Thanks for your patience with the hiatus.

Continuing this story means so much to me as it's full version has resided in my head for years.

Depression, work, house hunting, (finally) home owning and becoming a dog mom took precedence over my life for a little bit. But don't worry. We're back and I don't intend to leave you hanging for quite so long again. 3 more chapters for my vision to unfold. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing. Here's to one of three.

- redeyedwriter

Edward

For the first time in months, I saw Bella in my dreams again. They were unlike my usual nightly musings, where my mind chose to replay memories of our rather uneventful days or blurs of our passionate nights together.

This was the calamitous side of my slumber, the never ending nightmares that plagued me prior to meeting the Bella I knew.

I claustrophobic as soon as I opened my eyes in this dream. The sterile environment was all too familiar, the flickering fluorescent lighting, dull steel walls, and metal table reminded me of pain. Of suffering. Of death.

I was in the test lab again.

Sure enough, a hospital gown-clad Bella stared at me from the table. She was conscious this time, staring intently at me. The distance between us was penetrated easily by her piercing red eyes and I gulped involuntarily.

My heart raced at the sight of sheer danger sheathed in the body of an ethereal woman with a gelid expression. Her high cheeks bones and arched brows were unmistakable, though she looked more sallow than the Bella I knew.

"It's you." I whispered, my voice sounded hollow. I knew she was well aware of my trepidation. She wordlessly tilted a flawless chin at me and my pulse stuttered nervously in response. My eyes flickered to the ceiling for just a moment, waiting to see if a river of blood would come down in torrents to drown me this time, too.

It's just a dream, Edward. Calm down.

I forced myself to breathe in twice.

She can't hurt you.

"Edward. Come." She demanded in lieu of a greeting.

Come? Where?

I looked around at our surroundings. We were in the smaller test lab with the table and double sided glass, as usual. I was against one side of the room and she was on the other.

"Where?" I asked dumbfounded, looking once more around me.

"Come closer." She smiled a wide smile that didn't quite touch the edges of her crimson eyes.

Is she drooling?

I nodded and knew better than to act avant garde. Obeying, I took a single, cautious step closer to her side of the room. Despite the calculated inching of my footstep, I found myself mere inches away from piercing red eyes. It was as if the floor had become a game board and moved me like a pawn on a chessboard, facing me up to a ruthless queen. Her eyes bored into me and the corner of her lip twitched up, in a smirk.

She can move me in this dream?

My breath came quicker now, despite the cold and sterile room I could feel sweat beading on my brow. She sniffed at the air, as if I had given off a potent perfume.

"You're afraid." She chuckled but it was empty, void of feeling. "You don't want me to eat you."

"I'm not afraid of that." I spoke up as if I had no filter, and I widened my eyes, surprised by how brazen I was before her.

I wouldn't regret dying for Bella. That's the truth.

"Oh that's not it. No." She gleamed in realization. "You're afraid you fell for her, and that 'Bella' was too good to be true?" My lack of answer confirmed all she needed to know. She laughed this time before the corners of her mouth sagged, and her mouth suddenly looked like a dramatic frown that made me want to shiver out of my spine just to get away from this horrific version of Bella. I lurched back and she narrowed her eyes at me in distaste.

Bella's blood red irises were replaced with soulless eyes so dark no light could reflect off of them. The blackness in her eyes grew until the whites of her eyes disappeared, pitch black swallowed her eyes whole and a river of purple veins began to color the porcelain skin beneath her eyes. Her teeth expanded twice its length, a sickening crackling sounded from her jaw as it accommodated the monstrous teeth. Her voice sounded distorted as it growled from her throat. She hissed,

"You already bit the bait. It's too late. You've already sunk."

Before I could say anything in response, she had placed either one of her long hands on the sides of my head. The sensation of her icy fingers lasted for only a moment before I heard the dreadful snap and felt the pain associated with it. I saw her grin before my dismembered head fell to the ground. I bounced off the floor with just enough time to watch my own headless body spouting blood crumple to the floor.

