Chapter 5 – Down the rabbit hole
I was running through my house, the fear pulsing through me as I looked back to see my father chasing me. Every door I went through seemed to lead to the hallway where my father's vicious features were staring down at me as he lunged forward. All I could do was scream.
"NO!" I screamed as I bolted upright in bed, the sweat was pouring from my head and the tears were streaming down my face. I could feel that I was hyperventilating, and I gasped for air trying to calm myself, my bedroom door opened and in walked Jasper, I immediately started to feel a lot calmer "Hey, Darlin', Are you alright?" he asked as he made his way over to me "I-I…. It was so real." I said wiping the tears from my eyes. Jasper walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, his golden hues studying me "Nightmare?" his voice was sympathetic, and I nodded "Yeah, my father…. he was chasing me, the anger in him…" I trailed off and looked at Jasper, he held his arm out and I quickly scooted over to him, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders "It wasn't real, Noelle. You're safe here with us." I looked at him and sighed "It still doesn't take the memories away." I wiped my eyes and Jasper sighed "It doesn't but It will get easier." He said gently and I shook my head "It doesn't feel like that right now." I said honestly and looked at my hands, Jasper squeezed my shoulder reassuringly "I know it doesn't."
Jasper stood up and held his hand out "Shall we go watch a movie or something to take your mind off of it?" he suggested, and I nodded knowing I didn't want to be alone right now, I felt safe around Jasper he just seemed to have that kind of Aura about him. I took his hand and stood up, I then let go of his hand and walked with him to the living room where I moved over to the couch and laid down. Jasper grabbed one of the fluffy blankets from the back of the sofa and placed it over to me "Where is everyone?" I asked.
Jasper grabbed the remote for the T.V and sat down on the couch where my feet were "Carlisle is at work, Alice and Esme are staying the night at Bella and Edwards and Emmett and Rosalie are out for a date night, looks like they aren't coming back until tomorrow." He began to flick through the vast number of movies that they had stored "Okay, so just us?" I said as I pulled the blanket around me "Yeah, I hope that's alright. What kind of movie do you want to watch, Darlin'?" I looked at the titles as Jasper scrolled down "Of course it's okay, ooh, can we please watch Jumanji?" I saw it was the old version which was my favourite, Jasper smiled at me and pressed play.
I must have fallen asleep again as when I awoke, I was back in my bedroom, I looked at the alarm clock and it was 10:30am, I clambered out of bed and headed into the bathroom. I jumped in the shower in an attempt to wake myself up, once I'd showered, I then got changed back into the same clothes that I was wearing yesterday. I quickly pulled my hair into a high ponytail and made my way out of my room. I could smell something nice; it smelled like bacon. I followed the scent downstairs and into the kitchen where I saw Esme humming a tune to herself whilst, I was right, cooking bacon. I leant against the doorframe and played with the cuff of my jumper, Esme looked up and smiled brightly at me "Good morning, Noelle." I couldn't help but smile a little back at her as I made my way into the room "Good morning, Esme." I sat down at the counter "The food smells really good." I said honestly and her face lit up "Thank you!" she took the bacon out of the pan and placed it over some toasted bread, she placed it in front of me "Please do only eat what you can." She said attentively, I picked up the knife and fork that were already pre set at the counter and began to take small bites and my stomach sure did appreciate it.
I managed to eat most of the bacon and toast, once I was finished Esme took my plate away and began to wash it up. She placed the items on the drainer and looked at me "We know you don't have many clothes here, so Alice has offered to take you clothes shopping." She told me and smiled gently but with a hint of sympathy hidden in there "Are you sure that's okay? You don't need to buy me anything." I replied and she walked over "We are more than happy, we're here to look after you and get you anything you need." Her voice was warm and once again I felt that love from her rise in me "Thank you." I gave a small smile, and she squeezed my shoulder "You're more than welcome, just don't let Alice influence you too much." She let out a small laugh and as if on que Alice bounded into the room "Elle!" she smiled brightly walking over to me and giving me a hug, I froze for a moment and then slightly hugged her back, I also quite liked she'd given me a nickname "Hi Alice, I'm guessing you've arrived here to take me shopping?" I couldn't help but grin at her beaming smile and she nodded "Of course! Come on, lets go!" she grabbed my hand and pulled me up out of my seat, she practically dragged me to her car which also represented her bright personality well considering it was bright yellow. I got into the passenger seat and quickly put my seatbelt on, Alice jumped in the driver's seat and within seconds she was speeding out of the drive and up the road.
It didn't take long to get to Port Angeles, especially when it came to Alice's driving. Let's just say it's a little…. terrifying. I got out of the car and walked with Alice, she was chatting about all sorts of things, mainly what kind of wardrobe I was going to have. We entered the first clothes store and Alice didn't waste much time picking things out "I think Green really suits you. It brings out your eyes." She said as she threw a green dress over her shoulder "I mean…thanks…" I trailed off and continued to browse through the jeans, I picked out several pairs of black and dark blue jeans. I watched as Alice's pile was turning into more like a mountain in her arms, I bit my lip "Alice…ya know. I'm not a super dress person." I told her hoping I didn't hurt her feelings, but she just shrugged "Okay, can we keep a couple though, just encase?" she batted her eyelashes at me "I suppose so." I guessed I could compromise a little bit in this situation, I could tell Alice really loved fashion and shopping as she seemed a lot bouncier than normal, it was like she was completely in her element.
