Hello, everyone! This is the official rewrite of Tattered Wings. To those of you who have read the original version of TW, I wanted to say that I am so thankful for all your support and kind words. They have helped me through incredibly tough times. You may notice some major changes to the plot, starting with the very first chapter. I'm so excited for you guys to read this version and tell me what you think.

To those who are reading TW for the very first time, welcome and thanks for reading.

~Mona

Twitter: monamumbles

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


Tattered Wings

Prologue

Maybe it was the beer that made Alice forget. It'd barely been a whole can, but it was her first, and it was strong. She wasn't drunk, yet the alcohol made her feel like she was dancing, even when she leaned against the wall. It was just enough alcohol to make her forget to lock the bathroom door behind her and just enough for her not to realize that the door was opening as she washed her hands.

And the music was too loud. The bass thumped, drowning out the sounds of his sneakers shuffling across the tiled floors. She hadn't seen him until she began to fix her smudging eyeliner. His face appeared just as she was wiping away the faint, black mark that smeared over the bridge of her thin nose. Skin, tanned from spending hours running outside, contrasted greatly against her alabaster cheeks. She gasped loudly at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, hearing her voice bounce and echo off the walls. He was close behind her, as if his presence were her own shadow.

Unlike Alice, he'd had too much beer. The smell swirled around her, thick and hot like the steam from a kettle, yet she felt so cold with him there. Every pore on her body rose at the portentousness in his cobalt eyes; his grin was impish and it slowly spread over his flush face.

"What're you doing in here?" Alice whispered. Her voice spilled out all wrong and timid, and it made him laugh. A million other questions flooded her mind, but she spoke none of them. They were tiny screams, bottled inside her.

Shaggy, blonde strands, too long for his face, kept getting into his eyes. He pushed the hair away from his clammy forehead. Still smiling, he said, "I saw the look you gave me before you came up here."

Alice shook her head with fervor, "I-I wasn't looking at you-"

Slowly he put his arms on her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Alice felt a sickening cold sweat break out across her body. Her heart began to pound, and it lurched into her throat; she nearly choked on it. Time itself slowed down as they moved in real time.

She pushed her elbows back, attempting to shrug out of his grasp, but he enveloped her and grabbed both of her wrists. "Get off me!"

"God, Ali!" he seethed through clenched teeth. "Stop playing these stupid games with me. You don't think I know you're teasing me with this dress on purpose? Don't act innocent now."

Again, Alice tried to jerk away, but he harshly pulled her to his body. His arms were like a snake around her; the more she pulled away, the tighter he constricted. With one hand, he held her wrists together, up to her chest. He looked at her through the reflection as his hands fumbled with the short hem of her blue, party dress. His hand slithered up to her hip, bunching the dress along his finger's trail. Cool air lashed at her bare skin once the dress gathered.

"Please…" Alice's last pleas came out ragged. Her voice broke and shook just as the tears burned her eyes. She turned away, unable to stand his gaze any longer.

"I'm just giving you what you want," he said with his mouth pressed close against her ear.

With her head turned, it gave him easy access to Alice's skin. Sloppily he bit down when he finally took every bit of her. Alice let out a shriek when she felt him. His calloused hand grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to face the mirror.

"Look at me," he hissed.

She looked into his darkening eyes, glossed over from all the warm beer. She felt raw from the inside out, and her bones felt brittle as they crashed against the marble sink. It went on for far too long while time crept behind them. It was then she noticed that the water was still running. Steam fogged up the mirror at each corner, framing them together in the ugliest portrait.

His eyes closed as he wrapped her arms around her crumbling frame. Every push went deeper while his hand moved from her sore neck to her hair. Just moments before, people were gently running their hands through it. Even after knowing her for years, they were still amazed at the length. So was he, but his fingers were anything but gentle. They raked through the dark tendrils, roughly pulling and tugging. His fingers became tangled in a few of the curls, yanking her harshly by the hair. The spot began to ache and throb under his touch.

The room went dark around her, but the lights hadn't gone out. Everything disappeared, except for the reflection. Soon, she was just mirroring her own destruction.

Just as she thought she would collapse in his arms, he leapt away from her as if she were on fire. His reflection was nearly green as he hobbled over to the toilet and fell to his knees. With his jeans around his ankles, he wretched and coughed before falling at the side of the porcelain.

Time raced back to normal at a rapid pace, and the room appeared with lights too bright. It was like staring at the sun too long. She squinted, grabbing her purse from the top of the sink. Afraid that he might come around, her eyes stayed trained in his direction as she backed away towards the door. She held in the sobs that violently knocked at her chest, begging to be let out. She kept them in behind trembling lips and hushed cries.

He suddenly laughed idiotically. For a moment, she stopped in her tracks, believing that she was the joke. His eyes were still half-closed, and he was looking up at the ceiling. He was laughing at nothing, not at her; though, the two felt one and the same in that moment.

When she felt the doorknob poke at her back, she quickly opened the door. The music hit her, almost knocking her off her wobbly legs. They hadn't steadied as she flew down the spiral steps, passing by people and nearly tripping on the expensive rug in the foyer. She escaped through the open door, setting off the flood light's motion sensor. They still hadn't steadied as her heels stumbled in the grass. Finally she found the silver car parked under a big tree. She slid down in the grass beside the passenger's side wheel and took her phone out of her purse.

xxxxxxx

Edward felt the phone vibrate in the pocket of his pants with a jarring pulse. He ran a heavy hand through his auburn hair for the millionth time, just to elicit a smile from the girl by his side. They'd only made shy, small talk in class whenever their teacher hadn't been looking or said a few words during passing in the hallways before the party. They'd planned to speak to each other a few months back when they were meeting at her house to work on a biology project. The day had not gone as planned, however. She was too ashamed to look directly into his eyes a few weeks thereafter.

