FOREVER

The Regentoi

The Regentoi

There were the sounds of shuffling and Alice growled. At least, I hoped it was Alice. It was too dark to make out anything but some movement in the darkness. Outside the vampires still roared and clawed at the unrelenting hole. My heart began to race and the room suddenly filled with murmurs. They were too fast for me to hear and yet I still tried to decipher them. One of the vampires stepped forward and I could hear Alice standing up and the murmuring grew angrier from what I could tell. The hands retreated from the hole for just an instant and the light that came through caught on a vampire's goldenly coiffed hair.

"Carlisle?" I gasped, finding my legs and standing up. The murmuring stopped and I could just make out Alice's head turning towards me.

"Yes, Bella, it's us," Carlisle said, taking a step forward. Alice jerked her heafd back around and gently placed her hand on the doctor's shoulder. I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open, shining the light around the room. A few of the other vampires had cell phones too and they took my lead, pulling them out and opening the small lights. Carlisle, Emmett, Esme and Edward were all standing at the far end of the wall. Well, Carlisle had moved and was now just a few feet away from me. I smiled at him but he did not return it. Instead he looked down to Alice and the hand that she'd placed on his shoulder.

"You haven't fed in a long time, Carlisle. And yes, I'm well aware of who you are, but I just can't take the risk of any of us getting too close," Alice said sadly. I stepped to the side to get a better look at her face and saw just how ashamed she looked at having to do this. It made the blood in my veins all the more prevalent and I cursed it silently as Carlisle sighed, placing his hand on top of Alice's.

"If you think that's best," he replied simply, looking my way. "Though, Bella, I would advise that you keep moving to prevent hypothermia from setting in. If you wouldn't mind pacing back and forth or jumping or something, it would relieve me greatly." I smiled at him and shone the light on the floor, walking to one side of the room and then the other. Carlisle seemed to smile then when I looked up at him and then he looked down to Alice.

"Carlisle, what happened? How did they find you? I thought you would have run," Alice said, looking over to Esme, who smiled.

"We weren't going to leave you all. You should have known that, Alice," Esme said, stepping forward. "We were just a few miles out of town, listening to what was happening as best as we could. And when...well, when Rosalie made her decision, we headed back to town." Alice nodded almost sadly and opened her mouth to speak, but someone beat her to it.

"Bella?" Emmett asked, his voice coming across the room weakly. I looked over at him as I continued walking and saw that he was leaning against the wall, gripping it as if he thought he could bend it. "Bella, where's Rose? Is she okay?" I sighed, looking to Alice who seemed to meet the dejection in my eyes with her own.

"The Regentoi took her somewhere else. Alice said that she was going to be questioned."

There was a tremendous crash, so loud and powerful that even the teeming vampires outside receded momentarily from the hole. The entire room shook and I felt Alice at my side, with her arms around me. I held onto her tightly and looked over to Emmett. He was turned, facing the wall and his hands, which were clenched into fists, rested on the stone wall, which did not give even under his impressive strength. He was breathing deeply and Esme went over to him, putting her arm around his shoulders. She began whispering into his ear and I watched as his hands fell to his side and he fell into his mother's arms, holding her tightly as his chest heaved. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking to see and I turned away, hiding my eyes in Alice's shoulder. We all seemed to stand there for a few minutes, taking precious time to cope with all that was happening. It wasn't until Edward spoke that I lifted my head.