"Bella, wake up!" a feminine's uneasy voice compelled me to rouse and open my eyes. Kayla? When did I come back? As my eyes focused, I saw Kayla peering down at me, her face pale with worry. "You fainted in the canteen just now, so Zach carried you here," Zach? The guy who bullied me through my years in Lucent Academy? My fingers twitched, coming into contact with something soft, like a mattress. I must be in the school's sickbay, I deduced. Sitting up, I still felt a little light-headed, so I ran my fingers through my -

"Huh? Black hair?" Stupefied at the apparent black curls that cascaded down my shoulders, and rendered flabbergasted at my lack of the clipped accent I was so used to, I glanced frantically at Kayla, pleading for a logical explanation.

Instead, she looked bewildered as she clarified, "What are you talking about, Des? Your hair has always been black. Are you alright? Shall I call for the nurse?"

I shook my head fervently."It's okay. Let's go," With a smile plastered onto my face, I assured Kayla that I was totally fine and we made our way to the canteen.

Grabbing something light to eat due to my lack of appetite from all the drama that had taken place today, I saw Zach stride towards us. Petrified, I tugged at Kayla's sleeve, hinting to her that we should make a move. To my utmost surprise and horror, she merely waved at the infamous bully in a friendly manner. What in the world?!

"Hey guys," Zach greeted us amicably. "Bella, are you feeling better?" His eyes filled with apprehension, it was difficult to acknowledge the fact that this person was the one who made my school life a living purgatory.

"Yeah. Thanks for bringing me to the sickbay," I nodded and answered politely.

"No problem," Zach blushed and he rubbed the back of his ear. I have definitely not seen this coming. "I'll see you both sometime later then?"

"Yeah sure!" Kayla agreed without much thought.

Time in school passed by in a fizzy blur, and things were going smoothly - too smoothly. Nobody made snide comments about me and they were pretty nice, especially Zach. It was exactly how I craved for school life to be. It was perfect.

However, something or someone was missing from this perfect world. I just could not put a finger on it...

No, Bella. Don't think about it. Aren't you enjoying the life you're leading now? You can stay here forever. A sickly sweet voice in my mind blared.

Even though I wanted to obey the voice, something was yanking me away. Someone was waiting for me. His name was J...

Stop.

Edward…

STOP. STOP THINKING AND BE CONTENT WITH THIS LIFE!

Edward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Edward!" My eyes fluttered open, but I was met with darkness. Was I blindfolded? Unable to move, I presumed that I was bound to a chair, since I was in a sedentary position.

Memories of what occurred flooded back to me.

"You impudent girl! You ruined my plans!" The black-cloaked woman berated in a deafening voice. "You were supposed to sleep forever!" She slapped me, the force of the hit making me fall backwards and hitting my head against the ground, causing me to yelp in pain.

"I do not want to live in a world without Edward!" I vociferated. My blindfolds were ripped off and my aunt glared venomously at me, her eyes burning from sheer outrage. Something red and thick was flowing down the sides of my face, and I presumed that it was blood. Growing weaker by the minute, my vision grew cloudy as she continued.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edward's POV

"I wonder what that sound was," I speculated, trudging down the spiral staircase leading to the basement where I had heard a deafening thud. My hand at the doorknob, I heard my mother's voice emanating from the keyhole.

"This was not the plan. I was supposed to make Edward the crowned prince of the land! If only if you weren't here... I should have killed you sooner rather than sending you away."

"What's going on?" I slammed the door open to see Bella lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood and my mother staring at me wide-eyed. "Explain yourself, mother." My mother, with a faultless look on her face, came towards me and held my cheek within her palm.

"My dear Edward, I was just removing the one thing that was keeping you from the throne," she murmured, caressing my cheek. "You should thank me."

Prying her hand away from my face, I venomously spat, "I never wanted the throne! You were the one with your selfish desire for power! She's your niece, for crying out loud! You took dad, someone important from my life, away, and you're going to do it again?"

Wielding a knife in her hands, my mother, with a facial expression of pure repugnance, inched her way to Bella's form. "I don't care."

"You leave me with no choice," I muttered, my arms raised, energy coursing through my veins. "I'm sorry, mother."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wasting no time, I rushed to Bella's side and did my best to patch up her wounds using the techniques that Merle had taught me a few weeks before in the case of emergency. Sweat beads forming on my forehead, I continued working on her, trying not to panic even after the realization that she had indeed lost a great deal of blood.

"Bella," I whispered, seeing that she had stirred slightly. Her eyes fluttered open just a teeny bit.

"Edward?" My heart sank as I heard her weak whine, lacking of stamina. "I'm tired.

My eyebrows creased with worry, I answered softly, "You're safe now. You can rest if you want to."I twirled a strand of her red hair between my fingers as she fell into a deep slumber.