Preyed (Hunted: Book Two)

Chapter One

    Waking up is not what it used to be. What was once a beautiful moment into a new day is now a dark reminder that I am still a monster. There used to be a brief moment where I felt whole again, but those moments ended a long time ago. My lids are leaden with sleep and I briefly close my eyes before snapping them violently back open. My body is sticky with sweat as I try to shake off the desire to sleep. With sleep comes nightmares and with nightmares come Asher. He's in my head while I sleep like the tide relentlessly beating against a pier. His every thought, motive, and desire, echoes in my head. I don't sleep, I can't otherwise people will die. People that I care about, innocent people, people minding their own business, everyone...and I can't let that happen. My door opens and in walks one of my favorite people, or should I say vampires. Emmett Cullen, the brother I never had. He takes one look at me and sighs. Emmett is one of two people that know about the nightmares.

"Did you sleep at all?"

I shake my head. He's silent and I know the next question he is going to ask before he asks it.

"I didn't do that either."

He groans, "you have to eat."

"No."

"Mia..."

"No, Emmett."

"It will help," he says.

"No."

"But, it will..."

"I said no."

"For fuck's sake, Mia! You're wasting away! You don't eat, you don't sleep. You told Carlisle you wanted help, you wanted to know how to live as one of us. Well, he can't help you if you won't even help yourself. Why the hell are you here if you're just going to let yourself die?" Emmett yells.

"You think I don't know that? You think I don't know that I'm wasting away? I know! But I don't have another choice."

"That's bull, Mia. You have a choice, you can choose to waste away here, or you can go out there and live."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"You don't understand I can't..."

Emmett cuts me off and goes into a rant about how I can live if I choose to and how everything is a choice. As he yells, the emotions I've fought so hard to keep in check come raging forward and I catch the end of his rant.

"...What are you so afraid of?"

"Everything!" I yell.

Emmett freezes and I finally stand up.

"Mia..."

"You don't...you don't know what's it's like to have your every thought plagued by the memory of ripping the people you care about apart. You don't know what it's like to constantly have a voice in your head tell you that you're a monster. You don't know what it's like to hear him. You don't..."

Suddenly the rage that was fueling me dissolves. I sink to my knees as the strength leave my legs. Pain swirls inside of me like ice water circling a drain. It's the kind of pain that comes when a person's child is dead, or the love of their life is suddenly ripped away. I try to stifle the sobs at first, in some vain attempt to show Emmett that I'm still strong. Soon though, I am overcome with a wave of emotions and I break down entirely. It feels impossible to breathe as each new sob that racks my body is soon followed by another one. I don't know how long I sit there before I feel Emmett wrap his arms around me. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't try to comfort me with soft words of kindness. He lets me break, maybe he knows that this is what I need. That this is what I've been keeping in the entire time. I'm not sure how long Emmett and I sit in the floor before I finally give in to the sweet sleep that I've been fighting for so long. 

Author's Note: Guys! I am so excited about this! I don't think I've ever been this excited about something. Anyway, I hope you guys really like this and I look forward to sharing the sequel with you! Happy reading-Jess