Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am only borrowing them to tell a story.

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Chapter 11

Bella

Once again I couldn't sleep and it's no one's fault but my own. Had I listened to my own thoughts last night and ignored looking anything further about Marshall, I wouldn't be in this situation.

Every time I close my eyes I continue to see Marshall's body in my mind's eye and the pictures flash once after the other like an old projector. The moment I arrived home I headed straight to my room with my tablet and searched for pictures which turned out to be a lot worse than I had imagined.

He was utterly destroyed beyond facial recognition. He had chemical burns all over his body, fingerprints were taken, teeth, eyes… They even took his scalp. I tightly shut my eyes and shake my head attempting not to cry once again. How in the world could anyone actually do this? This isn't the kind of thing that happens in real life.

It doesn't make any sense that James is doing this, it just doesn't. He is being watched 24/7, authorities have already questioned him and after all that, the only thing that is now keeping him in the trial is the ties that Marshall had to the defense team. James is either innocent or working with someone. In my opinion, he has to be working with someone and I am not alone in this thought.

"Isabella?" Edward knocks on my door and I turn to look at the time. 2 p.m. I groan and pull the covers over my head as Edward comes into my room. I borrow into a ball and my body cracks after not having moved in the last 10 hours. "What's wrong?" He opens the door and makes no attempt to move any further than the threshold as I pointlessly shake my head under the covers and blink my eyes rapidly at the unshed tears. I'm dehydrated at this point, there is no way anything can come out of my eyes anymore.

"Without checking your browser history, I think it is safe to assume you did exactly what I could've avoided last night." He takes my silence as an admittance of guilt and he sighs.

"You should've taken the tablet away." Sure, blaming him for my stupidity has to make me feel better, doesn't it?

He groans and his footsteps come closer as he sits, probably somewhere against the wall, "I have known you for almost 2 months and we both know that me taking it away wouldn't have helped at all. You would've found a way or possibly given me a lecture until I caved and gave it back."

I bark out a laugh and nod my head for almost a minute until I finally pull the covers from my head. Edward sits on the floor, his back to my nightstand, looking ahead towards the hallway through the open door.

"I shouldn't cry, there isn't a reason for me to cry. I didn't know Marshall. Heck, I don't think that's even the problem. It could've been me and how selfish am I being with that thought is the one that gets me. A boy is dead and all I can think about is how it could have been me. Who does that? I should be thinking about his family, about his pain, over how there needs to be enough justice in this world that he will be properly avenged."

His face remains empty of any emotion, "He was a kid with a life fully ahead of him. A good one I expect. Yet he was taken from his family in such a brutal way. His younger brothers will always remember that the whole family will. It could have been you, you were threatened as well, they all were. It isn't selfish for you to think that but rather, it is smart, to be conscious of just how bad of a situation you are in. For James, this is all a game. Leaving a body that closely ties him to the case is a game, as well as having given a warning to everyone from the beginning. I assume that everyone that is involved has been heavily impacted by this, regardless if they knew him or not."

"What is going to happen now?"

"With you? Nothing. You will remain here until it is all over, your identity will continue to remain hidden unless there is a threat and we are forced to move. With everyone else? His father has officially dropped out of the case and made no statement about it, not that anyone was expecting one, it is clear after all why he is leaving. But it is also clear that James got what he wanted from at least one person. He is now under guard 24/7, both for his safety and that of others. Security has increased around everyone involved and as for the Finch's, no one knows what they plan to do but Marshall has been taken into a forensics lab while they search for evidence as well as the cause of death."

I flinch at this, the cause of death it pretty clear to me but I shake my head trying to erase the pictures from my mind as we remain silent. I watch Edward, hands on top of his knees as he continues to stare ahead, less than a foot away from me.

"You have more in mind, what is it?" I ask.

"The one that actually murdered him, not just James, but the one that did this under James' possible command simply won't get the punishment that they deserve." He turns his head and looks at me in the eye, "It would mean they get away too easy, even if they are put to death. You say that Marshall should be avenged but this isn't a movie, Isabella, there is no properly avenging what has been done."

I look straight back at him, not exactly sure what I am looking for but it isn't long before I'm lost and lose track of time. I focus on the little crevices of his eyes, never have been so close to him to be able to freely stare at him. It is truly amazing at all the shades of green that his eyes can hold, almost like a forest. As I look into his eyes, I remember what he once said about fear and bravery and I try to channel that as I pull my hand out from under the covers. My face hardens as I place my hand on top of his.

