28: Katie

KATIE'S POVMarch 19th

Blinded by the harsh light of the street, I had to hold my arm up to block the sunlight burning my eyes. I sprint without any sense of direction, just forward, making sure that my mental block is present just in case Edward can somehow sense I'm coming by my (probably unguarded) thoughts.

Bella stumbles behind me, as determined as I've ever seen her, sprinting. Considering her general clumsiness, it's a reasonably impressive speed.

Once I've adjusted to the light, I become suddenly glad the clock is so... visible. We're surrounded on all sides by thousands of festival goers, packed together, lining the streets. I'm almost knocked off my feet by a young boy who steps in front of my path suddenly, and we collide into each other, but I keep running.

Everything is red. The flags blowing in the wind and the people all start to blend together as a monochrome blur. My eyes have adjusted to the light, but only slightly, and it makes my depth perception improbably wonky. I step on peoples' feet too many times to count. I accidentally elbow someone in the side squeezing through the narrow gaps in the parade.

Despite how desperately we push through the crowd, I know one thing; We're going to be too late. We can't go fast enough. Not with this many people. We're too slow, having to push through them all, and Bella's fallen a few yards behind me, unable to match my pace. But how could we slow down now?

A gap in the crowd catches my attention, and we sprint towards it. Suddenly, I'm knee-deep in an elegant fountain, drawing the crowd's attention. I ignore them, kicking up my legs and continuing my sprint through the water. It's icy cold, but it hardly mattered. It made people more eager to get out of my way, actually, tripping over themselves to avoid being sprayed with the droplets.

A deep booming echoed through the square. Twice. Bella starts shouting Edward's name, but I can assume we both know it's too loud for even a vampire to make out her words.

The clock tolls again. We're nearing the tower, now. The crowd is more sparse, so the wind snaps at my back without deflection. Had it been this... intense the whole time?

A family of four is standing near the alleyway Edward must be in, watching Bella and I with quizzical expressions. The youngest girl turns, pointing to the alleyway, and must say something to her mother, who swats down the young girl's hand.

"Edward!" Bella shouts, again, and after a moment, I can finally see him.

His body is cast in shadows, shirtless and somewhat hunched over. He was motionless, statue-like, with purple circles under his shut eyes. As if he was drained— tired.

Unlike his posture, his expression was neutral— calm, as if he was enjoying himself. Thinking of a good memory, perhaps.

He was a mere step from where the sunlight cast into the alley. All it would take was a lunge forward and he would be in the view of the people.

"Edward!" Bella shouted again, harsher this time. She seemed revived by the sight of him, quickening her pace and matching my strides. "Edward, don't!"

He can't hear her. Eyes still shut, he lifts his leg as of to take a step forward. Even so, he hesitates a moment, caught up in his memory, and smiles at the sky.

Bella goes crashing into his chest, shoving him with a force I didn't know she had. She's moving so fast that when she hits him, it sounds like she's hitting concrete. The force should have hurled her to the ground— instead, Edward's arms snake around her.

He doesn't see me— only Bella. "Amazing," I hear him murmur, voice filled with wonder. "Carlisle was right."

Bella, to my surprise is silent. I can see her lips moving, but no words actually leave her mouth. "Edward!" She seems to gasp. "You have to move!"

He doesn't move, except for the hand that strays to her face to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. He seems dazed, a but surprised. Not urgent and confused, like I thought he'd be. He didn't even seem to notice Bella shoving him with all her might.

"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing— they're very good," Edward muses. Suddenly, I know; he thinks he's dead. He begins murmuring something to Bella, and then I hear him say, "you smell as good as ever. Maybe this is hell. I don't care."

"Edward!" I shout, as loud as I can. "Move! You have to move!"

His eyes snap to mine, noticing me for the first time, and he looks back to Bella. "I'm not dead, and neither are you! Please, Edward, you have to move! They can't be far away!" Bella pleads.

The realization hits his face and he's instantly moving backwards, pulling Bella with him. He puts her against the wall, turning his back to hers, and scans the alley protectively.

"Finally," I groan, trying to catch my breath. "Took you long enough."

Edward's eyes narrow. "Katie, come here quickly."

Despite my annoyance (and relief, I think, making my skin itch), the urgency in his tone is enough to make me start. Especially when I feel the sharp hum that warns me that these visitors are vampires. I duck behind Edward right as two cloaked figures step into the alleyway, side by side.

"Greetings, gentlemen." Edward says, his tone becoming pleasant instantly. "I don't think I'll be requiring your services today... or any day soon. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would give your masters my humblest thanks."

"We should take this conversation to a more appropriate venue," a smooth, lulling voice interrupts.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Felix. I know your instructions, and I have not broken any rules," Edward replies in the same pleasant tone. His body betrays his composure, a fist clenching absentmindedly by his side. I grimace.

"Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun, Edward," the other voice says in a soothing tone. "Let us seek better cover."

