Bella choked on the air in her throat. Her fingers trembled against her leg and she struggled to take back the air that she had lost. She pinched the skin on her knee through her jeans, hoping it was just a nightmare. It wasn't. Finally, she managed to move her lips. "J-James," She stuttered.

    Bella could hear him chuckling on the other line. "How is the Forks motel? Enjoying your stay?" He asked, a darkness to his tone of voice.

    "H-how did you know. . .?" Bella tried to finish her sentence, but it was like her airway was cut off and she couldn't breathe.

    "It seems you're lost for words. Then I suppose I will do the talking, Little Swan." Bella clenched her fist and tried to maintain her breathing.

    James inhaled and then began talking. "I have a problem Little Swan. You see, I want to drink every ounce of blood in you, but I can't because of that family of yours. So I'm going to propose a deal."

    "A deal?" Bella questioned quietly.

    "That's right Little Swan. Now here's my deal: You drive down to this pleasant school of yours and we play a little game of cat and mouse."

    "And if I refuse?"

    "Than I kill your precious daughter, Renesmee." Tears formed in Bella's eyes and the lump in her throat began to grow bigger.

    "You don't know where she is. You're lying," she snapped.

    "Oh, is that so? Renesmee, your mother wants to talk to you." There was a bit of rumbling on the other line, and a bit of whimpering.

    "Mommy, help me please!" Renesmee cried out. Bella froze.

    "Hang in there angel!" Bella yelled into the phone before it was taken away from her daughter.

    "Now you see Little Swan," James said, "I have every intention of killing your daughter. If you're not here by 8:00 o'clock sharp, I will slowly kill your daughter while you listen to her cries of mercy. Do you understand me?"

    Bella looked down at her feet, letting a tear fall out from her eye and down her cheek. "Yes, I understand."

    "Oh, and Bella? You better come alone."

    The line went silent and Bella placed the phone down on the bedside table. She stood up and peeked out of the window, making sure Edward wasn't to be seen. She then took a pen and wrote on a pad of sticky notes that the motel had left.

I'm sorry. I love you.

    Bella capped the pen and grabbed her jacket, slamming the motel door behind her. She pulled herself up into her truck and closed the door. The engine purred to life as Bella back out of the motel parking lot, tears streaming down her face.

    Bella turned her headlights off as she turned left into the school parking lot. She parked her truck in an empty space and got out of the car, leaving the keys in the truck. She tilted her head upwards and looked at the darkness that loomed over the city. Stars sparkled above her head as she made her way to the front door. The door groaned as she hesitantly pushed it open and took a step inside.

    The hallways were mostly dark, except for the few light bulbs that flickered in Bella's presence.  Bella's heart thumped as she walked down the lonely hallway that led to the cafeteria. A dark figure stood in the midst of tables and chairs.

    "I can hear your heartbeat, miles away," James taunted.

    Bella froze as she felt cold fingers graze her her abdomen. "I'm here. Now let my daughter go," Bella demanded.

    James chuckled. "You humans are so gullible. Your daughter was never here." Anger boiled inside bella. She raised her fist without thinking to punch James, but James grabbed her wrist and flipped her wrist backwards, breaking the bones in it. Bella cried out in pain as she gripped her hand.

    "The game hasn't started Little Swan," James hissed. "Naughty girl," James shamed.

    Bella's knees trembled, begging to give out. Bella sucked in a sharp breath. "How do you play the game?" Bella inquired, trying to buy herself some time.

    "The game is simple. I chase you, and you run and try to survive." James smirked, his teeth lighting up the dark room.

    Bella nodded. "When do we start?"

    "Now." Bella looked at where James was and swore. He was gone. Bella looked around the cafeteria and ran out, still clutching her left wrist. Bella could hear James mimicking her in the dark. Bella ran up the stairs and ran into the Biology classroom. She closed the door and pushed a chair under the door knob. Bella turned her head and looked at the classroom. There was sheets of glass on the table. Bella turned around to see a happy looking James.

    James pushed her back and Bella hit her head on the table, shattering the glass. Bits of glass fell into her leg making Bella grunt. Blood ran down the side of her head as she tried to stand up. James had disappeared once again. Bella cried out as she limped down to the viewing room near the gym.

    The viewing room was just above the gym, and people could view a game from up here. Scouts normally stayed up here when they were looking for students for their college.

    "You're not very good at this game, Little Swan," His voice taunted. Bella turned to where to voice was coming from, but James was gone. Bella scanned the room, trying to find out where the vampire went. Cold breath tingled her ear. "Boo." Bella whimpered and tried to push James's heavy vampire body away from her. Bella backed away as James stared at her, with a huge grin on his face.

