Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight; all rights go to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter Six, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Carlisle's POV:

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.~ C.S. Lewis

"I still don't understand how you lost this camera." I mumbled, annoyed that we were back out here near Esme's mother's house.

Garrett shot me a glare, "Shut up." He snapped.

We've been searching for hours, and it was beginning to be helpless. "Do you think Charles found the camera?"

Paling, Garrett shook his head. "I really hope not…what if…what i-if he, you know takes it out on E-"

I cut him off, "No, let's just assume that the camera is out here." I wanted nothing more than to keep Esme safe, and this stupid plan may have just gotten here in more trouble and pain.

"I'm never listening to Renee again. Her plans never work, I mean, just look at how the intervention went." Garrett complained, he was angry at so many things, and Renee had just become his target of blame.

I shook my head, "Let's not focus on that. Besides, Renee was just doing what she thought was best."

Garrett barked a harsh laugh, "Yeah, and so is Esme with her not wanting to tell the truth. Everyone needs to stop doing what they think is best and actually do what is best."

I turned to face him, a little more than annoyed now. "Don't take your anger out on Esme." I snapped, and a little shocked with my behavior I took a deep breath. "What is best, anyway, Garrett?"

He stopped looking for the camera and faced me too, he looked lost. "I-I don't know; but not this!"

Suddenly an idea clicked, "Garrett…I know you are ticked about losing your camera, but since Esme's mom lives right there…why don't we just bring everyone here and show them, or take another picture."

Garrett's jaw went slack, "Dude…why are you now just thinking of this!" He looked a little excited, "I have an idea!" He said and then took off running.

I threw my hands up in the air; okay just totally disregard my plan. I took off running after him, wanting to know what his grand idea was. But I reached the road outside of the woods and he wasn't anywhere around. "Garrett?" I called out, spinning a 360o to look for him. I felt myself pale; Garrett was standing at Esme's mom's house, knocking on her front door!

My body was tense, deep down I had a feeling that this was a bad idea, it isn't supposed to happen this way. My feet move before my mind has the time to process the situation completely; it was like instinct taking over.

"GARRETT NO!"

Garrett turns around, looking at me. "What?" He asks innocently.

"Are you insane?" I grab him by the collar, "This isn't right!"

The door creaks open, our heads quickly snap towards the direction of the door. At first we don't see anyone, but then a little "hello" casts our eyes downward.

I heard Garrett's gasp before I heard my own. There standing in front of us was a tiny little girl, maybe three years old. She had big brown eyes and long blonde curls. Even with her different colored hair and different eyes, the little girl looked like a younger Esme.

"Hannah?" A woman's voice called out.

A woman appeared before us, and I recognized her as Esme's mother. It was obvious where Esme's beauty came from, the old Hollywood actress look. "Garrett?" she asked, surprised; her eyes wide and slightly suspicious.

Garrett seemed to have lost all ability to speak; he was staring at the small girl. I dropped my hands from his collar and smiled at Esme's mom.

"Uhm yes and I am Carlisle." I said in what I hoped was polite tones.

It wasn't adding up in my head, Esme's mom left a year ago, but this little girl looked to be three years old. Esme's mom glared at us, taking me aback. "You need to leave."

SLAM

The door shut in our face.

Garrett and I glanced at each other, things just got a little more complicated.

Esme's POV:

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. ~ C.S. Lewis

An intervention. They really had an intervention, here at my house. I paced back and forth in my room. The girls left an hour ago, and I couldn't seem to let it go. I wasn't angry, no that wasn't it. More shocked and embarrassed. Did they really think I was one of those victims that protected their abusers? I sighed, leaning against the wall. Am I really one of those people?

The question struck me hard, bringing unwanted tears to my eyes. Ever since mom left last year, I thought I could handle anything. I wanted to be strong like she was, and maybe if I was stronger then she would have taken me with her. I felt the warm tears fall over my eye lids. I sunk down to the floor beneath me, why… My brain dared to ask the question that I knew would tear my heart apart, why did she leave me?

