Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to SM.

So here it is, Chapter 2. I thought I could leave it the way it is, but the plot bunny just wouldn't go away. I would like to thank all the reviewers for the support and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

And in case you are interested, the next chapter of my main story, Alpha Bravo Zulu, is currently underway and will be posted soon. I'll have teasers out by Sunday at the latest.

So now, on with the show.

Brunette POV

He was coming again. I could feel it in my bones. All of a sudden the room went cold, and that is when I knew he was here. His mere presence sucked the life out of any room he set foot in. He opened the door, strutting menacingly toward me. My body shivered in response while my heart started beating uncontrollably. I couldn't take much more of this, this stupid and sadistic cycle of violence. He enjoyed torturing me endlessly; the rabid look in his pale blue eyes as he inflicted pain on every part of my body repulsed and frightened me. Still, I couldn't help but think that every time he brought me back from the brink of death just to torture me some more, his excitement ratcheted up a notch.

He stopped right in front of me and his cruel and calculating eyes turned my blood to ice when his gaze landed on me. He raised his hands above me; the silvery glint of the treacherous knife in his left hand caught my eye. I could still see spots of my blood dotting its sharp edge. Bile rose up in my throat as I thought of last night's 'rendezvous ' as he called it, and my body instinctively tightened up as it anticipated being cut by the sharp blade. I knew what would inevitably come next, more electrocution, more drugs, and more pain. Never ending pain.


Emmett POV

"Stop it! Stop it, you sick twisted, son of a bitch! Stop it! AAAAHHHH!"

"Fuck!" I yelled as the blood-curling scream pierced my ears. Immediately I sprang out of bed and ran to the brunette's room next door. I crashed through the door, burying the doorknob in the wall. My heart broke at the sight in front of me. The brunette was thrashing around in her bed, her arms flailing. I ran to her side, hoping my presence wouldn't scare her. Her forehead was drenched in sweat with strands of hair sticking to her face, which was flushed and contorted in pain.

What horrible nightmare was she reliving?

I placed a hand over her forehead and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Shhh! Its okay, everything is going to be okay. You just need to wake up."

But she wasn't responding; her body continued to shake with tremors as her body thrashed about. I leaned in once again, hoping that my words broke through the terror seizing her mind as I whispered once more, "Please, wake up! I promise that everything will be okay if you just wake up." I started rubbing her arm in what I hoped was a reassuring manner and she began to calm down. Her body stopped shaking and her breathing started to even out.

I whispered for her to wake up once more before her eyelids fluttered open; her big, sienna eyes stared back at me, fear swirling around in their depths.

"Are you okay?" I asked, quickly realizing it was a stupid question.

She didn't say anything. Her eyes darted around nervously as she just took in her surroundings while simultaneously taking a mental stock of her body, subconsciously checking for more injuries. Once she was satisfied, she muttered, "You're not him."

"What do you mean, I'm not him?" I pressed, hoping that she would confide in me what was going on. It was pretty clear she had had a nightmare, and I wondered if maybe it would help her remember something about what had happened to her.

"You're not him. You're not him. You're not him," she kept repeating it like a mantra and it suddenly dawned on me that she was reassuring herself that I would do her no harm.

"No. I'm not him. Were you having a nightmare?" I asked, feeling a little stupid asking a question I already knew the answer to. But, I knew, it was probably the best way to go, considering her situation.

"H-He ti-tied me to a c-chair. H-he…he…he had a knife and his b-blue eyes burned into mine as the knife slashed down." Her body was shivering uncontrollably and her teeth were chattering. But it was her eyes that clearly told me she was scared shitless.

I wrapped my arms around her and tried to comfort her, although I was messing up more that I was helping, it seemed, because I could feel her body stiffening at the gesture. After a couple of seconds though, she seems to relax slightly. And, how the eff could I tell her that everything is going to be okay after everything she's been through?

She pulled herself away from me and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said as I ran a hand through my hair. I took a moment to survey her, checking to make sure she hadn't opened any of her recent wounds or her temporary casts.

"I'm sorry I woke you," she said timidly, her eyes downcast. She took her lip between her teeth and started to chew it, a clear sign that she was nervous.

"It's ok. Do you want to go out to the living room or would you like to stay here?" It was pretty early in the morning but the sun was already out and shining so I figured she might want to join us when we all met for breakfast in a little while.

"I wouldn't mind getting out of this room for a while," she joked weakly.

Hoping not to repeat a repeat of a few minutes ago, I looked at her, my eyes asking for permission. When she silently nodded I knew it would be okay to scoop her up in my arms and take her out to the living room.

It was pretty obvious that Alice and Rose heard, at least part of, the brunette's little meltdown. When I carried her into the living room, they were trying their best not to look in our direction, but I just knew. They were trying to play it too coy. As if on cue, the brunette's face went as bright red as a ripe tomato. I could feel a smile tug at the corners of my mouth as I noticed that her blush extended down her neck; it was an extremely adorable sight. I maneuvered her onto my large armchair in the corner of the room before turning around and sliding the matching ottoman underneath her leg.

