Hey, people! Sorry for the delay but as the holidays are coming my beta and I have finals and exams and what not coming up so we've been delayed. I love you guys for being patient with me. Right now, I'm currently sick and house ridden and not even supposed to be on the laptop but I hated to keep you guys waiting. And since the review count was beat you know who does the disclaimer tonight! So here you go!
And many thanks to my wonderful beta, BellaTonks. She's awesome even though she was scared I was going to fire her for betaing the chapter so late. No worries! xoxo And to Litle Silver Rose who is my best friend, confidante, joker, and all that other good stuff. Lol. Love you guys!!!
OH! And a shout out to MeNameIsBella for her wonderful and uplifting review. And to xbriterzz for threatening me with the rape of me and/or my kids by Micheal Jackson! *shudders*
Disclaimer: "Hey, guys. Edward, here. I hope everyone does well on there finals and exams and such. Please enjoy this chapter, its very enlightening. Read on, guys!" E.C.
Chapter 21
BPOV
"I received a call from the officer that we talked to when Edward's room was destroyed. His name is Officer Williams and he's going to be in charge of the investigation."
"Investigation," I asked. "When did this turn into an investigation?"
"When Williams told me about Charlie's other identity."
Everyone in the room gasped. The whole gang was again cramped into my room, though you couldn't really call it that because I was hardly ever in there unless Alice and Rose wanted to play Bella Barbie or something.
We were all in pretty much the same position; Alice, Rose and I were in between our boyfriends' legs, our backs to their chests on each bed. Carlisle was leaning on the back of the couch in front of us with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Esme was away on another decorating seminar in Miami, so she failed to be here.
Edward had asked when this thing had turned into an investigation.
Charlie?
Another identity?
Wha….?
"What do you mean, dad? What are you talking about?" Emmett spoke this time.
"Well, Williams explained to me that he begged his chief to give him the case because when he interviewed you, Edward, and found out what happened to Bella he remembered what happened to his little sister a while back. She was raped and she also had a child as a result of it."
I flinched remembering that painful day and Edward's arms tightened the tiniest bit around me. Carlisle continued.
"They are currently still looking for the man that did it and he wants to help because he knows what it's like." Carlisle's eyes looked sad and I could see that it hurt him, too, to remember.
"Please let him know I'm grateful. We all are. But, dad, what is this identity thing?" Edward seemed set on knowing everything.
"Williams did some digging and found an old file that had a picture of Charlie, but with a different name, Mark Perry. Everything in that file was different; his social security number, date of birth, hometown, etc. etc. I'm talking about a whole different person. Williams has a feeling that whoever vandalized Edward's room is connected to Mike. And since we think Charlie has something to do with it, I don't see how Newton would be connected with him. It doesn't seem plausible."
"Should we tell Williams about Charlie or do you think that it's too dangerous, that he'll find out she spoke to someone?" Jasper asked.
Carlisle ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh.
"I think we should wait. If Charlie is keeping tabs on Bella then I wouldn't recommend it so as not to bring any more trouble our way. I want to say something, it might help with the investigation, but right now it sounds like we're signing a death certificate." He chuckled darkly and then paused.
"What else was in that file?" Edward asked.
"This Mark Perry guy had a record even longer than Mike's. Charlie's record is completely clean and the only reason he's in the system is because he's a registered cop. But if you compare them they are like total opposites. It was like Charlie was living a double life."
Double life?
What the hell is going on?
"So Charlie isn't really Charlie?" I asked quietly.
Carlisle shook his head. "No, he's not."
"Why would Charlie have another identity? What did he do?"
"Now, that I don't know and Williams is checking that out."
"Charlie isn't really Charlie," Edward murmured. He seemed to be soaking it in. He didn't seem to actually believe it and frankly neither did I. It was unfathomable.
But then if they looked up his file then surely there would be something about my mother in it.
"Was there anything about my mother?" I asked eagerly. I sat up against Edward a little.
"No, not that I know of, all the police know is that she's married to him and working at the hospital there."