Carlisle's POV:

We walked back to Garrett's car, feeling disoriented. Things were not adding up, and I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt so disjointed from my body, and I had absently heard the car doors click when they opened. Neither of us had said a word, not even when we sat down into his car. I was afraid to ask any one of the millions of questions buzzing through my mind. Garrett didn't seem to know what exactly to say either. I wasn't sure where we were heading, but he started the car and started to drive. In the back of my mind I was a little concerned with Garrett driving if he felt in anyway like I was. But Garrett seemed to be aware of the road, as we slowly drove back to his house. He pulled the car into park and turned off the engine. I felt the tension build in the air was we both sat there, staring at his driveway.

"What the heck was that?" He asked, his voice a little shaky. "Esme never told me that she had a sister."

"Maybe she doesn't know?" I suggested, even though it was highly unlikely.

"I've known her for a pretty long time, and I've never once seen or heard about this sister."

"Maybe it she isn't Esme's sister?" That seemed more likely, but they looked so familiar. I felt a shiver, but I suppressed the urge to give into it. This wasn't a time to freak out, we needed to figure this out, and the only way to do that was with a clear head.

"We need to tell someone." Garrett stated, his voice had turned a little cold. "Because I have no idea what to do."

I shook my head, "They won't either, and I have a feeling that this is something that Renee and Charlotte would want to tell Esme…" I took a deep breath, "Is this something we want to tell Esme?" I asked him, fully aware of the amount of secrets I was keeping could not be good.

I saw Garrett run his fingers through his hair out of the corner of my eye. He was silent for a few moments, and when he did finally speak his voice was clear. "No. I don't think we should tell any of them. Esme's mom had to have a reason for all of this, and there are so many parts of this story that we don't know. I say we get the facts straight and then tell everyone, including Esme, at the same time."

I nodded my head, "Agreed."

~000~

After we had a few more minutes of sitting there in silence, we trudged out of the car and up to Garrett's room. Pulling out his laptop we started searching the Internet for anything that could possibly give us answers. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful.

After two hours, we had a new outlook on the whole problem. Doing this like we had in the beginning: pretending we are some secret agents or something; although we would never say it aloud. We had pulled out a notebook and starting writing down everything we knew, and the major questions that we needed answers to.

Garrett sighed, "Alright. Here is everything we know so far: Charles is an abusive and in power father, Esme's mother, Laura, lives barely 30 minutes away from her daughter, Esme does not want to tell the cops about her father, Charles knows that Laura is here, and there is a little girl that looks an awful lot like Esme and her mom."

"Right. So who is that little girl? Why is Esme's mom here and why doesn't Esme know? Or does Esme know?"

Garrett nodded his head, "And how in the world do we get Charles arrested and tell the others this without upsetting Esme? Also how do we ask Esme if she has a sister without sounding like we are accusing her or telling her how we know this information?"

Frustration creeping on me again, I ran my fingers through my hair. "Let's just assume that Esme does not know this, because if she did, wouldn't she have told anyone about it?"

Garrett grimaced, "She didn't tell us about her dad beating her."

I felt the need to stick up for her, "She's just scared of him, I don't blame her for not telling anyone."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't blame her either." Garrett assured me, "But we also have to face the facts that Esme is not all that open about the dark and scary side of her life."

Groaning, I fought the urge to punch the wall. But I had to keep it together, we were doing this for Esme. "Where do we start?" I asked somewhat rhetorically. I didn't think Garrett had an answer.

A mischievous grin appeared on his face, "The most important and immediate problem is getting Esme away from Charles." I nodded my head, thinking he has completely lost it with that creepy grin, "Now this might sound insane." He warned, "But I think the best way to prove that he is a complete abusive psycho is to tick him off."

