'So whatcha gonna do?' Emmett made his latest chess move and Bella knew straight away that it was all over unless she managed to drastically turn things around. Fortunately, Edward was sat behind him hearing all of his moves before he had the chance to make them so she wasn't too concerned.

Just minutes later, she used her last pawn to knock down his king triumphantly.

'Checkmate,' she grinned, Edward chuckling audibly as his older brother tried to figure out how he had lost. Eventually, he picked up the board, scattering pieces everywhere and absent-mindedly flicked it over his shoulder so it crashed into the living room wall.

Bella shrieked with laughter and he mock-angrily stomped from the room, no doubt to find a grizzly bear to take his frustration out on.

Alice danced into the room holding a bouquet of daisies and dropped into the middle of the room so she could proceed to plait them into a flawless chain.

'He always was a sore loser,' she chimed as her hands moved impossibly quickly. 'Don't worry though, he'll play with his food for a little while, but he'll come back when he's done.'

Bella was wondering about Alice's gift as the pixie stood to tie the flowers into her hair. She was just wishing that she could see her and Carlisle's future as the vampire pulled her into a quick hug.

'They look great, make sure you don't crumple them,' before dancing back out of the room.

Bella stood to check her phone for any messages from Carlisle, who had been called into work at short notice, when her vision blanked and she crumpled to the floor silently.

What she saw chilled her to her very bones as she was helpless to stop it.

Carlisle's face was gaunt and somehow paler than usual, to the point that his usually pristine skin appeared translucent, with heavy purple bruises underneath his now empty eyes. Said eyes showed where the most terrifying transformation had taken place. The usually smouldering, liquid gold had dulled and instead his irises were entirely black, his hair dishevelled and all traces of hope had disappeared from his normally welcoming features.

This was a man that was clearly broken and he screamed as Bella saw herself approaching him in the vision. His fangs protruded as she fought to escape, pushed closer towards the most predatory vampire she had ever laid eyes on. Indescribably dark figures pushed Bella closer to him and as the door was locked behind her in the dark, filthy cell, Bella howled as Carlisle's eyes rolled back in his head and he clawed aimlessly towards her.

The man who she was undoubtedly falling for was crouched in front of her, and he looked terrible. Worst of all was the loss of the compassion that usually softened his wonderfully chiselled features and Bella's eyes snapped open, pulling her roughly back into the present as Edward and Alice shook her to try to pull her back to consciousness.

Unable to talk to them, Bella pulled herself painfully to her feet and ran out to her car to desperately figure out what she had just seen.

'He wouldn't do it,' she sobbed tearfully, 'I know him, he j-just wouldn't, couldn't d-do it.' She ran her hands through her hair in agitation and leant her head against the driver's door, knowing full well that she wasn't in any state to actually get inside the car. She pounded her clenched fists uselessly against the roof of her compact hatchback but stopped when the roof dented loudly, howling at the unfairness of her situation.

'Aah!' she screamed continuously, dragging her nails painfully down the metal doorframe, leaving angry trails in their wake.

Finally, finally the screaming stopped as she fell to her knees and clawed at the damp grass, begging and crying, occasionally pausing to draw in great, wracking sobs. Her jeans were ruined by the damp dirt and her face was streaked with relentless rivulets of tears as she cried out, knowing she would never accept what she had seen, she couldn't believe Carlisle was capable of such horror.

After what felt like hours, strong, cool arms were wrapped firmly around her waist and Jasper pulled her to her feet effortlessly. She slumped against him uselessly, allowing him to carry her gently back inside and welcoming the waves of reassurance that he emitted gratefully.

When she eventually calmed enough to speak, she recounted her story quickly, hoping that the beautiful, understanding Cullens that surrounded her would tell her she was wrong, that she had misunderstood. Alice's grave stare confirmed the worst, and caused Bella to burst back into silent tears that no amount of comforting could stem.

'I saw it too,' she whispered hoarsely, and every word she spoke broke Bella's fragile heat anew. 'Everything she said was true.' All of them surrounded her, hugging her, touching her, and the physical contact assured Bella that they were all on her side.

'He's going to kill me,' she choked, 'the man I saw, it wasn't Carlisle. It was a monster.'

The atmosphere was tense as the doctor eventually returned from his twelve hour shift looking as though he had not even broken a sweat. As he reached to hug Bella she hesitated and sensing her non-compliance, Carlisle pulled away.

The image of his future appearance haunted Bella and she had to check that his eyes were still their usual ochre before she finally allowed him to touch her. Before he could request any kind of explanation, Edward pulled him aside to describe both Bella and Alice's vision. He looked devastated as comprehension dawned, and immediately rushed to Bella's side to promise that he would never do anything to hurt her, but after the vision they both knew that they were hollow words.