I sighed, leaned back against Edward, a little put out. She hasn't tried to contact me since I left and I knew that it was Charlie's doing. She would never do anything with Charlie knowing about it. Living with him was like living in a prison, only better furnished and with better food.
My mother, she had to be going through hell with him. He had to be torturing her beyond recognition. I wanted to get her out of there. I promised I wouldn't leave her, but that bastard coerced me. He fucking coerced me! I hate breaking promises. It was the closest thing to breaking someone's heart. It was the closest thing to death.
Okay, maybe that was too much of a hyperbole, but still.
With the things that have happened to me, why wouldn't I like to not break the promises I make?
Charlie…isn't really Charlie.
It made no sense. Why would he have two identities? Why would he want to change who he was? Why did he change who he was?
The questions continued in my head for a good while and then my mind went back to my mother. Was she involved with his changing in identities? Did she know about it?
I felt dizzy suddenly … information overload.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to clear it. I heard Carlisle sigh after a moment. I opened my eyes and he was staring at me.
"What?"
"Bella, did you know about any of this?"
"Dad!" I heard Edward say disapprovingly, his body stiffened.
I squeezed his forearms to let him know it was okay. His body relaxed after a moment.
"No, Carlisle, I didn't know. I'm just as confused as you are," I answered him quietly.
After a moment of tense silence, Carlisle left muttering a quiet 'goodbye' and 'be safe' to us.
Everyone was quiet. We were all gathered in the room for about an hour before Carlisle left. In that moment I realized that everyone had said something except for Alice and Rose. I turned my head to the right and Alice was looking at her hands. I turned to the left and Rosalie looked on the verge of tears.
"Rose," I started before she bolted to the bathroom. Emmett ran a hand through his hair and went after her.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?!" I said exasperated.
Edward sighed and buried his head in my neck. Alice jumped a little and Jasper flinched and held her tighter. He leaned down and whispered something in her and she nodded. She stood and smiled a weak smile at me then walked towards the bathroom.
Jasper turned to me and Edward. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It must be a contagious habit because all the guys do it.
"Bella, I know Edward has been keeping this from you, probably because, well, for one it is not his story to tell, and two, it's not a very good story."
"What are you talking about, Jasper?"
"I'm talking about why Rose doesn't talk to anyone but Emmett any more. I'm talking about why Charlie or Mark or whoever the hell your father is, isn't the only reason why I've become so guarded and protective of you three." I knew he was referring to Alice, Rosalie and I.
I sat quietly and waited for him to continue. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It looked like he was trying to relax, like he was preparing himself. After a moment he opened his eyes and started.
"Our story is much like yours, but a little different. I hate to think of it and thought I never would have to again, that is until you came along." I flinched and shrank back into Edward's chest, thinking that I brought more pain and problems to him than he already had. Edward's body stiffened and his head pulled up a little from my neck and I could feel the glare he was directing at Jasper. Jasper chuckled quietly and shook his head.
"Don't worry, Bella, you didn't do anything to cause us any pain." I nodded silently and he continued. Edward relaxed some behind me. "When Rosalie and I were about five, our mother, Clair, moved us from here to a small town in Texas. Our father, Jerry, of course came with us. We had to relocate because of his job and at the time we thought that everything was okay. We thought that we were in heaven, so to speak. We had toys, a two story house, big backyard with a tire swing, everything.
"But then as time moved on, we noticed Clair become increasingly depressed and quiet and when she was around us, she would constantly appease us with love and comfort and reassurances like she would never see us again. At first, we thought nothing of it. We just assumed that she just loved us too much, but then we started to notice the bruises she had. We thought nothing of it because we were still young and naive.
"We started going to school and coming home without her having to escort us. When we'd come home she have dark purple-bluish bruises on her neck, wrists, shoulders and sometimes her face. We never asked her about it, but it was killing me slowly to see her so sad when she used to be so happy and carefree. She was quite beautiful, much like Rose. Her smile would light up a room. We missed seeing her like that so it made us sad, too."
