Tanya had spent several days now with the strange man, he mostly didn't bother with her, only seemingly being in the same room as her when she was asleep, not that she cared enough. He fed her and in the end had gotten her more clothing, not much more appropriate but she couldn't object in this situation.
He had applied some kind of cream to her cuts and bruises that had seemed to help it heal faster but not much faster than usually they'd heal on their own. She considered the man weird, he had tried to initiate sex with her at one point but after she hadn't answered him, he puffed and walked away. She wasn't sure what that had been about. She seemed generally unaware of her surroundings, her head was dull and she was hungry, albeit he took care of her, he wasn't exactly on top of her needs, he'd leave her a bare piece of bread or a sandwich and disappear, she didn't want to complain but compared to what she normally ate, it hadn't been enough to give her much energy.
She sighed as she showered, brushing the conditioner through her hair before washing it out and washing the rest of her body. Staring at her body in the mirror she frowned, tracing scars that littered her body, some still hurt, the others not so much.
Eventually she got out, this time surprised to see that the clothing she had brought with her to the bathroom had been swapped out, with what seemed to be lace. Confused, she sorted through it all, finding lace underwear, it didn't hide much but she knew she didn't have much of a choice so she complied, slowly slipping into the panties and the bra. The garter belt and stockings followed next after which she realized that there had been a white blouse on a clothes hanger and black pencil skirt. She looked at it quizzically, murmuring quietly, "A secretary fetish, huh…" It wasn't long until she was fully dressed, she decided to amuse the man further and put her hair up in a neat bun before slipping into the heels she found underneath the chair. They had been too tall for her to walk in properly, but she supposed that it wouldn't hurt to try. She slipped into them, adjusting the strap that went around her ankle before leaving the bathroom to see the man standing opposite the door, leaning against the wall, a grin gracing his features, "Well don't you look like a snack, hmm.."
She didn't get to reply, his arm was quickly wrapped around her waist before he took her to the room she had been sleeping in, only to find that the couch had been replaced with a bed, where the paintings once hung were just empty hooks that had black ribbon laced through them. She finally figured the gist of what he had wanted and tried to back out, but this time he gave her no choice, knowing full well that even if she could've ran before, she was too weak now. It wasn't long until her entire body had been bound tightly in the ribbon, it wrapped around her neck tightly and choked her whenever she moved in ways she wasn't supposed to.
The woman grimaced but didn't say much, her mind once again forced to wander to a distant place, but somehow she was brought out of it when she noticed the sudden absence of the man. It was soon replaced by loud shouting in the front room of the house, it sounded like Marcus and Carlisle trying to reason before a choked scream came from the man whose name he had never given her. She was confused but didn't move, instead she just stared at the ceiling, painfully aware of what was happening just behind the wall.
Soon, Jasper and Diane entered the backroom to find the woman bound tightly, they seemed a little taken back by how calm the woman was in the midst of everything. Diane was quick in ridding the woman of the binding before trying to talk to her, Tanya just nodded yes and no to every question Diane asked before her eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she collapsed back into the bed. She was exhausted, drained, a sudden wave of emotions had overcome her, it was so much and all at once, it was too much.
Diane checked the woman's vitals, her pulse was steady and her heart seemed to beat just fine, she quickly scooped the girl up only to have her taken out of her hands by Jasper who carried her into the other room. Apophis' body lay there, torn in pieces whilst Marcus glared at Jasper, nearly ripping the woman out of his arms and scurrying off to his own car.
Jasper just looked on, wanting to follow, but Peter, Carlisle and Charlotte stopped him, "He needs this more than you need your mate, right now, let him have it, we didn't know that seeing Daniel would be such a huge deal to him and she was the only one he ever opened up to about anything, even if she had been under drug influence," Charlotte said quietly and Jasper just nodded, not bothering to look back as he went to his own car, shutting the door and waiting for the rest of them to finish up and set the body ablaze along with the house.
Marcus held onto Tanya's body tightly as his hands ran through her hair, it was still soggy and wet, yet nonetheless she had always been beautiful, but now, he had no reason for her in his life, his mate, the entire meaning of his existence had returned to him, he didn't feel so alone, yet it was so hard to say goodbye to her. Knowing full well that she had been there every single time he had to get the pain off of his chest, every time he needed to fill the void in his soul, she had offered him her body and peace, and she had taken just as much in return, for whenever she wasn't doing so well.