Before, I could ask if she needed anything else, I heard Alice's voice break the silence, her usual morning cheer in full force, "Rose and I are off to work for the day. We'll be back with the boys around eight tonight. We'll bring home dinner."

"Sounds good," I replied before turning back to the lovely brunette in my lounge chair.

"Do you need anything else before I go into the office?" I asked gesturing toward the home-office slash den off the living room.

"I would love something to read, if it's not too much trouble," she responded her cheeks still a delicious shade of pink.

"Not a problem. What's your poison?"

"A classic," she responded with a smile. And for the first time since I found her, her eyes held the tiniest shadow of a smile, and for that I was glad.

I was turning toward the den, book in mind, when I heard the phone ring. Considering it was still relatively early in the morning, I was a little puzzled as to who it was. I crossed over to the other side of the living room and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Emmett, it's Jasper." Shit! I knew Jasper was good, but I honestly had not expected movement on the case this early. This was some serious straight out of CSI shit.

"Well that was quick." I heard a sigh at the other end of the line, so maybe I was jumping the gun slightly.

"I wish. I checked the missing person's database and got nothing. Nobody matching your brunette's description has been reported missing in the last month." Jasper's voice sounded strained. If I had to, I would bet that he had pulled an all-nighter, trying to figure out who she was.

"How is that effing possible?" I whispered as quietly as I could. I really didn't want her listening if it meant she would get even more discombobulated than she already was.

"Maybe she doesn't have any family. Or maybe nobody has noticed that she is missing yet. We can't really be sure right now. I did talk to Edward, however, and he mentioned it to me that he did take a DNA sample from her." There was a slight edge to his voice when he said that and I was a little curious as to why.

"So you'll find out who she is pretty quickly then?" I asked hoping that I would finally have something to call her other than 'the brunette.'

"We are hoping. I'm not really sure what the backlog is at the state crime lab, even if we do try and tag it as a priority." There was that edge again. Looks like Jasper was battling more red tape budget cuts.

"Well what are we supposed to do until then?" I asked, slightly exasperated. While we were stuck here, waiting for results, some wacko psycho was out hunting for pretty women to torture. And I had sisters to think about as well.

"Well, Edward sent off blood samples and all other evidence off to the crime lab but that's backed up too. But I do have copies of everything in the packet so I can work on my part while I wait for the results., I entered part of the signature into the national database, but until we get the results, all we have is an incomplete MO and that won't get us much. But, we think we might have an alternative solution, and it requires your help." Jasper's tone of voice let me know two things. One, I had been spending way too much time with him and two, this wasn't going to be good.

"What do you need?" I asked, a feeling of foreboding coming to the surface.

"First, we need you to get the brunette to consent to sending her blood work to one of Edward's colleagues. The guy runs a for profit lab and we would get the results in a couple of days. At least then, we might get a lead." He didn't sound too hopeful.

"And….What else do you need?"

"You might need to convince her to fill out a petition for a grant from the Victims of Violence Foundation. Since, we can't bill her or her insurance because we don't even know who she is, and we need someone to pay for the blood tests. The VOVF has grant money specifically designed to help convict violent offenders. We figure she might be a good candidate because of her story." So that is what it was.

"Well, that doesn't seem like too much to ask," I bit back, sarcasm dripping off my words.

"Emmett, it's the best we can do. My hands are tied otherwise." He sounded resigned and I wondered if maybe he had tried to look for another solution.

"Screw that shit." I paused, thinking for a moment to make sure I was doing the right thing. "I'll pay for it."

"Em, you can't be serious. You don't even know this woman."

"I know her well enough to know that she wouldn't want to be portrayed as a victim like that. She's got way too much pride." And she did. They way she just confronted us when she thought we were the ones who had kidnapped her was enough for me to know she was a spitfire.

"Em, you have to think about this for a moment before you take action."

"I don't need to. I'm sure of what I'm doing. Just bring all the paperwork with you when you and Edward come over for dinner. And don't you dare tell her that I'm the one paying for it." I just knew she wouldn't be happy if she knew that I was the footing the bill. Call it intuition.

"Fine, but I'm warning you now. Don't get too attached, Em. She's not a damsel in distress for you to rescue. She's a woman who needs police help not chivalry."


Brunette POV

I had spent the better part of the day falling in love. After Emmett's mysterious phone conversation, which he promised to share later, he had brought me a copy of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. As soon as my fingers slid across the time worn pages, I knew the book was a special part of who I was. After just a few hours, separate and distinct pictures were forming in my mind.

I felt like my mind was trying to tell me a story. The story of a man with dark brown hair reading to a young girl. My heart tugged as the picture became clearer and clearer until I could no longer help myself and gave into the memory.

"I think that's good enough for tonight, Bells. Don't you think so?" the man asked the little girl as he ran his fingers through her hair and lowered his head to place a kiss upon her forehead.

"But, Dad. I want to know what happens next." She raised her doe brown eyes up at her father and his face softened. It was clear she had done this before.

"But you already know what happens next, Bells. Why do you need to hear it again?" the man asked while setting the worn out copy of Sense and Sensibility on the young girl's nightstand.

