Yes, you are not imagining things. This is an update for Haunted Mindscapes. I have no good excuse for the time it has taken to get this to you, so I won't bother trying. The story is completely written and I will do my best to get chapters out to you as soon as I can. This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Simaril x

Chapter Twenty-Eight — The Voice

Bella POV

It was the strangest sensation. I could feel the rocky floor beneath me and the drops of water ricocheting off the rocks and onto my face, but I couldn't move. It felt like I was trapped in my body. I fought against my invisible restraints and a voice whispered in return.

"No! This is my turn. You don't get to take it away from me."

Whose turn? This made no sense. I had to free myself. I needed Edward. I tried to force the words from my lips, but they could not move. Instead, I heard my plea echo like a whisper in my mind. I want my Edward. Where is my Edward?

"He's gone," the voice replied. "He didn't want us anymore."

No. He wouldn't leave me again. He loves me.

"He is gone, and this time he is not coming back."

No! It couldn't be true. Edward had come back from death to be with me again. He wouldn't leave me now. Not after all we had been through. Overwhelming rage swept through me. This voice, this presence was keeping me from Edward.

You lie! I hissed.

"Will he still want you after all you've done? He knows now. He knows that you grubbed around like an animal in the dirt instead of searching for him."

That wasn't true. I couldn't have searched for him. He died. I couldn't save him.

"He didn't die, you fool. He is a vampire; they live forever. He left you all alone while he lived with his perfect family. You were nothing to him, nothing more than a distraction."

A distraction. The word echoed in my mind, bringing with it a memory of Edward's hardened face the first time he left me. He left to protect me then; he promised he would never leave me again. This voice was lying to me.

You lie!

I fought with all I had to break the bindings around me. Gradually, they weakened and then suddenly they broke. I was free to move and feel and be.

"Edward loves me." This time the words rang clear through the air as my mouth and body became my own again.

Of course he loved me. I knew that. He loved me so much he had come back from death to be with me again.

As I looked around my surroundings, I realized that something was very wrong. I was in our cave, though only minutes ago I had been on the beach with Edward. Jasper had been speaking to me about helping me. There was special breathing to do and then…nothing. I had no memory of how or why I came to be here alone.

More disconcerting than my displacement in location was the fact time had clearly passed while I was gone. It had been early morning when I sat down on the sand, but now the light was that of afternoon. Something had gone very wrong. The voice that had whispered to me had done something more to me. It had stolen my body.

I laughed. Great roaring laughs that stole my breath and doubled me over. It was ridiculous. I had woken from one nightmare and stepped right into another. It was my worst fear. I was insane after all. Normal vampires didn't have voices whispering into their minds, other than Edward, of course. Perhaps that was it; I was gifted after all, and this was my gift. I could read minds like him. No, that didn't make sense. It didn't explain the way the voice stole my body, too.

A random thought came to me. Our body.

The thought sent a chill of fear through me, and I pushed it away. I was alone. There was no one else here. I shared my body with no one.

I got to my feet and looked around. On the floor was a pile of bloodstained clothing. Had I somehow hurt myself? No, that couldn't be right. I was getting lost again. I wasn't human. I was a vampire. I had been changed by Victoria, before… The memories stopped there. I felt they were on the surface of my mind, waiting for me to pick at them, but I wasn't ready. I searched for memories closer to now, for the reason I had come to be alone, with bloodied clothing, affirming Edward's love for me. They weren't there. I knew it was impossible for a vampire mind to forget anything, but I apparently had. Just another sign of how defective I was.

Deer blood, idiot. And not your clothes, mine.

I banished the thought. There was no one here but me.

I considered my situation. I had gone from sitting on the beach with my Edward to being here alone. My first task had to be finding Edward. Anything could have happened to him. Jasper and Carlisle could have taken him away, or he could have disappeared on his own. His presence here was already fleeting because he was dead. Maybe his time had come. I would not live without him. I would find the bad Jasper and make him kill me. He would be glad of an excuse.