"Marcus," It had been Daniel's voice from the front of the car, the man was looked into the backseat somberly, his heart breaking for the sadness that radiated off of his mate's eyes, "You don't have to say goodbye, you know?" He said quietly, trying to ease the pain the man obviously felt.
"I can't keep her in my life anymore, she often replaced you while I was unaware of the fact that you had been alive." He said, his face graced by a frown to which Daniel just frowned, "Look, we can visit her when she gets better, I'd like to meet her and learn more about her because she was such a huge part of your life for a period of time."
Marcus sighed, "Okay, we can do that."
It wasn't long until there had been a knock of the car door, to which Marcus gently took the woman out of the backseat and handed her to Alice who had immediately taken the girl to Jasper's car, settling her gently in the backseat of his car and covering her with a blanket before buckling her body in.
Leo and Diane settled in Marcus' car as he got into the driver's seat and drove off first, the rest of them following, yet heading into different directions.
The Cullen's had arrived back in Forks now, it had been several days now and Tanya was still out cold, her internals were fine but her mind had been plagued by nightmares, it seemed to be painful for Jasper to be around her because even his soothing and calming didn't alleviate them at all, it seemed to have no effect on her.
Jasper often sat in her room, pondering how she had ended up being his mate, after all, he hadn't felt the pull, and he hadn't felt anything that other vampires always described when they meet their mates. He had just felt pity for her. Yes, she was pretty, without a doubt he'd love to eat her up, watch her squirm and beg underneath him, but it was just him being sexually deprived for several years now, seeing as Alice turned out not to be his mate, which he didn't take too hard, he was happy she found his mate, Gustav had been a fair man, having given up many things and habits just to be with Alice and he was happy for it.
His thoughts drifted and then he noticed the woman stirring, he watched her body move around the bed, he was quickly out of the room before she noticed him there, asking one of the women to watch over her instead.
Rosalie had been the one to go up. She seemed to sympathize with the woman, having gone through so many traumatic experiences at such a young age, it was beyond her, to see someone's parents treat their child so poorly, especially when she was robbed off of the opportunity.
She watched the woman shift around the bed before her eyes fully opened and met Rosalie's. Rosalie cast the woman a gentle smile which she returned before slowly sitting up. At this point, Rosalie had been quick, in human terms, of helping the woman up.
"Hey, how do you feel?" Rosalie asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Sweaty, honestly," Tanya answered, rubbing at her hand shyly at which Rosalie laughed.
"Do you think you'll be able to shower on your own or do you need help?"
"I should be okay, I think," Tanya said thoughtfully before continuing, "Would be it be fine if you stayed outside of the door in case I run into issues with it?"
"That's fine, don't worry about it, I'll be here," Rosalie said, standing up on her feet before speaking up once again, "I'll get you some clothes from Alice, she went shopping for you, she figured you'd want something comfortable and soft after waking up."
"Thanks," Tanya said, feeling at ease for once, more comfortable around the people and their care, "I appreciate that."
Rosalie just nodded giving the woman a small smile while moving outside of the room and calling for Alice before moving back to Tanya, helping her up and to the bathroom. She left the bathroom doors ajar as she said, "If anything happens, just let me know, ok, I'm right here."
"Yes Rosalie, I will, thank you," Rosalie could hear the truth to the woman's words as she smiled to herself. She quite liked Tanya, she was kind albeit everything that had taken place.
Alice had ran into the room at one point, handing Rosalie the pile of clothes that she had bought, they were rather baggy and weren't form fitting, it seemed to be what Tanya enjoyed to wear. But before Rosalie could usher her out, Alice said in her sing song voice to her, albeit quietly, "You and Tanya will be the best of friends!" Soon after having said that she disappeared and Rosalie just smiled. She really did enjoy Tanya's company, she was quiet, she didn't require much attention and she was sweet.
Tanya showered slowly, her movements were weak and slow but that wasn't much of a surprise as she hadn't had actual food in a while, she hadn't had much energy, maybe she could ask Rosalie about having something to eat. She stared at her body in the mirror once again, eyeing everything before being broken out of her thoughts, "Is everything okay, Tanya?" Rosalie inquired, to which Tanya answered, "Yes, I'll be out in a minute."
