"Ok. I've got some questions."

The wolf simply nodded to let me know I could ask away. "Am I dead?" I asked rather calmly considering my current predicament. I waited a second and when the wolf said nothing, I felt dumb. It's a wolf. Of course he cannot talk. Then I had the overwhelming feeling like I already knew the answer. No. No, I am not dead.

"Was that you?" I questioned. Yes.

"That's strange… ok… um. What's going on?" I looked back to where the memory of me seeing Edward for the first time in the cafeteria at Forks High was playing. I watched as the "me" on screen let her hair fall in front of her face out of shyness and Edward just stared, his focus on me sharp. I have much to learn, but not much time. Now watch.

The scene in front of me changed, and I watched as I allowed Edward and Alice mold me into the person that they wanted me to be. I saw how the "me" in the memories was a shy girl who loved to read and listen to different kinds of music, someone who loved to experiment in the kitchen and even grow small gardens of herbs. I witnessed as she turned into a self-conscious girl who didn't have time to read and was only allowed to listen to classical music, who cooked only to feed Charlie and had let her plants wilt and die.

I was ashamed for a moment. What had I allowed myself to become? I had to remind myself that I had gotten away, and now I could be and do anything I wanted. Not just yet.

That perturbed me. I had left Edward, found a new place to live, I had the support of Emmet and Rosalie, and Charlie. I met Sam and while I don't want a relationship, he was great and I could see us being friends. I am looking for a new job… what was I missing? Watch… the wolf beside me nudged my side in encouragement.

The scene changed once more and it was just Edward. Only, his eyes were red and there was dried blood sticking on his marble skin from his lips all the way down his neck. Alongside the cracked blood was a yellow-green substance that remained liquid and was dripping all around him. I had chills run down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I had to look away and close my eyes to shield myself from the macabre vision before me.

I only looked back up when I had loud screaming. I recognized the screams, they were my own. Upon looking at the images being played I could tell that it was replaying my recurring nightmares. The icy being from my dreams was inside me again, only I was watching it happen to "me" instead of actually feeling it currently. In fact, the only thing I have physically felt since being in this surreal place was my scar from when James bit me. It was cold and burned a little. This was normally the case for my scar, but it was more noticeable at the moment since I couldn't feel anything else.

I couldn't stop focusing on the cold burning sensation. It seemed to come alive, it spread and grew until everything from my skull to my toes was drowning in the pain. I whipped my head to the wolf pleading with my eyes, frantic in the need for this feeling to stop. I was screaming now, I realized.

I opened my eyes and my vision exploded in a white light. After figuring out what was happening, with people swarmed around me and machines beeping, I finally quit screaming. I was disoriented, but I was able to tell that I was at a hospital, and I was back in reality.

"Hello Miss." A doctor greeted me after he'd decided that I was momentarily ok, and the nurses who had been bustling around me were dismissed. "I am Dr. Rank. Can you tell me your name?"

"Bella Swan." I told him. I could feel that my expression was confused, why was he asking who I am, I know who I am. What happened?

"We just have to check because you fell and hit your head Bella." He explained. I didn't remember falling, but my head was pounding, so I could believe it. "I have a;so heard that you have not been feeling well. Are you able to tell me a little about that?" He asked. My mind was so jumbled from my… dream, or whatever it was, that I had forgotten how cruddy I'd been feeling.

I quickly explained to the man that I had been worn down and tired for awhile now and how it had gotten progressively worse. I told him how I had been having trouble sleeping and keeping food down. I tried to tell him everything I could think of, including the nightmares, although I left out the content of the dreams, and that I always seemed to be cold these days. The doctor was an older man, probably at least ten years older than Charlie. He had salt and pepper hair with some stubble on his jaw that looked to be completely grey. He had dark hazel eyes that were kind and I felt for some reason like I just wanted to spill my guts to him, figuratively this time.

"Your father told us about some of the issues going on before you woke up, and I was assigned to you. I specialize in first getting you better physically, but also screening you to make sure there is nothing else going on in here that needs to be addressed." He told me while tapping on his forehead to let me know in a nice way that they were basically checking to see if I was crazy.

