Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Twilight, it's all owned by Stephanie Meyer.
Summary: It's the year 1887 in Texas and a young girl finds herself taken from her home and thrust into a world of hate and war. She could be saved by a young man making his way up in the ranks, but surviving in his world make take more than she's willing to give. J/B. AU. Dark. No Time Travel.
Warning! : This is not beta'd. I don't know if it ever will be. There will be mistakes in the chapters and I am horrible for switch my tenses from past to present. This is for fun, so I'm not worrying too much over it.
**This story is M for a reason. I don't know how messed up it will get, but it may contain dark topics that could be triggers for people. I will try to be sensitive and put a warning before the chapter starts if it's needed.
A/N: I've reuploaded this because I wanted to make some changes before I attempt to restart and hopefully finish the fanfic. Hope everyone likes it.
Happy Reading!
Chapter 1
The young Bella Swan walked from her parents' home, and she could already smell the barn animals that were down the path. It was almost a comforting smell. This was her home, hopefully as long as possible. She was coming upon her seventeenth birthday, by rights she should have been married already but with the death of her older brother Jack in the war and several other young children to keep an eye on, her parents decided between them to postpone any engagements to the local merchant's sons until everything was settled down and somewhat back to normal.
She always wished to pick her own husband, so the thought of putting off any proposals seemed just her luck, as her parents would likely choose Thomas, the son of the richest merchant in the village. Renee and Charlie considered him quite the gentleman, though Bella was not fooled by the charm towards the older villagers, she could see the inappropriate looks he would give the young girls in the village when the elders were not looking.
"Indecent cad," Bella muttered to herself as the thoughts of Thomas drifted away and she continued stomping down the path towards the barn. She tucked the basket under her arm, the small tin pail for the milk shifting around as she moved up the uneven path until her foot snagged on a rock, causing her to tumble forward onto her knees and her basket to fly across the grass.
"Dammit!" She yelled as she sat back on her legs As soon as the curse left her lips she quickly looked around to ensure that no one was close enough to hear her and quickly muttered, "Lucky I didn't have the milk bucket filled, I guess." She pushed herself up on her feet and surveyed the damage. With her sundress on, she could clearly see her knee was scratched and bleeding from a large rip in the ankle length dress.
Shrugging to herself and grabbing her things, she finished her walk down the path and quickly stepped into the barn. As she walked in, she stopped to pet the new lamb that had been born only days before, she made her way over to the chickens little coup that her father had built to keep them from wandering off, she looked through the makeshift nests the chickens had made throughout the coup and collected eleven eggs and carefully placed each one into the basket alongside the milk pail. After collecting milk from the cow, she placed everything inside the basket and lifted it gently, knowing her mother would be angry if she were to drop todays produce.
Walking towards the house she failed to notice the large brown horse tied to the post near the front gate. Thomas, Bella rolled her eyes quickly and looked frantically for an escape.
"Hello there, Bella. You're looking lovely today." He was facing with his back to her father, so Charlie was not able to see the way the young man trailed his eyes down Bella's bare legs that could be seen through the rip in the dress and smirked at her arrogantly as if he knew a secret.
She glared at him but quickly smiled sweetly at her father and spoke, "Daddy, I picked up all the eggs and milked the cow again today, can I have those coins to go to the shops when they arrive? I've done all my chores, please?"
The shops were always set up in spring, traveling merchants with interesting trinkets and goods and storytellers with the wildest of stories. Each year Bella would see it, the silver necklace with a lovely church bell attached to it. It would be hers this year.
"Of course, my dear. I'll go through my coin bag later and give you the coins you need." Thomas' eyes lit up and a slow smirk began to slide its way onto his face, when he opened his mouth Bella flinched, knowing that he must be up to something. "I'll escort her into the shops when she is ready to go if you would like, Mr. Swan. The wolves are beginning to hunt more and come closer to the village. You can never be too careful, I'm quite sure you'd like to ensure her safety while she retrieves her trinkets."
Bella knew before she even looked at her father that he would agree, with her brother gone, Charlie had been overprotective with her.
"Perfect, my boy! Would you like some coin as well for your trouble? I know your fathers shop is quite out of the way, I don't want it to be a hassle." Bella looked on as Thomas refused her father's coin, saying something or another about it being his pleasure. She didn't bother to listen, it was terrible but she couldn't go against her father's wishes, though she would rather face any animal that was roaming through the woods than be accompanied by Thomas.
Bella turned on her heels with a huff and walked into the house, smiling at her young brother Joseph as he sat on the threshold of the kitchen listening to their mother hum as she cleaned the small kitchen and cooked lunch.
Renee looked over as Bella walked into the kitchen. "Hello sweetie, did you get the eggs? I need it for Suzy's cake this evening."
"Yes, mother, I got everything. Did you see Thomas outside talking to father?" Bella asked as she walked over to the table and grabbed one of the freshly picked apples and bit into it to hide her grimace.