She rubbed the towel all over her body before wrapping it around her and wrapping her hair in a separate towel. She was getting better on her feet as she quickly moved into the bedroom, seeing Rosalie just resting in the chair, her eyes closed as her head laid back.
"I'll get changed quickly," Tanya whispered to herself mostly as she disassembled the pile of clothes that were left for her. Simple lingerie, that was comfortable as she slipped into it, the shirt was plain, short sleeves but that would be hidden by the long sleeve sweater, before slipping into the sweater she put on the high waist, baggy jeans that cuffed at her ankle. She was quick to slip into the soft, fluffy beige colored sweater. She felt comfortable, almost happy. She slipped into the white socks and then slipped her feet into the simple, dark red slippers that were left for her.
She moved closer to Rosalie, wondering if she had fallen asleep as she gently touched her shoulder. The woman opened her eyes slowly, having pretended that she was asleep before speaking up, "Sorry, I dozed off there," She lied, she had actually just wanted to give the woman some privacy, "I've been rather tired lately, haha."
"Oh no, its fine, maybe I should let you get to sleep?" Tanya said, worry visible in her words to which Rosalie shook her head, "It's too early to sleep, will mess up my sleep schedule if I do." To which Tanya nodded her head before speaking up once more, "Hey, sorry, I may seem like a lot, but would it be fine if I bothered you about food? I'm really hungry." She said as she looked down towards her feet to which Rosalie just laughed, gently taking the woman by her hand as she lead her down stairs, to the kitchen.
The house seemed mostly empty, but Tanya could hear music coming from someone's room, she also heard Alice on the phone somewhere, chattering away to what appeared to be Bella. Emmett had been in the living room, playing games as she just waved at the women when they passed by. Edward was sitting outside, appearing to be reading a novel, she quietly wondered whether these people were perfect by default or was it a gift.
Rosalie quickly broke the woman out of her thoughts once more, as she asked, "So, what's your favorite to eat or cook?"
"Well," Tanya started, feeling almost guilty as she knew her request would be a little out there, "I really like chanterelle cheese soup." She brushed the back of her head to which Rosalie looked at her thoughtfully before speaking up, "What do we need for it?"
"Aa, just potatoes, cream cheese or spread cheese, chanterelles, dills, leek, I also liked to make mine with peas and additional carrots." Tanya counted on her hands before looking at the woman curiously, she seemed to be thinking a storm.
"Well, there are chanterelles in the forest, if you'd be interested in foraging for them, the rest I could ask Edward to go out and get, we need to stock up our fridge anyway and he wouldn't mind," Rosalie said while at the same time trying to ease the other woman into the idea that this would be okay, because even Rosalie realized that this was a bit of an out there request in regards of food.
"If it's not too much trouble," Tanya said shyly to which Rosalie just laughed, "Don't worry, it's no trouble at all, we need to buy some food for ourselves as well, so really, it's fine, most of what we'd be buying was similar to that, we'd just get a little more extra," Rosalie smiled at the woman, which seemed to ease Tanya up at which point she said, "Well I guess we could go foraging."
"Hold on here for a few minutes, I'll give Edward a list of things we need for home," To which Tanya nodded as she fumbled around with her fingers, poking her skin with her nails as she longed and craved for a cigarette, it was weighing in on her mind so heavily for a moment before she broke her thoughts, looking around the kitchen, finding two small knives, one for her and one for Rosalie, this would be fine.
She rose her eyes to the top shelves, noticing that small buckets stood there, she couldn't reach them but she quickly found that someone had followed her trail of thoughts as they were lifted down for her by Jasper. She smiled at the man kindly, "Thanks," to which he just nodded at her with a small smile before joining Emmett in the living room.
Rosalie had been back finally, at which she noticed that Tanya was already ready to which Rosalie lead her out of the house, Tanya having handed her one of the buckets and knives as they went on their way to go deeper into the forest.
Rosalie, for being a vampire, was not good at this, whereas Tanya had pointed out several different mushroom types, what was edible and what was poisonous and had gathered her bucket full with a pile.
"How do you do that?" Rosalie inquired curiously as she cut off some chanterelles that Tanya had pointed out to her.
"I had to live off of a random variety of foods when I was younger, my parents kicked me out or locked me out, a lot, when I was much younger, so you just adjust, you know." Tanya said quizzically as she moved forward, finding another bit of chanterelles which she pointed out to Rosalie.
