As I lay in bed with Edward's arms around me, I could feel his cold hands resting on my arms, reassuring me. We didn't have to say anything, just lying there was enough; the feeling that nothing bad could ever happen again, that we were finally safe. I must have fallen asleep like that, because suddenly I opened my eyes and saw Victoria standing over me, the silver sword in her and reflected in her cold, dark eyes. Edward was gone and I felt panic take hold as I thought of all the things Victoria might have done to him. I tried to scream but the sound caught in my throat as Victoria lunged at me, her sword plunging into my stomach again and again.
I was crying then, but silently. I watched, helpless, as the blood poured out onto the white sheets and I felt my strength drain away with it. Suddenly she went for my eye, ripping it out of its socket. For a second I felt intense pain rip through my body and then the blackness took over. I remember thinking in the split second before I passed out that I was going to die. And worse, that Edward might too.
When I came to I was chained to a chair in a small room with a dirty gag in my mouth. The hole where my eye used to be was burning and each stab wound felt as though the knife were still there. But what really hurt, what was tearing me apart, was not knowing where Edward was. Whether he was even still alive…
I must have passed out again from pain and blood loss because I woke to find sunlight streaming in through the little slit in the wall. Suddenly I heard footsteps outside the room getting closer and closer. The footsteps were too fast to be human, so I was expecting Victoria. I was bracing myself for more pain, or even death, when the door opened. And in walked Edward. As I drank him in, memorising every little feature and wanting to touch him all over I noticed something was wrong. His face was contorted in pain and his eyes looked glazed and were puce, a colour I had never seen in them before.
"Bella I-," he began, his voice cracking, " I'm sorry. For everything. For what I've done to you, it wasn't supposed to be like this, you weren't supposed to be… you weren't supposed to be you. Beautiful, wonderful you. I'm sorry." Then he turned and swept out of the room, locking the door behind him.
If he could cry, he would have been. He looked broken and the more I thought about it the more scared I became. Why had he locked the door? Why didn't he save me? Something was very, very wrong.