Stolen

By: Skyela Rickman-Walters

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own any of the Twilight Saga. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer. They only thing I own is the story plot and a few original characters I have created. Oh! And the song "Captivated" by Vicky Beeching isn't mine either-and no infringement is intended!

A/n: This story takes place during New Moon, after Bella had her motorcycle accident and had to get seven stitches. She is on her way to hang out with Jacob.

A/n: This chapter will completely revolve around Bella and what is happening to her. There may be little glimpses of some other characters, but for the most part this IS Bella's story. Thank you and as always, read and review!

Chapter 9: A Moment of Interlude

Bella's POV

Mid-July 2006

Groaning aloud, I rubbed my stomach as I pushed myself off the cold blue and white tiles. As the slow, agonizing weeks went by, I found it harder and harder to bend down and work around the prison. Sure, I'm almost five months along with the –and I cringed to think the word–pregnancy, but I only had a few months left to decide how and when to.... I inwardly squirmed as I thought about my horrible decision.

Achingly pulling myself to my feet, I leaned against the wall in silent despair. I must be a terrible, immoral person, I thought, running a hand over my stomach. But I knew this was right–I knew that this was the only way to keep the both of us safe and that one day, then maybe we would see each other again and I could rightfully hold this baby in my arms…forever.

I hated that word-forever. I glared at the ground as I reflected that distasteful word in my mind. Forever was a lie–an ugly lie that grew and grew until you were completely sucked into its inner workings…. Forever was a wish that daren't come true. Forever…

I thought I was going to be with Edward forever, I mused, laughing bitterly to myself, as my hand curled into a tight fist. No such thing, no such bliss…

The tinkering of a piano slowly pulled my thoughts back to the present. I stood, unsure at first of where the music was coming from. It was so beautiful, but the delightful melody made my stomach sink as I remembered his pale stony hands trail across the ivory keys with such precision and grace. I shut my eyes, trying to erase that memory, and shook my head too as I tried to rattle the meticulous sound out of my brain. But that did no good–the song just…kept playing.

I tread down the stairs with slight hesitation. Both Tilly and Vince were gone for the afternoon–if they came home while someone was playing their brand new grand piano, there would be hell to pay for sure. What if someone outside hears the noise? That silent hiccup of a thought made me slightly more hopeful for my safe return to Forks. If someone heard noise coming from a supposedly empty house…well, they'd probably think they were going crazy or the place was haunted…

I blinked, reluctant to enter the living room. I toed the wood with my shoe, wondering if any outsiders would dare to think that two innocent people were being held prisoner against their will. Probably not…

Bren sat at the piano bench, hands gliding over the keys with such grace it would have given Edward a run for his money. But her voice–that was the most breathtaking noise that I'd heard in a long time.

"Your laughter, it echoes like a joyous thunder. Your whisper, it warms me like a summer breeze. Your anger is fiercer than the sun in its splendor. You're close and yet full of mystery. Ever since the day that I saw Your face, try as I may, I cannot look away, cannot look away…

"Captivated by You. I am captivated by You. May my life be one unbroken gaze fixed upon the beauty of Your face…"

Her eyes were closed as if she had been asleep, and the look that touched her face look so peaceful–like she were dreaming of someone she admired very much. I shuffled slowly towards her, afraid to break her train of thought. Though the tedious sound broke my heart over and over again, it reminded me of my own personal captivation–the picture of perfection.

Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my gaze

I become more like You and my heart is changed

I don't think I could ever forget the picture of him walking towards me, no matter how many walls I had built over my shattered heart. Edward was so pure –so indescribably beautiful, that I couldn't ever put it into words. The more I was with him, the more I felt connected to him, despite my plainness and my normal mortality. Although I was broken into a complicated puzzled that would never be whole again, Edward had changed my heart–because he held the missing piece of the puzzle in the palm of his hand.

Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my view

Transform me into the likeness of You

The picture of him became clearer, as if I was seeing through new eyes. I yearned so much to become like him, to become a vampire and how I had so wished for him to change me with his own venom (although he would never know of my worthless desires). But maybe a piece of me had been transformed –I was forever changed, I knew that. I would never be normal Isabella Swan after meeting him. To want so much…to have nothing to offer him in return…

This is what I ask for all my days

That I may never look away, never look away…

And even though I was angry –no, furious at his change of heart, I would never find anyone else like him. No one would capture me as he had, no one could soothe me as he did. I think Jacob wanted to, but even his warmth would never compare to the joy and the erratic beating heart that Edward had brought me. Though it was wrong to stay rooted to the past and not move with the present, I knew I would never be able to look at anything else. I was already tied to the bottom.

"Captivated by You. Captivated by You. May my life be one unbroken gaze fixed upon your beauty…fixed upon your beauty…" Bren's began to get even more into the song as she swayed her body gently to the tune, nodding her head as she pulsed her fingers along the keys. She lifted her head to the ceiling, obviously seeing something that I wasn't able to. I followed her blind gaze, but dropped my head down quickly, shutting my eyes as I remembered…

No other could ever be as beautiful
No other could ever steal my heart away

Edward was perfect –no one could ever compare to his perfect straight lined nose or the sharp lines of his jaw. Even another messy head full of the same bronze hair couldn't compare to his –every hair on Edward's head was perfectly in place. And his eyes…I breathed a sigh, a smile raising the corners of my lips with unrequited happiness. His eyes burned like liquid fire, gazing deep within one's inner soul. How I longed to look into those eyes once more?

"No other could ever be as beautiful. No other could ever steal my heart away…" Bren trailed off, a sad look on her face now, I noticed as I reopened my eyes. Without opening them, she gazed down at the keys while playing the gentle melody. "I just can't look away..."

The music came to a slow swell. I watched with wide eyes as Bren hit the final chords, her fingers delicate and mild. "I am captivated by You. Captivated by You. May my life be one unbroken gaze fixed upon the beauty, fixed upon the beauty, fixed upon the beauty of Your face…the beauty of Your face…" Her fingers trailed up the last couple notes and she paused, as though waiting for applause. Bren reopened her eyes, and started, gazing at me unexpectedly.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, spinning around on the piano bench with a sheepish expression on her face. "I know I shouldn't have but…" She hit a couple of keys with her gentle finger. "…it was tempting…"

"It's–it's okay," I assured, not smiling but not frowning either. "I didn't know you could play so well–it was…" I trailed off, unsure of what else to say. What was it exactly? I loved it but at the same time, I could feel the bitter hole in my heart itching to rip open again. I bit my lip and rubbed my belly absentmindedly. Something in there nudged my hand, but I ignored it now.

"You don't like music, I know," Bren said quietly, giving me a small smile. I stared at her–how on earth did she know that?–incredulously. "You're very easy to read," Bren continued, ignoring my astonished face. "Every time Tilly the Terrible turns on one of her CD's or some music comes on the television, you just clam up–like it really hurts you."

Okay, time to change the subject. "Who were you thinking about? While you were singing?" The look of emotion that swelled across her face while she sang would be embedded in my memory for the rest of my life.

Bren looked up to the ceiling again, and smiled absently. "God…our Creator…Jesus," she paused and returned to look at me again. "He's so wonderful, and yet this song doesn't give Him justice still."

It gave my personal God plenty.

"Who were you thinking about?" Bren asked suddenly, giving me the eye. I shrugged offhandedly, shifting so that I could sit next to her at the piano. "You were thinking of someone," Bren accused lightly. "I could see it all over your face while your eyes were closed."

Damn. I bit my lip and gazed down at my feet. The little person inside of me nudged me once again as if pressing me to continue. I obliged. "Just–just a guy that I liked…"

Bren raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Just a guy that you liked?" She tusked in mock disapproval. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were in love with him."

I winced. "Maybe."

"Did you love you back?"

I chewed on lip rather hard, pinching it between my teeth out of frustration. The little being inside my belly nudged me once more with persistence. "I –I don't know…"

Did Edward really love me? Maybe, at one point. But the truth was he didn't love me now–so why did it matter if he ever did? I sighed, rubbing my belly again as I thought.

"I think the–the baby liked the song…" I started quietly. I found myself staring at the old mantle out of desperation to look anywhere else but at Bren.

