A/N- Hi lovelies! Here's an update for you! We're starting to get into some heavy stuff! Enjoy. :)

To all my constant reviewers, I LOVE YOU! You're why I keep writing!

-Mel

Bella

I don't know how she's managed to have this much of an effect on me, but I just needed to get away!

I'm surprised that I've managed to stay upright as I jog through the woods, especially with my backpack slapping against my back uncomfortably.

Alice's and my conversation got to me in more ways than I could handle at the time, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit there trying to keep my emotions in check while she evokes them from me. And she evokes them from my so easily, like it's in her DNA to make it that easy for people.

I start to feel the uncomfortable burn in my legs that tells me that I need to rest, so I slow my pace to a steady walk, but I don't stop. I'm heading deeper and deeper into the woods, without any sense of where this will end, or if it even does. I'm too lost in my thoughts and in the tears that I did not register were streaming down my cheeks until now. I wipe at my face roughly, but it's no use; now that they've started, it will be hard getting them to stop again.

A sob breaks from my chest seconds later, and I fall to my knees exhausted from the events of the last several days. From all the emotions that I've spent months, no years, keeping hidden away, only to have this tiny, pixie like girl rip them open in a matter of hours. I'm so angry at myself for letting this happen that I slam my fist into the ground, only to wince as the pain registers in my already fractured wrist. I scream at the top of my lungs, not knowing what else to do to let go of the growing frustration in my body.

I wipe my damp face once more before pushing myself up and turn to start heading back towards the school. Only, I'm unsure of exactly which way I came from and I don't see that I've left any footprints behind to follow. I sink to my knees once more and give up on trying to fight the emotions. I tuck my knees under my chin as sob after sob escapes my throat and tears blur my vision. I feel the rain starting to penetrate through the trees even more, beginning to soak my clothes, but I don't have the energy to care. I just want to feel numb again, hopefully the cold rain will make that happen.

I can feel my body trembling from the chilly atmosphere, but I don't have the self-perseverance to pull myself up and attempt to find my way out of the woods. I don't know how long I sit there in the rain crying, but eventually the emotional exhaustion and my lack of caring win over completely and I pass out.

I feel myself moving sometime later, but I am unsure of whether I'm dreaming. I cannot hold my eyes open for very long, but every time they flutter I see what appears to be the forest flying by me at an almost dizzying rate, so I choose to close them again, thinking to myself that this is a strange dream. It's then, however, that I start to register the strong arms holding me around my back and under my knees. I can feel myself shivering, and I attempt to open my eyes one more time to look up into my rescuers face. All I register is a warm golden hue before my exhaustion drags me back into unconsciousness.

-X-

When I wake again, I'm in a room lit only by the dying fire that is a few feet from where I am lying. It takes my eyes a couple minutes to adjust to my surroundings, but when they do, I do not recognize where I am. I begin to adjust my head to look around, only to realize that I am wrapped up tightly in something, but I am not without escape as I wiggle my hands free and feel around. I am wrapped up in a thick wool blanket, and when I look at my immediate surroundings, I see that I am lying on a fancy, silver gleaming couch and my backpack sits on the ground in front of it. Further examination of the room leads me to find that I am surround by windows and that it is dark outside.

What time is it? I think to myself as I slowly sit up. My eyes feel swollen and my throat feels scratchy, but what hits me next is much worse: nausea. I close my eyes and try breathing in and out slowly, but it's no help. I look around quickly and find a small waste basket a few feet away from me and rush to it, tripping over the warm blanket as I do so. I think to myself that this is the fanciest waste basket I have ever seen, and then I empty the contents of my stomach into it. Not much actually emerges since it has been hours since I've eaten, but a handful of dry heaves follow it until I'm left sitting on the floor panting.

It is then that I hear the door, which I've yet to locate, open and a soft, familiar voice calls out to me.

"Are you ok, Isabella?" Alice asks me quietly. She is still across the room from me, standing with her back to the door, looking almost nervous to approach me.

I don't know how to answer her. In fact, I have more questions than answers forming in my mind right now. Before I get a chance to ask any of them though, another dry heave makes its way past my throat and I lower my head back towards the waste basket. Alice is at my side in an instant, and I feel the uncertain weight of her hand on my back. Her other hand comes to my forehead, her fingers just barely touching my skin, but I can feel how icy they are.