To be honest I was pretty thankful when we headed to the cashier to pay for everything, I was surprised as she carried the six large shopping bags with such ease. I did offer to take a couple, but she politely declined. She placed the shopping bags in the trunk of her car and shut it "Right, do you want food?" she asked, and I shook my head "To be honest I'm not that hungry." When I lived with my father, I was used to having only one meal a day and so breakfast this morning was enough for me, she looked at me curiously and then shrugged it off "Alright, but if you want anything just tell me." She got into the driver's seat and I followed suit and got into the passengers seat and we headed for home. I still didn't really understand why they were all being so good to me, no one has ever treated me this way, it was just so odd to me. It kind of made me feel guilty.
I think Alice picked up on the fact that I didn't like how fast she drove of the way to Port Angeles because on the way home her driving was a lot calmer and I didn't feel like I was in a game of Grand theft auto. We pulled up inside the garage and I got out of the car and to the trunk where Alice quickly joined me and waved her hand for me to step back "I'll take the bags to your room and sort it out, you go see Carlisle. He should be home from work." She said enthusiastically making me feel a little suspicious "Okaaaay." I pulled a face of confusion as if to say what is going on? I began to head upstairs when she called after me saying that he will be in his office. I listened to what she said and headed to Carlisle's office and knocked on the door "Come in." he called out and I opened the door walking inside, Carlisle smiled when he saw me "Noelle, How was your day with Alice?" he asked and I walked in and sat down at his desk "It was an experience.." I admitted and he let out a chuckle "Yes Alice and shopping is definitely an experience." I let out a small smile and he pulled out two boxes "So I wanted to give you these." He firstly passed me a box and I gasped as I saw it was an iPhone 13 "Carlisle…I can't take this…" I trailed off and looked at him "I noticed you didn't have a phone and we'd like to be able to keep contact with you. Emmett has already set it up for you and put all our numbers in it." He smiled gently as I took the phone out of the box, it was lavender purple and as I clicked for the screen to come on I couldn't help but choke out a laugh as Emmett had taken a selfie and uploaded it as my wallpaper, Carlisle looked at me curiously and I turned the screen around to show him, he too let out a chuckle and shook his head.
"Thankyou for this Carlisle. You guys have honestly done enough." I said honestly and he held up a hand "Alright, I have one more thing." He passed me a larger box and I opened it to reveal a MacBook "Carlisle, seriously?" I was flabbergasted "This is waaay too much!" I was in complete shock; I didn't deserve all this. "Noelle, we wanted to do this for you. Besides I saw that you are enrolled in online school. Which means you need this." He reasoned "Yeah I am, it was quite hard to do considering my father would only let me use the computer an hour a day and it was very slow." I admitted, I placed the phone and laptop down on the desk and got up moving round and giving Carlisle a hug "Thank you." I said as he embraced me "You're more than welcome sweetheart.
I headed back to my room and placed my new phone and laptop on the bed, I stared at them in complete disbelief. I can't believe they would spend this much money on me, I had only been with them a day and a half, but they seemed to accept me into their family without even blinking. I don't understand why though? Maybe it's because they don't really know me? I felt a pit in my stomach, what if they did get to know me better and hate me just like my father does? I tried to shake the feeling off and picked up my phone inevitably smiling at the goofy picture of Emmett, I scrolled through contacts and found Emmett's number, I quickly popped him a text.
Thankyou for setting my phone up, I love the picture. ~Noelle
Do you think I got my best side? – Emmett
Hahahaha of course. ~ Noelle
Wanna come and play some Mario Kart? – Emmett
On my way ~ Noelle
I quickly got up and headed towards the games room, Esme had pointed it out to me when she showed me to my room on the first night that I was here. I walked inside and Emmett was already setting up "Hey Little one!" he grinned and patted the seat next to him, I walked over and plopped myself down, he handed me the controller and I began to choose my character which was Yoshi, obviously.
"You've played this before?" Emmett asked and I nodded "Yeah, I had a friend once who invited me round and I played it then." I shrugged and he shuffled "That means I'm going to have to work hard to beat you then considering you know how to play." I grinned at him "I'm fully intending to kick your butt." I said honestly and he faked a gasp "Well game on!"
We had played Mario Kart for hours and hours after we were both determined to beat each other, I yawned as I sat back against the armchair "You tired now, little one?" he chuckled and I nodded "Yeah, it's been a pretty long day, I think I'm going to head to bed." I stood up and handed Emmett the controller "We can continue Mario Kart wars another time." He grinned and I nodded "Sounds good."
I made my way upstairs and got changed into my pyjamas and climbed into bed, I set my alarm for 8 am as I decided I wanted to go for a run. I placed my phone on the bedside table and as soon as my head hit the pillow I pretty much fell asleep.