scorch: to affect the color, taste, etc., of by burning slightly
The fire that burns in her veins contrasts darkly with the ice that runs through his. Wanting normalcy in the form of a new life, Safina Wells finds this unachievable in the name of Ja...
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"to love is to burn, to be on fire" -jane austen
Fire burned within her. It lit up her veins and evaporated the blood, venom flowing behind the flames. Safina thought if it didn't end soon, that she was sure to die. It occurred to her that she hadn't got to say goodbye to Jasper or her family. God, her family. Had the Cullens told them? Her father had been so adamant about her change, Gabe had told her. There had still been a chance of her having the wolf gene, the change would kill her. It had to be killing her, that was the only explanation.
Would death be peaceful? Probably not. It would be harsh and sudden and unfair like her mother's. Maybe she would finally have the closure of seeing her again. Cherie and her father would eventually have to explain to Caiden and Zara about their older sister, the one who fell in love and eventually paid the ultimate price. There was no way Jasper could go back to school, not in the permanently depressed state he was sure to be in.
Jasper. He had tried so hard to keep her safe and Safina would never be able to tell him that it was okay. She would be okay, even in death. For a minute she could almost see the future, where Jasper blamed himself for her death. He would isolate himself from his family and they would try, with no avail, to get him back. She could only hope he would eventually go back to them, move on from her.
How long had it been? It felt like she had been burning alive for years, centuries even. This was the pain that Jasper had spoke of, the feeling of an endless torture, only to wake up and be burdened by an inconsolable thirst. Was it really that bad? Could the pain be a psychosomatic idea she had drawn up in her head? Perhaps, if she simply didn't think about it, it would cease to exist. She played with this theory, attempting to drown out the intense pain she was feeling. It was real, very real. Even when she tried to feel anything else, the flames brought her back to the center, cursing her eternally.
Finally, the pain closed in on her heart. Jasper said that was the last of it, and the worst. Safina couldn't handle it anymore, she was sure. She was surely letting out shouts as the fire overtook the most important organ in her body. The venom would kill her, she knew it. It was incredible that she had lasted as long as she had, she thought. He was right, it was the worst of it. Before she could truly begin to feel the full force of her heart being enveloped by the heat, it was over.
When her eyes opened, she was astonished at everything she had missed in the air. The follicles of dust that surrounded her were mesmerizing, enchanting. Then, she realised, she could hear everything. Nessie's strange heartbeat drew her in as she listened to it, amazed that she had never heard it. Gabriel's voice was quiet as he spoke to Alice, but not so much that Safina couldn't hear it.
Sitting up was hard, she felt as if she had moved much too fast. Had she been human, she surely would have gotten whiplash. Everything about her felt strange, in a very unwelcoming way. She got a good look at her limbs, how smooth and untouched they were, like she had never scraped them a day in her life. There was a mirror, she noticed, in the corner of the extremely white room. Sunlight washed over her in a way it never had before, thousands - possibly millions - little beams of light coming out of her skin, something she had only ever seen on Jasper.
