DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the intellectual property of the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
-Chapter Twenty-Four-
"Don't say a word," Edward said calmly, stepping up to the threshold.
Renee held up her hands, the sweat rolling down her forehead as she shuffled backward. My eyes shot toward their main bedroom. I could hear the shower going. Phil was unaware that we were here. That was good. He had a gun somewhere hidden in this house, and I didn't want him to have time to get it. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he would use it.
"Where does Phil hide his gun?" I asked, shutting the door quietly behind me.
Renee shook her head and stammered. "I don't...don't know."
She was lying. It was up to me to sniff it out. Unfortunately, I needed to figure out where to start. Phil could stash it anywhere in this house. It was a daunting task; honestly, I didn't have enough time to flush it out.
Keeping my eyes on the bedroom, Edward led my mother to the living room and had her sit down on the couch. He positioned himself across from her on the coffee table. He looked at ease, pointing the gun at her, but she worried needlessly. It wasn't even cocked. I knew he had no intention of hurting her. As much as she was a horrible mother to me, it was Phil he was after.
"We haven't been properly introduced yet," Edward said, holding his free hand to Renee while pointing the gun with the other. "I'm Edward. Your daughter owns me."
I rolled my eyes and giggled at his easygoing attitude and cordial display. He was acting like we didn't force our way into the house and weren't just holding a gun to her head. He was enjoying playing the bad guy way too much.
She stared at his outstretched hand distrustfully for a second before gingerly shaking it. "I know who you are."
"No, you don't," he said, his voice taking on a serious tone.
The shower turned off, and I whistled, nodding my head at Edward and pointing towards the bedroom. He got up from his table and gestured for me to take his place. I pulled out my gun, causing Renee's eyes to widen.
Sitting down across from her, I aimed my gun at her. "Why do you look so surprised?"
"I'm not." Her face was steely and hateful. "I knew the moment the doctor placed you in my arms that you'd end up being nothing but a disappointment to me. Look at you," she said with disgust.
Her words cut like a knife and tore through my heart, knocking me back and disarming me. No matter how much I hated her, I wanted her to love me more than anything. The fact that she thought I was worthless since the day I was born was painful beyond anything I'd ever experienced.
My hand was shaking, and the gun wobbled. Renee eyed it, looking for an opportunity to take it away from me, but I recovered. Then, locking my elbow, I pointed it at her more firmly.
"Yeah, well, you're a disappointment to me, too."
"Alright, fucker," Edward's said, coming into the living room wet and semi-naked. He was shirtless and wearing only gym shorts. "Sit your ass down next to your wife."
He pushed him roughly towards the couch, and Phil came stumbling head first. I had to lift my knees up and into my chest to avoid him crashing into me.
Edward pulled the coffee table back a few feet, and I slid with it. It made a loud screeching noise against the tile. He came around and sat next to me, placing one hand on my leg and pointing the gun at Phil with the other.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Edward said, glancing over at me, smirking. "All of us together, just shooting the shit—granted, it's not how I imagined meeting my girl's parents for the first time, but then again, you fuckers don't really qualify as parents, do you?"
"You're just digging yourselves into a deeper hole by coming here," Phil sneered.
Edward shrugged. "I'm not concerned about the future, Phil. You've made my life a tad more difficult than it needed to be with all your connections in the police department. But, I like your spin on the truth."
Phil scoffed. "That shit was the truth and all of her doing." He turned his eyes on me. "You just couldn't stay away, could you?"
"Hey, fucker," Edward said, hitting Phil on the head with the muzzle of his gun and redirecting his focus away from me. "Don't look at her. You're to never look at her again, do you hear me?"
"What do you want?" Renee cried. "Money? Just take whatever you want and leave."
Her victim act was quite convincing with the tears and hiccups, and if I didn't know any better, I might've felt bad.
"No, we don't want money. We want retribution," Edward said. "It's time to fess up and make amends. You should look at us as if we were your priest, pastor, Rabi, or whoever it is, but confess your sins now."
"We're not guilty of anything," Phil stated with an air of arrogance.
"Phil, Phil, Phil, let's not add lying to your list. We don't have that kind of time. You see, me and my girl," Edward said, throwing his arm over my shoulders, "are going to Vegas. She's never been there—"
"You're disgusting," Renee spat. "She's seventeen—a child. What are you? Thirty? How dare you molest my baby!"
I glared at her, anger overwhelming as my finger twitched over the trigger. "I'm your baby? Your baby?! How fucking dare you even say that!"
Edward's hand squeezed my leg gently, bringing me back from the brink. He whispered into my ear, telling me it was okay not to let her get to me. His words were soothing, and I relaxed, easing my finger off the trigger.
He turned back to our hostages and smiled. "I'm glad you brought that up, Renee—can I call you Renee?" She stared at him defiantly. "Good. Now, Renee, you bring up a fascinating point. I am older than Bella by ten years, and you're right. It's wrong. I should know better, but I'm not her fucking father like this piece of shit." Edward pressed the gun into Phil's forehead. Anger built behind those beautiful green eyes. "Do you know what your husband was doing behind your back?"
"This is ridiculous," Phil laughed nervously, glancing sideways over at his wife. "Don't answer that, Renee."
