Chapter 1 – Reunited and Revelations
I hadn't seen Charlie in over 3 years. I rarely spoke to him on the phone any more either. About the only time I spoke with him was when he called me to see how I was doing. It's not like it really mattered any more. To him I was a disappointment. I had "fallen into the wrong crowd" as he put it. What did he expect though? Renee had left us a long time ago and he was there for me when I was younger but the second I hit puberty it became weird to him. I was a woman at that point regardless of age. He didn't know what to say or do and I became ever dependant on my friends. I wasn't a bad person; in fact I was the best out of all my friends. They were older and given more opportunities to get into trouble and experimenting with things. Although as Charlie put it birds of a feather flock together and so I was just as bad by association to him.
I was the police chief's daughter in a small rinky dink town known as Forks, WA. Everyone knew when I was 5 that my mother had run off and that Charlie was left raising me. I had a very good up bringing. I knew right from wrong. I didn't see why Charlie had to question what I was doing at all time. He'd instilled good morals into me regardless of how he saw me now. I was a good person.
After I turned twelve I knew I had to make some female friends to help me through my teenage years. I quickly became friends with Alice and Rosalie Whitlock. They were sisters, fraternal twins actually, but they looked nothing alike. Complete polar opposites in looks but still devastatingly beautiful. They were both older. I was twelve at the time and they were sixteen. But despite the age difference they loved me and I loved them. They were like the big sisters I never had. We were closer then I'd ever been to Charlie. They were my family. When I had my first period they were the ones to show me how to take care of it and how to use a tampon. They were the ones who helped me to the doctor to get birth control to help regulate it. They were the ones who comforted me when my first boyfriend broke my heart, and they were the ones who planned my sweet 16 birthday party.
They were my family, friends, and soul. It broke my heart when they left after they turned 20. They left for the big city lights of Las Angelos, CA. They kept in touch. When they first got there a week later I got a package in the mail and it held a cell phone along with a letter telling about how great it was and that they'd keep in touch. As soon as I turned the phone on I had a voicemail. It was both of them talking at the same time saying how they missed me and couldn't wait until I could come and visit. This was when I was 17. I wanted to rush down there to live with them as soon as I turned 18 but I told myself I would at least get my two year degree first. Mainly to appease Charlie.
After I graduated I went to a community college. I took full course loads and studied constantly. I graduated a semester early with my two year degree and had saved up enough money with part time jobs to buy myself a new car. I planned to save it until I got down to Las Angelos since Alice and Rose bragged that their new boyfriends knew all about cars and could help me get a good cheap one and fix it up.
I had just turned 20 and had packed up a few things that I would need, a few clothes and basic necessities. I was on my way to Las Angelos to be with my family again. Hopefully Jasper and Emmet would like me. I needed to see Alice and Rose again and if they made them happy I was sure I'd love them. Charlie was against it all the way. He yelled and screamed and said I had no idea what Rose and Alice had gotten into while they were down there. They had several speeding tickets, drug busts, and other miscellaneous arrests. I didn't believe most of what he said. He was just trying to keep me there and away from the big city. He went so far as to say if I left he'd never speak to me again. Well that was fine with me since he so rarely spoke to me now anyways. I really wouldn't notice.
Once I got to Las Angelos I was in for a surprise. The city was huge and it was exactly like Rose and Alice had said. Colors were everywhere. I got lost within the first hour and could not find any one friendly enough to stop and ask for help. Finally after making several wrong turns and finding myself even more lost I noticed a somewhat friendly and familiar sign, LAPD. Most people I'm sure avoided this building but since growing up around officers I decided to see if someone could give me directions.
I parked my car and walked up the stairs and through the doors. It was a mad house in there. As soon as I was able to make my way to the desk to ask the attendant about directions the brisk woman just snidely remarked that she was not a map, and then quickly turned away and left me standing there. Just as I was about to leave a young officer came out from behind the desk and came up to me. He was young. Not much older then me. I'd say about 25. He had dark black hair and tan skin, along with soft brown eyes. His name tag said . He asked what I needed and I gave him the address to which he made a funny face, which I disregarded and gave me the directions. He told me his name was Jacob and that he'd probably see me around because that address was within his patrolling area. I thanked him and waved goodbye.
