L I S A

My eyes fluttered open, dizziness was still evident in them. I had to reiterate in my mind what I'd recalled about the last time before darkness took over me.

The memories of the underground library and Edward's ancestral line along with his name and title flooded back in my brain. The place I was in a few minutes or hours ago was now just a forgotten pile of dust and bricks. I didn't know it earlier but I was able to walk outside before the jolt really took a toll on the place. What was it was beyond my comprehension but I had a good guess that the vampires were up to something.

I felt someone feverishly shaking my hands trying to get my attention and abruptly I was greeted by a pair of light brown eyes. Anxiety and wariness flushed in them as he struggled to get me conscious again. He looked displeased and in a state of prudence that compelled me to bat my lashes quickly and get a good view of his trouble. Something about his behavior and scent was alarming; I could smell blood on him.

"What's wrong?" I asked almost immediately as soon as my mind gained the capability to talk sane. It was still throbbing a bit though which I endeavored to hide.

"We need to get out of here." His voice was just as unsettling as his wet soil scent mixed blood and I had to admit it was never a good combination. His scent for the first time was making me feel sick to the stomach. He smelt like he'd just returned from a battlefield with fleshes surrounding him or at least a pond of blood.

I gave him a questioning look hoping he'd understand that I hadn't caught on what he meant with that. I’d never seen Edward this unsettling. Fear was crystal clear on his face and his eyes spoke an admonition of danger I wasn’t able to have a handle on. He was pale, pallor than a vampire as adrenaline seemed to flush in every vein of his body. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on and why did he look like he'd just seen a ghost?

I withdrew my hand from his grip and gave him a stern look. I understood it wasn't the time to be stupidly stubborn but he was worrying me and as I'd just woken up from a sleep it wasn't that easy for me to plunk up and run. I needed to stall him until I gained the control over my body and I needed some crux of the matter to start with.

"The hunters had attacked and they're coming for you. I need to get you out of here before anyone notices your presence." He explained in a single breath and only now I did understand the terrible nature of the situation.

I swiftly stood up on my feeble feet and in the attempt stumbled and fell back. Quick arms wrapped around my waist and held me closer than life itself. My face was buried in his chest that his half buttoned shirt failed to conceal. I took in his scent that had a consoling and a frightening sort of aura assorted together. It was probably not the preeminent time to feel this way and I cursed my dim-witted body to react so vigorously against his touch.

I peeked at him from underneath my lashes and a fleeting smirk made its way onto his face as if he'd read my mind. However he covered it just as swiftly as it'd come and I only had a fraction of second to admire his exquisiteness. I blinked back all the thoughts about him to the back of my mind and wouldn't let them reveal themselves until our next intimate moment.

Right now, it was time to focus on getting out of this place.

He grasped my hand and began scampering off outside. He was half-running and half-dragging me behind him as I sneakily took in my surroundings. I didn't know this place as much as he did so I kept shut and followed him behind like a shadow. However it was soon enough that he came to the conclusion that it wasn't working. It was almost impossible for me to catch up to his pace and he began to apprehend it too.

At last he sighed and looked at me.

"This isn't working." He declared and I couldn't have agreed more. I felt just a tad impair as I wasn't able to be treated as his equal—before anymore thoughts could've overwhelmed me, his burly hands wrapped around my small waist and tossed me up into his arms in bridal-style just like last night. It wasn't the moment but I couldn't help but notice the blush creeping up to my face.

"Close your eyes." He half-whispered half-demanded looking down at me and I obeyed thinking he must've meant good. His tone was so husky it was making me panic beyond my planning. I was losing my nerve too hastily.

Nevertheless what happened next was none of my concern as I lay protected in his arms and he ran like the wind touching the tip of every tree in the forests. I had my eyes closed the entire time to notice anything atypical but the chill that ran through my entire body at the touch of the intense nor'easter wasn't pleasant, especially when it was laced with the familiar scent of rust and salt and hollow shrieks.

We're nearing the battlefield but why, I didn't know. He was supposed to get me out of there but he was hauling me towards the danger. Despite of that thought endlessly poking in my brain, I kept hushed and let him ride me to this anonymous place. He’d protect me and I felt it in my heart. Call it foolish but it was a rather good hunch.

In next to no time I realized we weren't going to join the battle but rather find our way through the field. The barely flight out of this forest was through the village and it was tricky to bypass that village without coming into notice of one of the many hunters shooting arrows in the direction of every vampire.

My eyes were momentarily greeting and shutting out the light as I attempted to check up on him although he looked impervious to the blood and screams. He was clutching me nearer to his chest as if I was his most high-flying trophy. Me on the other hand, I was terrified to even stand there and endeavored to ignore every scream that came my way.

My eyes flickered open and landed on an outline I could perceive behind Edward's shoulders. He'd slowed his pace now that we're in the middle of the war but he was fast enough to not fall in notice.

When my eyes fixated on the girl, I gained her attention. She was slim like someone infected by a disease and looked whacked like a ninety year old chap. However I couldn’t help but observe an elfin-like satisfied smile lingering on her face. Despite of being aware that it wasn't the real her I couldn't help but smile back out of sympathy. This girl didn't deserve to go through anything she had endured and I felt the reason behind it. If it wasn't for me not even this fight would've broken out, at least not for a century.

And I couldn't help but feel myself responsible for all that mess. I stared into the eyes of that fragile girl who looked like her soul had left her skin. She looked soulless standing in the middle of flesh and blood and yet her smile had a little amount of faith left in them, faith for something else, something more pure than her possessed mind. I prayed silently for that girl to end up in heaven, at least there she'd be safe and sound and not possessed by this demonic force that made her do all of this.

As I stared at her I watched as the smile gradually faded away from her face and her body fell to her knees limp. I felt tears stream down my face I gaped in shock. One of them had driven a stake through her heart and by now her body was slowing burning into ash and soot. First it was the veins that popped out of her skin and then she was gone in a blazing fire. Nothing of her beautiful life remained as a souvenir behind, everything drifted away in the wind that whispered hundreds of miseries in my ears.

What just happened?

I asked myself but to no avail. Nothing came out of my throat; nothing could soothe me down as her sight slowly drifted away from my gaze. At this distance I couldn't even see what was left of that war as we came across a lake. My mind was still wrapped up from shock but not even a sob was making its escape. I just lost her, we lost her. There could never be a salvation, not for this sin.

Edward silently shook me and gained my attention after a long term of trial. "Elizabeth." He whispered taking my hand in his. I felt nothing now that I was internally grieving at the loss of a juvenile friend who reminded me of Jenna. Never had I thought her death would affect me so much but then, never had I considered the possibility of her, a vampire dying before me. Was this my astringent reality?

"We need—" His sound was cut off as a loud gasp escaped from me.

It happened all too fast for my cerebrum to process. My back hurt like nothing I'd experienced as my dress immediately wetted with a liquid I could only recognize as blood pouring out of my back. I stumbled and lost my stability as I saw Edward mouth something to me but his voice was cut off by a constant ringing in my ear. Unable to balance myself I fell in his arms but nothing about it was joyous and exciting. I had this sore in my back and it was hurting to no end.

I lay there in his arms as I fought my ultimatum. It couldn't be so soon but here I was groaning and lying in my own pool of blood. I murmured his name wordlessly as darkness slowly took over my vision.

Please don't let this be the end. I prayed but I didn't know if my prayers reached the right destination as I didn't realize myself who I was praying to. Perhaps God was his name. The hands around me seemed to vanish away, his touch was being erased from my mind, and his memories were no longer registered in my brain. He was fading away . . .