I stormed ahead into the house as Edward followed me angrily.

"Bella, what did you expect me to do? They tried to grab you!" He yells and I glare at him.

"But you needed to kill them? For LOOKING at me?" I yell back as I grab my bag from the living room sofa and hurry towards the front door again.

"Bella? Edward?" Carlisle asks worriedly as he walks through the front door, just to catch me as I stumble. I take a deep breath as he helps me up on my feet only to hold my arms gently. "Did something happen?" He asks caringly. I take another deep breath and let him lead me back to the couch. "Bella?" He prods and I look towards Edward's red eyes. Carlisle follows me gaze and his eyes turn sad and old.

"I didn't slip Carlisle." Edward snaps and suddenly the rest of the family fills the living room, gasping when they see Edward's eyes.

"Well, son, what happened then?" Carlisle asks emphatically. Edward sighs and runs a hand through his hair, then he sends me a pleading look. I nod a little.

"Edward took me out to Seattle and when he left me for a few seconds to get a present for me some guys tried to rape me." The family gasps and looks me over worriedly. "Edward came back just as I started to feel threatened and he killed them." I continue and their expression is mixed. They are worried, sad, angry, pleased and… happy?

"Did you erase all the traces?" Jasper asks and Edward nods.

"Then what were you fighting about?" Rosalie asks confused and I look at them in disbelief, only Carlisle looks understanding. I look at them for a few more seconds before I get up and grab my bag as I walk towards the door, shaking my head.

"Bella…" Edward begins and I sigh, turning to meet his gaze. He opens his mouth as if to say something but then he closes it again.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school." I mumble as I turn around and head out toward my truck.

"Bella!" Rosalie yells and stands in front of me suddenly.

"Yes, Rosalie?" I ask tiredly and when I meet her eyes they are stone cold, emotionless, dangerous.

"Are you upset with him for killing you potential rapists?" She asks with a low dangerous tone, which makes me want to shiver but I don't.

"Yes, but-" She growls loudly, interrupting me as she pounces on me. My breath comes out in a rush as I hit the wall beside the door with a loud thump. Her hand finds my throat in a too-fast move and squeezes it just enough so I can't breathe. I struggle violently against her hold as I try to get some oxygen through my dazed mind. There is no use.

"ROSALIE!" Carlisle roars as he tries to rip her off me. The others are growling as well and moving around in a blur but suddenly Rosalie is pulled away from me. I fall towards the ground, unable to support myself and Jasper catches me. Calm floods through me suddenly and I pull in deep breaths as my brain tries to catch up to what happened.

"Bella, breathe with me." Jasper instructs as he takes deep slow breaths and massages my throat gently. I do as he says and after a few minutes my breathing is back to normal. "You're in pain, where are you injured?" He asks and I furrow my brows.

"My head." I cough and he nods, gently prodding my scalp.

"There's no wounds but you probably have a concussion. How are you feeling?" He asks and I look around confused. We are in the woods.

"Confused." I mumble and he nods a little.

"I grabbed you and ran into the woods. We are a few miles from the house. Carlisle and Edward should be here soon." He explains as he holds me in a bridal carry.

"Ok." I mumble and let my head rest against his shoulder.

"Bella!" Edward calls in relief when he runs towards us. In less than a second I'm gathered in his arms and breathe a sigh of relief. "Are you hurt? Is she hurt? Carlisle, can you check her?" He rambles and I place my hand gently on his cheek.

"I'm okay." I assure him as Carlisle checks my head and throat gently.

"She is." Carlisle confirms and then he meets my eyes worriedly. "I'm so sorry for Rosalie, Bella. Emmet took her out to hunt and calm her down. We never thought…" He apologizes and I shake my head a little.

"It's okay Carlisle, you don't need to explain or apologize." I calm him and he smiles gently at me.

"It's not okay Bella." Edward growls and I sigh.

"I didn't say it's okay she attacked me, but it's not Carlisle's fault. Let's go home, please?" I request and he nods as he breathes out slowly, running back towards the house.

As we get seated in the living room Esme fuzzes worriedly over me, but Jasper looks thoughtfully at me.

"May I ask you a question, Bella?" He asks and I nod a little against Edward's shoulder. "Why are you mad at him for killing them? Did it scare you?" He asks and I sigh.

"I am grateful that he saved me from them, but I think it's really risky and unnecessary to kill them. And no Jasper, I was not scared of Edward." I explain and he frowns.

"Risky and unnecessary?"

"It's risky because one, his bloodlust will be worse for a while since he drank human blood recently or at least that's how I think it works?" I question and he nods a little. "Two, the more humans that just disappear the more likely it should be that vampires are discovered. And it's unnecessary because he could have terrified them and let them run off." I say and he nods a little.

"But what if they went and did something to another woman?" Edward asks and I sigh.

"Then it would be bad, but honestly what human wouldn't have been too terrified to do it again?" I ask and they nod a little.

"Do you know how terrifying it is for a woman to be held against her will? To have someone force himself on you and violate you?" Rosalie yells as she enters through the door with Emmet holding her tightly. "No you don't because you have never been harmed! You have never-" I interrupt her yelling.

"WHAT? Been raped? Because I have been raped and abused and violated in horrible ways!" I scream back and the room falls into silence.

"Bella?" Edward prodds gently and I take a deep calming breath as I close my eyes.

