The Safe Haven
Chapter 1
Hi! If you are new to one of my stories then welcome, and if you aren't then welcome back! I have done several stories like this one now, but I have done a completely different spin. I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to R&R!
"Be free, Bella."
They were the last words spoken to her before she picked up her small suitcase and ran. She had been through something that nobody should have to go through in their life. The idea of marrying someone against her will was awful, but that was what she had almost has to do. Bella had been happy for several months, after getting permission from her father to finally date the Cullen boy, but then she had started to feel trapped and cornered as soon as the big question had come.
She had kindly turned down his marriage proposal the first time he had asked for her hand, and then rejected it completely the second time he had asked a few weeks later. Bella was well aware that she loved him, but for the weeks leading up to the engagement she doubted his love for her. After divulging details to her about how much her father would love to see her married and how it would be amazing for her to finally be a vampire, Bella had relented, and he finally got the ring on her finger.
Then the problems had worsened. Bella had been told, instead of asked, how the wedding would take place. Without first asking Bella, Edward had given his sister Alice free rein over the wedding and when it would occur. Alice was well aware of the kind of person Bella was and the kind of things she liked, even after knowing her for almost two years, but all of that quickly went out of the window.
For Bella, it was like one of Alice's shopping trips, only ten times worse. The first thing was the dress. Alice had chosen a dress that showed much too much skin for Bella's liking, but bought it anyway against Bella's wishes, and even though Bella had shown Alice over a dozen dresses that she actually did like. Then Alice chose food that she didn't like, and a cake she wouldn't eat, invited people Bella hadn't wanted to invite. The final straw was Bella's mother. Alice and Edward had talked Bella into not inviting her mother, which lead Bella to think of all of the other things the pair had dazzled her into over the past year.
It had been a warm summer afternoon when she finally saw a glimpse of freedom. The wedding was set two weeks exactly from that date, and Bella was sitting on her couch at home with her knees drawn up to her chest. The door had knocked quietly, and at first, she hadn't got up to answer it, assuming that it was Alice or Edward, or worse both. It wasn't until she heard a voice outside that she realised who it was. Emmett and Rosalie.
Rosalie had been the first person to realise how Bella had been feeling, given her own treatment in the past. She had helped Bella so much, despite all of the differences they had. Emmett was the next person to understand the situation and had apologised to Bella more times than she could count for not realising the place she was in further. That had been almost a fortnight ago, and since then they had been devising a plan to get Bella out of Forks, to a place they couldn't find her.
"Hey, guys. I didn't know you were coming over today." Bella stepped aside, welcoming the pair into her home. They walked silently into the living room and sat down.
"What happened?" Bella noticed the grim look on both of their faces, either something terrible had happened or someone had caught wind of their plan.
"Alice moved the wedding up." Rosalie finally said. Bella's eyes widened, why would Alice do that?
"Up? By how much?" Bella questioned warily, taking her own seat across from the two vampires.
"This weekend."
"This weekend?! What about the plans we had? I am not going to be able to get out of here before then!" Bella panicked, her mind running at a thousand miles an hour at the possibility of actually having to marry the controlling cold one. Once they were married, Bella knew that there was absolutely nothing that she could do. The Cullen's would either dazzle anyone Bella went to into thinking that she was lying, or they would simply pay them off.
"Bells, calm down, you'll okay. Rose and I said we were going to get you out of here, and that is exactly what we are going to do." Emmett assured her. Bella looked up to face him, the wary expression on his face did not suit him at all.
"How? That gives us three days." Bella continued to panic.
"That's why you're going today." Bella's eyes widened again as Rosalie spoke. Today. Surely, she couldn't leave just like that? How was she supposed to get out of there quietly without anyone finding out or her being caught?
Rosalie noticed Bella's reaction and continued to speak.
"Unfortunately, we only know the one witch, and the rest of the family know her as well. We have been able to get her to put a cloaking spell on you. However, it is only temporary until you find your witch and when you are safe. Too many witches can be bought, so your witch will have to do it quickly."
The blonde reached into her purse and took out an envelope, handing it to Bella.
"In there is a plane ticket that will take you to where you need to go, your passport which we managed to get back from Edward, and a set of car keys for when you get there, and money." Emmett spoke coyly, knowing that it would be best to keep Bella's destination quiet. Bella nodded, emptying the contents of the envelope onto the table, out came her passport which Edward had requested for the honeymoon, the ticket to New Orleans, a set of keys for a BMW, and enough money to put someone through college, twice, Bella surmised.
"Thank you so much for doing this. I honestly don't know what I would have done to get out if the two of you weren't there for me." Bella looked up at the pair, who were both smiling.
