13
Bella never wanted her family to know the horrors she and Alice had been through. Living through it had been hard enough, but seeing the shame and disgust in their eyes was almost too much for her. She found herself fighting the urge to grab Charlie and run, leave everyone behind once again. Not that she could. Not with Marcus Volturi seemingly ahead of them at all times.
"They took me and Al to New York City. We were held in this huge house, and men would come in and . . ." Bella shook her head. "Well, you can guess what they did."
"They raped you?" Charlie asked, almost choking on the words.
Once again, Bella simply nodded.
"Oh, my God," Renee cried, and Charlie wrapped his arm around her.
"I'm not sure how long we had been there when we were moved to Chicago by the brothers. I heard talk of people getting too close, and having to be more careful. We hadn't been there long, a few weeks, when one of the brothers, Marcus, took an interest in me personally. He, um, he . . ." Bella stood up and started pacing, trying to find the words to explain what he had done to her. "He claimed me as his, said I was his love, his and only his. He, um, he kept me locked in his room. The more I fought, the more brutal he became."
Bella took a deep breath, trying to calm down before she turned to her family. Renee and Charlie were wrapped in each other's arms while Carlisle looked like someone had punched him in the gut. She hated that she was hurting them again. Felt like all she had done was hurt them.
"The things he did to me . . ." Bella shook her head. "I never knew someone could be so cruel to another person. The pain he inflicted, the scars he left me with."
"Scars?" Carlisle asked, horrified. "He scarred you?"
Bella nodded. "My back, my chest are pretty much covered. Um, there are some on my legs, too."
"How'd you get away?" Carlisle asked. "Where have you been for the last six years?"
Bella inhaled a sharp breath as she looked at Edward for a moment before she said, "About a year and a half after Al and I were taken, we met Edward and Jasper. They worked for the FBI and had come in undercover as a part of their security team to bust the Volturi's network. Of course it took a few months for us to trust them, but the plan had always been for us to help take them down and them come home," she cried, bringing her hand up to her lips. "I wanted to come home so bad. So fucking bad."
"Then why didn't you?" Charlie asked, sorrow pouring from his eyes. "Baby, why didn't you come home to us?"
"I couldn't," she whimpered. "About two months before Al escaped, I realized Marcus had gotten me pregnant. I knew Marcus was never going to let me go, especially if he found out that I was pregnant with his child. So I did the only thing I could: I faked my death and I ran. I ran and hid."
"But how?" Carlisle asked, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "We buried you, Bella. We had a funeral, and we fucking buried you!"
"In order to make sure Bella was safe, we had to act quickly," Edward explained. "Aro and Caius were killed when the FBI raided their compound, but Marcus escaped with Bella. I tracked them down as he was trying to get them onto his plane. I knew if I didn't stop him, I would never see Bella again, and I couldn't let that happen. Gun fire erupted between us. Unfortunately, Bella was shot."
Renee, Charlie, and Carlisle gasped as they turned their attention from Edward to Bella. The pain radiating off them was heartbreaking.
"You were shot?" Renee asked.
Bella nodded and placed her hand on her right shoulder, just below her collar bone. "It went straight threw. I lost a lot of blood."
"Oh, my God," Renee cried, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Marcus was injured. We arrested him, charged him dozens of crimes from kidnapping to trafficking to murder. None of the charges stuck. Luckily, it gave us the time to be able to hid Bella, to keep her safe."
"But where have you been?" Carlisle asked.
"I —" But before Bella could explain anymore, the sound of Charlie laughing drew their attention, and they all turned as Alice chased the young girl into the living room. Charlie jumped into her mother's lap, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck, and Bella peered over her shoulder at her family, wishing she hadn't just broken their hearts. They were all she had left in the world, and she knew Marcus would kill every one of them to get his hands on her.