"You're right. They'll catch him along with everyone else who helped him. When they do, justice will come and when it does, all that we can hope for is that true justice will be done, one way or another."

After an hour I have finally showered and head down the stairs. In the living room, Edward sits on the couch with his phone in his ear.

"I don't think we are coming today, Ma… It was a long night yesterday… Yeah we are fine but I just have a headache, maybe I'm getting sick… Yeah, we will come to visit you later in the week...Are you sure, Ma?... No, yes, of course, I love her… Yes, I'll bring, Bella… Yes… Yes, I am sure she will love it... No, I won't say a word… Me too, Ma. Bye."

I clear my throat, "I would say that I am just now walking in and totally wasn't eavesdropping or act like I wasn't but that would be a lie."

He stands and smiles, "I would say that I hadn't noticed but I had. I wouldn't have a job if I was unable to notice when someone is standing a few feet away from me. You are not as subtle as you think."

I plop down on the couch as he heads towards the kitchen. "Are you okay?" I shout after him.

"I'm fine." He replies.

"Why did you tell Esme you aren't?"

"After yesterday and this morning, there is no way you are going to dinner and if you aren't neither am I."

"Oh, so this is my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"No, I know but seriously. I'm okay, Edward, really. Yeah, it's some messed up shit but I'm okay."

He peeks at me through the door, "No."

"I'm not going to freak out in the middle of dinner, Edward. I probably should but your family is just so great. No way I can freak out." As I say it I feel like this would be the moment in a movie that foreshadows that freaking out is exactly what is going to happen. "I'm Bella Cullen. Marshall only affects Bella Swan. At home I'm Swan... If that makes any sense. Just... Let me fake being a Cullen." I sigh loudly and throw my arms out beside me.

He groans from the kitchen and I smile, knowing I have already won.

"I'm so glad you both could make it after all," Carlisle exclaims as he opens the front door letting us both inside. Edward starts to close our yellow umbrella before he steps inside as I remove my coat carefully so as to not have the water clinging to my coat spray everywhere. He gives me a smug look at my treatment of the coat as he leans the umbrella next to the door as Carlisle shuts it behind us. Before we left, he made a comment about it raining and threw the umbrella in the car as I mocked him for being overly cautious. It continues to pour outside as we follow Carlisle down the hallway. "We are all in the kitchen, Esme will be back soon enough, she simply went to pick something up." he gives Edward a look that I ignore and I join everyone in the kitchen.

Emmett is eating out of an M&M bowl as Rosalie flips through a binder and Jasper is working through a dough. Rosalie looks up from her magazine and smiles widely at me, "How are you, Bells?"

"I'm great, a little glad we don't have to work tonight."

"Well, in a way I wish I could say the same but in other matters, I will have you know that everything about last night is taken care of."

"What happened last night?" Carlisle asks as he starts pulling things out of the fridge.

"Nothing," I answer, not really wanting to have to talk about it and have him feel bad for me. Right in that moment, the oven goes off and the garage door can be heard opening far in the background.

After dinner, we all head towards the living room as Jasper starts to hand out slices of fresh cranberry cobbler in true fall fashion.

"Earlier today I was actually picking something up for you, Bella," Esme announces once we finish. She reaches for her purse and I turn tomato red. I've never known what to do as I am about to be given something except smile and say thanks. That and for my birthday, nothing is more irksome than being sung happy birthday. Esme pulls out a small silver pouch about the size of a fist and sits next to me, holding it in her lap.

"This, along with others, have been passed down in my family from mother to daughter. Now, because I didn't have any daughters and because I am an only child, it is only right that you and Rosalie have them to pass on. It is tradition to give it on the bride's wedding day as part of something old but it is better late than never." She hands me the pouch and my face continues to burn, more out of guilt than embarrassment at this point.

My hands start to shake a little as I turn over the pouch and out comes a very bright set of what appears to be white gold and stones. I start to pick up the pieces from my lap and look at them closely. The stones are fairly large and shifts from shades of yellow, green and orange as the light hit it. Opal.

I gasp, "These are beautiful." I turn to Edward and he gives a slight nod as I look back towards Esme and boldly lean in for a hug. "Thank you. I promise to take care of them better than I do myself." And it's true. These aren't mine to keep, it is only fair they get them back in no less than perfect condition.

