AN: Just a bit of a pre-warning - this chapter contains some fairly vivid horror themes.

* I do not own Twilight or the characters within this story, nor the songs.

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"Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real"

Crawling - Linkin Park (Danger Silent Cover)

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Bella ✦ Engulfed in Darkness ✦ Amnesia

I rode through the familiar pathways shrouded by trees and sports fields. Riding on the road was safer, brighter; however, the park always felt more serene to me. It saved a fair amount of time to cut through it, and I cherished the isolation and the gentle sounds of nature in the night. Making my way through the winding tracks, I greedily breathed in the brisk night air; a gentle smile playing on my lips.

I continued to peddle leisurely – it was only a twenty-minute ride from the lab to my house through this route and I preferred to enjoy the journey.

But quite suddenly, something was not right. An ill-feeling swelled in the depths of my gut; a lump rose to my throat.

I slowed my velocity to a stop, hopped off my bicycle and peered into shadows; trying to scan for any movement, any source for my abrupt alarm.

A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the callously frigid night air, ringing through my core. It was not my own. The musk of crimson washed through my nostrils, colouring in my scent with the most vivid of hues.

Fear paralyses me. I am unable to take a further breath; unable to move. The hackles of my hair raised, my skin prickling. A deer in headlights.

Silence then befell the scene before me, not a single sound to be heard. Nothing at all, except the thunderous throb of my rapidly beating heart.

It was then that I first saw those faintly glowing, devouring scarlet eyes. Those ravenous orbits fixed on mine. It was the obscure silhouette of a creature, crouched over another; very dimly lit by my bicycle's headlight. It must have only been thirty… no, twenty feet ahead of me. The rest of my surroundings were masked in darkness.

Breath returned to me, my extremities tingling and twitching. Gulping, I took an inaudible step backwards. And then another. Simultaneously I pivoted on the spot and jumped back onto my bicycle. I burst into peddling as fast a speed as I could muster down the pitch-black asphalt path; away from those somehow familiar gleaming globes. Away from the thick scent of blood. Away from the horrific scene that had been bestowed upon me. And I did not dare look back.

My throat was engulfed in a blazing fire as asthma overwhelmed me. My breaths became short and sharp. My whole body was vibrating in terror as I continued to ride away from the creature.

My efforts, however, had been futile. I had not been destined to escape tonight. A rush of inertia hit me as I was pulled capriciously from my bike, wrapped in a heavy clasp by the very damned creature I had been trying to flee from. I tried to scream, only to be muffled by the cotton that adorned the creature's hold on me.

Dreadlocks brushed against the raised follicles on my skin, a reminiscent aroma flooded my senses. A rush of nostalgia washed through me. Him… I knew him. I knew my attacker. But how? And what of his phenomenal speed? Or, his inhuman, demonic aura? Every attempt at recollection turned up empty.

To me, he embodied the very definition of 'predator'.

Through my stifled screams, he possessed an otherworldly strength – no amount of struggle would prove abundant to overpower my captor. My stomach hurled through his ludicrously fast movements; my eyes widened with terror.

Though, no matter how open my earnest orbs had been, they soon became shrouded in an even darker shade. Nausea overwhelmed me; my head was becoming weightless. I was slipping… falling. And then I was gone.

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I slowly returned to consciousness, curled up on the floor. The cool ground felt soft under my form; the thick grass embracing my skin. Had I passed out? Had that blood-stricken scene been just a dream? Where was my bike?!

My eyelids sluggishly fluttered open as I inhaled deeply. I swore that I could hear stifled whispers. They sounded eager, hungry, malevolent. Everything was blurry and cloaked in a murky haze; though I thought I could make out two figures before me. Reality struck me.

I startled; my eyes flared in alarm. Panic replenished my veins, spreading to my extremities. My vision sharpened and my eyes settled on my captor, adorned by his dreadlocked mane.

Every part of my body wanted to move, but my subconscious commanded me to stay still. I dared not lift even a finger.

