Victoria and I were dancing. We twirled in on one another, snapping, snarling, sashaying back and leaping at the momentary pauses that provided an opportunity of victory. The vicious ballet never ceased, and we were all but invisible with speed. If I paused, she mimicked me, our bodies coiling and tensing like poisonous snakes.

However, we were far more deadly than any mere viper.

I was using my brute strength to my advantage. Otherwise, I was clearly lacking in experience. Her movements were lithe and sure, and mine were wary. She simply followed my steps as I struggled to find a break in her graceful dance.

She made no moves towards me. I kept my hands up, clawed and ready. She continued grinning grotesquely, infuriating me further. Far, far away in the woods, a piercing howl caused us both to pause, and she glanced towards the sound, her eyes frightened.

I took her moment of fear and lashed out first, digging my hand into her steel arm, ripping and twisting as I pulled away. The high, metallic keening echoed in my sensitive ears painfully.

With my teeth bared, I sprung back to the edge of the clearing. I tossed the white piece of her skin to the ground. Victoria shrieked in agony, her hand automatically clutching the bloodless wound. Her eyes flickered up to mine, burning with hatred.

She lunged forward, her face twisted in rage and bloodlust. I skirted to the side as she brushed past me, her hands snapping a young pine. She wheeled towards me, her hair flairing around her, her eyes blackening.

There was another howl. She didn't remove her gaze from mine. Quickly, she snatched up the twitching piece of skin from the forest floor, putting back into the hole on her arm. She grimaced as it reattached itself to her body.

"Bella!"

Edward's voice was a pained roar, rippling through the stagnant air. I wheeled towards the sound, panic knotting my stomach. Don't come, Edward! Stay away! I begged mentally, sprinting towards the forest. He couldn't come. He'd be killed, with all of the wolves against him.

I didn't see Victoria as she leaped towards me, pinning my arms to a large oak at the edge of the clearing. A feral snarl bubbled out of my chest as we glared at eachother. She laughed, the sound barking through her teeth. I stared at her, confusion intermixing with my anger.

"You sound ridiculous, you know." She announced, tightening her grip on my wrists. I stopped thrashing momentarily, gaping at her. I shook my head and recovered myself, letting loose another fierce growl.

"Yes, doing exactly that. It's not frightening me." She informed me, shrugging her shoulders slightly. My nose wrinkled in distaste at her stalling.

"Just kill me and get it over with." I spat, another snarl involuntarily escaping my lips, "I don't give a damn whether you're afraid or not."

Victoria laughed, and the sound bubbled and sparkled like a baby's coo.

"I'm not going to kill you."

This staggered me. "W-what?" I spluttered, my eyes widening in shock.

"I'm not going to kill you." She repeated, rolling her eyes.

I was taken aback. She had been after me for almost a year, and now that she had her chance to rip off my arms and burn me to a pile of ashes, she wasn't going to kill me? I stared at her, trying to rebuild my fearless attitude.

"Why?" I demanded, morbid curiousity getting the best of me.

"It would be too kind." She shrugged again and continued. "I think it would be so much better if you lost everything."

I stared at her, remaining silent, my head whirling. No, no, no. I pleaded in my mind, No!

"You see, Isabella, I've spent the past year with nothing. I thought killing you slowly and painfully would be more enjoyable, but then I ran into a new friend, who had a much better idea."

"Emily." I whispered.

Victoria nodded. "Precisely. We decided, since you were the reason for our pain, we would give you a taste of your own medicine."

I was trembling. "Leave Edward alone. He was only protecting me."

She smiled then, the murky light of the moon that penetrated the clouds glinting off of her razor-sharp teeth.

"Oh, Bella, Bella." She clicked her tongue and sighed. "We're not after your boyfriend." She cocked her head, gazing at the ring that shimmered on my left hand. "Or should I say fiancé?"

I relaxed slightly. Edward was safe. Her smile widened as she felt my body grow slightly limp in her grip.

"No," She continued, "We're going to kill all of them."

