Phase
Prologue: Eternally Yours

Girl, what's come between you and me?
Look right through me, I'll let it go,
I can't help this feeling anymore;
I won't go anywhere, maybe you'll see me.

We are, we are the shaken, we are the monsters
Underneath your bed, yeah, believe what you read.
We are, we are mistaken, we are the voices
Inside your head, yeah, believe what you see.

It came as no surprise; you bring me back to life.
Believe me; you bleed for me, I'll bleed for you;
I caught you walking through walls, drowned with applause
From the world that makes me crazy.
"Monsters" Matchbook Romance

The room was dark and airy, as he'd requested, in hopes that my desirable scent wouldn't tempt him more than was necessary, more than was safe. It was night outside, a precaution—if they were caught, no one would suspect a thing… just a bad dream, a figment of the imagination, or a hallucination brought on by fear of the dark. Around me were three people I'd come to trust with my life; three people I trusted more than my family, my friends, or anyone else I'd ever known.

The oldest male, wise beyond his appearance, was a doctor—probably one of the most unconventional you could ever dream up. The scent of blood was a good one to him, intriguing. It called his name, but he resisted. In fact, he resisted in such an ironic way: he was the best doctor in the town of Forks. Go figure.

Next to him, her back turned a bit, studying the space, was a petite, Italian-looking female. Her skin was flawless, and her hair was black and sharp-ended. Her eyes, a crisp gold, the goldest I'd ever seen them, darted from corner to corner, and then to the door, which was bolted shut. Then they met mine, and filled with concern, and with love—two things I'd received endlessly from this family.

And across from her, behind me, with his arms wrapped around my waist, and his chin on the top of my head, was the love of my life. He was handsome, a voice like honey, and a body as cold as ice cream, but just as delicious. Seventeen until the end of time, but one hundred and four and counting simultaneously. I was the most irresistible thing on the planet to him, and yet he couldn't have me—not in the way he wanted. Every moment I spent with him was a moment of danger, but each perilous second I spent by his side was better than anything else I would ever experience.

Edward Cullen was a vampire. And so was his sister, Alice, and his father, Carlisle. Outside the bolted door was the rest of his family: Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Esme, waiting with bated breath for me to emerge, something different, something monstrous—something parallel with them.

My breathing was shallow, and my hands felt clammy. "Nervous?" his voice was like molasses in my ear, and I shivered. I didn't need to nod; he could feel it in the blood in my veins and in my heartbeat, two things he'd never posses again. "I won't hurt you," he promised. "If I cannot keep that promise, Carlisle will. This is what you've wished upon yourself, love. I'm simply helping make your dreams come true, and mine as well, though I could certainly live without.

"I want to be yours eternally," I recited, something I'd told him over and over again in the days leading up to this.

"You always will be," he responded, as per usual, and placed a soft kiss on the top of my head. "No matter what happens tonight. You, Isabella Swan, will always remain mine, forevermore, and whatever may come in this life, or nonlife, of mine."

Alice was studying us, looking sympathetic, but afraid as well. Carlisle was preparing various things that I was too afraid to ask about. Edward was stroking my hair, but I could tell that he was just as nervous as I was. He'd saved my life once before by extracting venom from me, tasking my delicious blood, as he said. But now he was potentially taking my life, injecting venom in me, and attempting to resist the blood while it was there.

He was afraid he'd go all the way.

Edward Cullen could kill me.

Part of me, three quarters, maybe, knew he wouldn't. This was the Bella that gave her heart too much credit, and trusted with her emotions, not her brain. The other one fourth, the sensible, intelligent Bella, knew that she was probably screwed and could quite possibly be murdered by the love of her life on this day, that could either make or break her; start or end her life.

Pros: live with Edward Cullen for eternity, infinity and beyond, and absolutely love it. The best thing that could ever happen to me, worth every single ounce of pain I would surely endure.

Cons: be killed on the spot, never see Renee or Charlie again, never have kids, never grow hair, never breathe, never eat, never have a heartbeat, have to hunt animals, stay away from people for a long time.

Well, let's see. No matter how much you weighed it out, how much the cons sucked, the single pro was enough to make it all worth it.

