Disclaimer: All characters of Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am just the writer of this little beauty – Captured.
WARNING:
This story contains descriptive images, violence, language & more. Rated M. Please be advised.
Chapter 3: We are all broken
"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."
– Hemingway
In every town there's gossip, but in Forks Washington in particular, drama was rare. This is why Lauren Mallory and her possie took it upon themselves to start a typical young-mother's book club – where they indulged in classy red wine and pretended to share opinions on a novel they never really read – an excuse to spread the latest gossip amongst one another and create juicy rumours.
It was no surprise that Edward Masen would be the talk of their latest meet up – and of course, they were all too eager. Some more than others.
"Well, ladies, welcome back to our book club!" Lauren greeted as though it were the first time she was being introduced to the group. The ladies smiled fakely with red lips that stained their glasses, which they clinked together dramatically.
"Today we're starting on my favourite novel; Fifty Shades of–"
"Oh, God, Lauren! Not this again," Angela Cheney, the saint of the town, remarked. "I joined this club to read educational novels and share actual opinions, not discuss sex novels!"
"Oh, please, Angela, I'm sure you're overreacting!" Lauren said snidly, showing off pearly white teeth and gleaming eyes.
Angela stiffened on her seat opposite Lauren and fussed with her blouse – a form of distraction from the menacing glare directed towards her.
"Besides," – Lauren grinned – "You could learn a few useful tips from the book, you know... what with all the nonsense going on regarding your love-life, or lack thereof," she finished snarkly.
Angela's cheeks pinked and she briefly wondered why she even bothered to show up for Lauren's stupid book club, but she knew why – she needed this. She had no other excitement in her life. All her husband ever did was spend his free time in his office and even when they were together, he would put his work first. Always.
She craved attention.
Anything.
She reveled in those moments where she could be a part of something greater than her excuse of a life; a tedious routine.
A forlorn sigh escaped Angela at the mere thought of attending Sunday church with Ben. Having to plaster a pretentious smile on her face was never easy, and she certainly didn't look forward to it.
"Perhaps, we should begin?" Jessica, always the voice of reason, cut in. Jessica's eyes held no light, only darkness as she stared somberly into space.
She recalled the past week's events and grimaced sourly at how horrid it had been.
She felt disgust at herself for fretting over her miniscule problems when others faced real life issues, others such as the Masen family.
She felt sympathy for them, and poor Edward... her heart sped up at the glimpse of a memory of him. Bronzed and handsome.
Lauren's high-pitched voice shook her from her reverie, and she emerged from her thoughts as if she'd been lost underwater. Shifting awkwardly, her face quickly dissolved into a blank expression.
She observed the ladies with squinted eyes in accusation, praying to the heavens that they didn't know her terrible terrible secret.
God, if they knew, they wouldn't hesitate to judge her. They'd turn on her and tell each and every single townie about her mistakes until she had nothing and no-one. Not even her delusional husband; Mike. They'd throw her to the wolves the first chance they got and walk away unaffected.
"Have you all heard..." and so it began.
Jessica resisted an eyeroll, hating herself for partaking in this pointless book club that served no purpose aside from it being a distraction.
"Edward Masen plead guilty, did you hear?"
Her eyes shot to Lauren who smirked omniously at the group whilst discussing an innocent young boy's uncontrollable fate.
God, they're such bitches, she thought bitterly.
She stifled a smile at the voice in her head which was Angela's, scolding her for using the Lord's name in vain. Her eyes found Angela's sad ones – hang in there – it begged and she attempted to do so.
"Rosalie..." gentle voices murmured and she stirred slightly, searching for the source of those comforting voices. She struggled and begged her body to respond, but her mouth refused and she succumbed to the darkness.
Rosalie Masen was the daughter of Edward Sr. and Elizabeth Masen – also Edward's little sister.
The peanut butter to his jelly, the spoon to his bowl, the apple of his eye.
She was, as some might say, 'the-girl-next-door', but only the few that really understood her, knew the spunk that she held. Part of that few was Rosalie's only brother.
Rose had always depended on him, as much as she hated to admit it; mostly because he had been the father figure she never had throughout her entire life on this earth, and a better one than her wretched father no doubt.
She realised that this was why she couldn't refuse him of anything.
Some time ago
Before the incident...
The Masen Household:
"Rose, c'mon, it's just one last party!" Edward demanded, his dark green eyes piercing hers – and she knew why – as she rolled her equally menacing blue eyes at his paranoia. He'd be at work, Rose reasoned with herself, he wouldn't be able to hurt me.