"Rene didn't always choose the best men." I whisper before I continue with a weak voice. "It was more than once I had a nightly visit by one of her boyfriends and more than once I ended up in the hospital for different reasons than my clumsiness." Edward holds me tighter protectively. I open my eyes when a cold hand takes mine. It's Jasper.

"Didn't you tell your mother?" He asks and I nod.

"She didn't believe me and when she did she didn't care. She didn't allow me to move back to Fork's until she found Phil. Phil's a good man but it was impractical for them to have me live with them." I mumble and he gives me some supportive emotions.

"Did you tell Charlie?" Carlisle asks and I nod. "What did he do?"

"He took me to the doctor when I moved here, but he thinks it's difficult to talk about… we don't really talk about emotions and such. Besides I have some troubles with trusting father figures." I explain and Carlisle squats down in front of me and Edward.

"I hope you know I would never-" I interrupt him by placing a hand over his mouth.

"I know, dad but every man is not as good as you." I whisper and he smiles sadly, but still a little relieved.

"A hug?" He asks. I throw myself into his arms and relish his loving, caring embrace.

"Bella?" Rosalie asks so softly I almost didn't hear her.

"Yes?" I ask hesitantly as I meet her apologetic and sorrowful eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" She trails off and I stare quietly at her for a few minutes.

"So if I hadn't been raped it would have been okay for you to attack me? To almost kill me? I call bullshit Rosalie!" I say angrily and sit down in Edward's lap again. She opens her mouth to answer but I hold my hand up. "I don't want to hear it, Rosalie. I do realise it is horrible and yes the men deserved to die, but I don't want all of you to live with the guilt… I know you are vampires and your conscience probably doesn't work the same way, but if you didn't feel bad when you killed humans why would you drink animal blood? Why the hell would you care? You wouldn't! And you wouldn't resist the urge to kill me, but you do! I have killed three men and the guilt weighs heavily on me. I can't say I regret killing them but I regret feeling this guilt. I should have let the law punish them-" I interrupt myself as I drop my head and curl into Edward's arms. I have never admitted to killing those men. I never should have. After several minutes of heavy, shocked silence Carlisle takes a deep breath.

"It's okay Bella, I am sure they deserved it… could you explain to us what happened?" He asks and I start sobbing violently in Edward's safe arms.

"I was fifteen and Renee had a new boyfriend. He was very bad so I- I always carried a knife with me when I was home alone with him. I was tired of being a victim and letting him hurt me… so when he… and his-" I gulp before I continue. "-and his friends cornered me in my bedroom. I attacked them and stabbed them over and over and over until I was sure they were dead. I was so mad, so… scared, and so so tired of being defenseless." I cry even more as I think of how much blood it was. A calming sensation laced with brotherly love encompasses me and I lift my head to give Jasper a small grateful smile. Edward smoothes my hair lovingly and I take a few deep breaths before I continue.

"I called the cops and told them he had come at me with a knife and that I managed to kill them instead. I had a few stabwounds and he wasn't that strong so the story wasn't completely impossible, although, the cops never believed me but it was one of the cops I had explained what happened to me before. He let it slide and told me to be careful in the future, then he buried it in my file. After that, Rene found Phil and as soon as I was able to I came here." I explain and Edward pulls me even closer. Will they still love me when they know I'm not as innocent and pure as they believed?

"It doesn't matter Bella. None of us holds it against you. We all have done things we aren't proud of." Jasper assures me. I nod a little and detangle myself from Edward.

"I need to be alone for a little while." I mumble and walk towards the door.

"Please, love, stay here tonight." Edward beggs and I nod a little, walking to the kitchen instead. I make myself a sandwich and sit down against the kitchen cabinets.

"May I join you?" Carslie asks suddenly from the doorway. I nod my permission and he sits down on the floor opposite to me. "I told the others to go hunting for a few hours. I thought you might want to talk alone?" He suggests and I smile gently.

"I don't know what to say." I whisper and take another bite of my now tasteless sandwich.

"How about I say something first?" He suggests and I nod a little. "One early morning I was out hunting pretty close to a small city when I heard a bloodcurling scream, I ran there and saw a father trying to force himself on his daughter. I got so mad I immediately snapped his neck and hid his body, never to be found again and helped the daughter and her mother with their finances for years. He deserved dying, but I also feel the guilt every day, Bella." He tells me and I nod a little, then I give him a slightly amused smile.

"So now just because all of you know I'm a killer as well, you can talk about your killings?" I ask and he sighs.

"No Bella, that's not why. We have never tried to hide that we kill humans but neither you or we like to talk about it. What I want to say with that story is that we all understand it, even I do. It's painful and heavy to carry around the guilt, no matter how bad those you killed were. I hoped you would never have to experience it, sweetheart." He explains and I look down at my hands.

"The worst thing for me was that I haven't regretted it once and when I did it- I- I kind of liked it. I enjoyed stabbing them because it was so good, getting revenge once and for all." I whisper brokenly and he takes my hand gently in his.

"I- we- did too. Even though I myself haven't slipped from our diet the others have and they were incredibly pained by the thought that they enjoyed the killing that much. It's about control and for us blood, for you revenge. But after it's done, it's horrible to live with the burden. I wish I could say it gets easier, but it doesn't." He tells me and I nod a little, wrapping my arms around him in a hard embrace.

"Thank you, dad." I whisper and he hugs me even tighter.

"You're welcome, my daughter." He whispers and I sigh contently.