ALICE

The second I mentioned that it was Kari coming up to see her in a few minutes, Kenzi's bloodshot, tear-filled eyes grew huge and I caught the ghost of that beautiful smile of hers. It was the first time in almost two years that I had seen anything remotely close to hope on that young and beautiful face. It felt good to know that I had done at least one thing right for her today.

"She's really coming up here?" she asked. The tone of her voice told me that she was trying very hard not to believe it.

"Yes, she's really coming up here." I told her. "Jasper said you wanted to see her. And I'm pretty sure that she's going crazy with worry over you."

The smile and hope stayed on her face for only a second or two more. Slowly, it faded into fear and confusion.

"But Edward won't like that very much." she stated after a couple more moments thought. "What if he catches her? She'll be punished for sure. I can't let that happen. She doesn't need anyone else hurting her."

"Relax, sweetie." I soothed pulling her back to my chest. "Didn't you hear Rose? She's got it all worked out. She has a distraction going on in the kitchen and as well as in Mike's bedroom. She even put three people outside to watch out for Edward. If he comes back, Rose will know with enough time to have Ben take Kari back to her room and make it look like she hasn't gone anywhere. Believe me; we wouldn't risk it, if we weren't positive that we wouldn't get caught. Besides, do you really think a stupid little thing like getting hurt would keep Kari from seeing you after what happened today?"

"Probably not." she muttered into my chest with a small giggle. "But that's what worries me the most."

"I know." I told her. "It worries me just as much."

I sighed then began running my fingers through her sweat matted hair. I'd have to wash it later and give her a gentle sponge bath.

Kenzi and I didn't say anything else to each other after that. I was sure that Kenzi was lost in thought over what was about to happen to her sister. While I honestly couldn't think of a damn thing to say. I knew nothing I said would make much difference, anyway.

Jasper and Bella had remained sitting silently in next to us on the bed. I was grateful that both of them knew exactly how much I needed this moment.

After only a minute or two though, Jasper placed a gentle hand on Kenzi's shoulder. She turned slowly and carefully, with my help toward him. He looked extremely solemn. It seemed like he was almost afraid to say what he had to say. I knew Jasper well enough, though, to know that he wouldn't let his fear stop him.

"Kenzi, I know the last few hours have been long and extremely painful for you. I'm sorry for that." he said slowly and carefully. "I am also sorry for what I have to ask you to do know. It is both unfair and cruel, but it is also necessary. And if there was some other way to do this, I would, but you're the only one who can help me right now."

From the look on her face, Kenzi was just as confused about what Jasper wanted from her as I was. She stared at him for a long moment, before she nodded for him to continue.

"I need you to tell me what Edward did to you or was going to do to you with that dagger." he said. "You don't have to tell us anything else about what happened today, at least, not until you're ready, but I do need to know what happened at the end."

Kenzi stared at him for a long moment, clearly terrified, and then she turned to look at me. I knew that look. It was the look she gave me whenever she was given an order that she didn't want to follow. It was the look that said, "Help me." The look that I couldn't ignore to save my life. Whenever she turned it on me, I'd do everything in my power to keep her from having to follow the order. Even if it meant fighting with Edward.

I gave her my I'll take care of it smile then turned to Jasper.

"Does she really have to talk about it now?" I asked him. "Can't she at least wait until she sees Kari and calms down a little more?"

"I wish we could wait." he replied and I could hear the sympathy in his voice. "I really do, but the sooner we do it, the better. It's still fresh in her mind, right now, but if we wait too long, she may begin to repress the memories and I need to know every last detail of what happened during those last ten minutes. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"And why exactly is it, so important?" I asked trying very hard to keep the protective mother at bay.

I knew Jasper well enough to know that he wasn't doing this because he wanted to hurt her. If he said it was important, then it was important. However, if I could keep Kenzi from having to go through anymore trauma because of what Edward did today, then I'd do it.

It was just hard to see the situation from both ends, when Kenzi was involved. Then again, I supposed that was true for every mother.

Jasper sighed, no doubt, at the conflicting feelings ruining wild through me. He knew how I felt about Kenzi and exactly how much I would do for her. He was trying to approach the situation with care, so as not to piss me off. Finally, he said,

"Okay, it's like this; as I said when you first got here, I was sitting outside the other room for most of the day and it was the most nerve racking day of my life, however, that's night the point. The point is, throughout the entire day, his emotions never changed, at least not until five minutes before he walked out the door."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean most of the day he was angry and irritated. Determined not only to get what he wanted, but to show Kenzi who her true master was. No matter how terrified or hurt Kenzi had been, his emotions never changed. Until then end, I'm not sure what happened but he started feeling extremely confused and angry, even a little compassionate. We need to know what made him feel like that. Which is why I need to know what happened, before then? If I can pinpoint what did it this time, we may just be able to save him."