"Why did they do that?" She inquired quietly, a familiar sadness visible in her voice as Tanya listened.
"Because I was a bad child, I guess, I don't really know, I never got to ask them," She admitted, never aware of why she was kicked or locked out or really treated the way she had been by them.
"Well, luckily for you, you have a new family now," Rosalie said, a sweet smile gracing her lips before she exclaimed, "Oh hey, I found some, haha" She laughed, her laughter was gentle, quiet yet at the same time it sounded like music to Tanya at which point she laughed too, "You're getting better!"
They had gathered enough mushrooms for several pots of soup but Tanya said she could figure out ways to make something more with it so it wouldn't go to waste.
Edward had already been to the store and back when they returned, the kitchen full of different foods and products in bags as the men were slowly putting them away. Rosalie had been quick to kick them out of the kitchen as Tanya just looked on shyly. She envied Rosalie, she wished she could be so brave and demanding. She quickly shrugged it off, helping Rosalie put everything away into the fridge and the shelves as she left only what they need on the table.
She instructed Rosalie on how to clean the mushrooms as she prepared the rest of the ingredients, chopping and dicing everything quickly and accurately before turning to Rosalie to help her finish cleaning the mushrooms. She enjoyed the wordless kitchen exchanges, she felt safe.
Soon enough, she was boiling the mushrooms and adding the other ingredients before finally and lastly adding the spread cheese. Mixing it around she enjoyed how the soup thickened up, but she liked hers thicker, so she added a little bit of flour to it.
Emmett, Jasper and Edward sat in the living room, quietly speaking, at which point Emmett exclaimed to the other two men, "You know, if I was human, I'd eat that whole pot in a heartbeat, ah fuck it, I'll do it now, it smells divine." Before either could respond, the larger man was out of the room and into the kitchen, leaning his head on Rosalie's shoulder before he spoke up, "What's for dinner today?"
To which Tanya responded shyly, not turning her back around as she felt intimidated by men, "Chanterelle cheese soup," She continued to stir it before placing the lid on the pot and turning the heat down, "It should be ready once it cools down," She admitted as she finally turned around to face Emmett but noticed how he had wrapped around Rosalie protectively.
"I can't wait to try it," Emmett chimed in, to which Rosalie also agreed out loud, "Me too, it smells great, Tanya." She also threw in a compliment albeit she couldn't enjoy human food as she had once, perhaps she would've loved this when she was still a human.
Tanya smiled at both of them as she excused herself for a few minutes, walking back up to her room, looking around for her bag, the urge to smoke was a little too overwhelming. Her eyes finally fell onto her bag as she went through it, opening a small pocket in which she had several packs sitting in reserve. She quickly pulled an unopened one, taking off the plastic casing before opening it and ripping out the foil. She slid one cigarette out while looking for her lighter before going back downstairs and out of the house.
She crouched down further away from the house, lighting the cigarette as she inhaled, feeling the buzz hit her almost immediately, taking her mind off of things as she exhaled and continued to inhale until the cigarette was done. She quickly put it out in the ground before finding the trashcan and putting it in there, pocketing the lighter before she went back inside.
She looked on at the living room, noticing that more people were gathered there now, Alice seemingly excited as she seemed to be annoying Gustav into oblivion. She had never spoken to the man as he seemed very reserved and only spoke when Alice was near him. She didn't linger too long as she moved into the kitchen, reaching up to open a cupboard in which she had seen the bowls in before but once again learnt that she couldn't reach the top shelf. This time it had been Jasper who had come to her rescue as he helped her lift out a stack of bowls, taking some more before moving them into the dining room, helping her set the table.
They both were quiet, but Tanya was feeling appreciative and Jasper had caught onto that. Out of all of the emotions he had felt come from her while she had been asleep, today had been so positive he didn't seem to understand her or how her mind worked, but he didn't mind. He had time to learn.
The table was set quickly and the soup was poured as well, it wasn't long until they had called everyone to the table, whilst Tanya still was in the kitchen, cutting up some pieces of bread before placing them down onto the table.
Carlisle gave a small toast, welcoming Tanya to their family and the comfort and appreciation that radiated off of the woman, it was something that Jasper hadn't felt so strongly in such a long time. She was really something else.