Bella called in sick to work the following morning and Charlie was at her front door within minutes to make sure she was alright. She had never skipped a shift before, normally he was forced to send her home, but as she answered the door looking impoverished he knew that something serious was had happened.

Knowing not to question her, the Chief followed his usually happy-go-lucky daughter into her kitchen and put the kettle on wordlessly. Bella felt terrible for causing her father so much concern but couldn't pull herself out of her miserable mind-set long enough to convince him that she was actually okay. Years of policing experience meant that he always knew when she was lying anyway, so she saved them both the effort.

After half an hour of silence Charlie finally made to leave. He didn't speak until he was out in the hallway, Bella half hidden behind the panelled front door.

'I'm calling your mother,' he whispered comfortingly, but his words caused Bella's eyes to widen in both fear and shock. 'I'm sorry Bells, but I haven't seen you like this since all of that trouble you had in High School, and I'm not about to watch you go through all of that again. You should think about going to see her, I won't ask you what's happened, you can tell me in your own time, but you know both of us are here for you and I think some time out would definitely be good for you right now. Consider it, please.' It wasn't a request, whether she liked it or not her father would make sure she got out of town and she knew it, even if he had to drag her on the plane himself.

Before he had left the building Bella heard him pressing the keys on his phone furiously, each little beep echoing around the empty corridor.

'Carlisle,' he growled angrily, 'what the hell have you done to my daughter?'

Bella's phone trilled for at least the fifteenth time but she didn't even bother to pick it up to check who was calling, she just didn't care. When she finally mustered the energy to lift her heavy limbs, she pulled herself off her three-piece sofa and flopped onto her bed where she remained staring at the walls lethargically until the early hours of the morning. When she finally drifted off into sleep it was intermittent and full of visions that left her shaking and crying out to an entirely empty house.

Jacob climbed into the open window without invitation and was horrified when he saw the dishevelled state of his friend. Normally she would have shouted at them as a result of their recent fallout, but she didn't even meet his stare as he fell alongside her onto her bed and stared at the wall next to her companionably. Neither of them spoke, and when it finally grew dark he left without a word, only to return the following morning to repeat the process all over again.

On the fourth day, she spoke.

'Don't you have anything better to do?'

The question caused Jake to smile uncontrollably and he sat up to confirm that she had actually spoken, and that he hadn't imagined it.

'I knew you were in there somewhere!' He patted her on the arm and she flinched, pulling her dressing gown over her pyjamas and curling into a ball under her duvet.

'Go away.'

He stood up and for an instant she thought he might actually listen to her. She should have known she was wrong.

'I'm going into town,' he stated proudly, 'I'm going to pick up some food and some coffee and when I get back you're going to eat something. This is getting ridiculous.'

She grunted in response and he walked out cheerfully, leaving her to wallow in her all-consuming thoughts.

The food was good but Bella stubbornly refused to admit it as she wolfed down her own chocolate croissants and then Jacob's after he insisted that he didn't want them. Once she washed the meal down with some strong, sweet coffee she finally felt a little more human.

'Carlisle called me you know,' Jacob observed nonchalantly, tracing the floral pattern on her blanket, 'normally I'd refuse the bloodsucker out of pure resentment but when he said it was about you I couldn't help but listen to what he had to say. I'm glad I did.'

Bella stood and walked out of the room, indicating that this was not a subject she was prepared to talk about. After a hot shower that seemed to reinvigorate her, Bella returned to her room to find Jacob flicking through her notebook. She snatched it out of his hand aggressively and he promised that he hadn't read anything in it.

'I don't care,' she retorted, aware she sounded like a petulant five year old, 'it's personal.'

He laughed heartily and coerced her into the living room one step at a time.

'I don't want to go out.' Her tone was final. The werewolf ran a hand through his hair which had grown unusually long, it shaped his face in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant, and sighed disdainfully.

'Boy, you're not going to make this easy for me are you?' She shook her head and turned on the television, pretending to ignore everything he said, though she heard every word.

'Right,' he finally conceded, pulling his bomber jacket off the hook behind the front door, 'I've got a pack meeting so I'm gonna run, but I'll be back tomorrow, and every day after that until the Bella Swan I know and care about is ready to make a reappearance. Call me if you need anything.'

That night Bella cried herself to sleep, questioning what she had done to deserve so much misfortune. The daisy chain Alice had made for her just days before hung from her bedpost lifelessly, the only sign of the previous life she had known.