Resilient

Chapter Twenty-Six: Death is my Reward. Joy.

           It didn't have to be Bella's death, I reminded myself. If I did this right, Bella could still get out. I braced myself as the hunter stalked toward us, toward Bella. He stopped too close for a comfortable conversational distance. I mean I am pretty sure he planned to murder us, so it probably would not be a casual conversation. Bella seemed to be trying her best not to have a panic attack. I mean it was a normal response, I was trying to prevent it myself. I really did not want to die, but I know I can prevent Bella's death if I do it right. The hunter was rubbing it in, gloating over his victory. I tuned him out, not wishing to hear a random rant before I died. I had to figure out some way to help Bella buy time to get out. I knew the Cullens had to be on their way now, I prayed they would make it in time. Maybe I could still survive, though it was an unlikely chance. At least dying by vampire would be better than dying in my sleep, or by gunshot. I would really hate to die from a gun wound. Although if the Cullens had appearances they had to keep up,  who would know I died in place of my sister? Would my own parents know? That would suck. I mean, I may die in place of someone I love, but I would still like to take the credit. Maybe I didn't have to die, though it was best not to get my hopes up though. I forced myself to pay attention to the vampire who was droning on about a past failure. Bella came to the conclusion moments after I did. He was talking about Alice. She was in an asylum, that was why she couldn't remember anything. He killed her creator, so that was why she awoke alone. He was coming to the end of his gloat, and possibly the end of my life. I really do not want to die, I am scared. But I can't let Bella die, because I would never forgive myself if I did. I doubt Edward would either. I don't know what to do. Can I even do anything against this powerful hunter? I know I have to try, but I really don't want to die in vain, or at all really. The vampire concluded his gloat, and I prepared myself as he looked between us, a self satisfied smirk on his face.

"Hmm, who to start with?" He looked at me, "Victoria would be so upset if I were to take you," He looked at Bella, an unidentified expression on his face. It was almost a predatory gaze, mixed with satisfaction, and something else. "So I guess we'll start with you." He sneered. Faster than I could react I was thrown backwards against the wall and he was upon Bella. He threw her to the side, only to run up again and hit her. A game of cat and mouse. I would not let my sister be the mouse. I stood up the best I could. As far as I could tell nothing was broken, just bruised. I forced myself to sprint over to her. I barreled headlong into the vampire. I knew it would hurt, he was made of freaking marble for crying out loud. I also knew it really would do nothing except distract him. But that was what I needed, so I did it. And dang did it hurt. It not only knocked the breath out of me, but rattled my whole body to the point that I didn't even feel any pain when I was backhanded away. When I picked myself up again, something was definitely not right, and I was fifteen feet away from where I started. I looked over just in time to see James snapped Bella's leg. The crack seemed to resonate through the room. It broke me. Anger so red hot I could see the flames erupted from me. Almost in response the ground seemed to shake, as the wind howled. I roared my fury loud enough to make the vampire pause and look at me. His eyes widened when he did, almost in fear. I knew why. I had power running through my veins, elemental power that is. This power had finally just broken free. I felt better than ever before. Forget the fact that something was definitely broken in my body, I felt as though a part of me was free, and flying high. A cruel smile was on my face as I once again ran at the vampire, faster than ever before. A sadistic smirk came upon the vampire's face. He looked thrilled at the idea of a fight. To be honest I was too. I liked the feeling of being all in, of power stirring in my veins. Power that made the best hunter pause and look twice. Pure undiluted power, that was what exploded within me as I hit James head on. The fight was a blur. We were almost equal, but that didn't matter, I was just creating a distraction from Bella. She lay panting on the floor as I tried desperately to keep the fight on the other side of the room. James seemed to find it great fun to seek the holes in the protection I put around myself and throw me into the wall. I just kept getting up, why? Because I had to, after a while I was numb to the pain and getting up was a matter of pride for me. I was flying farther and farther each time. I quickly learned my best asset was fire. That was easiest to control, probably due to the rage burning inside me. I barely landed any offensive blows, but I learned defense pretty quickly. Funny how quickly you can master something when you have no other choice. The tracker suddenly became interested in something behind me. I whirled around, fearing it was the rest of James's coven, coming to help him. The sight that greeted me was much more welcome. The whole Cullen family were frozen, staring at the fire erupting from my hands. I was about to tell them to get moving when there was a sharp pain in my shoulder. The fire that I once controlled seemed to turn against me and rage inside my veins. I couldn't even scream. I simply slumped to the floor, nearly unconsciousness from pain. The next fifteen minutes were a blur. From what I gather James was dead, and Carlisle was tending to Bella. But what about me? I had been freaking bitten, not to mention the fact that I felt as though bone in my body was broken. I could make no sound though. So I simply laid there every nerve burning and hoped someone would notice me. Eventually they did. I was too far gone to notice much by then, but I saw the faces of Alice and Carlisle hovering over me. Then I felt another sharp pain right where I had been bitten. Then nothing but comforting, painless darkness. 

