This idea has been in my head for MONTHS! I figured it was too ridiculous to even have a chance so I didn't bother writing it down. Until now.
Summary: Ten thousand feet above sea level, positioned half way up the side of Mount McKinley in Alaska, is The Denali Institution for Rebellious and Troubled Teenagers. Teens that even adult prisons couldn't handle were brought there – an inescapable boarding school – and were placed in the care of the teachers and the insufferable head master, Tanya Denali. Known even to her face as The Iron Bitch.
Ten sixteen year olds that have two choices – Denali or death – have been selected to attend the school that holds just forty children at a time. Can they change for the better or will the fight to remain as they are get the better of them? What happens to those who do graduate?
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The Denali Institute for Rebellious and Troubled Teenagers
Chapter One
Leah POV – Rumford, Maine. August 1st. 7:03am.
"Leah! Get up!"
"Fuck. Off!" I yelled into my pillows.
The blankets were suddenly ripped off me and the bitch locked her hands around my ankles. In a long motion I was ripped from the bed and dumped onto the floor with friction burns already stinging at my exposed back. I pulled the underwear out of my ass and unrolled the cami from under my breasts then got to my feet and turned to the door where the hag had exited.
"Have a shower and get dressed, you have make-up all over your face!" The harsh voice of adoptive mother screeched back up the stairs.
I looked in the mirror across the room and scowled at my reflection. Everything I'd put on my face last night was now two inches from where it had started. There was even lipstick under the curve of my chin.
"I'm not going!" I screamed on the way to the ensuite door. The shower was necessary, going to some frozen ass school in Alaska was a non-negotiable NO!
My entire life was here. Right here. Not there in a mountain-side prison.
"You are going if I have to kick your ass across the country myself! You'll learn some manners or die trying!" Sue vowed.
"Lee-Lee?" A small voice said behind me right before I took off my shirt.
"What?" I spat and turned to face Seth. He looked back at me, half behind the door then looked to the floor.
"Why are you going away?" he asked quietly.
I scoffed at his ignorance. "I'm not going away. I'm staying RIGHT HERE!" I yelled louder.
Sue didn't reply.
"Mommy said you were going away for a long time." he argued. "Don't you want to stay here?"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm having a shower." I pointed my hand towards the cubicle then focused my glare more on the little seven year old cockroach.
"But Mommy said – "
"Mommy said I'm going away because you're here!" I snarled. His eyes went wider then he ran away quickly without another: Mommy said.
I walked back to the door, slammed it, and then locked it before tugging my singlet over my head, shimmying out of my panties. Right as I turned on the shower a pounding started at the door. It was Sue, no doubt pissed about what I said to Seth.
Not that I cared since I couldn't hear her over the splattering of the water on the expensive marble tiles.
I washed off all my make-up, cleaned up the rest of me – including the section of my hair that smelt like beer – then rinsed off for a minute or two before shutting off the water and getting out.
"Leah, hurry up!" Sue demanded, still on the other side of the door.
I went over my hair once with a towel in a half-assed attempt to stop the dripping then wrapped another one around me before ripping open the door and coming face to face with a very large, very muscly, fairly cute guy in his late twenties.
"Hi." I smiled seductively and slumped against the door frame a little bit.
"Hi," he mumbled in reply without making eye contact. "Get dressed."
"I've never heard that before," I giggled and let my towel drop from around my body to the floor. "But if you insist."
When he didn't react at all to my sudden and complete nakedness I strolled across the room casually and stepped into my closet. "What's it like outside? Hot? Cold?"
"It's fine, just put something on." he commanded.
I looked down the row of clothes and smirked. "Well that's not very specific."
"I'm sure you have a broad selection."
"Oh for god's sake, Leah! Have you no shame?" Sue growled.
"Obviously not." I replied without needing to think through the answer.
She flew across the room and forcefully dressed me in a shirt and skirt with no bra and a thong then shoved me towards Muscles as I'd decided to call him during the perv process and barked out a loud: "Take her, she's yours now."
We walked downstairs – much more willingly on my part than I had imagined it would go – and out the front door to a black minibus where two other men were waiting.
Gang-bang anyone?
Rosalie POV – Rochester, New York. August 1st. 4:30pm.
"Uh, Royce! Oh, yes... fuck... me... UNGH!" I encouraged each time Royce slammed his perfectly fat cock into me as we fucked on the table in my bedroom.
His hand connected with my chest and he shoved me back against the cold, hardwood top and proceeded to speed up his thrusts. If I weren't so drunk I probably wouldn't have been enjoying this even half as much, but I was, so it seemed pretty fucking fantastic.
