~ oOo ~
Thank you so much everybody for your unwavering support!
I honestly never expected such a reaction to this story. Some
of you know this already, but Pinky Promises started out as a dream
I had during a time when I was in sleep therapy, so after I'd written
it down it stuck with me. I couldn't shake it, and the tale evolved,
eventually becoming this monster of a tale.
Never did I imagine how much it would resonate with people.
Anyway, enough out of me. You're not interested in what I
have to say up here, I know ;)
Sorry again for the cliffie. I hope this makes up for it!
ALSO, HOTDAMN we hit 200 reviews!GAH!
Tulips at Twilight, you were the magic number 200,
so there's a little nod to you further down the page.
~ oOo ~
Summary: When two little girls were allowed to walk
home from school one bright spring day nobody could've
predicted the events that followed. The way two families
were torn apart by the vendetta of a deranged man.
Nearly twelve years on, we'll watch as the two girls stolen
away from their homes at eight years old fight to take
back their lives. If only it were as simple as escaping. AU
Pinky Promises
Chapter Ten
Riley Lawrence all-but slammed down his phone after ordering his agent to get the woman's details, throwing his rental car out of the hotel parking lot to speed towards Lewistown. En-route he sent a message to the other agents to let them know where the girls had been sighted, and to head to their assigned rendezvous points. He didn't need solid proof to know that this was the real deal.
Riley's gut told him they'd find Isabella Scarlett Swan and Roslalie Hale within the next couple of hours.
His gut had rarely ever been wrong, and it wasn't then.
The first agents spotted the pillar of smoke spiraling up into the sky minutes before they arrived on scene. The radios were abuzz with panicked chatter. By this point the fire had been raging for going on five minutes and had begun to spread into the apartments either side of nineteen through the wooden frame. Everybody had been evacuated, and when Riley skidded to a stop a few men were battling the resilient flames with buckets and hoses running from the nearby pond, the twenty or so people staying or working at the motel gathered nearby.
"What the hell happened?" Riley spat, throwing his badge in the nearest motel employee's face.
The tie-dye clad teen popped her gum loudly. "I, like, dunno. Some dude just rolled up in, like, a really ugly car. Guess it was him 'cause he was, like, all shift and stuff. Ya know?"
With clenched teeth and fists so tight his bones popped, Riley growled.
"Boss?"
No sooner than Riley was informed there were two guests unaccounted for did Riley hear his tech whizz's voice. Turning, he frowned.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
Jogging beside Ben was Edward, a grim look on his face.
"I'm here to help, Riley."
Ben quickly explained how he and Edward had been testing a new kind of micro-tracker he'd been working on when the call came in about the girls' location. Unwilling to be dropped off, and not having enough time to drive back to Lockwood anyway, he'd brought Edward along.
"Right, I don't care. Just keep back and let the professionals do their—"
An enormous ball of debris, smoke, and fire launched itself into the air, crashing back down on the roof of room twenty-one and collapsing the entire right side of the block in one fell swoop.
"Get back!" Someone yelled, the crowd frantic in their attempts to get away from the blistering heat.
Only two men remained.
Riley and Edward cast pointed glances at each other, a decision made in the split second of panic everyone else indulged in. Nodding stiffly despite knowing the shitload of paperwork he was choosing to inundate himself with, Riley grabbed a fire blanket from a passion employee and shoved it at Edward. "You ready?"
Not pausing to question Riley, Edward didn't hesitate in running towards the burning building. Adrenaline, affection for the girls he counted as honorary siblings-slash-best friends, and loyalty to the two families who'd helped patch him up as a troubled child pushed the young man ahead of the FBI agent. Long, strong strides carried him across the grass, jade eyes fixed on the peeling door adorned with a wooden '19'.
"Watch yourself, you hear? I've got enough damn paperwork without worrying about you, too!" Riley barked.
Edward yelled an 'affirmative' just as he reached the door. A booted foot crashed through the flimsy door with a crack inaudible over the sound of the fire and splintering apartment structure. Tugging the fire blanket over his head and shoulders, Edward inhaled a lungful of the relatively clean air, then shoved his way in.
Here goes nothin', was his last wry thought before the smoke and heat swamped him.
