I could see his face. That was all that mattered. Through all that intense fire, I could see his face. My hallucinations were better, more complete through this haze of pain. Oh, so much stronger. I could hear him growling, snarling in fury at what was happening to my body. I didn’t mind, I could barely feel it, yet. I just focused entirely on his dark, scorching golden eyes.

*  *  *

God, I was so stupid. Why couldn’t I have stayed in the damn car? I should have listened to Jacob. When he says ‘stop’, I stop. When he says ‘run’, I run. When he says ‘vampire’, what do I do? I dash in and land straight in its open arms. Stupid. Of course, in my defense, I did think it was Carlisle. It was the same car, after all.

            That afternoon, in my house waiting for me, was a girl. She couldn’t be more than eleven. I thought she must have been lost. She was far too innocent looking to be a vampire. I thought Jacob had gotten it wrong. And then I noticed the red irises. That’s when my mind began functioning in ‘Oh, crap!’ mode. I panicked. She knocked me out cold, in less than a millisecond. I had no time whatsoever to react. Not even a scream. I don’t remember much of that night. I kept passing out. I don’t think I want to remember.

            I woke in a cold room. I could see the sun streaming through cracks in the white blinds that covered the window. I sat up; my eyes wide with fear as the previous afternoon came flooding back to me.

            “Good morning, my dear,” I swiveled frantically, trying to locate the source of the sing-song voice. I couldn’t get the image of those red eyes out of my head. He was sitting in the corner, grinning like a clown. His pale skin glittered where the light from outside touched his skin. “My name is Aro. And you are Bella, correct? But, of course you are! I’ve seen you in her mind. Now, before we begin, I have a few… questions for you.”

            “Why am I here? Where am I? Where’s Charlie?” I scrambled for words, trying to figure out what had happened.