this is my first fanfic and i am open to any type of critic. Please let me know what you think
-hali- Disclaimer; i wish i could say i own twilight and the characters but i am not lucky enough to be the genius that stephenie meyer is and because of that i give all credit to her...
no copy right infringement intended.

Chapter 37- Trial and Error

I groaned at the outfit laid out on the bed. It wasn't bad enough that I would be in the same room with James today, but Alice of all people had decided on another form of torture. I heard Edward come out of the bathroom behind me and I ignored him.
-"Aren't you going to get dressed?" He asked from his side of the bed.
-"No."
-"Why not? I thought we talked about this, and you were ready to do this?"
-"I'll never be ready. But no that's not it. I don't want to upset Alice."
-"How would you upset her?" I could hear his footsteps coming over to the closet. I didn't say anything, just pointed. He chuckled and I could envision him shaking his head behind me, slipping his fingers onto my hips. I knew standing here in my underwear probably wasn't the best idea in Edward's presence, but today he was all comfort. He pulled me into him, nuzzling his cheek in my hair.
-"I'll pick you out something more appropriate. Pants I assume?" I smiled as I leaned back on his chest.
-"But Alice..."
-"Oh I'll deal with her. Pants?"
-"Yes please." He slid around, still holding my hips to face me. He gave me a kiss and I just giggled when he moved into the closet.
-"Nice towel." I wasn't going to admit fully I was ogling his chiseled abs. He glanced back at me with an evil smile.
-"I figured since you were so dressed down that this would be okay. I can take it off if it is a problem." I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. "You know you'd like it."
-"Edward, we have to be at court in three hours!" I didn't want to go to court, and what he was offering seemed tempting, but I knew he'd keep to the promise. He'd kept it since the day after the proposal. He handed me a pair of pinstriped pants and a white blouse. I slipped on the pants and reached for a white tank top. Edward went to the dresser and began to dress. I turned my thoughts on everything I'd been told would happen today.
Felix had been very direct on the order of things. I would wait in the hall with Edward until everything had been settled and James was in place. I would be escorted in by two guards and sworn in. I would say what I had to say and then I would be escorted outside with the same two guards while Edward testified. If anything happened there would be a private car waiting for me outside that I was to be in immediately. It would take me somewhere and I'd be kept safe until whatever was going on was taken care of. All of it didn't feel right though, like something was bound to happen, and James would get me again. I felt the shiver run through my body. Edward was sitting in front of me, watching my face with an odd expression. I tried a weak smile.
-"Ready?" my voice was weak too apparently.
-"Are you?"
-"Not in the least. Let's get this done so I can marry you and put this behind us." I let myself sigh. I was ready to go years ago. His hand covered mine as he pulled me up into him. He held on tightly to me for a moment before letting me pull away.
-"We'll go home as soon as it's all over. The wedding will take be as soon as we get the chance. Bella I won't allow us to be apart anymore."
-"I know." And I knew it, and it comforted me. We walked down to the lobby where a car was waiting for us. Alice was waiting at the desk and rushed over to us. She stopped and glared at me.
-"That is not what I had laid out for you Isabella!"
-"Alice, that wasn't really appropriate!" Edward's voice was stern, I couldn't recall ever hearing it that way and Alice's face fell into a pout. I felt bad and almost made the move to go change, but Edward stiffened his arm.
-"Kempton will be in court with us today Alice, do you really think she should not be comfortable, and modest?" Her mouth formed an 'O' and her eyes clouded in surprise.
-"I didn't know, I'm sorry. Bella that outfit is very cute." Edward nodded his approval to her and led me out to the car.
-"Everything is going to be okay Bella. Promise." All I could think was my mother scolding me, her voice ringing 'don't make a promise, you have no power of keeping.' Another chill ran down my spine. I felt ominous, but Edward's arm was around my shoulders and I checked to make sure my charm bracelet was securely fastened. The marble building appeared all to quickly and I took a deep breath. The press was all waiting outside as I slide out of the car. Felix waited at the doors, leaving me to fend for myself. I saw Margaret waiting and I sighed. Maybe I could give her another exclusive. Edward kept his arm around me as photos flashed and we pushed through the crowd. I smiled at Margaret and Edward nodded. I stopped for a second in front of her and heard the groan of the others. She beamed.
-"Miss Swan, what are your feelings on today?"
-"Scared."
-"What will you do if Kempton is released for lack of evidence?"
-"If I told you, I'd be held accountable later." I thought of something and turned towards the rest of the press.
-"For those of you who know anything about his killings or of what I went through, I'm sorry. But you have no idea of what this man is capable of. I spent two months with that man, and I think I only breached the shallow end of what he was capable of. I want to go home; I want to put this behind me. I refuse to live in fear, but if he is let go today, I will disappear. Stay out of his way, he is dangerous and may god help any of the women he loves." I looked up at Edward and he nodded, but when I turned to go he stayed.
-"James Kempton took away two people I cared about very dearly, and hurt so many loved ones of others'. If he is let free today, there is something terrible wrong with the world today." He led me away quickly.

