Twilight and other related works are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I do not own or take any ownership of the characters in the following story.
This is my first ever attempt at a fan fiction piece so please be patient with me! Thank you for reading
PROLOGUE
It had been three years since I had been in Forks. I had thought to never see this place again and had never wanted to. A shiver rippled through my body as I spied the town in the distance. This place where my nightmares had reared their ugly head and come to life.
No words had been spoken since my father Charlie had picked me up from Tacoma. Upon seeing me exit the airport gate my father had hesitantly stepped forward, a range of emotions coloring his face, anguish, love and perhaps fear before resolve had taken their place. His steps had eaten up the distance between us and he had dragged me into his warm embrace. My name had been the only word to have slipped from between his lips, "Bella".
Awkward silence had ensued as my father had picked up my bags and loaded them into the cruiser. He was the Police Chief in Forks and had been a cop for as long as I could remember. Forks was a small town on the outskirts of Washington, with barely over 3,000 people making up its population and was to be my home once more. Yeah right, prison more like it, well, until I was old enough to leave that is. I remembered the rain and lush green that made up the surrounds of Forks and the almost constant rain and cloud cover, such a contrast to the Arizona desert which had become my home, my sanctuary, in the last three years.
Charlie repeatedly failed to make conversation, his mouth opening and closing, the silence overwhelming in the small confines of the car. Even if he had been successful, I doubt I would have responded. Too many thoughts had crowded my head as my eyes had drifted across the passing landscape, distorted by the rain making small rivers down my window, the windscreen wipers rhythmic swishing in the background. As we travelled along the highway my thoughts drifted easily. My earliest memory and happiest had been of Charlie swinging me up onto his shoulders which had been clad in his uniform, his badge twinkling that day as it reflected the sun. I remembered how my infectious laughter had set him off chuckling, his face shining with happiness. My mother had laughed too as she had cuddled into my fathers side, her heartbreakingly beautiful smile plastered on her face. My face crumpled and pain seared my heart as I realized her smile, that had provided me such comfort for so long, was something I would never see again.
My mother had died a fortnight ago from breast cancer. Within less than a year it had ravaged her body, in seemed like overnight, turning a beautiful and strong woman into a bare reflection of herself. She had lost weight from an already slim frame and her skin had taken on a sickly color thanks to her exposure to chemotherapy, her hair falling out never to return. She had fought so hard but the disease had won in the end. She had loved and protected me for as long as she could and had been the one to try so hard to keep my nightmares at bay. Leaving Forks for Phoenix had helped but had not silenced my fear. I had often woken screaming in the middle of the night, to find my mother rocking me in her arms, placing kisses against my forehead, easing the terror that had taken me over. "Bella, baby, it's alright, I'll never let anything hurt you ever again, shush, sleep my love". I realized this was a promise she didn't and couldn't keep, her death had shattered me.
Three and a half years ago, my life had fallen apart after what James had done to me, my mind shied away from any thought of him to after, when my parents constant arguing over what was best for me was finalized with my mother's decision to leave Forks with me to start a new life elsewhere, without my father.
I flinched as I was pulled abruptly from my memories as Charlie's hand gently shook my arm. "Bella, we're ho…". The word had died in his throat as Charlie glimpsed the pain clearly written on my face. I would never consider Forks home. My home was thousands of miles away in Phoenix, or it had been, until my mother had died.
With clumsy fingers I zipped up my parka, sucked in a shaky breath and stepped out of the car into the pouring rain.
- oO0Oo -
Running and stumbling through the woods, terror grips me, the accelerated beat of my heart pounding in my ears, as I try to evade James. I blindly move through the damp undergrowth of the woods, tripping over roots, rocks and whatever else invades the winding path I make. I can hear him laughing as he pursues me in the dark.
What happened next is a blank, swirling mist. I do remember crying out and the pain, excruciating pain as I felt myself effortlessly lifted and cradled against a cold hard body. In shock, my eyes had locked with a pair of golden eyes and the words next spoken to me hadn't registered as I had retreated inside my mind. "Bella, oh my Bella, I'm so sorry" is the last thing I heard before everything went black. That time unlike so many others, my guardian angel had been too late.
A scream erupts from my throat, waking me. I shoot upright in bed, gasping, my body tense and eyes haunted as I relive my nightmare. My shoulders slump wearily and my I find myself now sobbing, my body shaking with the violence of it. Clutching my pillow to my chest, I soak it with my tears and open my eyes to try and evade the images torturing my mind, hoping that Charlie didn't hear.
My wish isn't granted as he rushes into my room, sits down on my bed and takes me in his arms. I struggle against him as I try to shake off the last of the nightmare. I make mewing noises as he continues to hold me, trying to comfort me. "Bella, I'm here, you're not alone". At this I sob harder as the reality of my situation hits me, I can never get away from my bizarre disjointed dreams, they haunt and tease me or from the fact that my mother is dead.
My memories of that awful night so long ago are unclear. From what the police had gathered, I had been raped by James, a boy from my school, following forensic testing after taking a statement from me and finding his body in the woods. What followed my rape is unknown as he had somehow been attacked by an animal, his throat ripped out, most likely killing him in minutes. The strange circumstances surrounding that night are still unknown to this day, my mind blocking them completely, shock and whatever happened so great that my mind refused to remember. I had been taken to our local hospital with no memory of how I came to be taken there or by who. I do remember his eyes though, the beautiful gold eyes of my guardian angel.
My mother's soothing presence which had always chased the bad dreams away, is not here and it is Charlie who holds me tight until I cry it all out and slump in exhaustion against his chest.
Sometime later I open my eyes and let them run along the pictures and posters adorning my walls casting shadows in the dim light. Charlie must have switched on my side lamp, my eyes kept moving around the room until they suddenly lock with a familiar set of eyes, the eyes from my nightmare, unblinking and staring at me from the deep shadows of the corner of my room. I gasp and try to push away from Charlie and turn to him as I hear him ask what is wrong. "What…wha…" stammers from my lips, followed by "doesn't matter" when my gaze flits back to the corner and they are gone. I feel like I'm losing my mind.
"Bella, do you want to talk about it?", my father enquires. No, is my automatic response. My mother had stopped asking that question a year after my rape, resigned to the fact that if I wanted to talk about it, I would say something. That time had never come and now never would. I sigh and detangle myself from Charlie's arms, assuring him I'll be alright. Leaning over to my side table I reach for the glass of water I had left there and the bottle of sleeping pills. Tapping two into my hand I tip them into my mouth and take a long drink of water and snuggle back down into my bed covers, effectively dismissing Charlie, who retreats quietly from my room. It's not long before the pills do their work and I fall into a deep sleep where golden eyes and nightmares can't penetrate.
Well I hope you like my story and stay tuned in future for chapters as I add them. Thanks again