    "I wonder where your Edward is," James elaborated. "I suppose he doesn't care for you."

    Bella shook her head. "He'll come." Bella lied. She didn't expect him to come.

    James chuckled. "Pity. I was looking forward to have some competition."

    Bella shivered as she looked down at the blood that stained her jeans.

    "You have a little something in your leg. Let me help." James walked up to her, his fingers taunting the tender skin on her thigh. He gripped the glass and pulled it out, which made Bella scream. James chuckled and looked at the bloody shard of glass. His eyes went black as his tongue slid on the jagged edge. Blood stained his teeth.

    "Delicious," James said, the smirk on his face expanding. "But not quite as good as this." James sifted the chunk of glass in between his fingers and then chucked it into Bella's stomach. Blood seeped through her red shirt. Bella screamed as loud as she could. James moved the piece of glass in a circular motion, making Bella's knees buckle. She fell to the ground and tears dripped down her face.

    "Tell me how much it hurts, Little Swan." Bella gripped her stomach with her good hand as she did her best to breathe, and not scream. Bella looked up at James and saw he was holding a video camera. Bella gasped in pain as another shard of glass was removed from her leg.

    "Tell your precious Edward how much pain you're in," James sneered, removing another shard of glass.

    "Kill me, please!" Bella pleaded. The pain poked at every part of her body.

    "Not yet, Little Swan."

    "Fine. Then I guess I will do it myself. I won't taste that good if I'm dead, will I?" Bella gathered all the strength in her body as James stared at her, shock on his face. It all happened too quickly. Before James could stop her, Bella rammed her body into the glass, shattering it. Bella fell from the viewing area and bits of glass fell below her. A pair of strong arms caught her. James smirked.

    "Did you honestly think it would be that easy?" James placed her down, when they both heard glass shatter. Bella's vision was blurry, for she was losing a lot of blood. James looked up at the viewing area, his head tilted.

     A muscular body threw himself through the glass and landed on James. Edward growled and gripped James's neck, smashing his head into the gym floor. In a blur, James had Edward pinned against the wall. The two hissed at each other, baring their teeth.

    "I am much stronger than you," James snapped. He chucked Edward and threw him through the second window in the viewing area. Bella watched her lover break the glass and dent the viewing room wall. James appeared in front of her, frowning.

    "I was planning on having more fun, but I guess not." James took Bella's wrist and sank his sharp canines into her blood vessels. Bella screamed and screamed, fire burning in her veins. The teeth on her wrist unlatched as James's body flew off of her. Edward punched James's face but James turned and pinned Edward down. Bella heard more glass break, so she opened her eyes to see Carlisle, Alice and Rosalie above her.

    "She's alive, but barely." Carlisle stated. The smell of smoke wafted around Bella. "She's losing a lot of blood. Alice, hand me your belt." Bella shook violently, as the venom filled more of her veins. Bella groaned as she felt the belt  wrap around her stomach. It tightened her stomach, making her croak. She felt a cold cloth on her head and frigid fingers on her wrist.

    "Carlisle, the venom is taking over her nervous system," Rosalie stated.

    "We have to act fast," Alice said, tightening the belt. Blood stained her porcelain fingers. Alice stared at the blood, hunger filling her golden eyes. Alice shook her head and quickly ran over to Jasper and Emmett.

    Bella gasped for breath as she saw her angel above her. He had a crack on his jaw and he looked at Bella, guilt soaking up his eyes.

    "Oh, Love, I am so sorry, this is all my fault." Another wave of pain hit Bella, making her shout in agony.

    "Edward, we must remove the venom from her before it's too late."

    "What if I hurt her?" Edward asked, sorrow spreading across his face.

    "She'll be in even more pain knowing that you didn't do anything to save her."

    Edward looked at Bella and raised Bella's wrist to his cold, angelic lips. His lips planted on Bella's injury. Edward's tongue licked around the wound and he began suckling the wound. Bella sighed in relief as some of the pain left her.

She couldn't feel the fire inside anymore.

    "Son," Carlisle warned.

    Bella saw Edward grip her wrist tighter. Her right wrist ached. She looked up at her angel and whispered "Edward." Edward dropped her wrist and that's when everything went black for Bella.

    ~     ~     ~

Bella sat in the meadow, as snow fell onto her. Snowflakes twirled around her head. Bella giggled and stuck out her tongue like a little kid.

A cold arm stroked her, making her shiver. Bella turned her head to see brooding topaz eyes staring at her.

