Hey guys!
I was watching Law & Order SVU the other day and one of the episodes inspired me to write this story.
It's very much my style and tone, so I hope you enjoy!
Jade's life had been good, she had a family who loved her and she grew up surrounded by everything she could possibly need. However, when she turned 9 years old, she had an accident, she went missing and only returned 6 years later with only vague memories of what had happened to her…or at least, that's what she said because she had to, they had to believe her story, they had to believe she was Jade, she could not go back to where she actually belonged.
"I'm Jade" Jade said to the portrait of a little girl who looked like her, except she was really overweight, she was 9 at the time and she had brown hair, pale skin, blue eyes and a star tattoo her cousin had made on her inner arm. She'd been just a child at the time and her parents had freaked out, her cousin had been grounded and never allowed to come near Jade again, but the tattoo had stayed on her arm.
Pictures of her flooded the internet for years after her disappearance, but nothing happened until one day Jade showed up at the West residence six years later, there had been a dramatic change in her physical appearance because she'd lost a lot of weight and she'd grown up, but her features were still the same and most importantly, she had the tattoo. It had to be her, except it wasn't.
Her parents had been so devastated by her loss for years, that just having her back, even with the changes, felt like a miracle and they held on to that. Jade was treated for lack of vitamin D because she'd spent all that time locked up and the doctors determined she'd been starved and abused, so her parents put all their money, love and effort into helping her heal from all that trauma.
When she turned 16, she started high school as a whole new person, with her family's support and the chance at a new life. Her friends didn't know what had happened to her and she didn't want to tell them, she wanted a fresh start and she got it.
"Hey babe" Beck said as he approached her in the hallway and they kissed.
"Hey" Jade said and smiled.
"Plans for tonight?" Beck asked as he put his arm around her waist and she smirked.
"I'm open to suggestions" She said and they kissed again.
"I was thinking we could…." He started and then started whispering into her ear all his plans for that night, so she smiled and chuckled.
"Someone's happy today" Tori said as she and the rest of the gang joined them and Beck moved back.
"Hey guys" Beck said a little annoyed by their presence.
"What are you guys talking about?" Cat asked and Beck and Jade looked at each other with slight smirks.
"Nothing" Jade said "What do you want?"
"We want to go to the movies tonight, we could also grab some dinner, what do you think?" Tori suggested and they sighed.
"Sure, sounds good" Beck said.
"Yeah, whatever" Jade added.
"Great, so…should we go after class?" Andre asked.
"I need to change, I'll meet you guys at the mall" Jade said.
"No need, I can give you a ride home and wait while you change" Beck said and she nodded.
"Okay, let's go to class then" Jade said and they all made their way to the classroom. After that, Beck drove Jade home and waited for her downstairs, he got along quite well with her parents, so they were always happy to see him.
"So, how's school? Jade told us you guys have a play coming up" Jade's mother, Evelyn, commented.
"We do, she got the lead and I got the villain" Beck said.
"I can't wait to see it" Evelyn responded and he smiled. "So, what's the plan tonight?" She asked.
"Just movies and sushi, don't worry, I'll bring her home early" He informed.
"I know you will, hon" Evelyn said and then Jade came into the room.
"Ready" She said.
"You look great, darling but don't forget your jacket" Her mother said and she nodded.
"I left one in Beck's car, mom" Jade said and grabbed Beck's hand "See you later"
"Have fun!" Evelyn said and continued reading her book with a cup of tea. Beck and Jade closed the door behind them and immediately bumped into a girl, she was shorter than Jade but she looked about the same age. The girl had pale skin, blue eyes, long wavy brown hair and she was overweight.
"Who are you?" The girl asked.
"How is that any of your business? Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Jade asked coldly, so the girl looked at her confused.
"Wait…what do you mean your house? I, I thought the West family lived here" The girl said shyly and Jade started getting nervous, she looked at her from top to bottom and all the pieces started clicking in her head, so she felt her blood going cold.
"They do, who are you?" Beck asked confused and the girl looked at Jade trying to understand what was happening, she didn't recognize her.
"Beck, why don't you wait in the car while I talk to her?" Jade said and he looked at her confused.
"What?" He asked.
"Who are you?" The girl asked again.
"This is my house and you need to leave, NOW!" Jade demanded angrily and the girl stepped back disconcertedly "Get away from us" She ordered aggressively.
"Jade, what's happening?" Beck asked her and the girl looked at him disconcertedly.
"Jade? Your name is Jade?" The girl questioned and Jade looked at her nervously.
"Yes, her name is Jade West and this is her house, now tell us, who are you?" Beck asked and the girl looked at Jade.
"I…I need to talk to them" The girl said and tried to ring the bell, but Jade held her arm to stop her, so Beck saw she had the same star tattoo on her inner arm.
"Isn't that the same tattoo you have?" Beck asked and Jade could only feel her heart beating faster.
"Get away from my house" Jade said as she forced the girl to walk back.
"Let go" The girl said as she tried to free her arm from Jade's hand, but she was holding it tightly.
"Go and don't come back" Jade ordered and pushed her back.
"Jade, what the hell are you doing?" Beck asked, he didn't understand anything.
"Who are you and why are you doing this?" The girl asked confused.
"I'm Jade West and this is MY family, go!" Jade demanded and the girl shook her head upset.
