Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I only own what I can come up with.

A scream bounced off my walls, jolting my sweat body out of bed. My legs were tangled up in my sheets, making me feel claustrophobic as I searched for the source of the scream. It took me a few seconds but then it dawned on me that I was the screamer. I choked it off, gasping for air as tears streamed down my face. My whole body shook with fear, sobs, and just trying to get air into my lungs. It barely registered in my mind that Demetri had left my room and was no longer here.

Outside my door, shouts were echoing down the hall, making me shake more. There was pounding on my door, causing me to whimper in fear. I grabbed a pillow from behind me and clutched it tightly, still trying to kick the confining sheets off my legs. I held the pillow in front of me like it was a shield. Everywhere I looked it seemed like the shadows were coming alive, reaching for me, taunting me. Any second the monsters would reappear. I shook, forgetting that I was seventeen years old. Everything about right now brought back my little eleven year old self and that night. A resounding bang reached my ears and I screamed again as the door opened and in darted black figures.

"Don't touch me! Please! I swear I didn't see anything! Please don't hurt me!" I screamed, struggling to get away from the hands that were touching me. Someone picked me up, trying to whisper something into my ear, but I just flailed around. Another set of hands joined the first pair and I screamed louder. I squeezed my eyes shut in fear, trying to fling myself away from them. Two very distinct roars echoed through the room, though I couldn't tell who they came from.

"Give her too me, Alec. Now." A voice demanded as I was carefully transferred into another set of arms. I struggled to get away, begging to be left alone, then the scent hit me. It was a mixture of rain on the pavement, just cut grass, and a spice scent of cologne. The scent of safety. Demetri. I cracked my tear filled eyes open to look at him. He held me close and I threw my arms around his neck sobbing. I muttered his name along with unintelligible garbage. "Hush now, my little firefly. It's alright now. No one is going to hurt when I'm here. I won't let them. Never again."

I could hear the whispers filling my bedroom, but I couldn't focus on them. Sleep was once again coming back over me as my shaking and sobs slowed. I clung to him, fisting my hands into his shirt. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me. They'll come back if you leave."

My room was getting quieter. I couldn't tell if it was because I was losing consciousness or if whoever was in my room was leaving. It didn't matter though, because Demetri pressed his lips softly against each of my eye lids and whispered softly to me. "Sleep now, Isabella. I promise I will be here when you wake up." With those words and a feeling of safety spread over me, I fell back into the realm of sleep.

. . . . .

Sunlight streamed into my windows, momentarily blinding me as I opened my eyes. I groaned, pulling the cover over my face and cursing the sun for always doing this to me. My throat was a bit scratchy, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had pushed to hard during the set of songs we did last night. A low voice chuckled at my reaction and I jumped. The chuckle turned into full blown bellows of laughter at that. It was an infectious laugh, one that you couldn't help but smile back at. I peaked my head up and stuck my tongue out at the guest in my room. Demetri.

"Are we five, Bella?"

"Maybe we are." I sat up, stretching my arms above me and crossing my legs. The vampire sitting in my room was currently peaking up at me over the top of his book. He was still in his formal wear from last night, minus the jacket that was draped over the back of the chair he was sitting on. That was strange. Normally he only stayed in my room if I asked him too. Even then though, he normally left to change into new clothes or had Heidi bring him something. "Not to be rude 'Metri- because you know I love you- but is there a reason you're still in my room in the same clothes?"

A sigh escaped his lips as he memorized his page number and set the book down. "I take it that you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" I asked him cautiously as I racked my brain for information. There was the speech, meeting people, meeting the Cullens and that ass Jasper, Pete's demand (which reminded me I need to speak with that man), and then falling asleep. Nowhere in that time span did I remember asking him to stay with me.

"You had the nightmare last night. A lot of people were concerned. You wouldn't stop screaming until I got here. Then you asked me not to leave or they would come back."

I fell backwards, pulling the covers over my head with me, groaning. I didn't care about nightmares. I could deal with those. The Nightmare though (as I had dubbed it in my head) was something totally different. It wasn't just a nightmare; it was a memory. Something that my head couldn't just come up with. The contents of it contained the worst moment of my life. Whenever it reared its ugly head, only my personal savior could help me.