Edward's mind worked frantically, his body protesting the forward movement even as his head insisted upon it. The room was about fifteen feet long, eight wide. So far the fire had almost the entire front blocked off, only a small gap in the flames even remotely passable. Conjuring up memories of eight-year-old Scarlett and Rosalie, and remembering little Marley who'd been distracted by pancakes cooked by one of the agents while she watched Spongebob, he said a quick prayer and forced himself through.
Thankfully, the nylon-style carpet repelled the blaze to a certain extent, allowing Edward's boots a path along the wall. With dark green eyes reflecting the dancing vermillion columns reaching for the ceiling, Edward searched for the girls amidst the smoke.
A rumpled, multi-colored quilt topped a small double bed, the matching pillows burning on the floor where they'd been thrown after proving ineffective at extinguishing the fire. The dresser was alight, as was the shabby gray sofa. The girls weren't there.
Seemingly out of nowhere came a meek voice. "Help! We're in here…" the voice rasped. Trying hard not to breathe too deeply, Edward stretched to look over and around the dancing fire.
It was then, through the thick black smoke, that he spotted them. They were curled into each other on the bathroom floor. The only reason Edward could see them at all was because the entire bottom section of the door was missing. Squashing the surprise at seeing the pair, he moved swiftly, pushing at the door only to find it was jammed.
"It's broken," came a whimper from the other side.
The heat began to feel a though it was scorching through the fire blanket. Edward's breathes had grown so shallow he felt a little light-headed, panic building.
"All right." He looked down at the hole, knowing he'd be too big to squeeze through. And they didn't have time, anyway. The flames were sidling closer. "Can you crawl through here?"
A split second after he crouched and reached an arm through, a soft, small hand brushed his.
"I can try, but Scarlett—" the girl coughed. Rosalie, Edward deduced, grasping her hand gently before trying to peer through the haze of smoke.
"Move out of the way. I'll kick the door down, ok?"
Rosalie scrambled out of the way, tugging an unresponsive Scarlett with her until they were sitting in the tub. The fractured plastic screen attached to the bath acted as a weak barrier between them and the door when Edward barged through, Rosalie jumping with a startled squeal. Just as he realized it would be impossible to carry both girls at once, Riley appeared, handing them paper masks to cover their mouths and noses before scooping Rosalie into his arms without preamble and backing out of the room.
A loud groan from above pressed home the point that he needed to get moving, and quickly. Edward reached for Scarlett. She flinched away from his touch, eyes flashing open. They shone dark blue in the shadow of his imposing form.
"Hey, it's me, Edward. You remember me from when you were little?" He murmured, trying not to look as frightened as he felt. The fire was encroaching on their personal space by then, creeping towards the doorway. If they gave it a chance to meet them there they'd be trapped.
Scarlett's eyes flickered for a brief moment in recognition, a huffed gasp falling from her lips as she cocked her head slightly to one side. The movement reminded him of Marley. It made her hair shift, the stark white of her bandaged temple looking so much worse with the heat of the flames at Edward's back, his heart racing, lungs burning with the need to take a deep breath.
"Yeah, you remember. It's ok, don't talk. Put this over your mouth, we need to be quick…that's it. I'm gonna carry you out, ok? Just stay still and close and I'll do the leg work."
Scarlett didn't show any sign of acknowledging his words. Shock, maybe. Nevertheless, Edward didn't have time to wait any longer. Time was running out.
As he looped his arms under her legs and back, Scarlett surprised her childhood friend by curling into his chest and tucking her head into the crook of his neck, white-knuckling the edges of the blanket.
"All right, you ready?"
She nodded meekly.
"Ok."
The ceiling overhead crackled with the strain of staying up even as the walls began to crumble, their shoddy assembly making them weak against the onslaught of the determined flames that licked at them. After leaning up to inhale one quick breath from the slightly-open window Edward brushed his stubbly cheek against Scarlett's tangled hair before throwing them through the doorway, into the searing frying pan the apartment had become.
What felt like an eternity later, they stumbled from the collapsing front door onto the dirt. Riley moved to catch them, propping Edward up as he coughed and moved away from the burning building, Scarlett clinging to him not unlike how Marley had the night before when she'd woken from a nap on the sofa whimpering.