"I'm Jade West and this is my parents' house, I won't go until I see them" She responded and Beck stared at her disconcertedly.
"Is this a joke?" He asked.
"No, it's not and she knows it, don't you? Jade or whatever the hell your real name is" The girl said and Jade stared at her angrily.
"What is she talking about?" Beck asked, he didn't understand anything, but it was clear Jade did because she looked furious.
"I don't know who you are and I don't care, I'm here to see my parents so step aside" The girl said and walked past them, so Jade looked down and the girl rang the bell. A few seconds later Evelyn opened the door and saw the girl standing there.
"Hi there" Evelyn said nicely and at first, she didn't recognize her.
"Mom…" The girl said as her eyes filled with tears and Evelyn felt a strange overwhelming feeling taking control of her body, it was her, it was her daughter. After all those years, she was finally back but it didn't make any sense, how could it be? She'd been back for three years already.
"What?" Evelyn asked.
"It's me, mom" The girl said and Evelyn saw she had the tattoo, so her mouth dropped in shock.
"Jade?" Evelyn said and the girl smiled as she cried more, Evelyn stared at her completely overwhelmed and then saw Jade standing a few feet behind her with a mortified look on her face.
"What's happening? I don't understand" Evelyn said confused as she looked at both girls completely overwhelmed.
"It's me, mom" The real Jade said and hugged her so Evelyn hugged her back, but she kept staring at the girl she'd taken care of for the last 3 years. She couldn't believe she wasn't her daughter, she felt a strange mix of anger, love and confusion as she looked at her.
"Jade, what's happening?" Beck asked coldly but she simply looked at him in resignation.
"It's over" Jade said.
Evelyn broke the hug with her daughter and stepped outside to walk towards Jade, so she stayed there waiting for the screams to start, she'd feared that day would come but after all that time, she'd hoped the real Jade would never return. However, the day had finally come, she was back to reclaim her place.
"Who are you?" Evelyn asked coldly as she glared at Jade, but she didn't say anything. "WHO ARE YOU?" She screamed on her face.
"I'm sorry" Jade said and the next thing she felt was a slap across her face, so Beck's eyes wide opened.
"Hey!" Beck said upset and grabbed Evelyn's arm "What are you doing?" He asked while Jade held her face.
"Did you know?" Evelyn asked him.
"What are you talking about? Know what? What's happening?" Beck asked and Evelyn pulled her arm away angrily as she stared at Jade with tears in her eyes.
"How could you?" Evelyn questioned confused as she cried and Jade stared at her sadly, she felt so bad about everything.
"I'm really sorry" Jade said sincerely and her former mother shook her head upset.
"You're sorry? What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked disconcertedly "I'm calling the police" Evelyn said to Jade and she stared at her terrified.
"No, no, no, please...don't, don't call the police" Jade said terrified.
"The police?" Beck asked confused, he felt so lost.
"I don't know who you are or why you are here, but you belong in prison" Evelyn affirmed and Jade shook her head.
"I'm sorry" Jade repeated and then started running away, so Beck stared at her confused.
"Jade, wait!" He exclaimed.
"She is not Jade" Evelyn said and walked back into the house to hug her daughter, so Beck followed her.
"What did just happen?" Beck questioned.
"Beck, I need to be with my daughter, please go" Evelyn said.
"No, I need an explanation, why do you say she is your daughter? Why did you just slap Jade?" He asked.
"I'm Jade" The girl said.
"This doesn't make any sense" Beck said.
"Honey, where have you been all these years?" Evelyn asked and she looked down.
"I went outside to play and I…I was hit by a car and some people found me and took care of me, but I didn't remember who I was, so I just…I stayed with them, they took me in" The girl said.
"We looked for you everywhere, why didn't they send you back?" Evelyn asked confused.
"We didn't live here in Los Angeles, i've been in Utah, they…they were just driving by and they found me after the other car hit me and they took me, but they didn't tell the police because they are illegal immigrants and they thought they'd get in trouble" She explained "But, mom, please don't send them to prison, I didn't know who I was, not until a few days ago, I finally remembered and they were so sweet, they gave me money to come home"
"Oh god" Evelyn said and smiled as she stroked her daughter's face "So, they didn't hurt you, right?" She asked and the girl shook her head.
"No, they were lovely, they treated me like their own child all this time" She explained and Evelyn smiled.
"Oh honey, I'm so glad" Her mother said and kissed her forehead.
"But mom, who was that girl?" The real Jade asked.
"She turned up three years ago and said she was you, told us some story about a basement where she'd been locked up for years and she had the tattoo and we just…I'm so sorry, honey, I should've known she wasn't you, but we just wanted our daughter back and she fooled us" Evelyn said and Beck just listened confused, he was finally starting to understand but everything was overwhelming for him.
"And who is this?" The girl asked referring to Beck.
"I'm her boyfriend" He responded.
"Yes, and you better tell that liar this is not gonna stay like this, she'll pay for what she did to us" Evelyn said.
"What are you gonna do?" Her daughter asked and Evelyn picked up the phone, she dialed a number and Beck and the girl looked at each other for a moment while waiting for Evelyn to speak.
"Hello, this is Evelyn West and I would like to report a crime" Evelyn said and took a breath "There was an intruder in my home and I want her arrested right away"
Dun dun duuuun
I hope you guys liked the first chapter, PLEASE REVIEW! :)