Felix left us in the hall way while he went in to set things up. I fiddled with my charm bracelet again as Edward played with my hair. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as the doors opened to the room.
-"Miss Swan, they are ready for you." But was I ready for them. I looked up at the guard feeling my bambi expression on my face. He gave a week smile and led us in. Edward took a seat in the last row as the guard took me to the stand. I was very conscious of every eye on me, and I could feel the last ones stalking me, studying everything about me as we reached the stand. The guard swore me in and helped me sit down. I fought the urge to look at James, but I knew he was there, I could feel the disgusting slimy eyes parading over my face. I looked up at Felix to begin.
-"Now Miss Swan, if you need a moment or things get to upsetting, we can stop at any time." I nodded. "Miss Swan, how many months were you held captive?"
-"They say I was missing two."
-"They say?" He raised a brow, my answer wasn't fully what he'd been expecting.
-"I wasn't in a position to consciously know how long I was… I was gone." I stumbled over my words, feeling my throat close as memories were starting to come back. I looked at Edward, my chest heaving slightly, and he smiled at me encouragingly. I didn't want to say this in front of him; I didn't need him to hear.

EPOV

I knew she had wanted me to stay outside during this, but I didn't want her out of my sight in a room he was in. Plus I honestly wanted to know. She hadn't talked about it to anyone but Felix and an officer, all I knew were the extents of the wounds treated while at the hospital. Felix nodded to a guard and he placed a glass of water in front of Bella. She reached out, but her fingers only played with it.
-"Miss Swan, can you recall the night you were taken?"
-"A little."
-"Can you explain any of it?" She looked at him, her eyes large. She gulped and took a drink.
-"I… I was at a wedding I had planned, everything was going well and I had decided to take a walk. There is a maze garden and it was a cool night, clear skied. I headed for the main fountain. When I got there, he was there."
-"He?"
-"James Kempton."
-"continue please."
-"James was there, and I could feel something was wrong, the way he was talking about a girl at the wedding party, I felt something was off. I bent down to take off my shoes, make it easier to run if I needed to, and he was there, right in front of me. Next thing, I was waking up on a metal table."
-"What happened next?"
-"Um, that night I think he just talked to me. He didn't have time do anything."
-"And the first time he did something?"
-"I don't know how long I'd been there. He'd mostly just come to check on me I guess. It was sometime after the baby was born. He came to see me, but this time he'd brought things." She was shaking, as she starred at the glass and her lips spilled out the horrors she'd experienced, all I could do was sit and listen.
"This one night, it was after dinner, he came into the room. I was stiff, Mike had tried to keep me numb but my body was bruising from all the abuse. That night I actually wanted to just die and have it done with. The first cut he made," she closed her eyes, and I could tell she was reliving it. "was through my stomach. He stuck his finger in and while he made an incision on my leg he wiggled a finger inside me. The entire time talking about my friends, telling me they were worried and that Jacob had moved onto his original blonde. I could feel it all. He slid his other hand up under the skin under my leg and started moving it down, letting the skin just…" She stopped talking, and put a hand to her mouth. Felix approached her, putting a resting hand on her shoulder and whispered to her quietly. He stepped back and went back to some papers he had on his desk. He cleared his throat and I could sense the tension in the room. James just sat there smiling at her, his lips twisted up in a nasty turn over his teeth. I felt my stomach churn and I focused back on Bella.
-"Miss Swan, that night was followed by many others?"
-"yea, yes." Her eyes fluttered open and they met mine. I mouthed 'I love you' and she moved her eyes away quickly. She looked a little more upset then before.
-"Miss Swan, what happened when you tried to escape?"
-"I called my friend Alice."
-"Did you tell her where you were?"
-"No I didn't even know. I could hear him in the house, I knew I wouldn't make it out."
-"You thought you were going to die?"
-"Yes."
-"And then what?"
-"He found me. I don't remember what all happened, just that when I woke up I could hear people, I was back in the room again and Mike was there. But Edward, Aro and Rachel were in the kitchen. I tried to scream but Mike had to stop me. When they were gone, James took me to a room with mirrors. He slammed me into one when I heard the door open and I started screaming. I lost consciousness, when I woke up, I was in the hospital."
-"Thank you, I'm finished." Felix sat down and Kempton's lawyer stood up.
-"Miss Swan, how did you know Mr. Kempton?"
-"Through my employer, his father."
-"So you knew of his reputation?"
-"I'd been told."
-"So how do we know that you aren't making this all up?"
-"Why would I lie about something like this?" Bella's lip trembled.
-"Vengence? A lover's quarrel?"
-"I thank god I never had anything intimate with that monster!" She was shaking.
-"None of the tapes show any of the things you have just described for this jury. In fact none of the recordings have Mr. Kempton on them at all correct?"
-"Would you tape your crimes to be used against you?"
-" Is that a No Miss Swan?"
-"No he is not on the tapes."
-"The only man on these tapes is Michael Newton. Correct?"
-"From what I've seen."
-"So would it be fair to say that with the recorded tapes showing battles between you two that Newton is to be at blame for what happened? That you possible mistook Newton and replaced him with Kempton?"
-"No, Mike helped me. He faked the fights for those camera's."
-"Then why is there no evidence of Mr. Kempton's envolvement. Other then word of mouth Miss Swan?"
-"My bruises on my neck matched his hands. I was found in his home, where the room I was kept in was found. He was watching me die when I was found. Hell I did die for some odd minutes. Don't tell me I'm crazy and I imagined everything I went through. You want proof it was him? Ask him when you are alone with him, ask him if he is proud of it. Of this?" She lifted her shirt a little, the white scar puckered over her belly button. "I have more, but I doubt stripping naked for this court would do anything for my sanity. I have nightmares still, I lay in a cold sweat and if I wake up in the dark, I panic. I don't need you to believe me sir, I know what he did, what he is capable of. I don't need you to tell me what happened. I know what I'm throwing up for every night. I know why I shudder away from any touch. I know what it feels like to have him inside me, twisting his fingers around in me, you want proof? Give him your wife or your daughter, and see if she ever comes back." Bella sat back down, her entire body was convulsing. That's when his laughter filled the room and her head jerked up to meet his eyes. It echoed in the room as he just watched her. She stood up, and the guard supported her. Her eyes never left his and I could see the terror in them. I stood up, but before I could get halfway up the aisle, Bella turned towards the nearest trash receptacle and vomited.

