AN- This is something I've been working on, and I thought it was time to post it somewhere.

It started with the trembling of her hands, but soon spread quickly to the rest of her. She was unable to prevent the shaking that overtook her body as she was crippled by fear. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she repeated over and over to herself "this is a nightmare. I'm sleeping. Wake up!"

Her heart thumped erratically in her chest. She could hear the thumping over the pounding in her ears. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to die like this.

"Didn't you wonder why it was so easy?" The voice taunted her.

She couldn't make out any shapes as there was only darkness. It had been days since she saw light. Her throat was closed up, but even if she were able to control any part of her body, she had no words.

Her captor chuckled malevolently as if taunting her for inability to escape. She knew whoever was with her enjoyed the fear that clung to her bones. They relished in her screams that never seemed to stop.

"I'm going to kill you here." It was a promise. "No one will ever know what happened to you." The figure stepped forward and she fell back in terror. She knew the face of her captor. It couldn't be. "All I needed was your trust." And then it was all over, a dagger moved swiftly through the air and she felt herself freed from her bound existence.

Isabella Swan screamed in fright as she sat up in her bed. Her heart beat frantically as if trying to climb out of her chest. She couldn't stop screaming.

She could still feel the dagger pressed up against her throat, the blood as it rushed out of her.

Lights popped on outside her door. A rush of fabric, and she was engulfed in a hug. "Oh Bells," her friend sighed in sympathy. "I thought it was better."

Bella bit her lip. She knew not to answer. The truth was that she avoided sleep for the very reason that her slumber was constantly plagued by nightmares. She had felt the drooping of her eyes as it became harder and harder to fight the oncoming attack. Her body required rest, but she knew what would happen the moment she closed her eyes.

It happened every night since she turned seventeen. She had been seven therapists in the last two years alone, especially because the first night, it took hours before she would stop screaming and crying. Her parents took her to the emergency room where she then was sent to psych for a 48 hour watch.

When she returned home, her parents often shared uneasy looks and long whispered conversations behind her back until it was decided that she would be institutionalized for the remainder of her senior year.

Those were the worst seven months of her life. She was on so many medications that she could hardly tell Monday from Saturday, night from day.

By the time her parents finally returned for her, she was a living zombie. All she saw when she woke up was shade of grey. The color disappeared from her life. Bella was in her own personal hell.

"It's okay Bella," Alice whispered as she held her tightly. "You're safe."

Bella knew it was a lie. She wasn't safe.

AN- I would love to hear any thoughts on the story.