She beams at me and hands Edward the necklace, which is a large single white opal about an inch and a half in diameter with small speckles of what must be diamonds or something similar. "Put it on her, Edward."

Edward takes the necklace and gently places it across my neck as he fastens the thick rope. I stare at the remaining pieces, truly baffled at the size of the stones. The earrings must be the size of dimes and the ring is nickel sized opal surrounded with smaller pieces that overall form a flower. The bracelet consist of half centimeter pieces all linked together around.

"I don't think I will ever be able to stop looking at them," I say honestly.

"Wouldn't judge you if you didn't." Rosalie chuckles, "I didn't remove my pieces for a month after Esme gave them to me the day I got married. I still kind of don't." She pulls a strand of hair back from her ear and smiles as I see the large seemingly black set of earrings. "Garnet, it also happens to be my birthstone."

"The only reason she stopped wearing them at all is because I mocked her. So be sure that I will mock you as well." Emmett laughs.

Rosalie glares, "Yeah, and then you be sure to give him the cold shoulder until he buys you the most expensive set you can find."

Emmett grimaces for a second before he smiles smugly, "But it had to be the best thing I ever did." He looks at Rosalie in a way that makes me glad we are not getting the full story.

Before long, Emmett turns on the television and we all relax on the couch. My eyes sting once again as I try to keep them open but after 3 days of being awake, it is an impossible feat. So I lean against Edward and sleep without another word.

I run faster through the woods and avoid looking behind me knowing that the moment I do, I will trip and he will catch me within seconds. My punishment would be nothing compared to what it was before, this time he will be angry at me for running away. But I couldn't take his taunting anymore and not knowing if he would let me live or die at the end of it all.

I continue to run as I ignore the scratches of the trees that join my slowly fading scars that he has been leaving behind.

I run through a spider web yet again and I madly swat my arms around in a panic, trying to get the possible homeowner to get away from me but unwilling to stop and be caught thanks to my fear of spiders. My heart is beating impossibly fast and my body screams in pain at all of the running I didn't know I could actually achieve. I should've run with Edward every morning like I said I would. I wouldn't be on the verge of giving up if I had listened to my own self and exercised.

I hear the rustle of the leaves getting closer behind me as I either run slower or James gets faster. It is pointless to keep quiet at this point and so I finally scream as I run in hopes that my own shouts will propel me forward for just a while longer. I can't stop. I want to but I can't. Even though I feel on the verge of death I will truly be dead if he catches me. My ribs feel as if they were broken and were digging into my lungs as my body begs me to stop.

A light comes from above. Edward, it was to be Edward. He found me, he finally found me. I don't question how instead, I convince myself to keep running instead of stopping. Just because he is here doesn't mean James won't do any damage if he catches me.

"Bella!" I hear Edward shout ahead of me. I turn directions and run towards his voice, "Bella!" I push myself forward, almost feeling joy as I do, knowing that I am so close to the end for this hell. To finally being safe yet again.

"Edward!" I scream as loud as my body allows, hoping that he will reach me faster.

Suddenly I crash land into the forest floor and I scream yet again as my hand slices open against something sharp. I buckle hard and look back as James snarls trying to keep me still. "No." I uselessly protest.

He reaches for my face and digs his fingers into my neck from behind, knocking whatever breath I have left inside of me. I dig my nails into his wrist and claw into them hoping to draw blood. He screams loudly and briefly let's go. I gasp for breath and take my chance, crawling out from under him only to stumble over my feet and land on the floor once more. I crawl on my hands and knees, unwilling to give up.

"Edward." my voice is hoarse and I can hardly hear myself as my eyes blur making it nearly impossible to see. I turn around as James grabs at my foot yet again. My body simply can't take much more as I turn and kick him in the chest. He doesn't let go and instead crawls on top of me. He reaches for my face as I hear Edward screaming my name somewhere around.

James has his hands around my shoulders as he shakes me. I reach for his face and try to claw as hard as I can, leaving streaks of my own blood around his face. If he is taking me down I will be sure to take him down with me. I reach for his eyes as everything starts to grow harder to see. From above, I am sure we are nothing but a ball of limbs, screams, leaves, and blood.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Okay I am done. Leave you review down below guys! I live for it.

I am so happy with the way that that last bit turned out! Let me know your thoughts on it!

-So I wrote this a week and a half ago and this week has been stressful, the earthquake in Mexico hit a bit close to home and no pun intended but it shook me up a little bit.

-Luna Riley