"Bella!" Edward screamed. "Bella! No, don't give up! Open your eyes, Bella. Please, honey, please."

I struggled to open my eyes. I would do anything for that voice. "They killed me, didn't they?" I asked. I was surprised to find that I was exhausted. If I was dead and in heaven with Edward, shouldn't I have more energy? But would Edward's eyes be red if we were in heaven? Maybe I wasn't dead after all, and this was still part of my torture. But I knew I had died…

Edward's voice stopped my thought process.

"No, I stopped in time," Edward told me.

"But you're dead," I pointed out. I saw Alice peaking over his shoulder and Carlisle in the background. "They killed all of you. So I must be dead too, and in heaven. Is it nice here?"

Edward gave a shaky laugh. "Bella, they didn't kill us. We're all alive as we can be."

"But you can't be alive, because you're all dead, and I am too." I unwillingly closed my eyes again. I wanted to keep looking at Edward, but I was too exhausted, and believe it or not, in too much pain.

"Don't leave me," Edward pleaded. "Don't give up Bella. You have to pull yourself back together."

"What?" I asked groggily, prying my eyes back open. I stared at Edward's pain etched face, trying to figure out what he was talking about and why he could be in so much pain. We were in heaven, weren't we? Shouldn't we all be happy?

"Bella, you aren't dead," Edward repeated. "None of us are. I stopped trying to kill you in time, or we would have lost you."

"You're dead," I insisted tiredly. "They killed you when they burned down the house. Then they used somebody who looked and smelled like you to kill me."

"Bella, listen to me," Carlisle said, coming to squat down next to me so I could see him. "The vampires who were hunting us had powerful gifts. We'll explain it all later, but just know that we are not dead. We were… brainwashed, I guess you could say. But the werewolves killed the vampire who brainwashed us, and we came to help you once we were free. We're all real, and we're all alive, but you're badly hurt, and we need you to focus on pulling yourself back together."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't control my body. "Why can't I move?"

"I was trying to rip you to shreds," Edward said, his voice pained. "I managed to mostly rip off your arms and legs. They're still partially attached, though, so you can heal. But you need to try as hard as you can to heal quickly. I'm so sorry, Bella, I couldn't control myself and I was hurting you and I'm so sorry."

"But I can't move!" I told him worriedly. "What if I'm a paralyzed vampire forever?"

"You won't be," Carlisle assured me. "Your body is still trying to reattach everything properly, so you probably don't have any control over your limbs. Just concentrate on healing completely." He saw my eyes, then, and gave a startled jump. "When was the last time you hunted?" he demanded.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "Since… that day that we lost you. I'm not sure how long that's been. They had me here and tortured me for a long time."

"How long was the time between when they took him and when they captured you?" Alice asked.

"Three… three weeks, at the very least." I answered as I tried to keep my eyes open.

"They didn't feed you?" Emmett asked from somewhere else in the room. He sounded enraged.

"They offered me a human," I said. It was harder to concentrate now. I couldn't remember why I was trying to stay awake. Sleep seemed so inviting…

"Bella," Edward pleaded, "Don't close your eyes. Don't leave me. If you go to sleep, you won't keep pulling yourself together, and you won't wake up. I'll… I'll lose you forever. For real. I can't do that. You have to stay awake."

"She needs to feed if she's going to heal properly," Carlisle said softly. "But she can't feed if she can't move."

"Can I move her?" Edward asked. I couldn't help it – my eyes closed.

"I wouldn't suggest it," Carlisle answered. "Holding her in any other position would probably cause her to heal improperly. It's like a human with broken bones. We have to put the bone in a cast if it's going to heal properly and in the right position, so we have to keep her in one position so that she'll heal properly."

"I'll go try to find something for her," Emmett offered. I barely heard him.

"Bella, stay with me," Edward pleaded. I vaguely realized that he has stroking my cheek with his hand.

"I can't," I slurred.

"Hurry," Alice ordered Emmett.

"He won't find anything," I breathed. "We're in a… a… a warehouse, factory… whatever it's called… in… in the middle… middle of a… a town."

"He'll find something," Edward promised.

"Bella," Alice said suddenly, and I felt her kneeling next to me on the side that Edward wasn't on. "Talk to me."

"About what?" I asked, struggling to open my eyes.

"Anything," she answered cheerfully. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to sleep," I sighed, closing my eyes again.

"Well, you're a vampire. You can't sleep." She pried one of my eyes open, and I opened the other to glare at her. "You gave that up when you decided to marry my idiot brother over here," Alice said, nodding towards Edward. "So stay awake and talk to me about shopping."

"What about it?" I asked.

"Where do you want to shop when you're better?"

I groaned, but it sounded more like a moan of pain. Edward looked alarmed. "I don't want to shop," I told her.

"Then where do you think I'm going shopping once we're out of here?" she asked. "I haven't been shopping in at least two weeks."

"I'm sure you'll drag me to… to… to that one place." I said.

"What place?" she asked.

"That one that I hate."

"Which one is that?"

"The one… the one with all the… the…" I couldn't think of the word, so I decided to describe it. "It's pink, and it's a girl store and…"

"Victoria's Secret?" Alice asked mischievously.

"That girl has no secrets," Rosalie scoffed from across the room. "The stuff out of her store doesn't hide anything."

"That one," I told Alice. "I'm sure you'll drag me there."

"Edward would appreciate it," Alice told me.

