I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.

~There are a lot of character Point of View changes in this chapter.

Hope you like the story!

~Bella

Work had been long today-when hasn't it?-and I was relieved to be able to go back to the cabin. Now, all I had to do was wait until midnight, so I could go talk to Edward. The older woman who was nearby had a clock, and she'd told me whenever I wanted I could see the time. I don't know why she'd told me this, but I didn't question her. It was ten now, and we were just given a piece of bread each. I sat next to my mom, since I hadn't talked to her in awhile. She was working somewhere new, now.

"Have you eaten enough?" my mom asked me.

"Yes, Mom." I answered.

"Why weren't you here this morning when we were supposed to wake up?"

"I…went to take a walk…"

"Isabella, you can't do that! What if a Nazi saw you?"

One did see me, all right. I was out because of one.

I shrugged. "Sorry."

"You should be." She sighed. "I need you to be safe, well as safe as you can be around here. I wouldn't be able to stand it if you were caught wandering."

"I wasn't wandering. This is where we live now."

"Don't you dare say that! We will never call this place home."

"Then what do you call it? Vacation?"

"I call it prison."

"So does everyone else here, but maybe prisoners think of prison as home. Ever think of that? Maybe, just maybe we do live here now. We're in jail…for-."

My mom wouldn't hear any more; she pulled her hand back and hit me in the face with as much force as possible. I heard the slap at first, and then the stinging pain came. I looked back at her, holding my cheek.

She looked at me, pained. "Bella, I'm sorry. I don't know why I-"

"Go away!" I said, getting up and walking away. I left the cabin, and sat at the spot next to the building where Edward and I had talked yesterday. I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried quietly.

Two hours must have gone by, since Edward came. "Bella?" he asked, worried. "What happened?" he lifted me up, sat, and then let me lean on him.

"My mom…she hit me."

"Why?"

"We were talking about life here and stuff…I can't remember! I don't know why, she just did!"

"It's okay, Bella."

"No wonder why she doesn't love me anymore. I said mean things."

"Of course she loves you."

"She doesn't."

"Look, by tomorrow I'm sure she'll have forgiven you. For now, just rest from your day working."

We were quiet for a few minutes, looking at the stars in the sky. Then, he spoke, clearing his throat first. "Today they had a list…a list of Jewish people to be gassed tomorrow." I saw the Adam's apple in his throat move as he gulped. "And you were on it, Bella."

My eyes widened. I was supposed to die tomorrow?

"But…" He added, "I convinced them to take every young person's name off. I said they were good at working, and that was a good idea to them."

"What about my parents? My brother?"

"I didn't see them. I don't know why your brother's name wasn't on it, though. I would've stopped them, though."

I felt comfortable with him to give him a hug. "Thank you so much, Edward. You saved my life."

"Not really. I'm part of the cause you're here."

"Stop saying that. Were you the soldier that grabbed me from my house and yelled at me, or the one that ripped up mail I wanted to send? Or the one who took my grandma? Or the one who took my friend, Alice? No. You're not like them, even you know that."

"You're one of the few people who would ever understand me."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He let me lay in his lap, and I gazed up at each star. The night was cool, with a light breeze brushing past us.

"Where is your friend, Alice?" he asked suddenly.

"Here. We just got in a fight."

"Not about me, I hope."

"Well, not all about you. I told her about you, and about how some people can be different than the rest, but she didn't believe me and was mad at me for liking you. I'm mad at her for not trusting me by saying you're a good person."

"You shouldn't fight over me, Bella. We've only known each other for two days."

"But I feel like I've known you for so much longer."

"Me, too."

I sat up and looked at him, our faces close, both of us just staring into each other's eyes. I got to look at his golden eyes, making my eyes look boring compared to his.

"You have a girlfriend back where you live?" I asked, smiling.

He laughed. "No."

"Why not?" Surely someone like him would have a girlfriend.

"None of the girls in town seemed to catch my attention."

"None in your town?"

"No. But someone in my country does."

"Really? What's she like?"

"Well, she's not that tall, no offence to her, she had brown hair, the prettiest chocolate brown eyes…"

"Sorry, Edward, but my mom's not interested in younger men."

