"

I could only hear her scream echo through the empty clearing as James stood across from me with a smirk on his face.

I glanced from Bella to James and then back to Bella.

There was never an option, there was never a choice.

It was Bella; it had always been her and would always be.

I rushed to her side, holding her arms down as she screamed in pain.

I didn't know how to help her or how to make the screaming stop but she was slowly dying with the venom in her veins

"It's okay Bella" I said in a panic as I looked around "It's going to be okay"

James was gone and he had left me with a slowly transforming Bella

I felt two hands grip my shoulders, yanking me away from Bella. My eyes stayed glued to her until I was thrown across the clearing, landing on my feet.

James was furious that I had chosen Bella over fighting him.

He rushed at me so I jumped to avoid him. I landed in front of my girlfriend, crouching very protectively

Once again he came to rush at me but he decided what he was going to do too early so I could easily counter him

I pushed him against a tree, just like he had done to me a few weeks before. I hissed loudly, leaning down to bite his shoulder aggressively before I paused when I heard a painful scream from behind me.

I turned back to my Bella who continued to writhe in pain on the floor.

Blood flowed from her wrist, trickling down her arm.

As if James wasn't enough to deal with, I had to keep my hunger under control while my primal protective instincts unleashed themselves.

Before I knew what was going on James yanked me down towards him, forcing me to the ground with a thud. He grabbed my neck once again and pushed my head against the ground.

I heard a loud crack and my eye sight went blurry. The crack extended up through my jaw to what felt like my temple.

He was trying to split my head in half

I felt helpless as Bella was screaming on the floor a distance away from me and James was slowly killing me.

I tried slipping from James' grip but I was having a hard time prying my neck from his hands.

I had one hand on his over my neck but found my other one extended to try and reach Bella.I was never going to reach her but I wanted to her to know that I was at least trying my hardest to get to her, even if it was too little too late.

She was changing but I wasn't sure whether she would survive the change. I had heard of people not making it through the transformation because their body couldn't take it.

When it was her time to be changed into a vampire, I at least wanted to give her body as much chance as I could possibly give.

Suddenly I was pulled from my thoughts, James was gone and my neck had been released.

All I could see above me was the stars.

It was such a clear beautiful night above, I had always loved the stars that shone in the clearing.

That was one of my favourite things about living in a small town, you could always see the stars in all they're glory.

I felt a gentle hand on my cheek as Jazz replaced my view of the stars.

Her hair fell over her face like a curtain as she leaned over me with a worried look on her face

"Alice" She said, trying desperately to shake the cobwebs from my head "Alice, you need to get up"

Her voice was muffled and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as I felt her shake me a little more.

I heard my neck healing itself, covering and rejoining the cracks that had formed in my skin. I didn't realize it at the time but the reason why I wouldn't hear Jazz well was because my ear had been split in half.

I was aware what was going on but I had forgotten why exactly I was there for a moment

"Bella" I mumbled to myself as I shot to my feet

Emmett, Edward and Rosalie held James with his arms behind his back while he struggled to try and move from under their grip but it was clear he was going nowhere. We had finally managed to catch him and this time I was sure my family wasn't going to let him escape.

I glanced to my right where I saw Carlisle with Esme, kneeling over a screaming Bella

As if a switch had been flicked on in my body, I felt dozens of emotions swelling from my heart

"How are we going to kill him?" Emmett asked as they held James while he still struggled

"Are you okay Alice?" Jazz asked

She was standing next to me for the few seconds I had been up with her hands on my shoulders, like she thought I couldn't hold myself up.

I shook myself from her grip, taking very quick steps towards my siblings as they held James

Hearing Bella's cries from pain only made the anger for James within me rage inside

"Alice, Alice wait!" Jazz said from behind me "Maybe we could get some information out of him about your life before you turned or the other vampire that's been with him"

She didn't move though because she knew that she couldn't stop me and she didn't want too. She knew it should have been me to kill James anyway

It felt like a long journey to James but it only took seconds. It felt like the dream that you have when you're trying to run but not matter how hard you fight, you aren't going anywhere.

When I finally reached James I paused. He didn't look scared or concerned, he was just angry and he was trying to find a way out of his predicament

There would be no way out for him this time

I grabbed James by head tightly, I looked him in the eyes for only a moment until I grit my teeth and yanked down on his neck as hard as I could.

His head tumbled to the floor, his body falling limp in the arms of my brothers and sister

"Well that's one way to kill him" Emmett mumbled with a furrowed brow

"Tear him up and burn the pieces" Jazz said as she reached us

I looked down at James' crumbled head at my feet and scowled

"Alice!" Carlisle exclaimed "Bella needs you"

I pulled my attention from James and rushed to Bella's side

She had only been in pain for a few minutes but for her it would have felt like an entire century. I felt terrible for her, each scream that came out of her mouth sent a sharp pain into my heart.

"What can I do?" I asked desperately "Is there anything I can do for her?"

