Chapter two

Tanya wasn't going to stop and look back, no, she kept running, the same image going through her head. It wasn't until the silver Volvo she was approached by earlier showed up on the road besides her.

She looked at it before she felt her stomach knot, turning away from them, before leaning down to throw up whatever had been left in her stomach from two days ago as well as water and her own stomach acids. She might've looked pale before, but currently she looked as if she was dead. She was taking deep breaths before she felt her stomach knot once more, causing her to barf once again, this time she felt a hand gently hold her hair back, for which she was thankful, a little. Once she felt it was safe, she thrust one of her hands into her bag, pulling out a napkin, cleaning her mouth.

Tanya heard a gentle voice speak up, "What happened?"

She recognized it as Jasper's, but still holding her trust far away from their reach, she just shook her head, "Nothing, nothing at all". She thought for a minute, before she turned around to look at them.

"Could you please take me to a hotel or a motel of any sorts?"

"We could take you to our home, I'd prefer that better over leaving a girl at any hotel or motel nearby here." She heard a new voice, this time recognizing it as Edward's.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, before speaking back up, "No, I rather not do that. I appreciate the offer and everything your father has done for my aunt, but I cannot do that." Her voice held a tinge of bitter, as if she was trying to make sure she'd get her point across.

It wasn't long before she felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her in to the car, she started flailing and shouting, her voice cracking whilst she was at it. It wasn't until they started driving that she warily looked at the both men, anger almost seething off of her, before she suddenly felt relaxed and calm, which she found odd.

She spoke up, her voice still bitter, "Where are we going?"

She received no reply, only a small smile from the man sitting beside her, she glared at him, realizing that he was the one who dragged her into the car.

Tanya just kept a blank look on her, the scene replaying in her head all over again, making her grimace. She looked at Edward, seeing his own face scrunch up in disgust. Who would've thought that seeing your aunt hang from the ceiling with a slashed throat would make you run for your dear life?

She felt the car finally stop, noticing the house in front of her, leaving her mouth slightly agape before she felt her stomach knot again, causing her to almost jump out of the car before she barfed once more. Hearing someone approach she warily glanced at them, before completely emptying her stomach, feeling slightly dizzy until she felt the same arm wrap around her as the one from before, she wasn't very happy, but she was thankful, hoping she wouldn't make a fool of herself by fainting or face planting into the dirt.

She was lead inside, her eyes slightly curious and interested in the décor, a woman's touch, she thought, no man could make a house feel like it's a mother, welcoming you with open arms.

She glanced up, to see Carlisle watching her, a blonde haired woman staring at her with a blank expression, I might like that one, she somberly thought, only hearing a small gasp from who she assumed to be Edward, before ignoring him.

"Could I just ask for a ride to a hotel or something of the sorts? I don't feel comfortable with invading your families private time or space or getting involved with you all, really." She kept her defenses high, still praying she wouldn't become attached to anyone, she couldn't afford to.

Edward shook his head, before walking forward to Carlisle, quietly whispering, and informing him of what he knew.

Tanya whimpered, feeling her stomach knot once again, slightly holding her breathe before she felt a woman's hand onto her back, ushering her to a bathroom, once she was inside she knelt over the toilet bowl, puking once more, purely stomach acids by this point which was causing tears to swell up in the corners of her eyes.

She wasn't sure why she had such a strong reaction, she had seen worse, hadn't she, she thought as she reached for the sink only to find someone's hand turning the water on, to which she nodded as a thanks before washing her face, she felt extremely uncomfortable.

Carlisle had walked in by this point, quietly asking, "What happened, Tanya?" He stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest as she looked at him, she saw a woman who looked like a copy of her aunt, her expression turned from blank to pure horror, noticing it, the woman left the room.

She bit at her tongue, not wanting to recall what she saw, before speaking up quietly, "Why don't you go see the house for yourself?" Her lips were back to being sealed shut as she tugged at her shirt with her hands, feeling uncomfortable. "Can someone, please, take me to a hotel? I don't mean to be a burden, but I don't feel comfortable."