The strong odor of scotch reached my nose again as his leant on top of me, his lanky ribs rubbing against my stomach with every thrust. Royce groaned deeply and grabbed my hips to speed up his motions even more as he approached his orgasm. A few more thrusts and a pleased humming sound from me later and I felt him release inside my pussy.
After a few more seconds to catch his breath, he promptly stood up straight again and pulled his pants from his ankles to their proper position around his waist. "So when are you coming back?" he asked casually.
"As soon as I can get myself expelled. It shouldn't be too hard." I smiled confidently and leant in to kiss him. He pulled back without looking at me and turned away to retrieve his shirt from where I'd thrown it earlier.
"Try hard, I need you here." he ordered and I nodded affirmatively.
"I don't want to go to some boarding school for troubled teens. Even they have their limits. Shouldn't take me too long to break it and be sent home." I said confidently.
So far, there was yet to be a school, building or facility that could – or would – hold me for an extended period of time. Purely through monetary gains, school after school took me in only to expel me a week later for one reason. Or ten. It would only be a matter of time before the headmaster strapped me to a toboggan and pushed me down the side of Mount McKinley in a desperate bid to get rid of me.
Father called it a last resort brought on by desperation.
I called it a challenge. One I fully intended on completing in my favor.
"If you don't come back I'll have to move on to someone else. I can't very well go around telling people that my girlfriend isn't here, she's in Alaska." Royce continued, tying his tie back around his neck.
"I know. If I didn't know better I'd think you didn't really love me." I smirked.
Royce turned back and hummed quickly. "I've gotta go. Have fun, I guess." he muttered.
I smiled more honestly and waved as he walked across the room. "See ya soon."
Before the door could even close fully it was opened again. Two large guys walked in then stopped when they saw me sitting on the edge of the table, butt-naked and shamelessly smiling to greet them.
"Jesus Christ, two in one day. Could you please put on some clothes?" The larger of the two men requested.
I slipped down off the table and waved towards my pile of luggage in the corner. "Those are my bags. Be a dear and load them up will you?" I asked rhetorically. No wasn't really an answer.
I got dressed in a pair of dark jeans, a halter top and cute little peep-toe heels then quickly ran the brush over my hair and touched up my lipstick before returning to my bedroom.
"Ready?" The second guy asked.
I looked around my room quickly, not spotting anything I'd want in the next few weeks, then nodded and walked confidently out of my room ahead of him.
Tyler POV – Detroit, Michigan. August 1st. 10:30pm.
"We gonna get hiiiiiggghhh t'day!" I laughed at Smokay while I filled up the cone on my bong. He grinned back just like usual, looking all goofy with those huge buck teeth and little glasses. "This one's for you, Smokay, this one's for you. And maybe a little bit for me." I laughed and bumped in his stomach with my elbow before bringing the bong to my mouth.
"Toke, toke, toke, toke, toke, toke! Hold that motherfucker! Hold it! Now let it out and laugh, nigga stoner." The four foot high pimp doll cackled then went quiet next to me on the couch.
I swayed a little bit as I laughed breathlessly at his overstuffed cheeks. "Smokay, you so funny." I laughed then hit him in the gut again.
"Pass the duchy by the left hand side." he sang.
"Oh, sure, buddy," I picked up the bong and held it out to the left. "There's no one there. Oh well! Back to me!" I laughed.
"Tyler!" There was a loud bang at my door then suddenly my balding, short; threadbare-singlet wearing daddy came stumbling in picking the food from between his teeth with a barbeque skewer. "Awww! Boy I know I told you not be to smoking, when the motherfuckin' bus got here!"
"No you di'n't." I argued. "Nigga, if you told me not to be smokin'. Then why the fuckin' hell am I smokin'?"
"Because you're arrogant, and you're defiant!" he barked then smacked me in the back of the head.
I fell to the floor and convulsed a little then dragged my sorry ass back up the side of the bed and glared at the bastard right before he cocked his leg to the side and farted. "Oooph! That hot sauce is just going straight through me!" He grimaced.
"What the fuck you hittin' me for?" I demanded.
"One of these days I'm gonna knock some fuckin' sense into your dumb ass, but until then you're gettin' in that bus and going to freeze your nuts off in Alaska."
"I don't wanna go to Alaska. It's full of hobbits!" I shouted from the floor.
"That's New Zealand, you idiot. Now get your ass up! And get the fuck outta my house!" He walked out of the room then and two much bigger white men wearing matching shirts came in.
