Chapter One: The Czar

There was very few times where silence wasn't appreciated in Bella Swan's life. She bit her fingernails, thinking about how angry her father was. In previous experience her father only sat quietly when he really wanted to think about something grueling. Usually it was a punishment for some small thing that she forgot to do for him that day. Today, it was because her flight had been delayed two hours.

He was expecting her to be at the airport in Port Angeles at nine and had left after waiting for thirty minutes. Charlie Swan was not a patient man. He expected his breakfast every morning at six, a packed lunch that he could eat around noon and a fully cooked dinner by seven. All prepared by Bella in the hours between school, homework, house chores, and the few hours of sleep she was allowed to have.

Along with the strict schedule at home, she was also expected to maintain straight A's and perfect attendance. If a teacher commented anything less than Charlie's idea of exceptional, she had extra punishments added onto her daily dose. It was enough, having him as her father, but being that he was the chief of police she couldn't get in any sort of trouble for fear that one of the deputies would report it to Charlie.

It took her months of convincing to get permission to fly out to her mom's house in Phoenix. The added brutality barely made the trip worth it. Renee had been excited to see her only daughter, but the mini vacation had a rain cloud over Bella the entire time. She knew that she would have to return back to Forks and the only life she really knew.

By the time they arrived home, Charlie still hadn't said anything about the delay or her being gone at all. It made each passing second that much worse. Bella couldn't think of anything to bring up the topic or muster an apology for the captain's mistake. Sometimes she figured that it was best to let him think it through in his head and take whatever punishment he dealt. It was easier than fighting and arguing until something broke.

The trucks lights brightened the faded yellow paint on the outer walls of the house, showing the grime accumulated throughout the years. Great another thing he'll have me clean, Bella thought, wincing as Charlie slammed his door and headed inside. She followed slowly, hoping to prolong the inevitable fight.

The stench of musty beer and burnt cigarette butts made Bella cringe as she opened the front door. Not a thing had changed except the house was messier than usual. Charlie had already grabbed a cold beer and was sitting in his recliner watching the last bits of a sports game. There were piles of empties around him, rattling whenever he moved in his chair.

Bella set her bag down and grabbed the trash can, figuring she would at least make the house clean before he set in on her. It didn't take long to get the trash and empty cans out of the house, a daily habit that became second nature. The dishes were the hardest part, most of the plates had crusted food on them and both parts of the sink were full.

The entire time she cleaned, she kept an ear out for Charlie's movement. She knew if he got mad enough, his footsteps would slam on the floor and thud into the kitchen. At any moment the game would end and leave two possible outcomes. She hoped he would fall asleep in the chair, having been too drunk to remember what happened the night before. In the back of her mind, she knew she wouldn't get that lucky.

It took her over two hours to finish cleaning the house and put everything away. In that time Charlie remained silent and fell asleep after his game. Bella prepared his lunch for the next day and put a steak in a marinade pan for his dinner that night. She left him a note apologizing and covered him with a blanket before going to bed. It would be a long night, if Charlie woke up in the middle of it and realized that she was in her room before him.

xXxXxXx

Bella awoke, startled, when her alarm rang at five thirty. She stretched groggily and tip toed downstairs to begin making Charlie's breakfast. As the bacon sizzled she thought about her dream and how insane it had been. By six, Charlie walked into the kitchen dressed for work and grabbed his coffee off of the counter. He sat and ate, staring at Bella. She couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad sign.

At half past six Charlie left for work and Bella cleaned the morning dishes before eating her own breakfast. She poured a bowl of cereal and thought more about her dream and the realities that had been revealed in Phoenix.

Her mother had been diagnosed with cancer and was attending chemo therapy every few days. Phil, her new husband, was taking good care of her and most days she sat on their patio reading. She also found out about Phil's children from a previous relationship. She had fun playing with them and enjoyed being carefree for once. It made her sad to leave them for the second time, though the first was hard, the second time made her want to stay even more.

The biggest shock had been when she passed out beside the pool at the community center. They'd been relaxing after a day in the city. The lifeguard had called for an ambulance and when they were in the emergency room the doctors revealed that she was pregnant. It was one of the few times her heart dropped into her stomach.

