Bella's POV

I wrapped my hands around myself and closed my eyes, feeling the staring, bulging eyes of the beautiful Cullens devouring me from head to heel. Having slept only about two hours in the last two days, my body seemed to fail me and seemed utterly unrepentant to my brain. My movements were slower; that much I knew they had to have noticed. Every small gesture I made seemed useless now because it didn't take vampire vision to see the purple bags from loss of sleep forming under my eyes. Strangely, the sleepiness and weariness came and went every few hours. I felt revived each time I awoke from my dream-less daydreaming.

It was adrenaline; pure instinct and rational thought bumping against each other in the walls of my mind, kicking aside the effort I made to keep on moving. It was as if something inside of me was being held captive. I was chained, the bruises on my body marked permanently from inside out, bleeding internally and eternally at that.

And then the imaginary chains were removed, warmness causing my bosoms to constrict; in fear or in relief it was hard to tell. My arms had tightened around myself, and the warmness wasn't due to anything other than Jasper's simple, brotherly gesture. I had to smile, but my lips couldn't come to do it. My mind was still frozen, halted at the end of a broken road made of glass yet I still stood upon it without falling. I could see everything below my rationalization skills, but I couldn't access the motor skills to keep on walking forward. Fear? Does seeing or thinking about Jasper make me feel frightened? It wasn't complicated; it was far from being complicated. I know it to be true as I know my name to be Isabella; there wasn't any road paved ahead of me just yet, and that's why it was glass.

I closed my eyes again, taking an imaginary step forward into the future that my mind formulated for it.

I see Jasper, running his long, pallid fingers through his perfect blond hair. It wasn't too late to take a different road, was it?

I meant to take another step forward but couldn't bring myself to do it; why? Was it because I was scared? Horrified? Of what?

My eyes opened peeling and aching at the air that hit against them. Tears wanted to form, but they didn't. My eyes were dry to the bone and I wasn't in the mood to cry. I wanted to take this stupid dress off and go to sleep with someone beside me, someone who would love me for always and be there when I would awaken. That person wouldn't mind if I preferred sweatpants to designer jeans or tank tops to spaghetti straps.

Someone I wouldn't be scared of to be myself in front of, someone that makes my heart sicken and skip three beats rendering it to the point of hysteria. Frenzy of the heart; someone would die from such and knowing my own luck it seemed a probable likeliness.

"This is criminal, Alice," Edward's voice was the first to crack. He was so far away from me that his sweet breath only dazed me in my memory; which isn't to say that it alone isn't enough to render me in worse condition than before. Dazzled and lightheaded.

"Go hunt Edward." Jasper's broken, almost sleepy voice interrupted. "I can tell it's been weeks and this isn't helping my self control at all."

I whimpered, touching the smooth, hard texture of the linen of the cloth surrounding my shoulders; Jasper's black cloak. I smudged my eyes a bit and took a deeper look at my surroundings. Rosalie had left the room, already dressed in a dress, similar to mine only an emerald shade, to meet her husband. Only Edward, Alice, Jasper and I remained. Alice shook her head, smiling up at me from her Indian-styled position in which she sat on the white tiled flooring. There was an edge to her smile; it was almost a smirk.

"You're wearing three-inch platform stilettos and you haven't broken anything. This is a good omen!" She cheered, looking at Jasper.

I, too, directed my eyes in his direction. He gazed right back into mine.

Suddenly, I was stuck in my memory. I realized it was Jasper who had covered me, kept me from the air that made my body uneasy and shaky. I smiled in his direction.

"Love," Edward whispered, the thirst present in his velvety-smooth voice, "Will you be alright? It will just be for a few hours." He promised, almost imploring a hidden message.

"Alice, don't you dare go to them without me, at least not with Bella." He warned, exchanging a long stare with his elfin sister. He nodded, staring at her with thoughtful in-depth intensity. "I will."

Something caught my attention. I wasn't sure what, but the enthusiasm in his voice mixed with confusion, no, sarcasm and worry? "Will what?" I whispered clutching myself tighter and nodding to myself almost reluctantly.

"The theme for the party is Victorian Era-styled." He paused hesitantly, "She's really inclined into the spirit of the celebration, love."

"Oh." I nodded, still clutching myself tight and shutting my eyes tighter as I faced all three of them, who probably inquiring my sanity.

"Take care of her…" Edward's voice turned into a mere whisper… into a faraway echo… into simple nothing. Alice's voice was hazy and unintelligible and I was barely able to feel Jasper's touch against my arm.