"I hope your bag's packed." The tallest one said.
"Who the fuck 're you?" My voice broke as I looked up, way up, at the massive cracker standing with his head touching the roof.
"Demetri. I'm from The Denali Institute." he answered.
"This thing is serious?" I gaped at the two of them.
They both paused for a second then the short, blonde haired one spoke. "Do you have your bags pack?" he repeated Demetri's previous question.
"Cracker, I ain't got nothin' to pack! But I will have a cone for the road." I decided and grabbed my bong again.
They both walked forward suddenly, the blonde one grabbed me and Demetri grabbed my kit. "Bring it with you." he said and shoved it into my hands. "It's not like you've got anything else."
I shrugged and held the tray with all the necessary instruments as the blonde one carried me to the door by the back of my shirt.
"We're goin' for a road trip, Smokay!" I declared. "Smokay!" I flung my legs out before we got to the doorway and stuck my feet on either side of the frame. "I'm not leavin' without Smokay!"
"Who is Smokay?" Demetri asked, annoyed.
I stomped my foot on the doorframe. "I'm not Smokay! You're not Smokay! This blonde-ass motherfucker definitely ain't Smokay! There's only one other person in the room!"
A few seconds of silence followed while they looked around.
"Do you mean that pimp doll?" The blonde one asked.
"Well I don't see anyone else here!" I said, turning my head around as far as I could to look him in the face. "Now are we leavin' or are we stayin'?"
"We're leaving." Demetri decided, picking up Smokay by his hat.
"WAIT! Fucker, I know you are not crushing that hat on his head!" I screeched, jamming my legs harder against the doorframe to stop us from leaving. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a purple hat for a four foot pimp?"
"No..."
"Then Don't. Crush. The hat!" I continued to stare him down until he lifted Smokay up and held him by the body.
"Whoo! Look at them tig old bitties!" Smokay cackled.
"Now we may leave." I dropped my legs from the door frame and curled them up to my stomach as we once again started for the door. "Stupid motherfuckers, disrespectin' a pimp." I muttered. "No respect."
Edward POV – Chicago, Illinois. August 2nd. 11:15am.
"We really didn't want it to come to this, Edward, but you haven't changed no matter how much you promise and I'd rather send you away then bury you." My mother mumbled as we sat in the living room waiting for the bus to come and take me away to some boarding school in Alaska.
"Whatever, just don't cry will you? It's not like we'll miss each other. Why fucking pretend?" I muttered coolly then took another drag on my fourth cigarette of the hour. Fuck knows when I'd be able to have one again. This institution was probably a rehab facility as well as a reform camp.
"I will miss you," she argued. "I just wish I knew how to help you, but I don't and these people do. I just want you to have a good life. A long one."
I felt like snorting at her lie but instead I gulped down a mouthful of beer then finished off my cigarette. Under normal circumstances I'd have been gaping in shock at the amount of emotion being shown by my darling mother, Elizabeth Masen. But it was all an act, a way of working herself up before she had to really perform for the people picking me up, so I had no interest in the show.
About a month ago after I'd broken into a liquor store my father had began searching high and low for somewhere, anywhere, to send me so I wasn't a burden on him anymore. He finally succeeded when he discovered a place that was neither high nor low. It was halfway up the side of the tallest mountain North America and practically inescapable according to the website.
Though I was willing to bet against that guarantee.
Just as I downed the last of my drink the doorbell rang and my mother promptly started bawling like a child that had just seen her dog ran over. I put my glass down on the scratched coffee table and stood up to open the door. Most people would have been taking measures to avoid this, but I was so beyond the point of caring that I almost welcomed the bus to prison.
When I got to the front door the bastard that sired me descended the winding staircase and pushed past me to open the door himself.
"Don't worry, I'm fucking fine, you almost knocked me into a fucking glass cabinet, that's all." I barked viciously, picking up my duffle bag and suitcase.
"Edward Masen?" The larger of the two goons at the door asked.
The bastard and I answered yes in unison.
"I'm the criminal you're after, let's go." I continued picking up the backpack that contained nothing but cigarettes and alcohol.
"Edward, they'll never let you take that." My mother pointed to the bag as she joined us in the foyer, teary and splotchy.
"What's in the bag?" The shorter, ponytailed bitch of the pair asked.
"C4 and a fuckload of cell phones." I muttered. They were blocking my path out so I just stood there half slumped over from the weight of my bags and waited.
The big one stared me down, looking between my face and the bag every few seconds.
"A whole bunch of cigarettes and bourbon. Happy?" I corrected.
