Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own the Twilight Saga, or any of its characters and plots.
TW: This story will contain references to child abuse (physical, mental, sexual), self-harm, and suicide attempts (both past and present).
This chapter in particular contains a brief description of severe child abuse.
Izzy
She was determined to not skip her afternoon classes for the first time since school began. For the past week, she had ditched in some form or another, and today, she actually wanted to know what those classes were like.
Besides, she had a feeling that her mother would hold to her promise of keeping her card deactivated for the entire year.
So, when lunch rolled around, she crossed the cafeteria silently, ignoring the idiots that snickered as she walked past them. They were just trying to get a rise out of her, for their lunch-time entertainment, she reminded herself.
"Hey, Izzy." Edward said when she slid into the spot between the blonde empath and the snooty blonde girl.
The girl instantly scooted away, giving her a glare.
"Red." Izzy replied distractedly, looking towards a group of girls who were whispering and glancing at her.
"How come he gets a nickname?" The buff guy complained on the other side of the blonde girl.
"Oh, like whatever she thinks actually matters." The blonde girl said, not bothering to lower her voice.
The group of girls must've heard her because they burst into laughter.
"Even the outcasts don't like the Freak." One of them exclaimed.
Izzy's breath caught in her throat, not because of sorrow or hurt, but because she was so angry, she was unable to breathe. Her knuckles were turning white from how hard she was clenching the table. If she'd had even a portion of the Cullens' vampire strength, she would've snapped it.
Don't respond, she thought to herself, they're just wanting a show.
"That's probably why her parents left." Another girl said.
"I heard they went to Japan!"
"Yeah, mustn't have wanted such an embarrassment along with them. God, she's such a whore. You know, I bet her daddy used to fuck her to sleep, and that's why she's after every boy in the school."
The laughter after that last sentence rang in Izzy's ears.
The room swirled around her, making her feel disorientated. She tried to focus, she really did, but reality was melting away. She felt the semi-familiar sensation of a rope wrapping around her waist, tugging her backwards.
Darkness consumed her.
Dolan
He took one look at the girls laughing at him, and decided they weren't capable of holding more than one working braincell between them, let alone making an accurate assumption of his character.
"Dolan, welcome." Edward spoke, drawing his attention.
He tilted his head, staring blankly at the vampire who was supposedly able to read his mind. How else would he know his name, though? He had never spoken it out loud.
"Ash told you about me." He said, his voice flat.
Cheerless. Most people assumed he was depressed.
"Not much." Edward admitted, and proceeded to introduce his 'siblings', except Dolan promptly lost interest, losing whatever names he had spoken to the void in his mind where the others resided, asleep or cautiously watching from the shadows.
"We are at school." Dolan stated, looking around in dull curiosity.
"Have you never come to school before?" The noirette girl asked, frowning at him like she was trying to solve an exceedingly difficult equation.
"No, Pix, and today will not be that day." He stood up, walking directly out the door.
"Oh, come on, even Alice gets a nickname?" He heard the buff one complain loudly before the door shut behind him.
Dolan sensed that he was being followed as he walked home, but he saw nothing behind him. The streets were empty except for the random passerby.
He walked into his house, no bothering to lock the door behind him. If someone wanted to kill him, that would save him the trouble of doing what he was about to do. It was the only logical course of action. He had nothing else to live for.
In the back of his mind, he felt both Eden and Onyx agreeing with him, both of them doing their best to keep Ash from interfering.
The others were asleep, oblivious to what he was doing.
He went to his father's safe, unlocking it with his mother's birthdate, and pulling out the already loaded pistol. He couldn't be bothered with a note. The only ones who mattered would be dead the moment he pulled the trigger.
"Dolan." The sound of his name startled him, and a flash of white appeared across his vision, pulling the gun from his hand in the fraction of a second.
He turned, looking at Edward and the blonde empath, the latter of whom was holding the gun in his hand, pointed at the ground.
"Why do you want to die?" The empath asked, looking honestly curious.
"Don't you know what I am? Hasn't Red told you?" Dolan replied, lifting his eyebrows.
"A trauma-holder." The empath said.
Dolan turned away but didn't leave the room. Instead, he stared blankly at the large portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Collins, both dressed to a T, both without their daughter in their arms.
"Haven't you noticed that there are no pictures of Ilyssa Collins in this house?" He said softly, knowing they could hear regardless of what volume he spoke at. "Do you know why?"
"They didn't want you." The empath said, his voice filled with something that made Dolan's head hurt.
A harsh laugh fell from his lips.
"No, if they didn't want her, they would've aborted her, or abandoned her after she was born."
He turned to the safe, ripping off the faux floor, and pulling out the tiny photo album that fit into the palm of his hand. The damage was irreversible, but he didn't care.
He threw the album across the room, watching as the photos flew out of it as it went. The empty album slammed into the wall and the photos littered the floor.
"Shit."
The curse slipped from the empath's mouth unexpectedly as he looked down at the dozens of pictures, each of them portraying an image of a broken child, each more gruesome than the last.
"That was just the times they photographed." Dolan whispered, crouching down to lift one of the photos.