"What happened?" She asked, as Edward's fingers trailed down her arm.

Edward stayed silent and lifted her right wrist, and planted a kiss there. Bella pulled her wrist back and looked at it. A teeth mark, perfectly dented in her skin.

"All my fault," Edward murmured. Bella shook her head repeatedly.

"It's not your fault," Bella tried to reassure. Edward shook his head and stood up and walked into the forest, leaving Bella alone. Tears ran down Bella's plump cheeks as she watched the love of her life walk out of her life, like he never existed.

Bella tried to make herself smaller as she laid down on the cold, snowy grass. Bella slammed her eyelids shut, trying to hope it was a dream. When she opened her eyes, only to see red eyes glaring down at her. The face grinned and opened it's mouth to speak, but Bella didn't hear anything except

Beep

Beep

Beep

    Bella moaned as her eyelids gradually opened. Her brown eyes looked around the room, trying to figure out where she was. Four white walls surrounded her, and they had little green dots on the walls.  Light reflected off the walls, hitting her directly in her pupils. Bella closed her eyes and then reopened them. She looked down and saw she was wearing a gown that matched the wall. Bella narrowed her eyes at the gown.

    Then it clicked. All of last night's events came rolling into her mind like a boulder. Bella looked at her wrist to see a bandage wrapped around her right wrist and a cast on her left. She was in the hospital.

    Bella pushed away the IV tube and tried to stand up, but pain hit her like a train. A woman in green scrubs rushed up to her and shook her head. "Miss Swan, you need to calm down."

    "Where is he?" Bella croaked as she struggled against the nurse.

    "I don't know whom you speak of, Miss Swan, but you need to relax. You lost a lot of blood and moving around like this will stir up your stitches. We don't want to have to replace them." Bella inhaled through her breathing tube that was attached to her face and sat back down on the hospital bed.

    The nurse handed her a small cup and placed two pills in the palm of her hand. Bella raised her eyebrows. "Pills to help the pain. I'll be right back, someone has been begging to see you."

    Bella put the pills on her tongue and swallowed down the tap water. Bella wrinkled her nose and placed the empty cup down beside her leg. Curious, Bella lifted up her gown, to show of her stomach. She pulled the blanket up, so no one would see her in her underwear. She looked at her stomach. Black thread was woven through her stomach skin, and it had a small bandage on it, a bit of blood staining the white bandage.

    Her gaze averted to her legs, which has bandages wrapped on them as well. Bella lifted her right hand and gently touched the side of her face. Bella winced in pain and muttered a curse word under her breath. Her fingers ran over the the stitches. She heard footsteps near the door, so she quickly readjusted her hospital gown and placed the blanket back down.

    The nurse came back in, someone trailing behind her. Bella beckoned her head, trying to steal a glance.

    "Bella?" Angela asked. Bella pushed herself up as Angela sat down in a wooden chair beside her.

    "Hey Ang," Bella said, smiling weakly. Angela's arms wrapped around Bella's bony shoulders. Bella patted Angela's back gently as Angela removed her arms.

    "Do you remember what happened?" Angela asked. Bella hesitated, then shook her head. Angela couldn't know the truth.

    Angela swallowed and sat herself down on Bella's bed. "Well, Doctor Cullen says you were walking down the stairs from your apartment and you tripped. You fell through a window-" Angela stopped talking as tears formed in her eyes. "You lost a majority of your blood."

    "I'm okay now Ang." Bella lifted up her arms, even though they were in pain, and hugged Angela again.

    "Promise?"

    "I promise."

    "I better get going. There was this little girl and some woman who wanted to see you." Bella nodded as watched as Angela walked out of the hospital room. Bella moved some hair away from her face as Renesmee ran into the room - in vampire speed, even though she was told not too- and jumped on Bella's bed. She wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her tight.

    Bella wrapped her bad arms around her daughter's waist, as tears fell down the little girl's porcelain face. Esme walked in and closed the door behind her. She sat on the wooden chair and placed a hand on Bella's hand.

    "Momma," Renesmee said, in between sobs.

    "Shh, it's okay. I'm okay," Bella cooed as she rubbed her daughter's back. Renesmee hiccuped and placed her hand on Bella's cheek. Bella saw Renesmee freaking out when she heard the news and demanding to go see her mother. She even tried to run to the hospital, but Jacob caught her and brought her back home.

    Renesmee removed her hand. "How are you feeling Bella?" Esme asked. Bella shrugged as Renesmee curled up beside Bella and started to gently touch Bella's cast.

    "Im in a bit of pain, to be honest," Bella said. Bella opened her lips to talk but Esme answered her question.

