One Year Later...

Bella was always taught from a young age never to want more than what she was offered. Renee had always been very strict with her daughter regarding how many presents she received and how much time she spent playing in her room.

There were more important things to do, the girl's mother would say. Making sure always to keep her room clean, Bella learned to become an independent child to avoid the disapproving look her mother and father would often give her. Sometimes if she made a mess and Renee saw it, Bella would be punished but that was better than being ignored sometimes.

Renee and Charlie were very busy adults. Renee had difficulty keeping up with her own work from home, especially whenever she'd wake up with a headache and looked sickly most nights. Bella didn't know why her mother was sick all the time, but she understood that if Renee told her to go away and be quiet, it was because she wasn't feeling well. As a result, the girl would keep her distance and stay in her room.

Charlie was kinder than Renee, though he spent less time at home. He was patient—unlike her mother, he never yanked or pinched her whenever he was mad—which Bella liked. Charlie wasn't very good at cooking, but he'd try whenever Renee failed to make Bella a decent breakfast. But the one thing Bella knew never to do was ask for something while her parents were busy.

Normally Bella loved spending the day with both of her parents, but since they fought so much, she would always get frightened and wished to hide somewhere until their fighting was over. So that's what she did most nights when her mother had her "friend" over too—hid and waited in her room until the smell of cigarette smoke and loud music on the stereo was finally shut off. Until Charlie came home and the fighting started all over again...

If Renee and Charlie spent even an hour together, it would be bad—but today was special, and that meant neither Renee nor Charlie would be in a bad mood.

Because today was Bella's birthday.

"You ready to catch some big fish today, Bells?" Charlie asked his daughter as he ruffled her hair, smiling when she giggled in return.

"Uh-huh!" She quipped, mimicking her father as he put his lucky cap on his head by doing the same with the smaller, matching one he'd bought for her as a gift. Every year Charlie took Bella fishing with him on her birthday, and every year, Bella would hide the fact that she disliked standing in the cold lake and killing an innocent fish for the sake of having fun. However for her father, who had the biggest grin on his face and looked at his daughter with pride for once, she could hide it. If only to receive the same love she felt for them, Bella would give her parents anything.

Because today she didn't feel lonely and that was more than enough.

"Dad, I'm getting hungry," Bella yawned as the sun started to set on the horizon, casting a warm amber glow across the still waters of the beach. Charlie and Renee were deep in conversation as they walked ahead of her. The latter had her arms crossed with her head bent down. Bella didn't have to listen to their conversation to know that there was something wrong again.

When her parents didn't answer her, Bella decided to toddle along the gravel path that led back to the small camp they'd set up. She hummed her favorite song that her father had taught her to sing whenever she was nervous as she knelt by her backpack and searched for a granola bar. The wind had started to pick up, and the soft rumble of thunder in the distance made Bella focus on her song even more—trying to self soothe herself from the usual fear that kicked in whenever there was a storm, and she was all alone in the house. She sang to herself in a hushed voice, "It's oh, so quiet...it's oh, so still..."

The snap of a twig behind her made her turn, still chewing on the bar she happily ate. Standing up, Bella took a step forward towards the shrub of bushes and trees, "Mommy? Is that you?"

Voices reached her, making her think that maybe her mother and father had decided to join her and forgot all about their fighting and bitterness towards each other. Walking past the bushes, Bella called out to her father next only to be greeted with the calming presence of the birds that sang in the trees. Her curiosity got the better of her when she noticed something moving further into the forest, and she heard another snap of a twig. Peeking through the leaves of one bush, Bella spotted a beautiful fawn grazing by the stream.

Her little heart was beating faster with excitement as she tiptoed as closely as she could before the fawn raised its head and looked over its shoulder. Bright dark eyes watched her cautiously, long enough that Bella was able to smile at it, "Pretty..."

Bang.

The sound of a shot rang out around her, making the birds fly out of the trees, releasing loud distressed croaks as they disappeared past the grey clouds. Bella gasped as the fawn took off, running right past her and nearly knocking her down.

When she realized the forest had gone silent, Bella suddenly felt fearful as thunder rumbled louder this time—sounding as if it were closer than before.