This party had been the first time they were actually getting to know each other, and one of the things he noticed was how she smiled every time he ran his fingers through his hair. It started as a nervous quirk. He saw the smile and began to do it consciously, so much so that his friends were mocking him from across the room. He mouthed a few choice words at them before taking his phone out to answer a text message from his sister.

By the car. Can we go?

He noted that the time on his phone was barely after midnight before gliding his fingers across the phone's qwerty keyboard.

We just got here. R u ok? he texted back.

No can we please go? The response was almost immediate; he forgot all about his hair as panic set in.

Edward barely excused himself from the girl with the smile and his taunting friends to search through the sea of people.

"Angela!" he called out when he spotted her. There, talking to a few people that were already in college, stood a girl that was almost as tall as most upperclassmen boys. She held a red, plastic cup in her hand that she quickly put on the nearest table when she saw Edward coming.

"Please don't tell my dad-" she began, but Edward shook his head.

"I'm not a narc!" he yelled into her ear, trying to speak over the music. "Alice is outside! She wants to get out of here!"

Angela furrowed her eyebrows, "I thought she was in the bathroom!"

Edward shrugged, "Maybe she's not feeling well."

"What?"

He leaned closer, "I said, maybe she's sick! Are you leaving with us or do you want to stay with your friends?"

"No, I wanna make sure she's okay!" Angela yelled back.

Edward nodded before leading the way. They walked through the crowd, heading to the open, front door where kids were beginning to spill onto the lawn. After some searching, they found Alice sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked up when the motion sensor came on and she resembled a startled creature in the night; mascara bled onto her face and stained the top of her dress. Edward and Angela ran to her, helping her off the ground.

"Alice, what happened?" Angela and Edward asked at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Edward reiterated just a few moments later.

"I just want to go home," she said to neither of them in particular, fiercely pulling away from both of them. She wiped the mascara from under her eyes with the backs of her hands, smearing them down her arms.

"Tell me what's wrong," Edward said.

"I took something, and I'm scared- just please, let's go home." She lied, looking back at the house.

Angela's raised her eyebrows. They were just together less than twenty minutes ago. She hadn't known Alice to do anything as foolish as taking drugs. She wanted to know so many things. What did she take? Who were they from? Why didn't she tell me about it?

Edward gawked at his sister in disbelief. For some reason, the specials that the principal made them watch about kids doing drugs and drinking at prom came to his mind. He could smell a little alcohol on her breath, but she seemed sober enough. "You took something?"

"Please," she finally turned to him, looking up. Her eyes were unblinking and feral as he stared back. They were just like his deep green eyes, but she did not know them in that moment.

"Took something…like drugs?"

"God, Edward!" Alice yelled, hitting his chest with her hands. "Shut up and take. Me. Home."

Edward stumbled back a step, rubbing the sore spot through his shirt. He nodded slowly before taking the car keys out of his front pocket and pressing the automatic unlock button. Alice got into the backseat of the car. Angela glanced briefly at Edward's stunned face and shadowed Alice.

After a few beats, Edward slipped into the driver's seat and drove away from the party. They rode in silence all the way to Angela's house. Every few minutes, he looked at Alice in the rear-view mirror to check on her. He kept neglecting the road and had to slam onto the brake pedal at a few stop lights. Angela even had to let him know that he was driving past her house. He made a u-turn in someone else's driveway before stopping at her home.

"Bye, Alice. Feel better," Angela said as she got out, but received no response. She thought Alice may have drifted off to sleep, but her eyes wide open as the car drove off in the opposite direction.

Alice sat upright in the middle of the backseat. Edward kept checking in with her in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were focused on the road, still wide and wild. She looked like a doll in the seat, placed there by someone else.

When the car pulled into the long driveway, Alice finally took a deep breath. Their brick house with green shutters was nothing special, but now that Alice was home, it felt like a fortress. Edward had barely parked the car on the gravel that surrounded their house when the front door opened. Their parents appeared in the doorway, dressed for bed. Even from the car, Alice could tell that they were visibly anxious.

"You told them?" Alice asked, angrily. Her pale face was growing red as the betrayal she was feeling intensified.

Edward turned to face her in the backseat, wincing as if she would hit him again. "I had to text dad."

As she was getting out of the car, she heard him add, "I'm sorry, but you're scaring me-"

Alice stalked up to the door and her mother first approached her. Her father was inspecting her from a few feet away. Edward walked in sheepishly behind them.

"Honey, what did you take?" her mother asked, feeling her forehead.

"I dunno, it was ecstasy or something," she lied again, void of emotion.

"Or something?" her father asked, growing more enraged at her nonchalance.

"It was ecstasy." Alice raised her voice, matching his tone.

"Young lady, do you have any idea how serious this is? You both smell like a bar and…" Carlisle turned to Edward. "Did you drive home drunk? What has gotten into you two?"

Edward's ears turned red. "I just had a beer, I swear-"

"How do you feel, Alice? Maybe we should take her to the hospital-"

"No!" Alice shouted at her mother and everyone looked at her while tears fell. They were falling fast and she couldn't stop them, no matter how hard she tried. "Please, just let me go to my room. You can ground me in the morning, but please, I just want to go to sleep right now. Please."

Esme looked at her husband who was clenching his jaw tightly. Esme nodded as she said, "I'll be in to check on you soon, baby-"

Alice headed for the stairs. At the top, she found a white and brown, American bulldog. One of his spotted ears- a spot that covered his eye -perked up at the sight of Alice. He immediately stood up, wagging his tail before following her down the hall to her room. She shut the door once the dog was inside the room, but ignored him as she sat under the window in the corner. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried. The dog whimpered, then lay down beside her with his head on his paws.