Forever

13. War (Part 2)

Two unfocused blurs, white and quick, moving together like fog over fog. She gasped as they pushed away, their bodies coming into focus. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back, and she turned, a head with smooth black locks and amber eyes gazing up at her worriedly. She turned back to the two blonds on the floor, her eyes concerned.

"Jasper..." She murmured, but he shook his head, turning just as Alice grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the commotion. She struggled looking back at Emmett, relieved to see him standing. He ducked as Edward lunged, His arm wrapping around the auburn- headed vampire and pulling him to the ground, the sound sickening as the earth squelched beneath him. It was strange to see his large body brought down so easily, but if she watched closely, she could see the way Edward managed to catch his moves before he even made them, his lunges a second too late.

He looked rabid, his eyes blown and wild, bronze hair ruffled and wind-blown. She could finally see how monstrous he was, His eyes black and wide, sharp teeth glinting, the fear in her stomach, fear for Emmett and herself. Her gaze flickered back to Emmett, her brow furrowing at the small crack on his cheek, he looked in pain, his brow furrowed in a wince as he pushed himself up from the mud, crouching and reaching a palm up to brush the wound, the crack disappearing. He raised one hand to the angered Vampire before him, almost as if to dampen the situation.

"Edward..." He said warily, moving to stand up, but his body was impacted by yet another hit. Bella stumbled forward, some brainless part of her hoping to intervene, stop the fight before it began, but her steps were halted as Alice pulled her away, jolting her back.

"I don't want to fight you..." He grunted, before grabbing Edward's neck and pushing his strength into his hands, his brother's body crumbling to the ground. Pressing his head down into the dirt forcefully, his knee grinding into his back. Edward lunged his hand back, grasping Emmett's arm, pressing his nails into the skin, the surface cracking as he tore deep, ripping a chunk of skin. The loud cry that fell from Emmett's mouth tore into Bella's head, and she lurched forward, only held back by the constant hold of Alice's hands.

"Let me go..." She begged desperately as Emmett fell to the ground, his wrist punctured and burning. "Please Alice, he's hurt." The small blackhead shook in denial, her eyes sad yet resolved.

"He has to do this Bella, alone, it's the only way he can get Edward to back down, you running in there, guns blazing isn't going to help him, you'll only distract him." She said softly, and her words struck Bella's resolve, her knees crumbling as she fell to the earth, watching horrified as each blow Emmett gave, Edward saw and blocked. This wasn't fair, he shouldn't' have to face this alone!

"I'm going to kill you for touching her..." Edward snarled, his foot driving into Emmett's gut, and he stepped back as Emmett reached out a hand to grab him. "She's mine!" His knee lurched forward, driving forward into Emmett's shoulder, and Bella watched as his large body flung back into the dirt with a loud grunt. She gasped, pulling forward, and gritted her teeth as Alice's hand tightened.

"She's not yours..." Emmett gasped, winded as he tried to pull himself up, "She's not one of us, and she doesn't apply to our rules. She has the right to choose, not us" He gasped as a knee drove into his neck, the shock of the action deeming him paralysed for a short few seconds.

"She's my fiancée, I gave her a ring, and she promised herself to me!" Edward roared, using the flat of his foot to push Emmett to the ground, grinding the balls of his feet into his ribs.

Emmett couldn't understand why he was holding back, any other fight and he would've gained a few hits, but this time was different, this fight was real, and the thought made him hesitate, this was his brother... He didn't move, staring up at him blankly. He blanked his mind, not thinking, and the impact of the decision caused his brother to falter, losing his advantage. Emmett had always been clear with his thoughts, he thought every action, every word which poured form his mouth was from his head, to suddenly steal that away, it would steal the one advantage Edward had, and from the look of brief shock covering Edward's face, he wasn't expecting the change.

"You abused your power over her, so she chose someone else." He gritted out, his hand flying out and grabbing Edward by the neck, and pulling him forward, his head drove into his chest, causing a sickening crack upon impact, as the bones crunched. He flung the damaged body to the side, wincing as pain spiked up his torso.

A loud scream emanated from the wood behind him, and he barely had time to register the two blonds emerging from the tree-line, before one was flying towards Bella, a blur over the green background, hands outstretched, and nails ready to dig into flesh. His eyes widened in horror, and he stepped forward, body numb, his mind dispatching itself from reality as he watched her hands wrap around the soft skin of Bella's throat, and her brown eyes closed, waiting for death, settling herself peacefully for it. The sound of metal sliding over metal scratched her ears, causing her to wince, and she opened her eyes to a body without a head, shoulders which supported no face. Her mouth fell open a terror slicing through her and making her feel sick. She stepped back as the limbs flailed, reaching blindly for her, like a headless Medusa. Behind her, Jasper held his hand up, blond strands of hair wrapped around his hand, a head swinging from the gold strands, a face imprinted with a vicious snarl. He dropped the dismembered piece, and kicked it away and both Bella and Emmett allowed some of the stress to ease. Emmett's breath broke from his lungs, and he choked on his relief.

Bella tried to apologies, her eyes watering as she looked at the scarred vampire. "Jasper, I-" He raised a hand, shaking his head, and giving a tired smile, his body covered in wounds.

"Don't bother Bella; I didn't really like her anyway. Besides, we haven't burnt her, she's not dead yet, her body can reattach." He smiled softly, and shrugged, his hands wrapping over Alice's shoulders as he hugged her into his side. "Now we just need to hope for Emmett." He murmured, and they all looked back to the pair in the clearing

"I'm going to enjoy winning this, and then I'm going to enjoy taking her even more, I'll make sure she screams my name just for you!" Edward snarled, standing from the ground, dirt caking his legs and arms. He clicked his shoulder into place. Emmett snarled, rolling his neck as he stared him down, the threat driving deep, fingers flexing as he tried to control the growing urge to run forward and rip the man to pieces, brother or not.

"Fine, if you can't accept this." He said flatly, "I'm going to have to make sure I have fun as well." His eyes flickered to the left, catching two dark, brown orbs, and any doubts fled his mind. His teeth bearing as any color inside his eyes blackened.

"You'll lose." Edward hissed, "You always do." The dark grin flickering over Emmett's face was dangerous, more like the grin of a wolf than of a man and he laughed, his head thrown back, the veins in his neck hard and visible beneath his skin

"Perhaps." He nodded, teeth glinting as his body tensed, coiling tighter and tighter. He was ready to attack, ready to defend. "But I'm going to enjoy ripping your head off as I go down, I think you've forgotten how weak you are without those abilities, I'm going to find pleasure in reminding you."

His words triggered the start, like a switch for a light, their coiled bodies sprung into action, like two lions waiting to pounce. Edward's gifts were deemed useless, his mind-reading serving no purpose when every move Emmett made was based on plain instinct, with no moral thought or strategy. His speed was his only defense as he dodged each hit barely, running in order to keep distance between them. Emmett left no time for him to rethink his strategy, try and find Emmett's weaknesses, his body seeking and finding opportunity after opportunity to place a hit.

Edward's body was halted as a hand enclosed around his neck, digging into skin as he was flung back, landing on his back with a loud thud. He grunted, pushing himself up and rolling over as a shadow filled his sight, a foot landing where his head was, leaving a deep imprint.