I walked out of our cave and into the jungle. The path between our cave and the house was flat, as we had made the journey so many times. Even without the clear trail to follow, I could have followed our scent path. It seemed so natural to me to use my vampire abilities, so natural, in fact, that I had to wonder how I had managed to delude myself into thinking I was human for so long.

It was hard for me to think of that time. I still had moments when I would become confused and would think to seek unnecessary food or water. Edward grounded me in those moments, but he wasn't here now.

The scent of blood drew me from the path and into the trees. I found the carcasses of two crudely butchered deer. They were lying in a congealing puddle of blood. Edward would never have left them like this. I had seen how careful he was to dispose of the deer I had brought for him to feed on.

The bloodied clothes returned to my mind, and I considered. I didn't remember hunting, but then I didn't ever remember hunting, and I knew I must have fed to have lived so long alone in the jungle. The meat I would eat always appeared without apparent cause. Was I hunting and not realizing it?

Yes. The thought was a voice now, and it was talking in a delighted hiss.

A vision of the butchered carcasses on the ground came to me. I remembered tearing the neck of the deer and gulping at the blood. I remembered the malicious pleasure I took in the action.

My legs weakened beneath my, and I sank to the ground. "What's happening to me?" I asked aloud.

You are finally seeing the truth.

"What is the truth?"

That you are the weak one and I am strong. That we survived because of me. I was the one who hunted while you cowered in a cave.

"But who are you?"

I, Isabella, am you. I heard a cruel laugh follow the words before the voice fell silent.

I felt my eyes prick, and my breathing became gasps. I realized after a moment that I was crying. Or the vampire equivalent. I could shed no tears; these fruitless gasping sobs were all I could manage.

There was temptation to stay there forever. Sitting at the scene of my massacre, but there was something more important to consider. Edward. I had to find him. I pushed myself to my feet and set out for the path again. As I moved through the trees, my sense of urgency increased, and my pace morphed from a walk to a jog to a run. Soon I was flying through the trees. I needed Edward.

You won't find him, the voice hissed. He's gone.

I hissed in return. "He's not gone. You are lying to me."

You should give up now. Take us back to the jungle where I can protect you. You don't need them anymore. Not now that you have me.

"There is no we. Only me!" I was lying to myself, and I knew it. There was a we, but I didn't understand how.

As I broke through the tree line, I saw something to stop me in my tracks. Jasper was standing alone on the shore. Edward and Alice were nowhere in sight. Something in his expression tore at me. He looked at me as if afraid, and I knew I was too late. Edward was gone.

I sank to my knees and pressed my face into the dirt as the howls of pain overtook me.

I heard racing footsteps and felt hands gripping my wrist, trying to pull my hands from my face. I fought them. I didn't want to see if I was not seeing Edward.

I heard someone shouting, "Edward, she's come back. Get out here."

They are going to hurt you, the voice in my mind said with relish. You are going to be all alone. You should run now. Attack the one that holds you and run. The neck is the weak spot.

"No," I moaned.

"Bella, it's okay. You're safe. Edward is coming," a familiar voice said. It wasn't Edward's voice, so I did not listen.

Bite the neck and tear off the head. Then run. Run for the cave, run for the water; it doesn't matter where you go, just run!

"Bella, I'm here. Look at me, I'm here." Now it was the voice I needed. He had come.

My eyes snapped open, and I stared into Edward's perfect face for a moment. He smiled cautiously at me, and I threw myself into his arms. He rocked me back and forth gently, whispering soothing words.

"Shh, my love, I'm here. You're safe."

Never safe.

"Shut up!" I growled, and Edward stiffened.

"Maybe you should back up and give her a little room," a voice said, it was one of the others Jasper had brought back with him. Peter.

I snarled and gripped Edward tighter to me.

They're going to hurt you again.

"They won't!"

"What's happening to her?" I recognized that voice as Alice's. She sounded scared.

Scared of you. You should let him go and run.

I teetered on the verge of movement for a moment. Should I run?

