Chapter 7
"Whoa, did you buy the whole store?" Sam demanded when the girls walked in, blinking at all the bags, seeing Emily shrug her shoulders.
Just by the way her shoulders were tensed, Sam knew something happened. He looked up when Mikayla walked in the door moments later, arching an eyebrow. He watched Kirstyn instantly go to Mikayla's side, folding his arms in front of his chest.
"What's going on?"
"I can honestly say I have no idea." Emily replied, sounding more confused than ever, setting the bags to the side. "Apparently they know each other."
Sam blinked just as Jared walked out of the bathroom, stopping at the sight of Mikayla, grinning from ear to ear. Though the grin instantly faded when Mikayla wrapped a protective arm around Kirstyn's shoulders, eyebrows furrowing. He had the same expression that Sam and Emily had on their faces, wondering how this happened.
"Where have you been all this time Kirstyn?" Mikayla demanded, placing her hands on her shoulders, swallowing past the tears that were already stinging her violet eyes. "Y-You have no idea what I thought…"
"I know." Kirstyn whispered, blinking the tears began once more, not able to stop them. "I'll tell you everything, I promise Kayla."
"Kayla?" Jared blurted out, not expecting to hear that, looking from the chestnut haired girl to Mikayla, dark eyes silently full of questions.
"You'd better or I'll kick your ass." Mikayla stated, wiping her tears away, hugging Kirstyn close, letting out a shaky sigh. "And yes, Jarhead, Kayla is my nickname for her."
"How do you KNOW each other?" Sam couldn't help asking, wrapping an arm around Emily's shoulders. "Have you been to La Push before, Kirstyn?"
"No." Kirstyn knew she would have to tell the story, looking up at her best friend, both of them walking over to sit at the kitchen table. "We've known each other nearly all of our lives."
"Since I was at least five years old. You were three, I think. Somewhere around there." Mikayla barely remembered meeting Kirstyn because they were so young. "We practically grew up together during the summers in Texas."
"Wait, I thought you were raised here?" Jared arched an eyebrow, never knowing Mikayla lived anywhere else besides Washington all of her life.
"I moved here shortly after my sixteenth birthday. Kirstyn left a few days after and my parents decided to move me here." Mikayla remembered that day well, how her heart broke because they left right after attending Grandpa Niles's funeral.
Kirstyn was trying to keep her emotions in check, swallowing hard, remembering how her mother refused to let her attend her grandfather's funeral. They had more 'important business' to attend too. Kirstyn balled her fists up tightly and snapped her head up when the door swung open, the sight of Jacob making it easier to breathe.
"Are you okay?" Sam demanded, remembering how Jacob lost it earlier at Bella's wedding, eyes narrowed slightly.
Jacob nodded, his eyes moving to Kirstyn, having been worried about her ever since he left to attend Bella's reception. He didn't even want to think about Bella, feeling his teeth clench, deciding that if she wanted to put her life on the line that was her decision. He was through with her, never wanting to hear the name Bella Swan again as long as he lived, and couldn't wait for the Cullens to break the treaty. He would then exact his revenge and rip Edward Cullen's head clean off of his shoulders.
"What's going on?" Jacob noticed instantly how close Mikayla was sitting beside Kirstyn, who was sobbing, wondering what the hell he missed.
"Apparently, Mika knows her." Jared was still dumbfounded, remembering meeting Mikayla right after she moved to Forks. He was still on the reservation, going to school, though that didn't stop him from sneaking off to visit her every chance he got.
"How?" Jacob demanded, looking down at Kirstyn with skeptical eyes. "Is she the reason you've been running?"
"No!" Kirstyn couldn't believe he asked that, snapping her head up, and stood from the table with a sniffle. "No, I haven't seen her since I was fourteen years old. We grew up together during the summers since before I can remember."
Jacob blinked, looking at Jared, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me. I don't know what the hell is going on and neither does Emily or Sam."
"Look, it doesn't take a genius to figure this out. It's really quite simple. Kirstyn and I grew up in Texas during the summers. Kirstyn lived with her grandfather and I stayed with my father." Mikayla explained, hoping she was making sense, suddenly turning violet eyes on her best friend. "Kirstyn, what the hell happened that day?"