I stared at Jasper for a long time unsure of how I felt. I knew that he was right, of course. It was important for us to find out exactly what happened, so we could have the hope of it, maybe happening again. However, the thought brought me back to the question of whether or not Edward deserved to be saved? Especially if it was at the expense of additional pain of one of his victims.

Then again, if we did save him, it would save his other victims more pain. It definitely still be a proactive action to save everyone, without having to destroy our brother.

As much as I wanted to protect Kenzi, I wanted to stop this craziness, before we had to resort to a war. Unfortunately, that meant Kenzi would have to do something that would extra traumatizing for her, but what else could we do? She was our only link to what was going on inside Edward's head.

Still not wanting to make her do this, but knowing it was the best thing for everyone I sighed and nodded at Jasper. Kenzi let out a small sob and buried her head back into my chest.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." I whispered. "But it's the best plan we've got right now."

She nodded into my chest, whispering that she understood, but it was another minute before she pulled herself away from me.

"First he tied me to the bed." She choked out in a quivering voice. "Then he straddled me and at first, I thought he was just going to rape me and forget about the dagger. I was wrong. He started making shallow, but painful cuts all over my breasts and stomach. I don't think that he was trying to hurt me too much, at least not with the knife. He spent most of that time taunting me." she stopped there and a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

I wiped the tears away with my thumbs.

"What do you mean taunting you?" Jasper pressed.

"He tried to convince me that Kari didn't care that I was being hurt. He tried to tell me that she resented me and wished I was the one who died instead of our mom." she finished.

"You didn't believe him, did you?" I asked worried that she might seriously think that her sister hated her.

"No." she answered as more tears trickled down her cheeks. "In fact, I called him a liar and spat in his face. He got pissed and hit me across the face with the dagger." She indicated the slash across her face. "He then told me that the game was over and I had lost. I didn't understand what he meant, but he started moving down my body until he was between my legs. He was going to put the dagger..."

She couldn't say anything else after that, she simply collapsed back onto my chest and started sobbing again. I wrapped my arms tightly, but gently around her back and tried to soothe her.

After a few moments, Jasper placed a hand on her back and tried to send her more calming thoughts. It didn't take long for us to calm her enough so she could look back at Jasper. He smiled at her sadly.

"You're doing so well." he whispered to her. "I'm so proud of you, but I need you to finish. Once you're done, I won't ask any more questions. I just need to know what he did between your legs. Where was he going to put the dagger?"

"He...he...he..." she tried but shook her head and buried it back in my chest.

"If you can tell me, can you show me?" Jasper asked softly and without a hint of irritation.

I was surprised at how well he was handling this. He usually doesn't have much patience for this kind of thing.

Kenzi nodded into my chest and pulled herself away from me. Slowly and carefully she moved her arm until her hand was resting in the area around her vagina. She left it there for only a couple seconds before she broke down again and buried herself back in my chest.

She didn't need to say anything more anyway. We all knew exactly what she was trying to say. Edward was going to rape her with that dagger. The thought made me wish more anything else that he was in the room right now. I'd tear him into tiny little pieces, starting with his balls. How dare he even think of attacking this sweet, beautiful, innocent little girl like that?

"I'll kill him." I said through gritted teeth. "I swear to God, Jasper, I'm gonna kill him." I realized that I had tightened my hold on Kenzi without even intending too. "How dare he even think about doing that to my little girl?!"

"Al, honey, relax." Jasper whispered placing his hand on my shoulder. "Believe me; I'm as upset as you are about it. Hell, we're all as upset as you are about it, but the fact that he thought about doing isn't the important thing. The important thing is that he didn't do it, and we need to figure out why."

He was right. Yes, Edward deserved to burn in hell for even having thoughts like that, but seeing as he wasn't around for anyone to send to hell, I'd just have to settle with trying to figure out what stopped him. Maybe, that was the key to saving him.

"Right." I said. "Sorry. So what do you think it was?"

"I don't know." Jasper answered and placed a hand on Kenzi's shoulder again. "Kenzi, I'm sorry, but I need to ask you just one more question, then we'll be done for the night. What were you thinking about when he was about to do that?"