"Really?" Bren asked, turning around so she could hit a few more chords. As she did, my heart and my baby twinged, one in pain and the other in what I hoped was joy.

I nodded, looking back around at her cheek.

"Bella, here –hit this key!" Bren said it suddenly, as if she just had an epiphany. Reluctantly, I turned around on the bench, and hit the key without much enthusiasm. "Now, arch your hand like this…" Bren fixed my flat hand so that it looked poised and pretty like hers did. "Okay, and with those fingers, hit–" and she hit three delicate notes to show me, "those notes just like that."

I hit them gently, just as she had done, and stopped. Those notes began to the beginning of the song–and the baby within me nudged my stomach once more. I gave her an unknowing look, but she grinned at me and clapped her hands in a way that was very Alicesque.

"That was good!" she exclaimed excitedly. Though the music pained me, I…I couldn't help but feel glad as well. Maybe I too, could play the beautiful music, just as well as Bren could. The baby moved around in my belly again, bringing a much needed grin to my face.

***

Music was the key. It had healed my new pain, gave me something to hope for. During the hours when Tilly was at the hospital and when Vince was away, Bren taught me everything that I needed to know about the language–G clefts and bass clefts, time, different notes, sharps and flats. I even came to realize that I had my own unique voice within myself. I learned quickly, my desire to learning growing each and every day, just as my baby was inside me. But as I fell in love with music and with my unborn child, the harsh realization of what was coming kept biting me at my heels.

Don't get attached to her, I thought (calling it a she because that's what she felt like). She's just going to go away, you'll never get to meet her or be able to call her yours. But she was mine. She was my little baby, my little music lover, the real reason I began to learn piano so that I could feel her constant nudges and bumps.

I tried not to talk with her, tried to keep as much distance between us as a pregnant mother could–but it seemed impossible. I found myself whispering to her out of the blue, when I was sad or when I couldn't sleep at night. I found myself telling her what the outside world was really like and that she was lucky to be safe within my vessel. Was I giving her hope of a life while I talked aimlessly into the night? Was I trying to frighten my little baby into staying inside me until I was well and safe and then we could be together?

During the middle of August when I was nearly six months along I realized, as Bren was on her knees, loosening one of the boards to the outside world, that I couldn't give my child up. It was selfish not to want to meet her. It was selfish to want to kill the only thing I truly, purely loved. As I thought this, her little foot pushed up against my belly, and I saw the indent of each of her tiny toes through my shirt. I gasped, shocked at the sudden indent on my stomach but it brought, with a great rush of surprise, the truth that there really was someone inside of me. Someone who needed me. Someone who I loved so much without really even knowing who they were going to be. My hand grazed the footprint in awe as I finally made my decision.

"Bren," I whispered as the indent vanished from my physical sight.

"What? Are they home?" Bren pulled away from the fence, and launched herself in front of the already crooked board like a criminal who had been caught amidst a robbery.

"No…" I mused, looking up into her terrified eyes. Despite the fear I felt flooding through my body, a smile graced my face. "I'm keeping her."

"What?" Bren whispered, shell shocked.

"I–I'm keeping her, Bren. She belongs with me. I…" I blushed, feeling an unfamiliar rush of heat brush my cheeks. "We-we'll get out of here, and she's going to stay with me. She was given to me for a reason."

Bren stared at me for a moment before she laughed out loud. Her arms were wrapped around my shoulders instantly and I found my arms wrapped around her as well. I smiled as my daughter nudged again. We would get of here–we had to…

"Bless you," Bren whispered, rocking me back and forth. "Bless you…bless you…"

Sorry for the wait-it's been a bit hectic around here. We're at the point where things around going down hill, so this story will pick up quite a bit. Thanks to all of my reviewers and please, please PLEASE read and review! If you read this story and don't review, I will hunt you down and hang you by the-okay, I'm getting a bit too dramatic... But please review the story and don't just author alert it or favorite it. I like to hear what my readers have to say and sometimes I'll even put a bit of what you want into the story *hint hint* :) It would make Skye a very happy camper.

Love always,

Skye