"Phil," Edward admonished. "You'll get your turn."
There was just something about him. He was rough on the outside, tattooed and pierced in more than one place. I've lost count. He had this madman quality, crazy and unhinged, on the verge of explosive rage, but still sincere and tender. He turned me on, being all diplomatic and deadly while pointing a gun. He took joy in what he was doing. All I kept thinking about was taking him into my childhood bedroom and defiling him.
Amidst all this tension, I had to bite my lip and cross my legs to combat my arousal. It was that bad.
"Renee," Edward said, waving his hand for her to speak.
"What?" she asked, eyes unfocused and dazed.
She wasn't even paying attention. Her daughter was holding a fucking gun to her head, and she could care less. It was just another example of how heartless and cruel my mother was.
"Did you know that your husband was trying to screw me, mom?" I snapped.
She stared at me, completely unmoved.
"Did you?" I shouted.
"No," she answered.
I felt my body sag, depleted of everything.
Renee could've shown me some acknowledgment by telling me she did know about Phil but chose to ignore it. It would've been something, but her avid denial was just another direct blow to my already damaged heart.
Edward rubbed my back, sensing how she continued to hurt me, and even though my mother didn't love me, I felt that the man next to me did. That was good enough for me.
"Are you assholes going to start being honest or do I have to fucking beat it out if you?" Edward asked, looking back and forth between them.
"I don't know what you want from me." Renee huffed, throwing her hands up dramatically. "I believe my husband over my...he's a good man."
She believed her husband over her flesh and blood daughter.
That's what she was going to say.
I knew it.
Edward knew it.
Everybody knew it.
I closed my eyes, trying to maintain composure and forbidding myself from crying. They didn't deserve my tears. No, they earned my fury, my vengeance, and finally, my truth.
I finally snapped.
"He's not a good man, Renee!" I shouted, feeling my anger build. "Every night he would sneak into my room and watch me sleep. Each day he would prey on me, getting braver and braver until he forced himself on me. You're husband is a pedophile, mother."
"Shut the fuck up!" Phil yelled, slapping me hard across my face.
The hot stinging sensation burned through my flesh to my bone, stunning me into silence.
"You mother fucker!" Edward growled, pistol-whipping Phil across the left temple, sending him face down to the floor. He jumped on top of Phil, pressing his knees into his chest, and delivered blow after blow to his face.
"No!" Renee cried, lunging for him, and I blocked her path, tackling her back on the couch and covering her mouth.
"Be quiet," I warned. "Do not move."
She nodded obediently, her eyes wide and frightened. The pounding of my heart thumped in my ears, and I listened as Edward cussed and continued to beat the shit out of Phil. When the intense hammering stopped, I glanced over my shoulder to locate him. He was still kneeling over Phil, panting heavily, and his fists were clenched and bloodied at his sides.
Phil was lying on his back unconscious, and his face completely mangled, almost to the point of being unrecognizable.
"Edward?" I called softly, my whole body trembling.
He looked up at me, eyes dark and unapologetic.
"Is he dead?" I asked.
He shook his head.
I nodded, feeling some relief that Edward didn't kill the man. Looking back down at Renee, I saw she was sobbing uncontrollably. Tears streaked her cheeks and soaked my hand, which was still clasped tightly over her mouth. I pulled it away slowly, staring into her eyes.
"Mom, why didn't you protect me? Why didn't you care? I'm your daughter," I said, the sadness and longing seeping into my voice.
She glared up at me and sniffed. "You're not my daughter."
"Yeah," I said, removing my body's weight from hers. "I'm starting to see that now."
Edward was standing over me with his arms open, and I fell into him, needing to feel him more than ever. He hugged me tight, whispering into my ear and telling me everything was okay, and Phil would never hurt me again.
I love you, I thought.
Renee scrabbled from the couch and pushed passed us, falling to her knees beside Phil. She was wailing and crying over him, staining his chest with her tears. She wiped the blood away from his face with her robe, making his cuts bleed even more.
"It's time to go, kid," Edward said, disentangling his body from mine and going up to Renee's purse. He searched through it and grabbed her cell phone. He threw it on the floor and busted it apart with the heel of his boot, shattering it to pieces.
"Get out," Renee whimpered from her spot on the floor. She was lying on Phil's chest, her head going up and down from his steady breathing.
Edward busied himself and located two more phones in the house. He broke those into tiny pieces and effectively disabled that lifeline. If Renee wanted help, she would have to go next door to call the police. It would only buy us minutes to leave the state, but just barely.
"Come on, baby," Edward said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the backdoor.
We jumped over the fence and onto the next street by the district mailboxes. The sun was bright above us as we ran to his car and got in, starting it up and peeling out.
I was grasping his hand tightly, unwilling to let him go, and examining his injured knuckles. He was beautiful to me. The fierce protection damaged and scarred him, but I loved him more than ever.
One of these days, I'll have the courage to tell him.
As we hit the freeway and headed north, I watched with regret as Arizona faded in the rearview mirror, becoming just a sad and bitter memory.
We accomplished nothing by going home.
I discovered the hard truth in heart-wrenching fragments: my mother never loved me.
Maybe, there was some closure on my part, but still, above everything else, all it did was solidify Edward and me as fugitives.
We were on the run now.