Title: In Need of Rescue

Chapter 8: Nightmares versus Reality

Edward's POV

(Again Italics is when they are speaking vampiric)

Bella was sleeping on the couch while I watched a comedy that was using really old humor. I looked over at Bella once in a while, peaking a glance at her face. She was sleeping peacefully and I was grateful for that. She looked like the basic human that you would see but for some reason, she seemed to clean up nicely. I had to remember to thank Alice for her help later on. I don't think I could must up the courage to actually make sure she takes a good shower. I didn't really want to see her naked so I was about to send the girl up there alone.

Out of no where her body language changed and her eyes started to scrunch together and her groans let me know her dreams were hurting her. I couldn't do anything to help her.

She was having a nightmare.

I noticed her fidget and squirm a few times as she would let out grunts. I was already sitting next to her feet. Her head was on the arm rest. "Sssh." I cooed to her trying to relax her. I put my hand on her leg, trying to see if my touch could calm her down. She pulled away from my touch as she let out another grunt in pain. "Bella." I muttered.

She pulled her legs up to her chest as tears started to peak through her eyelids. I may have only known her for less than a week but I had never seen her seem so scared in her dreams. At the farm, she slept as peacefully as the others did. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and picked her up in my arms, knowing that would wake her up.

She let out a loud screech which I was sure could be heard down the street. I held her to me though as she looked around wide eyed at her scenery. I knew it was normal for humans to have things like post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD after going through a huge ordeal but I never thought I would see such a thing in action.

She clung to me as she looked around as if something where going to get her. I allowed her time to look around. When she was sure nothing was around, she loosened her grip and I let her slide to her feet. Her breath was still heavy but her eyes seemed less wide.

"Did you have a bad dream?" I asked her.

She jumped at my voice as if she forgot I was there. She looked back at me and nodded, "Yes." She said. She sat back on the couch and brought her knees to her chest, she sat in the fetal position as she stared down at her toes. She was wiggling them back and forth and I was wondering more than ever what she was thinking about.

Guess I could always ask. "What are you thinking about?"

"Lots of things." Was her answer.

"Would you like to tell me?" I asked as I sat next to her.

Bella shook her head, "No, not really."

Of course she would be difficult. "Out of all my years on this Earth, I know enough to know when someone wants to talk."

She looked out of the corner of her eyes at me. "How old are you?"

"One hundred eight."

She nodded, looking back at her calloused toes.

"Any other questions?"

"Why am I here?" She didn't even look up for that one.

"To be away from the farm."

"What happened to my family?"

"They are still at the farm." I knew this couldn't be what was plaguing her. What was bugging her so much?

She closed her eyes tightly as a tear escaped.

"What's wrong?" I asked again.

"Will I see them again?" She said it so softly, I was wondering if she meant to ask me or if she just thought it out loud.

I looked down at the ground, "Probably not."

Another tear fell. I didn't want to lie to her. "Why did you take me out of there?"

"I thought you would be happier here." I told her.

"You thought I would be happier here?" She repeated. "I want my family. I don't want to be in a place where I don't know anyone. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to hear everyone around speaking in a language I don't know." Finally the tears busted forth. I wrapped an arm around her as she instinctively leaned into me. It was a normal human behavior to be close to someone, anyone, when you are sad.

"You can always talk to me."

"I want my family." She muttered.

"I'm sorry, what's done is done. I can't change it now." If I were to take her back, who knows what tests they would run without my permission. At least this way I can keep her safe, I can decide what tests get done.

I pulled her to me as she cried into my shirt. I pat her back as she held onto the fabric making sure it was soaked with her tears. She slowly quieted down as she closed her eyes nestling against my shirt.

"I'm sorry. This was the best thing for you." I muttered. "Trust me."

"That's the problem. I trust you more than I should. I was always told to never trust a vampire." She whispered.

"But you can trust me. I promise."

She nodded. We sat there for a few minutes as she slowly went back to sleep. I had to admit, she fell asleep easily. I was grateful for that.

I knelt my head down, giving her a kiss on the forehead, "I will always protect you." I told her. She was already asleep. We stayed quiet in that position for hours until the day broke. I heard Emmett knocking on my door. He was a bouncer for one of the night clubs down the street. His shift was done an hour ago. He was now over to my house to help me set up the fence. I gently placed Bella down on the couch as she shuffled a little from the change.

I went over to the door and opened it. Emmett was standing in front of the door looking bored. "Took ya long enough."

"Thirty seconds is barely long." I said to him.

"Thirty seconds is way too long." He laughed as he made his way past me and into my house. He loved to speak vampiric. Where I only spoke it when I was out, he spoke it all the time. In his own words, it's 'cool because it seems like a secret spy's code for words wherever you go.' I would end up speaking vampiric with him, just to have a decent conversation. If not, it got awkward with both of us speaking two different languages.

"How are you doing?" I asked as he looked around my house.

"Been alright. Jazz is coming in a few hours to help. He doesn't get out of work until ten. I can't believe we all got night jobs. What luck! Now where's the new human I have been told about?" Of course that is what he would be looking for.