"No!" I yelled, "No way are we putting Esme in the position of getting hurt again! You are insane!"

Garrett put his hands up, "Hold on, let me finish!" He dropped his hands and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. "This plan involves the others."

It took only forty minutes for everyone to show up at Garrett's house. We all sat down in his bedroom, waiting for him to share a plan that I was planning on disagreeing with, I didn't like the idea of putting Esme intentionally in harm's way. I was sitting on his desk chair, Charlie was standing in front of the widow, and the girls were sitting on his bed. Garrett paced around the room, with a serious and thoughtful look on his face.

He stopped pacing and turned to face us, "No interruptions." He blurted out, "Okay?"

Every mumbled that they would not interrupt, and I could tell that I wasn't the only one weary of whatever plan he as coming up with.

"We need proof that Charles is beating Esme." He took a deep breath, "Didn't Esme herself say that? So, I think that maybe we should throw Charles over the edge."

"What! Are you cra-" Renee began to scream, but Garrett cut her off.

"A-a-ah! You said you wouldn't interrupt! Let me finish!" He let out a frustrated sigh, "It is not going to be directed at Esme." Garrett spoke to us slowly as if we were small children. "We just need to tick him off in a public place, and maybe it will prove that he has a temper. Then maybe that will give Esme the courage to tell the truth."

The room was silent for a few moments, everyone in thought. Garrett looked at us all impatiently, waiting for someone to speak.

"That's not a bad idea." I admitted.

"But blowing up once is not going to prove he has anger problems." Charlotte pointed out.

"And it can't be obvious that it is us messing with him, because then the focus would be on us: disrespect and obnoxious teenagers."

Renee nodded her head frantically, "Yeah, and I don't want to be point in jail."

Garrett rolled his eyes at us, "Guys! We are doing this for Esme." He looked over to Charlie, "And yes, I thought about that point. We just have to make these things look like accidents."

"What are 'these things' you have in mind?" Charlotte asked carefully.

That mischievous grin appeared on his face again, "Thank you for asking." He said, and pulled out the notebook he had been scribbling in while the others were on their way. He wouldn't let me see what he was writing, and I was a little nervous to hear what his ideas were. "The man obviously has a temper, and a major one at that, so it shouldn't be too hard to make him explode. We can't really mess with him at the police station because there are undoubtedly cameras there and too many witnesses. So I was thinking that we should trash his car in the middle of the ni-"

"Garrett!" Charlotte yelled at him, which was strange to see; Charlotte hardly ever yelled. "That is a stupid idea! Getting angry at vandals is not going to prove he has a temper!"

"Char, I'm not stupid." Garrett said, seemingly upset and surprised at her outburst.

"Well you could have fooled us." Charlotte retorted, "Besides, how do you know that ticking Charles off in public isn't just going to cause him to explode at home and instead of in public?"

Garrett sighed, "Geesh Char! If you would just listen to the full plan."

She shook her head, "I want to help Esme as much as you do, but this just does not seem like a good idea."

"I think you were going in the right direction Garrett." Charlie said thoughtfully. "But it could use some tweaking."

Garrett looked as though we told him that we were going to shoot a puppy, but then his face quickly turned to acceptance. "Fine, what do you have in mind?" Everyone was quiet, "Exactly. You don't have a better plan."

"What if we blackmailed him?" Charlie finally said, "Like we threaten to tell him that we know and are going to tell if he ever touches Esme again."

Charlotte smiled at the idea, "Yeah, and we could even take photos and stuff to make it seem real."

"We should keep surveillance over the house too, just in case it backfires and he takes it out on Esme." Renee added.

"I don't know if spying on Esme is the right thing to do, but we really don't know when and what is going to set Charlie off again." I said, my mind fighting between doing what Esme would want, and what will keep her safe and protected.

Renee's eyes filled with tears, "You're right, we don't know when it will happen again, and we don't know if Esme will live through it."

