Trying to keep my promises. Here's another update. This one has some emotional, possibly triggering scenes so you've been warned. FYI, the author cried while writing this one.

**Copyright disclaimer- Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognizable characters.**

Chapter 23

Bella

It took Jacob a while to stop shaking. At first, he considered going for a run, but Bella shouldn't be left alone. She'd already seen everything and was suffering with the images. She was confused. She had to be. Maybe some of these so-called visions were mingled with dreams and nightmares. He couldn't figure it out. If his mother was murdered, then that meant most of his childhood was built on lies. It wasn't a little white lie that some parents told their kids when they're too young to comprehend the truth. This was the type of lie that ripped apart one's soul when the truth was revealed. Jacob trusted Bella, but he didn't want to believe what she'd just said.

"It's okay, Bells. You need to tell me the rest. I'm ready. That's why I've been dreaming about her, but I didn't realize it was her at first. I was afraid and kept running away in my dreams, petrified to tell you before that letter came."

She nodded. "I'm sure you were. If you'd told me about the dreams at any point, I would've assumed the absolute worse. I mean, I did until Old Quil set me straight and confirmed you don't have a mysterious imprint out there." Jacob explained he was so afraid the dream woman was a threat to them. Bella added she thought he was seeing Sarah for closure. "Maybe you've never truly had it since you didn't have the whole truth. What worries me is you might never be able to move past it after I tell you this. This could be a major setback for both of us."

"Just like you still don't have closure over what happened on the island. We've come so far but not far enough. But here we are. We're surviving, Bells and we will continue just the same even after I know what happened that day."

Bella rested her forehead against Jacob's. "Stay with me. This is the last time I want to go back. From here on out, I only want to look ahead."

He wrapped his strong arms around, tilted her head upward, and placed a kiss on her right cheek.

Jacob and Bella were in the backseat, but only for a minute. The rest of the scenes played out so fast, he struggled to understand what he was seeing. There was a smashed car on the side of the road and lots of screaming, but it wasn't them. Sarah didn't crash. They came to a halt across the road from Renee's car. From the marks on the pavement, it looked like she'd spun in circles before careening into a tree. His mom told the kids to stay in the car.

"Mom! Is she okay? Oh no, look at her car, Jake. It's all smashed."

Renee's car was totaled, the horn blared, and there was no movement coming from inside the car. Sarah crossed the road to check on Bella's mom. The whole time she was gone, Bella screamed and cried. She kept trying to leave, but Jacob held onto her arm. "Don't, Bells. Mom said for us to wait."

Minutes passed before Sarah came back. "Listen to me. Rene's unconscious, but her pulse is strong, and her breathing seems to be okay. I don't see any severe bleeding, but her leg is wedged under the dash and I'm afraid to move her. I need to find help. Now I wish I would've let your father buy me that damn cell phone last year, but I didn't think we could afford it. This stretch of highway doesn't get much traffic this time of day. I need to drive us to a house and call for an ambulance."

Sarah was buckling her seatbelt when Bella argued, "We can't just leave her."

"I don't want to, sweetie, but I have no other choice."

"I'll stay. She shouldn't be alone. If she wakes up, she'll be so scared. Mom hates being alone. That's why she came after me today."

"Bella, I'm sorry. I can't let you do that. I promise I'll get to someone fast. There's a man that fishes with Billy sometimes. I think his place is barely two miles from here." Sarah put the car in gear, but Bella wouldn't listen to reason. She jerked away from Jacob and threw herself out of the moving car just as they tried to get back on the road.

He screamed for Sarah to stop. Bella darted across the highway, but for some reason she stopped before she made it to her mother. Both Jacob and Sarah saw a speeding car in the distance. A foreboding feeling washed over him. This car was going too fast. It was out of place to the region, too expensive and extravagant for the res or Forks, and Jacob knew without a doubt there was no way for it to stop completely before reaching Bells.