Sucking in desperate breaths, Edward didn't bother to turn when the apartment building collapsed. Scarlett's whimpers resonated in his head as he coughed and choked on the smoky air, rasping his thanks to Riley when he tugged the paper mask away to toss it to the floor. Sinking to his knees a hundred feet or so away from the burning rubble, Edward cradled Scarlett carefully despite the pain in his chest and the prickling of his eyes.
"You ok, Scarlett?"
She managed a nod.
"Go—" A horrendous coughing jag stole the breath from Edward's chest, but all he could think about, all he could see, was the look of absolute gratefulness on Rosalie's face as she darted across the grass towards them, and the numb expression on Scarlett's when she pulled her face from his neck a moment later to mouth 'I remember you'.
~ oOo ~
Driving towards Lockwood, Riley glanced periodically at the view in the backseat. Rosalie was in the seat directly behind him, Scarlett huddled into Edward's chest on the other side of the bench. Thanks to the paramedics that arrived on scene while he and Edward were getting the girls out, Scarlett's head had been patched up properly, and they'd all been checked over and given oxygen.
Rosalie had explained that the only injury either of them had was Scarlett's head wound, so Riley hadn't insisted on a hospital visit once the paramedics had declared her fit. She'd also made sure to give them the paperwork Scarlett had stolen from the study, which Riley was eager to look through. He'd have preferred a trip to the hospital just for a thorough once over, but with Scarlett as mute as her daughter but pretty much completely unresponsive, and Rosalie taking edgy to a whole new level, nobody thought it would be a good idea.
There was the added issue of their anxious fathers, too.
They'd been awaiting their reunion for far too long already. In the three hours since their rescue, the press had somehow gotten wind of bits and pieces, their curiosity already spiked by the FBI presence at the burnt-out ranch, the earlier plea for their safe return, and the police and federal agents swarming the motel after the fire there. Riley knew from experience that all hell would break loose once they realized the significance of the girls' identities. With their faces all over the news it wouldn't be long, which was exactly why he was rushing them back to Charlie, Peter, and of course Marley, swallowing his insistence that they go to a hospital.
They'd waited long enough.
In the backseat of the SUV, Edward's chest relaxed for the first time in day, his arms tightening reflexively around Scarlett when she shifted. A warm puff of air left her lips and caressed his Adam's apple, sending a shiver through his body. He'd always been ticklish there. Cursing his ticklishness, Edward attempted to move so he wouldn't shudder every time Scarlett breathed.
A surprised gasp stopped him in his tracks. "Hey, it's ok. Your breath was tickling me," he whispered, halting Scarlett's attempt to scramble away. "Are you comfy?" Edward grinned at the hesitant dip of her head, tipping his own back against the headrest and sighing deeply. "You're welcome to stay then."
And it seemed she wanted to, because she settled back in, only holding herself rigid for ten minutes or so until she relaxed once more.
For a long while the anger Edward harbored for Smith was pushed back, the only emotion able to override it being the crushing relief of having Scarlett in his arms, Rosalie close enough to touch, with the miles separating them from their dads and Marley being rapidly eaten up by Riley's lead foot on the accelerator.
"There are going to be a lot of agents around in a minute." Riley eventually said softly, interrupting Rosalie's morose contemplation. Her eyes snapped to his gentle blue, seeking reassurance but still wary. She didn't trust him yet, but she desperately wanted to believe this wasn't all an incredibly elaborate dream. Desperately wanted this to be real, especially the part where he dad was so close, as Riley had said. "None of them will hurt you, but there will be lots of people around. It's for your safety, ok?"
After a pregnant pause, Rosalie dipped her head. Scarlett's entire body stayed perfectly still against Edward's hoodie-clad chest. Not a sound leaked from her lips, her breathing so shallow that if Edward didn't know better he'd have thought they'd lost her.
"Where…where are we going?"
"A safe house near the city. You'll be safe there, I give you my word. I have my finest agents guarding it."
Another dip of her head pre-empted a silent ride the rest of the way to Lockwood.
Riley was just happy neither girl was gravely injured, though he was growing steadily more worried about Scarlett's obviously frail state of mind. He could only hope being reunited with her dad and Marley would help.