"I don't know." Kenzi shook her head. "Everything was a jumbled mess. I was terrified that I wasn't going to live through this. Or worse, end up so mutilated that I wouldn't be able to have children, that is, if this ever ended. Hell, I considered for a second telling him what he wanted to hear just so he wouldn't do it. But then once I considered that, all I could do was remember the times that Kari went through the worst kind of pain just to protect me. She almost died on many occasions for me and possibly taken so many blows to the abdomen the she might not be able to have children. I realized to that Kari would want me to speak up, just so that I wouldn't have to endure that kind of torture. But even knowing that I couldn't give in, no matter what. I knew it in my heart."

"And what did Edward do when you were thinking about all of this?"

"He froze. I was prepared for him to enter me, but he didn't. He just stopped and didn't do anything." Kenzi answered sounding like she was still shocked by the reaction. "I thought for a minute that he was just playing with me or something, but after a minute, he growled and walked out slamming the door behind him. And a few minutes later you came in."

Kenzi finished and buried her head back in my chest. She was still sobbing, even though; she had long since run out of tears. I felt horrible about what we had just done. She barely had time to get over it the first time and here we were prying her for details. I decided then that any more questions from Jasper could wait until tomorrow at least. She needed to spend some time with her sister, and then get the stink of the horrible day washed off of her. She'd also need to rest awhile. It was only after all of that; I would allow Jasper to question her anymore about what happened today.

Jasper nodded as if something he had suspected had just been confirmed.

"What do you think it means?" Rose asked, before I had the chance.

"I can't be sure but I think it means either Kari or her relationship with Kenzi is getting to him. Something about her and her ability to love and show compassion, after everything that has happened to her is reaching down and pulling out emotions that his long since buried."

"So what does that mean for us?" Bella asked, but before Jasper could answer, her phone buzzed, telling her that she'd just received a text.

She pulled it out and read the message and typed a reply, then slipped it back in her pocket, all within a second.

"Ben's on the fourth floor." she told us. "I told him that we switched rooms since the last time he talked to Rose. He should be here any second."

The sentence had barely left her lips when the door creaked opened and Ben walked in carrying Kari, bridal style, in his arms. She looked almost as bad as Kenzi did, probably worse, seeing as she was the one covered in bandages.

She had eyes only for her little sister as Ben put her on the floor. She wobbled, a little, no doubt from the shock of seeing her sister like this. Ben helped her steady herself as she continued to stare at Kenzi in shock and fear.

I looked down at Kenzi to see if she had noticed Kari's entrance, but her head was still buried in my chest as she continued to sob.

"Kenzi, sweetie," I whispered shaking her shoulder gently, "There's someone here to see you."

KARI

I wasn't sure what I had been expecting when Ben carried me into that room, but it certainly wasn't what I saw.

Alice had a sobbing Kenzi cradled in her arms. Kenzi's head was buried in Alice's chest and her arms were wrapped tightly around her neck. Jasper, Bella, and Rosalie were crowded around the bed. They all looked like they had been trying to comfort her, and despite the anxiety that I was feeling, I felt a small amount of calm settle over me the moment I stepped into the room. I suspected it was the after effects of Jasper trying to help Kenzi.

I knew that I should've felt some discomfort or mistrust at the idea of Jasper being that close to Kenzi, after everything that had happened in the past few days, even if he has changed his mind about things, but all I cared about at the moment was the fact that he was trying his hardest to help Kenzi. I could tell, though, that it wasn't working very well.

Ben placed me on the floor the second I caught a glimpse of Kenzi arms and shoulders. There were deep, dark bruises all up and down her arms and, even if I couldn't see under the cami she was wearing, I could tell they went all the way down her back. I gulped unsure whether or not I was glad that I couldn't see the worst of it.

I still couldn't get over the fact that Edward would sink this low to get to me. It was so sickening that it made me weak in the knees to even think about what the rest of her looked like. My knees shook underneath me and I probably would've fallen to the floor, if Ben hadn't been standing right behind me. He put his arms around my waist to steady me.

Kenzi was too lost in her own pain that she had yet to notice my presence. That was understandable, but I wasn't sure what I should do now. I wanted to run to her and rip her out of Alice's arms and hold her like I had done so many times in the four years after our mother died, but I couldn't do that to Alice.