"It is our pleasure, Bella. You deserve better than this and hopefully this is the first step to you getting what you want." Rosalie smiled softly as she spoke, glad that she could do something for somebody that someone couldn't do for her.
"Get your stuff together, Bells, we will be waiting here for you when you're ready." Bella smiled, nodded, and took off up the stairs.
Bella didn't want to bring a lot, she was never one to travel heavy, besides, she didn't want to take too long and risk either Alice or Edward showing up before she could leave. She had a few meagre possessions that she prized; her digital camera, laptop and several photographs of her with her parents when she was growing up. Bella folded a few coloured long sleeved tees and a few pairs of pajama bottoms, as well as a blouse and a few pairs of skinny jeans and put them into the small suitcase that she had recently purchased for her honeymoon. Bella smiled at the irony of her using the suitcase she was supposed to use to leave with her husband, to get away from him. When Bella was done, after remembering to pack her phone charger at the last minute, she pulled up the handle of the purple case and carried it down the stairs. As promised, Rosalie and Emmett were waiting there for her, and after taking a bottle of water from the fridge and taking one last look at the house, they were on their way.
The car journey was comfortable as Rosalie drove to Seattle. Bella's things had been put in the trunk and she was now sitting in the backseat of the car, listening to Rosalie tell Emmett off for messing with the radio stations as she drove. Bella smiled, that was what she wanted from a relationship, someone to love you regardless of how serious, or silly or sad you are. Bella envied what Rosalie and Emmett had, and she knew that she could never have had that with Edward, the relationship was too one sided.
Bella had felt like that once before, and then she had to let him go. She had just turned seventeen and was living in Phoenix, a few months before she had moved to Forks. He was perfect for her, the same amount of joy and seriousness in his personality, although he didn't show it around others often. She had never introduced him to her mother, and the only Cullen that knew about him was Rosalie. He had come up in conversation when Rosalie had asked Bella where she would find her new escape, and Bella had explained that she was best friends with the man in questions' sister, Rebekah. Bella told Rosalie the stories of their time together, how she loved him, and how he had to leave her to protect her.
It didn't take long for the trio to arrive at the airport. They walked through the airport, and it wasn't until Bella had to go through security that they finally had to say goodbye. The goodbye was emotional, with many thanks given by Bella. Bella was crying as she hugged the people she had come to see as siblings, and she continued to cry as she walked away from them and walked towards security. Bella could see the pair until she turned the corner, and then she truly was alone.
Bella walked through the terminal, grabbed a coffee, and walked to the gate when her flight started to board. Of course, Rosalie and Emmett had gone above and beyond so Bella was comfortable during her flight. Bella sat in her seat, and pulled the phone from her pocket, she had two messages, one from Rosalie and one from Rebekah.
From: Rosalie 👸
Have a safe flight, remember to get to the witch on your end as soon as possible to remain hidden. Emmet said he loves you, and we hope that you get everything you want.
From: Bekah ❤️
I am waiting for you to arrive, I cannot wait for you to get here it has been so long! This is the address for you to come to as soon as you get here, are you sure you don't want me to collect you from the airport?X
Bella quickly responded to both messages, sending her love and thanks to Rosalie and Emmett, and responding to Rebekah's with a polite no, after asking for her address. She quickly pressed send as the flight attendant reminded her to switch off her phone. Bella pulled her hoodie around her, pulled out her beloved copy of Pride and Prejudice, and settled in for her flight.
...
By the time Bella landed it was almost midnight. She was grateful that she had been able to sleep for some of the long eight-hour flight, but she knew that she had to get from the airport to the Quarter as fast as possible. She collected her bag with ease and found the car Rosalie and Emmett had left for her in the lot, despite it being pitch black outside. The car was mirrored to Rosalie's, which Bella had been learning to maintain alongside Rosalie for the past few months, it was kind of a safe haven away from everything when Bella had to be at the Cullen home. The car boot opened with a click and Bella put her bag inside, she then got into the car, taking a moment to look over the fine interior before she started the engine. According to Rebekah, the journey from the airport was less than half an hour, so she would be at her destination soon.
Rebekah was correct, and in the darkness of night Bella was driving through the French Quarter after twenty minutes. The streets were alive, as she had expected. Bella had made sure to check that there were no festivals or parades on, so that she would be able to drive through the streets of the quarter, but regardless there were hundreds of people walking the streets.
Bella found a small car lot situated by a restaurant a few hundred yards into the Quarter, and decided to walk the rest of the way. She took her bag from the car and began to walk through the busy streets of New Orleans. She was surprised that this was just an ordinary weekday night in the city, but she knew she would enjoy the place she would now be calling home.