"You have to make a choice" Carlisle said grimly "She isn't too far gone, if you hurry you could try and getting the venom out of her system before she turns"

"What's the other option?" I asked quickly "We just leave her and she changes?"

"If she makes it through the transformation, yes" Carlisle said

"If she makes it?" I asked "What do you mean if she makes it?"

"I mean that her body has been under a lot of stress over the past few hours. It's not as strong as it should be and I don't know if it could take the transformation" Carlisle said "More than likely she will be fine but there is a risk involved"

"Yeah but there's a risk involved in sucking the venom out of her too" I snapped very quickly as she screamed once again "It's okay Bells, you're going to be fine. I promise"

"You have to make a decision before she's too far gone" Esme said sadly "You need to choose"

"You don't have long Alice" Jazz said "She'll begin the transformation in a matter of minutes, I've seen it happen"

"We decided on a date" I mumbled as I looked to the bite mark on Bella's arm "We decided on a date when she wanted to be changed so she could say goodbye to Charlie, her mom...What if I can't...but what if she doesn't..."

"Alice" Jazz said very anxiously

It was like a ticking time bomb that I had to defuse

My heart was telling me one thing but my head was telling my something else, they were having a brutal war against each other for victory

One more scream from Bella was all it took for me.

The heart had won, as it always did for me.

The words I had spoken to Jazz and Bella only the previous day were ringing through my ears.

Love always trumps fear.

I didn't hesitate to grab Bella's wrist and sink my teeth into her skin where James had bitten her already.

Everything else began to fade away very quickly as Bella's blood pooled into my mouth. I held her wrist very gently as I began to drink her blood.

My heart had been telling me that Bella wanted to wait until graduation but my head was telling me that I wouldn't be able to control myself if I tried to suck the venom out of her blood.

Her blood was the single best thing I had ever tasted in my entire existence. It was a million times better than any animal I had ever fed from but at the same time I had never felt so wrong and guilty for doing something. I was terrified because of how great it tasted that I wasn't going to be able to let go.

I felt Bella's heart beat slow a little as her pulse pumped more blood into my mouth and down my throat

It was actually starting to make me feel sick, the guilt of doing this to her was making me feel sick.

I could taste the venom that James had left, tainting the sweetness of her blood. It was burning my throat at the same time that her blood seemed to soothe it.

"When you can't taste the venom anymore you have to stop, the venom spread significantly so she is going to need all the pure blood she can keep" I heard Carlisle's voice echoed into my ears

He was still crouched next to me but it sounded like he was on the other side of the town whispering to me

"Bella's counting on you" Esme added distantly

I very quickly noticed that Bella's screams had stopped and her body had stopped squirming so she didn't feel like she was on fire any longer. Her pulse was weaker but it was still strong enough for her to be healthy and alive.

I always remember imagining what Bella's blood would taste like when I was waiting for her to come into my life. I used to love to imagine what she would smell like and when I finally found her I loved to smell it but I never actually thought it would come to me tasting it.

As much as I wanted too and as tempted as I was, I didn't actually want to sample it because I didn't know if I would be able to stop.

It also meant that if I was tasting her that I was killing her, changing her; or in this case something had gone wrong and it was the only way to fix it.

I squeezed my eyes shut very tightly as I detected that there was only a small amount of venom left.

Breaking myself from my trance I looked up at Bella's face to find her eyes were closed and she looked pretty lifeless.

I also noticed by a glowing orange light behind Carlisle that Emmett and Edward had started a fire to put James' body into.

Carlisle had his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently as if to urge me to stop.

I swallowed one last mouthful until I pried my mouth away from her wrist, holding it upwards to minimize anymore of her blood from spilling out.

Carlisle quickly tended to Bella, checking her pulse and making sure that she was still breathing healthily.

"We need to get her into the jeep and to hospital right away" Carlisle said without delay "She's lost too much blood to stay out here any longer"

"I'm going with" I said not taking my eyes from my girlfriend's lifeless face "I left her once tonight when I shouldn't have, I don't want to do that again"

"Okay" Carlisle agreed as he scooped Bella up gently, cradling her against his chest "Esme, stay here with Emmett and Rosalie. Make sure James is burnt in the fire and put it out"

Edward ran to the jeep and started it up, he was the fastest driver out of all of us so I was going to trust him to take us quickly.

I paused for a moment as I felt a vision suck me in

The redhead ran away from the clearing, towards Canada and away from us. She had seen enough

"What is it?" Jazz asked anxiously "Was it Bella?"

"The red head" I mumbled as I looked out to the other side of the clearing "She's leaving"

"Let her go, we don't have time for that now" Jazz said "Come on"

She tugged me to the car where I sat holding Bella in the backseat with Carlisle on her other side. Jazz sat at the front with Edward, turning back to face us.

"You'll be okay Bella" I cooed into her ear quietly "I love you so much. I know you won't leave me. I know it"

"You've got some...on your lips" Jazz mumbled

I quickly wiped my lips with the back of my hand only to transfer that to my pants.

