Author note

I do not own anything! I give all credit to Stephanie Meyer for characters and names!

Please review! I need all the criticism (good and bad) I can get. If I get enough, I will upload another chapter! If not, it was worth a shot! :)

I hope you all enjoy!

The song for this whole story is:

Life is Beautiful

Vage4 - You and Others

Enjoy and review! :)

They say life is short and I believe them. I was 10 years old when my mother, Renee, was brutally taken away from me. I still remember the night I last saw her…

10 years earlier

I skipped into my room, watching my shadow dance on the walls as I moved in front of the hall light, my mother right behind me. I had just gotten done brushing my teeth and she was coming to tuck me in.

I belly-flopped onto my bed and rotated around so I was facing my mother. My mother was beautiful. She had long dark brown hair that curled past her shoulders and light brown eyes to match. She had the most gorgeous smile; it could stop any man and make him drool. To me, my mother was perfect.

"Bella…" Renee warned as I started squirming in my bed, "You're never going to sleep if you keep moving around like that." She smiled.

"I'm sorry, mom." I pulled the covers up to my chin and smiled at her, " I love you, and I'll see you in the morning. Are we still going to the bounce house center tomorrow?"

A scared look ran over my mothers face but it quickly disappeared as she looked at me and said, "Of course honey. I love you too, goodnight."

My mother kissed my forever, pulled my covers up even more and smoothed my hair back. She smiled at me one last time before leaving my room and shutting the door behind her and hearing it lock.

It was hard for me to fall asleep so I watched my ceiling as shadows twirled around when cars drove by. When watching the shadows became boring I started to listen to cars drive by, and deciding whether or not they were my neighbors. As I was listening, one car stood out in particular. I shot upright in bed and tumbled to my window and peaked through the curtains. Sure enough, it was Phil, my mothers ex-boyfriend.

I watched as Phil parked his Hummer in a parking spot in front of our house and hopped out. Phil didn't just walk up to the door, he stopped to grab something out of his trunk. I watched as the street lights made the object gleam as he stuffed in the back of his pants. A cold shiver went through me and I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. I knew what the was, a gun.

I tried with all my might to move or to scream but I couldn't, my eyes were the only thing that moved. I watched as Phil casually walked up to our front door and knocked. Phil knocking seemed to thaw me out because I ran to my door, threw it opened, ran down the hall and to the top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs I had perfect view of the front door. I watched in horror as my mom walked to the door and turned the knob.

"MOM!" I yelled, but it was too late. My mother pulled back the door and there was Phil holding my mother at gunpoint.

"Why, hello babe," Phil drawled on, "So nice to see you, you know why I am here."

I could see that my mother was shaking and she motioned a hand behind her back and flicked her wrist. My mother was telling me to run and hide. I did, I quietly ran from the stairs to my room. I threw open my closet door and hide behind boxes and clothes. I tried to quiet my breathing but I couldn't. What was Phil doing here? Mom and Phil broke up, right? Why does he have a gun! It seemed like a million questions were running through my head and I couldn't find the answers to.

All of a sudden there was this loud crash and a gun went off. I covered my mouth quickly to stifle the scream so Phil could not hear me. Tears began running down my face as I thought about my mother. Was she okay?

I heard rough footsteps coming up the stairs and heading towards my room. I held my breath I needed to listen. I heard my doorknob to my bedroom jiggle and then it snapped. Phil had kicked down my door. What does he want!

"Isabella honey," Phil called out, "I know you're in here. It's okay, you're safe now, and I'm going to take you home. We are going to have fun now."

I began to shake as he called my name out and began sifting through my things. I heard him digging around my clothes, smelling them, and saying how wonderful I smell. The tears could not stop, they began to poor out my eyes. My vision became blurry.

The footsteps stopped right in front of my closet door. I thought to myself, Please don't let him find me. But it was too late, Phil threw back my closet doors and I made a break for it. I ran past Phil and down the hall to the stairs.

I became frozen at the bottom where my mother laid, in a pool of blood and glass.

"Bella!" a rough voice called out, breaking me of my flashback. I blinked my eyes and looked around. I was sitting in the front seat of a police cruiser. I looked in the direction of where the voice came and smiled. My father, Charlie Swan, was driving but had stopped on the side of the road and his face held a look of concern.

"Bella, are you okay?" Charlie asked. I just nodded, I feared that if I spoke too soon I would unravel and I did not want to put that onto my father right now. "Okay, Bella." He sighed and began to pull off the shoulder onto the highway.

My father, Charlie, was the chief of police here in Forks, Washington. Though I highly doubt he deals with much crime, he probably just stops drunk people from driving their lawn mowers around and what not.

"Bella, so you have an appointment tomorrow with Mrs. Esme Cullen, okay?" Charlie reminded me.

"Dad, I'm seventeen, you do not need to remind me," I jokingly told him while he just grunted in reply.

It has been seven years since my mothers' death and I have been living with multiple family members to try and keep Phil away. However, every time I lived with someone, Phil was able to find out right away, so everyone decided to have my father look after me. Everyone was told a lie, just in case Phil came by asking where I was. They were all to tell him that I moved to Alaska to live with my Uncle Jim.

Charlie turned down a small side street and pulled into a two-car driveway. I hopped out of the car and looked up at the small two-story house. I took it all in, the light blue siding, the black shingles and shade on the windows and the large bay window that was hopefully attached to my bedroom.

"Welcome to your new, permanent home, Bella." Charlie said as he pulled me into a side hug. I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders at the mention of new and permanent home. I hope this will be the start of a new, Phil-free life.

I know short! But hey! It's a start! Next chapter you guys will get more information about Bella's past! :)

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