"Jerry worked at a car manufacturing company. He was big and muscled, much like Emmett, but more mature. I look much like him, but then as you know Rose and I are twins." He chuckled a little and so did we. "He worked the night shift and would be home while we were at school and since Clair didn't have a job, they would both be home, so it seemed like he was the one giving her the bruises.
"We couldn't figure out why and we were tempted to ask, but we were also scared. Rose and I had many arguments about whether or not to ask, to confront them about what it was we thought was going on and many of them ended up in us not talking to each other for days. But since we were around each other so much and I guess you could call it 'a twins' intuition', we know when we needed to make up and get over it." He chuckled darkly.
"Anyways, one day I had decided to visit a friend's house and I left Rose and Clair home. I had a distinct feeling in my gut that I shouldn't have left, but Rose told me to go have my fun and she'd take care of Clair. I was gone for maybe a few hours before Rose called my friend's house all panicked. She was sobbing into the phone and she was huddled in a corner somewhere in the house. She said she was hiding from Jerry and that mom was hurt pretty badly.
"She kept crying for me to help her, telling me she was scared. I told her I'd be right there and not to go anywhere. I grabbed my friend's bike not really telling him where I was headed and peddled as fast as I could. It wasn't that far and I got there in no time. But when I threw the door open and called out for my mother I got no answer. I wasn't sure what was going on or who was in the house, plus I was scared shitless.
"I ran to the kitchen and grabbed one of those meat cutting knifes. I hid it behind my back and crept through the house as quietly as I could. When I got to my parents' bedroom I found my mother sprawled out on the floor, her arm and leg were bent in funny looking angles and there was blood coming from a wound on her head.
"I was too scared to touch her. I kept quiet, though. I was on the verge of tears, but I held them back. I still had to find my sister. I walked back through the hallway, glancing at the broken glass from picture frames that were all over the floor. I maneuvered my way through as I made my way to Rose's room. I heard faint whimpering and what sounded like a growl.
"Then as I got closer I could hear crying and the angry voice of my father. Rose's door was slightly open and I peered in around the doorframe. Jerry had Rose pinned to the bed, her shirt was open, her skirt was torn down the middle and his pants were down. She was crying her eyes out and I could see her struggle against him as she tried to get away from him. Jerry was too strong and her efforts were of no use.
"He kept muttering things to her. I remember him saying something like '…that bitch of a mother you had is gone and so is your pathetic twin ….' It angered me to no end. I saw red as I pushed the door open. It creaked and Jerry's head whipped around to face me. That momentary distraction was enough for Rose to hit him hard in the gut and scamper away from him. She ran to me, her skirt falling off. I told her to go call the police and check on mom. She ran down the hall to our parents' room and I focused all my attention on the monster that was in front of me.
"He laughed, some sinister-evil laugh, and stood straight up to his full height. He had to be at least six-two and I was somewhere around five-seven. I was tall for my age, but it was enough for me. He threatened to kill me if I ever said a word. He called my mother and Rose names I'd rather not repeat.
"My rage only grew with every word he spoke. After all this time he was the one that was doing this to my mother, my sister, my family. I pulled the knife I'd still been concealing behind my back in front of me and pointed it at him. Jerry laughed again and then pulled a gun from behind him. I had no clue where he'd gotten it from and I didn't care so long as he didn't hurt my family again.
"He said he'd kill me before I could even get a step closer to him. But that wasn't the case. He didn't know that I was a fast runner. I had agility that wasn't really normal for a kid in junior high. He knew nothing. He pointed the gun at me and cocked it. I charged at him and he got a shot off in my shoulder, but not before I stabbed him through the heart."
Jasper opened his button down a little and pulled it open to show me the scar of where the bullet wound was on his left shoulder.
"He dropped to the floor slowly and I could faintly hear sirens outside the house. I gripped my shoulder for a moment, only just realizing the pain, and made my way to mom and Rose. Everything was a blur until we got the hospital and were all checked out. It turned out that my mother was unconscious when I found her. She had a bit of head trauma and a broken arm and leg along with a few broken ribs. She had been lucky.
