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Chapter One
Bella
I was running for my life but I knew however far and however fast I went I would never outrun my enemy. My life was forfeit and there was nothing I could do, nowhere I could go to be safe. My only sanctuary was death but I would try. If I could just keep one step ahead of my foe I stood a chance. If I could lose myself in the crowd, hide in plain sight, just perhaps I could cheat death for a few months, maybe even a year. My goal was to be alive tomorrow, and every day that would be my goal. To cheat death of yet another day. When it all started I was so happy, I never saw the evil hiding within. I thought I was the luckiest girl alive when in fact I was the most wretched, the most deluded. The beauty of the face belied the evil within and now I would have to pay for that fragile short-lived happiness. I watched as the lights flickered past the wing, as the plane finally took off and breathed a sigh of relief. I was free, at least for a short while and I could relax, even sleep. Possibly for the last time. Once back on the ground I could never close my eyes, never trust the dark to keep me safe.
He'd never stop looking for me and with his limitless resources he would find me. All I could do was to delay the inevitable. How had it gone so terribly wrong? We were young and in love, well I was and it seemed the most natural thing to get married, despite Charlie's objections that I was too young and had college acceptances. All I could see though, was my angel, my Edward. I had given up my Quileute friends and even moved away from Forks to make him happy. I'd remained human thank god, and worshipped him. The others were slowly estranged as Edward became more and more possessive. First Emmett and Rose, my big brother whom I loved. Edward took offence at his hugs and they eventually stopped visiting.
Alice still came but Jasper wasn't welcome. Edward said he was frightened Jazz would attack me again and nothing I said made any difference, except to annoy him. When Edward got annoyed he took it out on me in mean little ways. I lost the little kitten that had befriended me, my favourite books mysteriously disappeared, the phone stopped working. In the end he even took away my I pod and my cell phone. He said I was spending too much time listening to music and texting my friends. What friends? Only Angie and Alice still kept contact. Even my visits to Charlie became scarce. Edward used the excuse I was too sickly for the long plane journey and when Charlie or Renee wanted to visit I was always on a field course with college, or away with friends for the weekend. The truth was that I had no friends and he'd forced me to give up college when he decided one of the professors took too much interest in me. I argued against that but all that happened was I lost my clothes for a week.
He had a hundred ways of keeping me under the thumb. All spiteful but none physical, until last month. I received a letter from Charlie telling me that Billy had died. I wanted to go to the funeral and at first he offered to take me so I rang Charlie, under supervision, and he offered to pick us up at the airport. When Edward found the funeral was to be on the Reservation he changed his mind. Where he expected it to have been was beyond me! I begged, argued and threatened until he finally lost his temper and hit me. Three cracked ribs as the result were my fault.
I'd been strapped up for three weeks still expected to look after the house, and him, of course. I'd squirreled away a little money over the last year and Charlie had put some in an account Edward knew nothing about for me, just in case. Well he'd seen more than I had. When at last Edward had to go hunting he left me locked in the cellar, just in case anyone tried to break in, yeah! What he didn't know is that I had the spare key to the cellar door. When we first moved in I'd found it on a dusty shelf and after checking that it fitted put it in the old bottle standing close by. Edward had never found it and I kept quiet knowing that one day I might need it. Now that time had come.
After breaking my ribs Edward had been apologetic and filled with remorse but I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened again and next time I might not be so lucky. What might he break next time? I knew he would be gone hours, he always was when he felt it necessary to lock me in the cellar. So I gave him an hours start then let myself out, relocking the door. It might give me a few extra minutes. Then I walked a mile before ringing for a taxi to the train station.
I knew he'd track me but it was all I could do. It was too far to walk but I could confuse him for a while with where I went from there. I actually caught a bus to the airport and withdrew money from the machine there. I paid cash for my ticket to Seattle knowing he'd find out where I went from my reservation. I couldn't use a false name, I only had my driving licence for ID. I just needed time to get to the Reservation, Edward couldn't follow me there and I hoped Jake or the others might help me get out of the state without leaving a trail. If not he'd just wait and if necessary break the treaty to get me. I could stay on the Reservation, a prison but a slightly less perilous one. If he got back before I landed he might outdistance me and be waiting. It was a chance I had to take, that or stay and wait to be killed by my husband in his next rage.