Okay, so the reviews and the hits were pretty disappointing this time round, gives me the impression that my story isn't interesting anymore. But well, I'm persevering. It's so sad how my sister is more accomplished than me in fanfiction. net

Well, so try to review, yeah? Thanks.

Oh! And I think I'm going with the whole BPOV and EPOV. You know what's what, right? It's easier that way. Cheers!

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Disclaimer: Ain't mine.

Chapter Six

bPOV

I stood there, legs unwilling to move. My brain screamed for me to run, to escape, to get away from this horrible person. But what's the point? I might trip and he'll get me eventually. I am going to die. A sob rose up in my throat, but I held it back as a solution squirmed its way into my blank mind. The percentage of its success seemed little, but I don't think I look like I had a choice.

My eyes flicked to the door and back at the masked black guy. He seemed to tense up as he, too, looked at me and then at the door. I looked at the door again, eyes lingering on it for a longer time this time. I estimated the distance between the door and me, and then I looked back at that man, estimating our distance from each other. Great, I was nearer to the door than me to him. I took a small step towards the door.

He gripped the knife tighter and mirrored my actions.

Wetting my lips nervously, I took another step.

He did the same thing.

I counted to three mentally and then, let loose a shrill scream. That man panicked and ran for the door. He had fallen into Bella Swan's plan!

Hurriedly, I scrambled up the stairs, praying fervently that I wouldn't trip and fall. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him look back at me and then curse loudly. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I slammed the door to my room and looked around for a hiding place. I heard the footsteps slow down as they approached the corridor to my bedroom. My breath quickened as I turned my head to and fro frantically, hair whipping around wildly.

I'm going to die.

A hand clumped over my mouth and I screamed a silent scream. The hand dragged me across the room and into my wardrobe, hands still firmly over my mouth. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I struggled against the grip fruitlessly. I kicked and flailed my arms, desperate to get away from this stranger whom, I was certain, was going to kill me. Which burglar in their right mind would leave a witness behind to testify against them? "Shh. I won't harm you."

I stopped moving. In my stricken state, I recognized the voice and knew immediately that I was safe, now that I was with Edward. He continued to soothe me with his voice, although his hand never quite left my mouth. His cold touch secured me somewhat and I calmed down. My breathing slowly evened and my heart returned to beating at a normal rate. All thoughts about the burglar left my mind as I slacked in his arms, body drained of all energy.

At that point of time, I didn't so much as to think about how I was trapped in an enclosed area with Edward, or the fact that I was supposed to hate him. All the exhaustion came back to my body, twice as heavy as before. My eyes were slowly closing.

"I'm going to let go of your mouth now. Call your father."

Call my father? What was he talking about? That man out there just cut off the phone lines. Moreover, I was certain I didn't keep some secret phone within my wardrobe.

He placed a small object into my palm and I held it up, unable to tell what it was in the darkness. Or maybe I just couldn't see properly with my eyes only half-open. I frowned drowsily, fumbling with it, hoping that I would somehow gain enlightenment on what the heck it was. Edward let off a quiet sigh, chest heaving. He plucked the object off my palm and pressed buttons. Then I realised that it was a handphone he passed to me. I could have laughed at my own stupidity, but I was in a state of entering unconsciousness. I pressed the handphone against my ear and heard the familiar ringing sound.

At this point of time, I wondered where the burglar was now. Is he in Charlie's room? Shouldn't he be in my room by now? Then, as a heard a voice say hello on the phone, I decided that the burglar must be as stupid and confused as I am.

"Bella? Oh my goodness, I was so worried when you hung up on me a while ago! Is everything alright? I know I shouldn't have left you home." The concern in Charlie's voice was so thick, I felt touched knowing that someone out there cared so much about me.

"I'm okay, Dad. But someone broke into our house. Can you please come home?" I felt absurdly calm, and I knew that I would sound weird to Charlie.

There was a sharp intake of breath and Charlie spoke again."Stay calm and stay hidden. Don't do anything. I'm coming right over with backup."

"Okay. See you later, Dad." I hung up and returned the phone to Edward. "My dad's coming. He'll catch the bad guy soon. Don't worry." I thought I heard him chuckle, but then I stayed still, trying to clear my head of the fog which was causing me to be so drowsy. Raising my hand to slap myself awake, I was mildly shocked when someone held on to my hand. I pulled at my own hand, but he didn't let go. Annoyed somewhat, I let him put my hands back into my lap as I struggled to stay awake. It proved to be a losing battle as each blink became longer and longer.