Now it was her turn to run away as Bella pushed past the branches and stumbled out of the forest and back into the camp with a huff.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She chimed when she realized her parents weren't back at the camp yet. Fear trickled down the back of her spine in a way that she didn't truly comprehend but knew she wouldn't be able to forget any time soon because she heard footsteps approaching from behind her then. Bella whirled, a big relieved smile on her lips as she chimed, "Mommy, where-"

The first thing her little eyes noticed were the bare feet of a man who now stood in front of her. He wore tattered jeans and a grey t-shirt that had a wet, red stain across the front of his chest. His blonde hair almost appeared silver under the pale sunlight hidden behind the dark clouds that now loomed over them. Still clutching the granola bar in her hand, Bella stared at the man's beautiful face and grew mesmerized by the bright red eyes that stared down at her with interest.

The man crouched in front of her with a grin, "Are you Isabella?"

Bella knew not to speak to strangers. It was the first thing her father taught her, and she knew not to disobey her parents when they told her what to do. But when she noticed the red stain on the man's shirt, she also saw drops of it on the corner of his mouth, "Are you...hurt?"

The man's eyes, though bright in color, were dark as they narrowed. He lifted a hand up and gently caressed the side of her cheek with the back of his hand, something wet remaining on her cheek. Ignoring the way she flinched, he murmured with a hint of disappointment lacing his crystal clear voice, "You're so small...I thought you were older based on how your mother was talking about you," he hummed sadly, "What a nuisance you must have been to her." The words struck Bella, but she didn't quite understand the meaning behind his soft-spoken voice.

Before she could speak, a loud guttural growl resonated behind her, and the man was suddenly standing back up, keeping his cold hands on her shoulders as they turned around. Bella whimpered when his nails sank into her flesh.

"Damn it, you're on their territory..." he sneered.

As lighting struck, startling the girl and making her shut her eyes tightly, a cold wind rushed past her and ended just as abruptly. Bella's heartbeat started going even faster than it already had been, and when she opened her eyes, she was face to face with the largest wolf she'd ever seen. Its deep brown eyes stared at her for a long moment before a growl erupted from its chest, and just like the man...it disappeared into the forest. Leaving Bella all alone.

Running down the gravel path, Bella's pants were shallow, and her fear grew more and more when she realized she couldn't find her parents on the beach anymore.

"Daddy! Where are you?!" She called desperately until she rounded one of the big logs on the shore and tripped over something hard. Landing with a loud thud, Bella whimpered as she landed face-first into the sand, one of her arms aching from where the man had squeezed her. The pain was growing more when she pushed herself up on trembling hands, and something warm was suddenly running down her back. Only that wasn't what made her look over her shoulder; no, it was the bright red blood that stained the wet ground. A shotgun her father had brought with him rested on the ground close by, and her mother's bag was knocked over, lipstick and cellphone covered in muddy sand now.

And Bella found her parents, lying motionless against the fallen log and covered in blood. They were holding hands for once. Renee's head was slumped forward while Charlie was staring right at his daughter with empty brown eyes. Climbing onto her father's lap, Bella gently patted her father's pale face and whispered, "Daddy?"

"Mike! Don't wander off too far, honey! It's going to rain, and we have to get home before the storm hits!" Karen Newton called as she packed up the SUV with their chairs and cooler. They'd planned a nice day at First Beach to get away from their small town when they received news of the storm that was approaching Forks. She was just finishing up packing when her husband suddenly yelled for Mike to get in the car. When she turned around, Karen's heart shuddered at the sight of her husband's pale face...and the little girl he was carrying who was covered in blood.

"Karen, call an ambulance right now! It's Chief Swan's kid!" Mike climbed into his booster seat with the help of his panicked mother, looking curiously at the girl who stared blankly at the crashing waves behind Mr. Newton as he held her in his arms. A bright red smear ran down the back of her grey sweater where her shoulder was, dripping down her small hand. "Some animal attacked them right on the shore! Can you believe it?!"

The Newtons were quick to call an ambulance to save the girl who'd lost a lot of blood, but they would never know that it wasn't a wild animal that had attacked her and killed her parents that day. Not even Bella would understand what had happened because as soon as she realized her father was dead, that she'd touched his cold face, the little girl's mind shut off completely.

"Can you tell me what happened, sweetheart?" The paramedic asked as she cut the back of Bella's sweater and swore under her breath at the sight of three jagged marks running from the crook of her neck and down the back of her shoulder. As if a wild animal had indeed clawed at her. There wasn't anything Bella could say to explain it.

The only thing she could say to the paramedic was that it was her birthday...because that was all she knew, all she'd looked forward to today.

It was her birthday, and yet, she felt more lost and alone than she ever had before.

Thanks for reading! For those of you asking, I'll try to post a chapter every Saturday from now on x

What did you guys think of the chapter? Personally I was really sad for Bella in this chapter.