Heey Guys! Sorry for those of you who didn't get the sneak peek, I wasn't at home all weekend. And also I am so sorry that this is late, I have been out of town for a while and didn't have a computer. Anyway, this chapter picks up roughly a year later. It is the beginning of the school year. Nessie and Mady are both going into Grade 1.
Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue.
Alice POV
Mady and Nessie are starting school next week, and I decided that they both needed some new outfits. Everyone else had plans for today, so I thought that today would be a good day to go to the mall.
I loaded both girls into the car and we drove the Nugget Mall (A/N lol weird name, but thats the actual mall in Juneau) Once we got there I grabbed their hands a dragged them towards the main entrance. Nessie, who took after her mom, groaned in protest. Mady on the other hand couldn't be more willing to shop. She loves getting new clothes.
We walked into the big atrium and began working our way down the left side of the mall. The first store we walked into was Abercrombie Kids. I grabbed one of almost everything then led the girls to the dressing room.
At the moment, Mady and Nessie are the same size, but in a few months time Nessie will be a size bigger, so I try to get the girls different things so that Nessie can give her clothes to Mady.
Nessie tried on the clothes quickly, barely staying in one outfit long enough for me to see her in it before switching to the next outfit.
Mady on the other hand gave me a full on fashion show, spinning around so that I could see the outfits from all angles. Everything she tried on looked adorable, same with Nessie. There isn't a piece of clothing in the world that these girls don't look adorable in.
The same routine followed in the next ten stores, and soon my arms were full of bags.
"Aren't we done yet, Aunt Alice?" Nessie whined.
"No!" Mady protested, "We have to go to Claires!"
"Nessie, we're almost done. If your good I'll get you an ice cream cone." Ice cream is the only food that Nessie actually likes, although likes is an understatement. Nessie loves ice cream. Mady made a face, and I winked at her, agreeing.
Finally my arms were full to the max, and the girls had enough clothes to last all year. We were just leaving Gap Kids and heading towards the Baskin Robins when Mady froze.
"What is it?" I looked down at her, and she looked like she had just seen a ghost. I tried to pull her forward but it was like her feet were glued to the ground. "Mady! Come on!"
"Alice," She whispered so low even I had to strain to hear her. "Do you see that girl sitting by the fountain?" She pointed to a tall girl with long wavy brown hair, sitting alone by the big fountain.
"Yeah," I nodded, trying to see where Mady was going with this. Her mind was a jumble though, making new decisions every second.
All of a sudden she made a final decision, and before I could stop her, she pulled away from me, running at just over human speed towards the girl by the fountain.
"Delilah!" She cried. I wanted to run after her, to pull her away, but it was too late. The girl looked up, confusion written all over her pretty face. Recognition, then shock came next.
"Madyson?" She whispered in disbelief. "Madyson Taylor?"
Nessie looked up at me, confused. I couldn't explain though, my eyes were glued on the girl by the fountain.
"Lila," Mady whispered. She looked back at me, panic written all across her face. She realized she had made a mistake. "Help me, Alice," She whispered so low and so fast Delilah didn't notice.
I grabbed Nessie's hand and ran over to Mady.
"Who are you?" Delilah asked, looking at Mady, then looking at me, obviously noticing a resemblance.
"Lila, this is Alice, my...erm...sister...." Mady said. I saw where she was going, and now I was just waiting for Delilah to decide how she was going to react.
"Your...sister?" Delilah spoke softly, but we had no trouble hearing her, "Madsy, what happened to you? People are looking for you! Dave is in jail for you murder!"
"Delilah, listen to me."
Delilah POV
"Delilah, listen to me," Mady urged, "I chose to leave! I had to! But I'm safe now. I'm happy Lila." She whispered the last part.
"Madsy, I'm glad your happy, but you have to come home!" I looked down at the girl I hadn't seen in almost 18 months. Or at least, I looked down at some one who resembled that girl. The Mady standing in front of me is not the Madsy I remember.
This girl is inhumanly beautiful. Not that Mady wasn't cute, but this girl is simply stunning. She has pale skin, and golden eyes. The scar above her left eye is gone too. I know its Mady though. I see Mady's face, her nose, her cheek bones, her cute dimples. She has the same hair too, and was still wearing the earrings I had given her before I left to school. They were gold princess crowns, with Mady Grace carved in one, and Lila Anne carved in the other.
