Starless Night (A Twilight/Stranger Things Fan Fiction)

Chapter 10: The Other Bella

Edward's human.

The name sent pain through me; the cavity in my chest ached.

The vampire hunched forward into what I recognized as a hunting crouch, then crept toward me, and I registered how dark his eyes were. This vampire was hungry, I realized. I was not safe.

In my ear, Edward gave a pained hiss.

But all that registered only dimly, because I was still fixed on the words he'd said before.

"What does that mean?" I said. "What are you talking about?"

For a moment, Demetri left his crouch, his brows furrowing in confusion. Next to me, my hallucination nodded his approval. "Good," Edward said. "Distracting him. That's good."

He gave a strange laugh, sharp and short, and then shook his head.

"How is this possible?" he said, incredulous. "How are you still alive?"

In that moment, I realized two things—one which was not particularly surprising to me, and one that was extremely so.

The first was that, at some point—probably in the recent past—some alternate-reality version of me had existed in this realm, as a human. Somehow, my parents had survived the mess that this world had become, and had me.

The second was that at some point, this other Bella had died in this realm. This was the part that did not surprise me in even the slightest; of course I would die in this realm; of course there was no way that I could survive in it. It was such a brutal place, so very bleak and unsurvivable, that I was amazed I had survived this long, even with a vampire near to protect me. I had had so many brushes with death as it was, in my own version of the world, that it was amazing I had survived so long in that one. My death, if I had been born into a place like this, wasn't merely a possibility, or a likelihood; it was an inevitability.

All this occurred to me quickly, but it took a moment to sort it out in my head. To decide how to answer.

Because how should I answer his question? Was it a good idea to give away the truth to him? I was sure it couldn't be. The Volturi were powerful, even in my version of the world, and I wasn't sure handing them the keys to another world—a world still brimming with fresh human life—was a good idea. I wondered whether this version of events had made them more or less powerful than they'd already been.

So, in the end, I decided to lie. I hoped I looked frightened enough to pull this lie off—that shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, because my heart was still racing and I still felt afraid, physically, even though the physical fear hadn't seemed to reach my numb brain. Still, I was a horrible liar, usually. I hoped this time would be the exception.

"I... don't know how I survived," I said. "I don't remember anything from before the... before the day I almost died." My voice shook. I hoped that contributed to my effectiveness. "When I woke up, later, I didn't remember anything. It's probably the trauma..."

Demetri watched me for a time, scrutiny in his eyes. But finally, he seemed to accept this with a nod.

"I suppose I should not be surprised," he said. "Of course they would find some way to save you, even severely injured as you were. I have rarely seen someone so distressed as Edward was that day. Still, I am impressed. Was it Carlisle's medical expertise that saved you?"

"Yes," I said easily. That wasn't a lie, really; Carlisle had saved me once, after James tried to kill me.

Then confusion reigned in Demetri's face again. "And yet, here you are, alone—when Edward was so long reluctant to be parted from your side for so much as a moment, though the thirst tortured him so." These words were very painful to hear, so untrue to how things were now, in my reality, and yet also so familiar. Things had been like that, once, and the memory pierced my core in a way that made it difficult to hide my agony.

"We were... separated," I said. This wasn't a lie, either. "One of the... creatures took us by surprise."

Demetri gave a barking laugh. "Creatures," he repeated, incredulous. "Did he not tell you what we call them?"

I felt a pang in my chest at the truth of what I said next. "He didn't have a chance. It happened so fast."

Demetri was still incredulous, I could see that, but I also thought that the curiosity was wearing off quickly. My hallucination growled furiously as Demetri dropped into a crouch again. Then Demetri sighed heavily, and stood. In a second, he was right behind me, one hand over my mouth and one around my waist.

"If only I could feed now," he said, "but Aro would be... disgruntled. Ah, well." I squirmed against him, trying to bring a scream up my throat—Alice, I thought, Alice, if you're nearby—but it was useless—the sound was barely audible, even to me.

The hallucination was in a hunting crouch beside Demetri, his face contorted in fury, but he was fading quickly with my consciousness; Demetri had pinched my nose, and my lungs had started to feel like they were burning, a fire blazing where air used to be. I wondered, dimly, where I was going next—and, almost in response to my thoughts, Demetri whispered in my ear. His voice was eerie.

"You'll make a wonderful addition to Aro's collection," he said. "And, by the way... we call them Demogorgons."