As I drove down Alice and Rose's street I could see that it was not one of the better neighborhoods around and I began wondering if Charlie was right about the drug busts. It didn't matter though to me. Whatever trouble they may have gotten into they were still my family and I would love them regardless and try to help them through it like they had done for me. I pulled into the drive way and saw a small blond haired little girl about 3 years old. As she saw me pull up in my beat up old truck she went racing into the house. I really hoped that I had the right address. I got out of the car and was making my way to the front door when it swung open and Alice came running out in all her glory.
She was still the same old Alice. Short, thin as a rail, and with short black tufts of hair shooting out at all different angles. Behind her Rose emerged holding the blond little girl. She was a beautiful as ever too, long flowing blond hair to her waist, slender waist, and as model like as ever. They both though seemed to have black rings around their eyes like they hadn't been sleeping well lately. Rose introduced the toddler as her daughter, Coraline or Cora for short. They invited me into the small shanty and I saw it wasn't much better on the inside. It was old and in need of a lot of repairs. There were dishes everywhere with old food dried onto them and cloths strewn about the place.
They both were apologizing about how messy the place was but that they were just cleaning when I pulled up. I didn't mind the place. It was kind of cozy when you got used to it. Really all I wanted to do was sit down and catch up with the girls. After cleaning the place up with them and talking all through out I was beginning to see that Charlie was right. After we were done cleaning and Cora had gone to her room to play I began questioning what had happened to them when they moved here. I could tell just by looking at them that they weren't healthy. They looked very thin and pale. Rose and Emmet had had a child and that wasn't something Rose had ever planned on doing before she was married. They had been raised like I was. So what went wrong for them?
They had gotten into a bad way here. It didn't seem to be their fault though. They had always loved speed, and had taught me all about racing and working on cars when they lived in Forks. It turned out when they moved down here they were in a bad way for money and had met Emmet and Jasper who were into the street racing and also ran drugs for the local drug lord, James. Emmet and Jasper had taken a liking to them and had taken them in. They brought them to a few of their races and after seeing the money they won had decided to try their luck at it. They won several times and were hooked. Soon they were spending all their free time with Jasper and Emmet and were learning more about the business they were in.
After a few months of winning and living the high life they started hanging out with some of the girls who watched their boyfriend's race. That's how they met Victoria. Victoria was with the boss, James, and had free access to any kind of drug you could want. After hanging out at a few races and earning their trust Victoria had talked them into doing a few lines with her during the races. The rush they got was more intense then the races. They were hooked. Soon they were needing fixes just to get through the races and then the days. Emmet and Jasper didn't mind because that was one of the perks of working for James.
After so many freebies Victoria told them that they would have to start earning their fixes. They became so indebted to James like Emmet and Jasper were that they had lost their freedom. They belonged to James and whatever he wanted from them they had to do. It turned out that Emmet and Jasper had fallen into this lifestyle much the same way. They had moved here looking for work and got into the racing world and had lost a few races and became so indebted to James that he had turned them into his drug runners. He had them making long trips into Mexico to pick up shipments and would bring them back to him. Their speed was what he loved. They weren't the only ones though who had been suckered into the lifestyle and were now trapped. James had plenty of young hot shot racers working for him now. The police were always trying to bust him but if they caught someone they never gave any information up. They knew that they owed him and if they ratted him out they would pay for it when they got out.
After they had given me all the details they were both crying. They felt horrible for having deceived me. I told them I wasn't mad at them but at what had happened to them. They were both coke addicts, whores, and living in a house that James' owned and becoming further indebt to him. I promised them both right then and there that I would do all I could to help them break away from this lifestyle and help them buy back their freedom.
AN: Sorry I know that was kind of dry but it's the opening and you need to know some of the background on it first. Hopefully once I get through the first few chapters it'll start picking up. Read and review and let me know what you think so far. I have the whole story in my head and I just really wanted to skip the beginning because it's so slow at first but you have to have this to understand the good stuff. :o)