Chapter 10: Surprises

"You are going to stand there and watch her punishment. It is your fault after all. If she hadn't met you she wouldn't need to be. If she hadn't tried to help you I would have left her alone. If you had cast her away she would be safe. If you try to help her you will be stopped and she will get something extra added on to her punishment. If you look away at anytime ten minutes will be added. So as you stand there remember that every move you make could get Lorianna killed. Her fates in your hand now." She said laughing evilly as she walked away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mark advancing towards me. I quickly did a back flip and landed behind him lightly. He had a knife behind his back. He turned to face me quickly.

"How did you do that?"

"I never tried before because I thought I would get hurt." He dropped his knife and ran at me. I was far to slow to dodge it. He was a full vampire and fed on humans. I was a hybrid that was low on energy for both my human half and my vampiric side. He tackled me and we quickly fell to the ground. Once he had me pinned he slapped me so hard I made a dent in the earth. While I was stunned he jumped off me and slammed his foot down on my leg. I heard snapping as mine blowing pain wracked my body. I screamed loudly. He smiled in satisfaction. "Now you can't pull any of that crap." He nudged my leg with his foot. I whimpered loudly. He snuck a glance at the Cullens. Now I understood he was egging them on. He wanted to have an excuse to torture me more than he was already allowed. None of the Cullens had moved an inch. They were all fighting internal battles to keep still. Some were doing better than others.

Mark was irritated with their obvious control. He punched me in the face so hard that not only did it manage to break my nose but I was also propelled backwards. I felt a smack and heard a crack as my head made contact with a tree that had been ten feet behind me. That was too much for Emmett. He took a step towards me and was quickly pushed back towards the others. Satisfied he could now do more harm he came over to me happy as a clam and pulled me back to my previous spot by my hair.

"Thanks, Emmett. Now let's get started on that extra added thing. He flipped my wrists to see the scars from the last time he had cut me. He was displeased they were just pale lines now. "We're going to have to fix that." He muttered more to himself than to me. He grabbed his knife and began his work. He didn't cut my skin he sawed at it with a dull blade as if it was a rather tough piece of steak. I bit my lip to hold back a whimper as he made five lines on my right arm. When he was done with that he moved on to the other arm and repeated the process. This was hard for the Cullens to watch. Partially because I was bleeding the other part was because I couldn't hide my pain when I was being tortured like that. But out of all of them Emmett had the hardest time watching this because it was his fault.

I couldn't heal them because that would mean healing everything and I had to realign the bones in my leg before I could do that. So I had to watch them bleed freely.

"You know what Lorianna? I'm going to redo your marks too. If there as faded as these cuts were no one will know you're marked." I winced as the Cullens gasped in surprise. Marks eyes went big as he figured it out. He laughed in amazement. "She didn't tell you? She was cast out of our family a week before she disappeared and ended up at your place. She was punished every day she stayed. In fact if she wasn't gone by night fall the day you found her she would have been killed. We don't tolerate marked ones unless they are here to be punished. See." He said pulling the back of my shirt up to reveal the fading marks. "I was right these aren't nearly deep enough." He went for his knife and got to work. I held extremely still. If I squirmed I could end up impaling myself upon his knife. So as he made the first cut I bit my lip and clenched my hands into fists to keep from making a sound or moving.

He did this the same way he had done my cuts. He sawed the skin. First he redid the crossed out shield on the top of my right shoulder that signified that I was unprotected. Next he made the ten short diagonal lines. Five on each side of my spine pointing towards each other that indicated I was cast out and not wanted. Then he started at my right shoulder and made a diagonal line all the way down to my left hip to show I was worthless. He finished with a bunch of careless x's to prove that they cared so little about me that my blood was spilled with out a second thought. It also symbolized that even though I was bleeding the vampire doing this thought so little of me that he didn't want to have any of me inside of him. That I was unworthy of even being drained, but if another wanted me I was up for grabs…

When he was finished he walked away from me only to return a minute later with a bottle of peroxide. My gut filled with dread when I saw that bottle. He dumped a little on my arms and poured the rest of the bottle on my back. I screamed and arched my back as pain shot through me. He stepped away from me admiring my handy work before turning one of Victoria's vampires. "Lock them in the barn and if that thing can't get there on its own kick it there." He ordered.

I quickly pushed myself up with my hands and tried to balance with my one leg. It hurt to put my arms out because it stretched my skin and I was wobbling there for about ten seconds before I fell back to the ground. I whimpered in pain as my leg hit the ground again. I sat there huddled on the ground and waited for the pain. It didn't come instead Emmett came over to me slowly and picked me up. He was careful and tried not to jostle me but I still was. I whimpered slightly each time. Hissing at the guards he carried me to the barn. Once I was set down against a bale of hay he walked away from me swiftly and went to stand next to the rest of the Cullens. Ashley ran over to me full of concern. "Lorianna are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine." I told her flashing her a warm smile before getting to work. I reset my nose and leg, screaming as I did before healing myself. I felt the immediate relief as my cuts closed. I knew they would make ugly scars. Mark had never kind towards my body. I waited anxiously for the Cullens to speak it didn't take long.

"You lied to us just to save your own skin." Rosalie hissed accusingly at me. I winced. It hurt. Rosalie and I had become friends during my short stay with her family now the only thing she felt towards me was loathing. I waited for them to speak again.

"Why didn't you tell us the truth?" Alice asked sadly. Her tone and her disappointment in me hurt worse than Rosalie's scorn.

"Because I didn't know it had any real value or meaning behind it and I didn't want to find out."

"You could have told us after you knew us more." Carlisle prompted.

"When I first met you I was wary. I didn't know if you lived like my family did. To answer your question I didn't tell you after that out of shame. I am a banished hybrid. No one wants me." Ashley put a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll protect you." Emmett said.

"No! If you do that you won't find any favor with hybrids and a lot of vampires."

"Lorianna, will you tell us your story again? Truthfully?" Alice asked eyeing me. I took a deep breath.

"I grew up here on the ranch. Mark tortured me and I lived by the rules just like the rest. Victoria's the leader and what she says goes so when she said I was to be banished no one questioned it, except me. I hadn't done anything. I had actually helped out more than I usually did. As punishment for my outbursts I was given the marks. She could have been planning on giving me them anyway but I don't have any proof. After that I was given a week to get off the ranch. Everyday I was punished for staying. I didn't have anywhere else to go so I tried not to focus on my rapidly approaching death. It was the last day and I fell asleep in the grass. I awoke in the woods behind your house. I don't know how I got there…you know the rest. That's the truth."

No one moved they just looked at me. I was about to get up when a vampire came into the barn. He came over to me taunting. "Hi, bitch! Remember me? Mark and I would hang out. You know you do have an excellent set of lungs. That show you put on today was amazing. Bravo!" He said clapping mockingly. I didn't move. I couldn't say as much for Ashley. She exploded out of her clothes and shifted into a giant dog. Out of fury she lunged at the vampire to attack him.

He started to fight her. The Cullens were stunned and unmoving. I made a move to go help her. "If you try to help we'll light the barn on fire." He threatened. I watched anxiously. He finally made a move and took a swipe at her. She was 13! A child! That was all it took for my own temper to burst into flames. I jumped forward and landed on four paws.