We both burst out laughing. While laughing, we both somehow leaned closer to each other. I didn't know whether or not to kiss him now, but he made that decision by doing so. I hadn't kissed many people before, only two, but they were nothing compared to now. Back then, I wasn't sure if I honestly really liked the person, it might have just been a crush, where you don't really know the truth. But with Edward, I knew that we honestly belonged together…even if we had only known each other for two days.

I sat back, and looked at him, smiling a bit.

"What about you? Any boyfriends back where you're from?" he asked.

"No."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not! Like you, I don't really like any of them in town that way."

"Ah, I'm sure."

"Edward?" I said quietly, looking up at the sky again.

"Yes?"

"What happens if we're caught…? I don't want you to die because of me. I'd rather they just kill me. I am the prisoner here, after all."

"I am a prisoner here as well. And if we are caught, I assume they will try to kill us."

"They-"

"Try. I didn't say they'd ever be able to get to you."

I just smiled and leaned on his shoulder. He held me in his arms, making me almost forget everything going on in life.

Almost.

~Edward

"So, you were out taking a walk, correct?" Aro asked me once I'd gotten back to the cabin after seeing Bella. She'd fallen asleep in my arms, so I had to carry her back to her cabin. I told Aro I'd been taking a walk.

"That is correct," I answered. "You sure are smart, Aro."

"Smarter than you will ever be."

"Will you two stop fighting?" Caius asked. "It's quite annoying."

"Edward likes to be childish, so I might as well humor him." Aro said to him.

I sighed.

"What have you really been up to?" Felix asked.

"Walking."

"Mm-hmm."

"Did you fix that list?"

"Yes, that girl you wanted to be removed from the list has been. So have some other people."

"Good."

"You're welcome." Aro spat.

"Thank you so much, Aro." I said sarcastically.

"This kid should watch his mouth." Caius said. Just because they were many years older than me, didn't mean they knew more than I did. I was smarter than any of them. At least, I had better judgment of people.

"Yes, he should." Aro looked at me. "Edward? Would you be ever so kind as to get me something to drink?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because maybe you should get off your-"

He stood abruptly and went to me to fight. If anyone approached me, I was going to fight back. So, as he threw a punch, I blocked it and gave him a punch to the gut. He fell back, the tables and chairs screeching against the ground. I stood in front of him, who was now on the ground, handed him a glass of water, and stepped over him to leave the room. I went to the next room to go to sleep as Caius and Felix went to help him up. Aro called me a name not to be repeated and swore that someday, I'd be sorry.

~Alice

I coughed for the thousandth time today, and I covered it with my elbow. I was in the sick cabin, where all the diseased people stayed. I didn't get it; now that I had a simple cold, I had to stay here and possibly get something even worse. Did they care? No.

And now Bella was probably off somewhere with some soldier. Was she out of her mind? Soldiers have taken away everything from us, and she knows that, but now she decided to give one a chance and let him lie to her about him being "good". How could any of them be good? Wouldn't they eventually turn into one of them, after being in concentration camps or taking enough people away from home?

I didn't have to work today, since they didn't want me getting the rest of their workers sick. That was the only reason. If I wasn't contagious, I probably would've had to work. They don't care how badly I feel. They only cared about themselves.

Which proves my point.

I rolled over in bed, looking at all the coughing people, and they were all frail and pale. Could we get some food around here? These people already had to suffer through having an illness, and now they were starving. I was hungry, too…not starving yet, but close to it. And now that I was here, I'd probably get fed less.

An older woman walked over to me, and she handed me a small bite of bread. I sat up and took the offering.

"Thank you," I said to her, eating the bread immediately.

"I saw that you don't look so well." She said.

"Neither do you, Ma'am. And neither does anyone around here."

"I know. I'm running out of bread…" She coughed, shook her head, and walked away. I swallowed the last of my bread and lay back down next to some guy-about my age-who had a pale face and stared up tiredly at the ceiling. He noticed my looking at him and turned to me.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sorry," I said, looking around. "I just noticed you look sick."

He laughed with no humor. "You're very observant, aren't you?"

"You could say that. I'm Alice."

"Jasper."

"And how long have you been here?"

"A year, maybe. I stopped counting the days awhile ago. You?"

"A few weeks."

"Don't worry, the real torture is soon to start."