I woke with a start and rolled over in bed, finding the sheets twisted around me, as if I'd been restless. I pinched between my eyes at the dull headache that throbbed at my temple.

No shit, Sherlock. Restless is an understatement.

Who are you kidding?

I stretched my sore upper body once in the dark room, hearing deep set cracks of protest, grimly reminding me of the events of yesterday.

Demetri abducting me after baseball practice.

Having a knife pushed at my throat.

Bella turning in front of me.

Fighting so many people at once.

Watching her snap Demetri's head off.

Seeing her body quake when she realized what she'd done.

Fuck.

I propped myself up on an elbow and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I was tempted to settle back into slumber—I felt considerably exhausted compared to prior to resting—but I sighed and forced my eyes open instead.

No, you know that's not it. I'm forcing myself to open my eyes to reality.

There's nowhere to run.

I looked over to my left, so relieved to see Bella by my side.

Even now, after everything I've seen, she's still so beautiful.

My heart fluttered at the sight of her, remembering the first time we'd met. When her black eyes glared at me from behind her hair, like a caged animal.

The memory faded into her fainting outside of biology, and feeling so excited when her arms around my neck gripped me tighter. I vividly recalled the first dinner we shared, seeing her laugh for the first time in candle light. Then came the memories from yesterday, our frantic need for love making. The sensation of her bare skin beneath my lips, hearing her delicate moans and watching her pupils dilate ever so slightly as she orgasmed..

I could lose myself in just memories of her. I blinked and that moment was over, I was back to the present.

In the gloomy morning light, Bella lay unnaturally still in bed. She stared blankly at the ceiling. Her slender frame was swimming in my discarded T-shirt from last night. I frowned, knowing she only wore my shirts for comfort when she was most distraught.

Onyxes of eyes were trained on memories I couldn't see, flickering back and forth as she thought and calculated. I was unsurprised to see Bella's dark eyes red rimmed, as if she hadn't slept all night. Her eyes were focused, despite the dismal amount of light that leaked through the shutters.

"Good morning." I murmured, wearily.

I wonder if this is the last time I'll her that.

I took her hand gently in mine. I found myself admiring the softness and smoothness of her colorless fingers as if it were the first time.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it instead. She wordlessly squeezed my hand and I knew she was thinking the same thing as me.

Volt was inevitably going to catch up to us.

"Let's get up." She said softly, in lieu of a salutation. I wordlessly complied.

We didn't have time.

Given Fork's small population, the... "events" that happened yesterday that now aired on national news had everyone shell shocked. Volt was suddenly a trending topic on all internet search engines, and every news article's online comment section was flooded with conspiracy theories, strangers mourning Demetri's violent end, and citizens questioning terrorism, hinting at another war.

Despite the many angry phone calls the school had received from parents after hearing there was a man who was decapitated on school property, school was still in session today.

We dressed in silence, knowing there was so little to say when you knew you only had a few more precious moments to share together; you didn't want to disturb that with nonsensical sentiments of transience or worse, complaints.

My mom practically crushed us to death in her grasp as she hugged us goodbye. I told her as soothingly as I could that everything was fine, but I didn't discount her smothering or worse, insult her for it. I couldn't lie to her like that, I'd always liked how Esme fluttered about as she mothered.

I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened and I never saw her again.

We were carpooling today for our safety, (as if safety in numbers meant much against an entire team of rogue scientists hunting you down.)

At the sound of Jasper's van honking, I finally had a valid reason to excuse myself. I gently pulled Esme's hands away, bitterly and gratefully tearing myself away from my mother's grasp. She grappled at Bella instead and I sighed, gave her a minute before offering a gentle reminder that we had to go, or we'd be late. I took Bella's hand and a deep breath in as I opened the front door.

Jasper's "soccer mom van" sat in the driveway, ignition on. It was a welcome sight.

I gave a tight lipped smile to Jasper, who sat in the driver's seat. He returned one back. So did Emmett, in the passenger seat beside him. His usual boisterous grin was muted down to an uncharacteristic thin curve of his lip. The sympathy was clear on their faces and I found myself feeling soothed by their wordless affirmations for just a moment.

