Izzy stayed with me for the rest of the night. There were not any more nightmares and the both of us slept peacefully. When we awaken the next morning we became extremely anxious. Bella has her hearing today at 11 and everyone is nervous about if she stays with the Cullens or return to Charlie's house. Right before we leave Carlisle tells Bella "No matter what the result is today, you will always be a Cullen." He smiles and the two of them hug each other. It still hasn't reached my heart that Esme and Carlisle are really as nice as they seem to be.
I ride with Esme and Carlisle while Bella hops into the passenger seat of Edward's ride, along with Jasper and Alice in the back. Rosalie and Emmet ride together in Rosalie's car. The drive to our destination is a very awkward silence. It seems like Carlisle and Esme wants to say something to me but they aren't sure on what to say. The silence became too much for me to handle so I decide to speak. "So," I say awkwardly. "How long have you two been married?" I ask trying to make small talk. Carlisle and Esme share a look before answering.
"We have been married for a very long time." She answers with a smile while Carlisle continues to drive. "How long have you and Bella been sisters?" Esme asks. Is she serious? No, she can't be serious. Maybe she is just trying to make small talk as well.
"Since the day Bella was born." I answer cautious then Esme looks away back to the windshield. The rest of the ride remains quiet.
When we arrive everyone piles out of their cars. I notice Bella walking with her head down, I think about asking her what is wrong, but I decide against it. She gives me a small smile and I understand exactly what her problem is, but I can't say anything, I have to allow her to work things out with him herself. We walk into the room where there is a huge oval table surrounded by office chairs. Bella's attorney, Susan walks and sits herself beside Carlisle. Beside Carlisle is Esme and to the left of her are Edward then Bella, me, Jasper, and Alice, Emmet and Rosalie. The ten of us sit waiting for the judge. Bella begins to shake and Edward rubs his hand on her thigh to calm her. Charlie, his attorney and my mother walks inside and sits across from us. I froze instantly and my breathing halts. Renee is the last to sit down and she continues to stand and stare at me. I feel a calm sensation coming over me and I finally snap out of my shell and so does Renee. Renee sits down beside Charlie, who is sitting next to their attorney. I look over to Bella and can see that she is trying to figure out why Renee is here as well. A older lady with chocolate skin and long legs walks into the room and sits herself at the end of the table. She introduces herself as Mrs. Smith and says she is our Judge for today.
"Before we get started I need to verify everyone's full name and who you are to Ms. Swan. We will start to the right of me." Mrs. Smith says.
"I am Bookert and I will be speaking for Mr. Swan today." Charlie's attorney says.
"I am Chief Charles Swan and Bella's father." Charlie says putting emphases on chief and father.
"I am Renee Dwyer." My mother announces. She never liked for us to call her mom because she always said it makes her feel old.
"I am Susan Dogg and I will be representing Ms. Swan today." Bella's attorney says.
"I am Carlisle Cullen." Carlisle says.
"I am Esme Ann Cullen." Esme says.
"Hello, I am Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."
"Isabella Marie Swan." Bella says softly.
"I am Marie Isabella Swan and Isabella's sister." I say softly. Mrs. Smith held a face that says 'duh'. The Cullen's look at me for a few moments before Jasper and the rest of them told their full name.
"Jasper Witlock Cullen."
"Mary Alice Cullen."
"Rosalie Lillian Cullen."
"Emmet Dale Cullen."
"Okay, so as you all know we are gathered to find out who Ms. Swan goes under custody of." Mrs. Smith says.
"I'm sorry but may I start by saying that she shouldn't be here." Renee says pointing to me as I feel Bella jump on my side. Mrs. Smith looks between me and Renee before speaking.
"You can not control who enters my court room Mrs. Dwyer." She says. "Now I have looked at countless evidence about today's situation with Mr. Swan and Ms. Swan." Mrs. Smith says.
"That's Chief Swan." Charlie says.
"In my courtroom your occupation means absolutely nothing. You may shine your badge outside of here but in here you're just another person. Now, I will allow certain people to talk and when someone is talking I do not want any interruptions. Anyone that interrupts will be removed from the room. Isabella, why don't you start by telling us what happens when you are at home with your father." The judge says.
I can hear Bella's heart as it starts betting faster. She looks over to me and I nod once telling her she should speak. She looked around seeing that everyone is looking at her. Charlie held a strong threatening look begging her to say something. Renee looks bored, Jasper is trying to give Bella confidence, and Edward looks like he is pissed off but he is doing a good job of hiding it. Edward and I both took one of Bella's hands for support. She sent me a small smile.
"Charlie hurts me." Bella says softly.
"May you explain how he hurts you, please?" The judge asks.
"Um, he ties me up with his handcuffs and ropes. And he um makes me get naked when he hits me." Again she says softly.
"What does he hit you with?"
"He uses belts most of the time." She answers without looking at the judge. The judge writes a few things down then looks back to our side of the table.
"I have received picture of bruises on Ms. Swan's body. I have received another picture of Mr. Swan standing in front of Ms. Swan with a whip in his hand while Ms. Swan is hanging from a tree, naked. Mr. Swan what do you have to say about this picture?" The judge says placing the photo on the table. The photo was of course Bella. She had handcuffs tied to her wrist behind her back. The handcuffs hung from a branch and she was almost completely naked, the only thing she had on was a bra. Her body was sort of shinny so I am guessing he put either baby oil or water over her body. Then there was Charlie standing in front of her with one of his arms in the air, his lips pulled back on his teeth, enough where you can see his gums, and his bottom lip in the same position. His stance showed his entire right side of his body. Apparently Charlie didn't know they had this picture but neither did I nor Bella knew either. Charlie stared at the picture in pure shock. What angers me most about this picture is that someone took the picture instead of helping Bells. Anger began to build inside me and all of a sudden a felt another calm wave go through my body. What the fuck?
Charlie slams his fist on the table then yells after a long moment of silence, which scared the be-jesus out of me and pulled me from my train of thought. "This is clearly photo-shopped." Bella jumps on my side and I squeeze her hand letting her know I am here and I won't allow anything to happen to her.
"I will not allow screaming in my courtroom." Mrs. Smith says sternly.
"Sorry, but I am sure you realize that this is fake!" Charlie says.
"Ms. Swan, do you remember this?" The judge asks Bella. Bells nod slowly. The judge writes something down and began talking again, "Okay, may you tell me other ways he has mistreated you?" Bella looks at me, pleading with her eyes that she doesn't want to explain any further.
"It's the only way you will get out of his house." I whisper to her. I can tell that she wants to live with the Cullen family but she is too scared to speak up. Bella looks down in her lap. "Excuse me your honor, may I speak for my sister?" I ask politely. I can feel the death stare the Charlie is giving me but he's too stupid to realize that I don't care what he thinks nor does he knows that I will fight back if he tries to hit me. The judge thinks for a minute.
"I don't usually do this but if it is okay with Ms. Swan you may." She answers and Bella nods her head. Oh my god, I forgot how much I hate talking in front of a large crowd of people. I remember being upset when I was told to make a speech for graduation. Let me push through it and do this for my sister.
"Well, when we were younger, I was staying the night at my friend Jacob's house and Bella stayed home with my dad." I take a deep breath then see Bella put her head in her hands. "She called me from the house phone at 3am telling me that she had a nightmare that night so she went to sleep with Charlie and that he took her clothes off and it hurt. For a second I was slightly confused but the more I paid attention to her words, I realized he raped." When I said 3am my voice began to grow softly and then more into a whisper.
A/N: Please review! I am so sorry I have been gone for so long. Please forgive me!