Both Edward and I stayed silent in that wardrobe.

Then, wailing sirens could be heard and I heard a loud crash, followed by hurried footsteps. I think the burglar was trying to escape. Straining my ears, I heard the front door being knocked down, and then glass shattering could be heard. A flurry of activities followed after that, and then someone burst into my room.

"Bella? Bella?"

I pushed at the wardrobe doors, but it refused to open. Edward helped and I climbed out from behind all those clothes. Eager to get to him, I clumsily tripped over my own feet and would almost fall if not for Charlie catching me in a huge hug. "Oomph. Good to see you too, Dad." I mumbled into Charlie's shoulder. "I was so worried, Bella! Are you okay? Any injuries? It's all my fault! I shouldn't have left you home alone. I'm so sorry, Bella!" Charlie held me by my shoulders and tried looking for any visible injuries.

"I'm okay, Dad."

"Are you sure?" Charlie peered down at me in concern.

I nodded my head slowly, head heavy. Charlie saw my tired face and helped me to my bed. As soon as my head made contact with the pillow which felt so soft suddenly, I fell asleep. Charlie kissed my forehead tenderly and whispered, "Goodnight, dear."

He went over to the wardrobe of which I had magically appeared out of and closed it quietly. It was empty.

I jolted awake.

Light attacked my eyes, but instead of closing my eyes and falling back to sleep like I always do, I stand up and sat in my rocking chair. I had a strange dream, I know I did. But I can't remember what it was anymore. All I knew was that I fell down a flight of stairs, causing my body to go into shock. My heart raced and I tried to calm myself, rocking to and fro in rhythm. Hugging my knees, I closed my eyes and let previous events stream into my mind.

Oh yes, I remember Edward and me in the cupboard. Then, I remembered about the burglar. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't asked Charlie whether the burglar got away or not. Taking deliberate deep breaths, I felt my heart slowing down, and then I walked over to the cupboard, wondering pointlessly if Edward was there.

As I opened the cupboard door slowly, my heart stopped as I asked myself why on Earth would Edward be in my room during that point of time. How did he get into my house? Why was he in my room? Why did he help me? It didn't occur to me when I was in his arms and this disturbed me. Bristling at myself, I ran downstairs and hoped that Charlie was still in. Just my luck, he wasn't.It became ridiculously important for me to go to school quickly and question him. I washed up hurriedly and jumped into my truck, speeding carefully to school.

I scrambled down my truck and ran through the corridors, frantically trying to spot his awesome bronze hair. The dreaded school bell rang and I bit my lip in disappointment. Now I'd have to wait till Biology.

ePOV

I pushed my cap further down, not only to hide my striking hair, but also to cover up my handsome face. As I leaned against the lockers, I sighed at the trouble I had gotten myself into.

After the whole burglar episode at Bella's house, I arrived home and got a huge lecture from Carlisle. I told him that nobody saw me since I snuck out when Charlie was tucking Bella to sleep. He said that there was a possibility that he might have seen me, but I doubted that, telling him that I was always one to be careful about details like that. He diverted the subject and went on reprimanding me for nearly exposing the Cullen's cover—not just the Cullens, the whole world's vampire population! I was just about to roll my eyes at his exaggeration when I saw the serious and worried look in his eyes. Not only did he mean that he was actually serious, I also meant that whatever he said was most likely true. It was only then did I realize what a deep situation I was in.

He sent me to my room, to which I complied with even though I was insulted by that. Since when did he start sending me to my room? What am I supposed to do next? Face the wall and repent? I was just lying on my bed, thinking about Bella's safety when someone knocked on my door. Hoping that it wasn't Carlisle again, I allowed entry and saw Alice's head popping in. A relieved smile spread itself over my face and I gestured for her to come in. She did, and made herself comfortable on my bed.

"Hey, Edward. I'm sorry I told on you. I thought that Carlisle had a right to know about this." Alice looked at me cautiously, probably worried that I would overreact. I smiled reassuringly at her and told her that I didn't blame her one bit.

"It was my fault. What you did was the right thing. So don't be too hard on yourself."