Edward was being silly.
"You always say that, Teddy!" she jibed, falling onto his bed in exasperation as she began to pick at her nails in silence. The springs bounced and the bed shook.
The nickname 'Teddy' is what Rose had opted for instead of 'Edward' or 'Eddie', both names her pigtails-and-no teeth-self couldn't pronounce. It stuck ever since.
"I know, but this time I mean it," he lied smoothly, and if Rose hadn't known her brother so well, she'd actually fall for his bullshit.
And that was saying something. Edward was undoubtedly one of the best liars she had come across over her lifespan, so fortunately for her, she knew him better.
Edward could handle himself of course, but then he'd end up ditching her only to swap saliva with the next best thing.
The night would proceed this way, until Edward's liver couldn't handle anymore liquor, then Rose would have to drag his limp self to the car and get him home even though she wasn't legally of age to do so. This would be followed by Rose having to hold back his hair while he puked all the alcohol he'd downed into their toilet bowl, along with everything that was once edible.
She stared at him with pitiful eyes.
Why do you do this to yourself?
Though she knew why; she wished he had other ways of dealing with his pain.
Edward could be seen as very cynical in most cases, but there was a reason for his madness. Despite how deeply melancholic some may say he is, Edward had a light in him that not many had the privilege of seeing.
His pain is just deeply routed in him, it's going to take a tough girl to break through his tough exterior, she told herself too many times to count. She refused to accept that her brother wouldn't find love.
That did not mean she could not feel annoyance toward him.
She glared at him as if to say "yeah right" and he chuckled in frustration. He grumbled dramatically as he stumbled over to his closet to retrieve a hoodie despite her disagreeing. It was their usual exchange — they'd banter back and forth and then she'd cave in.
"You should stop watching Lie to Me," he suggested, tossing her his bag of weed and lighter which she reluctantly stuffed into her bra.
Flipping him the bird at his poor offense and the weird face he pulled at her choice of a hiding spot, she stood up to grab her own hoodie out of her bedroom and he followed her idly.
"Fine, but can I at least have one beer?" she asked hopefully, trying her luck but already accepting the fact that she knew his answer would be —
"–No! Now let's go before the asshole gets back."
Rose snorted at his remark and shut the lights off in her bedroom. Double checking that she locked that shit up, she joined him outside.
"Okay, I call dibs on the driver's seat!"
"Fuck no," he said simply, laughing as if her request was absurd. She tossed him the keys which she had obviously stolen from his desk and stuck out her tongue in false amusement.
"You can call shotgun though," he offered playfully just to taunt her.
Despite their bickering, he knew it would pass. They had too much of an understanding to fight over petty bullshit.
"Will Alice Brandon be there?" Rose asked nosily, her eyes scanning his face for any sign of vulnerability. Well, most times they didn't, Edward thought sarcastically.
He sighed irritably, his calm demeanor quickly disappearing. "Who gives a fuck if she's there?"
The engine roared to life as he pulled onto the road, and he stared ahead, observing the clear blue night-sky.
"You do... You know it's why you even bother going to these parties..."
"Rose," he warned. She bit her tongue, despite her need to know more. Shifting so she was more comfortable, she placed her feet on the dashboard, even though she knew Edward loathed it.
"Fine." She relented, folding her arms across her chest. Moments passed in silence until suddenly she jolted in her seat and squealed in excitement, an act which would have surprised Edward if he wasn't so used to it already.
"My song!" she exclaimed, turning on the volume button as Coconut Records blazed over the radio. The music seemed to ease the tension.
"One of us is right, one of us is wrong hey!" Rose sang, bobbing her head to the music. Edward settled.
"You are my voice, my microphone!" he chorused, joining in on her fun and she clicked her fingers in encouragement, spurring him on.
The moment ended too quickly, and Edward gestured for his 'shit'.
"Pass me the joint... in the bag," he said pointedly, and she did little to hide her disappointment.
"Wow, if only you'd actually say that to me."
He chuckled, shaking his head furiously. "No, you're way too young, Rosie!" the mere image of Rose smoking weed had him in fits and giggles.
She glared at his nickname for her.
"Whatever, Eddie," she shot back, satisfied at the scowl which appeared on his pale face.
He rested his head back, his one hand placing the joint between his parted lips while the other held the steering wheel in place, and she routinely moved to bring flame to the little bud, the luminosent orange glow setting the car alight.
