It was a cold, rainy October night when I woke up in the middle of the woods.
I remembered going to sleep in my bed; it had taken me longer than usual to fall asleep, because I didn't have the comfort of Edward's arms around me. He was out hunting with Emmett and Jasper; a normal routine every couple of weeks. Bonding, Emmett liked to call it, punching Edward in the arm and then grinning widely at me before they left.
I did fall asleep eventually, with the help of my lullaby playing quietly on the radio. But when I woke, it was not to the soft morning light (or fog) filtering through my bedroom window. It was to the cold spattering of raindrops on my cheeks.
I shivered as my eyes flew open, completely disoriented for a few moments. Immediately, I knew that I was not dreaming. You weren't supposed to be able to feel this cold in a dream. I was shivering uncontrollably, teeth chattering. The world around me was pitch dark, and foggy. I was standing, but my legs felt like jelly, like I'd just gone on a five mile run. Though the world was dark around me, there was enough moonlight peeking through the trees for my eyes to almost adjust.
Trees? I looked around myself, suddenly panicking when I realized I was not just outside in the rain, I was in the middle of the forest. The trees were dense, here, no more than 5 feet apart. The trunks were massive, and the ground between them was filled with exposed roots, bushes, and who knew what else. Poison ivy, probably. I wrapped my arms around myself, unable to comprehend how I'd gotten here. My arms and legs felt bruised and scraped, like I'd really stumbled on my own two feet all the way out here. Had I walked all the way out here? There was no way. I was never a sleep-walker, even when I was younger. It was always just the talking. Even so, how would I have made it so far in this cold without waking? No matter which way I turned, there was nothing but trees. I strained my eyes through them, searching for some sign of life - a streetlight, a highway, anything to prove that I wasn't really stranded so deeply in the woods. I found nothing.
A deliberate rustle in the brush, and the crack of a twig a few feet behind me snapped me right out of my train of thought. As I processed the noise, the terror of the situation suddenly overwhelmed me. I was dressed in nothing but a thin t- shirt and a pair of sweats, I had no idea which direction civilization was, and I was utterly alone. My teeth began chattering harder as the fear drove my feet forward, ignoring the hopelessness of the situation as I stepped around trees and through bushes, trying to move quickly away from the noise.
"Leaving so soon?" The voice was almost directly behind me. My body froze, terror washing over me in a new, more debilitating way. This was not a voice I recognized. The voice laughed boisterously, closer to me now, and that was all it took to give my limbs, numb with cold, what they needed to wake up.
I was running faster than I ever had before, and the voice continued to laugh at me as I did. I was tripping over tree roots and hitting low branches out of my way as I went. It was only a matter of time before I felt an ice cold hand catch my wrist in its grip, squeezing suddenly and jerking me to a stop. I tried to yank my arm away, but the fingers were like stone. My body froze again when I realized this, and my breath caught in my throat. A vampire. An unknown, hostile vampire had dragged me out here into the woods.
The wind picked up, and the rain had completely soaked through my clothes now. I did not bother trying to run, because it was obvious that I would not be getting anywhere. If I had been dealing with a human attacker, it would be different.
"What do you want?" I was taken aback by the clear, confident demand in my tone; I had expected my voice to hold no volume. Maybe it was the adrenaline, which was pulsing through my veins.
"You know," The voice mused, ignoring my question, and I realized now that he was close that it was a man. It was no lighter here now than it was when I'd first opened my eyes, but his skin was so pale it caught every speck of moonlight that dared to shine through the cover of leaves and clouds above us. I could just barely make out bright, blood red eyes. "There is nothing on this earth more delicious than the smell of fear." He growled, fingers tightening around my wrist. I heard the sickening crunch before I felt the pain, but then I did feel the pain, and I screamed, struggling against his fingers despite myself. The pain shot up my arm and down through my fingers, and I could tell that struggling against him was only making it worse, but I couldn't do nothing. I tried to run again, too panicked to be shocked when his fingers slipped away. I'd barely made it three steps, though, before something solid struck me in the stomach. My breath was gone, leaving my lungs with an audible whoosh as I flew backward, off my feet, and crashed into a tree behind me. Stars danced in the darkness around me, and the pain was coming from everywhere now.
It was a few more moments before I could breathe again, choking and gasping for air when my lungs finally allowed it. My head was spinning, and I couldn't force my body to move.
"Edward!" I screamed helplessly, using my good hand to push myself upright and lean against the tree when my muscles unfroze. My legs were shaking uncontrollably. "Edwa-"
His hand was on my throat then, squeezing, cutting off my supply of air effortlessly. His other hand gripped my wrist again, cracking it further, but I could not cry out this time. I had no voice. It was no use, anyway. I felt the world slowly disappearing around me, doing my best to gasp for air but not succeeding in the slightest. My feet were dangling in the air, unable to find purchase. I thought I heard him speak again, but I couldn't force my ears to listen. I couldn't focus on anything except the burning in my chest, the lack of oxygen that was stealing my consciousness away with it. By the time his fingers released me, my legs had buckled, and I was unconscious before I hit the ground.