My breathing spiked, terror lacing through every cell in my body. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper… Edward. I felt my eyes blacken and my face distort with acidic anger. The hole in my chest tore open, tightening with rage. A truculent snarl tore through my teeth with incredible volume, echoing off of the trees.

"No!" I screamed, and I twisted, bunching my knees up to my chest and slamming my feet into her with a blow that sent her flying, the sound from the impact crackling up into the sky. She landed with a sharp huff on her back, and I flashed over to her before she could even think about standing. Snarling, I grabbed her arms and tore them from her body, ignoring her screams.

Before she could spring to her feet, I yanked her left leg from her torso, following with the right. I tossed them into the pile with her arms, and reached for her head. Her gaze was immeasurable as my hands wound themselves around her neck. My eyes met hers, her ebony irises blistering with complete abhorrence. Without a second thought, I wrenched her head from her limbless torso and flung the shivering, fiery waves into the pile.

Darting around the clearing, I gathered enough dead leaves and wood to start the blaze. Grabbing two rocks, I smashed them together, grim satisfaction washing over me as the sparks caught instantly, the flames licking towards the sky. A plume of choking purple smoke soon followed. Relief engulfed me.

Victoria was gone.

I paused, basking in the glory of finally defending myself. I'd killed an experienced, aged vampire in less than five minutes. All on my own. I smiled slightly, relieved. Suddenly, reality hit me like a wrecking ball. My family was facing the wolves once again, because of me. My dead heart stirring from fear, I turned and sprinted into the woods, terrified of what I'd find.

…..

I hadn't been running for very long, but I still heard snarls and snaps from battles in the distance. I prayed my family was winning, but the thought of my wolf friends getting injured disturbed me almost as much. Dawn was breaking, and the deep grey clouds turned pearly and pleasant from the sun behind them.

I smelled him before I saw him, the repulsive scent causing my nose to wrinkle. I stopped and followed the stench deeper onto the smooth rocks of the steep cliff face, my non-existant blood boiling when he came into my line of sight. His russet fur was matted, and he whined when he saw me, flinching back from my scent. I was glad he was uncomfortable with it.

I put a falsly bright smile on my face before I spoke. "Hey, Jacob. Did you hear about the explosion in the forest the other day? Edward and I were almost incinerated."

Jacob whined again, stepping towards me. I held up my hand to stop him. "Don't come any closer, Jacob, or you'll end up like Victoria." I used my thumb to motion to the thick pillar of smoke that rose from the trees in the distance.

A disconcertingly female shriek surprised me. I blinked, peering around to look at Jacob's back. Emily slid down off of it. Her hair was lank and tangled, and she looked gaunt, her cheekbones protruding out of her face, her eyes sunken into her head. I felt a strong flash of remorse, feeling entirely responsible for her malnutrition and skeletal looks. I felt my face crumple in pain. It was all my fault. I opened my mouth to apologize, to grovel, but she cut me off, her words more fervent than I would imagine she was capable of.

"How dare you." She fumed, her scars even redder from her outraged flush. "My fiancé, and now my friend?"

Her friend? I thought, my eyes widening. I had thought that their alliance was strictly for victory. I hadn't known that they were actually close. I shook my head. No, Victoria only wanted my pain, not friends. I knew how she thought.

"She wasn't your friend, Emily, she only wanted me to suffer." I spoke gently, trying to calm her down.

"Which is what made us friends, you filthy leech. You deserve to suffer, for all the trouble you've caused."

I flinched back from her furious words. "You think I haven't suffered, Emily? Don't you remember those six months? I've suffered."

"You got him back." She said in a small voice. Her anger faltered for a moment, leaving only raw pain. "Sam is gone forever."

I looked at my feet, guilt swallowing me once again. She was right. I was so selfish. "Leave the rest of the Cullens alone, then. It's me you want."

Emily glared at me, her expression irate. "Oh, you're so noble. It's nice to see you don't have any regret for what you did. Sam was loved. By humans."

Jacob whined, padding behind Emily as she stepped towards me. I stared at her in shock.