Renee gave Bella a disapproving look, "He's a nice boy. I know you don't like him but when me and your father finally decide you should marry, he will likely be our choice. Isabella, he can provide for you a life like you've never known. You know Tobias, Thomas' father, is the richest merchant in the village and has already agreed that his son could marry you. A merchant lifestyle is a lot different than a farmers, honey. Better."
Bella looked at her mother not knowing what else to say to her, she had heard this lecture enough that she could recite it with her mother word for word. "So I must give up on love to be with Thomas, all because he is who you approve of? I do not like Thomas, let alone love him!"
"What's all this shouting I hear of love? Give up this foolishness. You can learn to love Thomas; we don't need to keep going through this over and over again. On the trip into town, get to know him a bit and see if that helps all this unwarranted hatred. I've heard enough of it." Charlie's voice rang final as he stood in the kitchen doorway with Joseph looking in from behind his leg.
Bella wiped a stray tear from her eye and escaped the kitchen quickly, swiping her hand gently over her brothers head as she ran from the room as her father walked over to greet his wife.
Bella ran up the path to the barn, minding the rock that she had fell on earlier and stomped into the barn and made her way over to the sheep pen where the mother and baby were staying. She climbed over the wooden fencing, sitting on the hay bale that was placed in the corner of the pen. She watched as the lamb walked over to investigate her, curiously and still a little unstable on his legs, she reached her hand out and let the lamb smell her fingers before scratching his head.
More tears began to flow down her face as she began to think about all she would be losing when she married Thomas, it would be a complete change in her life. Everything she knew would be gone and she would live in a big house in the village away from the only family she knew. Didn't she get a choice? Of course not, no woman this side of Texas was allowed to make any decision for themselves. Bella would hear tales from the traveling storytellers, tales of women who were independent, able to make their own choices. It sounded bizarre but wonderful. Its 1887, she thought to herself bitterly, women should have more freedom than they did years ago!
"I don't see why I can't be free to make my own decisions." Bella sighed to herself but jumped when she heard a voice behind her, she hadn't heard anyone approach but the sound of her father's voice was unmistakable.
"I know you want to make your own decisions, but it's not the way things are done. With the war only years ago, and the possibility of another one rising, we don't know what will happen. When the time comes, which will be sooner than you think, you will marry Thomas and will have a secure future with him. With what happened to Jack, you never know what could happen to the people you love, your family. So we'll cherish the time we have with you, and then let you go when the time comes. You'll still see us, honey. We aren't going anywhere."
Bella stood up and hugged her father, rubbing her face into his course work shirt before muttering, "But Thomas is still an indecent cad." Charlie laughed softly as Bella smiled before letting him go. She knew that she could not hate her father over this decision, and she understood his need to care for her when the times were so unsure.
The next morning, Bella was up early and sitting to the kitchen table as her mother busied around making breakfast with Joseph sitting down by her feet and Suzy chattering away to her about her birthday that evening. It was the first day of the shops, though the rest of the family were not going and would wait until the crowding had calmed down in the next couple days. Bella was excited to go today, albeit with Thomas but she promised herself that she would not let that ruin her mood.
She danced around the kitchen clumsily, making her parents smile at her childlike excitement. She collected the coins from her father and grabbed a cloth from the cupboard under the water bowl for cleaning the dishes. She laid the cloth out flat on the table before putting bread, a small closed jar with milk and her coins all in the middle of it before wrapping it up and tying it together tightly.
Saying goodbye to her parents and siblings, she made her way out to where the family horse Gus was tied, grazing on the grass. Bella's father had already been out and tacked up the horse for her, the old worn saddle felt comfortable when she ran her palm along the horn. It had been used for many years, and would soon have to be replaced as the leather seemed to be weakening. They had bought it second hand off a trader who had no more need for it, even with the fact that it had been used; real leather saddles were hard to come by for farmers families, as most families used makeshift cotton saddles from old clothes or rode bareback.
She hoisted herself up into the saddle just in time to see Thomas ride in upon his big stallion. Gus had been gelded long ago, as soon as Charlie deemed that it was time. He had explained to the children that Gus would be gentler when Bella became upset that their father was taking Gus away into town and would not be back for several days. She now understood after seeing Thomas struggle to settle his horse, happy that Gus was more well mannered than most humans. He roughly yanked on his expensive looking rein and spoke while Bella was righting herself in the saddle.
"You're ready, I see?"
Bella glared at him, but smugly replied, "Are you not able to see? Are you blind? Of course I'm ready. Let's go and get this over with." She squeezed her legs against Gus' sides gently and he walked past Thomas with a confident strut. Bella could only to hear him trying to make his horse trot to catch up.
The trip to the village took less time than Bella anticipated. It would normally take three hours on horseback but was achieved in only two, mostly to Bella encouraging Gus to speed up whenever Thomas was able to catch up to her.
She has no interest in conversing with him on any level, and with Gus being faster along with his horse being stubborn, she was able to keep a good distance between them though she knew it could not last forever. They would only be stopping long enough to grab her necklace and then begin the journey back again. There would be no way Gus could continue the quick pace all the way back and Bella would not expect him to. She would be stuck with Thomas walking alongside her.