    "Edward wanted to be the last one because he doesn't want to intrude or leave you. He's in the hospital cafeteria as we speak." Bella nodded and looked at her daughter.

    "Grandma, can I have my pens?" Esme pulled out a little pencil case from her purse and handed it to Renesmee. Renesmee took out the glitter pens and looked at Bella for permission. Bella smiled and Renesmee began working on Bella's cast.

    "I should probably go back and talk to Carlisle. Someone else wants to see you before Edward comes." Bella watched as Esme walked out the door. Bella tilted her head and looked at Renesmee who was sticking out her tongue, concentrating on the picture she was drawing. Bella chuckled lightly as two figures emerged into the room.

    "Oh Bella!" Alice squealed. She rushed over to Bella and hugged Bella tight. Bella tried to hug Alice back, but she could only use one hand to hug her back.

    "What happened to James?" Bella asked.

    "He's gone," Emmett said with a goofy grin. "As for his mate, she ran away at the scene. We think she might be a problem." Bella rolled her eyes and muttered "I wonder why."

    "I heard that," Emmett said.

    "Stupid vampire hearing," Bella mumbled. Emmett chuckled as another person entered the room.

    "Am I late?"

    Bella tilted her head and saw Jacob walk into the room.

    "You're just in time," Bella said as Jacob sat down.

    "Did we already discuss the 'how are you feeling' subject?" Jacob asked.

    "We've been there many times." Jacob laughed his husky laugh, which made Bella giggle silently.

    Jacob, Alice, Emmett and Bella discussed what had happened to Bella quietly as Renesmee was still fixated on Bella's cast.

    Renesmee placed her pens back in her case and Bella pulled her arm back. It had a family portrait on it, which included everyone, even Jacob. The sparkly pens glittered in the light, making Bella smile.

    "It's beautiful," Bella said. "I love it." Renesmee went in for another hug and Renesmee and Bella hugged in silence. Renesmee was the first to release Bella, and Alice stood up from Bella's bed.

    "Let's go Ness," Jacob commented. Renesmee placed a kiss on Bella's forehead and jumped off the bed and walked out of the room with everyone.

    Bella let out another small groan as the pain in her stomach worsened.

    "Love?" Bella whipped her head up, too fast and pain in her head pounded against her skull.

    Edward's cold hand caressed Bella cheek as he sat down on the wooden. chair.

    "Bella you don't understand how sorry I am-"

    "Edward stop," Bella demanded. "I made this decision on my own, so don't you dare try and put the blame on yourself. I thought our daughter was in danger, and I tried to be the superhero and save the day by sacrificing myself."

    Edward pursed his lips and ran a hand through Bella's brown hair. Bella buried her face into the palm of his hand. "You are a superhero Bella. You save me everyday, without even knowing it. " Bella giggled.

    Edward's eyebrows creased. "What's so funny?" Bella shook her head. Edward sighed and looked into Bella's chocolate brown eyes, which made him melt slightly inside. "What happened last night?"

    Bella explained everything- from the phone call and to the intense game of cat and mouse. Edward growled when she told him how James had stabbed her with a piece of glass in the stomach.

    Edward got up to leave, to let Bella sleep, but Bella grasped his wrist. "Stay with me?" Edward smiled and laid himself on the hospital bed, holding Bella in his arms. He stroked her arm and counted Bella's breaths. Edward looked at her cast and chuckled.

    "Renesmee did it," Bella mumbled against his chest.

    "I can tell." Bella laughed and then gripped her stomach in pain. Edward frowned as Bella curled up.

    "Maybe this will help." Edward lifted up her hospital gown-not in an inappropriate way- and kept his eyes on her stomach. His placed his lips against Bella's stitches, making Bella tingle inside. Edward pulled the gown down and pulled Bella back into his embrace.

    "Can you pass those pills? And the cup?" Bella asked. Edward grabbed the two white pills and the small cup that had a bit of water in it. He could see she had already taken some pills, for there was a crumpled cup on the bed.

    Bella put the pills in her mouth and guzzled the water down. "What were those pills for?" Edward asked.

    "The nurse left them awhile ago. She said they would help me sleep." Edward nodded as Bella rested her head on his stone chest, crumpling his shirt in the palm of her hands. Edward rubbed Bella's back and hummed her lullaby.

    After twenty minutes. the pills kicked in and Bella fell asleep, the pain vanishing from her body. All she heard, before she went out, was a soft "I love you," being whispered in her ear.

~        ~        ~        ~        ~

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Sincerely, Burningbrightfire

Picture: James taunting Bella