Tssss.
The fire swallowed the paper abruptly. She sniffed at the smell that polluted the air and quietly watched with disapproval as Edward laid back and inhaled the contents, his face contorting and pink as he held the smoke for a minute before exhaling coolly.
He coughed a little, but barely – already accustomed to the sensational burn that accompanied the pull. A ghost of a goofy smile took shape on his lips and he sighed languidly, relishing in the tingly feeling that oozed into his veins, his face flushed with warmth.
Rose grimaced in disgust at the stench, and he grinned already used to her reaction.
"Your eyes are so red... You must be very high," she commented dumbly. He shrugged – that was the criteria.
"Here," he spoke suddenly, offering her the joint. Rose sprang to attention, her eyebrows reaching the ceiling at the sight of his extended hand.
"Really?" she stuttered, snagging it before he could change his mind.
At first she studied the joint, but then she carefully placed it between her cracked lips. Without inhaling, she waited for Edward's approval and when he nodded she breathed in through her mouth – slowly at first, allowing it to build but somehow she underestimated the force behind her drag and ended up paying the price.
She sputtered, gasped and coughed as she struggled to soothe the burn igniting within her throat – an uncomfortable itch she attempted to scratch but failed miserably at doing.
Blinking the tears away, she handed the joint back to Edward's eager hands. Edward chuckled, accepting it before she could do any more damage.
"Wow," she wheezed and he bit his tongue. He wanted to poke fun at her but he knew she'd be pissed so he didn't. It would only aggravate the situation more and Rose could be stubborn. He didn't want to get on his little sister's bad side tonight.
"More?" he offered, testing her and she shook her head furiously. "That's what I thought."
She glowered at him, realising that this had been his agenda all along.
"Look at you, coughing up a fit."
"Shut up and drive, before I confront Alice Brandon for you and tell her–"
"Oh, shut up, sore loser!" Edward scoffed, laughing annoyingly. "Leave Alice Brandon out of this. We all know you hate her guts."
Rose flipped him the bird and returned to the mirror to fix up some lipgloss.
"She'll come around, Teddy. She's your best friend."
"I don't care, Rose."
"You're a dick."
"No, Edward," he corrected. He was clearly amused instead of showing a hint of remorse and this pissed her off further.
"More like Eddick."
Currently...
Forks Hospital
Esme sat uncomfortably in the stiff hospital chair alongside Rose's bed, while she patiently waited for her sweet niece to open her eyes and return to her, she sang softly.
She sniffed and shifted a little to grasp Rose's hand in hers, more for her own benefit.
"Sir, you cannot go in there–" a woman yelled loudly. Esme ignored the world, her eyes downcast and puffy from all the tears that had been shed. Her brother-in-law now lost to this world, and her sister Elizabeth...
A strangled sob escaped her cracked lips and she shut her eyes forcefully, praying that it would do the trick and cleanse her of the horrible images of Lizzy's lifeless body. It did little to help, the memory would forever be embedded within her mind, but she hoped it would get easier with time.
"Sir!"
The curtain yanked open and with its flowing, it revealed Carlisle, pale and teary-eyed as he struggled to speak.
"Oh, God! Is he...? Carlisle!" Esme shouted. She prayed that her deepest fears was simply that – a fear. Not reality.
He nodded bleakly, and approached her slowly only to fall onto his knees with his head in her lap.
"Oh! Our poor boy!" Esme gasped, her hand finding her aching heart.
"He confessed, Esme... He said he killed them..."
"Shh," she soothed her broken husband. "It's okay... It's going to be okay."
"I... this is all my fault!" Carlisle said suddenly, quick on his feet. Esme startled and stood up. Her grief quickly turned to rage.
"This isn't your fault, love! This is theirs. Elizabeth promised me... Lizzy, she said she would take good care of him! But she lied. And her horrible horrible husband..." a sob tore through her anger and she fell into the chair to hold her head. "I hate them. They deserved it," she said plainly. Her eyes shifted to Rose's fragile form – safe of any injuries aside from the purplish yellow bruises that marked her skin.
"He deserved it. I'm glad he is dead."
"Esme–" Carlisle begged but she shook her head angrily.
"He did this to her. To our poor Edward! If Edward hadn't... I would have. He's a terrible man, a monster and he doesn't deserve our sympathy!"
"What about your sister–"
"She's as dead to me as he is."
