EDITED AND RE-POSTED JAN 22
Title: Twisted Twilight
Author: Midnight
Beta: Moonlite
Synopses: A different version of Twilight. What if Renee never married Phil, but John Reed, a local cop. John is actually an alcoholic, and is abusive to Bella and Renee. It's after a brutal attack, that Bella decides to go to Forks to live with her Father. As Bella's life experiences have changed, so has our beloved story. See how!
Rating: T
Chapter: Five
Chapter Title: Phenomenon
Warning: Includes mention of violence, and rape.
Authors Note: Alright, so this chapter is a little longer then the last one because I had to do some research before had. AKA; look at my notes from last year. I apologize if anything is wrong in my medical mumbo-jumbo, I'm a history/philosophy double major, not science and pre-med. I did take a physiology class though.
Special thanks: Nekokitten1123, Gothic Saku-chan, Drama Kagome, -Azn-Grl-Twilight-Fan-, A is for Angel, RoryAceHayden147, Crystallized Hope
AND mikan kisses , Lily-Potter8, who pointed out I uploaded the wrong chapter, like a moron. That's what I get at 5 am I guess. lol.
I woke up the next morning, the memory of last night foggy in my mind. I stretched out, and yawned loudly. I was supposed to remember something. "Oh well," I said to myself, rolling over to look at my clock.
Crap! It was 7:45- school started in 15 minutes!
I flew out of bed and into the closest pair of jeans, and a long sleeve T. I flew into the bathroom, gargled the mouth wash, and grabbed an elastic. Muttering several swear words, I pulled my hair into a pony well running down the stairs. Some how, I managed not to fall.
It was a good thing I packed my bag last night, I thought while throwing on my raincoat and running shoes. I took one last look at the clock when I tying up my shoes; but the clock that normally hung on the wall was missing. I freaked, and ran out the door.
Mistake one.
The sky wasn't foggy, which hadn't struck me as suspicious until now. A thin layer of snow had covered the road, the house, and my car. And all the rain for the past week had frozen solid. Which meant that as soon as I, madam uncoordinated, ran out the front door, I fell on my butt, and slide half way to car.
This was very clearly, not going to be my day.
Mistake two.
I slipped several times trying to get myself up, and had to settle for sliding over ov my butt to the car, and using it for support. I fumbled again, twice, trying to get in, but finally made it. "Alright, Bella- nice and easy. The car still has summer tires on."
The icy surroundings was beautiful, and sort of peaceful. It was also terrifying. So many teen drivers can't drive under good conditions, I'd be lucky if someone didn't smash right into my car today. With a deep breath, I took on the roads before me.
While driving, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix, if not paler. Maybe it was just that they boys back in Arizona had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Possible my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather then pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behaviour and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. I wasn't sure I didn't prefer being ignored.
I was interested in someone who saw me, for me. Not as the shiny new toy, or pretty face. Someone who could accept me and all the baggage that came with that. And no one here knew enough about me to even grace that level. Except maybe Edward.
I shock the though from my mind; like that was ever going to happen.
The car handled surprisingly well, given how light it was, and that it had summer tires on, but I still drove like an old woman, not wanting to become one with a stop sign or telephone poll. I slide in a couple places, but barely. I kept the car in second for the most part, even though I was killing gas, so traction was much easier.
When I got to school, and parked, I was shocked to see it was only 7:50.
Then I remember I had set my alarm twenty minutes fast so I would get up earlier. I had time to brush my hair after all. As I got out of the car, I saw why the car had done so well. New tires. Snow tires.
Holding the mirror, I looked down at the tires to examine them; Charlie must have woken up early to get snow tires put on the civic, knowing it wouldn't handle well in the snow. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of; I was normally the one reminding Renee or these types of things, or just doing it for her.
I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotions the tires had brought on, when I head an odd sound.
It was a high pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.
I saw several thins simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way is does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.
Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate important was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the front of my car, and I was in it's way. I didn't even close me eyes, or try to run. Everyone dies eventually, right?
