A/N: This is my first Twilight fan fiction and I'm pretty excited about it. Bella, Edward, and Alice are in the beginning of their senior year of high school. The Cullens never left Bella. Everything else is pretty much the same as in the books. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own the Twilight series
"Mommy, why do we have to move to Spoons?"
"It's Forks darling, and remember I told you this is where Mommy grew up."
"I 'member Mommy, but why do we have to move there?"
"We're starting over new and leaving all the bad stuff behind. Doesn't that sound good?"
The small child nodded her head and smiled.
"Are we going to be happy in Forks Mommy?"
The young mother thought a moment before she answered her daughter.
"I certainly hope so precious." She replied as she kissed the top of her daughter's head.
"Daddy's not going to follow us…is he?" the young girl asked hesitantly.
"No baby. No he's not. It's just going to be the two of us."
The small girl's smile widened, and it nearly broke her mother's heart.
"Good." The child replied. "I don't like Daddy. He makes you cry, and I don't like it when you cry."
"Oh Chloe." the young woman gasped. She hated that her daughter has seen as much as she had. She had witnessed more than any five year old should ever have to.
"You don't have to be scared anymore. Your father will never hurt us again. I promise." Elizabeth Hargrove attempted to reassure her daughter as well as herself. She looked over at her Chloe's sleepy form; amused at her daughter's will power to keep her eyes open. "Go to sleep baby. I'll wake you up when we get there."
Chloe nodded, but not without asking one more question.
"How much longer?"
"Not even an hour. Just go to sleep." Her mother told her softly.
"Love you Mommy."
"Love you too angel."
Within seconds, Chloe was fast asleep. It had been a long day. Elizabeth had been driving all day long with only a few stops. They were running away; running away from their old life. Elizabeth couldn't take it anymore. She glanced over at her daughter; her eyes scanning over Chloe's fragile body. The bruises on her wrists had faded, but the emotional bruising was still there. He promised he would never touch her, but he lied.
Elizabeth saw her own reflection in the rearview mirror. She wasn't the same person she once was, and she hated him for that. Her once flawless face now was marred with bruises and scars. Her blue eyes no longer sparkled, but now held nothing but pain and anguish. Elizabeth had once been so full of life. She was a small town girl with a big dream. As soon as she graduated from high school, she moved to California. She wanted to be a dancer, and she was determined to make her dream come true. It was hard, but she finally managed to pick up work. Little jobs here and there, and then after much work, she got the job. The job that got her recognized. The job that led her to David.
The job was the lead in an upcoming ballet. David also received one of the lead roles. He soon became her boyfriend, then fiancé, then husband, then father of her little angel. He promised to love and take care of Elizabeth and Chloe forever, but he broke his promise.
Elizabeth couldn't think of David without becoming angry with herself. She stayed with him too long. He promised never to touch Chloe, but at one time he also promised that he would never touch her.
"I believed him." She muttered shamefully.
The last straw was when he touched Chloe.
The day was going fine until David got home; Elizabeth had picked Chloe up from kindergarten and gotten some takeout for dinner. Chloe was watching TV in the den while Elizabeth washed clothes and cleaned up around the house. Elizabeth heard the screech of brakes outside the house and knew that David wasn't in a good mood. She swiftly made her way towards the door to see what was wrong. Before she got to the front door, David had already torn it open. He reeked of beer, and it was only just a little after five.
"What's wrong David?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.
He scoffed. "What isn't wrong?" he spat.
"Did the audition not go well?" she asked meekly.
"I just wasn't what they were looking for." He mocked.
"It's okay. There will be other auditions." Elizabeth told him gently as she placed her hand on his forearm.
David ripped her hand off his arm and turned to glare at her.
"I needed this job." he growled. He stormed into the kitchen and grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge.
"David please don't drink anymore. Not in front of Chloe." Elizabeth pleaded.
"I can do whatever the fuck I want. I don't have to listen to you." He snarled.
"David please." She begged with tears in her eyes. She hated when he got like this. When he drank, he didn't think straight. When he drank, he hit.
"What do you want from me?" he screamed. "All you ever do is bitch and whine, and I'm sick of it!"
"Mommy?" came a scared voice from the den.