"I'll be right behind you," Edward agrees, looking to Bella and I without completely turning his back on the vampires. "Why don't you two go back to the fair and enjoy the festival."

The first shadow raises his hand. "No. Bring the girls."

Edward's composure slips. "I don't think so." He was squaring his shoulders, weight tipping  towards his back heel. He was about to fight. And if he was prepared to fight, I knew this would go poorly for us humans.

Me, at least. I don't think Edward or I would let Bella get hurt.

"No," Bella whimpers, clearly coming to the same conclusion.

He only murmurs, "Shh."

"Felix. Not here." The other shadow speaks once again. He turns towards Edward, trying to look reasonable. "Aro would simply like to speak to you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all."

"Certainly," Edward replies, "but only if the girls go free."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Edward. We have rules to obey."

Edward's voice is still collected as he says, "then I'm sorry, Demetri, but I'm afraid I'll be unable to accept Aro's invitation."

The figures— Demetri and Felix— look at each other quickly before they separate, locating themselves on the skirts of the entrance to the alley. They move ever so slowly forward, aiming to drag us farther into the alley and out of sight.

Edward, to his credit, did not cede even an inch.

Abruptly, all three vampires' heads turn towards something even I was unable to detect— another vampire. "Let's behave ourselves, shall we? There are ladies present," Alice croons, stopping by Edward's side with a childlike energy.

I brace myself for a scene. The vampires all just straighten themselves, seeming to realize the situation at hand. "We're not alone," Alice reminds, vaguely nodding towards the entrance to the alley, a mere 10 feet away. We all watch as the girl who had stared at me before points urgently toward us, tugging on the skirt of her mother. The woman turns and whispers something into her husband's ear with a sort of terror in her eyes. The man takes a few steps into the plaza, taps the shoulder of a red-clad-guard, and starts gesticulating wildly.

"Fine. Let us do this with some more privacy." Demetri agrees, smiling unsettlingly. A group of guards now crowds the entrance, looking at our group with bewilderment.

"No," Edward chokes, his pale skin seeming to become even paler. Had he been human, I could have imagined the color bleed out of his cheeks.

Despite my best attempt to ignore the vampire, vampire, vampire warning in the back of my mind, the urgency of the message suddenly picks up. Another vampire is approaching— from where?

A small figure steps from behind Demetri and Felix, short enough to make me think at first it must be a young boy. It's hair is short and brown, with a slim face and beautiful, soft features. A girl, then?

Instead of stiffening, Edward's body slacks in front of Bella. As if in defeat. "Jane," he says with some recognition.

She doesn't respond, only dips her chin slightly. Alice crosses her slim arms across her chest, brows furrowed.

"Follow me," Jane says suddenly, turning before waiting for anyone to respond. Felix and Demetri keep their positions on the outside, waiting to pull up the rear, and gesture us forward.

Edward turns to Alice. "Well, Alice. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised to see you here," Edward says conversationally, wrapping an arm around Bella's waist to pull her forward. I follow, clenching my hands into fists by my side defensively.

"It was my mistake. I had to make it right," Alice replies in an identical tone.

"What happened?" Edward asks casually, trying not to pick up the interest of the vampires surrounding us, leading us onward.

Alice sighs. "It's a long story. Turns out, Bella's into extreme sports these days. She wasn't trying to kill herself." Her words make Bella flush bright red. Edward doesn't seem to care.

"And Katie?" Edward turns, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry Clearwater died. I thought that was why you called." I try and keep my voice as level as theirs, but we all know that I have somewhat of a problem with congaing my anger.

"Hm," he says quickly, the casualty of his voice gone. We were both pissed at each other, for one. But we have also never really liked each other in the first place.

We follow row after row of curved cobblestone until we reach what seems to be a manhole. Really, it's a doorway of sorts downwards towards wherever Jane is leading us to. Alice goes first, dropping herself without hesitation. I lean over the edge to see the distance, and only pause for a second before I let myself drop down. Alice catches my waist, setting me down gently.  It takes a minute before Edward can coax Bella down, and Alice catches her, too.  Edward comes down last, with Felix and Demetri on his heels.

The rest of the pathway was fairly dark and completely underground. It was near silent, save for the sound of our footsteps and a distant clattering. I knew the vampires could hear Bella and I's breathing and our heartbeat, but I didn't really care.

The only thing I cared about was the temperature. I was wet from the fountain and the dank tunnels were doing nothing to help me dry off. The temperature down here was at least ten or twenty degrees colder than aboveground, but with a fair amount of wind. My hands were icy cold. I could hear that Bella was in the same boat due to her chattering teeth.

Finally, we reached the end of the tunnel. There was an iron gate, propped open by Jane. As soon as we stepped through, it was locked behind us, and Jane glided forward to unlock the large wooden door in front of us.

I tried to hold my head high, but I knew one thing:  this was not going to have a good outcome. There were no possible scenarios in which we all survived this.

I straightened up my spine, closing my eyes tightly for just a moment, and then followed them through the doorway.