"The school doesn't prohibit narcotics or alcohol. No weapons?" The big one asked.
"Nope." I answered, smirking internally at my mother's failed attempt to get my alcohol for herself. "Can we leave now?"
They stepped to either side of the door and I walked through without a second glance back at my parents.
Lauren POV – Pompano Beach, Florida. August 3rd. 7:00pm.
"Lauren! I've already told you ten times that you are not going out tonight!" My father boomed in his low, intimidating voice. I ignored it and dropped my keys into my purse.
"It's Friday night, Daddy. I'm not spending it on route to some prison-like boarding school in Alaska where everyone is mentally fucked or just crazy in general. The simple fact of the matter is that you can't make me and I'm not going to of my own accord. Now if you'll kindly move the hell out of my way, I've got a party to get to and cute boys to flirt with." I tried once again to push past or at the very least duck under his arm but each time ended with the same result. Me standing in front of him again as he blocked the front door.
"I don't know how old you think you are but you are sixteen, Lauren. I can and will make you go and that's exactly what I'm going to do when the bus arrives. They rang twenty minutes ago to say they were almost here and I'll be damned if I have to go and out and look all over Pompano Beach for you. I'm at my wits end, girl, you refuse to follow the law – not to mention the rules of this house – and unless you want to spend your eighteenth birthday pregnant and in prison you're are going to Alaska because if you don't that's exactly the way you're headed."
I pretended to think about it for a second then shrugged. "I'll take my chances. It's only illegal if you get caught and I use birth control and condoms. I think I can beat those odds. Move, please."
"It's really not negotiable." he rumbled angrily.
The ringing doorbell got a groan of frustration from me and a sigh of relief from him.
"Thank God." he whispered then turned and opened it. "Hey, come in." My father stepped to the side and two enormous men walked in, side by side, muscle by muscle, scary look by scary look.
"Good evening, Lauren," The blonde one said politely. "I'm Garrett from The Denali Institute. Are ready to go?"
I nodded, building up as much confidence as I could while standing in front of these strange men. "Ah huh, but not to go with you. I've got a party to get to."
Daddy huffed and the two strangers stayed quiet. I took a step forward and tried to duck around the dark haired one but his massive arm wrapped around my stomach and he pulled me back in front of him. "We're a little behind schedule and as much as I'm sure we'd all love a party, there's really no time. Is that your bag?" He nodded towards the suitcase my mother had had the maid pack last night.
When I didn't respond, Daddy nodded. "That's it." he agreed.
The blonde one stepped forward and I went to walk out the opening he left only to be scooped completely off the ground and locked inside the taller ones arms.
"PUT ME DOWN!" I screeched as loudly as I could. I kicked my legs, colliding with his each time but he didn't even seem to notice. "YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME! This is ASSAULT!"
"Call the cops. I'm sure they'd know who you were." he muttered, not sounding very annoyed.
"YOU CAN'T SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!" I whacked my hands around and kicked my legs harder but he didn't even flinch no matter how many times I struck him. "DADDY!"
"I'm sorry, Lauren, but it's for your own good." he answered tiredly.
I gasped in shock. My own father wasn't even going to help me when some thug was assaulting me!
"LET ME GO!" I screamed again as we turned and he followed the blonde man outside to a big bus.
"In a minute." The one holding me promised.
The side door on the bus opened and I was unceremoniously tossed in then it was slammed behind me.
"There you go." The man chuckled as he and the other one got in the front seat with a third guy.
I turned back around to face the other four people in this part of the bus. They all looked to be about my age and they all looked very unfriendly and angry.
Alice POV – Biloxi, Mississippi. August 4rd. 10:15am.
"Mama, I don't want to go, please." I repeated for the tenth time this morning. She ignored me again as she removed my plate from the nightstand.
When she opened the bedroom door to leave I saw the suitcases with my things packed into them sitting in the hall by the front door.
I was being sent away from home. Far away from home.
To Alaska to be precise.
"Why do I have to be locked in my room?" I asked before the door shut again.
She paused and sighed quietly. "We don't have time for one of your little disappearing acts. The bus will be here soon, they won't wait to look for you."
"I don't want to go with them." I said again.
Her thin lips pursed into a tight line and her eyes dropped to the floor. "Well you never want to do what's good for you, Alice, so you don't have a choice in the matter." My mother, Dana Brandon – a small woman in all ways, including her level of compassion – turned away from me then. Maybe if I'd known it would be the last time I'd see her for two years I might have memorized her face or perhaps just said goodbye.
