This chapter is dedicated to…….Edward's Doll! Loved her review, thought it was really funny!

Wonder who the next chapter will be dedicated to….make up a clever review and it may be you!

Previously: My throat closed up and I was breathing is short pants, staring straight ahead not looking at anything. My fists were clenched so tight that my knuckles were white and my heart was beating unnaturally fast. I quietly and slowly brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, and just stared. I wanted to call Edward but I didn't trust my voice. I just sat there for what seemed like hours but could have only been a minute.

At least, that's what I was doing until I heard Alice scream.

Bella's POV:

Alice's scream smacked me out of my own little pity party. I ran as fast as I could upstairs to Alice's room and got there right behind Edward. Her hair wasn't wet yet but I heard the shower running. She must have been just about to get in when she screamed.

She was on the floor crying, her tears falling constantly and consistently. Edward and I gave each other a look as he got closer to her. Her small sobbing body was up against her bed. Her tiny hands were clutching her blanket.

I sat on her bed and brushed her hair back as she sobbed. Edward bent down so he could look at her.

"What's wrong Ali?" he asked her gently, rubbing her arm.

"Edward," was all she croaked out. "Edward." She repeated. I didn't quite understand what was going on.

"I'm right here." He said soothingly keeping his eyes on her.

She shook her head frantically. "N-n-no!" She pointed to her cell phone which lay broken into tiny pieces. She wasn't making any sense. How did the phone have to relate to anything?

Edward didn't understand either. "Ali, take a deep breath, I can't understand you."

She did as he asked her, taking a breath and closing her eyes for a moment. Tears still streamed down her face but she controlled herself. She whispered, "N-not you Edward…Dad." Edward froze.

"What's going on?" I asked, sinking down next to the two of them. Please don't let it be what I'm thinking.

"Dad's back," Alice whispered, "Our real dad."

After we got Alice to calm down and Edward to unfreeze, we all went into Edward's room and stayed close together.

Alice was still more on the edge than normal, but that's what to expect right? It's not like she should be happy about what's going on.

"Bella," Edward said flatly, his usual goofy voice completely gone. "Please call your dad and let him know."

I nodded and grabbed my phone to dial his number.

"Hello?" he answered after a few minutes.

"Hey dad, it's Bella." I said quietly, I wasn't quite able to find my voice.

"Hey! Is everything okay?"

"Not really," I told him honestly, "We think we know who's responsible for all the robberies….and Edward's car."

As soon as I said the last words, Charlie's voice became all business, almost like he was talking to a client rather than his daughter, "Give me a name and why you think this."

"Edward Masen," I told him quickly, "He is Edward and Alice's real dad, he abused them," I felt Alice cringe when I told him this. She was curled up into a ball right in between Edward and me, leaning slightly towards Edward. "He called both Edward and Alice's phones, I answered when it was on Edward's and he said he's back and not leaving this time, and he said, 'I'll find them, I know everything.'"

I could faintly hear a pen running rapidly over paper, taking notes, good.

"Stay inside, don't come home yet, just stay where you are and lock all the doors. We don't know if he is at the house or what….but just make sure you don't leave. I'll call Esme and Carlisle. Stay safe." He said and with that hung up.

I gave them an overview of what he said. We ran around locking all the doors and windows and whatever we could lock.

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket telling me I had a text.

Mind if me, Rosie, and Jasper come over? So bored and all finished with helping my mom…….their company bailed on them too.

~Emmett

NO! Don't come.

~B

They couldn't come right now! If they were going to come they should have stayed! We can't have then outside…..if Stalker-Abuser dude—that's what I'm going to call him, 'cause I really don't know how else to address him—really means that he knows everything…..he'll know where they live.

Too bad, we are on our way already, Rose made me ask to be polite, did she really think I would listen either way? :)

~Emmett

I groaned and shoved my phone back into my pocket without answering. Of course Emmett wouldn't care, did I really think he would? Nothing's going to stop them now, even if I say there's a maniac on the loose around the house. That would make him want to come even more. Emmett loves a good fight and wouldn't for his life let his friends be in danger

I found Edward fumbling with a lock on a window that wouldn't snap shut.

"Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper are coming," I said quietly.

He looked stricken but still fumbled with the lock and finally snapped it in place, "They can't come! I can't have even more people I love in danger! You're already here and...and you're in danger just knowing me. Seriously, Bells, this guy is a wacko."

I know that I probably should have been more concerned with the whole wacko thing, but the first thing that popped into my mind was he just said he loved me. Even if it's just a friend way…it's something right?

"You l-love me?" I stuttered incoherently then silently cursed myself. Stupid Bella!

"Of course," he said as if it were the most natural thing ever, "Your one of my best friends."

See Bella? Friend way, that's all there was to expect anyway. Great now I'm talking to myself…..or more like thinking to myself? I'm going crazy.

I guess it could go somewhere further at some point right……wrong. Don't get your hopes up; it's not going to happen.