Renee was excited and Phil kept trying to convince her to stay with them. She told them that she really wanted to but that Charlie needed her back in Forks. She was really trying to convince herself that if she stayed, Charlie would send the Calvary to drag her back to his house. It was really hard to keep the sadness and stress out of her voice when talking and she almost let slip the activities going on at her dad's house.

This made her think about the events that put her in the situation she was in. There was only one possibility as to who the father was and it wasn't someone that would be happy at the news. She had made friends with some of the guys on the reservation, one town over. Her best friend, Jacob, had introduced her to some of his friends.

When Bella first moved here, Jacob made the move and they lost virginities to each other. Knowing that it was just a one-time thing, they remained friends and planned a day for them to hang out each week. During her junior year, she started a small fling with another one of the guys in the group. They kept it up for a while until he wanted to get serious and she explained that she couldn't. He started dating one of the girls in her class at school and she kept hanging out with them. Then she met Paul. He was the first person to bring up the things her dad did to her. She never figured out how he knew but from the first conversation she couldn't get her fill of his company.

It didn't matter if she wanted to be with him or not, she knew that they wouldn't work together. He liked being by himself most of the time and only talked when he had something to share. It made her tear up thinking that he wouldn't see her the same if he found out that she was pregnant. It didn't help matters that she'd seen him with Jacob's sister multiple times on the reservation.

She finished her breakfast and tidied up the rest of the house before locking up and taking a walk in the woods behind the house. It wasn't until her alarm rang on her phone that she paid attention to time.

xXxXxXx

She had just put the finishing touches on dinner when Charlie's cruiser pulled into the driveway. She set his steak and baked potato at his spot on the table and put a cold beer in his cozy. She welcomed him home with a smile and patiently waited while he finished eating. She asked about work and he grumbled small responses. He mentioned that it was busy and a lot of "good" kids were getting into trouble during the summer months.

She was careful not to mention her time with her mom or any of the revelations from the trip. At the end of the meal, Charlie commented that it was delicious and turned on that night's ball game. He grabbed the case of beer and stayed in his den. Bella cleaned up the mess and ate her own portion of dinner before going upstairs to relax.

In the middle of the game, the phone rang and Bella heard Charlie's fake hello. Her stomach twisted when the receiver slammed into its holder and the dreaded thuds ebbing closer and closer to Bella's door. "Isabella Marie Swan!" he yelled, making her jump.

She timidly opened the door and stood with her head pointed down. She had memorized every line in the wood floor over time. It was always a bad idea to look in his eyes when he was angry. "Yes sir?" she whispered, going over every possible instance where she could have made him mad.

He sucked in a deep breath before grabbing the back of her shirt and pushing her up against the wall. "You're mother just called… asked how you were doing. She mentioned," he paused to hiccup, words slurred, "that you found something out…" He emphasized his anger by pulling her away and slamming her back into the wall.

Bella's stomach clenched harder realizing that Charlie had found out. He kept on his ramble and slammed her head into the wall a few more times. She knew that resisting him would only make it worse on herself; she let her body relax and dropped to the floor. Instinctively she curled into a ball to somewhat protect herself from his kicks.

Her back took most of the blows, his shoes opening old wounds. It was a shock that nobody else had seen the healing bruises, but Charlie had become an expert at hiding the abuse from everyone in town. He'd expected Bella to be able to do the same. She refused to cry out, even though the pain was unbearable. It only fueled his rage and made things worse.

It felt like a lifetime had gone by when Charlie tired of ranting and kicking her. When he finally stumbled into his room to sleep of the beer and anger, Bella crawled into her bathroom and began washing off the blood.

She cried as she scrubbed herself in the shower then as she cleaned the floor and broken pieces of drywall. In lieu of the pain she managed to make the damage look presentable and was even able to make Charlie's lunch for the next day before wrapping herself in her blankets and falling into a pain induced sleep.

xXxXxXx

Bella woke earlier than usual and quietly made Charlie's breakfast before he woke up. She made herself scarce as he ate furiously. He slammed the door on the way out and sped out of the driveway after telling her to fix the wall before he got home. She couldn't imagine where she'd get the necessary pieces of drywall or the plaster.