~ oOo ~
The safe house was smaller, dirtier, and more inconspicuous than Rosalie expected. When the SUV pulled up outside a small, white paneled house with a brown lawn, broken shutters on the tiny windows, and chipped paint…well, everywhere, she shuddered. More than once she and Scarlett had wondered what their lives would have been like if they'd been taken somewhere else. Somewhere more populated where he wouldn't have been able to hide them so easily. Somewhere like this place.
Immediately upon arrival, two enormous black-clad agents emerged, meeting their boss just outside the vehicle while Rosalie scooted closer to Edward. He offered her a small smile, slowly tucking an arm around her shoulders in a gesture of comfort she gratefully accepted after the shortest of pauses. "You're both gonna be ok no, Rosalie. You're safe."
Riley opened the door furthest from them. Rosalie clasped Scarlett's hand, kissed her forehead, then urged her to slide off of Edward's lap so they could disembark. To her surprise, Scarlett clutched at Edward with a whimper and refused to move at all.
"It's all right Rosalie, I can lift her out," he said. Hiding the feeling of rejection, Rosalie pushed away and stepped onto the cracked driveway, Edward shifting his body with Scarlett still clinging to him until he could put his feet on the ground.
Riley, Agent Davies and Agent Willows took in the girls' condition with barely concealed horror. Scarlett's expression, or what they could see of it with her face pressed against Edward's broad chest, was devoid of any emotion, her body slim. Too slim. The thin white t-shirt she wore was stained by the smoke and hung loose over her skinny frame, bony right shoulder clearly visible because the neck of the top was far too big. Rosalie's condition wasn't much better, but marginally, but only because she'd managed to eat and keep food down. Scarlett hadn't, and in recent weeks she'd been eating less and less anyway, her appetite decreasing.
"Come on, let's get you inside."
Agent Willows, the only female agent available at short notice, coaxed Rosalie forward, Edward walking ahead of Riley and Agent Davies as they tried valiantly to disguise their disgust at the way the girls had been treated.
Inside, Scarlett refused to be put down. Rosalie sat herself on the shabby couch, ignoring her hatred of unfamiliar people to curl into Edward's side so she could be close to Scarlett. Baby-blues took in everything, from the peeling wallpaper to the pair of cold coffees sitting on the table a few feet away. Terror clouded her thoughts when she spotted a large, intimidating man with gray-brown hair standing guard in the corner. She felt silly because he didn't look anything like him, not really, but the hair and the stance…it set off alarm bells in her mind that she hadn't been aware of before.
Her fragile nerves weren't helped by Scarlett's prolonged silence. All Rosalie wanted was a sound, a single word to reassure her. To take away the crushing fear that this was all a big joke. As much as Rosalie had prayed for this day to come, now it had she couldn't believe it. Not yet. Not even with the blast from the past Edward represented.
Riley's appearance took her fear down a notch. The tenuous link between their rescue, their safety, and Riley helped her racing heart settle just a little. For a few long moments the room rustled with activity as agents moved equipment out of the way. The thumping rhythm of their FBI issued boots on the exposed stairs sent frissons of anxiety through the girls, although only Rosalie showed it with the widening of her eyes. Phone calls were made, plans changed, revised safety measures put into place within a matter of minutes, and throughout all this Scarlett and Rosalie stayed still and silent, unable to do anything but take it all in.
Then, Edward caught a nod from Riley to one of the agents whose name he didn't know. The dark haired man glanced over at him, cradling Scarlett while hugging Rosalie around the shoulders, before darting up the stairs. The muffled sound of smashing glass made Scarlett flinch, a low whine escaping her lips. Heavy footsteps running down the stairs a moment later elicited a similar, albeit sharper, response.
Scarlett and Rosalie jumped, startled, cowering in fear against each other and Edward as two men burst into the so-called 'living area', one in dark wash jeans and a black, long-sleeved top while the other sported vintage wash jeans and a matching top, but in navy. Heaving, panting breaths filled the silence of the room, their eyes trained solely on the shivering girls across the room.
Thick anticipation clung to every air molecule in the house as the two broken fathers set eyes on their daughters for the first time in what had been twelve lengthy, heart-breakingly unbearable years.