But it was too late; the pair of forms fell silent, both turning to glower in my direction with their crimson stares. I rammed my eyes shut on instinct, wanting to return to what surely was my true reality; surely, I was safe at home in bed. Surely, this was just a bad dream.

But my efforts had been futile; I already sensed the obvious. I was going to die tonight. These two creatures were my predators; I was their prey.

I felt them approach me, loudly. It was as if they wanted each footstep to thunder throughout the entire park. The pace was agonisingly slow. A female voice sounded a sadistic cackle. I was a rabbit cornered by foxes. The Vixen, the Renard, and myself, the night's meal.

'Well look Laurent, our sweet Bella is awake,' the female sneered.

They know my name?! I was targetted?! I allowed myself to regain sight; pointed in her direction. That voice… It sounded… familiar. Laurent… Where had I heard that before?

I absorbed the vision of the creature before me. She had dazzling red hair, matching her deepened red lips. Plump face, piercing eyes. It had me reminiscent; clashes of thunder sounded in my mind, matching to each stride she took toward me.

'Who- … What are you?!' I heard myself squeak. I swiftly covered my mouth, mortified that I had allowed it to utter even a word.

'Victoria, she seeks to make fun of you,' warned a deep, growly voice.

Victoria? Surely my nostalgia was no coincidence. Why did everything seem so familiar? I have no memories of these people.

They had made their way to stand over me now. My gaze darted up to the dreadlocked male with the gleaming flaming orbs. I felt as if I were peering into hell itself.

'Hush, Laurent. She will just require supplementary punishment,' Victoria gloated, a snide leer embellishing her features. 'She will get what she has deserved for all these years; finally. They all will.'

I couldn't stop myself.

'H-how? How do I know you? Who are you?' I near shouted, this time. 'What do you want from me?' I whimpered.

Blazes of burgundy danced on those razor-sharp irises and pierced through my hollow frame.

'Do not mock me, you insolent wretch!' the redhead shrieked, reaching down to slap me across the face.

It immediately stung, a lot. The pain reverberated through my skull. A gentle crack sounded through my jaw. My opposing cheek burned as my face dug into the dirt.

'You do not speak unless it's for me to hear you beg for your life! You took him away. Now finally, you will, damned to the pits of Hell itself, pay. I will take you away from them. From him.' she growled.

I had emitted a shrill cry, enveloping my face in my hands.

'Do you heed those sounds you make now? Of that nature I will allow. I want to hear you hurt,' she murmured in a velvet tone; almost melodical.

'Please,' I cried. My eyes widened as I continued to caress my aching cheek. 'Why are you doing this?! Who did I take away? This doesn't make any sense!' I cried.

'Victoria,' started the male – Laurent, was it? 'Perhaps somehow, she doesn't remem-'

'Shut up!' she shrieked, earning him a chilling stare; if those depths of red could freeze fire. She turned to me; I visibly jolted. 'You will pay for what you have done.'

Still curled in a foetal position, my pale face somehow bleached further. I had decreed that I should not speak a further word. Not on the very small notion that I could get out alive. Though it seemed the notion of any fortune floundered its way away from me. Perhaps I was destined to die here. Tonight.

I closed my eyes once more. I felt my chest rise and fall. I counted my torso's melodic metronome; lulling myself back to shelter.

One… Two… Three…

Ice-cold digits wrapped harshly around my bicep; wrenching me upright.

Four… Five…

Fingernails dug in. I felt my skin tear open. I winced. The razor-like claws felt like they were delving deeper into my flesh. Deeper and deeper I could feel the pain.

Six… Seven… Eight…

She placed another hand on my arm. She delivered me a callous smirk, her eyes twinkling. 'Don't worry, my dear. I will -' Effortlessly, she snapped my humerus in two, like one would break a twig. '- Break you.'

I screamed out in agony, tears flooding my sight.

Muffled voices swallowed me, 'Laurent. The knife!'

It felt like an eternity before I could slow my sobs. I finally managed to catch my breath.

Nine… Ten…

'Go keep watch.'

Eleven… Twelve… Thirteen…

My breath ceased; my perfect metronome shattered into innumerable fragments as the sharp point of steel pressed against my throat. My eyes burst open; my earthly orbits caged by those flaming Suns.