Kirstyn swallowed hard, the fear registering in her eyes, blinking as more tears streaked her scorched cheeks. How could she tell Mikayla this without vomiting all over the place? Would anyone even believe her? Kirstyn felt Mikayla's arm wrap around her shoulders, leaning against her as she started sobbing.
"I-It…was horrible…" Kirstyn stammered, shaking her head, gripping her hair in her fingers. "Kayla…"
Mikayla blinked, never seeing this emotionally unstable side of Kirstyn, remembering how strong she used to be. Before her stood a broken little girl who was full of fear, a mere shell of who Mikayla's best friend used to be. She pulled Kirstyn into her arms, crooning soothingly into her ear, ignoring all the eyes on them.
"Whatever is it, you know I won't judge you, Kir. Sisters forever, remember?" Mikayla pulled back, pulling out the silver chain from her shirt, showing Kirstyn that she never took the rose charm off. "You can tell me anything."
Nodding, knowing the truth had to come out, Kirstyn slowly looked up at everyone, her eyes locking with Jacob's. After this was said, she knew he would be disgusted with her, but it was out of Kirstyn's control. There was nothing that could be done to change the past, to change what happened to her, but Kirstyn knew she had to keep moving forward.
Nobody else would fight for her except herself.
"Sandra sold me, Mikayla." Kirstyn whispered, after getting her sobs under control, staring straight ahead. She was sitting down at the table again, her knees growing too weak to stand, taking a deep shaky breath. "I wish there was something else to call her, but I can't think of a word right now. I flat out refuse to call her my mother because she is anything BUT that."
"She…sold you?" Mikayla felt the chunks already rising in her throat, chest rising and falling rapidly. "W-What…I don't understand…"
"For six months straight, Sandra posed as me on a live chat room over the internet. She took pictures of me while I was sleeping, some of them in my underwear…" Kirstyn began trembling from head to toe, having lived with this nightmare for four years. "She talked to this guy who lived in Canada and his name was…Eric…" She nearly choked that name out, holding her throat, stomach rumbling.
Everyone stayed silent, not believing what they were hearing, knowing if anyone even uttered a peep, Kirstyn would stop.
"Sandra made this man believe he was going to be married to the girl in the photo, lying about my age and everything. That wasn't the first man she tried it on either. There were four other men…" Kirstyn shuddered, closing her eyes tightly shut, her knee bouncing up and down frantically. "But Eric…gave her the best deal out of them all. She promised him he could marry her, which ended up being me…for a price…"
Jacob could already feel every tendon in his body lighting on fire, the anger pulsating through him. He was fighting it, knowing he would end up phasing before this story was done if he didn't leave. He had to listen to this though and not lose his temper or else it would no doubt scare Kirstyn off.
Not to mention she still didn't know they were shape shifters, so phasing wouldn't be the smartest thing to do in front of her.
It was all coming together now and Mikayla felt sick to her stomach, growing paler by the second. "That day…" She couldn't even finish, blinking as huge tears slid down her face silently.
Kirstyn nodded, lowering her head in shame. "I didn't know…I didn't know what she was planning. She told me we had somewhere to go, that it was more important than going to grandpa's funeral. I yelled and screamed at her the entire way to the airport, wondering what was so damn important that we couldn't go pay our respects. She slapped me across the face and told me if I didn't do as I was told, she would kill me." By now, Kirstyn could barely sit up, burying her face in her hands, sobbing her heart out.
It took several minutes before she continued, Mikayla holding her the entire time, a look of pure murder in her violet eyes.
"I-I missed my grandpa's funeral because of her…I never got a chance to say goodbye to him. And it was all for her selfish needs!" Kirstyn didn't care who heard this, having kept everything bottled up for four very long years. "Thank god I was her only fucking daughter or she would've probably sold all of her kids…"
"She sold you to this guy named Eric?" Mikayla already had in his mind to castrate the bastard, biting back a snarl. "What's his last name?"
Mikayla would have to beat Jacob to it, though his face was completely made of stone, not saying a single word.
"Dawson." Kirstyn knew there was no point in hiding anything; having ripped off her engagement ring he forced her to wear before running. "Sandra took me to Canada, already having a passport with my picture. When we pulled up to a house that was surrounded by woods. Before I knew what was happening, I was being thrown into Eric's arms and carried away from the woman I used to call my mother, who I used to trust with my own life. She drove off with a quarter of a million dollars and never looked back. She sold me…after posing as me over the internet."