"...can't smell anything!" A voice pierced through my subconscious, and at first, I couldn't place it. The words sounded positively murderous, coming out in a snarl. "Where is he?!" The voice roared, the sound of it finally breaking through my subconscious and waking me up fully.
The pain came back to me quickly, as well as my breath, and I felt a sharpness pierce my side. I jerked away from the pressure, crying out and coughing as I sucked in deep gulps of air. My throat burned with each one. I panicked, unable to process what was happening as I tried to scramble away from the source of the pain, sure the vampire was going to kill me now.
"Bella!" A choked sound of relief, and finally I recognized the beautiful voice. Edward. I cried out again as he pulled me against him, but in agony this time, stars dancing around me again as the pain crested.
"Careful, Edward!" It was Carlisle's voice now, close to my head. The stabbing pains in my chest did not subside. "She's hurt." His voice was calm, a stark contrast to the sound of Edward's panicked cry I'd heard moments ago.
"She's going into shock- we have to get her out of here!" Edward choked, and I felt his freezing fingers brush my matted hair away from my forehead. I realized the pain in my side was caused by the violent shivers rocking through my body. My teeth were chattering. "Bella, sweetheart, I'm here. You're going to be okay," His voice was too panicked to be soothing, but just the knowledge that he was here was driving the terror away. I tried to look through the darkness, to see Edward's face, but there was no moonlight anymore. I felt like I was looking straight into a black hole. I clung to Edward desperately with my good hand, fingers locked around the collar of his shirt to make sure he didn't go anywhere without me.
"I need to make sure her neck is okay before we move her, Edward. And her spine. Keep her still, please." Edward's response was a strangled sound of anguish as he held me tightly against him. I cried out when someone lightly touched my broken wrist. "Can you squeeze my hand, Bella?" Carlisle's voice was soothing, and I moaned in pain but obeyed, my wrist screaming in protest as I slowly closed my fingers around his. He seemed satisfied, and then I felt his cool hands prodding my head, my neck, asking me to move certain body parts. My eyes were shut tightly against the pain, breath coming in ragged gasps now. The shivering would not stop. Every anguished sound I made was echoed by Edward's own.
"Carlisle, please…!" I heard Edward beg, choking on a tearless sob as I lay trembling and helpless in his arms.
"Okay, let's go." Carlisle decided, and then I felt Edward's arms lift me effortlessly into the air, cradling me against his chest as he began to run.
As much as I wanted to go to sleep, to not feel the pain and the cold, my brain stayed wide awake, eyes shut tightly against the freezing wind whipping my hair into my mouth. Edward's voice was soothing. "We'll be there soon," He kept telling me, lips brushing my face. "Stay with me, Bella, please! Can you hear me? We're almost there."
It could've taken seconds, or days for us to reach the hospital. I had no concept of time. I only opened my eyes again when there was finally light filtering through my eyelids. They fluttered open and the first thing I saw was Edward's anxious, golden eyes, his brows knit together with worry. The lights were too bright, making my head pound, and I had to shut my eyes again. I heard voices around me, some panicked, some calm, but Edward's was the only one that I could focus on.
"It hurts," I whimpered as he laid me down on a stretcher, and I tried to keep a hold on his shirt to keep him there with me. He gently pried my fingers away and kissed my hand.
"I know, sweetheart, I know. It will go away soon," he promised, and then I panicked when I felt his fingers slip away from my own.
"Edward! N- no!" I cried, reaching out to try and grab him again. Carlisle pulled my hand down against my side as they wheeled the stretcher away. Edward's face was torn between fury and agony, his hair and clothes dripping with rainwater and mud. I saw Alice behind him, her eyes and mouth open wide with horror. We hadn't turned the corner before I saw Edward bury his face in his hands, Alice still standing frozen.
"Relax, Bella, he'll be back soon," Carlisle promised, and I cried out again, but in pain this time, as they moved me from the stretcher onto something more solid, less comfortable. There were fingers prodding me, and I felt something sharp poke my unbroken hand. The fluorescent lights were spinning, the ceiling completely out of focus above me. I was still shivering violently.