A smirk decorated her almost perfect jaw. Hatred and hunger flooded her features. She pushed on the blade, smiling sweetly as red ran down my neck. She raised the blade to her lips, drawing in its scent.

'You will pay for what you did to my James. I will make you burn,' She licked her lips, crouching over me.

James... A nostalgic shudder trickled down my spine.

'Make you hurt,' the honeyed smile lingered on her perfect features, framed in the colours of the Vixen that she was.

'Make you feel the emptiness you have left me with!' she had raised her voice, lines of fury veining their way through the flames contained in her gaze.

She traced the tip of the knife down my jeans, tearing them open and allowed it to sink into my skin. Deeper, deeper, deeper.

I couldn't hold in my screams anymore; the intense burning causing me to shriek out in agony. A wicked satisfied grin adorned the Vixen as she encroached on her prey.

I felt her arctic flesh touch mine as she licked the length of my gash, from my thigh to my heel. Oh God, how it stung. What emitted from me was somewhere between hissing and sobbing.

I could not tell any more. I could not think.

All I could feel was pain.

'James was right in being drawn to you!' came her velvet voice, trickling through my blaze of anguish.

'You are quite simply exquisite. You would make one feel insatiable.'

Ecstasy filled the essence of the Vixen, as far as I could see through my tearstained sight. I was shuddering uncontrollably.

'But do not worry, my dear. I will make sure that I savour you. You will not have a hastened end. Oh, no, no, no!' she ran her index finger along the blade, admiring it savouringly. 'No, my dear. I have a very long list of things I wish to do to you before I drink that last drop from you.'

I felt that my torn jeans were soaking in my blood. My arm had felt like it had been, for lack of better words, crushed. My face still ached. My throat still stung. I had no strength. I knew I couldn't outrun them. I simply bowed my head. I forfeit.

I returned to my metronome, picking up the fallen shards one at a time.

Fourteen… Fifteen… Sixteen…

A slash to my opposite thigh caused me to scream out. I eventually returned to the safety of my tempo.

Seventeen…

I felt the sharpened steel pierce through my shoulder. A distorted cry left my lips.

Eighteen… Nineteen…

A blow hit the middle of my spine. I let out a small yelp.

Suddenly everything below my waist was numb. I was beyond number than I had ever been. Nothingness floated through me, with only the ache of my face, faint twinge of the slit of my throat, the sting of my shoulder and the ache of my mangled arm. I had hoped that panic would return to me, to show my limbs how to move; but not a motion was to be found. It seemed that escaping had never been within my reach; I was still the paralysed rabbit in the clutches of the Renard and the Vixen. The deer in the headlights.

Twenty… Twenty-one…

She threw me onto my back, my head hitting the floor with force. My vision immediately blurred as pain sounded through my skull.

Twenty-two...

I felt her presence over me.

Twenty-three…

Soft fingers caressed my neck, fingernails tracing my collarbone. Tears ran down my face, clouding my vision further.

Twenty-four... Twenty-five...

A double pierce to my throat. My eyes widened. Fangs pressed into the layers of my skin and muscles and pumped me with venom.

I let out a scream. The burning. The writhing. Fire returned to all of my limbs. The pain before this had been nothing. Yet, my body reacted to it knowingly. Why?

The screaming didn't stop, neither did the writhing, nor the burning. History felt like it was repeating itself, but how? I had never hurt this much... had I?

I could no longer take control of my breath; my metronome gone once more. How could pain be this depraved? Was there a God? Surely not. Surely I was being swallowed by Hell itself, caressed in the Devil's flames.

I swore I had heard muffled yells, but I could not comprehend any word through my cries and the blaze of agony I was enduring.

I tried to search the depths of the stars for solace; pleading for mercy. But, my sight had already started to leave me. Perhaps I was being rewarded, I realised, as the dim lanterns of the sky fell to the shadows. Those Vixen's fiery Suns were extinguished, fading to coal. The darkness; it engulfed me. And I welcomed it, until my consciousness laid with me no more.

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