A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I loved them. Also, sorry for the short chapter, but I think I'll be updating again tomorrow or at the latest the day after, so that should redeem me, I hope. I hope you like it. Sorry nothing much happens yet, but things will start happening in the next chapter. I think you'll even find out how Bella came to be like this in the the next chapter, so that's something to look forward to. Cya then ;)


Chapter 3: D-TOX

Three hours after their conversation – just as Alice had predicted – Bella started craving another hit. At first she just seemed jittery, twitching often, wringing her hands together unable to keep still. Esme and Alice tried to help her while Rosalie stubbornly remained at the sidelines.

Alice helped Bella take a bath, hoping it would sooth her unease a bit, and it seemed to be working for a while. But as soon as Bella was cleaned up and back in the room, the cravings seemed to return at full force – it didn't take long for Bella to start her begging.

It went on for hours. She begged, pleaded and screamed, but no one would budge. No one would give her what she wanted, what she needed. As a last resort she threatened to expose them if they didn't give her what she craved. Rosalie hissed at her when she said this, but Esme and Alice continued on as if they didn't hear her. Even as changed as she was now, they knew she would never expose them. If she wanted to, she'd have done so a long time ago.

Eventually Bella lost the fight inside her and gave up. She curled up into a ball, sobbing as tremors wracked her lithe frame. Esme tried to give her some comfort with a wet wash cloth; they didn't know what else they could do to help her.

It didn't take long for Bella to cry herself into a fitful sleep.

"How long will this last, Alice?" Esme never took her eyes off Bella as she conversed with her daughter.

It was silent for a few moments before Alice spoke, "The worst will be over in about two days. It'll get a whole lot worse before it gets better, though."

"I still don't understand why you care so much for a weak human who obviously doesn't give a damn about herself," Rosalie muttered, trying to keep the anger from her voice. Alice stiffened, Esme glared, but neither said anything in response. Either Rosalie would come around by herself or she wouldn't. Nothing either of them said would change that.

Bella was in and out of consciousness for the next two days. She cried, screamed, begged, threw up countless times and shivered uncontrollably. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Eventually the cries and screams faded into nothingness. Her stomach settled down and the tremors lessened, although they didn't go away all together.

When Bella woke up, lucid for the first time in two days, everyone was with her in the room. Off course they hadn't left since she'd gone into d-tox, not even Rosalie.

Once again, Bella refused to speak or look at any of them except Rosalie for some reason. Alice had a feeling she knew why, but she kept it to herself.

"How are you feeling, Bella?" Esme asked, praying that her daughter's pain had lessened. Because Bella was a daughter to her, had been since the moment the family met her and she'd missed her so much.

The answer Bella gave was not one they had hoped for. "Dead." It was a single word, spoken in a flat, deadened tone of voice and if it had been possible, it would've sent shivers down the vampires spines.

"We need to talk, Bella. But first you need to eat. I'll be right back," Alice said and flitted out of the room, leaving Bella alone in the presence of her once surrogate mother and a girl she knew hated her guts. Oh how she wished she could just disappear and never be found again.