Ilyssa was curled into a ball in the corner of a room, her skintight against her bones, naked and bleeding from multiple wounds. The only covering she wore were the bruises and scars that marred her skin.
"The anger they felt towards the world was taken out on Ilyssa. They believed she was the reason they were in debt, why their families had disowned them for premarital sex. If she hadn't been born, they would've had access to their families' inheritances. They thought she deserved to pay for what they thought she did to them."
He paused, tossing away the photo.
"And, then the universe rewarded them with a few million dollars, and even though they lavished Ilyssa with fancy clothes and more toys than she could ever want, it was too late. They had broken her, and when they discovered money wouldn't fix her, well, they threatened her into silence."
The quiet that fell over the room was stifling, but Dolan didn't bother to break it.
They had wanted to know, after all. They were the ones who asked why he wanted to die. It wasn't necessarily that he wanted to die, though. It was more that he didn't want to live.
What sort of monster deemed him capable of handling all of these memories? He was somewhat competent, seeing as most of the alters were oblivious to their childhood, but how much longer could he do this?
Half of them wanted to die; how much longer would the other half have the strength to stop them?
"Jasper, give him the gun." Edward said, and Dolan stood up, looking at them.
The empath looked ready to argue, but Edward just said, "It's up to them, isn't it? It's their life."
Stiffly, the empath walked forward, holding out the gun. Dolan took it.
Eden
There was nothing good in the world.
Even coming to the Front was hurting her, making it hard for her to focus. The gun was cold in her hand, but she knew it would heat up as soon as she pulled the trigger. She wanted to pull the trigger.
Her eyes began to water as she saw the photos on the floor. Was that what Dolan had always been hiding? How could they live after that?
"Eden." Edward spoke, and she dragged her eyes up, meeting his gaze. "We're not going to stop you. If this is what you want, to not exist, to never have that chance of a happy ending, then you know what you need to do."
But, to her, this would be her happy ending. She would join Jared in the afterlife, or wherever he went after he crashed. They would be together, forever… but, what about the others?
What about Isla and Izzy, Ash and Sylas, Dolan, and Onyx? Where would they go? Would they be happy, or would they hate her for stealing their chance at life?
Onyx's whispers in the back of her mind begged her to do it anyways, but she could feel Dolan faltering, calming down now that he was with Ash. Ash had always been able to sooth him.
She made the decision, the gun slipping from her fingers. It crashed into the ground, going off with a bang that just about exploded her eardrums. When she was centered again, she realized that the bullet had went through the large portrait of her parents, directly through her mother's forehead.
A smile crept on her face.
"Fuck them." She whispered, and turned, grabbing the antique knife her father had won at an auction.
When she threw it, it impaled her father's mouth. She ran forward, grabbing the blade and ripping downward, tearing her father in two.
She continued through the room, throwing the photos into the fire, and breaking or tearing everything else. Mother's priceless vase was smashed within moments. Father's award for so-and-so magazine was thrown against the far wall, breaking into a million pieces.
The paintings they had bought for thousands of dollars were slashed, and the artifacts that didn't shatter when she threw them were thrown into the fire to burn.
When she was finished, and every last object was ruined, she stood in the middle of the room, staring at the chaos she had created. She didn't realize she was crying until the blonde stepped up beside her, gently taking her hand.
Something strange happened then. The panic that she had begun feeling crawling up her throat, suffocating her, vanished, replaced by a soft calm that made her feel slightly floaty. Her tears began to dry up.
"What was that?" She whispered, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
She saw him smile.
"I'm an empath, remember? I can control emotions."
Warmth spread through her, chasing away the last of the sorrow.
"Oh."
She really didn't have much to say to that, feeling herself relaxing under his influence. He was better than smoking.
From downstairs came the distant sound of a phone ringing, but she didn't move, her hand tightening around Jasper's as she observed the damage. In her opinion, the room looked better this way. She had always loathed the uptight decorations her parents insisted on collecting. The broken trophies were just an expression of her anger.
"Ash thought I should apologize." She whispered, staring at the ruined portrait of her parents.
It was almost haunting how easily she had destroyed it.
"For kissing you." She added, turning to Jasper.
His eyes were impossibly soft as he looked down at her. She fought the urge to lean up and do exactly what she was apologizing for.
"He thought it wasn't fair for me to lead you on, considering I can't – we can't exactly go further than that."
She looked down, shaming rushing through her. Now they knew the extent of their torment, now she knew why her body seemed to reject any touch that dared cross that fine line.
Jasper's hand rose to her face, cupping her cheek and drawing her eyes back to his. There was a fire in his eyes, burning brightly and fiercely.
"Never apologize for what happened to you. As for kissing me –"
Slowly, he lowered his face towards hers, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to. The thought never occurred to her as she leaned up, pressing her lips against his.
Unlike the first time, this kiss was gentle. The heat that washed through her was comforting. It lasted only a moment before Edward cleared his throat awkwardly. Eden smirked in his direction, wrapping her arms around Jasper's neck, and pulling him down again.
"You taste good." She murmured against his lips, and he chuckled in response.
The horrors of the afternoon faded to the background as she relaxed against him.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