The Nightmare was ugly, and it left even my family frightened. Nobody knew when it would come up, nobody knew how to handle it except for Demetri. No surprise there.

"On a scale of 1 to Furious Jane, how bad was it? Do people think I'm some super freak now? Do not make any jokes about that song Demetri Volturi!" He chuckled, as I glared at him over the top of sheets. He held his hands up , and then sighed, standing up and sitting on my bed.

"I'm not going to lie to you. It was pretty bad. We're lucky that I got back in last night instead of this morning. The Kings explained some of it, but they told everyone you would explain it later tonight." I groaned again. Damn Nightmare... Tears burned in my eyes at the thought of explaining part of my fucked up past to everyone. Cold arms wrapped around me, pulling me away from my mattress. "Nobody thinks you're super freaky," insert glare here. "And most of them just want to make sure you are okay. Now get up, get dressed and lets go feed the human."

I almost told him I wasn't hungry, but then my stomach growled loudly. Traitor, I thought towards my stomach as I got up and made my way to the closet. A few minutes, a pair of low rise skinny jeans and a red long sleeve shirt with the shoulders cut out, and I was almost ready. Demetri tossed me a pair of red chuck taylors toward me and I shoved my feet into them as I fastened my firefly necklace. Then I ran a brush through my hair and chose the simplest tiara I could find since it was apparently mandatory to wear it. Whatever.

"Can you just bring me food? Please?" I said, not really wanting to face everyone. He looked like he would have done it, if Jane hadn't come in a second later, dragging me out of my room and telling me that I 'knew the rules' and that I was still a princess. She led me to the kitchen, blabbering about how much fun today was going to be. Honestly I just wanted to tell her to shut the f up, but that would be considered rude since we had guests.

By the time we reached the kitchen, I was ready to bang my head against a wall. Don't get me wrong. I loved my sister, but sometimes she could be such a handful. Before we actually entered the room, she mentioned that Peter wanted to talk to me. Remembering how my 'brother' had treated me last night, in front of guests no less, infuriated me. We walked into the kitchen and everyone in the room turned to look at me.

I automatically spotted Alec, Charlotte, Heidi, and Peter. There were a few more in the room, but I didn't really notice who. My food was waiting for me on a plate thankfully, and I sat down in my seat, pulling people around me so I didn't have to sit next to Peter. I shoved a bite of food in my mouth, grateful that it wasn't cold. Cold food always worsened my moods.

Charlotte laughed at me as I glared at Peter. "Looks like someone's in the dog house. What he do now, sugar?"

"I made her leave her party early. She should be glad I didn't drag her out of the ballroom for what she said." He growled at me. My temper snapped at his words.

"For what I said? There is nothing wrong with what I said! I wasn't talking to him or anyone else, merely talking to myself. If he doesn't like the way I think of him, then he shouldn't have been such an ass to me! I had every right for saying what I said so don't try to tell me I'm wrong."

Peter snapped his head in my direction, looking angrier than I had seen him in a long time. "I don't care if your own father told you to say that, Isabella. You don't speak like that to the Major if you want to walk away alive. There is a reason he is called the God of War!"

My fork was bouncing off his chest before I realized I had thrown it. Everyone in the room was frozen in place at the rare act of violence. Even Peter seemed to freeze for a moment. "Get the fuck over it you ass! I don't give two shits about the reason is he is called that. He treated me like dirt, so he made his first impression on my. He was the one who labeled himself as an ass so he can deal with the way he is treated. I'm not scared of some big bully!"

I had stood up at some point and now we were in each others' faces. He snarled at me, but I didn't flinch. "Maybe you should be, Isabella. Because next time you do a stupid stunt like that, I may not be there to save your pathetic human ass!"

My eyes widened, as did his, as I jerked away from him like he had actually hit me. My body shook, but I couldn't tell if it was because of anger, or if it was because of fear. I had heard those words before. Pathetic human. They were just part of the taunting threats that reoccurred in my head whenever I let my mind wander to that night. They were the words that changed my life. And everyone who knew me, knew they were the words that I feared more than anything. Peter's eyes widened as we stared at each other.