"In here." I said going into the television room

"Now you see that's unfair. She gets to have her feet on the couch." I yell at him whenever he came over to watch a game because he would continuously jump up and down on my couch when a sports game was on.

"She doesn't know better yet besides she isn't jumping up and down and screaming."

"Better tell her soon. Pets aren't allowed on the furniture. You of all people should know that one."

I'm so tired of my family telling me the rules. I know the rules, I had to know them for my job. "Just come help me." I told him as we walked toward the sliding glass doors. The only glass in my house. Emmett stopped when he saw all the bags on the floor. "Alice wasn't joking when she said you were spoiling the human." He said going through my bags.

"Can we go?" I asked as I opened the door. Emmett got up and followed me, he started up my stereo system that was connected to speakers outside. I was very musically inclined. He changed it from my classical music to a more rock n roll genre. I let it slide, he was helping me for free after all. We started our work on the fence.

I was glad that Emmett was willing to help me with the fencing. It made it go by a lot smoother. After an hour of us working on the fence, Emmett had to start up a different conversation. "Has you know who come over recently?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"No not recently." I said, ending the subject there.

"So, what's it like having a female human in the house and no wife? You can't really count the friend with benefits so what's it like?"

"Stop thinking like that for once." I said back.

"Oh come on, you can't say you never thought about it. I mean I have never seen someone take as good of a care for their pet as you do. We can't really, not with the rules and what not. You can't do this, you can't do that. These rules are really horrible sometimes."

"She had a rough life."

"The rules don't care. Yes, I have been one to break some of the rules, we all have but unless if you want to go the way Alice did then you better start getting your ducks in a row. We work our pets the same way the rules say too. A bowl of kibble and they give us what we need and we get along. Speaking of which, how's the blood?"

"I…I haven't tried yet." I said embarrassed. Normally you harvest within the first two days of having a pet. That's was the normal…according to the rule book.

"Wait, so you have a pet and you still buy blood?"

"Not exactly."

Emmett stopped what he was doing to stare at me.

"What?" I asked, moving my eyes away from his as they bore into mine.

"I thought your eyes looked darker than they should. Let me get this straight, there is a pet human in your house, you have no reason to not eat. Think of the consequences you could have on your pet if you accidentally turn on it. It is better to put it through a little discomfort twice a week than to kill it." It was obvious that he was reciting a commercial for a new harvesting machine. I sighed, leave it to my brother to memorize commercials.

"I know. I won't kill her."

"Dude, tell me you will do something soon."

"I promise."

"Do you need me to show you how?"

I shook my head, "No, I am sure I can do it."

We went back to work on the fence.

"Does she know you can read minds?"

"Nope."

"Then she doesn't know that you can't read hers?"

"Well she thinks I can't read anyone's mind so it is safe to assume that she thinks I can't read her mind."

"True." He was quiet before finally giving in, "Come on, let me show you what to do. The process is easy." Emmett insisted again. He was even begging in his mind.

"Fine but only if she allows it." It was now or never, I suppose.

"Screw that, she's a pet, she will do as I say." We walked inside. I heard the television on in the other room as the channels were getting flipped. I felt horrible for what I was about to let Emmett do. "I'm telling you dude, do something about this rules thing soon. What if the cops came over right now?"

"I'll worry about it later." I went into the room. "Bella." I said making her look up at me. I was about to speak when to her in her own language when Emmett interrupted me.

"Bugh." She looked up at me then at Emmett. I could tell she knew something was coming but she couldn't figure out what it was. I wanted to talk to her and explain to her what was going on. She had just spilled her heart to me about how scared she was and now I was throwing her down.

She got up and came toward us slowly, she hadn't met Emmett yet. He was a great guy but like everyone else, they saw humans as nothing more than pets. Somehow this 'civilized' world has brainwashed us all. Carlisle and Esme were the only ones who saw humans as something more. I used to be in their group but I was starting to second guess myself ever since I thought of taking Bella home.

"Let me at least explain to her what's going to happen." I said to Emmett as he had her follow us to a spare bedroom that I never used.

"Why?" He asked back. "Why would you want to talk to them? That's why you get two humans, then they keep each other busy."

"It seems like the only fair thing to do."

He just laughed at me. We walked into the spare room and I could tell Bella knew the machine that was in their as soon as she saw it. She froze in place. "Move" Emmett yelled at her. She knew the word but she didn't do it. She looked back at me and I nodded toward the machine.

"Be nicer than that, it's her first time having this happen since she was here." I told him going over to the two. I turned to Bella. "Listen, just do this and we will talk about this later." I told her, making her nod her head.

"You don't talk to humans in their language." Emmett said to me, reminding of yet another rule. Just like everyone else he was brainwashed into thinking that vampires were better than humans. Why couldn't we be on the same playing field? She walked over to the machine and sat in the chair and allowed Emmett to strap her arm into the machine. "You put the straps around the biceps and the forearm. Leaving room in the middle for the needle to go." He told me as I watched him do it.