I could see that Rose and Alice sat in the back, they were ushering Bella to sit between them. Only after she did so, I tucked my long limbs into the middle and we began our ride. We joked to ourselves that carpooling was for fun but we all knew better than that. It was the welcome elephant in the room, and the breaking of ice to introduce our next topic of inevitably looming conversation. The plan.

We began with fact checking.

Fact: Luckily for us and unluckily for the school, the storage space had no security cameras, as there wasn't anything worth taking located inside.

That was certainly a relief off of shoulders. All they knew was a man who was identified as Demetri Kolmek, one of the core founders of the VOLTURI Incorporated was found dead on our grounds.

Fact: everyone would try to solve this "mystery." Both amateurs and professionals alike. We agreed it was viral to speak only when spoken to in school and stick to our alibis. We carefully constructed and reconstructed the falsified details of our evening, including who went home at what time and did what after leaving to ensure our stories were straight amongst ourselves.

Last but not least. The gravest fact: Bella would be hunted down by Volt again and was in imminent danger. We unanimously agreed that one of us would stay by Bella at all times, creating a schedule for Bella to be escorted by one of us at all times until the handoff to the next person. I was weary and honestly skeptical of any of us stopping Volt from hurting Bella, but perhaps they were smarter than to try something in the eyes of a closely-watching witness.

We agreed that all that needed to be discussed was concluded and our conversation fizzled out. The rest of the ride was met with silence, save for the occasional nervous thrumming of Emmett's fingers on the dashboard.

Even Alice who was usually an annoyingly optimistic morning person was mumbling that she had a bad feeling, even before we even turned onto school grounds. None of us commented but the silence left the obvious answer unsaid, but spoken for.

We had no choice but to be here.

Anyone absent today could be considered suspicious, could automatically be questioned regarding the murder. The less anyone heard from us the better. We had to stay to feign Bella's innocence.

School grounds were emptier than usual, police cars parked in front of the schools replaced many of the cars that students would have driven in. We parked farthest from the authorities and walked in silence into the building.

The halls proved strangely quiet, save for a few murmurs towards those in the baseball team. Apparently since the accident had happened on our storage property, naturally, one of us were the confirmed murderers.

I mean, technically they're not wrong, but the logic here is questionable.

It made no sense to any of us, but between Jasper, Emmett, and I, we were glad for the senseless rumors, as long as Bella was not involved.

It was incredible to watch rumors spread like a pandemic, a disease that couldn't be stopped and ravaged every person it came in contact with. It was practically airborne at this rate, the obsession that everyone had over "solving" this murder. I internally cringed at the word...

It was an accident. Not a murder.

Some suggested that our pitcher, Tyler had done it because he was upset about his previous ploss on the field. It didn't help matters that he was so outraged by this accusation that he began pointing fingers at someone else on the team. Emmett and I were in PE, no longer than 15 minutes into first period, a fist was swung.

"Hey!" Emmett boomed to the side of the courts. "Break it up!" He pulled a swinging Tyler off of a triggered Eric Yorkie as if he were a peel off sticker and swatted him away. "What the fuck, Tyler? You know the team is already--" I tuned out the rest of his lecture as I looked to the clock in dismay.

We didn't even make the first period without an incident of some sort.

Because Emmett and I were the captains of the baseball team, the gym teacher held it to us to ensure an apology was ensued and to make a statement to the school that we had no knowledge of anything happening. Emmett and I looked at each other, knowing we couldn't say no, and we gathered the baseball team for the assembly that was scheduled.

Second period was replaced with an assembly and I found myself looking at the clock again in dismay.

God. This day will never end.

I periodically listened to the half-assed apology Tyler Crowley made to the school for accusing Eric Yorkie all morning of murdering and decapitating the trespasser. I was in agony just waiting for Tyler to pass the microphone to Emmett or I just to get this over with.

The students staring back at us had expressions mixed with excitement about the fight, a rolling of eyes at Tyler's feigned antics, fear and uncertainty were present also.

