So here's the next chapter. Hope you like it and hope you have a wonderful Easter break! READ AND REVIEW!!!

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Chapter 6

The final straw

Bella's Point of View

Edward had helped me so much. He'd cleaned my wounds, taped my ribs and stayed with me when I was unconscious. I don't know how long he was there but it helped immensely. He didn't seem to mind the fact that I was completely bruised up and bleeding. Edward still helped me and that made me the happiest girl in this house. I can't really say that I'm the happiest person in the world because that would be a big fat lie.

Maybe this happiness would last.

Alright, my emotional state was great but my physical state… not so much. Every single step I took was like a knife being plunged into my body. And a gasp escaped my lips with every step as I made my way downstairs slowly to make Charlie his dinner. Maybe tonight he would take pity on me for being so bruised up.

As Charlie came inside the house, that just proved that my hope was nothing more than a simple thought.

My dreams would never happen. They were simply dreams.

As my father entered the house, his expression seemed calm and thoughtful. Not good. This meant I couldn't tell what he was up to. Charlie's like an open book, like my mother used to say. He went up to the kitchen counter, looked at the answering machine and saw the red light. Ah damn it!

He looked at me angrily and thoughtfully as he pressed the 'read messages' button. "You have one new message. Message One: Bella, it's Edward. Just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright. Um… I'll call later. Hope you feel better. End of messages. Press—" But the answering message didn't get to finish speaking. Charlie had already deleted the message and looked at me with daggers. Oh god… I completely forgot that Edward had called. My mind had been so out of focus that it was hard to concentrate on anything.

Charlie approached me horrifyingly and glared at me. "Who is this Edward?" He growled, extremely angry at me.

"Um… no one sir. Just some boy at school," I mumbled while backing up. Oh god… he was going to kill me for sure tonight!

He slapped me across the face with the back of his hand and screamed: "Lying bitch! You told someone, didn't you?!" When he didn't get an answer, he slapped me once more and asked again. "DID YOU?!"

"No sir…" I muttered, lying to him. Yes, I'd 'told' the Cullens but not directly.

"You know, today, I've realized something," He said mostly to himself. Oh no… when Charlie started mumbling to himself, that meant he usually needed a punching bag, which was me. "I need to have a normal life, and right now, I'm not having one. And do you know why, you filthy piece of trash?" Charlie turned a ferocious gaze on me and that made me gulp. This wasn't starting off well. "Because you're still alive!" He punched me in the stomach with as much force as he could, making me double over in pain and gasp. Luckily, Charlie didn't do anything but walk around me. "You're nothing useful now. Only a hateful reminder of what happened eight years ago. You only remind me of my dead wife!" A kick to my face made me spit blood from my mouth. Ugh… What else could go wrong in my life? "I've had it with you! You deserve to die! You have nothing to live for. This is the final straw. I can't take it anymore with your constant whining and complaints! And besides, who would want to have such a slut in their house?! Not me!" He roared as Charlie went to the counter and grabbed something shiny.

Oh god… a knife. My own father would never hurt their daughter like that… would he?

"You better take a good look, girl, 'cause this is your last day alive," Charlie said before plunging the knife in the farthest corner of my stomach. Thankfully, he didn't puncture any lungs or I would be bleeding to death.

After that stab, the horrible beating began. Charlie seemed to be happy about punching and kicking me nonstop. Often, he would kick me in the sides until many cracks could be heard, indicating he'd broken many ribs. Sometimes, he'd drop down, grab my neck and lift me up so he could punch me numerous times. And, when he was done punching me, he'd grab the knife once more and cut me on the arms, face and chest. What more could he do? And unfortunately, I was still conscious during the whole period.

But I spoke too soon.

Once he was done with the cutting and beating, he slammed my head against the counter so many times that I let the darkness invite me in. This was it. This was the last time that the world would have to put up with Isabella Swan.

* * *

The darkness seemed to fade around me and a fuzzy light was replaced. But as the lightness came, so did the pain? Wasn't I supposed to be dead? Damn it. I guess Charlie didn't finish the job well enough. But what was even worse was that he would probably return if he saw me alive. But… there was no sound in the house besides the beating of my weak heart and the searing pain in my body that made me gasp in pain.

Maybe if I got away from Charlie, he wouldn't be able to hurt me. Charlie couldn't get to me if he didn't know where I was.

Even through the fog in my mind, I remembered the fact that Edward had given me a phone. "My number's on speed dial number … … … . Please call if anything goes wrong," He had told me. Oh god! What number did he tell me his speed dial was on?!