Carlisle just shook his head at her, before she saw Alice come in and particularly drag her out of the bathroom, upstairs to what she thought was Alice's room, she was confused, but wasn't even given a second to answer.

Alice stared at her, with a small smile sitting atop of her face as she said, "Go take a shower, I'll wash your clothes and lend you some of mine until yours are clean."

Tanya just stared at the woman in question, confused as she thought for a while before nodding slightly, as if agreeing to what she had said before stalking into the bathroom and slowly stripping out of her clothes.

She suddenly felt a chill run down her back as she looked back towards the doors to find Alice, staring at her whilst she was naked. She almost immediately flinched and backed away into a corner, grabbing onto whatever she could to cover herself up. Staring back at Alice in horror before she heard a gentle voice, not hearing what they were saying, but she watched as Alice left, the doors closing behind her.

Tanya slowly stalked to the doors, locking them and making sure they were locked, before she headed for the shower, letting scalding hot water hit her skin, slowly turning it to the colder side. She whimpered, feeling the emotions she had holed up for years finally come all out, a scream leaving her mouth before she sat down onto the shower floor.

She held her head against her knees, feeling her own hot tears against the cold water, she had hit rock bottom, was she only hallucinating that it was her aunt hanging there? Yes, that wouldn't be the first time. She was broken out of her thoughts once she heard someone knock at the door, slowly picking herself up, turning off the water before speaking up.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright, dear?" Tanya didn't recognize the voice, though she answered regardless.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just... uh, hit my little toe, yeah." She mentally wanted to smack herself for such a ridiculous lie, but that seemed to do the trick for the woman behind the doors.

"Alright dear, be more careful, there are clean clothes by the bathroom door."

"Thank you" Tanya said in a small voice, almost positive that the woman wouldn't hear it.

Slowly, she turned the water back on, this time she made sure it was warm, she made the shower quick, she wasn't home and she wasn't sure what had caused her little burst out just minutes before, but she sure as hell wouldn't repeat it.

It was only 13 minutes later that, Tanya came out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around herself and her hair, she slowly made her way to the door, unlocking it before looking around carefully, deciding against changing in this room, she slowly picked up the clothes and walked back into the bathroom.

She sighed softly, looking at the spaghetti string shirt that was left for her, not that she wasn't thankful, she just didn't want to show off her bruises. Eventually getting over herself and her distaste for the shirt, she let the towel around her body, drop to the floor, slowly putting on the simple white lingerie set that was left for her. She surveyed the small pile, picking out the jeans which were fairly baggy, for which she was thankful as she quickly slid them on, the shirt soon followed, she picked up the towel she had dropped, putting it into the laundry bin before grabbing the socks that had been left for her and walking out into the room. She put them on, slowly slipping into her boots, before opening the door, peeking slightly only to see her aunts lookalike stand besides the doors.

"Uh, Hi" Tanya said quickly, not meaning to be rude, "I'm sorry, but, uhm, I don't know your name" she almost whispered the last part, looking at the woman who smiled at her.

"I'm Esme, dear, are you okay?" Tanya thought about it slightly, before replying to the woman,

"I don't want to sound rude or needy, but could I ask for a cardigan or something of the sort? I have some bruising, because I'm clumsy…" She didn't finish the sentence as she saw Esme stalk off into the hallway before entering a room quickly and coming out with a black wool cardigan, Tanya gave her a small smile.

"Here you are, dear." Esme's voice was sweet, full of care, Tanya could tell, she slowly took the clothing piece from the woman's hands as she stepped away from the door, slipping into it before walking out and seeing Esme eye her with a small worried frown, Tanya didn't question it, she just returned the woman a small smile.

"Do you happen to know where my bag is?" Tanya asked quietly.