Renee and I's words had sunk into everyone's brains and determination shone in everyone's eyes.

"Well, let's start on our first black mail letter." Garrett said. He seemed excited.

"I feel like we are in the books Pretty Little Liars." Renee said, letting out a small chuckle, "Except we are A and we are doing this to stop someone from getting hurt, not to hurt them."

Garrett and I exchanged glances, "What is that?" Garrett asked.

Renee rolled her eyes at us, "It doesn't matter." She laughed and looked at Charlotte, "I swear, boys." She rolled her eyes again.

Charlie looked at us and shrugged, "Never mind that, let's write this letter."

"What if he traces it back to us and like finds finger prints or something?" Renee asked, looking at us, "And on CSI one time they traced it back to someone's computer when they printed it out."

That thought was a little scary, could he really do that?

"I'll write it, just give me a sharpie and a sheet of paper." Charlie said, he obviously didn't that Charles would trace it back to us. "He doesn't have any of our finger prints." He said calmly.

~000~

It was dark, and we still hadn't found Charles' car. We had decided it would be best to stick it to his windshield, but we couldn't find his car. He wasn't home; he wasn't at the police station, or the dinner. Renee went over to Esme's and Charlotte had to go home and babysit her younger brother because her parents were going out for the night. That left Charlie, Garret, and I. We decided about an hour ago to split up. It was getting late and I knew it had to be around curfew. I was pretty exhausted, and still hadn't showered or changed since Garret and I's adventures in the woods. At this point, I didn't care if I got caught at this point, I just wanted to find Charles' car and go home to shower. I didn't have a car, so it was definitely a possibility.

The smell of hamburgers wafted to my nose, and caused my stomach to grumble. I hadn't eaten much of anything either. My stomach getting the better of me, I started walking towards the diner up ahead where the smell was most likely coming from. I had reached the parking lot when I thought of my appearance. I looked like I had gotten in a fight in the woods.

I basically did get in a fight in the woods. My thoughts complained. I stopped walking and went to turn away and keep walking, but then I saw it: Charles' car.

I whipped out my phone and called Charlie, "I found it! I found him!" I whispered, the excitement of it all getting to me. Without thinking I ran over to the car. Charlie had wrote down the note for both Garrett and I incase we found the car.

"That's great, where are you? I'll pick you up!" Charlie said, and I could hear his excitement too.

"The diner, over by t-"

Charlie cut me off, "I know, be there in a few minutes!"

We hung up and I stood beside the car, anxious feelings rising. I squashed them, this was not a time to wimp out. I was just about to pull the note out of my pocket when I heard someone yell from behind me.

"HEY!" It was a deep voice, and it sounded angry.

I turned around and saw someone in a police uniform.

Crap. Luckily it wasn't Charles, because I was pretty sure I would be able to identify his voice anywhere.

~000~

The cop thought I was trying to vandalize the Charles' car. He drove me home while he mumbled about how he didn't expect this from a Pastor's son. I had the urge to roll my eyes, if he didn't know anything about my father. The man was self-righteous and twisted the Bible. But it wasn't his fault, grandpa was raised him that way. My only blessing was my mother, if it wasn't for her I would have turned out just like them. I pulled out my phone and texted Garrett that I hadn't been able to stick the note on the car and that I would let them know what happened later. I knew they would come check the house to see if I was okay, so I needed to remember to text them later if I still had my phone.

The cop stopped at my house and let me out of the car. He placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me to the front door. I was definitely not looking forward to facing my father.

End of the Flashbacks.

My eyes felt heavy as I forced myself awake. I had set my alarm to go off at 3am. I had to check and see if Esme was okay. I was just about to sneak down the stairs and outside to find the binoculars, but I decided to look out my window first. Charles' car wasn't even in the driveway, which meant Esme had to be asleep and perfectly okay. It was the only good thing that had happened in the past 48hrs, and that was enough to help me fall to sleep again and this time peacefully.