I do not own ANY of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.
~Alice
I stretched when it was time to wake up. I'd heard the soldiers waking them up from the other cabins, so I decided to wake up as well. I looked to my left, and Jasper was laying awake, looking sick as ever.
"I hear Bella apologized to you?" he asked.
I gulped. "Yeah. You heard?"
"She talks pretty loud."
"Oh. Sorry that she woke you up."
"It's all right. So…she's friends with a soldier? Edward, his name was?"
"How did you know?"
"I could take a guess from what she said."
"Please don't tell anyone, Jasper. It could be dangerous."
"I wont, Alice. But…can you trust me?"
"Of course." I looked around the room, but it was much emptier than it had been yesterday. I looked back at Jasper. "Where is everyone?" I asked.
"Um…I think that they were…um…"
Shock ran through me. I knew what he was trying to say. "Did they…die?" I whispered.
He bit his lip. "Uh…I think so." He gulped.
Tears brimmed in my eyes; so many were gone. So many had already been gone, and so many more were going to be gone soon, if this didn't stop. "Oh, Jasper!" I cried, the tears pouring out.
Awkwardly, he reached out and put an arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Thanks for being so nice to me," I said quietly as we sat there, looking around the almost-empty room we were in.
"How could I not be?" he said just as quietly. "You're the nicest girl I've ever met."
~Edward
Some of us remained at the table, eating breakfast. These people were Caius, Felix, Aro, and I. I sat there silently, while the three of them talked.
"Why so quiet, Edward?" Caius asked, trying to annoy me.
I put my hand to my ear, like I couldn't hear him.
"Edward, stop acting so childish." Aro said.
"You act the same as I do." I said.
"I haven't acted childish today. You started it."
"It's childish to announce who started a fight."
"And you don't do that?"
"I never said I wasn't childish."
He sighed and continued talking to Caius and Felix. I glared at Aro, trying to find out what he was planning on doing.
"Where were you yesterday?" I heard Caius ask Aro. "It was late, when we were all supposed to be here."
"I had something to take care of." Aro answered.
At midnight, Bella and I had been talking.
And we'd heard someone…
I shook my head, trying not to show that I was worried. The last thing I needed was for Aro to start questioning me.
Caius and Felix left, leaving Aro there, smirking at me evilly.
"Something wrong, Edward?" he asked. "Maybe, you were caught doing something you shouldn't be doing? Are you feeling guilty about something?"
"No, Aro." I said as calmly as possible.
"Really? Because I think I saw you yesterday…actually, this morning. At midnight, about?"
My jaw clenched together. What to say?
"I know what you're up to, Edward. Let's make a deal, now. And don't try to play any tricks. This is serious. Understand?"
Slowly, I nodded, glaring down at the table.
"Now, as long as you don't want me to tell everyone about that girl being your friend and you lying to everyone, you will do as I say."
"What do you want?" I asked dryly.
"I want you to do as I order you. Maybe do my work for me whenever, or get me something to eat whenever, and talk to the other soldiers about me in a good way so one day, I can be promoted in ranking."
"You can't blackmail me."
"I believe I can, because no one else knows," he gestured with his arms around the silent room. "So, what do you say, Edward? Is Bella enough to make such a sacrifice?"
I couldn't say no; I needed to keep Bella safe from harm. If I didn't listen to him, she'd be in huge trouble, as well as I would. So, I nodded solemnly, while glaring at him.
"Good." He stood. "I'll give you one day off. Just for today, I suppose."
I got up to walk away.
"Hey," he called.
I turned. "What?" I asked, furious.
"What do you say to me for giving you the day off?"
I rolled my eyes. "Thanks." I muttered as I walked away.
How I despised that guy.
~Bella
Keep working, don't give up. I told myself as I worked that day. The sun was directly above us, making the work much more difficult. I wiped my forehead and carried more cement pieces toward the working grounds.
"Bella," Edward called to me from above where I was working, under the ground. I looked up; he was one of the supervisors today?
"Hi, Edward." I said tiredly.
"I need to tell you something. Meet me outside the cabin at midnight, okay?"
"Okay. Good news or bad news?"
"Bad."
"Damn it."
I continued my work, not caring anymore. I wanted to know what Edward needed to tell me; would it be dangerous for both of us? Was I being transferred, perhaps? Gassed? I didn't dare think of anything else; I'd scare myself too much. Yet…I was already as scared as I'd ever been in my life.
I hadn't talked to my mom since she'd hit me. She hadn't tried apologizing, either, which hurt. Was she even sorry?
She decided to talk to me as we went back to the cabin that night from work. "Bella?" she asked as we walked in the pitch black.
I looked ahead of me.
"Bella, look at me."
I turned to her. "What do you want, Mom?"
"Bella, I'm so sorry I hit you the other day. I just got so upset about this whole thing. I didn't mean it; I wasn't thinking. I love you, Bella. And I would never hurt you."
"Okay, Mom, I'm not in the mood to talk today."
"Just talk to me soon, please."
"I forgive you, okay?"
"Thank you, honey."
She looked even more fragile than I did-losing weight more rapidly, looking thinner than ever. My mom was never the skinniest person ever, but now she seemed to be one of them. Everyone here was losing weight, myself included. But her change in appearance was very noticeable.
We got to the cabin late that day, 11:30. They'd forced us to work longer so that we could finish a certain part of the building. I decided to go straight to the side of the cabin outside once the soldiers were all gone. I'd sit and think for a bit until Edward would come.
As I sat in the cool breeze, I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up, expecting to see Edward.
Instead, another man stood in front of me, smirking. He was an average height, with his longer brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His face was menacing, intimidating…maybe that was because I knew who he was working for.
He was a soldier.
I looked up at him, horrified, expecting to be shot or something right there. I covered my face with my arms, preparing myself.
"Foolish kid," he said. I looked up at him again. "What are you doing out here?"
I stayed silent.
"Hello, Bella? Are you meeting Edward again?"
This was definitely the bad news Edward needed to tell me. I gulped.
"Um…" I trailed off. "I'm sorry I'm out here. I'll go." I stood, but then he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me so I hit the outside wall of the cabin.
"You're not leaving yet." He stated. "I told Edward this today, and now I am telling you. Edward is under my order now, he must do what I say in order for him and yourself to live. And as for you…" He gave me an evil smile. "You will work even longer than everyone else, half the time with the other people here, and half the time doing what I say."
I looked at him, terrified, wide-eyed.
"Got it?" he asked.
"Yes, sir." I said eventually.
"Good." He pushed me to the ground, and I looked up at him. I wouldn't dare stand up. "See you tomorrow, Bella." He said, chuckling as he left.
It was the same chuckle we'd heard yesterday.
Thanks everyone for reading!