I had given them to her the morning I left, so that we would always be together. That was the last time I had seen her.
"Delilah," Mady asked, "Are you okay?" I realized I hadn't moved in well over a minute.
"No, I'm not okay!" I cried, then I looked at the short pixie like girl Mady had called Alice. "You kidnapped, and mutated my sister!" Tears were running down my cheeks. "Your coming with me Madyson!" I grabbed her hand, but quickly let it go. Her small hand was like granite, ice cold and rock hard.
"I can't come with you," She whispered, looking down at her feet, "I'm sorry."
"What?" I yelled, "Mady, you were...kidnapped! They did something to you! Have you seen yourself?" I looked down at my sister. I had missed her so much. For the past year and half I had been dreaming about the day I found her. But my dreams never went anything like this.
"Delilah?" Alice spoke up, and I looked over at her. "I understand that you are angry. But here is not the place to discuss this." She motioned to the crowds of people around us, "I know you are worried about Mady's health. My father works at the hospital. Why don't we take her there, and we can talk in a more private setting."
I didn't know what else to do, so I nodded. This felt like a dream, like at any moment I would wake up, and Mady would be gone. "Okay."
I followed them out to the parking lot, and willingly climbed into the back seat of a shiny silver volvo, sliding in next to Mady. No one said anything until we arrived at the hospital. Alice lead the way to the service desk, and quietly asked the receptionist something. The lady nodded, and Alice motioned for us to follow her down a quiet hallway.
I didn't let go Mady's hand the entire way. I was afraid to lose her again. She will never know how much it killed me when I found out she was gone. How angry I was at mom for letting this happen.
"Carlisle?" Alice stepped into a small office, and a blonde doctor, in his early twenties maybe, looked up from his desk. "Um, Carlisle, this is Delilah." She motioned towards me.
I gripped Mady's hand tighter as the doctor stood up.
He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "What did you do to her?" I threw my hands towards my baby sister. "You had no right to take her! You had no right to rip her away from me!" The tears were coming back. "She was my life, and you stole that away from me!"
"Its not like that," His voice was smooth.
"Yes," I bawled, "It is like that!"
"She was dying...we had to save her." Carlisle looked at Mady, and I pulled her closer to me.
"What do you mean she was dying?" I snapped.
"She was hurt...someone left her alone, beaten almost to death in the woods. My wife...Mady's teacher, found her. We couldn't let her die."
"So you mutated her?" I couldn't hide the confusion in my voice. "You thought you could just take her, and do whatever you wanted to her! Thats sick! I should call the police, you should all go to jail!"
"No!" Mady wailed. We all looked down at her. She ripped her hand out of mine, and ran over to the doctor. She grabbed his hand in one of her hands, and Alice's in the other. "Please! You don't get it Lila!"
"Then explain it to me Mady. Because I want to get it."
"I..." She hesitated, "Lila I want to. So badly, but I can't." She looked pained, saddened. "I'm sorry, Lila."
"I don't know what you are hiding, and I don't know why you are going along so willingly Madsy, but I'm calling the police! This has gone way to far!"
"Please, Lila. Come back to my house. You will see how happy I am, how loved I am here. You can't take that away from me. I miss you so much Lila, but I can't leave my new family."
I looked at Mady, her eyes wide and pleading. "Fine," I sighed, "Fine Mady. Whatever you want." I had always given Mady whatever she asked for. Except for when she asked me to stay home, not to leave for school, I hadn't listened to her. I guess I owed her this much.
"Thank you." Alice whispered. Mady let go of the doctor and Alice's hand, and gave me a hug.
"Thanks Lila."
Mady POV
I hugged my big sister, and wished I never had to let her go. She agreed to come to the house, and I knew that if she met the rest of the family, if she saw how good of care they took of me, and how much they loved me, I just knew that she would let me stay.
Alice, Lila and I went in the Volvo, and Carlisle took Nessie in his car. We drove towards the house, Lila and I holding hands the whole way. Alice didn't say anything, she just stared ahead, and I couldn't help but wonder what she saw.