"Shit. Bella, I-"

"Why would you say that, Peter? Why?" That was all I could choke out before Peter screamed. It was sudden and he fell to his knees in pain. Venom that wouldn't be shed filled his eyes as he screamed again, this time curling into a fetal position on the ground. I spun around and found Jane glaring daggers, focusing solely on him. I flinched at a particularly pain filled scream.

I watched him for half a second longer before I had enough. "Jane, stop. You can't force pain upon him for an accident." When she didn't stop I sighed, stepping in front of her to shield him. Jane glared at me and I glared right back. With a flick of my wrist, I sent them all out. I sat down on the ground by Peter's head when they were all gone. Pulling his head onto my lap, I brushed hair off his forehead. No, I wasn't happy with him, but nobody deserved that much pain for a mistake. The person I did feel needed to be in pain right now was Jasper Whitlock-Hale-Cullen or whoever the hell he really was. He was the reason I was fighting with my brother right now.

Time passed as I waited for Peter to stop trembling. Jane must have used more pain than normal because it was taking him forever to get back to normal. When he finally got over it, the first thing he did was sit up and pull me into his arms. We didn't speak. We just sat there trying to figure out where we should go from here. Luckily for him, someone else came along to take the spotlight off him.

Whitlock.

He had a mocking grin on his face as he and a few others glided into the kitchen. Demetri was one of them. The look he gave Peter said it all. Too bad Jasper had to speak up before I could see my brother's reaction.

"Well, well, well. Did the little spit-fire run out of flames?" Since I apparently had no self-preservation so far, I guess it wasn't really a surprise when I found myself pounding my fists against his chest. He chuckled at my pointless antics, which only enraged me more.

"You stupid prick! You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" I growled at him. "This is all your freaking fault!" Demetri wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me away, but I squirmed out of his grip.

Jasper just looked amused. "First off, darling, most women love hearing me speak. Maybe it's just little girls who want me to be quiet. Secondly, how is it my fault that you have a hormone problem?"

"Did your mama teach you manners, or have you just forgotten them?"

He glowered at me. "Don't be bringing my mama into this, Princess."

"Don't bring my hormones into this, Whitlock." I glowered right back. Demetri stood behind me, and I knew he would let me get my anger out without intervening. Unless it was necessary. "You have been nothing but rude to me since we got here simply because I am a human. What happened to the amazing manners southern gentlemen are supposed to have?"

There was a spark of something in his eyes, like he figured something out. He gave me a slow smile before speaking again. "It offends me, Princess, that you would doubt me. I could easily make any unmated woman fall in love with me."

I held in a snort. "Oh please. Your talk is cheap and doesn't impress me. Lust is different then love, Mr. Whitlock."

He took a few steps forward, tilting my head upwards with one of his warm-ish hands. "That sounds like a challenge to me. Should we make this into an official bet?" I was proud of myself for not melting into his hand. "I bet that I could make you fall in love with me, fair and square, by the end of the week."

"If you don't?"

"Then you can make a request from me that I will follow. And if I do, which I most likely will, you come live with me and my family for the duration of an American school year. With a few of your most trusted guards, of course." My face hopefully stayed neutral at this. Why would he want that? I could feel Demetri stiffen for a second and heard Peter snort.

Those two knew something I didn't.

I shook it off as I remembered I still had to answer him. Behind him, I could see his family with varying degrees of excitement. "Fine. Don't kiss me unless I say so, be a gentleman and I think we can get through this week without one of us killing the other. Now, as for everyone else in the room, I expect this little bet to be kept a secret. Powers of any kind will not be used to manipulate the outcome or hint as to what may happen. If any such thing happens then the bet is off and Jasper has lost." They all nodded as I made eye contact with them. "Good. How about we get to the throne room sometime today."

Demetri chuckled, before opening the kitchen door. I stopped, partway out the door to look at the mess that my breakfast had turned out to be. "Oh, and Peter, dear," I said in a sweet voice that barely concealed my dislike for him right now. "Clean up the mess."

A/N: Hey everyone! New chapter up kind of quickly, right? I'm having writers block on my other two stories at the moment, so I'm focusing on this one instead. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Please review :)