I do not own Twilight or it's characters.

Before I knew it, Emmet, Jasper and I had arrived in a familiar shopping square in Seattle. Jasper had driven at typical vampire speed, meaning the two hour drive had only taken us twenty-five minutes. Oddly, I hadn't been nauseated during it like I normally would have. Jasper seemed to have sensed my uneasiness and rather than slow down he sent a calming wave so strong that I almost fell asleep. Damn vampires.

"Antique fire engine museum?!" Emmet exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air like he had won the Superbowl. Jasper quickly took his side, reading a map of attractions at the entrance to the square.

"There doesn't seem to be many things all three of us would enjoy..." Jasper said, looking slightly distressed and slightly amused at the panic attack his brother seemed to be suffering due to the museums nearing closing time.

"Why don't you two go to the fire engine thing, and I'll skip over to this used bookstore I know a few streets over. We can meet back here in say, an hour and a half when the museum closes?"

"I don't know Bella, it's getting dark and Edward would be real mad if you tripped or something and one of wasn't there to catch you..." Emmet grinned sarcastically at his comment while Jasper attempted to stiffle a laugh with a coughing fit. As if vampires needed to cough.

"I will be perfectly fine on my own, thank you. And as for Edward, he should have a little more faith in my balancing abilities! Now, I will see you both in an hour and a half!" I huffed, stomping off in the general direction of the bookstore while the boys laughter continued on behind me. Who did Edward think he was dealing with, leaving me with bodyguards disguised as big brother figures and thinking I wouldn't pick up on it? As I mulled this over my stomping subsided, and instead I gave a small rock in my path a swift kick with my tennis shoe in frustration. I was not helpless! As I had reminded Edward himself many times, I survived my entire life without him nearly unscathed before I came to Forks. And most of that time, I was looking out for Renee as she tried various semi-dangerous activities, like rock climbing and intermediate sailing. I had managed to keep her alive and reasonably unharmed while taking care of myself too! As much as I missed him right now, Edward might be lucky he wasn't home to face my frustration with his lack of faith in me.

I had gotten so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't realized how aimlessly I had been walking. As I finally took a good look around, I realized I wasn't too sure where I was. In fact, I wasn't even on a road I recognized anymore, and there didn't seem to be anyone around to ask for directions. I couldn't have been walking for more than ten minutes, and already I was in trouble!

"Darn it." I said aloud, cursing myself for proving Edward right, even a little.

"You need some help, ma'am?"

I swung around, startled by the husky voice that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Facing me now was a young man, not altogether unattractive, although no where near as gorgeous as my Edward. He had a kind smile that eased my trepidation a little, and was standing casually with his hands in his pockets, not at all a threatening pose. I breifly remembered the first time I was in Seattle, and the first time I had a date with Edward. It had been the result of me walking alone at night in an unfamiliar area and almost being attacked by a group of big, threatening men. Because of this, my guard was up with this new man, even with his innocent appearence.

"Um..." I stuttered, "I just need to find the main road again, I guess I got a little off course. I'm meeting my brothers soon" I added, wanting to emphasize that there were people, no men, waiting for me. The man smiled his kind smile again and nodded agreeably before saying,

"Well that's fairly easy, the main road is just a few minutes walk east of here. I was going that way myself to meet my fiance for dinner. I could walk with you if you'd like, I don't know that it's safe for a teenage girl to be walking these dark streets by herself. My name is Randall." He extended his hand to me, and I shook it, feeling silly for assuming the worst. He was going to meet his fiance for goodness sake!

"Bella" I offered. We started walking back through the desolate Seattle warehouses towards the main road. Randall prattled on cheerfully about his fiance and I nodded along agreeably, happy to have company on the way back to the square. Thinking about the men that tried to attack me here before had spooked me, and I was truely thankful for Randall's appearance.

We hadn't been walking for more than a few minutes when I realized that the warehouses were looking farther and farther apart along the road. Shouldn't things be looking more populated? Randall must have seen the confusion dawning on my face because when I turned to ask him about the route he was no longer smiling kindly at me. Instead, his face had taken on a harder, almost sinister appeal. Instantly, I was scared. I opened my mouth to speak, unsure of what I was going to say, when he cut me off.

"You're very pretty Bella, you know that?" His face was still cold and evil looking, but his eyes had a mischevious glimmer in them now. I started to back away from Randall, slowly at first, my mind racing with all the options I had. Running seemed like the best, but before I could plant my first foot on the pavement, Randall's hand was clenched around my right arm and his other collided with my mouth. I struggled wildly to break free of his grasp, attempting to tug my arm away and bite his hand but it was no use.

"I don't want to hurt your pretty face Bella, so you do what you're told and I won't stamp it in when I'm finished", he hissed at me through gritted teeth, pushing me hard against the side wall of a warehouse. My back collided with the cold stone hard, bruising my spine. He kept his left hand clamped firmly over my mouth as his right traveled down to the button of my jeans. I moaned and cried, frantically kicking my legs out and clawing my fingers against his face. His right knee jerked up, hitting me hard in my abdomen repeatedly.

"SHUT UP!" he demanded, his face now pressed against mine, growling in my ear. I would have been doubled over for the shooting pain in my ribs, but his hand on my mouth had me solidly upright against the wall. I whimpered in pain as another jab hit my ribs, and he lessened his grip on my mouth for a split second, allowing my head to begin to drop forward just enough for him to slam it back against the stone with full force. He did this a few more times, bashing the back of my head into the stone until all I saw was darkness and the intense pain in my head and ribs began to fade away.

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