the baby cullen

chapter 12 ~ beautiful nightmares

Another nightmare like the last, this nightly reoccurrence was driving me to my insanity, and leaving me absolutely exhausted in the morning; by the third night, my father told me I was to stay home from school and get some sleep. He gave me a sleeping pill, before left for work in the morning; asking me to call him if I needed anything, that he would come home if I so desired.

I tried to argue-plead my case-to not stay at home; but he would hear none of it.

"You need your rest Bella; you look like you're about to collapse of exhaustion at any moment, the last thing I need is my daughter being rushed into the emergency room in the middle of the day." He countered my argument, as any parent would; the only difference was, he knew, he was going to win the argument. "Now, lay back and rest; you should fall asleep quickly and be out from anywhere between six to eight hours."

"Eight hours!" I cried "But...daddy..." I whined, sulking; unhappy with my consequence for the day. I at least wanted to get a run in after school with Chris-apparently that wasn't happening. "I have my run after school..."

"I'm sorry, princess." He sighed "But this is for your own good; I know you think you can go running, but when your body is this tired, sweetie..."

"It would do more harm than good." I mumbled, with his water tight logic victory in my full view; he was a parent-parents were always right.

"So you agree then." He smiled brightly, happy with the result of our conversation. "No, running until you are fully rested, and I say you can run again."

I didn't speak; keeping my treadmill in mind.

"No treadmill either; princess," My father said sternly; he knew me too well. "Promise me, Bella."

"I promise, daddy." I sighed defeated "I will not defy you, and use my treadmill behind your back." Feeling groggy from the sleeping medicine already; I knew by the time, I woke up, my mother or siblings would be home to keep an eye on me.

"Good. Now close your eyes and get some sleep, darling..." I was nearly out cold when I felt a pair of cold lips on my forehead and a dark figure, breeze out of my bedroom; my eye lids were too heavy for me to keep open any longer, sleep was inevitably creeping up on me and ready to pull me under.

To my utter amazement, I woke from my deep sleep ten hours later, feeling fully refreshed, and full of energy; it was the most I had slept at one time in days. I was hoping that my father would see the significant difference, and let me go to school tomorrow and go running. But I wasn't factoring one crucial part of the deep sleep state, I had been in; just because my body wasn't tired, doesn't mean my mind wasn't. Perfect! I knew my father, and I knew he would test my minds ability as soon as I asked to go to school, the next day; I was so screwed.

Getting out of bed, I stretched my tired muscles and flexed my toes, fingers and spine; to rid my body of the tired feeling it was hanging onto. I decided having a hot shower, would help me wake up my muscles a bit; I would have to stretch tonight for an extra twenty minutes or so, to make up for my lost running time today. I took an extra-long shower, using the bar; I had my father install to help me stretch out after long runs-especially in the fall, before the first snow fall. Feeling nimble enough to pass for a good stretching time, I turned off the shower; grabbing my big fluffy bathrobe as I stepped out of the shower...noticing something was amiss.

Something didn't feel right; I didn't feel safe, in my own home. I tried to shake the feeling, but the pounding of my heart and the constant chills down my back didn't help; calling out for one of my brothers or father, didn't feel right either. I can't really explain it very well-even to this day-but the feeling I had, laid some place in between blinding, choking, make your blood run ice cold with terror; mixed with trust and empathy. The two most terrifying feelings in the world, crashing inside me, and pulling me back and forth; I felt like a drowning tug of war rope.