Two weeks. That's how long I've been down here chained to this wall. At least, I think it's been two weeks. I've been trying to keep track of the days, but my only indications are the change in light through that small window.

My wrists are red and bruised from trying everything I could possibly think of to getting out of these, squeezing my hands out, chewing on the metal, and even just plain yanking it as hard as I could. That one hurt the most. Not to mention, every time I moved, the rusted metal rubbed against my skin, and my wrists would occasionally start bleeding.

I tried to clean off as much of the blood as I could every time the guards would bring me water, but it was more important to drink it than use it for other things. Especially now that the meals were becoming further apart, sometimes only twice a day and the portions have significantly reduced.

I could feel myself getting weaker, and my dress hung on my shoulders, too big for my shrinking frame. I didn't realize how quickly I would lose weight. Jasper hadn't come back either. With how he had acted, I had hoped he would at least try to sneak down here, or something, but he hasn't. Not that I can blame him.

The only visitors I have down here are the guards that bring me food or water and my father, who ventures down here every day just long enough to remind me how disappointed he is, giving me a few more physical reminders so I don't forget. In the last couple of days, he's been avoiding my face, saying he doesn't want anyone asking questions at the wedding. So I guess that's still happening then. That means he would let me out of here eventually. But neither option, staying down here, or marrying Jacob, seemed to be ideal.

I'm leaning against the cold stone, waiting for something, anything to happen. That's all there is to do now. Wait. I try to tell myself stories, or remember time with my mom, or even Edward, but even those were getting hard to hold on to. The only tangible memory is the note that I keep in my pocket. I've found sleep to be the best and easiest way to pass the time, but I've started waking up to terrible nightmares of other people being hurt by my father because of me. Sometimes it's Jasper, or Angela, or Emmet, but more often than not, it's Edward.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts when the door opens. By the speed and weight of the steps, I can already tell it's my father. I brace myself, hoping his anger is more verbal today, but by the way his hand is already shaking with the knife in his hand, I know that won't be the case.

I square my shoulders, refusing to cower to him. He could try all he wanted, but he wouldn't break my spirit, or my soul. It wasn't his to break.

"I heard you talk in your sleep," he says, narrowing his eyes. "You said his name."

He stalks closer. He was upset over something I did in my sleep. Something I had no control over. It was then that I finally realized that I will never win with him. Nothing I do will ever be right in his eyes, and he will always be looking for something to berate me over.

He crouches, digging the knife into the flesh of my leg. I hiss in pain, trying to pull away, but he doesn't let up, dragging it before lifting and moving to another spot.

"You chose that…that…lowlife over us! Over your kingdom! You have disgraced me, your brother, and Jacob. Well, since he means so much to you, now you can have a permanent reminder of him," he sneered, finally lifting the knife. I let myself drop my head to look at the bloody mess on my leg. He had carved four lines to make it look like an "E," all jagged and barely visible with the amount of blood that was now pooling on my leg, dripping onto the ground.

"There," he says, looking over his work. And just for good measure, he brings up his boot, pushing into the cut. I feel my vision starting to go black from the pain, and the nausea is so overpowering I'm struggling to keep down whatever food is in my stomach.

He laughs at my obvious pain, spitting in my face. "Pathetic." He kicks me to the side, and I fall face first onto the cold hard ground, my arms held up by the chains.

"I'll let Jacob have his time when he arrives in a week," my father comments. He nods to the guard waiting for him on the stairs and he slides my tray over before they both leave me crumpled on the floor.

These cuts are deeper than any of his previous ones. They seem to be getting progressively worse and I was terrified that he would go too far before I could get out of here.

I press the fabric of my already blood soaked dress as hard as I can against the still flowing wound on my leg to try to stop the bleeding. My head is spinning and my vision blurs but I focus on breathing. I'm still so nauseous I can't even think about eating but I manage to gulp down all the water.

I was starting to stare off into space, and I'm not sure how long I was until the door opens again. It can't be the guard so soon again, can it? Has it already been that long? It was starting to get darker outside, but if yesterday was anything to go by, they shouldn't be back until the morning.

The only other possibility is that it's my father coming back for another round. He hasn't ever come down here twice in one day, and I wasn't sure if I had the energy to endure any more from him.

My body starts to shiver, the cold stone under me doing nothing to help me retain any body heat and I just want to go to sleep but I fight to keep myself awake. If he was going to continue torturing me I want to be conscious and alert.

I hear the soft click of the door, and immediately, my defenses go up. The steps are light and slow, almost hesitant as they make their way down the stairs. Whoever it is, it's too dark to see, but their figure peeks around the corner, searching the room. The flickering light in the corner gives me just enough visibility to see their face, and I gasp.

His face, which look as beautiful as I remember, is settled into a frown. With the way the light only bounces off his bronze hair and half his face, he looks like a dark angel.

"Edward," my voice is hoarse and weak.

Now I'm convinced I must be dead or completely losing it. My body has shut down to the point where I'm hallucinating. My mind was playing a very cruel trick on me.

"Bella!" His voice is the same, that velvety smooth voice, and it seems too real.

I squeeze my eyes shut, shuffling myself into the darkest corner, ignoring the pain even as the cuffs cut into my wrist. "Not real. Not real. Not real."

It wasn't fair. Hadn't I been through enough? Why did my mind have to tempt me with another reminder of everything I've lost.

"Princess." There's that voice again and I squeeze my hands over my ears to tune it out.

"Please stop. You're not real," I plead, trying to convince myself so that it would go away.

There's a feather-light touch on my cheek and I pop my eyes open, meeting those vibrant green eyes. My hallucination of Edward is still there. Or maybe...