We pulled in front of the big house, and I could see the surprise written across Lila's face. I dragged her across the sprawling lawn, and up the front steps. I threw open the front door, "I'm home!" I sang out.
Esme flitted into the entrance way. For a second it seemed like she didn't notice Lila at all. "Did you girls get what you needed? I hope Alice didn't get too out of control." It was at that moment she seemed to notice Lila. She froze, looking at my sister curiously.
"Mom, this is Delilah. Lila, this is my mom, Esme." Delilah didn't say anything, she just looked Esme up and down.
"Delilah, we have heard so much about you! How nice to meet you!" Esme extended her hand, and Delilah wearily accepted it.
"Come meet my other sisters, and my brothers!" I grabbed her hand, and led her into the living room.
"Guys," Everyone looked up. "This is Delilah. Delilah, this is Rosalie, Bella, Emmett, Jasper and Edward. My brothers and sisters."
Delilah nodded weakly. The corners of Edward's mouth turned up slightly, and I wondered what Delilah was thinking.
"Hi Delilah." Edward smiled. Everyone else waved timidly, probably not sure what to think about her being here.
I heard Delilah swallow loudly beside me.
"Delilah," Esme came into the room, "Can I offer you anything to eat? Mady, did Alice buy you lunch at the mall?"
"I'm good, thanks." Delilah spoke quietly.
"Mady?" Esme looked at me.
"Alice bought me and Nessie lunch. She took us to Dairy Queen and we got hamburgers and she let us each get our own blizzard!" I lied smoothly, trying to convince Lila that they were taking very good care of me.
"Once school starts up again we're going to start eating better," Esme laughed.
Delilah looked around the room, taking in the large family in front of her. "I don't get it." She whispered. "How can you be so happy?"
I looked up at the one person who had truly loved me, wishing so badly that I could tell her the truth. I hated lying to her. "When you left Lila, Dave started doing really bad things to me, worse then anything he did while you were here. He broke me arm, he hit me all the time. He turned mom against me. He locked me outside all the time Lila. The only place I ever felt safe was at school, with Esme. Then one night Dave pushed me into the dining room table. I hit my head really hard, but instead of taking me to the hospital, him and mom drove me out the middle of the forest, and left me there to die." I paused, "To die Lila. Thats how little I meant to them. I would have died to, but Esme and Carlisle found me. I can't you how, but they saved me.
"Sure, I may not be the same as before, but now I'm loved, I'm safe, I'm happy Lila. For the first time, I am truly, really happy. I want to stay with you Lila, but I have crossed this line, and I can never go back to the other side."
"I can come to your side of the line." Delilah whispered. I saw my family members glance at each other. Delilah was crying, and if I could cry, I would be sobbing too.
I then said the hardest thing I had ever had to say, "You can't come to this side Lila. It's to dangerous. You have to stay on your side and pretend I am still dead."
"I don't want to." She said through her tears.
"I'm not the same person anymore. The Mady you knew is dead. She's gone. Calling the police won't get her back, it will only make my life, and my new families life more difficult. Please Delilah, the best thing you can do, for me and for you is to just pretend you never found me today."
I looked down. I couldn't look at Delilah. Seeing her cry was just to painful. Esme came over and gave me a big hug, then she went over to Delilah, and hugged her.
"Mady is an amazing girl, and I know that it's all thanks to you. I'm so, so sorry we took her away from you, but I couldn't let her die."
Delilah took a deep breath. "Okay," She sighed. "Okay. I see Mady is happy here. I see you are taking great care of her." She bit her lip. "Madyson Grace Taylor, I loved you more then you will ever know. I am so sorry I left you."
"Its not your fault," I told her, fighting the urge to cry. "Why were you here though, Lila?" Of all the places in the world why did she have to be at the same mall that I was?
She smiled through the tears, "I was here to meet my... fiancee's family."
"Oh, Lila!" I gasped, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks Madsy." She smiled, "You know I bought you a flower girl dress. Jason's little sisters are going to be our flower girls. You would have loved them Madsy, they are such sweet girls. I got you a dress though too, I didn't want to leave you out. And I'm going to become a child phycologist. I'm going to give kids the help that we never had."