I tried to relax as I felt my clothes being peeled off of me, sticking to the wetness drenching my skin. After a few moments I felt a heavy drowsiness weigh down on my limbs, and I could not fight it. I didn't try to, instead letting my body slump against the table as I fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke, it was dark again. My eyelids fluttered open, and I could still feel the heaviness weighing me down. I could barely open my mouth to moisten my chapped lips. The stupor threatened to drag me under again, but I fought it, realizing my eyes were closed again and forcing them back open. I couldn't see much in the dim light around me, but I could tell immediately that I was in a hospital room. It smelled sterile, and I could make out the machines around me. Luckily, none of the big ones seemed to be attached to me.
"Edward?" I croaked, each breath picking up speed. Was I alone? What if my attacker was here? What if he'd gotten Edward? What if-
"Shh, Bella, I'm right here," Edward's voice was beside me then, and he leaned over me, brushing a strand of hair away from my forehead. I felt myself sigh in relief, but I wasn't fully awake yet.
"I love you." My words were slurred and slow, but even in the dim hospital room, I could see his relieved smile. I swallowed and realized how dry and raw my throat felt, like I hadn't had a sip of water in days. There wasn't even any saliva in my mouth. I tried to move, to sit up, to look around, but Edward held me down gently.
"Slowly, my love. Let me help you." He was holding the button for the bed, and I relaxed as I felt it raising my torso up until I was sitting almost completely upright. My head spun for a few moments as I adjusted to the new position. He raised the lights a bit, and I blinked a few times as my eyes struggled to adapt. He sat gently on the edge of the bed beside me, holding a styrofoam cup with a straw up to my lips. His expression was taut, every muscle tensed like he was ready to spring at a moment's notice. His stiffness made me anxious. I took a small sip of the water, and then flinched when it burned my throat. I choked on the last bit, and this sent me into a coughing fit. The coughing seemed to wake up other parts of my body that I hadn't felt any pain in yet. My ribs, for example, reacted awfully to the wheezing. Stabbing pains erupted throughout my torso, and I held my breath in an attempt to stop myself from coughing again. It worked eventually, and Edward was rubbing my back, helping me lean back against the pillows again when I could relax. Every breath burned.
"I'm sorry," Edward whispered, and I shook my head slowly, laughing weakly.
"S'not your fault," I sighed, reaching up to touch his face and then wincing when I felt something tug against the skin in my hand. An IV. I closed my lips tightly and looked away, sighing heavily through my nose. "What's the damage?" I looked up at him and he almost managed a smile, holding the straw to my lips again when he decided I could handle it. I drank deeply until the cup was empty.
"The bones in your right wrist are broken, badly. Miraculously, you did not hurt your spine at all. You did fracture a few ribs, but other than that it's mostly just lots of bruises, love. You'll heal." He murmured, and I felt his cold fingers brush the side of my neck. I remembered how the vampire had choked me and wondered how terrible the bruising on my neck was. I would have to find turtlenecks to wear.
"And… the vampire?" I breathed, glad there wasn't a heart monitor attached to me, so I wouldn't have to listen to the way my pulse accelerated with fear at just the thought of him. I was sure Edward could hear it regardless.
He took a huge breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling slowly. It was such a human thing to do. He looked stressed and miserable. I reached out with my broken hand, which was swaddled in a splint, to try to comfort him.
"We couldn't find him," he whispered, taking my broken hand gently and kissing each of my swollen fingers. My heart stopped at his words. "Alice, Jasper, Rose, Emmett… they're all still out looking. There was no trace of him in those woods, Bella." He was clearly frustrated. This helplessness was unfamiliar to him. I swallowed audibly.
"Oh," I squeaked, imagining that vicious creature still prowling around town. "Charlie?" My eyes could not disguise the panic I felt this time, and Edward shushed me softly.
"Esme is watching the house." He assured me.
"What time is it? How long have I been here? Does Charlie know…?"
"It's just past midnight. You've been asleep for about 20 hours now. Charlie was here almost all day, until Alice convinced him to go home and get some sleep. He wouldn't leave until I left, though, so I went home to change clothes," he grinned his crooked smile at me, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"The story," he continued, "is not too divergent from the real one. The bruises… there was no other excuse for that." He murmured, that pained look appearing in his eyes again. His fingers stroked the side of my neck, and the cold felt good against my hot skin. I nodded, understanding.
"When can I go home?" Before Edward could answer me, Carlisle was gliding into the room with a clipboard, smiling brightly at us.
"Ah, I thought I heard your voice," he hummed, checking the fluid in the IV after setting his clipboard down. "How are you feeling, Bella?"
"I'm fine," I said quickly, and Edward made a disapproving noise. I sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'm a little sore," I admitted, stretching a little bit when I realized how stiff my limbs felt. Stretching hurt like hell, but my body definitely needed it. Carlisle smiled.
"If you can stay here and sleep through the night tonight, you can go home tomorrow. Does that sound fair?"