But just before I heard the shattering crunch of the front of my car crushing under the pressure of the truck, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting. My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and felt something solid and cold pinning my to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. The civic had only slowed it down, like a speed bump.
Now it was after me, again.
A low oath made me aware that someone was with me, and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a from my face, the large hands sitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.
Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body of the ban, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a doll, till they hit the tire of the tan car. A groaning metallic thud hurt my head, and the van settled, a glass popping onto the asphalt- exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been.
It was absolutely silence for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, I could head more that one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.
"Bella? Are you already? Please, tell me you're alright?"
"I'm- fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp. .
I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.
"Ow," I said, surprised.
"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter. Ever so carefully, he placed me on the tarmac, making sure my neck didn't move. "You could have a spinal injury." He explained. My scarf which had been wrapped lightly around my neck, was now the block between his skin and mine, but even still I could feel a soft electric flow.
"What are you, a doctor?" I wined. He just chuckled.
"How in the..." I trailed off, as the images began to flow back into my mind. I tried to clear my head, and get my bearings, "How did you get here so fast?"
"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again.
I tried to sit up, but he wouldn't let me. Somehow he was managing to hold my neck, but keep his body as far away from me as he could in the limited space. "You need to stay down, you could be seriously wounded." I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the for of his golden eyes. What was I asking him?
" You make it sound like we're at war." I muttered, giving a soft smile. He smiled back.
"I'm beginning to wonder." The comment made absolutely no sense, but before I had a chance to ask, they found us.
A crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.
"Don't move!" someone instructed. I rolled my eyes- where were we going to go?
"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.
There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward wouldn't move his hands.
"Just stay put for now." He ordered.
"But- it's cold," I complained. It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.
"You were over there," I suddenly remember, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."
His expression became hard. "No, I wasn't. I was standing right next to you."
"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voice of adults arriving on the scene. I was right, I knew I was. But something in his look told me to drop it. "I want answers."
"I was standing right next to you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.
"No." I set my jaw.
The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."
"Why? What's-"
"Trust me," he cut me off, pleading. His soft voice was overwhelming.
I could hear sirens now. "Trust is a hard thing to gain in my books. Male's don't have a good tract record of keeping their word. I won't tell anyone, but you have to tell me what's going on."
"Fine." He looked nervous, like I'd break my word.
"Trust me." I repeated, in a slightly mocking tone.
"Neither of us really have a choice, do we?" He mused. I heard the squealing stop of an ambulance.
"Bella, are you alright?" Coach Clapp yelled.
"She's alright- I think she his her head, can someone pass me a neck brace?" Edward yelled back. There was shuffling, and the neck brace suddenly fell next to him.
"Bella, you can't move while I do this, alright?" I rolled my eyes.
"Okay." Slowly he moved his hands away, then with incredible sped put on the brace.
It took six EMTs and two teachers- Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp- to shift the van far away enough to bring stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but they didn't listen.
"She's probably got a concussion, she hit her head fairly bad," Edward said to one of the EMTs, "I don't think the neck brace in entirely necessary, but she hit the pavement on a strange angel, so it's better to be safe then sorry."
"You sound like your dad." The man joked. Edward smiled innocently, and nodded.
"I've learned a lot from him."
I nearly died of humiliation when they pulled me out; the whole school was standing in the lot. They all watched soberly as Tyler and I got loaded into separate ambulances. To make matter's worse, Charlie arrived before I was safely removed.
"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.
"Dad, I'm fine," I sighed." There's nothing wrong with me, they're just being stupidly careful."
He turned to the closet EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper- a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulder... as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the mental frame.
The strange, iron safety-net that turned out to be Edward's grasp. The blue van's indent, the size of two hands. Edward's hands.
And his family, looks of their faces ranging from disapproval to fury, but none held concern for their brother's safety. Except Alice- she at the look of someone who was up to no good. She was certainly a strange one.
Edward hopped into the front seat of my ambulance, allowing the EMT to sit in the back with me. He didn't even seem rattled- even if he was standing right next to me, which he wasn't, he should at least be shock up. Or something.