Faced with a too-thin Scarlett in a faded, smoke-scented shirt and cut-off shorts, so different to the rosy-cheeked girl of his memories, Charlie was forced into the sudden realization that his little girl had grown into a young woman. A mother herself, now. She was no longer the eight-year-old he remembered, though she was tiny even for twenty-one. It was a hard pill to swallow – for him, and for Peter, who was fast coming to the same conclusion. Hauling in a deep breath, Charlie exhaled it shakily, managing to utter a single word. His daughter's name.
Nobody could have predicted his daughter's reaction. Not even Rosalie.
Her body went slack, then tensed against Edward. A ragged, harsh huff of air left her lips and was loud even across the room as her haunted blue-green eyes fell on Charlie, the torture of that simple contact hitting everybody square in the gut. Pain lanced Scarlett's heart, her voice raspy as she groaned, "no. No, no, no, no, no…"
Aching sadness mixed with pain from her head injury, her refusal to take painkillers coming back to bite her now, and lingering shock created a potent disbelief. In her mind it was all a dream. A heartbreakingly realistic dream that didn't seem to be ending.
The agents, fathers, and Rosalie watched in burgeoning dismay when Scarlett began to rock on Edward's lap, her face turned into his neck, hands white-knuckling his slightly-too-small borrowed hoodie.
"What do I do?" Charlie asked nobody in particular, alarmed at the sight of this unfamiliar yet so familiar girl in clear distress right in front of him.
"Let me just…" Edward trailed off, adjusting himself a bit. He squeezed his arms around Scarlett gently, ignoring the beguiled but enthralled onlookers as he whispered, "hey, Scarlett, you don't have to be scared and shut off, ok? You're safe. You're safe with us, with me. I don't have to let you go if you don't want me to, but your dad wants to see you. He's been waiting a long time just to see your face again. Don't you want to see him, too?"
Slowly, Scarlett's keening slowed, then stopped. Each muscle relaxed infinitesimally until Edward wasn't just holding a bundle of nervous tremors anymore. Her hair a matted golden halo around her troubled mind, she blinked tear-filled eyes a few times, and Edward could almost see the change in them. The switch from unseeing to aware.
Charlie let out a strangled whimper, Peter's arm shooting out to hold him upright, as matching sets of anguished aqua eyes met for the first time in over a decade. It took an endless moment for Scarlett to realize.
It wasn't a dream.
"Daddy…" As soon as the choked word was free of her lips Charlie shot forwards to fall to his knees in front of her. His large, calloused hands hovered over her legs nervously as torrents of tears soaked their faces. Having barely managed to hold herself back in case Scarlett needed her, Rosalie bounded across the room into her dad's waiting embrace.
"Oh, my girl," Charlie croaked, heart breaking all over again as he gazed into his daughter's tortured eyes. "I've missed you. So, so much."
"Me too, Daddy." Without another word Scarlett slipped neatly from Edward's lap into Charlie's crouched body, hitting him with a muffled whimper. The force should have knocked him off-balance, but he barely felt it. Wrapping strong arms around her tiny body Charlie barely suppressed a shudder at the all-too-obvious mistreatment of his girl. If he tried he could probably have wrapped his arms around her twice, that was how scarily thin she was. The feel of her spine and shoulder-blades against his forearms was almost more than the emotional father could handle. The only thing stopping him from letting go to hunt Smith down himself was that he'd been waiting a long, long time for this day.
As Edward quietly stood to step away from the reunited father and daughter, Scarlett tightened the weak hold she had on her dad and found herself struggling with the idea that, at some point, she'd have to let go.
That point came some thirty minutes later.
Edward heard it first. Over the course of the past few days he'd become attuned to the way Marley fidgeted, the sounds she made with her body if not with her mouth. And he knew, even though she was upstairs watching Spongebob with an agent while he was downstairs, that she wanted something.
He excused himself silently, leaving Scarlett and Rosalie on the loveseat with Charlie and Peter. It was a testament to the girls' poor condition that they all fit, because it was barely four feet across.