"Let's take her…" Alice's voice was all over the place now. "…to dress, it's too short and I saw…"

And then there was nothing. I smiled as something hard hit against my body, or did I hit against it; I however didn't react. Surely I'd be bruised or at least in pain soon, but it didn't come. All that came was soft silk against my ear and cheek. I inhaled the delicious aroma from Jasper's coat, unable and unwilling to move any part of me. Such a saccharine, lovely smell; it suits him.

Oh Alice, treat him well; we're both pretty lucky. I was, however, between a rock and a hard place.

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It was so magical; I let the lot of harsh waves stab me down, calming my body as the little droplets of cold rain water hit my body against the pale sand. I wanted to swim into the cold, sandy ocean as a hurricane formed all around us but I didn't know how and my legs couldn't respond.

The cold ocean, the cold, harsh breeze, the dark and much purpled skies; it was all so much as a mere thought and it was only a dream.

A dream I awoke sweating cold and clammy all around in a large bed surrounded by veils and lucent, transparent cloth of silver and ashen. I sat up, staring at the elegantly lit room, surrounded by colors of silver, crimson and different shades of golden in beautiful decors and design. The bed, looking to be fit for well over four people was soft and silky, pulling my head down on the pillow once more.

I smiled, steadying my exasperated breathing intakes of breath and closing my eyes.

My eyes popped wide open when a very low, mused chuckle vibrated through the room. Only then did I notice the beige walls, the elegant furniture and the steady, very cold conditioning in the room.

"A hotel room, huh." I nodded, closing my eyes again and throwing my head back onto the silk white pillow, shaking my head. I lay there, eyes closed, for what seemed like hours until the sound of a squeaking chair made my head snap up. My eyes searched the room for somebody; anybody.

"Don't be frightened." A soft whisper of a voice reached at me. I slowly turned my head to look to my right. Beside the bed, after searching past the red and white decorate veils, a very elegant, simple seat remained in front of a dark, beautifully carved night table. Beside it, Jasper stood with a skeptical grin and amused eyes; almost as if he were asking me something but too indirectly for me to feel the need to respond. His beautiful figure stood at the left of the enormous bed, the dimly lit room making his features almost too stunning, making me want to keep staring even though I knew I knew my cheeks were flushed in crimson.

I exhaled slowly, crawling helplessly towards the edge of the Victorian bed. My head began to spin, little spots of black clouding my eyes. When I reached the end, I stood on my knees and looked up at him, not really sure of what I was doing. My lips involuntarily curved into a wanting grin, my eyes softening as he stood before me, unsure of what to make out on my actions.

Without hesitation, I reached for his hands and set them on my chest, leading them down the silk night dress someone had taken the liberty to dress me in.

He stood there before me for an awfully long time, his eyes thoughtful and lustful. I wasn't a mind reader, but his eyes told me everything I needed to know.

He was thinking about Alice, his wife, and he was telling himself that this was wrong and right. Right… sometimes the right thing wasn't right for everybody.

I wanted to crawl away, back to the other end of the bed and stay there until Edward came to comfort me and watch me sleep just so that I could cuddle my body against his and feel like I had a place in the world. Where everything would be all too perfect and right; if I couldn't have something perfect and right, then I had only one other choice. A feeling of fulfillment that was wrong.

I pressed his cold hands against the white silk, aching for his touch. His eyes, showing no resentment or disgust, changed from topaz to a dark shade of aged gold. He flashed his teeth, his grin spreading so wide it made me smile with him, too.

I felt his breath stop, his body coming closer to mine. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, smiling and enjoying the split second in which the world seemed to be correctly aligned with the moon; in a few hours it would be dawn.

He pressed his icy lips against mine, rubbing his thumbs gently against my cheeks as he lay my body down, my back against the bed and his body over of my own.

My mind told me to walk away, but my body and my heart didn't know how. Wanting was above reasoning. It was so strange; I had no intention of kissing my soon-to-be brother when I awoke. It was as if his emotions were being pushed at my own, combining them into a uniform compound that seemed to be right. I wasn't impatient for his rough touch; I wanted his tender weightless touch instead. I welcomed it.

I opened my eyes when our lips parted, realizing the incredible beating of my heart and jagged breathing. I felt as though my heart was going to jump out of my chest at any second. He just smiled, so tenderly that it made me want to cry from bliss.

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