Number… … Number… … Number… two!

I finally remember!

But where was that phone? I know I put it in… my back pocket! While trying to see where I was, my vision went in and out of focus. Once it became focused, it showed that I was sprawled in the kitchen, leaning against the lowest cupboards. My stomach was bleeding still and that made me wonder… How long have I been bleeding? And how long would I last? Not very long probably.

Trying to move the slightest hurt like hell. Every part of my body felt like it was burning alive. Charlie had tried to end my life, it didn't work out and now, I was facing the consequences of his actions. It was pretty much the consequence of living. Period.

I pushed away the searing pain and grabbed the mobile in my back pocket. But as I flipped it open with shaky hands, my vision started to fade. And my strength was fading fast. I had to call Edward now before it was too late. Placing my free hand on my stomach to stop the bleeding as much as possible, I pressed the buttons shakily and missed the first few times. On the fourth try, I was able to call Edward and he answered with that angelic voice of his on the third ring.

"Hello? Bella?" I heard him say but my strength was fading too quickly, making me almost lose my grip on the cell phone.

"Edward…" I mumbled as my fingers became like jelly, making it hard to hold onto anything, much less my consciousness.

"Bella? Can you hear me? Bella! Are you alright?!" He practically screamed into the phone.

"I'm sorry…" was all I said before I lost consciousness and the phone dropped beside me somewhere. I was dying and Edward couldn't do anything about it.

Edward's Point of View

I'd been worried all day about Bella.

Dad had told me to leave for school and that meant to leave her all alone in a house with a crazed man known as her father. Just the thought that that man was going to come home and… hurt Bella. God! This was so frustrating! There was nothing we can do at the moment for her! UGH!

But my anger diminished completely when my phone vibrated. Taking it out, I checked the caller ID and saw that it was Mom's cell. But I'd given Bella my mother's phone. Oh no…

"Hello? Bella?" I asked as Alice came in the room with a questioning look on her face.

"Edward…" Bella practically whispered on the other line. God… she didn't sound very strong. I looked at my watch and the time read seven thirty-six. Her father was probably home. Damn it!

"Bella? Can you hear me?" I asked and when there was no answer, my panic started to rise. Alice came to my side and looked extremely worried. She shouldn't have to witness this. When Bella didn't answer, I asked again: "Bella! Are you alright?!" I practically pleaded and screamed but still no answer for a while.

"I'm sorry…" She mumbled before I heard a metal crash. The phone. It fell from her hands.

"Hello? Bella? Bella!" I screamed into the phone but there was no answer, only silence. "Damn it!" I growled while shutting the phone.

"Edward, what's wrong?" Alice asked while I ran towards my father's study and didn't answer her. But my sister didn't ponder any further. Once entering the study, Dad looked up but I didn't let him speak. "I need you to come with me to Bella's house. I think she's badly hurt," I explained and he just got up and followed me towards the entrance.

"I'm coming too," Alice argued as we grabbed our coats and was headed towards the cars but stopped when she said that.

"Alice, it might be dangerous. It's best if you stay here with your mother," Dad explained softly. Alice was going to keep arguing but thought best of it. Suddenly, Mom came in with the same questioning look Alice had before and approached her husband.

"What's going on?" Mom asked.

Dad placed his arm on Mom's waist and looked into her eyes. "Bella's in trouble. We're going to help her." And then, he went close to her ear and whispered something inaudible before Mom nodded and went towards Alice. Rosalie had gone to see Emmett for a first date and didn't even know what was going on. But there was no time to call her and fill her in.

"Bring her back safely," Mom said before Dad and I left and got into my car before driving away towards Bella's house.

"What did you tell Mom before we left?" I asked after a few minutes of silence. We were close to Bella's house but would we get to her in time? I couldn't think like that.

"I told her to get Alice somewhere else in the house when we bring Bella back home. She's too young to see something so gruesome," Dad explained and I completely agreed with him. Even if Alice was sixteen, it's not something you want to see.

We arrived at Bella's house just minutes after out little talk and already the atmosphere seemed off. Almost… evil. Her father's police car wasn't in the driveway, indicating that Charlie probably fled right after beating her. But if we didn't get Bella out of there soon, he'd probably hurt her when he came back. The front door was slightly opened and the air around us seemed to change as we exited my Volvo.

"Dad, we've got to save her. She can't stay here," I said as we approached the small house. Dad had brought his medical kit with him in case he would have to help Bella with her injuries.

