Good-bye Too Soon

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“There is no greater love than this. There is no greater gift that can ever be given. To be willing to die, so another might live- there is no greater love than this.” Steven Curtis Chapman.

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Chapter 3

Bella forgot to breathe, at least for the interminable moment in time it took for Legeera to transform, and begin to softly pace back and forth in front of her. She quickly sucked in some precious oxygen for her lungs and held it, afraid that any noise would act as a trigger, causing the huge cat to pounce.  

 The creature held its head held low as it panted and sniffed the air, the enormous paws padding softly on the stone, its claw tips clicking on the stone ground.

 The problem was that her pounding heart and shaking extremities pretty much gave her away, destroying any similarity to Edward’s perfected stance.

She had watched this happen to her friend Jacob, knowing that primal instinct that took over once the transformation was complete. Jacob had restraint around her, but this creature didn’t know her and more than likely didn’t care in the least about her own personal concept of self preservation. 

 Death was bad enough, no reason to look like an idiot while it happened.

Edward stole a glimpse at Alice who now apparently had the ability to move some of her body, but like him, was held fixed in place as the unwilling audience to this horrific event. Her features were hard, except her eyes, which were wide with fright. The pictures in her mind were becoming clearer to him, showing what was to come, and all he could hope was that they were not unalterable. There must be some way he could change this path.  She had risked her life to come and save him, even after what he had done to her, after how deeply he had hurt her. 

“Bella.” He simply whispered, overpowering sadness resonating from his voice.

The room was silent except for the occasional hiss from the darkened shadows around her, until she heard him speak her name. It sent a chill through her body to hear his voice again. Each time was like the first, making her heart flutter. Lost in thoughts of Edward, she missed the movement of the black cat until she felt a hard impact, sending her body into the air only to fall onto the cold, unforgiving floor. Landing on her back, her head impacted the stone with a hard thud, sending stars into her vision. But she didn’t stop there . She continued to move, sliding until stopped short by the thick leg of the large wooden table with a sickening crunch of unforgiving bones in her side.