"Everything's fine sweetheart. Just go in your room, and I'll be in there in a little while to read you a story."
Elizabeth heard the soft patter of little feet running across the hardwood floors.
"David, I can't take this anymore. I love you, but…you need help." Elizabeth regretted saying this as soon as the words left her mouth. Within a split second she could taste salty blood in her mouth.
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare tell me that I need help! If anyone needs help it's you. Look at you. You are pathetic!" he told her. His voice filled with disgust. Elizabeth's body slid down the wall as she cowered away from him. She was scared; not only for herself, but also for her daughter who was just right down the hall.
"Please David. Pl-please stop." She cried which earned a kick to her side. She couldn't help but release a cry of agony.
"Mommy, are you okay?" a timid voice asked from the other side of the room. Elizabeth looked up and saw her daughter's frightened face. "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you hurt?"
"And you!" David yelled as he stomped toward Chloe.
"No!" Elizabeth screamed. "Don't touch her. Run Chloe!"
Chloe was quick, but David was quicker. As Chloe turned to run, David grabbed a hold of her wrists tightly.
"You little brat! You and your mother have sucked me dry! All I do is earn money to pay the bills that you and your mother cause. I'm sick of being a father and a husband."
"Oww Daddy! Let go. You're hurting me!" Little Chloe cried as she tried to pull her wrists from her father's large cold hands.
Before David could react, a beer bottle collided with his head. He released Chloe's wrists and spun around. His face with beet red, and he was fuming he was so angry.
"Don't you ever touch her again!" Elizabeth screamed as she smashed a vase on his head and knocked him out. His body fell to a heap in the middle of the floor. For a moment Elizabeth just stared at the body on the floor. She was shocked she was able to knock him out. After a second, she came to her senses and rushed herself and Chloe out of the room.
"Come on baby. We need to leave."
"Mommy" Chloe whimpered.
"Oh precious." Elizabeth whispered as she picked Chloe up. "Are you okay?"
"My wrists hurt Mommy." Chloe whispered back.
"I'm so sorry. So, so sorry." Her mother cried.
Elizabeth proceeded to grab the bags she had pre-packed for just this occasion. She had been planning to leave David for months. She grabbed her hidden money, anything worth value that she didn't want David to have, and her car keys. She ran to her car with Chloe in her arms.
"We're getting away angel. He won't hurt us anymore." Elizabeth told her daughter quietly as she sped down the road away from their old life.
Elizabeth shuddered at the memory. She looked over at Chloe and noticed that she was waking up. Chloe sat up slowly and tiredly rubbed her eyes.
"Have a good nap precious?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes Mommy. Are we almost there yet?"
Elizabeth chuckled.
"Yes baby. We are about five minutes away from my old house."
"Is that where we're going to be staying Mommy?" Chloe asked through a yawn.
"Yes. My mother left me the house when she died."
Elizabeth glanced out the window and noticed it wasn't raining. That was unusual for Forks, although, it was still very overcast.
"Back to having to de-frizz my hair every morning." Elizabeth mumbled to herself.
Elizabeth was just about to turn onto the main road that ran through Forks, when her car began making a weird sound and then sputtered to a stop.
"Fabulous." Elizabeth muttered.
"What's wrong Mommy?" Chloe asked curiously. "Are we there yet?"
"The car isn't working right baby, but we are just down the street from the house. Wait in the car while I try and figure out what's wrong with the car."
"Okay Mommy."
Elizabeth slid out of the car and popped the hood to try and figure out what the problem was. She couldn't see very much considering it was close to 10:30 at night and very dark, but she could see the rise of smoke that hit her in the face the second she opened the hood of her car.
"Just great." She sighed. "Just another expense."
"Having car trouble?" a deep voice from behind Elizabeth asked. Elizabeth shrieked and spun around. She was surprised to see a tall man with dark hair standing behind her. She couldn't really tell what he looked like considering it was so dark, but she could make out the color of his eyes. The green color shone so bright, they almost sparkled in the night.
"Whoa there." The man shot of up his arms in defense. I didn't mean to scare you. I just saw your car pulled over on the side of the road, and I was just wondering if you needed any help."
"Oh uhh…" Elizabeth stuttered trying to think of what to say. "My car just stopped. It's smoking, and I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that." She laughed nervously.