"What you have described seems like it could be largely a symptom of something psychological. Many things can cause the things you've mentioned, such as anxiety, depression, and many others, so we will just have to figure out what fits and pick a path of treatment from there." He continued. Maybe it would make sense for someone else, but I didn't think that I was sad or particularly nervous. "Now, the first thing that came to mind was withdrawal, so while your tests all came back negative I need to know if you have ever taken any drugs or if you are a frequent alcohol consumer?"

"No." I answered him verbally as I shook my head. He just nodded and went through another series of questions pertaining to my habits, my thoughts, and my feelings. I answered as honestly as possible, I really just wanted to feel better.

After going through his entire checklist of questions, Dr. Rank left the room and allowed Charlie to come see me. I was quickly losing energy, but I wanted to see my dad so I forced myself to stay awake, at least for awhile.

"How 'ya feelin' kiddo?" He asked as he walked through the door. I just told him that I was hanging in there. I had always struggled to tell people how I really felt, because while it was Dr. Rank's job to make me feel better, anyone else, I didn't want to bother with my issues. In all reality, I felt almost as awful as I did before I got here.

"Your mother is on her way. She should be here by tonight." He told me. "I can't believe you were out all night. They told me that you were going to be fine, but Jesus, I was worried Bells." I was shocked… I had been unconscious for an entire day? I didn't realize that I had fallen that hard.

After that, Charlie just stood awkwardly for a moment, neither of us knew what to say. Eventually, he just patted my hand and told me to get some rest before going to had a seat in one of the chairs in the room.

My eyes quickly began to droop and I was back in my dream world before I knew it. I found myself running once more in the darkness of this place, chasing after a certain copper-colored wolf. When he stopped the memory playback started at the beginning again, but went at a faster pace until it reached the nightmare scene, where it slowed back down to a regular speed.

I watched myself running in the woods away from the ice cold being and I felt as it's tendrils grasped at my ankles until it finally caught up to me. Sam was there, as usual, just watching and whining when he looked at me, growling when he looked at the monster that I couldn't see.

Even just watching it happen to "me" and not witnessing it first hand at the moment, I wanted to cry out of fear and frustration. What was I supposed to do to defend myself from this creature and how could I get the dreams to stop? You must figure out the monster, only then will you be in peace.

I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, so I just reverted my attention to the images I was being shown. I quickly discovered that the nightmare playing out before me had some key differences from the one I had been experiencing this far.

First of all, everything was more detailed, making it seem just a bit more real. Secondly, I wasn't necessarily being dragged deeper into the forest by the dreadful cold, it was more as if I was floating, being lured into the woods. Lastly, I turned my head to face towards the dark woods and saw Edward standing there. The worst part was this was not the Edward I remember from our first meeting, this was the Edward I was just recently shown. The vampire with red eyes and caked blood and oozing yellow liquid covering him. I found myself screaming until I was awoken once more.

I felt small, warm hands on my cold shoulders, shaking me awake. When I opened my eyes Renee was revealed. She was clearly worried and her blue eyes were puffy and red from crying. My mom was a crier at the best of times, and this time her accident prone daughter was rushed to the hospital, it was no wonder she looked so distraught.

"Bella, baby, are you okay?" She asked me. "Oh, God, I have been so worried. I flew out here as soon as I could. Phil will be here next week if you are still not feeling up to snuff by then, he had a game. I even left in the middle of my pilates class! And the flight was-" Renee went on, not even allowing me to answer her question. She just rambled in her very "Renee" way, her thoughts were all over the place so her words came out just as scrambled.

"Mom." I interrupted her, grabbing her hand to get her attention. "I'm going to be okay, I promise." As I promised this though, I realized that I wasn't sure that that was true. What if I didn't figure out what these dreams were trying to tell me in time? What if I never really felt better again?

"I'm going to get us some food baby, I'll be right back." My mom told me, unknowingly leaving me to my anxious thoughts.

Author's note:

I hope you guys like the chapter update! I know that this one is a little short again, but I promise that chapters will eventually go back to a longer length, I am just at a tricky spot in the story where I could either turn it into one GIANT chapter, or break it down into smaller chapters that are easier to digest.

Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or any constructive criticism, y'all know I am all about it.

Also, I have some exciting news! I have finally posted the first chapter of the BellaxPaul story I have mentioned to you all before, AND I have also posted the first chapter of a BellaxEmbry story. I have a lot in the works and I hope y'all enjoy!

Happy reading

Dahlia