"Yes, Jasper carried it inside before they all left to see your house." Tanya's mouth formed into an 'o' before she skipped down the stairs, forgetting Esme and grabbing onto her bag, opening it and rummaging through it for her medicine, before feeling Esme's watchful eye behind her.

She pulled out the small box, turning to Esme, "Could I ask for some water? I should be taking my medicine… I sort of skipped over it for several days." She offered the woman a sheepish smile after which she quietly followed Esme into the kitchen, watching her pour a glass of water.

"Thank you." She said quietly, dropping two different looking pills into her palm, before swallowing them and downing the glass of water over them.

"You're welcome, dear. If you don't mind me asking, what is the medicine?" Tanya watched the woman's expression, deciding that it was safe to tell her, "Zoloft and Effexor, I've been on these for years now, though they seem to do more bad than good." She trailed off, getting lost in the train of thought until she heard the front doors open and people walking in, she glanced at Esme, who smiled at her.

"I'll talk to Carlisle about your medication, if you're saying that it's doing less good than it is bad, maybe you shouldn't be on it." Tanya shrugged at the woman, her expression neutral to the woman's suggestion.

Carlisle stepped into the kitchen shortly right after, looking at the scene, his face was a mix of confusion and distrust, "What was wrong when you went home? We checked every corner of that house and found nothing."

Tanya paled, thinking back onto it, shaking her head, "I suppose I must've hallucinated, I didn't sleep much last night, because…" She never finished the trail of thought before she collapsed onto the floor, this caused a rush from everyone, Esme and Carlisle had managed to catch Tanya to break her fall, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and Bella just looked on, this time Alice spoke up.

"I saw her, she looked malnourished, her whole body was littered in bruises," She said, her face had turned from her usual happy to a serious, almost disgusted.

"Something isn't right with her, I had Jasper look into her hospital records, she's been in and out of mental institutions and hospitals since the age of 12"

Carlisle sighed, carefully taking a hold of the girl and carrying her up to the guest bedroom, Esme followed right behind him, ushering the others to stay downstairs.

"Maybe… Maybe we should tell her and them" She spoke up cautiously, glancing at Carlisle as he rushed around Tanya, taking her blood pressure, measuring her body temperature.

"No, not yet, she cannot know, neither can they." Esme sighed at this, brushing stray strands of hair out of her face as she looked at the young woman sleeping on the bed.

"She's supposedly taking Zoloft and Effexor." Carlisle looked up at her, his eyes slightly wide, "That's where the hallucinations could be coming from, I'll look into it, research more about both, I'm not entirely familiar." She watched him work, always in an awe, seeing how careful he was with his patients.

Carlisle glanced at Esme with a small sigh, "Take Jasper outside, I'm going to take her blood and we don't want an accident like we had with Bella" Esme nodded, stepping out, before ushering Jasper outside with her. Jasper wasn't surprised, but still it irked him ever so slightly. Tanya's blood didn't appeal to him, it was as if someone had drowned her in tar and cow dung, it smelled unappealing. He didn't voice his thoughts, but he knew Edward would bring it up, so he simply accepted the change of scenery as he and Esme took a small walk further into the woods.

Several hours had passed since Tanya collapsed, she awoke, blinking slowly, looking around to see Esme sitting on a chair in the room, reading a book, she glanced at the woman who looked too familiar for her own liking, but she shook it off.

Tanya slowly sat up, looking around, avoiding to look at her arm, because she felt an IV, she kept her gaze steady away from it, hoping to not have an attack. She caught Esme's gaze, looking at the woman with sad eyes, she felt uncomfortable, she felt like she had overstayed her welcome and she definitely didn't want to be anywhere near this place.

"How are you feeling, dear?" She heard the woman's voice, causing her to shiver, because she felt as if she was speaking with raw emotion.

"I'm better, can I leave?" She cocked her head to the side, looking with questioning and hopeful eyes.

"I'm afraid not, not just yet, Carlisle had your blood work done, you're anemic and severely under weight." Tanya frowned at her words, her gaze hardening.