Naturally, the ambulance's got a police escort to the hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power.
I tried to think of a logical conclusion to explain what I'd just experienced, but there was nothing. It was impossible. Any logical solution ended in me being insane.
They put me in the emergence room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm, and a thermometer under my tongue. She scribbled something down, and walked away. Since no one pulled the curtain to give me some privacy, I removed the stupid looking neck brace. Edward was being overly cautious- I was fine. The Velcro made a ripping nose as I pulled, and I quickly threw it under the bed so the nurse wouldn't notice.
Then, once again a flurry of hospital personal erupted into the room. They where dragging another stretcher into the room, and I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class. They had tight pressure bandages wrapped around his head, but they where already covered in blood. I smelt the rust-salt like mixture, and my stomach twisted.
"Bella, I'm so sorry!" He said. Tyler looked a hundred times worse then I felt, yet he still looked anxiously at me.
"I'm fine, Tyler- you look awful, are you all right?" as we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.
He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going way too fast, and I hit the ice wrong..." he winced as one nursed started dabbing his face.
"Don't worry about it, you missed me."
"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone...."
"Edward pulled my out of the way." I said without missing a beat, like it was obvious.
"Cullen? I didn't see him." he looked confused.
"Tyler, he was standing right next to me. We where talking about our up coming Bio test."
"Well, it all happened so fast, I guess. Is he okay?" Tyler was suddenly horrified again.
"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher." I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.
The wheeled me away to x-ray to take a look at my head. I told them I was fine, and I was right. Not even a concussion. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Tyler's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorse mumbling.
"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open. Edward was standing a foot from my bed, smirking. I attempted to glare, but failed. It was far more natural to oogle, and it ended up being just a normal glance.
"Hey Edward, I'm really sorry-" Tyler began. Edward lifted his hand to stop him.
"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing me. He smirked again.
"Bella said you pulled her out of the way, but I didn't even see you," Tyler was ranting again, "but she said you where, that you where talking about an up coming bio test or something. I can't believe how unobservant I was- I could have killed you both!" Edward looked at, and I gave a slight shrug. I had to think of some reason why her was there.
"Damn straight!" Charlie yelled from the door. "And you can say goodbye to your license."
"Dad, you're over reacting. I'm fine. Edward's fine. The only one who's hurt, is Tyler. That's punishment enough, I think."
"You're in a bed, Bella," Charlie pointed out.
"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go until a Doctor looks me over one last time," I complained.
"It's all about who you know," Edward joked. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."
Just then, Dr. Cullen walked around the corner.
"So, Miss. Swan," Dr. Cullen said, his voice low but attractive, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," I said, hoping it was the last time I'd have to. Dr. Cullen probed lightly along my head, his cold fingers took my by surprise. Funny, Edward had cold hands all the time to, but when he touched me, if was different. "Sorry, I've been outside."
"No problem." I winced and he noticed.
"Tender?" he asked.
"Not really." I'd had worse. Much, much worse. A shutter ran down my spine.
"Cold? Dizzy?" Edward looked around his father's shoulders, suddenly concerned.
"No, no. I just-" I paused, wondering if I should continue, "just thinking I've had worse."
"Ah." He nodded.
"Now Bella, when I told you to meet me at the hospital at eight-thirty, I didn't mean on a stretcher." Charlie said, a mocking smile on his face. Serious situations always made him awkward, which always lead to a joke. What did he mean, meat him at the-
"You told me to meet you here?" Where the hell was I?
"I left a note for you on the counter. Remember I wanted you to come in today?"
"I woke up late- didn't have time to eat, so I didn't go into the kitchen," I mumbled, blushing slightly, "so I didn't get the note." Relization hit me like a brick to the face.
"But I do remember our conversation last night." And the screaming, and the trying to push Charlie away.
"Carlisle, can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?" Charlie said, motioning to Edward and Tyler.
"Of course." The two men left.
"Really? He's going to do this now?" I wined to myself. Tyler seemed unaware of the whole thing, and was wheeled out a minute after Dr. Cullen and my dad for x-rays.