Yes.

"I can hear her thoughts again, but there is something different. A new voice."

"Isabella's?"

Who was Isabella?

I am. They think they can name me. Fools. They don't know who we are. They don't understand.

"I think so. It's hard to tell."

Listen to how they talk of you. Like you aren't here. We shouldn't be here.

I struggled out of Edward's embrace and stood with my hands over my ears. "Stop it, please stop it," I implored the cruel voice in my mind.

"Step away from her, Edward. Alice, come here."

I looked up and saw Edward's desperate face. He was standing with his arms extended as if he was about to embrace me again.

That or to grab you so they can hurt you.

"He won't hurt me!"

"That's right, Bella. No one is going to hurt you." Edward spoke in a soothing tone, as if dealing with a scared animal threatening to bolt.

Bolt! the voice commanded. Get away from them.

"Bella, listen to me," Edward said in a commanding tone. I tried to obey, but the voice was growing more strident by the second.

Get away from here. Take us back to the jungle.

"No, Bella. Don't listen. It's lying to you. None of us will hurt you. We love you. Listen to my voice, not hers. She lies. I don't lie to you."

You're not good for me.

"That wasn't a lie. I am not good for him. See what I do!"

Yes! The voice was a jubilant hiss. You are no good for him. You have to get away to protect him.

"Please don't go, Bella. Don't leave me again."

We never left him. He left us. Remember Victoria. Remember what she did because he left us.

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you. I thought you were safe."

See how well that worked out. Now we are trapped here by them. We can't get away.

"Jasper, get away from her. You're scaring her."

Through my confusion, I saw that they had encircled me. There were many faces staring in at me, seeing me fall apart.

"Damnit, everyone get back now!" Edward commanded.

The faces moved away, but they did not go. I was still trapped.

They are going to hurt you. Remember what they did.

Now a rush of memories swept through me. The voices that had spoken to me, taunting me with their words. Carlisle's voice as he told me of Edward death echoed in my ears. I couldn't bear to hear it all again. Then there were new memories. Lying on the ground as I burned and voices spoke around me.

No. Don't listen. It's not real.

But I had to listen. It was as if the memories that lay on the surface were jumping out at me, forcing me to see them for what they were.

"They are lies," I said with dawning realization.

"That's right, Bella," Edward said, affirming my belief. "The voice isn't real. I am real. We are all real."

"What's she doing?"

"She's doubting the voices. I think we can break the delusion. Jasper, what do you feel from her?"

"It's too chaotic to make sense of. She is scared, but she's fighting it."

I squeezed my eyes shut to concentrate only on the memories. Jasper's voice spoke to me through the haze. "What happened next, Bella?"

"She's remembering." Edward's voice broke through the haze scattering my train of thought.

They don't want you to know the truth.

"They don't?"

No, they want you to be weak. I make us strong. Move aside and let me take over. It's just like going to sleep.

"No, Bella, please don't leave me. I don't want you weak. I swear."

But if he didn't want me weak, what did he want? Should I move aside and let the voice take over. She was strong. She was what Edward needed.

"No!" Edward howled. "Fight it, Bella, fight the voice."

But he wanted the strong me.

"I want you. All I have ever wanted was you."

Let me through, and I will make him happy. It's me he needs.

I felt myself giving in to the voice.

"Damnit, Edward, what's happening to her?"

"I think we're losing her."

Things were becoming muffled now.

"I am so sorry about this Bella," Jasper said.

There was a growl. "No!"

"Then you do it."

"I…I can't."

Warm hands gripped my face, and I forced my eyes open. Edward looked at me with desperation in his eyes. "Please, Bella. Don't make me do this."

"I can't stop her!" I moaned. "She's too strong."

He's going to hurt you.

The voice was right. Edward ducked his face to my neck as if to kiss me. Then there was a searing pain and a burning as he sank his teeth into my neck.

The pain was intense, and it brought everything into sharp focus. The voice was silent and my mind raced.

"Edward, what happened to me?"