It had been obvious that Alice felt some pretty deeply for Kenzi after spending only five minutes with the two of them. It was almost like a mother/daughter relationship and as jealous as I was to see someone else doing my job, I could understand exactly why they felt that way. Alice had spent the last three years doing the job that I couldn't for Kenzi. Alice had taken care of her like a mother would take care of daughter.

That's why I suddenly felt like I was invaded on a private moment or something. It was so much so, that I almost turned to Ben to tell him to take me back to Edward's room, because Kenzi was in good hands. Then Alice spoke,

"Kenzi, sweetie." she whispered and shook Kenzi gently. "There someone here to see you."

Kenzi pushed herself off of Alice's chest. I could tell by her whimpers and flinches that it was a long and painful process for her, but somehow she managed to get all the way up and turned around to face me.

The minute her eyes fell on me a smile spread across her face. It wasn't a happy smile, nor did it reach her eyes, but I knew her well enough to understand the message. She was glad that I was able to come and that was all that mattered.

I stood just looking at her for a long moment. I noticed, now that she was face me, that she had a long and deep cut across the same side of her face as I did. I wondered to myself if Edward did that on person or if it just happened that way. Of course, that stupid idle thought was pushed away by the memory of why I was here, staring at me injured sister in the first place.

Without any memory of telling them to do so, my legs took off and, within a few seconds, I had closed the distance between Kenzi and me. I was so happy to see her alive and semi-well, that I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly to me.

"OW!" she cried and I immediately jumped away from her.

"Oh my God, Kenz." I said tears filling my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was holding that tight."

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself from the shock of the pain as Alice ran her cold hands gently over the wounds, trying to soothe them. I looked down at the floor, feeling horrible. I hadn't even been in the room for more than ten minutes and I was already hurting her more. Maybe it would've been better if I had just left.

I made to move away from the bed, when Kenzi hand touched my shoulder. I looked back up at her. She had tears in her eyes again, but I wasn't completely sure if they were all tears of pain.

"Hey," she told me. "It's okay. I know that you're relieved to know that I'm alright and how you tend to get overexcited about things. It wouldn't have hurt that bad, but I wasn't expecting it. Besides, the pain will eventually go away, but the feeling of having my big sister hug me, will be there forever."

I smiled at her and she smiled back. Once again, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but it didn't matter, because it was her way of telling that she was okay. Or as okay as she could be under the circumstances.

I knelt on the floor just taking her in for a few minutes. Physically she looked a lot worse than she had the last time I saw her three days ago, but there was something about the way she held herself, even with the messed up back, that told me she was proud of what she had done. That she was strong enough to handle this. I couldn't help but smile, because somewhere inside me, I knew that was true.

A movement from behind Kenzi reminded me that we weren't alone. I tore my gaze away from her to see Alice moving swiftly and gracefully out of her position on the bed. I was amazed to see that she managed to get off of the bed without jostling Kenzi once. I stood as well, so that I was able to speak on the same level as Alice.

"Thank you." I said holding out my head to show my gratitude. "For taking care of her and making this possible."

Alice smiled and shook my head, but waved off the thank you.

"It's what I'm here for." she told me. "Besides, Kenzi has come to mean as much to me as she does to you."

"And for that I will always be grateful."

Alice smiled and pulled me into an embrace. I, of course, embraced her as well, but allowed a few tears to fall. We stayed like that for a few moments before Alice pulled away.

"We're going to step outside to give you two some privacy." she told me. "Rose has people keeping an eye out for any sign of Edward coming home. When she hears something, I'll send Ben in to take you back."

"Right." I said. "Thank you again."

She just smiled, patted my shoulder and followed the others out the door.

I took Jasper position, next to Kenzi, on the bed. She slowly and carefully scooted herself over to sit next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. I draped my arm gingerly over her shoulder and began running my fingers through her dirty and matted hair.

We were both silent for a long time. I knew I should've said something. I mean, it was my fault that she was in this position in the first place. If Edward hadn't wanted to get to me, he would've never found a loophole in his own rules so that he could hurt Kenzi. And he definitely wouldn't have spent the last four hours trying to get information from her.

I wanted to tell her how sorry I was that all of this had happened because of me, but I couldn't get the words out. Or rather, there weren't enough words on the planet to make up for this. There were no words to make it all go away, or to even take away the pain that she was feeling now. So instead, I just sat there, hoping my presence was apology enough.

Kenzi was the one who broke the silence and I was completely caught off guard by her words.

"I'm sorry." she whispered and I could tell that she was trying not to cry.