Carlisle grimaced at her dark implication, but nodded either way. There was no way he could convince Esme otherwise. She was as stubborn as Edward; once she made up her mind, she wouldn't change it.
He observed them closely, and reflected on the horrible situation he found himself in – his poor niece lying on a hospital bed, his sister-in-law burnt to death along with her asshole of a husband – and Edward... paying for his actions. He would have to face prison not too long from now, and Carlisle knew this.
Even though he didn't think of his s... – of Edward capable of committing such an atrocious crime – he couldn't blame him.
After all it was Carlisle's fault. He caused this. It was his stupidity that led to this outcome.
A brief memory of Esme on a similar hospital bed pixelated in his mind, and although it may have been slightly fuzzy, he could never completely forget that night. As the clock struck twelve, his beautiful baby boy had been born.
He remembered her; Esme, how tough she'd been, hair matted with sweat but glowing with strength as she birthed his first child – at the age of sixteen and seventeen.
He shook his head, his heart aching painfully. He was nothing but a poser. He pretended to be Edward's uncle, and spoke bullshit about how Edward should work harder at being an honest man – when even he hadn't lived by his words.
But how could he tell Edward that the both of them, Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen, are his biological parents? How would they explain to him that circumstances had forced them to give him up to a more suitable family?
Only, unknowingly he had doomed Edward's life – he was to blame. Not Edward Snr. and certainly not Elizabeth.
Carlisle blamed himself for not being man enough to raise his own kid.
He knew there was no way he could tell Edward, or else he'd probably join Edward Snr. in his grave.
The next day...
Forks County Jail
"Masen," the officer announced, squiggly boots approaching him.
Edward sighed, his arm resting over his eyes to show his disinterest.
"You've got a visitor," the man spat. Edward didn't move a muscle. "Yo, kid. I said you've got–"
"I heard you Emmett Brandon," Edward cut the officer off coolly. "We all get it–" he sat up on the excuse of a bed, his feet dangling off the sides "– you're an asshole. No need to further prove your point."
Emmett grunted. "Do you want to see her or not?"
Edward's eyes perked up. "Her..."
Esme appeared at the entrance, her eyes bloodshot and glistening with unshed tears as she cautiously entered the room. Edward stiffened at the sight of her but quickly grounded himself.
Glaring at Emmett, he stood up. "Can you give us some space?"
Emmett just rolled his eyes and stood by the door. Fucker.
"Edward–"
"Esme–"
He smiled sadly. Even though he hated to admit it, he always held a special place for his Aunty Es in his heart, no matter how dark said heart was.
"You okay, lovie?" her voice was raspy, a clear indication she'd been crying.
He shrugged, looking away. "Better than I deserve."
She inched closer toward the iron bars separating them. "He deserved it."
Edward's head shot up in surprise at her words, his eyes searching hers. "What..."
She nodded her head sternly. "You heard me," she replied darkly.
Does she really think...
"Esme, I didn't..."
"Time's up," Emmett the asshole officer stepped inside, much to Esme's dismay. Edward's shoulders sagged in defeat. Now she would never understand. It was too late.
"What do you mean 'time's up'" Esme repeated mockingly. "It's barely been five minutes!"
Edward snorted under his breath. Here time didn't matter.
"So. Time is up," Emmett emphasized. "We're meeting with a judge tomorrow at seven sharp. His lawyer may be present. They'll show you out–"
"I can show myself out!" she interrupted angrily, pulling out of his grasp. "Edward, I'll see you tomorrow. If any of these asshole officers touch you..."
Edward smirked. "Thank you, Aunt Es. I'll be fine. I can handle these pussies."
Esme laughed loudly. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow lovie," she said once again. Though her words held strength, her eyes were brimming with sadness.
Edward looked away, the sight too difficult to bare.
"You see, kiddo," Emmett started as she left. "Your actions affect those who love you. You need to own up–"
"She's none of your business," Edward spat between clenched teeth. The vein in his forehead threatened to pop as he stepped closer to the bars.
"You broke her," Emmett said plainly. His eyes held no remorse. Edward hated him.
He knew a lot about Emmett. He could tarnish Emmett's reputation in the blink of an eye. But he wouldn't... for her sake.
His best friend deserved more than her asshole of a brother.
"We are all broken," Edward answered after a while, staring Emmett dead in the eyes even though his voice wavered ever so slightly.
Emmett barely flinched.
"That we are."