So, as I kept going crazy thinking—and trying to...unthink?—of ways Edward might love me, the door bell rang and I heard Emmett yell, "Why is your door locked? It's never locked!"

Edward and Alice were sitting on the couch talking quietly to one another, I didn't want to intrude, this wasn't any of my business.

I trotted quickly over to the door, opened it and ushered them inside. "Come on, come on," I chanted as they took their good-ol' time getting inside. As soon as they were past the door, I shut up with a loud bang and locked it.

"What's your problem?" Rose asked, "Nothing's out there."

I shook my head and then realized I had a headache. Ugh, worst time ever to have a headache. "We'll explain, come on."

They followed me to the living room where Edward and Alice were now aware of their guests.

Jasper instantly went right over to Alice, she looked a mess I'll tell you that, and when Alice out of all people doesn't look good, you know something's wrong.

She didn't waste any time in explaining. She was way more calm now, almost—and I mean almost—back to her normal self…..just maybe a little more serious.

"Our freaking dad is back! I can't believe it! He called my phone! So now it's broken 'because I got so pissed that I threw it at the wall! And he totally freaked Bella out 'because he called Edward's phone and Edward told Bella to answer it, and thankfully she didn't throw his phone or else we would have two phones to replace! And then Bella called Charlie and he said to lock all the doors and not leave for anything, so you guys aren't leaving now, oh and he said he was going to call Carlisle and Esme, but they're in a big meeting thingy at the hospital where they weren't allowed to have their cell phones on so I'm not so sure they will answer." Alice said taking a big breath at the end. She said that whole thing without as much as a breath of air! Parts of it I couldn't even understand because she was going so fast.

Jasper had his arm wrapped around Alice in a reassuring way and Emmett looked oddly…..pleasant about this whole thing. Obviously he showed concern towards his friends. This obviously wasn't something they'd want to deal with….it's got to be awful knowing that this man who had ruined their first five childhood years was back, and knew where they lived.

"So, to sum up what she said….we just have to stay inside for now." I turned to Edward, "My dad will probably need to see your cell phone….ya know, in case he can trace the call."

He nodded, "Okay."

It got sort of awkward after that. No one knew what to say. Our quiet breathing was the only sound in hearing distance. Well, that was until we heard sirens outside of the house.

"This is Officer Daniels, please open up." Came a voice from the front door not long after the sirens started.

I started to stand up but Edward put a hand on my shoulder, "Bella, this isn't your problem, let me work it out." he said quietly, his eyes intense as they stared into mine. I nodded and slowly sat back down and he motioned Alice over to him and they went to the door together. I noticed how he kept a protective stance over his sister. It wasn't obvious, but if you looked closely enough, you could tell he was ever so slightly in front of her with his right arm jutted out the tiniest bit in front of her torso. When you looked at the two of them together, they didn't even look like siblings. The only similarity was their pale skin. Other than that, Edward was very tall while Alice was very tiny and Edward has the greenest eyes I've ever seen, if you look into them long enough it almost seems like they go on for miles, while Alice has blue eyes that match the color the of sky and had the most fragile affect. If people didn't know they were twins, they might think that Alice is quite a few years younger.

I couldn't help but think that this--in some way at least--was my problem, and Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper's as well. This man is Edward and Alice's history; he's connected to them, and Alice and Edward and connected to the rest of us. It's an ongoing chain, never really stopping. No matter what we try to do, it's going to affect us in one way or another. Happiness if the man gets caught and our friends and safe and happy again, tragedy if this man somehow gets to them, or nervousness if this man is still on the run. This isn't something we can change now; we can't cower in the corner and hope for it to go away. Things like this aren't like that, we have to live through it, we don't have any other choice.

Believe me, if it were up to me, this Edward Masen guy would be in jail by now, but I can't do anything about it but watch. That's what kills me the most. I really can't help my friends. I'm not strong enough to put myself in between them if he ever comes--not that I wouldn't try, but it wouldn't be any use--and I'm not important enough to get anything done.

Officer Daniels was asking Edward and Alice questions about Edward Masen. Just the basics, what he looks like, his main features, if there were any certain place they might be able to find him.

From what I heard I have an idea what Edward Masen looks like. Edward's description was that he had hair that greatly matched his own, very light blue eyes, pretty muscular, and about the same height as Emmett, and he had a tattoo of a phoenix on his left shoulder.

Emmett seemed to be straining his ears as well. His head was stretched out in an odd position facing the door. His face was neutral, no expression showing at all. Jasper's face was showing anger, overwhelming anger, and a hint of something showing how scared he was. He wasn't scared for himself though, you could tell, he was scared for his best friend and girlfriend. None of us here were scared for ourselves. This didn't hurt us like it hurt our friends.

Memories like these shouldn't show up again. By answering all these questions, they must be remembering what had happened all those years ago. Like I said, it's nothing you can run away from, you have to face it head on and hope for the best.