I moved through the motions of each day robotically, only responding or eating when forced. I wasn't hungry, or thirsty, or cold, or happy. I wasn't anything. I just was. I could tell Charlie was trying extra hard to be optimistic, and I vaguely felt guilty. But my security veil was up at all times, had been up since I had smashed all of my CDs, long since I had clawed the radio out of my truck. The only time it dropped was when I slept, and I woke up screaming every night. Charlie had stopped coming in. He knew by now that no one was coming for me.

***

"Bella? Do you want to come?" Jessica asked gently without turning to look at me. They all knew too well that I would say no without even listening to the question. At lunch, I just sat. I didn't eat, because I wasn't hungry.

I shook my head no and ignored them for the rest of lunch. I could hear them talking about some Halloween party. I looked around, vaguely interested in the date. It was the 31. Halloween.

I shuffled off to biology, not noticing the stares as I scooted my chair as close to the edge of the table as I could. I didn't want any reminders. Not now, with a holiday full of supernatural costumes and scary stories.

At dinner, Charlie told me that he needed to go down to the station for the night. Something about it being a crime filled night. I didn't care, just nodded when he asked if I would be fine. He told me to give out candy if someone rang the bell, and I nodded again. He left, and I finished the last of my math homework. I worked on an essay that wouldn't be due for until December in English. I had just started my extra credit work for History when the trick or treaters started showing up.

The first child was a fairy princess. I numbly wished them a happy Halloween and gave them some candy. Next were Angela's twin siblings, who were bumble-bees. I repeated the process. I opened the door the third time and nearly lost it. There was a little boy standing there in a little suit with a cape. His face had white paint on it, and he had plastic fangs in his mouth that were dripping with red kool-aid. Nothing had hurt so much in so long. I threw all of the candy at him and shut the door, sobbing as I slid against the wood. I curled up in a ball, feeling the same hole again, ripping me apart.

When the doorbell rang again, I ignored it. I was still trying to quiet the tears and hold myself together. The hole seemed to be getting bigger, tearing me into two.

There was a knock on the door, and I ignored that as well. When the door was kicked open, I stayed in my place.

"Bella, is it?" a bubbly voice called through the house. "Isabella? Isabella Swan?"

I stayed on the ground, my arms circling around my waist tightly, keeping me as whole as I could be. I tried to place the voice, but it sounded too beautiful to belong to any human.

"Ah, Bella!" a familiar male voice said. It took me a minute to realize that it was Laurent. My brain was too busy trying to stop the pain to try and figure out why he was here, or who the female was. I was too heartbroken to care about anything, simply being a shell.