward and then stepped over him so I was straddling him, sat down and grabbed onto his fur so tight, it was balled up in the fists I made. I leaned forward. That was when Seth took off, running at a steady pace but not so fast that I thought I'd puke.

Just as we'd started running but right before we'd completely left our campsite, I turned my head around as far as I could stretch, to see Victoria exit the underbrush in a cat-like, feline crouch with another vampire on her left. I let out a scream of absolute terror and pushed my head back down into Seth's fur.

Seth sped up, and I clung to his fur even harder. He was running down the mountain, most likely to where the other wolves could get Victoria while Seth ran with me. I decided to close my eyes after a couple of moments so I wouldn't get sick or pass out. Passing out going seventy miles an hour, would for sure result in me falling off and getting another head injury if I didn't die.

Seeing Victoria with a clear head for the first time since she'd tortured me brought back up the hazy, grim, and painful memories where I was unable to defend myself or those I loved. The last time I had seen Victoria, I had been vulnerable. And I was vulnerable once again. It caused me to become absolutely paralyzed in fear, on the back of Seth as he ran.

Victoria was the cause of all of my nightmares, and just moments ago she was right in front of me again. Her red hair was an evil red nuisance that would never leave. Her childlike, high soprano voice taunted me. Her games made my life a living hell. Her notes had been torture to read. The last time I was with her she had wanted to slowly break my bones in front of Paul and make him watch or she'd kill us both. I shivered at the thought.

As we neared the bottom of the hill, he started to slow down and then he started walking. The next thing I knew, he was flinging me off his shoulders to his left and I hit the ground with a painful thump as I screamed.

I was lying down beside him, in pain when he moved and crouched protectively in front of me. My hands were shaking as I assessed what hurt. I lay sprawled out on the dirt behind Seth. I shakily felt the back of my head where I felt blood pouring down my hair and neck. I started to panic. I took in big breaths so I wouldn't pass out incase Seth needed me to mount his wolf again.

I looked in front of Seth and saw Victoria and a vampire with one arm come out of the forest and start to gracefully walk towards us. She was smiling sick twisted smile when five wolves came out of the bushes and attacked her and her partner. They mauled and ripped off their limbs until their heads and torsos were just left. That's when I started to feel sick and my vision started to regress. My eyes flitted open and closed. I felt like I was floating between consciousness and unconsciousness.

I felt someone reach behind me and pull me into their arms. I was being carried by a warm body, it must be someone in the pack. I groggily wiped the blood dripping down my neck, with the arm of my sweater and then I felt two hands press some sort of cloth onto my head.

I heard talking but I couldn't make out the distinct words as I floated in the warm arms that carried me. Every time I tried to open my eyes, it felt like a concrete wave was trying to pull me back under, into the dark. I felt another hand press a cloth of something onto my leg. I must have more injuries than I'd thought.

Under the darkness, I just felt myself being carried and then I felt cold hands touch my head. I screamed and tried to move but I couldn't.

"She's losing a lot of blood. Mostly from her head. I can staple up her head injury but it will hurt. And then I can just tourniquet her leg, that should be fine until I can get to her. For her leg, I will have pain medicine with me." I heard a smooth, creamy, vampire voice say. It kind of sounded like Carlisle.

"The stupid mutts threw her off their back!" Someone yelled.

"She just had a concussion and surgery, will she be okay?" Someone screamed.

"Just do it, just staple her head. We'll hold her still!" Someone else cried.

"We've got her. Just do what needs to be done!"

My screaming continued. The pain was eating me up. I was supposed to be strong but I felt like I was drowning. Floating in between a world of sound and a world of emptiness. I was in between a world of light and a world of darkness. And the pain wouldn't end. The smell of sulphur and rust, the smell of blood leaking onto my skin wouldn't lessen or go away.

"I'm so sorry Bella." Someone whispered.

"I'm so sorry Bells." Someone said louder.

"Use the staple gun." Someone else said.

That's when I felt the hands around my body and head tighten so much that I couldn't even make minuscule movements. I was barred into a solid, unmoving position. Then I felt a metal object press on my head and I felt a pinch go through my skull. I screamed and screamed even louder as I felt the metal object pinch through my skull over and over, while someone else was telling me that they were sorry. But their apologies were muffled by my screams of agony.