I wasn't planning on continuing with this story but perhaps I will try to put out another chapter or two. Usually once my characters meet up and get physical I get bored and move on but let's see what happens.

I woke from an undisturbed night, not once had I recalled not waking up in tears or waking up to the sounds of my own screams while staying at this house.

My face was pressed down into the soft satin feel of the pillow and I lay still as I paid attention to the sounds and movements of my breath. I must have forgotten where I was for a moment because comfort overwhelmed me.

Reality crept in though and I remembered where I lay. It was Edwards's bed that now held me and tried to force me back to sleep.

A small panic overcame me as I thought of what it would be like to wake up next him after what had happened last night. I clenched my eyes tighter willing myself to go back to a dreamless sleep, a sleep that was like not being at all. I held them tight while also slowing my breathing to come to a halt. I wanted to try and hear the ragged breath that lay next to me but I heard nothing.

I lay on my stomach with my back turned to where I thought laid Edward. I pressed my face harder into the pillow and slowly allowed my neck to turn so that I could see what lay beside me.

Nothing.

Just a matching pillow and some disheveled sheets lay where I expected a body to be.

I allowed my arms to push me up and settled into a sitting position. Everything was the same as when I first had entered. The room was still and the light fragrance of lavender hung in the air. I breathed its relaxing power deep into my lungs. Closing my eyes and allowing myself, for a second, believe that I was waking up in a fancy hotel.

I scooted to the edge of the bed allowing my feet to hang over the side and looked at the floor expecting to still find some garments that I had dropped there the night before.

Someone must have come in and taken them away because the carpet was free from the mess I had made hours before.

I allowed my feet to slide onto the floor and feel the carpet on my toes. How many nights before this did I just feel the cold floor of my hole.

I stood and finally felt the dull ache in my cheeks from the way he had treated them. I swiped my hand across one of my cheeks allowing me to indulge in the way my hand seemed to cool the fire that burned from there.

I clutched a sheet around my body tightly gathering it up in my arms so that I could walk freely without it bunching at my feet. There was absolutely no sign of him. I walked across the room towards the door of the adjoining bathroom and pushed the door further open.

On the counter of the bathroom lay a note on top of a simple black cotton dress that had been neatly folded.

"Bella,

I have stepped out for a few hours.

Please clean and dress yourself and find your way downstairs to continue your chores.

Edward"

I placed the letter back down and turned to look at the large bathtub that seemed more like a small pool than anything else.

I turned the knobs of the tub and allowed the water to break the silence that was surrounding me.

I let the warm water fill almost to the brim before I turned it off. I dropped my sheet right there in the middle of the floor and put one foot in. It was hot but in a moment I would adjust and allow its warmth to take me over.

I sat there with the water practically at my shoulders with my eyes closed, hearing the random drips of water from the faucet break as they fell.

I could have sat there all day but this wasn't some fancy hotel where I stayed on vacation. This was the same place as it had been and this was no vacation.

I waited until the water was getting cold, finding that the only reason to force myself to let out the water in the tub. I sat there watching the water swirl at the drain and disappear until I was sitting in an empty tub feeling the cool draft around me before I stood up.

I dressed myself and used the brushes and combs on the counter to fix my hair and attempt to look decent.

Once I had finished in the bathroom I returned to the room and stepped to the double doors that led to the rest of the house.