There was a knock at the front door as soon as the lock clicked on the outside of my bedroom. Hushed voices spoke for a minute then the door was unlocked again and a man entered. He was over a foot and a half taller than my diminutive height of four foot ten as well as three times my physical weight.
If I'd have had longer to digest the milk from my cereal I may have peed my pants as he towered over me with a flat expression. Everything from his short buzz cut to the way that his sleeves were a size too small for the girth of his arms was intimidating. He was wearing a pair of darkish blue jeans, steel-toe boots and a green, blue and white polo shirt that bore the logo to the school I was being taken to.
"Three seconds to walk on your own or I'll carry you." he said informatively.
I stood up from my bed relatively quickly but then hesitated when I couldn't get past without squeezing around him. He stepped to the side and waved me towards the front door where another man stood. This one had sandy blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, his body was just as broad as the first man but about six inches shorter. He was wearing the same shirt and lighter blue jeans, the same type of boots on his feet, too.
"Let's get this show on the road." The second man waved me forward hurriedly.
Not stupid enough to test them, I walked down the hall and out into the warm autumn air. In the driveway was a black minivan and a third man that was still in the driver's seat. On the side was the name of the school I was being taken to. The Denali Institute for Rebellious and Troubled Teenagers.
Jasper POV – Houston, Texas. August 4th. 10:20pm.
I fiddled with the steel spiked cuff on my left wrist. It covered the scars and newer cuts across my wrists but everyone in my family knew they were there already so there wasn't really much point beyond the aesthetics.
Penelope walked into the living room with the usual spring in her step. She sat down across from me, right next to my mother. She was my mother... once upon a time.
"Mama, will you send me to Alaska when I'm Jasper's age?" she asked curiously, feigning an innocence I knew she didn't genuinely hold.
"Of course not, sweetheart. Jasper's a very, very troubled and sick boy. You're perfect; you don't need to go to a special school like he does."
"Excellent way to help my almost non-existent self esteem." I muttered bitterly.
Ever since my parents had started fostering Penelope when she was eight they'd pushed me off to the side. Penelope was scared, Penelope had never been loved, Penelope needed extra attention, don't yell at Penelope when she doesn't know any different. Penelope knew different. For the past six years she'd had my mother and father wrapped around her pale little finger with her shy glances and Barbie-girl looks.
"Oh I'd say your self esteem is fine. You seem to have no problem doing the exact opposite of whatever your father and I tell you to. You clearly don't need to inflate your self-importance any further." Marianne, the woman who had once loved me more than anything on this earth, contested with a harsh bite to her voice.
"Well I'll try my very best not to come back. I'm sure you and Pa would be much happier with your troubled little cherub. Not to worry about me, I just hack my arms open for no reason." I snapped.
The icy cold glare fell upon me as Marianne wordlessly directed Penelope to the door.
"What's wrong, Mama?" I asked spitefully as I watched her try to protect my sister. "Don't you want Precious Penelope to hear what happens to people when their parents stop loving them?" I looked over to the door. "Don't worry, sweetheart. When the baby gets here you'll see what it's like to lose your mother. I'll leave a blade in the bathroom for when the pain starts to make your skin itch. It's really quite beautiful when the blood starts to ooze down your arm and drip off onto the floor." I ran my finger down the middle of my left arm as I spoke to show the path.
Her eyes went wide and with a little gasp she ran off around the corner.
"You wonder why we're getting you help." Marianne hissed angrily.
I lifted my left eyebrow curiously. "I'm sorry, Mama. Was that impolite what I said just then? No wonder I don't have any friends."
She didn't reply verbally but the reddening of her face and the ridged tension in her body was enough.
"Before I leave I'd like to know something," I announced calmly. "When was it that you stopped caring about me?"
The muscles around her full, pink lips twitched and I noticed a breath go in without coming back out. "If I didn't care about you I'd let you do whatever you wanted until it killed you or you killed yourself. You changed and I didn't know you anymore but I haven't stopped caring. I love you, Jasper, but I don't understand you and you won't tell me so this is how it has to be." she murmured softly.
Silence hung in the air for a long minute before I finally spoke. "Too bad I'm not one of your foster kids. You never give up on them."
I could tell she was going to respond but a knock at the door interrupted her.
The transporters were here.
We both stood up without another word and I picked up my bags while she opened the door.
"You're not going to be any trouble are you?" The bigger of the two asked seriously.
I shook my head wordlessly.
"It says in your file that you're partial to a little cutting. To save time when we get there, please take out any blades or weapons from your bags. We don't care about any of the other stuff you might have, just don't bring anything they wouldn't let you take on a plane. You'll lose them anyway."
