Chapter Three – HeDidn'tWantMe

I hate airports. The ID checks, the security cameras, the long waiting times and the fact I could be arrested at any moment. I was half tempted to just catch a plane to some exotic country, a place where I could disappear–like Rio. But, no it just had to be Forks.

The dull weather matched the people; I'd be hard pressed to even find anyone unusual here. But I was the newcomer, the freak. Why on earth do people keep staring at me? Surely one look is enough?

I heard a scream and turned around; there was a man near the baggage carousel, he wielded a Browning M2.50 calibre and had begun shooting everyone in sight. "Great." I mumbled under my breath. Another crazy killer.

I turned around and continued walking, as the shots rained down behind me. I remembered now, the man was Charles Lawson; he had been a stalker with a sadist edge. His favourite weapon was a machine gun. He had been an escapee from a prison where he was about to be released. 'What an idiot!' I thought. 'At least there's a good side to being a daughter of a cop. You always know the news.'

I heard more scream, mingled with the wails of babies and panicked children; they would die soon. Yet, I didn't care. It's easier to stand by and let it happen than to allow myself to face the agency.

Charlie would be disappointed in me.

I heard a metallic clang at the side of my body, and I stopped walking. He had shot me.

There was no blood, no open wound– at least not yet.

But he had shot me, and I was tempted to walk up to him and do…

'Do what Bella? Kill him? You've just arrived; don't mess this up already,' I told myself, rushing out of the airport before I could do any serious damage. Just as I walked through the exit I was immediately assaulted by sirens and flashing blue lights.

"Stop and put your hands behind your head and lie down!" A cop was walking towards me with his gun pointing straight at me.

I sighed and was about to do what he asked when Charlie finally came and saved me from the indignities of being put in handcuffs.

"You took your time, Ch…Dad."

"I was busy. How was your journey?" He started fiddling with his radio.

" are you going to do with him?" I gestured in the direction of the killer.

He grinned. "I'm sure we can think of something."

I was about to reply when I felt it. The thing that made my life a miserable ghost of what it could have been. The thing that saved my life.

The pain was at the top of my bicep, the place where I had been flesh felt like it was being ripping apart and while it burned, and it hurt. I stumbled and gasped for air. "Bella! Are you alright? I need a medic!" I heard Charlie shout out, panicked. The last thing I saw was the sunset.

…

I woke up and groaned. 'Why does this happen every time? I always wake up in my bed!' My mouth felt like sawdust and my hands were shaking. My mouth tilted in a half smile. 'Charlie must have had the job of carrying my body here alone.' I staggered out of bed. 'Serves him right for abandoning me and Mom,' I thought, smirking.

I found Charlie slumped in a chair, snoring with one hand on a kitchen knife and the other holding a pink teddy bear.

I stifled a laugh and bent over to take the bear when Charlie moaned. I froze. "Renee, is that you?" He muttered while I tried not to breathe. "Five more minutes, Renee." He turned over and began to snore again.

I tiptoed away, careful not to disturb him and inspected the teddy bear in my hand. It seemed familiar somehow, as if the object itself gave a sense of déjà vu. It was a soft baby pink with tattered buttons and a little sewn on message. I let out a gasp as I read it.

My Dear Bella,

We Love You So Much

And Wish You Could Have More Of A Childhood.

So We Hope Tatter Hood Will Protect You

Like We Never Could.

Tatter Hood. The name stirred up old memories. Memories of birthday parties and guns, of lollipops and poison, and of the night Charlie told me and Mom to leave.

…

"Tatter Hood saves the day again!" The toddler played with a pink teddy bear, oblivious to the sobs coming from the room next to hers. She didn't even notice when Mommy came in with red eyes and wet sleeves.

"Bella?" As Renee sat down next to her, Bella turned around with Tatter Hood tightly pressed against her thin frame.

"Mommy, why are you upset?" Bella asked nervously, her eyes wide. "Did the bad men come again? I'll kick them harder next time; maybe I should do it between their legs. Jessica did it to Mike once and he said it really hurt. Why does it hurt, Mommy?"

Renee laughed, imagining little Bella kicking those men where it hurt. But then she sobered up as she remembered what she had to do. They were discussing how they were going to break it to Bella when Charlie had put forward the idea of divorcing each other, living apart, and pretending they didn't love each other. 'He was always the man who sacrificed everything for other people,' Renee thought while holding her daughters hand, looking her straight in the eye and telling her the lie. The very lie that her daughter would take with her for the rest of her life.

"Daddy doesn't love us anymore."

Bella took in a sharp breath; she knew about this. She had seen it on TV, but that was make-believe; this couldn't be happening in real life. Not to me. Mommy and Daddy would never do this. They loved each other. She had wanted to ask Mommy so many questions but the only thing she could get out was one word. "Why?"

"Daddy can't cope, Bella. He's a police officer, and he can't be seen doing something illegal. He doesn't want us, so we need to go. We need to leave."

'He doesn't want me.' Bella thought, 'He doesn't want me, but I'll prove him wrong. I'll make him want me again.' But a small voice at the back of her head kept on whispering, 'He doesn't want me.'