Alice grinned and then asked about Bella. I was reluctant to talk about her, since Alice was famous for her "Oops, did I just say that?", but I really needed to get everything off my chest, so I told her.

"… So you see, if I didn't help her, she'd have die there. And if the knife went through her, blood spillage won't be a very good idea either. Considering how I haven't hunted enough to control myself against her blood at that point of time. See?" I leaned nearer to her so she could take a good look at my eyes. It looked like crude oil had polluted my golden eyes.

"Yes yes, I see your point. But how does that explanation help in this situation? You know Bella's going to question you tomorrow. What are you going to do about that?"

I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "That hasn't occurred to me yet. Bella was in a hypnotic, traumatized sort of state when I pulled her into the cupboard, so I was counting on the fact that she wakes up and forgets all about ever seeing me. I could tell her she was dreaming, or something along the lines of that. I mean, it could happen, right? And if there's a need to, you can provide my alibi."

Alice eyed me disapprovingly. "You really shouldn't be lying, you know? For one, you don't have any alibi, because you were actually there. And in case you thought you were dreaming too, well, wake up, you weren't. And number two, I highly doubt that Bella would buy your story about the whole dreaming thing. She doesn't look like one who would take whatever that is given to her, just like that."

Still trying to defend myself, I retorted, "For one, I have to lie because there is no other way out of this. What am I supposed to tell her? 'Okay, I'll tell you everything. I'm a vampire. I watched you sleep for the past two nights. I saved you because you can't die. Well, not when I'm in close proximity to your raw blood. Because your blood drives me crazy and you might die a worse death.' Is that it? Is that what you want me to say? And in case you are totally out of your mind, well, get back into that dense head of yours. As if she'll go along with the vampire theory and doubt the dreaming one, just like that."

"Oh, stop that whole imitating thing, okay? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to help you too. Stop being so immature and try getting your butt out of the mess you've created for once. Honestly, I am using my brain. You're not. What you're doing is trying to avoid the whole situation. I'm telling you now that we have to address this problem directly."

"Okay, you're right. I'm wrong. I'm just tired and scared and I need to be alone. I will try the direct approach thing, but there is absolutely no way I'm doing the vampire theory. Why? Because I've just used my brain and decided that it would make things worse, a lot worse."

Alice laughed. "Well, I guess using your brain has drained you. I advise you to take a little rest and then go hunt. Think about what you're going to tell Bella tomorrow. And Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Please use more of your brain tomorrow? The whole vampire population is in your hands now."

"Thanks a lot for that, Alice. You just made my day. Or what's left of it." I glared at her as she retreated out of the room.

I pushed myself off the lockers and headed for my first class of the day, dragging my feet along. I only hope that time would travel as slowly as the pace I was walking at.

bPOV

I jumped up from my seat in the cafeteria, stunning Mike momentarily. He recovered quickly and laughed, "Woah, you look like you're in a big hurry to get somewhere. Chill! It's not yet the next period." I smiled half-heartedly, eyes on the big clock in the café. "Sorry. Got to go. See you later. Bye!"

I left my tray there and ran to the Biology lab, sitting down at my seat and waiting uncomfortably in that big and empty lab. It amplified my racing heartbeats and pants, making me jittery. After five minutes had passed, I regretted coming to the lab early. It reminded me so much of the time when I first saw Edward and decided to arrive early. Edward. I narrowed my eyes at his name, annoyance creeping into my mind. I couldn't tell if I was annoyed at him or myself, but I eventually settled on being annoyed at him because it's hard to be annoyed at yourself for too long.

I started coming up with a mental script for interrogating Edward later. I wanted to catch him off guard and he may actually blurt out the truth in a fit on confusion. My mind wandered of into a realm of imagination where I was the famous detective drilling Edward for questions and clues. I was questioning Edward fast and furiously, and when he could take it no longer, he snapped under the pressure! There he was, begging me to let him off and that he would tell me anything and everything. Pleased with his eventual cooperation, I would smile triumphantly and then listen to him attentively, smiling and nodding to prod him onwards. After finishing his speech, I would pat him on the back with a "Good job" before leaving the dark, small room.