"You're burning up." She states worriedly, "I need to get you out of this blanket."

"No." I mutter to her, pulling it tighter to me as I register just how cold I do feel.

"Isabella, you're running a fever, you can't stay wrapped up in this heavy of a blanket." She tells me, grabbing at the blanket clutched tightly in my hands.

"Why do you even care?" I snap, but it sounds barely more than a whisper in my tired state.

Alice stops fighting me for a moment and considers my question, her eyes penetrating my blank stare. "Why does it upset you that I do?" She asks me a moment later.

I don't answer her, instead my head gets heavy and I feel myself sway where I sit, Alice's concerned expression becoming the only thing I can see as my vision begins to black out.

"Isabella?" I hear Alice's worried voice call, "Isabella, wake up!" She says to me, causing me to blink and try to focus on her.

It's becoming increasingly more difficult to see her as the black spots cloud more and more of my sight. My mind grows foggy with exhaustion, but I hear Alice call for her father, Carlisle.

"I think she's going into shock. She's running a fever." She begins saying, and in my foggy haze I realize that her father must have arrived already. That was fast.

"We need to get her into a cool bath, go and prepare it now Alice." He tells her quickly.

I feel him lift my heavy shoulders away from the ground and pull the blanket away from my now weak fingers. I feel him lift me in one swift movement, and I completely black out as my head hits his chest.

-X-

I wake to the sounds of a hushed argument, but I cannot make out what is being said. I let my eyes adjust to the barely lit room and find two people standing at a door, frustration etched into both of their faces as their argument continues for another moment, before the bronze haired boy walks away and I see Alice's shoulders slump dejectedly.

I'm not entirely sure what has happened, or how I ended up here, in what I can only assume to be Alice's room. I wrack my brain and try to piece together the events of last night. The first thing that comes to mind is running through the woods. That memory is quickly overlapped by a different image of me running through the woods, only this time at an alarming rate. I'm extremely confused by this, unsure if I'm recalling a dream or reality, but my memory is too hazy to be sure. Next I remember being deep in the woods and crying, and I remember Alice telling me I had a fever, but that's it. I don't remember much else.

Alice's gaze turns to meet mine, and the sadness in her face is erased almost immediately and a small smile takes residence on her full lips.

"You're awake." She says softly, biting her lip.

"How long have I been asleep?" I ask, my voice sounding raspy, my throat aching when I speak. I sit up slowly; my body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.

"About 18 hours give or take. You woke up a few different times to vomit, but you were back to sleep so quickly, I don't think you registered being awake." She explains gently, her forehead etched with worry.

I don't like seeing her sad. I think to myself.

"What happened?" I rasp. I attempt to swallow but my mouth is too dry, probably from the vomiting she mentioned.

"You don't remember anything?" She asks quietly, like she's unsure what to tell me.

I shake my head, "not much really. Just running, and rain." I decide to forgo the crying part. "The rest is pretty hazy."

"You got yourself lost in the woods." I watch as she hesitates, like she's debating how she wants to phrase her next statement. "You ran away from me during lunch. When you didn't show up to Poetry class after that, I went looking for you. I found you hours later, deep in the woods, soaking wet and unconscious. I don't know how you managed to get as far as you did, but I was glad to have found you unharmed." There is obvious worry creasing her porcelain face and I feel my stomach twitch, only this time, not from nausea.

Then something she said registers in my mind. "You found me?" I ask her confused.

"Yes, Isabella, haven't you been listening?" She says quickly, clearly upset with me.

I nod, feeling scolded, but recover and continue with where I was going with this. "How did you get me back here then? You're much smaller than I am." I ask her confounded.

All emotion falls from Alice's face, and she stands stone still, not even blinking.

It's then that I'm hit with another hazy memory, or dream, I'm unsure of which. Strong arms wrapped around my body and golden eyes staring down at me worriedly. The forest flying by me in a blur. That wasn't a dream!

I jump up from where I'm sitting, suddenly needing to put as much distance between me and this unearthly girl as I possibly can.

This seems to snap Alice out of her stupor, and she takes a step toward where I now stand on the opposite side of the room. "Isabella?" she just barely whispers, her face appearing so sad, but I cannot fathom why.

"Stay away from me!" I demand, but my voice cracks under the weight of her gaze. "I don't know what you are, or what you want from me…" I start, and push myself up against a window as she takes another small step toward me.