Creeping up the stairs on socked feet, Edward grinned when he spied Marley. She was on folded knees in front of the portable DVD player an agent had found hidden away, but her eyes were on the doorway, then him when he appeared. Her eyes brightened and her lips moved into a small, hesitant smile. A hopeful smile. She looked so sweet, so innocent, with a single red tulip tucked behind her ear. One of the agents had brought a bunch to the house to brighten it up at Riley's request, and Marley had silently giggled behinds her hands when Edward had plucked one from the vase to settle it at the side of her head.
"Yeah, little sweet, I'm here to get you. Are you done watching Spongebob?"
She nodded, looking forlornly at the repeating main menu. Ah, so the DVD had ended.
"All right, well I've got some people who'll probably want to see you. C'mon."
Only once he'd opened his arms to her and given her permission to move did Marley scramble to her feet, rushing across the floor to wrap her arm around his leg, peering up pleadingly. He knew exactly what for, too.
"Oh, all right. You know you just kill me with those big 'ole eyes, don't you?"
Marley's smile widened further, a flash of white teeth between her rosebud lips. He hadn't been able to deny her one single thing, and he didn't start now. Edward lifted her small weight easily up onto his hip, holding her there and brushing a wayward curl back from her face. He'd managed to brush it and pull it back into a messy ponytail, at least. Nobody else in the house seemed capable of doing hair – except Charlie, who still hadn't been able to get close enough to touch Marley without her panicking.
With no further ado, Edward smiled to himself, knowing Scarlett would be pleased when he walked through the living room door. He only wished he could hear how excited Marley would be. Whenever he'd babysat Carl-Roman he'd loved the way the little boy cheered at the news his dad was home, or if they were going to visit Charlie and Peter he'd tell Edward all the things he wanted to do there. Marley simply held onto the fabric at his shoulder and watched his face curiously as he grinned.
It was funny, but Edward thought he'd had enough shocks for his entire lifetime just in the past few days, and yet as he stepped through the doorway to the living room, turning in time to watch Marley as she peered around the room and caught sight of the two new occupants of the house, he found himself delighted at the most recent surprise.
"Mommy!"
All eyes swivelled in synchronisation to the little girl scrambling down from Edward's hip to charge across the space separating her and her mother. She flung herself into Scarlett's lap, sobbing big, heaving but silent cries that broke the hearts of everybody in the room. For the longest time, Scarlett didn't even move, only muscle memory pushing her arms around Marley to hold her close even as she stared in wonder at the little girl's shaking body.
"Did she…? Did you…did you just, speak?"
Marley peered up at her mother from beneath long, wet lashes. The warm weight of her Scarlett's lap brought forth a smile as she threw herself back her chest, snuggling in with a quiet hum.
Scarlett looked to Charlie, Peter, then Edward, finally noticing the wide, proud grin on his face. "What? Has she done that before?"
Edward shook his head, unable to stop himself laughing. The sound drew Marley's attention. She twisted, lips spreading into a tremulous smile when she found Edward grinning at her. "No. No, she hasn't spoken, not since we got her."
"Oh, thank God." It was impossible to miss the relief on Scarlett's face as she hugged her daughter, stroking her hair repetitively, lips curling into the smallest of almost-smiles when she noticed the flower behind Marley's ear. It smelled fresh, reminded her of home. Of England, and of Peter and Tina's garden when she was a child. "I thought…for a second I thought I'd missed it."
"Missed what?" Peter asked gently.
Scarlett shot him a shaky half-smile tinged with sadness. "Her first word."
At her side, Rosalie sniffled and reached over to squeeze Scarlett's leg gently, smiling when Marley stretched to be able to tap her fingertips to the corner of her mouth in a silent I love you.
"So, that answers that questions," Riley mused aloud. When Scarlett looked to him for clarification, he added, "whether or not she spoke at all. We'd wondered if she'd warm up to us and get comfortable enough to speak."
"She's never spoken," Scarlett admitted. "We've never known why. She understands us perfectly, and always does as she's told. We talked and talked when she was a baby, trying to get her to say 'Mommy' and 'Rosie', but she never did."
Everyone in the room could see it upset Scarlett. Including Marley. She pulled her attention away from Edward to reach up and cradle her face, wiping away a lone tear as it cascaded over Scarlett's cheek. "M-mommy?"
More tears fell. Happy ones, this time. Scarlett's face blossomed with a smile. "Yeah, babygirl, Mommy. I'm your Mommy."