I didn't move for a moment then dropped my bags with a long sigh and opened up the side pocket on my larger duffle bag. The three of them watched as I took out a long, black case then a smaller white one and placed them on the floor before doing up the zipper again.
"Who wants them?" I asked, standing up again with the bags over my shoulders and the cases in my right hand.
"Ma'am, do you have any children that might hurt themselves on whatever is in there?" The shorter man with blonde hair asked.
"My daughter – "
I scoffed loudly before I could control it. "If Penelope is stupid enough to play with box cutter blades she deserves to cut her fingers off. She's fourteen, not three."
Marianne went red in the cheeks, indicating that she wanted to yell at me again, then snatched the cases from my hand like we were doing a drug deal.
"Ready?" I asked, ignoring the way my mother was trying to hide the boxes like some horrible piece of evidence.
Jacob POV – Sterling, Colorado. August 5th. 8:30am.
"It's not my fault you're a bad father. You should be punished, not me." I growled furiously.
"There's no justice in the world, Jake. I apologize for that." The smart-mouthed asshole said casually like it was no big deal what he was making me do. "Do you fit into these anymore?" he asked and held up a pair of pants.
"Maybe two years ago, if I hadn't have eaten for a week beforehand." I muttered.
His lips twitched and he dropped the pants to the floor. "I'll just throw those out."
"Why not, you throw me out, why not everything I own as well?"
Billy sighed quietly. "I'm not throwing you out, Jake. I'm hoping that eventually you'll be able to care as much about your life as I do. You've been like this for the past five years and I understand why but that doesn't mean you can keep hurting yourself because you were lucky."
"Lucky." I muttered angrily. Tears stung in my eyes at the mere mention of two thousand and seven. The year my whole life when to hell.
"Yes. You were extremely lucky. Nothing you did or didn't do would have changed what happened." he said whilst packing my clothes into a suitcase.
"If I'd just let her sit in the front seat it would have been me in the back behind Mom. I'd rather be with Mom." I mumbled and felt a tear slide down my cheek.
At least he was nice enough not to look up at my face now. Instead choosing to pack up my belongings so I could be shipped off to some frozen boarding school up north. I couldn't decide what was worse.
"Okay, if you want to look at it as a bad thing to live then why would you want Rachel to have been the one in the front? Why would you want her to have to live this oh so terrible life?" he inquired.
I had no answer. I didn't want Rachel to be here suffering like I was without half her family, but I didn't want to be here either.
"Jacob... Your life is not that bad. I know I don't make up for your mother but that doesn't change the fact that you're my son and I love you more than life. You can hate me for this but so long as you can move forward from it I can live with it. We haven't left this town since the accident, it's full of memories. A change of setting could be the key to accepting how lucky you really are and not how unfortunate it is that your mother and sister weren't."
A ripping, stabbing pain tore through my chest as the hole opened back up. We didn't talk about them, it was an unspoken rule, but apparently it was my father's intent for me to leave here in as much pain as possible. Probably some attempt to make Alaska seem better than here.
I couldn't leave Colorado, though. Billy saw the fact that it was full of memories as a bad thing but I lived each day for those memories. I couldn't leave. When I eventually did die it had to be here. Right where my mom and sister died.
"I should have died with them." I groaned through the gut-wrenching pain that made me physically double over.
Billy started talking again but I couldn't hear him. My head was spinning and an overwhelming urge to throw up suddenly hit.
I raced from the bedroom to the bathroom next door and threw myself to the floor in front of the toilet just a second before my breakfast came back up.
A soft sigh alerted me to my father's presence behind me then a minute later he spoke. "It's not normal to have that sort of reaction five years later. It might still seem like yesterday to you but it's been a long time. You need help, kid. I've tried everything the doctors have told me to and some I just decided to try anyway and nothing has helped you..." He paused and I heard another long breath in as I stared into the toilet bowl. When he spoke this time I thought he was going to break down into tears as well. "I think this might be your last chance. You have to take it. If you won't do it for yourself then please do it for me. For god's sake, just do it for your mother and your sister. Could you imagine what they'd be like if they saw you like this?"
Sobs started now to accompany the tears, I pressed my head on the front edge of the toilet seat and let myself cry for the first time since the funeral. I wanted to hit something, break something and just keep smashing it until it felt as bad as I did.
"I don't want to go." I whispered hoarsely.
"You don't have a choice." Billy whispered back even quieter.