I wasn't paying much attention to that though; I couldn't help but notice the panic on Bella's face. I could tell she didn't like this contraption.

"She seems pretty well behaved so you shouldn't have any problems your first time doing this alone." He laughed as he made sure the straps were in. "Wait till you try fresh. It's the best. Back a few feet back and I will press the button."

I did so as I watched him press a small button as soon I started to watch the machine work, I felt bad for even having such a contraption. I only had it because it came with the house. All houses come with one. It's sort of like a kitchen for vampires.

Emmett stood next to me, sensing my uneasiness, "We can go off and do something else if you want. We don't have to watch."

"No, I'm fine staying here." I said.

"Suit yourself, it's boring though." He said as we watched a bag not far off get filled with the substance we needed to survive, the same substance that Bella needed to survive.

"Has a human ever died from these machines?" I asked.

"On occasion if the machine malfunctions." He said. "But that's rare and it only happens if the owner wasn't home or paying attention."

I nodded my head. I could see Bella starting to close her eyes, sign that she was losing too much blood. Finally the needle came out of her and the machine buzzed saying that it was done. I went for Bella. I didn't want to say she was more than a pet to me but I started to feel that way.

I untied her and picked her up gently. "Bella." I whispered to her.

She looked up at me then kept blinking her eyes in a daze. She was used to getting a lot more drained out of her so I knew she would be fine. It still didn't help me feel better.

"Put her on the bed then come downstairs!" Emmett said bringing the bag with him down the stairs.

"Please be okay." I whispered pushing her hair back from her face. I felt horrible, how could I let that happen to her? I should have stopped him.

"Get downstairs right now and try this stuff. Mine doesn't even taste as good as this one." Emmett yelled from downstairs.

"Coming." I said going into the spare room and placing Bella on the bed. "I will have a sweet treat for you when I come up to check on you." I whispered to her and put the blanket over her. I walked down the stairs where Emmett already had a glass poured for me.

"This stuff is amazing." He said.

I nodded taking the glass in my hand and sniffing it. "Did you put the sedative in it?" They found a sedative that when put into blood can allow us to drink blood without going into a bloodlust state. It was a new thing.

"Yes. Here's to finding a good quality food and enjoying every bit of it." We clinked glasses together and drank.

I had to admit, it was great going down. It felt good to eat some after going a week without eating anything. "This is pretty good." I agreed, it was actually the best I had ever had.

"Pretty good?" He yelled. "Hah, I would trade both pets I have for this one. I can cut back on the amount I eat in order to be privileged with good tasting stuff. I have a great idea when she is old enough to breed can I bring over one of my males…"

"NO." I yelled slamming the glass down. I couldn't take anymore of this. It was all crashing down on me since I got Bella. Now I had to release my anger. "I am tired of everyone treating humans like they are animals. I have told you guys before that they are more than that. They need a say like the rest of us."

"Don't look at me; I don't work at a human farm." That was always his excuse to the my complaining about the way humans are treated.

I sighed, picking up the glass and inspecting the red liquid. "Remember when humans and vampires would live together?"

"Yeah but that's not how it is anymore. Times change." He picked up the glass he was drinking from and took a sip. "Back then, we didn't drink human blood because it killed them but now, we don't kill them. So I don't understand why you, Carlisle and Esme are still so against it. They live out a good long lifespan and we get what we were made to eat."

"Forty years is not a long lifespan."

"Times change. Now forty years is a long lifespan"

"Times may change but I haven't."

"You better start if you want to stay alive."

The sad thing was that it was true. We all conformed to the rules after so many years ago. Carlisle went against the cops. Aro had let him slide by so many times saying that Carlisle was a long time friend. Alice was beat up so many years back and after both attempts; the rest of us went into line. We just gave up. I don't know where our fighting spirit we once had went but I can honestly say, it's not here anymore.

I stared at the red liquid in the cup, already coagulating to the sides. That was the sign that it was fresh. That was the first sign that I was in for something more in my life.

Not going to lie, this bleak society is making me a little depressed. I know you guys have been mentioning it to me but, wow, I was actually sad at the ending of this chapter.

Anyways, so I'm a science major if you haven't realized it yet and I was thinking something the other day…there's that questions of whether or not vampires use the bathroom. Well, I know according to the book, they don't BUT even if a normal vampire didn't. The Cullen's most likely would. And here's my reasoning. Urine and feces are both ways for animals to get rid of waste (unneeded food that was taken in). So if a vampire is meant to drink human blood and use it all up, that's great, but if a vampire that was meant to drink human blood drank animal blood then there would be some differences. There would be some things that their body can't break down. Therefore, there would be parts of the animal blood that would be passed through a vampire and go straight out…that's my thought at least. Of course, I'm going by if you think of their system as a normal digestive system.

Whether you believe this or not, will you review for me? I have to say, you guys are the best reviewers I have ever had! And I don't say that to all my story's reviewers. ;)

Please review!