His mother didn't hesitate another second. She fled her car and Jacob in a rush to save Bells. The black sports car didn't hit the brakes until after the impact. That's when the vision switched to Bella's perspective. Jacob was no longer a firsthand observer. He was only in Bella's mind. She was frozen with fear with a car coming straight at her. All she could do was stare into the eyes of the driver like she'd been hypnotized. She felt like the air was being sucked out of her lungs, shrill noises pierced her eardrums, and she was sure that she was already dead even though she never felt pain from being run over.

Then the world shifted once more. She and Jacob saw the reality of the event in slow motion. Sarah Black flew through the air and landed near Bella who was curled in the fetal position on the side of the highway. Blood pooled around his mother's lifeless body. Bella's head raised off the hard ground toward screeching tires, and she was drawn to those eyes once more before the assailant disappeared in the blink of an eye.

She tried to scream and cry, but no sounds came out. There was only stillness and sky above her. She didn't know where her mother was or how bad Sarah was hurt. She tried to scream for Jacob. He didn't hear her. No one did.

Bella felt lost, alone, and in limbo between life and death. Because she was. She wasn't a little girl anymore, but no less confused and frightened about what was happening to her.

Their vision transformed into a vacant white background. Jacob felt like they were in a box being suffocated. Bella was no longer on the side of a road between the reservation and Forks. She was flat on her back staring into a void before Jacob realized the actual truth. Bells was experiencing the worst pain she'd ever endured, and he was feeling every bit of it.

Pure torture, worse than death, and all-consuming fear.

Those same eyes from the Sarah's hit and run were staring back at her while Edward Cullen raped her. He was there that day. He killed Jacob's mother, and he was attempting to kill Bella on their honeymoon as well as steal her very soul in the process. Jacob felt her horror those brief seconds, and he could feel her spirit attempting to leave her body, so she wouldn't have to endure anymore abuse. But then she showed him her only solace at the worst moment in her life. Two children were holding hands on the beach. He couldn't see their faces, but they were familiar. He felt their joy for a split second instead of all the pain. Jacob held her to this earth; she couldn't leave him at least not yet. Not ever, but she had no idea how to overcome what was happening to her or know for certain Jacob could ever love her again.

After the disgusting demon finished, Bella's weak voice managed to say the words through her sobs, "It... it was you. I remembered your eyes. The soulless eyes of a monster."

"Don't say such things. I know you don't believe that. I warned you it would be rough while you're human, but you never listen. We're one now like you always wanted. I'm different than the majority of my kind. My family's different. You're one of us. You were always mine, Isabella. Alice saw you long before we properly met. I was primed to grab you when I saw the chance on that lonely road even though Carlisle said I had to wait. You were my singer. You have no idea how rare that is, love. The rest wasn't planned. I'm sorry for what happened, but then again, that woman was going to ruin all our plans. I read her thoughts. I'd seen the three of you before, so I knew everything."

The entire vision went black. Bella spared Jacob the rest that happened on the honeymoon. That was just the beginning of the hell Edward trapped her inside for weeks. Jacob couldn't move or think when the vision ceased. The connection between them continued. The two of them held each other for a long time in silence while they shared all the emotions Sarah's death and Bella's rape caused.

Bella finally sat up, so she could see his reaction. Her head shook slowly. "It was all because of me. I remembered that horrible moment on my honeymoon when Edward took Sarah from us, and I wanted to die. But when I woke up with you at the Cullen's, all the memories of our childhood and that conversation with him were gone again. My mind was too sick to remember and there was that little problem I kept trying to will myself dead. I didn't know until yesterday what happened. Jacob, I was Edward's target all those years ago, and he murdered Sarah because she was trying to protect our connection."