The tall man chuckled along with her. "I don't think it's supposed to do that either."
The man glanced inside Elizabeth's car and spotted Chloe staring at him curiously.
"Is that your sister?" he asked turning his attention back to Elizabeth.
She shook her head and grinned.
"That's my daughter." She replied.
"You're kidding." He said smiling. "You don't look old enough to have a daughter her age."
'Is he trying to flirt with me? Creep.' Elizabeth thought.
"Well I'm her mother. It says so on the birth certificate." The man just continued to smile at Elizabeth and creep her out.
"So uh…do you know anything about cars?" Elizabeth asked. She was eager for the strange man to go away.
"No."
"Well then umm…" Elizabeth trailed off at loss of words.
"Why don't you and your daughter ride with me? I can take you wherever you need to go." He suggested.
"No that's okay. I'm not far from my house, and I"
"-oh I insist." The tall man said as he began to advance towards Elizabeth, and out of reflex, she began backing up. "It will be no problem." He grinned crookedly.
The man had Elizabeth backed up against her car with no where to go. He reached up with his hand and stroked her cheek, and she flinched.
"Your skin is so soft." He murmured. "And warm."
"Pl-please stop." She stuttered.
"Oh I'm sorry. Am I scaring you?" he asked but made no effort to move away from her.
"Mommy…who is he?" Chloe had gotten out of the car without being noticed and was surprised to find a strange man so close to her mother.
"He's nobody Chloe. Just get back in the car please." Elizabeth tried to steady her voice the best she could.
"Chloe, now that's a pretty name for a child." The man spoke softly next to Elizabeth's ear, and she shivered.
"Mommy…"
"Chloe please." Elizabeth begged close to tears. "Please just get back in the car."
Chloe was only five years old, but she was smart and very perceptive. She knew that something wasn't right.
The man chuckled darkly.
"You shouldn't be scared you know. I'm not going to hurt your adorable daughter." He smiled, but his smile offered no reassurance to Elizabeth. She glanced to the side. She would look anywhere but into his creepy eyes. Elizabeth noticed that Chloe still stood in the very spot she had a few moments ago. She looked into her daughter's eyes; pleading with her to get back into the car, but Chloe wouldn't move. She wouldn't leave her mother. A low growl caused Elizabeth to jump and look away from Chloe.
"No I won't touch her, but you. You're almost too good to pass up." He smirked and trailed his finger down the front of her blouse.
"No." she whimpered as she tried to knock his hand away. The tall man grabbed both of her wrists with just one of his large hands.
"No struggling with me." he scolded. "The more you struggle, the rougher I will be." He laughed. "Although I must say, hearing you whimper is really turning me on."
"Get off of me you sick freak!" Elizabeth screamed as tried to wriggle out of his tight grip. He still had her pinned to the car.
"Don't touch my Mommy!" a little voice screamed. The man didn't pay Chloe any attention.
"Oh there's no need to worry little one. Your mommy and I are just having a little fun." The man laughed as he tightened the grip on Elizabeth's wrists and used his other hand to caress her cheek. Elizabeth jerked her head away and spat right in his face.
"You bitch!" he screamed and backhanded her across the face. The all too familiar metallic taste filled her mouth. He was about to hit her again when he felt a searing sting on his thigh. Chloe had bit him.
"You little brat!" he exclaimed as he charged towards her but Elizabeth jumped in front of Chloe to protect her from this monster. Elizabeth realized though that no matter how hard she tried that she wouldn't be able to fully protect both herself and Chloe.
"Run Chloe! Please just run away. As fast as you can." She cried. "I love you baby. Now run!"
Chloe glanced up at her mother's pleading eyes and knew this is how her mother intended to protect her. Her mother was risking her own life to save hers.
"I love you too Mommy." She cried then bolted.
She ran just like her mother told her. She ran into the dark forest and didn't stop. She pumped her little legs as hard and fast as she could. Chloe never once stopped, and she never looked back.
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A/N: What did you think? Did you like it? I hope so. Sorry there were no Cullens or Bella in this chapter. There will be in the next though so don't worry. Should I continue this? Please review and tell me what you think, but no flames please!