I grinned at my marvelous plan and by the time I returned to reality, I realised that people were streaming into the lab. Eager with anticipation, I craned my neck, hoping to catch a glimpse of Edward. However, when Mr. Cleft walked through the door, it suddenly occurred to me that Edward might not be in school today! Slumping my shoulders in disappointment, I resigned myself to fate and doodled restlessly in my notebook. All of a sudden, that voice pierced through the stale lab air. "Good afternoon, Mr. Cleft, I'm sorry I arrived late." My head shot up and I saw him walking towards me. Oh god, now he's here. I smoothed my hair, as if calming my nerves. Putting on a pretentious gentle smile, I nodded at him like I didn't care and then returned to my doodling. My eyes made contact with the page of doodles and horror gripped my heart. My palm scrambled to cover my sketches and I looked ahead stiffly.

I'm not sure if Edward's intentions were good or bad, but he tapped my shoulder and asked for my notes.

"Notes? What notes?"

An amused smile. "Biology notes, of course. I missed part of the lesson, so I was wondering if you could let me copy your notes."

"Right!" I scratched my hair, frantically trying to think of something. "Oh! But you didn't miss anything. He's starting from where he left off the last time. Yeah, that's it." I gave what I thought to be a reassuring smile.

His hands reached out for my notebook. "Come on, just for a short while, I promise."

I clung on tightly to my notebook, but the moment his cold fingers tried to pry mine off the notebook, I let go. I stared absurdly at my fingers. Did I just experience what I thought to be an electric shock? But, CRAP! I turned to snatch my notebook back from Edward, but it was too late. The expression on his face made me wince. I plucked the notebook from his frozen hands, and then sighed mentally before I decided that this was the best time to start questioning him.

"Your expression tells me very clearly that you know something about my picture. Spill!"

"I know nothing. You were just dreaming."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Nothing else to it."

"Really?"

Edward faced me and said seriously, "Yes, really." And suddenly, his expression changed drastically. Not one of extreme guilty, but the look of mischief which I dreaded almost immediately. "Unless of course, you wish that the picture meant something. You know, why would I have access to your house and stay in a wardrobe with you? And in such close proximity."

I hated him, that's official. The way he put it made me sound ridiculous. My face heated up. "What are you talking about?! That's not what I meant… And you know it." I tried looking at him in what I thought was an expression which said "I know what you did". It was considerably difficult with my flushed cheeks, but I managed anyway.

"And I know it? Somehow, I don't think that what I know is the one you're looking forward to hearing from."

"Bring it on."

"Okay. I know that…" He paused for a dramatic effect. I rolled my eyes. "You like me!"

"NO!" I exclaimed so loudly, the rest of the class turned to look at me. The new-found attention didn't exactly help my cheeks tone down, at all. Embarrassed, I covered my mouth and looked away. "Yes, you have something to say, Miss Swan?" Mr. Cleft adjusted his spectacles. I shook my head lamely, but glowered as I caught sight of Edward's wide grin, plastered on his face ever since he bestowed his so-called 'knowledge' on me.

The lesson went on and I stared at my notebook, debating whether I should erase the horrible doodle of a wardrobe with me and him in it or not. Then I heard him whisper my name softly, slightly amused that he did indeed call me "Isabella" this time. I didn't answer, and concentrated on erasing the horrible sketch instead. He called me again, but all I did was to rub away at my notebook with more vigour.

"Aw, how cute. Shy now, eh?" Oh, how I hate his voice. Upon finishing erasing the drawing, I picked up my pen calmly and started jotting down notes. He continued mocking me softly, but stopped after realizing that I wasn't planning on answering him at all. He switched to apologizing, but it made me madder still. Do I really look like a girl who'd take sorry as it is?

The bell rang and I stood up, tore out a page from my notebook and placed it on the table before leaving the classroom. Edward called out one last time after me, but I flicked my hair haughtily and left. I saw Edward read the page out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help a small smile.

I had titled it "Ten reasons why I hate Edward."

Okay, I'm so sorry that I took so long to produce this chapter. I was taking a little time to salvage my extremely screwed up social life. ): well, I hope it's getting better too, but here's Chapter Six. It's not the best I can some up with, but I have to consider you wonderful people too. So, here is it. I wish I can come up with a Chapter Seven quick too. But good news: about 4 more weeks to my month-long holiday. Surely I can update much more often then? YES:D

Oh yes, I'm again very very sorry that I took so long to update, but please review? I know the worst punishment you can give me is to not review, but pretty please? Encouraging the author can get her going, y'know!