Disclaimer: Things I own: Season 1 of Dollhouse on DVD
What I don't own: Twilight (though I'd sell my soul for an hour with Jasper) or Dollhouse. They belong to Stephenie Meyer and Joss Whedon respectively. I wish I were that lucky.
Special thanks to my wonderful Beta, lada_8, without whom, my grammar and mistakes would be glaringly obvious.
Anything, before Alice's POV, in italics is directly quoted from "Dollhouse", from the unaired Pilot – "Echo" which is on the DVD set.
This is the beta'd version of Chapter 5. I want to apologize to everyone, but chapter 6 is on hold for a short period of time while both my hands heal. You can find the forum for this story here: http: //twilighted(dot)net /forum /viewtopic(dot)php?f=34&t=6507 (link is also on my profile). It will have all the updated information for this story and let you know where I am in the creative process.
Chapter 5 – Offers
It hadn't taken long to drive to the Olympic Lodge and follow Adelle into her hotel room. I couldn't quite understand why she couldn't tell me more while at Starbucks. She said she had 2 offers for me. After everything that had happened to me over the past few years, I was starting to get the feel for when a life-changing event was about to happen, and I knew if I followed her into that room, I wouldn't walk out the same Bella that went in.
Did I want this?
Yes!
Or so I hoped.
Taking a deep breath I followed her into the lobby, barely taking the time to admire the décor around me. I knew I should, this place was supposed to be the nicest in town to stay at, but my mind was fixated on what was coming, not what was going on around me. I couldn't even really remember how we got to her room, and I'd probably be lost on the way out.
When we entered her room, she motioned towards the armchair that was situated near the patio window, as she took a seat in the executive chair at the desk. Worrying my lower lip, I sat down, sinking a bit into the soft chair.
"Bella, thank you for trusting me enough to follow me here," she started with a small smile. "I know this must be difficult for you, with everything that has happened in the past year."
Nodding my head, "Well, I'm still not sure on this, but I'm curious and I guess that's what has me here." That, and the fact that I'd already gone so far as to meet with her at the coffee shop. I never knew when to keep myself out of danger.
"Bella," Adelle leaned forward, her hands clasped in front of her, "nothing is as it appears to be. Although I know you've seen quite a bit," she gave me a knowing look, "but you are still only seeing a part of it. Do you remember what I said to you this afternoon just before I left the school?"
I had to think about that for only the briefest of moments, "You said something about a clean slate. I'm not exactly sure what you meant about that." It was also part of what made me look over the papers even closer that she'd given to me.
"Yes, a clean slate," she actually smiled at me, "The world is a very simple place, at first. Then as we grow up, it grows around us; a dense thicket of complication and disappointment. Unbearable for some and even for the luckiest of us; still sometimes more than we can handle. Less than we've hoped. My organization offers a very special form of service for both the volunteers and our paying clients. For you Bella, we can offer you a chance for three things."
I couldn't help but butt in, "What do you mean?"
Moving back in her seat, she laced her fingers in front of her, "What I offer you now, depends on your agreeing to volunteer for 5 years with us. At the end of that time, you'd be free to do as you please." She smiled again, "What we can give you for those 5 years, is the chance to get the education you want; whatever education you want; with the chance to have an option to have a higher form of degree after that. I can offer you the chance to make this past year disappear, for it to be wiped clean and never to return."
"How?!" I forced myself to the edge of the chair, leaning towards her. She couldn't know how much I've wanted just that, "It isn't possible."
"Oh, but it is. The technology has been in place for many years, and has been in use for just as long."
"What would I have to do for the 5 years to have this?"
"Bella, you would become one of our actives. One of the people who works directly with the public..."
"But I don't do well in crowds."
"You don't have to be good with crowds right now Bella, because we can change that for you. For the next 5 years, we can change you, into whatever that is needed."
"Whatever that is needed?"
"Have you heard of The Dollhouse, Bella?"
"Little house, lots of plastic dolls that little girls play with?" This really didn't make any sense to me.
She actually laughed softly, "That is one definition, yes. However, when I speak of the Dollhouse, I mean people, like you and I, who become what others want for a period of time. Whether that is a midwife who will help you give birth; a mountain climber or a dominatrix making them beg for more. You can be any of that, even if you're not that now." Arching one eyebrow at me, "You will be unforgettable, Bella."