"What on earth to have to be sorry for sweetie?" I asked. "This one's all on me."

"I'm sorry that daddy blamed you for mommy's death and I'm sorry that he hurt you. I'm sorry that you had to spend all those years taking care of and protecting me, when you should've been taking care of and protecting yourself. I'm sorry that I couldn't be as strong as you were. I...I..."

She faltered and I could hear her attempts to stem the sobs.

"Stop." I said unable to believe that she was putting all of that blame on herself. She knew that I didn't blame her for anything that happened after mom died. "Where's all this coming from?"

"E-e-e-Edward," she stuttered out the name. "Told me that you thought hated me because of what happened after mommy died. He said that you resented me because you had to protect me from the things dad did all the time. He even said that you wished I had died instead of mommy."

This time she couldn't stop the sobs when she finished answering the question. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to control the rage that was now coursing through my body. I couldn't believe Edward would sink that low. It wasn't bad enough that he was hurting Kenzi to get what he wanted, but he had to lie to her too. He had to make her think that I didn't love her, just to get the answers he wanted.

I shook my head and freed myself from the anger by reminding myself that I had a little sister to take care of. I'd deal with Edward later.

As carefully as I could, I made Kenzi turn her head to look at me, and then I grabbed her face between my hands and wiped her tears away with my thumbs.

"Listen to me very carefully Kenz." I told her. "Edward is a lying bastard who just wanted to find a way to hurt me. Something, I'm sure, he'd do anything to get out of you. Even tell you that I didn't care about you. But I assure you, nothing that asshole said today was true. Do you understand me? I love you more anything or anyone else in the world. You are the only reason I'm still alive, baby. If it wasn't for you, I would've taken my own life a long time ago. I don't blame you for anything that happened after mom died. It wasn't your fault that father did what he did to me. And there was nothing you could've done to stop it, no matter how strong you were. I know that and you have to know it too. It is not your fault at all, and it never has been. Please, don't let Edward make you think that."

She nodded tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Besides, it's me who should be sorry. Not you." I continued. "If I had just listened to Edward better and given him what he wanted, none of this would've ever happened. I honestly didn't consider all the things he could possibly do to punish me. The biggest being you. I had no idea that he would go that far and now that I know, I won't let happen again. I swear."

"I know, you won't." she whispered. "But Kari, if for some reason he does, it wouldn't be your fault either. It wasn't even your fault this time really. Edward's a very messed up creature and I doubt anything you could've done would've stopped him from doing this. He would've eventually realized that he could get to one sister by using the other. It was only a matter of time. And I just want to tell you that I'd much rather go through everything that happened today a million times over, than give that psycho more ammo to hurt you with."

"I can see that." I said rubbing my hands up and down her black and blue arms. "And while I am glad that you didn't say anything, don't ever do it again."

"That isn't gonna happen." she answered defiantly. "I will not betray you like that, Kari, no matter what he does to me. And you can't expect me to do it."

"To hell I can't." I told her. "I'm the big sister, remember. It's my job to protect you, not the other way around."

I used the line that I had been using with her ever since father started hurting me. Whenever she would get upset because I wouldn't let her take some of the burden off of me, I would simply remind her who was who.

"Kari, I'm not eight years old anymore and I'm definitely not oblivious to things you tried so hard to protect me from. I know what these people are like and I know what I'm getting myself into. Besides, we're sisters, there's no big or little about it anymore. We're just sisters, which means that we take care of each other. Not just one of us, taking care of the other. It's both of us taking care of the other. Especially now, Kari, you need me to protect you as much as I need you to protect me. Which is why, I can't do is ask. I refuse."

I sighed knowing there was no arguing with her. She was going to do what she had to do to protect me, whether or not, I wanted her to. There was really nothing I could do, but accept that answer. As much as it pained me to do so. Besides, she was right. We were sisters and she wasn't eight years old anymore. She didn't need to be protected the way she did back then. But, we both knew that in the future we'd need each other more than anything else in the world.

"Fine." I told her. "You win, but don't say I didn't warn you."

She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. I knew she was feeling pretty smug at having one of her very few victories over me, but I let her have her moment. Like I said, it didn't happen very often. We were both quiet for a long time as we thought about what was to come.

"I love you, Kar-Kar." Kenzi whispered and then let out a huge yawn.

"I love you too, Kenz." I said smiling. "Now, rest, sweetheart. Things will be better in the morning."

"You always say that." she whispered snuggling deeper into my shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll I'm hoping it might one day be true."