I was about to argue again but I knew it wouldn't do any good. If they came and took me I wouldn't be able to get back here for two years. I'd have to live for at least another two years with the constant memory of my mother's blood splattered over my face and my sisters severed hand lying next to me while I waited to be rescued.
I'd have to do it now. Before they could drag me away.
"I need some air." I mumbled then flushed the toilet and got to my feet again.
My legs felt like jelly with lead weights for feet but I forced myself to walk over to the door then out the front door. When I stepped out into the cool morning air I was instantly stopped by the sight of two very burly guys walking across the wide front yard from their bus parked on the street. Through the lingering tears I could still make out the logo on the side that matched the brochure for the school.
They were here already and I'd run out of time.
Without thinking, I started running across the yard towards the road. They didn't follow immediately but the minute Billy shouted my name from the house I heard loud, fast footsteps chasing after me.
I reached the road and continued sprinting along it – using strength I didn't know I had to push me harder and faster. The overpass was right up ahead, if I could just get that far the twenty foot drop to the highway below would surely kill me. If not put me in a coma that – with any luck – I wouldn't wake up from. I turned the sharp bend and spotted the railing, giving that extra push of adrenaline fuelled speed.
"JACOB!" One of the men shouted when they too saw where I was headed. Their footsteps sped up even faster but it was too late. I reached the sidewalk that passed over the bridge and grabbed hold of the railing then threw my body over and let go without hesitation.
I floated out for a moment then started dropping down. Just two seconds and it'd be over.
A sudden pain radiated from my right shoulder as my left was pulled back up into the air. Again, I banged into the outside of the safety railing; this time I howled in pain from the metal hitting my shoulder.
Another couple of moments passed then a second set of hands gripped my left arm.
I growled with frustration and hopelessness as I was thrown onto the sidewalk, back on the safe side of the railing.
My last chance was gone.
Emmett POV – Long Beach, California. August 6th. 12:30pm.
Bump.
"Mmmm."
Thump!
"Fuck off!" I growled without opening my eyes.
"Get up, McCarty." An unfamiliar voice ordered.
I opened my right eye, realizing I was on the floor as I did so, and looked over to the steel-toed boot that had been kicking me in the side with steadily increasing power.
"Who the fuck are you?" I asked, squinting in the sunlight as I tried to look up at them.
"We're from The Denali Institute." The short of the two bouncer-type guys informed me.
My eyes rolled and I let my head fall back onto the floor. "Nah, I'm not interested. Fuck off." I waved my hand lazily and shut my eyes, hoping they'd just go when I didn't move.
Suddenly, I was moving. Or rather, being dragged.
One guy grabbed my wrists and the other got my ankles and they carried me towards the door with my stomach still dragging along the ground and my back arched at a previously impossible angle. I screeched in pain and flung my leg back, sending the second guy stumbling back, then I ripped my hands free and staggered to my feet.
"There's always one." The big dude mumbled as he closed the distance between us. He was quite a bit larger than I was, despite me already hitting the tape measure at six foot one, and he outweighed me in muscle by at least thirty – if not forty – pounds.
I took the height advantage that wasn't usually mine and aimed low as I lunged for him. The bastard had made three mistakes in about as many minutes.
One, he'd woken me up.
Two, he'd done so by kicking me.
And three, the stupid fuck had just attempted to man-handle me. So now I had to kick his ass.
I connected with his knees, at least I thought so until a hand connected with the back of my neck and slammed me into the hardwood floor of the community hall I'd passed out in last night. The movement brought on the hangover that I had been sleeping off and with it came a huge rush of irritability and subsequent boost in energy from the anger now rising in my bloodstream.
Before I could move again I was jumped on by both the guys, well over four hundred pounds combined, and my arms were forcefully jerked up behind me back then secured with what felt and smelled like tape of some description.
"Let me fucking go or I'll call the fucking cops!" I roared furiously, still struggling.
They both laughed, honestly amused.
"Without your hands or a phone? I'd love to see that." One chuckled.
"Sorry, pal. Your parents have already signed over guardianship to the school and seeing as we work for them that means us. Your ass is ours. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to sleep off the alcohol in the bus; we're a little behind schedule so we'll be driving right through the night. C'mon, be a good boy and we can get back on the road." A clumsy hand patted my shoulder then grabbed hold of my shirt while another went to the back of my belt and with a groan of effort from all three of us I was back on my feet being shoved and tossed towards the door and out into the bright, midday sun.