Emily couldn't take it anymore and bolted to the bathroom, not wanting to vomit in front of Kirstyn, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Is that all?" Sam managed to whisper; arms folded in front of his chest, along with Jared and Jacob, all three of them looking as though they could kill.
"No." Kirstyn looked up at Mikayla, taking the tissue that was handed to her, needing a minute. She started crying so hard, she could barely breathe, burying her face in Mikayla's chest.
"I will kill him." Jacob murmured low enough to where only Sam and Jared could hear him, his eyes never leaving Kirstyn.
Eric wouldn't live to see the light of another day after Jacob was through with him. Sam and Jared simply nodded, having the same thoughts in mind. How could a mother betray her daughter like that all to make a quick buck? Sometimes humans were worse than the bloodsuckers and Sandra was definitely one of them.
Kirstyn calmed down again, with a lot of support from Mikayla, and knew she had to continue. "When he found out my real age and Sandra lied to him, he beat me within an inch of my life and threw me into the basement. I…ended up with a broken wrist and had to set it myself…" She grabbed her glove covered wrist, closing her eyes tightly shut. "There's a reason I never take these off…"
Mikayla didn't know how much more she could take and watched, helplessly, as Kirstyn removed the gloves, revealing three deep slash scar marks that went from her wrist up her arm to the crease in her elbow. Mikayla covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head back and forth slowly. Her best friend, her sister for life, had tried to kill herself because of the woman who gave birth to her.
"That night, I tried ending it with a rusty nail I found in the basement. I knew my life was over, I knew I couldn't handle being with this monster my mother met over the internet. Throughout the entire ride, she told me about what she did with absolutely NO remorse in her voice. Like it was an everyday occurrence that a mother sells her child to a complete and total stranger over the net, posing as her daughter to trick him." Kirstyn couldn't cry anymore, the bitterness entering her voice, blue eyes flashing with sheer anger. "This is why I felt an OUNCE of redemption when Eric came back and told me he killed her for lying to him all this time."
Mikayla covered her mouth with her hand, eyes widened to the point where they may never close, looking over at Jared.
"I'm sorry, I know that's probably wrong to say, but after…after what she did to me…to hear that he at least ended her life was a sliver of gratification…" Kirstyn started trembling again, pressing a hand to her forehead, knowing she probably sounded sick at the moment, but honestly didn't care. Sandra deserved to die for what she put her only daughter through, her only child. "After he told me what he did to her…he dragged me upstairs and…raped me…" Kirstyn wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection, doubling over, trying to breathe. "H-He told me I was his property, that nothing would stop him from taking what was his…that I would be his wife when I turned the legal age…"
"Even though he knew she posed as you?" Mikayla couldn't believe this sick bastard, pulling Kirstyn into her arms, feeling as though the girl would completely shatter…if she hadn't already.
Kirstyn nodded, clenching her teeth together tightly. "Yes." She practically spat out, remembering Eric coming home that following day with a silver band, forcing it on her finger. She was only fourteen years old and he was forcing her to be engaged to him. "He said I deserved to pay for my mother's crimes against him and there was nothing I could do about it."
This bastard was going to die slowly and painfully. Jacob was going to rip him from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Human or not, this man didn't deserve to live after what he put Kirstyn through, knowing if he didn't leave soon he would phase without warning. Sam could sense it, simply pointing to the door, and watched him start walking toward it.
"How long were you with him?" Mikayla whispered, seeing how angry Jacob was becoming because he was trembling from head to toe.
"Four years. I tried escaping three times and Jacob is the only reason I made it out of there." Kirstyn said, looking up at her hero, who had his back turned to her. She frowned, seeing how tightly his fists were clenched.
"Jacob, leave." Sam ordered, knowing the man couldn't hold it in any longer, watching Jacob bolt out of the door.
Kirstyn just lowered her head and sobbed, suddenly feeling the exhaustion overtake her, slumping against Mikayla. Jared pressed a finger to his lips while Sam lifted Kirstyn in his arms, carrying her to her room. Emily watched with tears streaming down her face, not believing the horrific story she just heard from this beautiful girl.
Jared instantly went to Mikayla's side, seeing how broken she was, and pulled her into his arms as he held her close, knowing the wind had literally been knocked out of her.