I forced myself my eyes to stay out, and to not flicker towards Bella though I knew exactly where she was in my peripheral vision. It looked as if she was holding hands with Alice and I breathed a sigh of relief and looked away. I gravely feared for her safety, but any ounce of attention on her could prove detrimental right now.

Tyler thankfully pushed the microphone to Emmett instead of me.

Emmett showed great composure and sportsmanship as usual, and used his charm to cheer up the entire auditorium. The faces in the audiences immediately softened, as if they were under a spell.

I sighed dismally.

If only it could work on me, too.

Edward

I was on third Bella watch as we shared biology together after the emergency assembly. Though Bella appeared to be an attentive student outwardly, her eyes on the white board were unfocused, the pen she held in her hand didn't move once and simply hovered over the empty page of her notebook.

I noticed that since this morning that her eyes had darkened from a dark umber to a pitch black color; it made me wonder if she was uncomfortable from more than just what had happened with Demetri.

What properties does blood hold for Bella? And more importantly, how long do the effects of it remain in her system?

Based on the circles beneath her eyes and how her breaths were particularly shallow around me, I could see that she was suffering.

And even worse, that I was the cause of it.

I knew better than to ask if she was okay. Instead, I brushed the back of her fist with my knuckles.

Bella jolted from the contact; she really was in another world. She arched her eyebrows, and mouthed "what" at me.

I scribbled a note on my sheet of paper.

"Your eyes are dark. When was the last time you fed?"

Her eyes raced across my illegible handwriting before she scribbled back

"I had a rabbit just yesterday."

"Not the same, I'm sure that's a vegetarian diet." She stated at my note and didn't respond to my ill-times humor, so I scribbled another note. Straight to the point this time.

"You can feed off of me, anytime you need."

I pushed the lined folder paper towards her. Bella read over it and her eyebrow flickered once. She crushed the paper in her fist, balling it up in her long fingers before shooting it spot-on into the trash can in the back of the classroom. I found myself involuntarily raising my brows.

Well that went successfully. You can't say I didn't try.

The bell rang and Bella stood, immediately gathering her things.

"Bella," I tried again, I was surprised to hear a note of tension in my voice. "You're being stubborn. We should talk about this, you need to be at your strongest. You being at your strongest would be the most mutually beneficial option--"

Bella said nothing but sent an icy glare in my direction that was enough to silence me. Her bag was slung over her shoulder and her fingers that wrapped around the strap were white from pressure.

"I don't have time for this." She snapped. "If you are ready to leave?" She suggested without any room for disagreement and I sighed from gritted teeth.

I'll try again later.

I begrudgingly picked up my bag and followed her out of the door into the hallway, grabbing her hand before she could leave the classroom. To anyone else, it likely didnt appear to be much more than me clasping her hand affectionately.

But to me, I felt as though a hole would open up on the floor and swallow her whole, if I wasn't quick enough to catch her hand. I pulled her hand back gently, pushing her behind me as I I took a deep breath and let it out silently, not wanting to let Bella know the weight that sat on my shoulders.

I want to protect her so badly.

My mind spiraled out of control as I thought about the multiple ways Volt could possibly have the upper hand on Bella. They could poison her again, with the black fluid they'd stabbed her with in the alley. They could catch her off guard with silver… what if they lace her food with it? I was now left questioning Volt's capabilities.

It's not the first time they're tried to take her out... nor the second.

I felt extremely uneasy as Bella let go of my hand as she approached the lockers and turned the knob on the combination swiftly with her elegant fingers. She removed the lock, and opened the door to her locker as usual.

However, this time she froze, standing inhumanly still without breathing. The forgotten lock fell to the floor with a metallic clang but Bella's face remained unresponsive, her already snow-white skin turned ashy, a skull white as she stared into the shelving of the red locker.

I couldn't see into the narrow space from behind her.

"Bella, what is it?" I breathed anxiously. Her shaking hand pulled out a silver cuff placed on the shelf with the stamped inscription, 1906. I stared at the numbers, dumbfounded.

1906.