"We'll do our best, son. And it will be her choice if she wants to stay with us. I will not force her to do anything," Dad said and we entered the small house. It didn't take long until we could smell the faint smell of blood. It came from the left side of the house. The kitchen. Oh god… who knows what Charlie could have used in the kitchen? I took a deep breath and was about to enter the kitchen when Dad placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "Are you sure you want to do this? You don't know what you'll find," He asked me softly. I nodded and he removed his hand before I entered the kitchen and gasped loudly.

There laid Bella, all bloody and bruised, sprawled against the cupboards. Her head leaned against them and her eyes were closed as she laid there in a pool of her own blood. Her hand lay against her stomach but dried blood stuck to her hand, indicating a large injury there. "Oh god… Bella!" I said, running towards her and kneeling beside the broken girl. She didn't wake up when I placed my hand on her face delicately.

Dad stood right beside me and told me to move her to the side and lay her head against my legs for leverage. It seemed like she was bleeding from the head also. Dear lord… it didn't even seem like she wasn't even breathing. "Try to get her to wake up. We don't want to risk anything. You do that while I get to work on her stomach. Her father stabbed her there…" He ordered professionally while cutting Bella's shirt slightly and started to work on stitching her stomach. That way, she wouldn't bleed to death.

"Bella? Hun, can you hear me? I'm here. You're going to be just fine," I said and felt her move a little. Great! That meant she was still alive!

"Ed… war… d…?" She answered in small breaths. At least she was still alive. Bella tried to open her eyes but they were too heavy.

"I'm here Hun, I'm here. You're going to be fine. Just stay with me, alright?"

"But… it hurts…" She muttered as she moved in my hands. But her strength was fading fast.

"I know but you have to stay with me. Dad's here looking you over. He's going to save you," I said but she unfortunately started to lose consciousness once more. "Come on Bella, stay with me. Just keep on listening to my voice, alright?"

"Alright…" She mumbled as Dad finished on stitching up her wound as fast as possible and looked at me.

"Son, we have to get her to the house. I don't think she'll want to be at the hospital and I could do a lot more work privately. We're going to have to move her," Dad explained and I nodded before turning my gaze back to Bella.

"Bella, I'm going to have to move you like this afternoon. Dad's going to help you at home. Do you mind?" She didn't seem to understand me at first but a few seconds later, she nodded. I placed my arms under her and lifted her up as gently as possible but she still gasped. "Oh god! I'm sorry Bella! We're going to help you," I said before we left the house.

We ran to the car and I placed Bella in the back seat, her head resting against my lap. She looked like her slumber wasn't peaceful at all. Blood had seeped into my clothes but that didn't matter to me. I just had to get Bella to safety. Bella's breathing had become ragged and woozy while we drove.

"Dad, we have to hurry. I don't think she has much time left," I said while brushing Bella's bloody hair out of her face. Dad didn't care about the speed limit, much less when there was a patient in the car at the moment. He drove like a maniac back to the house and we arrived in minutes. Bella had started fading slowly and I tried to keep her awake as much as possible but it was a difficulty. All she wanted to do was make the pain go away but I could never let her die.

When arriving, Dad helped me get Bella out of the car as best as possible without hurting her too much and we walked inside the house, Dad in the front. Luckily, when we entered, Esme was trying to get Alice out of the living room. But unfortunately, Alice saw Dad come in the house and protested. Dad and I hurried as fast as possible inside the house and went towards one of the three spare rooms, the one that Dad had changed into a small hospital room in case.

Hey, you never know what will happen.

"Honey, you need to stay down here," Mom called from downstairs as we heard some footsteps coming upstairs towards the room.

"No Mom, I'm going to see if Bella's alright! She's my friend and if anything happens to her, I don't know what we'll do," Alice said sadly as I placed Bella onto the small bed in the room. Dad began to put an IV in her arm and start her on a heart monitor. When it was installed, it showed that Bella's heartbeat wasn't the best and that it would fail soon if Dad didn't start working on her right away.

"But Alice, it's not—"

Mom didn't get to finish her sentence as Alice came rushing in the room and saw Bella for the first time today. She gasped and placed her hand to her mouth in utter horror. "Oh god!" She gasped and I looked at her.

"Alice, you shouldn't be—" But the most awful sound in the world stopped my thoughts.

A flat line.

So what did you think? Will Bella survive? And how will Alice react to this? Please tell me in REVIEWS!!!

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