BPOV
I came back to consciousness sometime later, so sore I could hardly move any part of my body, and I could still feel the blood leaking from between my legs. I squeezed my eyes shut tight as that thought brought the most recent events back into my mind, vivid as ever. I opened my eyes again, afraid to see where Jacob was, still unsure if he would hurt me again. Slowly, very slowly, I eased myself up into a sitting position, and looked around. I was alone. I had no idea where Jacob had gone, but something told me to get myself out of here before he returned. Even though I was relieved he wasn't here, my heartbeat sped up at not knowing where he was, or if he planned on returning to torture me some more. A bit too quickly I tried to stagger to my feet, and found the room spinning and my feet threatening to give way beneath me. I grasped a hold of some poles near me to get my balance back, and my vision evened out after a little bit. My legs, however, were another story. I wasn't positive I could walk forward a few steps without collapsing, let alone to the treaty line. I knew I'd have to find a way to, though. One look at the clock on the wall told me I needed to hurry things along. It was already 4:35, I had to be there by 5, and here I still was, stumbling around bloody and naked in Jacobs garage.
I let go of the poles slowly to test my stability, and found I was not yet on the ground, which I took as a good sign. I took a step forward…didn't fall. Good. I slowly bent down and put my underwear and bra back on, surprised both had fared alright. My pants and shoes were fine, too. My shirt on the other hand - not so much. Shredded. I couldn't even differentiate the arm holes from the holes Jacob had made in it. I knew I had left a shirt and a hoodie in Jacobs room once, months ago. They would still be there, I was sure, and I was going to have to go in and get them. But I was petrified. I knew Billy wasn't home.. But what if Jacob was in there? I swallowed back the panic that was starting to rise in me, and carefully made my way out of the garage and to the front door of the house. Taking a deep breath, I swung the door open and waited for any noises to warn me of someone in there. Nothing. Taking a step in, I peeked around. I couldn't see anyone. It sounded lifeless in here, so I walked as fast as I dared on my wobbly legs into Jacob's room, shakily ransacking through his stuff to find mine. Luck was on my side, as both the shirt and hoodie were next to each other and not that buried in his messy room. I put them both on as fast as I could, deeply grateful I had happened to leave a black hoodie, meaning it would hide the dirt and blood well.
I had wiped the blood off as much of my body as possible, and made sure to pull the hoodie up to cover as much of my face as it would before I headed to the treaty line. I was fairly certain that between me being covered from head to toe in clothing, and the weather being dark and dreary out, that even Alice wouldn't be able to see the damage done. I knew there was no doubt she would smell the blood, though, and I was thinking up excuses to give her the whole walk there. Each one somehow sounding dumber and less likely to have happened than the last. "God, you're such an idiot" I yelled at myself under my breath. How could I have let this happen? How was I ever going to pretend to be ok? I had maybe 5 minutes to get myself together enough to look semi-normal, before I reached the treaty line and was met with a vampire who would be extremely suspicious of everything. As much as I dreaded seeing Alice, knowing she would immediately be pressing for answers and disbelieving of everything I told her, I almost cried just thinking of being near her. Someone who cared. Someone who would truly never hurt me. My small but fierce vampire sister. I loved her and couldn't help but wish more than anything that she could have seen this afternoon, and saved me.
A few tears escaped at these thoughts, so I quickly wiped them away and distracted myself by counting my footsteps instead. I looked up when I got to 137, and saw Alice not far up ahead, nearly bouncing out of her skin. I wanted desperately to run to her and wrap my arms around her in as tight a hug as I could manage, and not let go for a long time. For a few seconds, I planned on doing just that - minus the running. I saw her freeze up ahead, and couldn't help but smile a little, knowing she would be 'seeing' me hugging her like that. The vision ended and she looked at me more directly, and I could tell even from the distance that she was slightly confused, but more than welcoming of the loving gesture she had seen. I decided against it though, afraid she would pick up on other things if we were that close to each other. She froze again, obviously seeing the change, and then unfroze, frowning and looking slightly disappointed.
"Bella! Whe-" Alice's expression suddenly changed, and I recognized the look in her eyes. She smelt my blood. "Bella! You're bleeding! What happened? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Where's Jac-" she was frantic, her words tumbling out almost as one. "I'm fine, Alice. I tripped in Jacob's garage and hit my head kind of hard. It was bleeding, but I'm okay. No hospitals necessary. Jacob got caught up doing.. Wolf stuff, I guess." I reassured her, hoping it would be enough. "Are you sure, Bella? It smells like more blood than just a cut on your head." She frowned, unconvinced, at me. I kept my head tipped down, using the hood to my full advantage. "It's fine, I swear. Head wounds just.. Bleed a lot. Trust me, I would know. Now can we just go home? My house first, please. I want to shower." I walked around to the passenger seat and climbed in, not giving her time to respond.
She eyed me warily the entire ride to my house, like it was possible I may just disappear into thin air. If only I could get that lucky.. Neither of us spoke a word until we reached my house. "I'll wait for you out here, Bella. Take your time." she said, a surprising seriousness in her voice. "Thanks, Alice. Really." I said back before climbing out and trying to hurry into my house. I had a feeling Alice would be carefully watching my future, and was keeping that in mind as much as possible, but I still couldn't help the sobs that slipped from my mouth once I had stepped in the shower. I looked hideous. I was hideous. He had made me that way, and I wasn't sure I could ever get it off of me. I paid careful attention to not focus too much on any one part of my body, afraid Alice may see my bruise-riddled and battered body through my eyes. I still took special care to scrub my body as raw as I could get it. I was desperate to wash him off of me, and it just wasn't working. Even when I had drawn blood on myself in a few places from scrubbing so hard, it still wasn't enough.
It would never be enough, I realized, as I sunk down into a sitting position and cried. I sat there for a long while, curled into a fetal position and crying, eventually just sitting there staring at the shower drain, wishing I could become small enough to slide down it and disappear. I berated myself for doing such a shitty job at hiding this from Alice, I was positive she would have seen my little meltdown just then. Frustrated, I got out of the shower and dried myself off, throwing my hair up into a messy bun and putting on sweats, a shirt and another hoodie. I tried using cover up on my cheek, and to my surprise and happiness, it worked pretty well. Once I was finally content with what I looked like, or rather, with what my vampire family would see, I headed back downstairs and out the door. Alice was still there, waiting patiently, of course. I climbed into the passenger seat and thanked her once again.
She stared at me studiously for a minute, reminding me of when Jacob had stared at me so quietly, and it made me want to curl into a ball and rock myself. "What happened to your cheek, Bella?" she asked. My hand flew to my face immediately. I was POSITIVE I had covered it well enough not to be of any interest. Could she really see it that well through the makeup? "Don't deny it. I saw you covering it up in the mirror," she explained, obviously foreseeing my denial. "Now what happened? Bella, if Jacob hurt you, please tell me.." I shook my head firmly. "Alice, it was nothing. I swear. It's no big deal, please just leave it alone." Sadness passed through her eyes before she returned to her quiet and thoughtful state, and pulled out of my driveway to take us back to her home. She eyed me just as much, if not more, than she did on the way to my house.
I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was going to be extremely difficult to keep from her. Damn her and her abilities! I just wanted to forget and move on like nothing had ever happened. But I was beginning to see that that wasn't going to happen as easily as I had hoped for… if it even happened at all.