Jacob wished like so many other times these past months that it was possible to kill the leech again, but it wasn't. He missed his mother so much at this moment, possibly more than he ever had. She was a wonderful woman and even though he couldn't remember all those dreams just yet, he imagined she was trying to tell him she was okay and to be happy with Bella. She did not die in vain. Bella was still with Jake because of her. He couldn't dare think of the alternative if Edward had stolen Bells on the side of the road when she a little girl.

Bella told him the rest as she remembered it. Renee had a concussion, so she didn't remember much about that fateful day. When Bella came around weeks later, they were back in California and she told Bella they had an accident. She left out the part about spinning out of control because Sarah Black was dead in the road. That's what the investigators told them must have happened. Renee believed them because she never remembered her argument or fleeing when she couldn't get Bella. Charlie had no idea who had committed the hit and run. The investigation never turned up a single lead. Both Bella and Jacob were in a trance-like state for days, so the adults all decided it was too traumatic for them to remember. They vowed never to tell them truth if the kids didn't recall the events that day. The cover story was concocted and neither Bella nor Jacob ever questioned it. A false reality was established, and that's one of the reasons Charlie backed off a custody battle. He worried if Bella stayed in Forks at the time, she might suffer ill-effects.

"Wait, Bells. How do you know all this stuff?"

"I called Mom last night when you were in the shower. She was so ecstatic I reached out, that I promised her she could visit, but only if she told me the truth about us moving away from Forks because I was having new memories that were confusing. And she spilled everything she knew. Mom's the world's worst secret keeper and she said this has torn her apart since it happened. Of course, none of them ever had a clue it was Edward. They all thought we saw a horrible accident and were so scarred that we buried it.

"That's partially true, but maybe if they'd told us the truth, things could have been different. You suffered so much. I knew you did, but this time I felt it, Bells. I took on that pain with you. There's no explanation how you lived through it."

"You're the explanation. I was always yours not Edward's, and it took him destroying me from the inside out for me to know the truth."

Bella insisted on making them a hearty breakfast. She sorted out emotions many days over the stove and today was no different. They had a nice meal with little conversation. He insisted on cleaning up before asking her the question on his mind, "Would you mind if Leah came over to stay with you a few hours? There's somewhere I need to go."

Bella nodded, "Of course. Leah and I have some episodes of Gray's to catch up with."

He laughed, "You do that then. I can't believe you and Leah have bonded over TV trash."

She shoved him, "Hey, buddy. That show is not trash. It's addicting." Jacob walked into the bedroom to find his phone, so he could call Leah. Bella stayed in the kitchen. When Jacob found her, she'd just started the kettle for some tea. He saw the empty vase sitting next to her. He often brought her flowers, and these were her favorite so far according to her two days ago.

"Here, take this beautiful bouquet. Tell her they're from both of us."

"I never said where I was going."

She shrugged. "We share emotions now, remember? You're going to visit Sarah."

"Wow. I guess I need to watch my every move and thought around you now. But seriously, I need to go. It's important."

"Sure, you do. It's fine. You're going to see Billy too?"

"Bella," he warned. Neither Bella or Jacob much liked being told what to do.

"I'm not trying to tell you how to react to your father's deception but go easy on him. They didn't know. I'm not looking forward to this conversation with Charlie either. They loved us and thought they were doing the right thing. I'm ready for us all to be at peace. Please don't argue with your father or start a rift." Bella made her pouty, pleading face, "For me."

"No fair, Bells. You know I'd do anything for you."

She approached him, and he hugged her close against his chest. "Yes, I do believe you have established that over and over. I love you for never giving up on me, even all those times I had given up on myself."

~Thanks for reading.

So, yeah. I went so far from the original story in this fic, but it was necessary and I love being able to do that. Let me know how you think I pulled it off. Also, my latest original novel is free this weekend so check it out on Amazon, "Willow's Wish" by TC Rybicki. If anyone is curious about my originals, please PM for details. I am always looking for ARC readers and offer giveaways too. Hopefully, I'll update once a week until the end. Love you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate. ;)