"I don't see how my health is any of your business." She snapped, watching the woman flinch a little before getting up and picking her book up.

"I'll tell Carlisle to come over, maybe you can convince him." Esme said with a sad tone, Tanya almost felt bad, keyword, almost, Tanya never felt bad, she had outgrown that, or so she thought.

She ignored the woman's words, looking down at her arm, tugging at the bandages holding the IV in place, before she ripped it out completely. She let it drop to the floor whilst picking herself up slowly, seeing Carlisle enter who looked upon her with a frown, she threw a look at him, slipping into her boots before grabbing onto her bag.

"I appreciate all you've done Samantha, but I don't need anyone babysitting me, again." She almost spit out, raising her eyes at the man, as if challenging him to stop her.

Carlisle said nothing in return, figuring she had made up her mind. He watched her walk down the stairs and to the entrance, soon hearing the doors open and close quietly. He sighed as he walked downstairs himself, looking at his family whom all had curious looks.

For once, Rosalie spoke out about the girl, "She's got quite the personality, couldn't even tell she was related to Samantha at all."

Esme slowly emerged, looking sad, but doing her best to mask it, she wasn't sure what to say, "Is she going home? I'll make her some food that someone could bring to her…" She trailed off, trying to find an excuse for her actions, but she had none.

Carlisle wrapped his arms around the woman's body, carrying her upstairs, "Not tonight, she's a kid with a goal."

The family in the living room slowly dispersed between rooms, each doing their own thing, busying themselves.

Tanya had managed to get out of the families house, slowly walking down the path to the main road, a cigarette stuck between her teeth whilst she looked at her phone, 70 missed calls and 30 text messages, she found it odd, not recognizing a single number that had called her nor texted her.

The text messages were empty, she tried calling the number back, but it said that the number is wrong and doesn't exist, she was confused to say the least, shrugging it off as she called a number she knew by heart. Tanya wanted out of here and who else better than him, slowly, she typed the number, bringing the phone to her ear before she heard a yell from behind her – Alice.

She looked at the girl, cancelling the call and putting the phone into her pocket, Alice made her way quickly towards the girl, with Rosalie following her, although she looked like she didn't want to be here, she didn't express it vocally, Tanya was confused.

"Hi?" Tanya said, looking at the girls with a confused expression, her eyebrows slightly burrowing.

"Heyy, would you mind if we take you to a hotel, it's in a good place and I know you might not want to go home."

Tanya raised her brows, looking at the girl, nodding her head, "I'd appreciate that if it's not trouble, I was going to have someone pick me up for that same reason". She said the last part quietly, knowing that it wouldn't be the only reason. Rosalie was quick to run towards the garage, getting her car ready and driving down next to both of them, they quickly got in as Alice started asking questions. Tanya was overwhelmed and Rosalie noticed, "Alice, you're scaring her." She said nonchalantly, to which Alice frowned, "I'm sorry Tanya, I just wanted to know more about you, I thought it'd be great to have a new friend"

Tanya just nodded at her, not saying much in response and before she herself knew it, they were in Seattle, next to a luxurious looking hotel, leaving the car and heading to the entry.

The girls waved to Tanya, before they disappeared, Tanya didn't mind, she preferred this. She got her room ready and set before she disappeared into the elevator, making her way to the penthouse, she had always wanted to stay in one and since she had the money, why not?

It took several minutes to get up there, slowly making her way into there, she looked over the city, placing her only belongings onto the couch in the room, she walked to the window, sitting down and looking out of it, what had started at Cullen's, finally overwhelmed her, she finally cried.

Tanya spent the rest of the night bawling and crying her eyes out, eventually moving out on to the balcony with her cigarettes, curling up on the loveseat outside, wrapping herself into a blanket whilst smoking and weeping, she barely could anymore, she had cried all of the tears she could possibly produce. She finished the cigarette, curling up into the blanket and the chair, looking up at the sky before dozing off finally.