"Okay," Carlisle announced, his voice just above a whisper. "I think… I'm all ready to go. Bella? Edward?"

"Alice?" I asked in an undertone, surprised at how dim and raspy my own voice was. I tried to wet my mouth, but failed. "Can you see… anything?"

Frowning in fear, she shook her head. "No," she whispered back.

My body shook as I exhaled, and then tears formed in my eyes. I was crying. Another thing I'd never do if this succeeded.

"Bella?" Edward asked, his voice soft and sweet, concerned. He ran a finger along my chin and wiped the tears away. "Bella, we don't have to do this—I don't want you to cry… please don't be sad, Bella." His voice seemed helpless, and I could tell he hated seeing me this way; upset, distraught, afraid. Few things frightened me on this level, but the one thing that did was dying and never getting to see Edward again, never being able to kiss him again.

"Edward?" I turned around and reached up to his shoulders, and his eyes, the same tone of gold as Alice's, if not more so, searched my face. "Can… can you do one thing for me?"

"Anything," he promised, and I could tell he wasn't thinking when the word escaped his lips.

"When… this is over," I motioned to the room around me, "if I don't make it out… you have to promise me something." This was a difficult thing to ask him, and I knew he wouldn't follow through, but maybe, if I made him promise… He nodded, and I continued. "You'll move on." I had to try a few times to get this phrase out, and sobs hitched in my throat. "You'll… you'll get past this. But you'll always love me, okay? I just… I'll never stop loving you, no matter what. When I said I was yours eternally, I meant it. Don't kill yourself, but move on. Find another girl to spend your life with… but I'll always love you."

By the end, I was a mess, collapsed against his chest in a fit of tears. One hand was stroking my back and the other was stroking my hair, muttering comforting things in my ear. "For eternity, all the years that I live, I will never, ever, ever forget you. There isn't a way that it would be possible. You'll always be my Bella. And… I will attempt to keep that promise." His own voice choked. "I love you, Isabella Swan. With all of my heart. And as long as you don't forget me, I won't forget you. Ever."

He kissed the tears from my cheeks and cupped my face in his hands, pressing his lips against mine in a crash of emotion. The kiss was deep and romantic, something I never wanted to end. It proved he loved me. It proved he always would. And it proved that no matter what happened, we were together.

"You have to promise," I ordered.

For a moment, his face was inches from mine, our noses brushing and our eyes locked in a gaze I wished would never end. He studied me, his lips tight together. So many emotions were scrawled across his expression: endearment, horror, nervousness, lust, desire, love, anxiousness, just to begin, all on one face, all in one heart. He was enduring so much because of me.

"I promise," he whispered, and pulled me into a hug.

The room was silent for half an instant, and then I whispered in his ear, "Do it."

He stopped breathing—something that he didn't need to do anyway.

"Now," I demanded, and pressed my face into the crook of his neck.

He didn't move.

"Edward Cullen," I growled. "Do it, now." I pushed my lips against his, shoved my tongue into his mouth, and pressed my body against his, trying in every way to activate those senses he'd held back. When I pulled away, I stared deeply into his golden eyes.

Then, all at once, his face was in my neck, and he was trailing kisses along it.

One wasn't like the others.

One was the kiss of death, his sharp teeth sinking into my tender skin. In an explosion of fire and ice, and an astonishingly vast amount of pain, I was shooting out of my body and into a world of agony, writhing along the floor as the white-hot venom shot through my veins, into every portion of my body. A loud, high-pitched noise filled the soundless air, and then I realized it was me, emptying my lungs of oxygen, then realizing I was unable to suck in more. Like razors, he remained in my neck, and I heard another shout, only this one was of coherence.

"No!" Alice shrieked, and that was when everything stopped.

It's midnight. I just watched Adam Pascal and the cast of RENT on the Tony Awards. I am feeling pretty effing spiffy right now. Haha. Well, this is my second Twilight fic ever…. The first one's probably going to be deleted. I really like this so far, actually. I'm sure it's overused, but I really wanted to write about this. So… here I am.

Review, please?