They escorted her out of the room, and I got up to give my testimony. It was the cross examination that got me.
-"Mr. Cullen, is it true that Mr. Kempton has a love child with an ex-girlfriend of yours?"
-"Yes"
-"So the possibility of him and Bella being together would anger you quite a bit?"
-"If it was a plausible thought yes. But Bella expressed distain from the first meeting. If I recall correctly, he gave her the creeps."
-"Interesting. So when you showed up with Rachel to tell him about the child, you weren't looking for Bella?"
-"I was looking for her. She had gotten a hold of my sister and Jacob, and we had all received letters naming Rachel specifically. Rachel was our only link to Jacob."
-" You didn't think it was her way of saying she was like Rachel?"
-"I know it wasn't."
-"So when Mr. Kempton believes that he had discovered a distraught Bella at the wedding and he took her home to comfort her from a heart break, and it became more, that would be incorrect." Anger swelled in my chest.
-"Totally absurd."
-"When Mr. Kempton discovered that his servant and her were having an affair, and then she found out Rachel had made contact, they had a fight. He does admit to hitting her, harder then he thought, and she cracked her head on a mirror. You find it impossible, that when you entered he was checking to make sure she was okay, before he left to get help?"
-"If that included saying he was going to watch her die, then I believe that would be possible. OR if it included her telling me she loved me in front of him, or the fact I had heard her screaming for help when we first told him about Jamie. Or the fact that none of those tapes you included mentioned…" a guard burst in, in his boxers panting harshly.
-"Miss Swan, she has vanished. I don't know what happened, I let her go into the restroom, next I woke up like this in a storage closet!" The room buzzed in flurry and Felix was swearing up a storm. My eyes looked straight into James', and his laughter boomed over all the noise. My stomach plummeted. Not again.

BPOV

The officer who was leading me out was extremely nice. We sat on the same bench as I had sat on with Edward. I still felt ill and clammy.
-"Officer, is there any way I could use the facility?" I felt shy for some reason but he smiled at me gently, allowing a nod. We walked quickly, because he didn't want to be away from his post for to long. I washed my hands and face when a new officer burst in.
-"Miss Swan, an alarm has been sounded and I am to escort you out of here immediately." I didn't recognize this man, but my bad feeling was back. I followed him anyways, thinking maybe it was because of the alarm my stomach was turning. He held a door open for me, and I slid in carefully. He shut it quickly, not getting in with me. That wasn't right. The car lurched forward and I looked up at the driver. All I saw was red. The red of a new hell. I looked at my charm bracelet, kissing the blue beads in the eyes and praying. I looked up and my eyes met the fury of green starring back at me.
-"Hello Victoria." Her lips pulled back into a smile, the smile I knew would be my death. I smiled back, faintly. I would walk away from this. I was strong, I hoped.

-sorry it took me a while. i've been super busy and im still sick. i didnt get the oppertunity to re read this all so sorry bout that too. Any errors i will try and go through and fix. Lemme know what you think and as always thanks for reading.-

-Hali-