A large, black mini-bus was parked outside the hall and by the looks of it I wasn't the first to be torn from my natural environment by these knob jockeys. The smart-mouthed, big one let go of my shoulder but I couldn't even repay him for his gentleness because my hands were currently tied behind my ass.
"This is Emmett McCarty," he informed the others in the bus. "Emmett's feeling a little grouchy so we're going to just leave him right here to cool off in the pit. Try to ignore him, if that's at all possible."
The eight other people in the bus stared mutely without action to show their understanding.
Before I could so much as open my mouth to question what the hell the pit was, I was in it. The pit was a narrow dugout right behind the partition between the drivers and the rest of the bus. With my hands behind my back and my back now pressed against the metal floor of the two foot deep trench, there wasn't really anywhere I could go.
The doors shut and the two cock suckers got in the front of the bus then it started moving forward which just pressed me harder against the cold metal wall.
Dad always did say I'd end up in a cold metal box one day...
Bella POV – Forks, Washington. August 7th. 11:05am.
The burn of stomach acid in the back of my throat was always a calming sensation. I couldn't get any fatter without actually digesting my food, the bleached white of the toilet bowl looked much better with my toast in it than my body did.
A loud pounding rattled the bathroom door. "Bella, you might as well stop that now! You won't get away with this not eating crap in Alaska!" Charlie shouted through the wood.
I rolled my eyes and flushed the toilet then stood up and walked over to the sink.
He stopped yelling when the toilet flushed but I could still hear the bull-like breathing outside the door as I brushed my teeth and took my hair out of the ponytail I'd put it in.
"Charlie, leave her alone. You've done enough sending her away to that god forsaken school." Renee demanded in her usual quiet voice. I could always count on my mother to actually want me when my father and everyone else didn't.
With the reassuring knowledge that there was someone I actually liked on the other side of the door, I opened it and walked around the corner to my bedroom. They both followed and stood next to the bed; I laid on it looking up at them.
"They won't leave you here because you're in bed. Pajamas or not, you're leaving, Isabella."
"Leave her alone!" Renee sobbed, leaning down onto the bed as if to shield me from him. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"Don't worry about it, I don't blame you." I whispered into her sweetly scented auburn hair.
"Have you got everything?" she asked, kissing my cheek several times before pulling away to sit on the edge of my bed. "I don't want you not to have something you want."
Charlie made an annoyed clicking sound and over Renee's should I watched him roll his eyes. "Don't baby her, she did this to herself. If she insists on hurting herself then she can suffer the consequences."
Renee whipped around and glared at him in all her teary fury. "She needs our love and support! Not to sent away to the middle of nowhere with strangers! There's a reason she does it and those people don't know her."
"That's exactly what she needs. She's in a niche here and she needs to get out of it. I've paid a lot of money to get her in there because it's the best chance she has of ever being normal."
"She's perfect. It's probably you constantly telling her she's not good enough that makes her do those things to herself." she sobbed and began stroking her hands along my forearms through the over-long sleeves of my sweater. Every time her fingers brushed over a cut I could feel the thin scab catch on the material before she moved further down then back up eventually.
"Don't worry, Mom," I smiled reassuringly, ignoring Charlie. "I'm the only one that can hurt me. Nothing he says can. You'll come and visit, right?"
She nodded instantly. "Of course, baby," – She leant over and kissed my forehead – "And I'll write to you every day."
A booming knock interrupted us then, the front door had an enormous brass knocker on it that was more than likely only a couple of decibels lower than number needed to burst someone's ear drum.
Mom burst into fresh tears, knowing it was the pick-up convoy, and Charlie walked off to get it after grunting: "Get dressed." at me.
I slipped free from Renee's arms and quickly changed into more appropriate travel clothes before going downstairs to find two steroid abusers raiding my bags.
"What the fuck?" I frowned down at them.
Without looking up, the smaller one with blonde hair held up one of the razors I'd packed. "No weapons allowed and that includes knives, blades and anything else you use to hurt someone. You're marked down as a cutter."
"Well just take my speed and cigarettes, too. Leave me completely fucking sober and see what happens." I folded my arms and stared down at them as they pulled another razor from my shoulder bag.
"No need," The bigger one dismissed. "Cigarettes and speed are allowed."
My eyebrow quirked and a small smile started to form when Charlie began shouting in outrage, getting louder and louder despite the fact that his words were falling on deaf ears.
:*:*:*:*:
Well there's chapter one. There's a chart on my profile that shows exactly what the hell is wrong with each of the characters, don't try and memorize it all in one hit – trust me – it just won't stick. But the chart has a lot of pretty colors so it's fun to look at.
Review Please :)