Chapter Ten

I was in that meadow that I had been back in my dreams so very long ago, nearly a year now. This time there was no light, no Prince Charming.

I looked around me and a sudden rush blew past me, as fast as a wind might blow. My hair whipped in my face and the rush stopped.

"Bella run, you must run!" It was Jacob, from the side that the wind had blown from. I ran towards him, not knowing what from or where to. I ran as fast as my legs allowed, until I fell too much to keep any pace. Jacob then ran toward me and lifted me, as if I weighed nothing, and ran away, faster than humanly possible. We were running for only a second when something flashed bright white in front of me.

"Leave her alone bloodsucker," Jake warned. "You can't have her." His face started to remind me of my best friend from so long ago, Finn. That same playful look ran across his face, ready to escape. His eyes laughed as Finn's once had, but now they were determined, unmoving. He let me down, and shaded me behind him.

"Stay out of this. It isn't your business," Edward snarled towards Jake and took an intimidating step backwards, not to walk away, but to be fight- ready.

"Stoppit!" I screamed at both of them, but to no result. With a hateful expression, Edward turned from Jake to me, his golden eyes practically begging for my forgiveness, but then he turned away, and there was no mercy in his face. Edward's eyes were blacker now then ever, and he turned to Jake and jumped. I let out an inaudible scream and jumped aside.

"No!" barely any word escaped my mouth as the two wrestled through the woods. They pushed each other over and fought down through the brush until I could no longer see them, no longer know the outcome.

I moved myself to nearby stump and cried. Cried for Edward, for even in this twisted dream he was in my heart forever, but also surprisingly cried for Jake. Something there had brought back Finn, almost resurrected him, and it was like I had lost him all over again.

Someone walked up the hill, my eyes searching for who, not knowing who I'd rather have come.

Edward's black eyes shifted to be as he pounced for the kill.

Maybe it would have been better if it were Jake.

He jumped, and I swerved off my stump, trying to avoid the attack.

I landed on my floor with an oomph, and woke up with a starting. My neck was sweating, and I knew that I had only been dreaming. But it was a nightmare. And one that could scare me more than anything.

I pulled myself off the ground, and sat on my bed, with the covers messed up; I had probably been tossing and turning all night. I grabbed a dirty shirt off of my floor, and wiped the back of my neck, gave up, and went to take a shower.

The coolly warm water felt good running the sweat off my body. My shampoo, not strawberry, my usual scent, but oranges, by Charlie's shopping folly, tickled my nose and helped to wake me up a bit more.

I finished and rolled my hair up in a towel and wrapped another around my body, having forgotten to bring clothes in the daze of my awakening.

I dressed lethargically, still not entirely woken up, and went down for some breakfast.

Charlie wasn't there, but a note was, saying he had gone fishing again, this time with Harry Clearwater, from the reservation.

I chewed my cereal in silence, except for the occasional crunch, and went back upstairs again. The stairs seemed blurry and my head woozy, and I walked up the stairs in a near drunken stupor. I collapsed on my bed, and a sudden cloud of flower petals. A petal landed on my nose, and a note on my stomach.

Dearest Bella,

I really want to see you. Almost craving inside to see you. Alice will pick you up at two.

My heart is always yours,

Edward

I looked up from lying on my back to see the clock. It was nearly 12, and Alice was infamous for "jumping the gun". I emptied the contents of my dresser drawer onto my floor, even after the time with Edward, I still liked to look my best. In my own way, more relaxed…cool. I grabbed my favorite red shirt and a pair of darker jeans. My wardrobe consisted here of about 3 drawers worth and half a closet worth of things, barely even making a dent in all the space Charlie had left for me.

I sat on my bed and thought about the last night. Had the dream meant anything? Should I place my faith into one night's occurrence? Well I had before, so why shouldn't I now?

But it led me down a path I did not want. That both of them, Edward AND Jacob, were potentially dangerous, and that Edward would be the end of me. Literally. Thoughts rushed into my mind and I felt as though I may pass out.

I loved him.

That's all that mattered.

Alice came about an hour early, just as I had predicted, and gave a playful scoff at my choice of simple clothes.

"I'm sorry Alice, it all can't be couture."

"Yes, well it all shouldn't be Hanes t-shirts either."

I threw on a jacket and a hat, and as soon as the hat was entirely on my head, Alice rushed me outside, giddy and jumpy.

"Um, Alice, I can walk."

"Your bruises and bumps prove otherwise."

"Well I need practice that means."

"This is no time for practice. Edward made me come early."

She sped down the freeway, and I would have been terrified for my life if Alice's face had not been so calm.

We arrived to some woods, and Alice stopped the car for a second. I could not tell the expression on her face, but it was something between spacy and thinking. She spent a moment in this daze, just long enough to concern me but not evoke a question, and then she turned back on the car and kept driving, through a narrow path in the woods. Her car maneuvered beautifully the twists and turns of the natural path, and it seemed as though we were riding in a car half its width.

We arrived at the most magnificent house I could remember. Only one in my memory even contested to this mansion's brilliance, and that was the house that I remembered in from Halloween of last year, back in Phoenix.

That had been their house too.

She brought me up to the front door, and I still marveled in its magnificence.

The sight in the doorway was even more magnificent. And even more inviting.

A/n. Okay, sorry for the sucky ending. But I wanted to give you SOMETHING