All I Wanted Was the Truth

The hours crawled by painfully slowly. I used most of my time reading and rereading any book I came across - The Face, the newspaper, cookbooks, anything. My mind didn't register any of the words, but it kept me busy.

All morning, I felt as though I was about to explode. My head was pounding, my stomach churned with fear, and my skin tingled in anticipation. Anticipation of what, though, I had no clue.

Everything around me was eerily quiet. The silence nearly deafened me. It was driving me mad. I turned the TV on in the end, maxing out the volume. I also cranked the volume on my Dad's radio, and the stereo in my room. I couldn't handle the quiet.

I was sitting in my room, eyes closed and clenching my fists convulsively, when I thought I heard something downstairs. My head whipped around to face the door.

It was probably the oven again, I thought. It's been clunking and groaning for months.

Another noise from below, a bit louder. It was too dull to be the metal banging of the oven. My breathing became heavier, quicker.

It all happened very fast.

My door flew open, and I let out an ear splitting scream. There was a beautiful woman with violently red hair standing in my doorway, snarling. Her strange stance frightened me further - she stood crouched low, about to attack.

"You're a vampire!" I blurted. I was shivering and backed up against the wall. Tears poured freely down my face.

She grimaced at me, her lips pulling up over her teeth. "Aren't you observant?" She stepped forward, her feline figure still hunched over. "And I hope you know that, if you don't do as I tell you, I will rip your throat out and tear your limbs away from your body."

I whimpered.

"Good," she grinned evilly, satisfied by my response. "Now, listen very carefully. I don't want to have to repeat myself. Do you know," she said slowly, inching ever closer, "Where they've taken Bella Swan?"

My heart pounded against my ribs, and I heard a high pitched ringing in my ears. "I'm sorry, no, I don't!" I choked out.

She growled at me, a low, malicious sound. "Liar."

I shook my head frantically, sobbing. "I'm telling the truth!" I shrieked. "I don't know where she is!"

"Liar!" she screamed. And then she was on top of me. I felt ice cold fingers clutching at my throat, blocking off my air passages. "Tell me where she is!"

I shook my head, unable to speak. She would break skin soon.

"Tell me!" she commanded, her shrill voice assaulting my ears. Her knees dug cruelly into my ribs. I felt a crack, and her knees sunk lower into my stomach.

I screamed in pain. She'd broken my ribs.

"Shut up!" she spat, striking me across the face. Her fingers, stony and fatal, carved deep red trenches in my flesh. I could feel hot blood spewing from the wounds.

The woman froze.

Her face was suddenly gone from my line of vision. My vision, blurred and doubled confusingly, was clouded with tears. I could still feel her knees on my lower body, but I could see nothing of her.

And then the pain came.

It started small, somewhere on my shoulder. But it grew quickly, feeling as though somebody had lit me on fire. It burned and stabbed through my veins, consuming me. I screamed, long and loud.

She was drinking my blood.

I writhed in agony, feeling as though my blood was being replaced with white hot fire. My screaming didn't stop as she drank greedily, draining my body. My vision was becoming gray, my head light, but still the pain spread from my arm and into my chest.

It took me a split second to realize the weight on my stomach had disappeared. I heard a thunderous crack, like boulders crashing into one another, and tried to see what was happening. I heard nothing over my own continuous pain filled shrieking.

I heard the shattering of glass, snarls ripping through the room, and then nothing.

My throat, sore and raw, wouldn't take anymore shouting. I had no energy left to do anything, let alone scream. The fire still flowed through me, sending me into silent spasms of anguish.

A cold hand rested on my cheek, and I flinched away. Had she come back to finish me off? The hand pulled me closer, turning me.

"Kaya!" My heart nearly stopped when I heard the sob in his voice. "Kaya, no, not now, please, Kaya..."

I couldn't see anything through the ruby red haze of blood in my lashes. "Emmett?" I mumbled.

"Yes, Kaya, it's me! Please look at me!" His hand gently turned my head further. I could see the vague outline of my large vampire friend, next to my bed. The woman was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, Kaya, not you..."

I felt blood gurgle up my throat, and choked. It splattered all over my front. I could no longer speak. My fingers twitched at my side, reaching for him.

His other hand was immediately at my side, taking mine. His thumb stroked my cheek. "Not you..." he choked again.

A question rose in my mind, begging to be asked, but I had no control over my body anymore. I could feel myself slipping out of consciousness.

His cold lips were on my forehead, my cheek, my nose. "This isn't right," I heard him say. "You had a life of your own to live."

Realization dawned on me. Tears cleared a path down my cheeks.

"You know what's happening, don't you?" he asked sadly. I sobbed as a reply. "You're turning..."

The information dealt me a great blow to the heart. The unbelievable pain wracking my body was the only thing that was stronger than the emotional pain.

I felt Emmett next to me suddenly, lying down, much closer than before. "Do you want to turn?" he asked me. His voice was quiet, sorrowful, as if he knew already what I would say.

It took everything inside of me to utter a single word, all of my energy, all of my want. "No." The fire was spreading slowly down into my stomach. My body was tense, rigid, writhing.

I felt Emmett shaking beside me. He put a hand on my face gently, making me face him. He wiped my eyes, clearing them of the blood that disrupted my vision. I could see him now, shaking in tearless pain, his flawless face forced into a mask of hurt and sadness. He thumb brushed my cheek tenderly. The words he said next were visibly causing him pain, but he plowed on. "If you don't turn, you'll die. Do you want that?"

I nodded into his hand.

Emmett sobbed another dry, broken sob. "I'll make all the pain stop, Kaya." he gasped. "It will be over soon. Don't be afraid."

"Emmett," I choked, internally screaming at the effort it cost me. He stopped, staring at me silently. "I love you."

He shook his head, quivering. "I love you too, Kaya."

And then he was bent low over me, his teeth resting against the skin of my neck. I did my best to remain motionless, but didn't succeed. His iron grasp stilled me. "I'll miss you every day." he said quietly.

And then he bit.

At first, it hurt more than when the woman bit me - but the pain quickly faded into a dull throb. I could feel my blood leaving my body, flowing relentlessly past Emmett's lips. My entire body felt numb. Everything was going black. I turned, trying to keep Emmett in view. I placed a hand on his back. He gripped my other one, desperately trying to hold me in this life while taking it away from me.

I knew I didn't have long. The pain was gone now, to be replaced by a frightened yet reassuring blurriness. The coldness of Emmett's skin was all I could feel.

I felt the blood flow stop. I could see death close by, waiting. My blood was gone ... all I needed to wait for now was my heart to stop. I could see Emmett, ancient grief plastered on his face, staring at me.

"I love you," I mouthed.

His smile made my heart soar. I felt his lips rest gently on mine for the first and last time, before I slipped from his arms and into darkness.