"It's a classic. You can't ever get tired of a classic. Especially if it's a classic that's been read to you for as long as you can remember."

"No, I guess you can't."

"And mom always said there was no better way to experience the classics than when they are read to you."

"Yes, she did. But, how about we continue it tomorrow?"

It seemed he had won. The resigned look on the girl's face told me the father had won. He lifted himself off the bed and pulled the covers snugly up to the girl's chin. "Goodnight, Bells," he said as he laid yet another kiss atop her head and turned off the lamp beside the bed.

"Night Dad." It was barely a whisper but it was definitely my voice. I recognized this man, he was my father, and I was the little girl. But, the realization hurt more that I would have expected. I thought knowing who I was would make me feel better, but it all it had done was leave me more perplexed than ever.

"Something on your mind?" Unconsciously my body tightened up until I recognized the voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused as to how long Emmett had been standing in front of me.

"You've been staring at that page for the last five minutes. Must be a really interesting paragraph or something else is on your mind," he replied before moving to the couch adjacent my chair and sitting down. He set his hands on his knees and turned his attention to me, his face screaming 'spill it.'

"Bells," I said not wanting to divulge anything more. It was too personal to share.

"What about bells?" He asked, his face a mask of confusion.

"I think my dad called me Bells." I lowered my head and averted my eyes. I was still wrestling with myself a bit. I know I felt this man was my father, but what if this wonderful memory was just a figment of my imagination.

"Why do you think that?" Emmett asked as he leaned in just smidge towards me, his expression a mixture of concern and happiness.

"When I was reading, I couldn't concentrate. The more I read the more my mind went somewhere else. I thought about this man reading this book to a little girl, his daughter. And well, the man, he looked a lot like me and he was calling the little girl Bells." I felt my cheeks reddening as I finished my story. I didn't know how he would react. After all, if someone had said that to me, I might have thought they were delusional. But, then again, I was a little delusional.

"Well then I guess, I'll call you Bells. It sounds like you anyway." And with that it was settled. He accepted my story without any doubt. I wanted to hug him, tell him thanks, anything to show how much his acceptance of my possible delusion made me happy. It made me feel like maybe this nightmare would be over and my life would be mine again.

"Bells, it is." A smile crept upon my lips and the name seemed to fit. I could recognize. But, whether I recognized it because it was mine or because of my dream was another mystery entirely.

"So, Bells," Emmett began as he stressed my newly appointed name and smiled," I think it's time you and I had a chat."

"About the morning phone call."

"Yeah, about the morning phone call." He ran a hand through his hair before hesitantly reaching across and grasping my hands between his. This wasn't going to be good.

"Jasper called this morning and gave me a status report. I hope that was okay with you." He paused for a moment and I got a little scared. His body language clearly told me something was wrong so I was currently debating whether to just shut down or face what was coming even if I wasn't sure I could take it. "Edward and Jasper have sent the evidence packet to the state crime lab for testing. In a couple of days, the lab will have the blood samples, all the physical evidence, and all the pictures they took. But, with the backlog at the lab we are not quite sure when we will get results for those things. So we've come up with another possibility to speed things along. "

"O-Okay." Internally, I sighed. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

"Edward kept some back samples and he is willing to send them to a buddy of his at another lab. That way they can get the results in a couple of days and start following leads. All we need is your consent." As soon as he finished talking, I knew something was up. He was averting his eyes, slightly, and that made me slightly uncomfortable. I felt like he was holding something back from me and I didn't like it.

"Are you sure that is all you need?" I asked arching an eyebrow at him.

"Yup." And yet, he was still averting his eyes. I don't know how I knew he was lying. I just did.

"And what are you not telling me, Emmett?" I took a shot, hoping that he would tell me.

"What makes you think I'm not telling you everything, Bells?"

"You're not looking at me, that makes me wonder

"It's not important." He said, as his eyes once more averted mine.

"It's important if you're not telling me."

"No, it's not."

"I just don't want to be in the dark. Trust me, you can tell me."

"You don't need to know, Bells. Its better if you don't."

"Like hell, I don't. This is my life we are talking about. I want to know what happened to me," I snapped. I wanted answers damn it and he had to give them to me. I couldn't take it otherwise.

"Fine. I'll tell you. But, you have to agree that you won't protest when you find out."

"What if I don't." I raised my chin defiantly, hoping he would give in.

"Then I just won't tell you."

"Ugh. Fine," I caved. The need to know far outweighed everything else.

"Okay. The truth is, I didn't want you to know that I'm paying for the tests." He was finally looking at me again. So I knew that this time he was telling me the truth.

"You're what?" I asked a little confused.

"I'm paying for your tests to get done at the laboratory."

"Why?"

"Because I want to Bells. I want to help."

"But you don't have to."

"Exactly."

"And there isn't another way?" I asked hoping there was another alternative.

"This is the best way."

"That didn't answer my question, Emmett."

"Just trust me."

Thanks for reading. I hope you'll review. From this chapter onward reviewers get virtual cookies and sneak peeks into upcoming chapters.

Until next time,

Lorena