My smile grew, "I am so proud of you Lila!"
She sighed, her smile disappearing, "So I guess I'd better go..."
"Pretend today was a dream," Bella spoke up. I had forgotten my family was here. "Pretend it never actually happened, but don't ever forget it. Keep it as a dream some where in the back of your mind."
"I will. Thanks." Delilah smiled, then gave me one last hug. I never wanted to let her go, but too soon I watched as she and Alice headed out the door. Alice was going to drive her back to the mall. They asked me to come, but I couldn't, it would be too hard. Instead I gave Delilah one last kiss, then dry sobbed as she got into the car. Esme wrapped me in her arms as I watched the last piece of my old life leave.
In a weird, sad way, everything felt complete. I had my new family who loved me more then I deserved, and my sister, who used to be my entire life, knew I was okay. She could sleep at night knowing I was safe and happy and loved.
Life can continue on now. Everything is going to be okay. I have my new family, and Delilah has hers. The days will pass, life will move on. Delilah will grow up, and though I will never physically age past seven, I still have a lot to look forward to im my future.
3 YEARS LATER
"Mady!" Esme called as she walked in the front door, "You got a letter!"
I bounced down the stairs, eager to see the envelope. I never get mail, and was curious who it was from.
When I saw who it was addressed to I froze.
Madsy Grace Taylor
No one referred to me as Taylor anymore, and only one person had ever referred to me as Madsy.
I ripped open the envelope, and saw two pieces of paper. The first one was a small pink rectangle, and when I examined it closer I saw that it was a birth announcement.
On August 26th, 2011 at 7:34a.m Jason and Delilah Gray welcomed Emilee Madyson Esme Gray into the world, weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces.
Delilah had a baby. And she has named her after me, and Esme. The second piece of paper was a personal letter.
Dear Madsy,
I'm not sure if you still live here or not, but I really hope this gets to you. I know I was supposed to forget about that day, but I really wanted you to hear about this.
Emilee looks just like you, Mady. She has your hair, and your eyes. Of course I had to give her your name. Everyone asks me where I got the name Esme, and I always say that it came to me in a dream. That Esme is the guardian angle watching over Mady. Please tell her, and the rest of the family how thankful I am that they are giving you the life you deserve.
It took me a long time to make peace with this situation, but Emilee has helped me. She has made it easier to get up in the morning. And don't worry, I'll tell her lots of crazy stories about her adorable Aunt Madyson.
If you had to be taken away from me Mady, I'm at least glad that you are with such great people.
You know Mady, you would have been 12 exactly one month from the day Emilee was born. I hope you have a really happy birthday.
I love you so much Madsy, and hope you are doing well. Maybe one day I will see you again in one of my crazy dreams, and maybe next time your niece will be with me. We'll see.
Lots of love to you, and to everyone else. I'm glad you love your new family, but I hope you'll never forget your old one, or at least me.
Miss you Madsy. Lots of Love,
Delilah and Emilee Mayson Esme Gray.
"Who's it from?" Esme asked.
"Delilah." I smiled. "She had a baby."
"Oh, I'm so happy for her!" Esme gushed. "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"Its a girl."
"Whats her name?"
I smiled, wider this time. "Emilee Madyson Esme Gray. Delilah said that she named her after you because because she tells people that you are the guardian angle that looks after me. She's really grateful for you, mom. Shes glad I'm with such great people."
Esme gave me a hug, and I looked at the picture on the bottom of the birth announcement. She did sorta look like me. I just know that Delilah will make such a great mom. Emilee Madyson Esme Gray is one lucky little baby.
OK. Please don't kill me. I know that was the suckiest ending EVER, but I am getting really bored of this story, and just wanted to end it. I hate when people stop writing their stories half way through, and I figured it better to give you some sort of ending then no ending at all.
Anyway, I have some WAY better stories coming out soon, so keep your eyes open for them.
Many thanks to EVERYONE for sticking with me as I wrote my first FanFic ever. Trust me, my future ones will be a lot better. Thank you for all your support. I love each and everyone one of you *hearts* Lots of Love, Alice