"She's not leaving my arms for several years," Edward told her. "You're not taking her shopping for a long, long time."

"I'm back," Emmett announced. He came over to me with a dead moose in his arms.

"How did you get that here without anyone noticing?" I asked.

"It's night," Emmett answered. "Everyone is in bed."

Ten minutes later, they had somehow managed to drain most of the blood from the moose into cupful after cupful that they gave to me to drink. It was easier to concentrate, and easier to keep my eyes open by the time they were done.

"Better?" Edward asked anxiously.

I gave him a tired smile. "Yes. Thank you. Thanks to all of you."

"You're welcome, dear," Esme said. She patted my arm in a motherly fashion.

"Now, can you please explain how we're all alive?" I asked. "I promise to pay better attention this time."

"There was a vampire that could brainwash us," Edward explained. "I'm not sure how she could make us forget out pasts, but it was like we were newborns and had no memories. One minute I was getting tortured, and the next I was drinking from a human, clueless as to how I got there, or who was around me. From that day on, I drank from humans, told them everything that they wanted to know, and did whatever I was instructed. It was like I was their slave. Then suddenly I remembered everything. I was in the middle of trying to help them kill you…" he trailed off guiltily.

"It's the same for the rest of us," Rosalie offered, saving Edward from the awkward silence. "One second we were doing something, and then the next we remembered everything. We figured out fairly quickly what was happening, and that you and Victoria weren't with us, so we ran to go find you guys. We heard you screaming in pain, and we came here."

"What about Victoria?" I asked. I felt stupid for not noticing that she wasn't there before.

No one answered. They all just exchanged glances.

"She… she's dead, isn't she?" I asked timidly.

"I'm sorry," Carlisle told me. "I know how much you liked her. We didn't get to her in time. They were burning her when we arrived."

"Before or after you found me?"

"Before," Edward answered. "They found her first."

I closed my eyes, wishing I could cry, but knowing I couldn't.

"We're sorry," Jasper said. "We tried."

"I know," I sighed. I started to dry sob, and the sobs shook my body. I felt Edward gather me into his arms and cradle me, rocking me gently back and forth.

"Oh, Bella," he sighed. "Don't cry. Save your strength and heal yourself, and then you can cry. But care for yourself first."

"But they killed Victoria," I sobbed.

"Being upset won't help you heal," Rosalie said. "Cry later. Fix yourself now. Just look at the bright side – the rest of us are still fine."

"But Victoria's dead!" I cried.

"She wanted it," Edward told me softly.

"What?" I asked, startled out of my sobbing. I looked at him like he was insane, but my gaze also showed that I was begging for more information.

"It was her way of escaping," Edward told me. "She was going to leave us after this all got sorted out anyway, but she saw this as the best way to take care of it. She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry."

"How do you know?" I asked desperately.

"She thought it to me," he answered. "She knew once the werewolves killed the vampire that was brainwashing us that I would still remember what she said. She told me through her thoughts to tell you that she was sorry, but that it was all for the best. She asked that you not mourn her like you mourned me, because if you're right and she becomes an angel then she's going to come make sure that you aren't in some depressed state. If you are, then when, if, you die, she'll kick you when you're an angel too. And if she has any special powers once she's an angel, then she'll use those on you until you cheer up."

I kept quiet, thinking it over. "Is there anybody left from the club?" I asked after a moment, choosing to mope about Victoria later.

"That's why we want you to heal quickly," Carlisle said. "We're not sure how soon they'll find us."

"Wait, you said werewolves," I said.

"It appears that Mark and Angela went to spend some time in La Push so they could kick some werewolf butt," Emmett said happily. "They threatened to tell the world about the werewolves."

"That would not have made them come," I said.

"No, but once Mark and Angela started reminding them that they're supposed to be protectors, and that they were shirking in their duty, and that they were being pretty poor friends to you, and that they really did owe you for everything you've ever done for them, they came." Rosalie said.

"That still doesn't sound like enough."

"Mark threatened to burn down their houses," Jasper coughed.

I gasped. "He didn't!"

"He did. He even had the match lit and everything." Emmett said proudly.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"We told them," a familiar voice said from the doorway. I turned my head to see Jake standing in the doorway, looking sheepish.

"Jake," I said with a warm smile.

"Mark told us how upset you were," Jake said. "He said that you were pretty terrified, and that I needed to get over my stupidity and come help an old friend. He told me that you were really upset that I refused to talk to you. He said as your former husband that he could tell how desperate you were for help. He knocked us around a little, whacked us over the heads with a stick, kicked us in the butt, and shoved the plane tickets in our hand. When we found your house we could tell that it had been empty for at least a month, so we followed your trail and got here just in time, from the looks of it."

"I owe you big time," I said.

"Nah, consider it even," Jake said. "I'd rather you not be in my debt. We're friends; what true friend keeps track of his friends' debts?"

"The house had been empty for a month?" I asked.

"Yeah, it looked pretty dusty and stuff. The mail in the mailbox was dated from a month ago."

"Are all the other vampires dead? Carlisle asked.

"The rest of the pack is rounding them up now," Jake answered.

"There's trouble," Edward said softly.

"What?" Jake asked harshly.

"They're holding a human girl hostage, and your pack can't get near or the vampire who has her will kill her."

"Is it Andria?" I asked hopefully.

"Andria?" Edward asked, looking down at me.

"Let's go," I said, "I'll explain later. We have to go find her now!"

So with that Edward picked me up and we all ran to go help the human.