"Unforgettable? I'd rather not be just a distraction for someone." He'd told me he wouldn't forget me either, but I was just his distraction.
"Oh, you'd be more than a distraction. You'll be their everything. While you're with them, they'll never want you to leave them. They'll remember you forever, and want you to come back over and over again. However, you'll not remember them. They'll be the ones that are forgettable; they'll be the ones who are your distraction."
"Bella, by the time your 5 years are up, you won't have to remember the last year. It will go by in the blink of an eye for you, with no recollection of the time that passes. You'll walk away with a full education. If you come with me today, we would need to know what you would want by the time this is done and I'll make sure that you have it. You will walk away with a full bank account, enough that if you didn't want to, you'd never have to work again."
It sounded too good to be true, "I can't just up and leave. I have responsibilities - school and work. And Charlie, he wouldn't let me go like this. I'd have to tell him something."
"He wants you to do more with your life right now, is that not correct?"
"Well..." he had been getting on my case ever since he'd left, "he's been a bit worried."
"Tell him that you received an offer to join Fremont, to finish off your High School career, with early acceptance into the College courses starting at the beginning of the summer months. You'll be too busy to come home because of school and work, but you'll call every once in a while. Those calls of course will fade out over time because you're so busy."
It all sounded plausible, "But leaving tonight?"
"What did you tell your father, to let him know you were going out tonight?"
"I was meeting up with friends to go to a movie..." I still couldn't believe he fell for that. They'd broken me of wanting to do things like that.
"Everyone saw you speaking with me at the school today. Your school has on record why I was there, at least that I was speaking to students about the Rossum Corporation and Fremont. More specifically, that I was there to speak with a select group of students whose grades matched our requirements. We ran into each other while you were here in Port Angeles and I made an offer to fly you out to the school to see what was offered. I will make sure that it is cleared with your school by morning, with your records being transferred out as well."
It all sounded plausible, "Can you make me... not so clumsy?"
"You may stumble, if that's what is wanted by the person you're working for, however, we can work it so you won't have to worry about tripping over your own feet again."
"Can I think about this, for a few minutes?"
"Of course," she crossed her hands, resting them on her knee as she leaned forward. "Feel free to use the balcony while you think. There is no need to say, if you do not accept this, you cannot speak of this to anyone."
Laughing bitterly, "Oh, I can keep a secret, better than anyone knows." Standing up, I moved the few feet to the balcony door and slipped out of it. Did I really want this? She was offering everything that I'd dreamed of over the 7 months. He promised me that the memories would fade away, but they were there, every time I turned around. Everything I looked at. It was getting better, while Jacob was there, but even he left me. I had a chance to make it all go away. A chance that it would never come back and haunt me any longer. Yes, I wanted that more than anything.
It was actually kind of funny; normally I would hear his voice when I was getting ready to do something stupid. I wasn't hearing anything. Perhaps this meant that this was the right thing to do. Yet, that scared me at the same time; did I really not want to hear his voice any longer? I wouldn't miss what I didn't know right?
I wasn't sure about the whole 5 years of being a doll though. Someone's play toy, to take out and play with whenever they wanted. Yet at the end of it, I'd be a College graduate, in the field of my choice, with the option of going further, and the last year of my life would be completely gone. There may be a few things that I wouldn't like to lose, but not enough that I really wanted to keep it.
Turning around, I stepped back into the room, making sure Adelle wasn't busy with something, "I won't remember anything, the next five years, or the last 1?"
"Nothing, it will be like it never happened. Though if you want the degree, we will let you remember the choice that you made. Not why, which will be written into the contract I will have you sign when we get to Los Angeles, just that something happened, that you wanted taken away."
"I'll do it."
"Good, then let's get going."
This was going so fast, "Right this moment?"
"It will take approximately three hours to drive to Seattle, another hour to board the plane and get clearance for takeoff, and then we'll be on our way to your new home."
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I took everything I needed out of my truck and gave my keys to Adelle, she'd promised that it would be taken back to Forks for me. I almost laughed when I realized that we were going to have a driver to take us into Seattle. She explained that he'd been waiting for us in his own room in the hotel, on call for whenever she'd needed him. However, when she'd gone to meet me earlier, she wanted to do so privately.
Once we both got into the town car, we both lapsed into silence. I had a lot to think about, before it was all gone and she seemed to realize that I needed it.