The next thing I was aware of was an annoying persistent beeping. It would not stop. It was a mostly steady pattern, but there was the occasional stutter. My mind wanted to go back to silent floating I had been doing for who knows how long, but I knew there was something that needed to happen. Someone I needed to know was okay. But why? Who? It seemed like a great effort just to open one eye, but I did it. What I saw let all the memories come flooding back. It was a hospital, and I was in here because of James. But where was Bella? Did she make it out alright? What happened after I passed out? Was there any sign of the red head near Charlie? What if he was swept into the mess Bella and I were stuck in? The beeping picked up pace as these thoughts crossed my mind. I now recognized it to be a heart monitor, and for a moment I debated ripping the thing out, as well as the IV currently lodged in my arm. I left them in place, simply because, A, it would hurt, and B, because it was not going to get me out of here any faster. But I had to know Bella was okay, as well as Charlie. Although, in the position I was currently in I would have to wait for someone to come, no way am I going to push the 'call nurse' button. Alas, I did not have to wait long before the door slowly opened to reveal a devastated looking Alice. I opened my mouth to ask her the question that had been nagging me ever since I had woken up, which was only like ten minutes, but still. But before I could make a sound Alice was already answering them.

"Yes, everyone is fine. I am so sorry Myla. I should have been paying better attention, we should have seen. I could have prevented this but we were all too worried about Bella. We should have made sure you had a chance. Carlisle says he's never seen anything like it before. He says it makes perfect sense and no sense at the same time. At this rate there is no way we can stop it. I am so sorry." Poor Alice looked close to tears. Normally I would have no pity for a vampire after almost being eaten by one, but the little pixie-like vampire looked so distraught it was hard not to have at least a little pity for her. The only problem was I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Alice, what are you talking about?" Alice did not say anything, she simply stepped to the side, and five seconds later the door swung open to reveal both my mom, and my dad. What really threw me off was the fact they both looked hysterical, as though someone had just died. Renee immediately threw herself at me, then proceeded to sob on top of me while I sent pleading eyes to Charlie, who looked as though he wanted to floor to swallow him. I was still in the dark as to what was happening. I was only further confused when Carlisle walked in, back in his coat and apparently working here for the time being. His flawless features were all tainted by grief, which only got worse as his eyes settled upon me. I was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. Would Alice lie? Was Bella really okay? Did James do more damage than I thought? Carlisle's voice seemed weary when he announced.

"Mr. Swan, Bella asked for you, she wanted to speak with you." Charlie simply nodded mutely and left the room. Renee looked up at my face, then broke down in tears again, muttered something about Florida and left the room in a hurry, tears streaming down her face. Carlisle looked me in the eye and I felt as though I could see all his three hundred years reflected there. He took a deep breath then moved closer to me.

"Myla, I'm afraid I have some news, and it is not good news. While you were out, we ran some blood tests, and I'm afraid the results were not good. The um, venom you were injected with was not removed soon enough. It left a lingering trace. The problem with that trace, is it seems to be having the opposite effect it should. Instead of improving the function of your body. It is slowly shutting down the functions of your body. When the blood test was first taken it was not bad, but it is slowly getting worse. This unfortunately leaves you with a shortened life span. If I was to be honest with you I would give you about two and a half years at most." The words took a moment to sink in. The first thing I felt was relief, Bella was okay. The second was confusion, and finally disbelief.

"The venom was only in for ten minutes!" I exclaimed. Carlisle gave me a sort of funny look.

"The venom was in you for roughly thirty-five minutes before we realized it. We were going to just let you turn, but Rosalie convinced us it was not what you would want. I sucked out the venom and thought it would be fine, unfortunately that does not appear to be the case." He explained gravely. How had I been  on the floor in agony for thirty-five minutes and no one noticed! They were too focused on Bella, who I almost died to protect. Well, I guess that's what I get for trying to be a good person.