"You think I haven't felt any guilt? That I don't hate myself every second of every minute of every day? You're wrong. You can't hate me more than I hate myself." My voice was hushed as I confessed this to her.

Emily screamed at me, the blood-curdling sound rippling into the clouds. "Kill her, Jacob. Kill her now."

"It won't ease your pain, Emily." I said softly, "He'll still be gone when I'm dead."

"Kill her." Emily repeated, her voice breaking. Jacob stepped towards me, shaking his great head.

"Do it, Jacob. Do it now!" She commanded, her thin arm flashing up to point at me. He shook his head again and whined, sending a pleading glance towards her.

"You owe me, Jacob. I don't care about your stupid crush on her. Kill her."

To my shock, Jacob leaped into the forest. Emily let out a small scream of frustration. He returned as a man.

"She's right, Em. Sam is gone. It's just as much my fault as it is hers. If I hadn't left her up on the cliff, she wouldn't have jumped, she wouldn't have been changed. If I hadn't told the pack about her, Sam wouldn't have attacked them in the first place. If I hadn't phased back during the fight, I could have stopped her. Blame me."

Emily stared at him, and then at me. She began to back away, shaking her head back and forth. She stopped at the edge of the cliff. I heard as a few pebbles scattered over the edge, landing on the sharp rocks below. She glanced up at us once more, her expression eerily peaceful. I stared curiously as she parted her lips slowly, rolling up onto the balls of her feet.

"I'm coming, Sam." She whispered, and flung herself off of the cliff.

"No!" I screamed, sprinting to the edge. I sobbed dryly, covering my mouth with my hands as I gazed down at her frail, broken body. Jacob wrapped his arms around me.

"Sh, Bella, shh." He whispered, rocking us back and forth.

"I… killed… her." I choked out between fits of hysterics, burying my face into his shoulder.

"No, Bella, she killed herself. She lost it."

"I should have stopped her. I never should have killed Sam. It's all my fault."

I barely noticed as the rest of the wolves and the Cullens came onto the rocks. Jacob stroked my hair soothingly.

"You saved Edward, Bella. It wasn't your fault. It was instinct."

I shook my head as another wave of hysterics claimed me.

"That should be me down there."

"Don't say that." Jacob commanded. "Never say that. She's with Sam now. It's okay."

Jacob's blazing touch was replaced with a cooler, more comfortable one. I opened my eyes and covered Edward's face in tender kisses, demanding to know if any of our family was hurt. He told me no, that they were fine, that the wolves weren't really planning on fighting them anyways. Only Paul had tried fighting Alice, and he had darted into the forest after Jacob had phased back into a human.

"Do you hate me, Edward?" I murmured after the rest of the family and the wolves had departed. "It's okay if you do."

"Bella, I love you. You killed Sam because he was attacking you. Emily killed herself. No one blames you."

He was wrong. I blamed myself.

But I pondered his words. If Edward had attacked Sam and Emily was strong enough, she would have killed Edward, too. Was I so horrible, for protecting the one that I loved and cherished? No. Emily would have done the same thing. Knowing her, she would have felt guilty and horrible for killing Edward. I wouldn't have seeked revenge, however. I would have gone to the Volturi.

It was all luck. I happened to get all the fortune. I couldn't blame myself forever. As we ran home, I took Edward's hand. He smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. It was over. We were safe. We were finally free to get married and start forever together.

Although guilt still churned inside of me like a relentless black sea, I still had my loving fiancé to hold my hand and get me through this horrible night. The wolves had a new Alpha, and although Sam would never be forgotten, they would move on. Jacob would lead the pack brilliantly, it was in his blood.

As we neared the large white house in the distance, a surge of confidence warmed my veins. I would be okay. Edward would hold me as I cried nonexistant tears tonight. I would eventually learn to forgive myself for Sam, even if I didn't know when. I would marry Edward very soon.

Steeling to face my guilt and pain, I still realized that the sun would come up in the morning, even if it was behind the clouds.

I've decided that this is where it's going to end. I hope you enjoyed this story. I put a lot of work into it, but I'm honestly ready to move on.