"What disease do you have?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, either. I think it's a cold, but you can never be sure."

We both didn't say anything then, but I was glad to have someone new to talk to. Someone who actually understood.

~Bella

I woke up when everyone started screaming at us, and I rolled out of bed, ready for a long day of work. I walked out of the cabin, following everyone, but then being grabbed by the arm and pulled behind the cabin. I smiled, knowing it was Edward, because of the coolness of his hand on my arm. I looked up at him, who was now standing in front of me and looking down at me. He let go of my arm and smiled.

"I should be working." I said quietly.

"So should I." He said.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Have you ever skipped school?"

"Never."

"Well now you can skip."

"But…we'll get caught. We can't."

"We can."

"What's wrong with you? This isn't school where you just get yelled at. We'd get killed. And it's easy for you to skip working. You're one of the leaders of this camp."

"But I know we won't get caught. And if we do, I'll find a way to get you out of trouble."

"I can't. It's too dangerous, Edward, don't you see?"

"Don't you see?"

I groaned. "Edward, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm leaving now. I'll see you later." I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.

"Bella." He sighed. "Trust me."

There were tears in my eyes. I just couldn't risk it; this was crazy. "I'm sorry," I whispered, leaving his hold of my arm and walking away, toward the group of people working. I didn't look back as I walked away.

~Edward

I now knew what a monster I was. Bella couldn't trust me.

I looked after her as she pretty much ran away from me, afraid of what was to happen if she were seen with one of us…a Nazi. I couldn't blame her, either.

What would it take for her to see that I wanted to help her…? I wanted so badly as to help her escape this camp, to be able to be happy again.

For now, I'd have to talk to her in order for her to feel safe again.

"Oh, Edward?" Aro asked, walking over to me. "What are you doing over here?"

"Why is it to your concern?" I asked.

He shrugged and chuckled. "I don't know, but I saw you with someone…you were talking to them…?"

I gulped.

"Who was it?"

"Nobody. I wasn't talking to anyone."

"That is the worst lie I've ever heard from you so far."

"I don't recall ever lying to you."

"Hmm, I'm sure."

"Don't you have something better to do than accuse me of lying, Aro?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have something better to do than talking to yourself?"

I rolled my eyes. "You'd better go," I hissed. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you."

"What, you'd rather beat me up? Hmm? Because, last time I checked, I am many years older than you, therefore more experienced. So…if you're going to fight me, I suggest you go easy on yourself. Don't strain any muscles."

I clenched my teeth together, fighting the urge to punch him in the face.

"What is it, Edward?" he asked, grinning. "Are you trying to control your hatred toward me?"

"Obviously." I said.

"Well, good luck with that." He started to walk away, his back turned to me. I couldn't stand the fact he was getting away with acting like that, so I walked toward him. I turned him around, and he looked at me, panicked. I punched him in the nose, causing him to fall to the ground, now with a bloody nose.

"Don't strain yourself getting up." I said, walking away. I heard him running behind me, and then was tackled to the dirt. I pinned him to the ground, punching him. Like I said before, if anyone approached me to fight, I would fight back. Two soldiers came, blowing whistles and pulling us off each other. We all went into the main building and were seated across from each other. Many soldiers stayed to listen to our argument.

"What do you two think you're doing, fighting?" Demetri, another soldier, asked harshly. When he was angry, he sure was angry. "You are always the ones to fight! You act like children!"

"Edward is being uncooperative toward all of us." Aro said, glaring at me.

"Aro acts like he's my age again. Which he wishes he was." I said.

"You both cannot act like this all the time." Demetri said, shaking his head. "Why is it you two always fight?"

"Because he is not one of us." Aro suggested.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He looked at me with the worst look he'd ever given me. He knew something; he knew that I did not agree with all of them. And he knew that I knew.

He couldn't tell them.

I looked at him pleadingly.

"Aro?" Demetri asked.

"Nothing, Demetri." Aro said. I sighed in relief.

"All right, then. Everyone, let's get back to work. You two, talk it out or something. I do not want you fighting any more."

"Yes, Demetri." Aro said, giving me a sly smile as everyone, including us, left.

For now, I was not in trouble. Aro saved me for some reason…not a good reason, I knew. He was up to something…but what?

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