She tied Gus onto the horse post just on the outskirts of town, and walked quickly to where she knew what she wanted would be. Slipping through the crowds, with Thomas not far from her, she caught a glimpse of the mall jewellery shop nestled in between two meat sellers.
She looked through his stock until her eyes came across a shimmery piece of silver. She picked it up gently between her fingers. She always thought it was made for her, a silver church bell; the bell seemed to dance as she held it.
"I want it, please?" The older man looked up from inspecting a small piece of gold and smiled at her, knowing that each year she had looked at the exact piece of his in wonder and amazement. He would not mention it to the young girl, but he had been reluctant to sell it to anyone else as she longed for it so much.
Bella was able to buy the necklace for four coins, less than she had ever expected to pay. Little did Bella know, the merchant had sworn to his wife to lower the price if she had ever come back to buy it. She wasted no time in attaching it around her neck, seeming so proud of her new purchase and walked back towards Gus to make her way home. She couldn't even be bothered when she noticed Thomas still walking behind her, she had hoped he had wandered off but it was not the case. She did not make it back to Gus before she was distracted by a vendor with delicious looking salt water toffee, she continued on her way much slower as she ate the chewy treat that she had bought with the coins that she had left over. She was sure that her father would not care; it was a gift for everything she does at home, after all.
She made it to Gus with Thomas following closely. She reluctantly let him give her a leg up onto the horse and she was walking away from him before he had a chance to mount his own horse who would step away from him once he secure his foot in the stirrup. At least someone is able to give him a hard time, Bella thought with a smirk.
Time seemed to pass slowly for Bella. Although they were already halfway back from the village, it felt like they had left the town four hours ago, but Bella was sure it must have only been two. They had made it to into town by this time when they had left but now it was taking longer with Bella not feeling as pressured to get to the vendors. Realistically she knew that her necklace would have been still there when she got there but it did not help the feeling of anticipation when she thought about it. She could relax now that she finally had the thing she had craved for years, now she just had to make it back to her house without letting Thomas cause her too much annoyance.
Thomas would to make snide comments followed up by small talk all the way through, and each time Bella would answer politely but otherwise ignore him. It was becoming uncomfortable for her, and she knew it would only get worse as they went along, so while Thomas was in the middle of making an awful reference to two older women that lived alone just outside the village; she blurted "Must you be so revolting? It's going to get you into trouble one day."
Thomas' eyebrows seem to go into his hairline with surprise, "Revolting? Me? I'm the best anyone will get in town, and you best remember that. You don't think my father hasn't told me about that big ogre of a father of yours has been asking about us getting married? You best find a way to deal with me, or you're in for a miserable life. I suppose it isn't all bad on my side, you're adequate."
Bella snorted in disgust at the thought of having anything to do with Thomas and spoke gently but loud enough to be heard, "Don't you dare talk about my father; he's a much better man than you could ever dream to be. Besides, if I have my way, I will convince my parents to allow me to have my own choice and there will be no marriage to you. I would rather be alone than be with you." She spurred Gus forward and ran ahead leaving a red-faced Thomas behind.
She was only a little ahead when she heard a small shriek and Thomas' horse ran past her in terror, causing Gus to dance a little with his feet with the urge to run too. She spun around in her saddle and looked back, expecting to see Thomas on the ground but there was no one behind her.
"Thomas? Thomas?!" Bella couldn't see him anywhere and all was quiet once the echoes from her yelling were settled. She felt a cold shiver creep down her spine and sat up straighter in the saddle.
Turning forward to run home to tell her father that something had happened, there was a young man standing in front of her. He was tall and lanky, there seemed to be no muscle on him and his dark brown hair seemed to be black compared to his bright crimson eyes.
Gus began running before she could even think about anything else. He was running in a seemingly random direction, only interested in running away from the strange boy.
She instinctively grabbed the horn on the saddle to stay on when something hard and cold seemed to wrap itself around her ankle, yanking her off Gus who continued to flee as fast as he could. Bella felt the air whip around her as she was thrown to the ground, the impact to her back taking her breath. She didn't know anything before the boy was grabbing her hair and was dragging her towards the tree line. She didn't understand how he could pull her whole body alone as if she weighted no more than an empty potato sack; she began to struggle as soon as his fingers laced into her hair, her hands clawing at the boys tight grip on her hair and screaming loudly hoping someone might hear her pleas.
"Shut up, you stupid girl. Do you want to die right here?" The boy asked with a sneer as she continued to scream. He let out a quick groan before smacking her in the head with his hand, knocking her unconscious.
…oOo…
Bella woke up sometime later in the dark, the smell of rust and sweat drifted through the air as she lifted her head trying to pick out any kind of shape. It was cold and her clothes felt wet. She couldn't feel a blindfold; she was either in complete darkness or something happened for her to go blind, the very thought made her whimper.
All she wanted was her daddy as she listened to her surrounding and heard the screams, whimpers and growls echoing around her. She couldn't do anything but think repeatedly to herself…
Where am I?