"Rose wasn't raped, but it was too close for comfort. She had a few bruises here and there, but she had it better than I did. They had to surgically remove the bullet and I was stuck in a brace for a few weeks. Child services tried to come and take us away from Clair, but she wasn't having it and neither were we. Somehow we got to stay with her. We helped nurse her back to health in the three months she spent in the hospital. Our school sent the work we had to do to her room and wished us well. The hospital worked everything out with accommodations and food and such.
"She sold the house and everything in it; she didn't to want have to go back when she was released and we moved back here instead. She wrote a book on what happened and it was a national bestseller. She called it A Broken but Repaired Family. Later on, we found out that she had a separate bank account with a shitload of money in it and that's how she's able to pay for our tuition here, buy a new house and everything. But that doesn't even include the revenue she makes from her book. I think she's coming out with a new one soon, though."
"And Jerry's dead. I wasn't arrested or charged because, obviously, it was self-defense, seeing as how he shot me and all else; but I have a feeling that whether or not he was armed I probably would've stabbed him anyway."
He stopped talking and took a deep breath. I felt I was close to tears. He told the whole story as if it had happened just only yesterday. I felt guilty again for coming into their lives and bringing back those awful memories. I felt guilty for just being here and listening to him have to tell me the story because I didn't know what the hell was going on.
And Rosalie; when I told her my story she sat and consoled me just like Alice had, like Esme had. And I did thank her for that. I had to. The Cullens and the Hales were the only ones close enough to me where I felt comfortable enough to tell them anything without being afraid. Afraid of Charlie's…er…Mark's, or whoever's wrath was placed upon my head.
But she hadn't said a word to me about hers.
Everyone knew …except me.
Again, I felt like an outsider.
Like I didn't belong.
But I bit that feeling back because I knew, now, that they were as involved in this as I was. Even though I never intended to get them in any trouble, they were still a part of it.
And the funny thing about it was that I was glad. I was comforted that they were involved. I was glad they didn't blame me. I was glad they stood up for me when I was scared shitless and needed them the most. It may seem sinister and wrong and stupid to think this way, but I didn't care.
Because I had people behind me, for me; I wasn't alone any more. I didn't have to be alone any more.
Edward kissed my neck and I shifted in his lap. That snapped me back into reality. I looked back at Jasper's face and he seemed to be more relaxed after having told his and Rosalie's story than when he was before he started it. He looked at peace (for lack of better word).
Then I remembered something about Rose. I was hesitant to ask him at first, but he nodded at me, telling me to ask what I wanted.
"Why does she only talk to Emmett, now?"
"Emmett was the first guy she met that looked at her with admiration and not as a piece of meat. He treated her like a friend instead of just another girl that was hot and very 'bed-able'." He chuckled at the terminology. "When we first started going here, Emmett was our first friend, mainly because I share a room with him and have since then. All the guys, well the majority, preyed after Rose. When we were in junior high she practically lived off the attention, but now it's not so much.
"She met Emmett and couldn't keep her eyes off him. They were friends at first. Rose didn't want to be too close to him in case he tried to hurt her. But after a few months she loosened up and they spent more time around each other. He was the shoulder she could cry on when she needed to, someone she could talk to, outside of me of course, and he was just there for her.
"Emmett actually came to me and asked if he could take her out. He knew how I felt about her being around a lot of guys and things like that. I knew she'd told him about what happened, with the way he kept talking about her and how she felt sometimes.
"They came back after their date one Friday night and have been together ever since. It has lifted a weight off of me, for her to have someone else to lean on and take care of her. Not that I minded doing it, but it was tiring. I have my own issues to deal with. I was glad for both of them. She only talks to Emmett because she feels he's the only one that completely understands her, well besides me of course, but that's a different story.
"She knows she can tell him anything and everything and they're both comfortable with it."
Well that made plenty of sense. It's sort of the same with Edward and me, though I probably can't keep anything from Alice. She's just…tricky (for lack of better term), that way.