"I don't want anything from you!" She pleads earnestly.

"I want to go home. Just let me go." I can feel my voice shaking with fear, but her eyes are peering so desperately into mine, that I must fight to keep my resolve from crumbling.

"You are not a prisoner here." Comes her broken response, and she finally breaks our gaze.

"Ok…" I start to say, when suddenly my head swims with dizziness. This causes my head to bump the glass just hard enough for me to wince.

"You should really be resting." Alice reaches for me again, but stops when she sees my attempt to retreat once more. "I will take you home to rest if you'd like, but at least here Carlisle can keep an eye on you." She tells me, her sadness replaced with concern once more. "He believes you had a mild form of hypothermia last night. It caused you to have a bad fever and you went into shock. Your body needs to rest." She explains to me.

I can only nod, as I begin to see through tunnel vision, holding my head in my hands, trying to control my breathing. "I need to sit down," is all I can manage, as I take a few uneven steps back towards the chair I had been resting on moments before.

I feel Alice's cool hands steady me, and this time I don't resist, realizing for the moment that she is only trying to help me. Promising myself that when this is over, I will get more answers from her.

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know when you're feeling better." She murmurs to me as she gets me settled back under the blanket.

I'm unsure if I said something out loud to merit her response, but I nod anyways and continue to work on my breathing, willing my head to stop spinning.

I hear Alice start to hum a melody I've never heard, and before I know it, I'm drifting off to sleep listening to her.

-X-

My eyes flutter open, blinking away the sleep. I stretch and sit up slowly, testing my body to see how I'm feeling. I don't feel any dizziness, which is a good sign. The events of last night come to mind, causing me to look around quickly to see if I'm alone.

I'm surprised to find that I'm in my own room, in my own bed. I sigh unevenly and press my palms into my eyes. Did last night really happen? There's no way.

I grab my phone off my night stand, but find that it is dead. I lean over the side of the bed, feeling around for the charger, before plugging it in and setting it down.

It had to have been a dream. There's no way a tiny person like Alice carried me. I say to myself, disbelieving even the possibility.

I can see the morning sun just beginning to peek through the trees, casting a relaxing glow through the window blinds. I swing my feet over the side of the bed and roll my neck; it feels stiff. I stand, wobbling a little, but regain my balance and head towards my bedroom door, needing the bathroom.

As I step out into the hallway, Charlie and I nearly plow into one another. I shrink back against my closed door, startled by the near collision.

We stand awkwardly silent for a moment before I hear him clear his throat.

"Leave a note the next time you decide to be gone for 2 days." He says harshly before turning and heading down the stairs.

Two days? It wasn't a dream?

I rub at the tension throbbing in my neck and walk into the bathroom. A hot shower might help.

When I've finished cleaning myself up I head downstairs to eat something. I know that I've certainly not eaten since the other morning that I sat here eating breakfast while… Alice sat there watching me.

I sit down at the table, my mind going a mile a minute. I cannot seem to convince myself to believe one thing or another. Everything that has happened just doesn't make any sense.

How did I even get home? Did she carry me here too? My stomach churns with anxiety and my appetite is swept away with it.

I leave the kitchen and head back upstairs. I suddenly feel like I need to rip my room apart, to find any answer to the thousands of questions swimming in my mind.

I rummage through everything. I tear through my backpack, search all my dresser drawers, I even check the window to see if it's locked. Looking for any clue, any explanation of the last several days. But I find nothing. I slump on the floor under the window, feeling the edges of a panic attack creeping into my chest. I remind myself to breathe, coach myself through the tightening in my chest.

I am not insane. I repeat like a mantra in my head. I sit for as long as it takes for the tightening in my chest to subside, and for my breathing to feel normal again.

I lift myself off the floor and run my hands through my hair. What day is it today? I suddenly realize that I have no clue.

I turn to where I left my phone sitting on the bedside and turn it on. It boots up after a minute and I see that I have a text message waiting for me.

It's from an unknown number and it reads: "I'm sorry."

I sigh heavily and erase the message. I look at the home screen and see that it says it is 7:00am on Friday morning. There's no way I'm going to school today.

I toss my phone onto the bed and then climb under the sheets myself. I feel the weight of my emotions dragging my eyes closed minutes later, and I don't fight it. Sleeping is currently better than dealing with all of this while I'm awake.