Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight related.

Prologue:

All the pain had died down. The sting on her face, the throb in her ankle, the bruising on her wrists, the sharp pulse in her scalp. All of it was numb. Suffocating and succumbing to the dark fog around her, she was able to make out voices growing louder by the second.

They scared her. They were getting louder and louder, and it was almost screeching in her ears. She wanted to cry out and tell them to stop, but she couldn't move. She was too scared too. What if someone noticed? What if the scary man was still there, waiting to hurt her?

A pair of arms that she wanted so badly to be familiar encased her, and gently picked her up. Her whole body tensed. A cold feeling was spreading in her chest and she tried to make herself move to scream or run.

"It's okay, Bells, I'm here. I'm so sorry, I should have have been there to protect you." A voice whispered.

Though the voice was familiar, and used to be comforting, she panicked at the feeling of being touched and trapped in someone's arms. Despite the gentle hand wiping her face clean, or the familiar smell of musky spice that filled her noises, her body was on alert, and wanted to scream and run away.

Finally, the little girl found her voice and a loud scream shattered the silent night.