It was the same cuff that I'd seen in vision in my dreams of her, and in person on the ground in the alleyway, during our first attack from the Volturi. I remembered the cuff was twisted at the time.

Today, the cuff was fixed. The metal that Bella had broken away was now perfectly smooth, there was an ominous glint to it that the fluorescent lights above danced on.

"How?" I whispered in disbelief, looking in both directions at the busy hallway. I didn't know what I was looking for, men in suits, or perhaps a student.

How did they get so close without our notice?

How did they know the combination to her lock to plant her metal cuff?

When could they have done it?

My mind raced through the multiple possibilities and worked backwards to track the timing.

Bella hadn't opened her locker yet today, not since yesterday morning. Which indicated they'd been watching closely prior to today, prior to Demetri being beheaded. A chill trembled down my spine at the thought of Volt watching us without our notice, so closely. The spy could've been a student for all we knew.

That meant no one around us could be trusted.

I felt as though my world was leeched of coor. Bella was right. She was right all along.

I now understood the fear in Bella's every sentence, the apprehension of her every move. They were always there, watching. I was the one who had underestimated Volt's power in its' full capacity.

The tracker being removed did nothing.

Bella was trying to tell me all this time and all I'd done was reassure her she was fine.

My stomach sank in guilt when I remembered the paranoia Bella used to experience. Flashes of her eyes widened in fear rained in my mind and I felt guilt roll in my stomach as I continued reassuring Bella of her safety. Who was I to guarantee her safety? To lie to her face, when she was right all along. They were watching and always had been.

The only question I couldn't fathom was again, how. And why.

"This belonged to me. They're here." Bella murmured. Her tone sounded dead, defeated. I wished now, more than ever to read her mind.

I put an arm around her shoulder, not knowing what to say.

My emotions were turbulent, as my sorrow turned to rage. When I thought back to the dreams I had of Bella, in her white hospital gown with the cuff around her wrist. It occurred to me now that this silver bracelet could have been made of silver intentionally created to weaken the wearer.

My imagination conjured an image as vivid as a memory. A young Bella standing before Volt in a room full of young children, a facilitator was shackling her as if she were nothing more than property to them, like cattle. Bella was as she was now, only much smaller and in a hospital gown. Had eyes which were still emotive at the time widened in disbelief up at the alabaster man who looked down at her with a sinister smile as the resounding clink sounded from the cuff.

The thought made my blood boil and I forced myself to take deep breaths, staying focused on my surroundings. I pulled Bella closer to me.

Bella shakily pulled another object from her locker. It was a folded piece of thick card stock that was placed beneath the silver cuff. There was a grey watermark in a strangely cryptic script, VOLTURI LABORATORIES. A blood colored wax seal held it together with a large, pointed V.

Bella was not breathing as she took the note in hand. She appeared numb and light years away, staring past the lockers and deep into the recesses of her mind.

"Give it to me," I urged gently, taking the note from her hand. I was surprised to see it was handwritten, in elegant script.

"Return to Volt, from the east entrance. Tonight at ten pm. Come alone. Do not bring E, he is not needed. No one needs to be hurt."

I swallowed hard, feeling my heart drumming in my chest.

This was a threat.

My mind scattered to try to clumsily put the message together to process it.

'E'? E stands for Edward, obviously.

I shouldn't be shocked to know that they know who I am. Albeit, it is frightening.

What else do they know about me?

Something that I don't?

I shifted my weight in discomfort and my hand on Bella's shoulder tightened. I searched the dark pools of her eyes, they were glassy with unshed tears. I put my other hand around her soft cheek, cupping her in my hands.

"Bella, listen to me, today, for the rest of the day, we are sticking together. I am not leaving your sight. Do not go anywhere without me today. Not even to the restroom. We don't know where they'll be hiding." She said nothing, barely offered a nod. Her hair made a curtain between us, and I was reminded of the first day we met, where we were so close to each other but the barrier created was palpable.

The only difference was that now, we were both so close but we were afraid to be pulled apart.

Thanks very much for reading. Please let me know if you have any comments or even critiques, all are welcomed. Thanks kindly!