Friend Of The Dead

The Battles We Fight

Her heart was beating fast. With my enhanced eyes, I could see the pale shimmering of nervous sweat collecting on the back of her neck, the clammy, moist smell of her hands that kept rubbing against her jean-clad thighs. Her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth anxiously as she ascended the stairs with her undead boyfriend by her side. Her flowery freesia scent I could smell from inside the house. But nothing compared to the gushing of her blood, the salty, raw scent of her blood flowing between her veins that had my throat turning to sandpaper. Her heart was beating fast. She was nervous, I reflected, nervous to see her own sister, her creation, her creature, the monster.

Bella Swan, the only remaining Swan sister, the fly caught in the spider's web.

I gripped the back of the chair in front of me until the wood cracked under my hand into tiny splinters. I stopped breathing in, but when I opened my mouth I could taste the scent of fresh blood in the air. It took all of my willpower to stay rooted to the ground, and I was still thinking of ways I could grab her and drain her of her being.

Edward walked with her, his posture was stiffer than I'd ever seen him. It had taken a great deal of convincing for this meeting to finally take place, one side needed to convince Bella how dangerous it would be for her to come before me, and the other tried to convince me to entertain the thought of seeing her. It was a struggle. Bella had been trying to get in contact with me since my awakening, but I wanted nothing to do with her. She was my sister, my blood sister, the one I shared my human life with, be that as it may, I was no longer human, and I had no desire to come before the mortal whose actions caused my demise. Had she never fallen for Edward, had she never gone to that baseball game, I would not be here. I would not be one of the undead.

It didn't take much consideration to acknowledge that I paid the price for her irrational decisions. I felt an aloofness toward her as she stepped into the house that a year ago would have appalled me. It was like my ties to her died the minute Victoria sank her fangs into my flesh.

In the end, it was Jasper who convinced me, the only member of the Cullen family whom I had any semblance of affinity to. He was a voice of reason amongst various biased voices. He spoke to me of how dangerous, how hazardous it would be to be so close to her as a newborn that has barely passed the one month mark, he said it would be like a thousand razor blades cutting into your throat with the faintest whiff of her blood. He told me how he, a seventy-something-year-old vampire still struggled to be in the same room as her.

He also said that if any of them had had family members who'd been aware of their situation, none of them would hesitate before reconciling. They lacked that luxury of a knowledgeable family member, and so they had to cut all ties for their safety. I had Bella, who knew of my condition before I was even awake to know it myself, and in some strange way, I was yet to understand she was a blessing.

It was a conflict. Bella was persistent and unyielding, Edward and Rosalie and I stood on one side that claimed it was too dangerous. Alice, Emmett and Carlisle were on the side that said it was worth a shot. Jasper and Esme were neutral, seeing the benefit and disadvantage of both sides.

In the end, Edward, the Edward who couldn't refuse my sister anything, agreed to bring her to the house, provided that she keeps her distance from me, and that they were all allowed to subdue me in any way possible should I try to attack her.

To be honest, the idea of running off into the woods sounded so appealing right now that I was surprised I was still standing in the house.

Jasper, who stood precautiously in front of me, turned his head slightly and offered me a reassuring smile. It didn't help. I had my teeth gritted so harshly that I was surprised my jawbone was still in one piece.