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APOV
Seven months, and we're still running away from the truth. Running away from my best friend and sister because my brother was a douche bag who needed to stop being such an ass. I should have never agreed to not look into her future; even just to keep an eye on Bella. It wasn't like he'd know I was looking, he was still huddled in a little ball somewhere in South America, trying to convince himself that his mate was better off without him.
It was really hard not to look. She had become so intertwined with our family in the short time she'd been with us. At first, all I could see was both her and Edward, the pain that was radiated off of both of them, and even though I missed them, glad that neither of them were around my husband at this time. Jasper wouldn't have been able to handle it. He already was battling the guilt for this happening in the first place. I had told him a thousand times, and could tell him a million times more that Bella had forgiven him almost as soon as it had happened, but he blamed himself for this rift in our family.
I figured I'd finally blocked Bella enough that she wasn't appearing any longer in my visions. Although she'd been slowly fading out of my sight due to her lack of decision making skills, just after the New Year, she'd all but vanished from my sight altogether. I first started to get a little worried, but she would appear every once and a while, but when she did, I'd force myself to focus on Edward and watch his pitiful life for a short time. Afterwards, I'd always go and curl up in Jasper's arms for comfort.
He and Emmet were out hunting right now and I didn't expect them to be back for another couple of hours. My big plans for the day were to weed out the closet, Jasper had way too many clothes that were old and needed to be replaced with something new. New clothing was a necessity when your skin wasn't as pliable as humans and you wore holes in them quickly. I wasn't allowed to touch his favorite pair of jeans and some of his shirts, but my husband understood the overpowering need to replace his wardrobe at least once every couple of months.
Just as I was reaching for the ugly plaid shirts he'd purchased on his own recently, I could feel the pull of a vision, the world around me fading away as I sunk into my own mind. It was almost a reflex to fight the pull now, but the glance of what was happening. Needles, wires, flashes of bright lights with no face to go with it forced me to let go...
The light in the room was almost blue in color, there was a half dozen people moving around the room, working at different computers and there was a reclining chair made of metal and leather. There was a halo that goes around the head of the chair, "I'm supposed to sit in that?" I was being lead to a small side room, an unknown woman stepping in with me. "Wearing this?!" I felt shocked, and very embarrassed, by the two small white pieces of fabric that was being held up for me to wear.
"Only for the treatment, once that's completed, you'll be changing into the yoga pants and top that is just over there. However, for your first and last treatments, we'll need you to wear this. It helps." It felt wrong, getting fully undressed in front of this woman, and then being helped into the almost sheer fabric that only covered the essentials.
"There are so many people out there; do I have to go out there?" But I was already being lead towards the chair. I was scared of that chair, but I didn't know why.
"Yes, Bella." Bella?
"Will it hurt?" Everyone around me was in suits and lab coats, except for the man in a sweater vest.
"Only for a short time and you won't remember it later." I was already sitting in the chair, my hands being placed on the flat armrests with a soft blue glow to them. The people in the room started to move towards me, while something was moved over the chair, wires dangling down with needles on the end of it. The chair started to lean backwards, until I was almost lying flat, exposed to all.
I squeezed my eyes shut, I hated needles (did I hate needles?) and I knew they were for me. They were going to be put into my body. They pierced my skin (they shouldn't be able go through my skin) starting at my feet and working up. My legs, stomach, chest, arms, neck and face. Why were they doing this to me? Why was I just lying here and allowing them to do this?
"This will hurt a bit," the man stated, and then the lights started. I could see them behind my closed eyes. I tried not to make a sound, I asked for this to happen (did I?), I wanted this (no I didn't). It was strange, lights, memories, seemed to be flashing, disappearing in front of my closed eyes. Maybe opening them would make a difference? It didn't. Who am I? Where am I? This has hurt for so long...
"Alice! Alice! Come on sweetheart, snap out of it," I knew him, opening my eyes to meet golden ones, it took a second.
"Jasper!" Diving into his arms, curling closer to him, how long had I been out? "Oh God, Jasper. What is she doing? What did she do?"
He must have felt my unwavering panic, I'd never felt anything like that before, I was her, "Who, what did you see?" I could feel his power working on me, calming me. I needed that right now.
"Bella," I breathed, "I... I don't know what she's done. But something's wrong. She's there, but gone."
"Gone?"
"She's not Bella any more."