We settled in a long silence after that. It seemed that we had more questions than answers because of all the new found information. But for the time being, some things didn't seem so confusing to me anymore. I didn't feel responsible for Rose's quietness or the pain they had lived through.
Alice came back and crawled into Jazz's lap. He kissed her forehead. She let out a sigh and rested her head in his neck. Jasper's voice startled me a moment later.
"I'm protective of you three because I couldn't stand to see any of you hurt. For Rose has been hurt enough, Alice is too…innocent to be hurt and even though I've just met you, Bella, you are too important to Edward, too important to this family, to be hurt any more than you already have. I would never wish death upon someone, but after all the years of abuse Charlie had put you and your mother through…" He shook his head. "..I'm with Edward for as long as this goes on." He vowed.
"The same goes for me," Emmett said. He came from down the hallway with Rose right behind him.
"Me, as well," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Bella."
I rapidly shook my head. "No, no, Rose. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I'm not responsible for your quietness and pain." I said voicing my thoughts.
She smiled at me. I leaned forward, hugging her and thanking her for not holding me and my problems responsible for causing her any more pain than she needed. When she pulled back I saw she and Jasper share a long look and then she turned to Emmett. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow." They left.
"Well it seems everyone's tired." Jasper chuckled.
I turned and saw him look down at Alice as she was softly snoring in his embrace.
I smiled.
I moved to stand, but I my legs had fallen asleep and I was too close for comfort, almost hitting the floor when Edward caught me by the waist and pulled me back to him. He laughed quietly so as not to wake Alice.
"Your mind needs to be sleeping, not your legs." I turned slightly to glare at him, but he had placed an all too innocent look on his face and that only made me smile.
"Let's go," I said.
"See you later, Jazz," Edward said before we went back to his room.
We changed into our pajamas and crawled into bed. Edward held me tight against his chest. He stared into my eyes for a long time. We traced each other's faces. We kissed. We enjoyed each other's company, warmth, feelings, everything.
I remember whispering 'I love you' before drifting off into a dreamless sleep. I remember hearing Edward whisper it back and that left a smile on my face.
???POV
"You bastard! I told you not to let her get hurt too badly. You damn near let that boy rape her. I need her back alive, not dead and torn apart!" The slightly chubby man yelled at his accomplice.
"I'm sorry. I paid the guy's mother and she said he'd look out for her, but he got drunk at a birthday party she had and the rest is history." The short balding man muttered the last part, but the chubby man heard it anyway.
"History, my ass! She's the key. She's the only reason that other bitch is alive."
The balding man stayed silent.
"Who threw her that party?" Chubby asked.
"Some girls she befriended."
"What girls?"
"Um, the kid said something about some people named 'Cullen' and 'Hale', I don't know. He's been transferred to some Juvenile school for assaulting her again. He got a little ruffed up in the process."
The chubby man smirked. But the smirk soon disappeared when his thoughts went back to the Cullens and the Hales the balding man told him about. He wanted to know who these people were. He wanted to know how they were connected to the girl. He had to make sure she didn't tell anyone about the money or the problems he had in the past few years.
He grabbed a beer from a fridge in the kitchen of the balding man's house. He popped it open and walked to the couch in front of the T.V. to watch the basketball game that was coming on. The balding man did the same.
After a while the chubby man spoke.
"Just make sure she didn't say anything and the police don't find anything to put me under suspicion."
The balding man hesitated then spoke. "Well, they did look you up because of some form of vandalism that happened. I don't think they know anything, though."
The chubby man was slightly outraged, but he tried to control it at the last part that was said.
"Just make sure no one knows anything!"
"Y-yes, sir."
He turned back to the television and no more words were spoken that night.
Did you like? Yay? Nay? Tell me what you think. Review! I'd love to hit 600. And the review count to beat to keep Edward on the disclaimer is 57! I hope to have another chapter out by Christmas. Really soon. And you guys know the rules in reviewing.
R4L, peace!