I think it surprised Jazz that I didn't just lick my lips but the amount of Bella's blood I had ingested was making me feel really ill.

It wasn't her actual blood making me feel sick it was just the thought behind me drinking her blood.

Edward sped through the streets as fast as he could possibly go. Jazz had turned around to face the front once we had reached the entrance to the hospital. We screeched to a stop and everyone piled out of the jeep like we had practised it a million times before.

Carlisle took Bella, I had one arm under her shoulder and Carlisle did the same on the opposite side. We rushed her into the emergency ward where; thanks to Carlisle she was taken from us immediately.

I took a quick step to follow but Carlisle blocked my way

"You're going to have to wait out here for now" Carlisle said

"No, I said I wasn't going to leave her" I furrowed my eyebrows "Carlisle she needs me"

"She does need you and you have done everything that she needed of you for now" Carlisle whispered "We are going to be giving her a lot of blood to make up for what she had lost and I can't have you all in there because you might lose control"

"I won't lose control" I promised

"I know sweetheart but for now I need you to stay out here" Carlisle soothed as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder "You've had human blood for the first time in a long time and when that hits your system you're going to be a little bit erratic so for Bella's sake you have to stay out here okay?"

"Will you please come and get me as soon as she is okay so I can just sit with her?" I practically begged

"As soon as we move her to a room I will get you" Carlisle said

And with that he disappeared into the hospital as well, following immediately in the direction that Bella had been taken just moments earlier.

"Ali" Jazz whispered from behind me

I turned around quickly to see her clinging to Edward with a concerned look on her face

"I know this is a foolish question to ask but are you okay?" Jazz asked

"Well no" I said shaking my head "But when I find out she's okay I will be"

"And she will be okay" Jazz said nodding

"She has to be" I stated with a shrug

Jazz quickly separated from her husband to pull me into a tight hug. I leaned my head on her shoulder and sighed loudly

"At least James is gone" Jazz mumbled

"Yeah" I replied half heartedly

I didn't really want to talk about anything but Bella at that moment.

I just wanted to be able to hear her speak again, I wanted to hug her

Separating myself slowly from my sister I walked over to sit in a vacant chair. I ran a hand through my hair and looked intently at the emergency ward doors in front of me. I wanted to see Carlisle straight away when he came back out.

Though I leaned back against the chair as a braced for a sudden impact that came upon me

Bella's eyes fluttered slightly before she squeezed them tightly, painfully aware of the bright lights in the room. She looked around to see Charlie standing by the side of her bed and I was waiting by the door.

I pushed an unnecessary breath out of my chest and sighed heavily though my sigh was only heavy because it was filled with relief.

"You saw Bella didn't you?" Jazz asked from the seat next to me

"If I didn't have great senses, you would have probably given me a heart attack" I mumbled before a smile began to edge its way over my face "She's going to wake up Jazz. I think she's okay"

"Ali that's fantastic news" Jazz said happily "I'm so happy"

I looked over to Edward who stood near the desk; he flashed a smile in my direction and nodded to acknowledge his understanding of what I had said

"I can't believe you did it" Jazz said "How did you stop?"

"I don't know" I exhaled heavily with a furrowed brow

"What did...how did her blood taste?" Jazz asked reluctantly. I always forgot that Jazz was the newest vegetarian to the family; I had been off human blood before she was even though I was away from the family. It would have been difficult for her to be around Bella's blood

"It was not what I expected. It was the best thing I had ever tasted but it just made me feel ill" I mumbled "It wasn't her blood; it was just the idea behind me drinking her blood. I promised myself I would never sample it but I guess I like breaking promises these days"

Jazz smiled slightly and shook her head

"You didn't do anything wrong" Jazz said "I just don't know how you stayed in control like that"

"If it wasn't Bella then I would have had more trouble" I admitted

"Can I ask you something?" Jazz asked

"Sure" I nodded but I kept my eyes on the emergency ward doors just in case Carlisle came out "What is it?"

"Were you actually planning to leave Bella because you thought she was better off without you?" Jazz asked "It's just that when we had that conversation you seemed pretty upset about everything"

I scoffed quietly and glanced to my sister who had her gaze fixed on me

"I have no purpose without her and I can't function when she isn't around so there was no meaning to what I said" I admitted "I know that Bella wouldn't take that excuse from me anyway so I didn't want to leave. I was just thinking aloud"

"Good" Jazz said

"Like I could leave her now after what has just happened" I replied "That would be completely and utterly selfish but I wouldn't be able to stay away from her anyway so I wouldn't put myself through that pain anyway when I can stay here and have her. I just think this has brought me closer to Bella, I don't want to leave her side ever again"

"Well I'm sure she'll be happy to keep you here anyway" Jazz said "How long is she going to be out for?"

"I'm not sure but Charlie will be here when she wakes" I mumbled "What am I going to tell Charlie?"

"Bella was out our house and we were about to leave for baseball when she tripped down the stairs, breaking the glass and cutting her arm" Jazz said calmly as she looked around "That's the story we have to go by"