"You're really here?" I don't miss the sliver of hope in my voice. "You're real?"

"I'm real, love. I'm sorry I took so long to come for you," he chokes out, continuing to gently run his thumb up and down my cheek. His eyes are shining with an emotion I can't decipher right now. I would pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming, but my leg still hurts so I take that as my proof.

"My strong girl," he murmurs, his face looking pained as he pushes my hair out of my face. "What did they do to you?" I can see the anger creeping into his face. Only unlike with my father or Jacob, it doesn't scare me in the slightest.

"Edward," my voice is shaky. For the first time I consider he might actually be here. Tears flood my eyes at the knowledge that he didn't just leave me. He didn't break his promise. He said he would make sure that I was okay. And now that I've gotten to see him one last time, I would be.

But then it hits me that he's here. In the castle. As in, he somehow snuck in, and it was only a matter of time before someone finds him.

My eyes widen in panic, trying to push him away from me. "You can't be here! If you don't go right now he'll kill you!" I was terrified that a guard or my father would come in here any second and discover him if they didn't already know he was here.

Edward looks at me as if I've completely lost my mind, taking in my bloody clothes. "If I leave he'll certainly kill you."

"It's okay," I tell him, with an honesty I didn't realize would come with these words. "I'll be okay. As long as you're safe. Please, Edward. You need to leave."

"Not without you," he insists, moving to examine the cuffs on my wrists. I pull back to stop him, prioritizing his safety over my own, but my leg scraped against a sharp piece of the wall and it starts bleeding again, heavily.

"Ah!" I cry out in pain, leaning back against the wall to steady me. The nausea and lightheadedness was back.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asks, immediately dropping my wrist, to come see.

I shake my head, my only priority being getting him to go. "P-please, Edward," I manage to choke out through the pain. "Y-you have to go. H-he's-"

"And I already told you, I'm not leaving without you," he says. My eyes feel droopy, and I sag further against the wall, causing him to frown. "Bella?"

"I'm cold," I tell him. And I was, so much more than earlier. It felt like someone had thrown me into the snow, or if I had stepped into the giant refrigerator in our kitchen. My leg was still bleeding and it hadn't slowed down at all. I lift my hand to show Edward, hoping he would understand that I was basically a lost cause.

But instead, it only makes him more panicked. "Shit!" He looks around for anything that could help but I know he won't find anything.

"I'm really tired, Edward," I tell him. It was getting harder to breathe.

"I know baby, but I need you to stay awake for me, okay?" He says, pushing against my leg like I had earlier.

"Okay," I mumble, but my eyes fall closed anyway. I could feel myself slipping out of consciousness and I had no fight left to even attempt to stop it. In fact, I was fully welcoming it.

I can feel Edward shaking my shoulder. "Princess? Bella! Please, baby, please wake up!" he cries, and I want to do this for him. I want to fulfill this last request, but I can't, and I let myself be taken away by the darkness.

…

…

…

Everything hurts. What happened? I'm surrounded by darkness and I can't help but wonder if I'm somehow dead.

If I was, then death is really dark.

Or maybe my eyes are just closed.

It takes every ounce of the almost nonexistent strength in my body to force my eyes open, but when I do, I'm immediately blinded by the bright lights and squeeze them shut again, whimpering from the sudden headache, cringing away from the light.

"Oh honey, you might want to take it a little slow. Your body's been through a lot," a familiar voice next to me speaks up. It's musical and pleasant to listen to. I know I've heard this voice before.

Slowly, I try opening my eyes again, and this time, I expect the bright lights of the hospital room. Or, at least, it looks like a hospital room. The walls are all white and there's a single door across from me. There's another door to the right, which must be the bathroom.

I blink, adjusting to my surroundings before turning to look at the other person in the room. The woman sitting on the sofa on my left. She's just as gorgeous as I remember.

"I know you," I look over at her, confused. She was the blonde girl from the farmer's market. But what was she doing here?

She smiles, scooting her chair closer. "Hi Isabella. How are you doing?"

I stare at her, still trying to process what was happening. "Where am I? How…what…" The monitor in the room starts beating faster, and that does nothing to help my growing anxiety.

"Deep breaths, Isabella. We don't want to get you too worked up," she tells me. "What do you remember?"

"I-" I close my eyes trying to sort through the assault of memories from the last couple weeks. My father finding out I let Edward go, him dragging me to the dungeon, the beatings and the knives, and the blood, so much blood, and then-

"Edward," I gasp, looking over at the woman with wide eyes. "He…do you know him? I remember him there. Did he get me out?"

She purses her lips, like she is trying to decide if she should say the next thing. But she quickly gives me a hesitant smile. "Yes, I know him. He's my brother."

I freeze, shocked by her statement. Edward's her brother? But that must means…

"You came to Alynthia looking for him. You knew he was at the castle didn't you? And you just let him…" I trail off, feeling my breathing get heavier again, as I try to back away from her. I can't believe she lied to me too. When would it end? And if she was lying about that, what else is there that she left out?

I feel a sharp pain in my arm but I ignore it, feeling the panic rising, but nothing I do will be able to stop it this time. Rosalie looks worried and is trying to get me to calm down as she reaches over to press a button near the side of my bed. "Alice, you need to get in here, now!"

I don't fully register what's going on, my head spinning and my vision getting blurry. A small blob of brown and white comes bursting into the room as several voices started talking. There's a sharp pinch somewhere and my eyelids feel heavy. I try to fight off my attackers but my body starts to slump and I drift off into the dark again.