She sighed and picked up her phone, hoping that Jacob or one of his friends had what she needed. He picked up on the first ring with a chirpy "hey Bells."

"Hey, I have a…. weird question." She started, pausing to take a deep breath. "One of the walls needs fixing and I don't have anything to fix it with. Do you know where I can get them?"

Jacob took no time to tell her that they had some in the garage and proceeded to talk a mile a minute about what he'd done while she was gone and how they needed to hang out. Before they ended the call he said he would head out in a few hours with some of the guys and they'd get the wall fixed in no time. Bella was in tears and quietly thanked him before going up to replace her bandages.

She lost track of time and jumped when the front door opened while she was prepping dinner for that night. Once she caught her breath she called out, "Hey Jake," and turned around. She instantly felt dizzy when she saw Paul standing next to him. "Hi."

"Hey Bells. Where's the wall?" Jake asked, pushing forward with a large sheet of drywall and a bucket of plaster. She pointed up the stairs and sat at the table. "Thanks." He headed up yelling for Paul to bring in their tool box.

"I guess I'll make you boys something to eat…" Bella cleared her throat and turned away from Paul. She couldn't deal with seeing him so soon after finding out about the baby.

The guys worked quickly and were scarfing down the sandwiches she made within the hour. They each asked for more and downed two extra sandwiches and a bag of chips they'd brought for themselves. "When are you gonna come out to the Rez?" Jake asked between mouthfuls of peanut butter, bread, and chips. "You were gone almost two months ya know."

She nodded and kept herself occupied by washing their dishes and finishing the preparations for Charlie's dinner. "I know. I just got back last night and I haven't had the chance to call you until today." She covered, drying her hands on the spare hand towel hanging from the oven door. "It was hard readjusting to the time zone change." She added.

Paul stretched out and propped his legs on an adjacent chair. "We've been getting things ready for the fall bon fire." He cracked his knuckles and smiled. "It'd be a shame if you missed out."

It was at her first bon fire that Paul had made his move. A few years had passed since she had moved to Forks and barely felt comfortable at the time. They had had small flings on and off after the first bon fire she attended and each year he reminded her of the next one. She nodded at his statement and blushed when Jacob pointed out the obvious. "You two should just shack up." He laughed, nudging Paul's arm.

Bella was about to say something when she heard Charlie's door slam outside. "You guys might want to go." She concluded, handing them their jackets. "I don't know how he'd take company right now. Thank you, by the way; for fixing that wall."

The boys mentioned that it wasn't a problem and on their way out they greeted Charlie. Jacob stopped him for a moment and mentioned that his own father wanted to plan a fishing trip with Charlie and Harry. They found a day that worked and the guys left with the promise to tell Billy the arrangement. Bella quickly put his dinner on the table and disappeared to her room. After an episode like one the night before, Charlie liked to eat alone and would make her stay in another room until he was ready to speak his mind.

He showed his lack of enthusiasm by throwing his plate and cup into the sink and turning the night's game on loud. Bella could hear each sound through the walls and doors separating them. He never let his anger get ahold of him like he was now. Bella grabbed her phone and huddled in the far corner of her room.

She waited until late in the evening to go downstairs and clean the mess that Charlie had created. After only being back for two days, she already missed Phoenix like crazy. Thankful that he had gone to bed without incident, Bella made quick work of the cleaning and prepared for the next day. Before going to bed, she listened to the missed voicemails on her phone.

The first few were from her mom saying how she loved and missed her. Bella made a mental note to call her after she woke up and deleted the messages. The last one shocked her. She heard Paul's voice asking her to call him when she could. She heard the strain in his voice and could only wonder what he needed to talk to her about. At the end of the message she heard a muffled voice ask him a question, followed by a quick answer and the click of him ending the call.

She barricaded her door and fell into an uneasy sleep, doubts and questions running through her mind. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep easy without knowing what was going on one town over.

A/N: So I am back. I am revamping this story so that I can make it better and full of detail. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and read this story. I read every single one of them, even if I don't reply. I hope to update weekly if not every few days but I will have a stock of chapters finished to keep the updates coming.