After asking directions from a few people as she walked, the young woman eventually found herself approaching a large home on the corner of a busy street. She knocked timidly, internally wondering whether it was a better idea to call Rebekah instead of knocking.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the front door flew open and she was wrapped in the arms of petite blonde.
"Issa! You're finally here!"
"I got here as fast as I could, Bekah, you know I wouldn't want to be away from you for another moment than necessary." The blonde pulled away from Bella and smiled, before pulling her in for another hug.
"I've missed you!" Rebekah said into Bella's shoulder.
"I've missed you, too, B. It has been so long." Bella closed her eyes as she hugged her closest friend tightly, perhaps more tightly than ever before.
It had been over two years since they had last seen each other. Of course the pair kept in contact with daily video-chat calls and they messaged each other every day, but it wasn't the same as seeing each other face to face.
Bella had never felt more alone in her life after Mikael had shown up in town, even when the Cullen's left Forks. The Mikaelson exit had been quick, and she had spent her final moments with Niklaus as the other Mikaelson siblings, including Rebekah, had quickly packed their bags into their cars.
There had had been about half an hour between the time they found out that Mikael was near, and the time that their cars had pulled out of the driveway. Rebekah had left first, with Kol at her side, their brothers insisting that they leave first to get a larger head start on their bloodthirsty father, which meant that Bella wasn't able to say goodbye to her best friend.
Niklaus had got into a car with Elijah, after one final goodbye kiss, and that was the last she had heard from him. She knew that the distance between them was as hard for him as it had been for her, but he had insisted that if she wouldn't be compelled, he would stay away to keep her safe from the dangerous people he had angered at some point or another.
"How long have you been back in New Orleans?" Bella asked as they walked into the vast courtyard of the house.
"I've been back for about two weeks, Kol for a bit longer than that. Elijah and Klaus returned just this morning." Rebekah smiled timidly when Bella's eyes widened.
"Klaus... is, here?" She spoke in hushed tones and looked around the shadows, waiting for the man in question to step out of one of them.
"He's here. Well not here at the moment, he and Kol went to sort something with the witches." Rebekah assured the young woman.
Bella breathed a sigh of relief, that would give her time to prepare what she wanted to say, at least then there was a lesser chance of her stumbling over her words. After all, this was the first time she would be seeing him after over two years.
"Does he know I am coming?"
"Yes, why do you think he's here? Silly Issa." Rebekah laughed, "There is absolutely nobody else on the planet that man would travel five thousand miles for, I assure you." Bella smiled widely, breathing another sigh of relief.
The young brunette jumped when she heard a door open loudly behind her. She turned slowly, only to find that it was the older Mikaelson brother that stood behind her.
"Elijah." Bella sighed, reaching out to hug the suit-laden Original.
"Isabella, it's been a very long time, indeed."
Much like she had with Rebekah, Bella had a close relationship with the other Mikaelson siblings too. She was closest to Elijah after Rebekah, and then she loved Freya and Kol equally, Bella thought.
...
The trio sat in the upstairs study, chatting amongst themselves and catching up whilst they waited for Kol and Niklaus to return to the compound.
Bella had learned that Kol and Niklaus were at the cemetery talking to the witches for her. They were at the cemetery to retrieve their mothers grimoires, which had been stolen a few months previous by the witches in a bid to take the Mikaelson's down a few ranks. Bella assumed that the witches thought that they could stop the Mikaelson siblings in their tracks by taking away some of their power, Little did they know how wrong they actually were. Bella hasn't even had to ask how their plan had turned out to know what had happened.
Bella had also learned what Elijah and Rebekah had been up to since she had last seen them. Elijah spoke of the first few months on the run after they left Florida, and how he and Niklaus had been living in London ever since. Rebekah had remained with Kol, the pair of them choosing to reside in Paris, waiting for the overhead threat to pass.
Bella's heart rate quicken when she heard the telltale sign of a door unlocking downstairs, the same door Bella had walked though earlier if her memory served her correctly. She held her breath as she heard two pairs of shoes tread heavily up the stairs and into the room.
Bella looked up, watching Kol for a moment as he walked into the room, totally unfazed, and sat down next to Rebekah. Niklaus, however, stopped on the threshold of the room, taking in the scene before him.
"Bella." He sighed quietly, closing his eyes tightly as Bella rushed into his arms.
And in that moment Bella didn't care. She didn't care about anything that she had left behind in Forks, or that she had left Edward at the alter, or that she probably looked ridiculous crying into his shoulder. In that moment everything was okay, it was perfect.