I pursed my lips and thought for a moment. "I'm not tired." This was true. Once the morphine started wearing off, my mind felt wide awake, and I had about a million questions for Edward that needed to be answered.
"Okay, then. As long as you relax." He pointed a look at Edward when he spoke, instead of me, and then left us alone again when his pager went off.
I was about to speak, but Edward beat me to it.
"Bella… Can you remember what happened last night?" His eyebrows creased as he spoke. I knew this question was coming, and as much as I dreaded trying to remember exactly what had occured, I knew I needed to. So I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, just focusing on his cool fingers against my skin as I spoke.
"I… I went to sleep like normal. I remember that clearly. I don't even remember dreaming. But when I woke up, I was there, in the woods. I don't know how I got there. But my legs were so sore, and even now - like I'd walked there by myself, which just doesn't make sense.
"At first, I thought I was alone. I didn't know where I was, all I knew was that I had to start walking if I was going to get anywhere. But... then he was there." I shuddered, and Edward growled softly. I opened my eyes to peek at his expression, which was obviously not masking the rage he was feeling. "He just grabbed me, and said that my fear smelled good. And he attacked me… that was it." I racked my brain for more details, but that was truly all there was to remember. "And then you found me." I looked up at him expectantly; he knew it was his turn to tell me his side of the story.
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and took a calming breath. "Alice called me. We were done hunting for the night - about to head home. It was late, maybe 3. I wasn't close enough to hear her mind yet, but she sounded panicked on the phone. She said you weren't in your bed, and she couldn't find you anywhere. Charlie was still safely asleep. Your truck was still there… everything was normal. Except you were gone." His voice broke. "So of course I raced back to your house… But I was only halfway there when I smelled you. Too much, too strong. It was your blood, outside of your body. In the woods somewhere." He was frozen, eyes glazed over as he remembered. "You can't imagine how it felt. To not know… what was happening. It was... very tough, for me." He murmured, and then shook his head to clear it. "I followed your scent, and caught a glimpse of him."
I yelped when Edward squeezed my broken hand too hard, and he dropped it instantly, apologizing profusely as he snapped out of his train of thought.
"It's okay, Edward," I promised him, ignoring the throbbing and stinging. He continued to curse and apologize. "Edward!" I snapped, and he froze. "Seriously, I'm fine." I smiled and wiggled my fingers up at him. "See?" He finally relaxed and took my hand again, overly gentle, and simply held it in his own. "You saw him…?" I nudged him back to his story.
"I saw him for a split second. Just a glimpse, and then he was gone. And it wasn't like he'd just ran, because I would've seen him run. He just… vanished. And I tried to follow him, but I didn't know where to go. He didn't have a scent, Bella." He was frustrated again. "He was like a ghost."
I sat in silence for a moment while I pondered his story, and then frowned. "But I don't understand. Did Alice not see…?"
"That's the other missing piece. I asked Alice to watch out for you. Before I left. She searched for your future, at least through the night, and she saw nothing but you sleeping in bed. She had a bad feeling about her visions, she said, and so she went to check on you, and realized you were gone. When she looked for you in your future, she still saw you peacefully sleeping." Edward was clearly distressed. He got up from the bed and began pacing silently, lost in thought. "Not to mention, you were almost 13 miles away from your house." He muttered, and I blinked a few times.
"There's no way I could've walked 13 miles in my sleep, in the cold and the rain." I frowned.
"I know." His tone was frosty and short. I could tell he couldn't bear to imagine my attacker carrying my sleeping body so far, so I abandoned that particular mystery, for now.
"So, whatever this is that we're dealing with… he doesn't have a scent, he can disappear into thin air, and he can trick Alice's ability - make her see what he wants." I was mostly talking to myself, frowning. "Have you ever heard of a vampire having more than one ability? Like, how is he doing all of this?"
"He may not be alone. For all I knew, there could've been more of them, hiding in the woods. I was far too focused on making sure you were safe. I can't say I was in the most ideal state of mind to be tracking someone." Edward looked a bit sheepish then, sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed to be closer to me. "Either way, we don't need to focus on this right now, Bella. Everyone is out there looking. I'll just have to keep you extra close to me until we find him." He grinned, trying to lighten the mood, and I couldn't even object to that.
"Mmm, okay. I guess I can live with that." I stifled a yawn. Now that all of my major questions were answered, and I had a better idea of what we were up against, and Edward was right beside me, with no intentions of leaving - well, I felt tired again. Edward was already holding the button for the bed again, moving it back down so that I could sleep. I tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but everything hurt. "I know I said that that big bed you bought me was unnecessary, but I would really like being in it right about now." I sighed longingly, and Edward laughed softly.
"Tomorrow," he promised, pressing his lips to my forehead, and it was only a few moments before I was asleep again.