"Is everything- okay?" Edward said, his face full of concern.
"For the last time, I'm fine. If you don't believe me, check the chart." I sighed, letting my head fall back into the pillow. Edward looked out into the hall, his concern never fading. "Now, you owe me an explanation."
"I saved your life, I don't owe you anything." His voice was suddenly stern.
"I trusted you." I hissed.
"Bella, you hit your head pretty hard, you don't know what you're talking about." Edward's tone had lost it's edge.
"I'm perfectly fine, and you know it. If what I saw didn't happen, then you wouldn't be so defensive." My temper flared up. Stupid men.
"What do you want from me?" He asked.
"I want to know the truth. I want to know why I'm lying for you."
"What do you think you saw?"
"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me, Tyler didn't see you either, so don't tell me I him my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both- and it didn't, your hands left dents in the side of it- and left you a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all- and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up..." I could hear how crazy it sounded, and couldn't continue.
"You think I lifted a van off you?" He questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.
I nodded one, jaw tight. "Nobody will believe that, you know."
"I'm not going to tell anyone; I like to keep my word."
He looked strangely surprised, "Then why does it matter?"
"It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie- so there had better be a good reason why I'm doing it."
"Cant you just thank me, and get over it?" He sighed in defeat.
"Thank you for saving my life," I said each word carefully, "but I won't let this go." Edward's face sank, as he looked to me. He looked perplexed, not knowing what to say.
"There is a good reason, Bella, but-"
"Edward, your sister Alice is on the phone for you, wants to make sure you're okay." A nurse interrupted from the door.
"Thank you," he smiled at her, "I'll be back in a few to see if we can't get you out of here."
And just like that, I was left alone. I could hear Charlie and Dr. Cullen talking in the hall, and I remembered they where talking about me. I pulled myself out of the bed, and carefully tip-toed to the door.
Once I got there, I leaned against the wall to listen.
"Well, based on what you're explaining, I'd say she'd probably having night terrors." Dr. Cullen's voice was calm, and compassionate.
"Night terrors? I thought only kid's got those."
"Did Bella suffer from them as a child?"
"Yeah, one summer when she was about five, I had to time when they normally came, and then I was supposed to wake her up fifteen minutes before that time, keep her awake for about four or five minutes, then let her go back to sleep. Should I do that again?"
"You could try it, but it probably won't work. There's a strong difference between the adult, and child mind. For one thing, the adult mind, for better or worse, is more determined, and less flexible. If she get's woken up, her mind will think it's still coming, and produce it later.
"Has she had any problems falling back to sleep after these episodes?"
"No, not really. When I first wake her up, she's disoriented, doesn't know what's going on. By the time she's coherent, she can't even really remember what the dream was. She said that sometime's, it's memories repeating in her brain, and those are the one's she remembers. But the one's she doesn't remember, she doesn't remember at all.
"Two night's ago for example, she woke up screaming and I came running. The next morning, it was like it never happened."
"Her mind is probably attempting to process old trauma that's never been dealt with. I can't be sure, for one thing I've only seen her twice, and for another, I'm just an surgeon."
"What's the source then? There has to be something, some where. Adults don't just have night terrors."
"The most common reason for night terror's in teens, is either head trauma, withdraw from an addictive drug, such as ones which increase serotonin and dopamine intake in the brain, i.e. cocain-"
"Are you trying to tell me my little girl is on coke?" Charlie sounded absolutely horrified. I rolled my eyes, and sighed. Obviously not.
"No, Charlie. I do not think Bella is on coke, especially considering she'd be suffering from more symptoms. But the last, most common reason is abuse. Which is also why this get's tricky. If Bella's is experiencing night terror's because of abuse, she's also presumably extremely depressed and not dealing with it. She could start suffering from anxiety attacks, and possibly PTSD; post traumatic stress disorder.
"PTSD can lead her to have flash backs to particularly bad- memories. Which will lead to more anxiety attacks. Flash backs can differ in levels of severity; they can last minutes, or second. She can completely connected to reality, and know what's going on, or completely shut down and really believe she's back there. More concerning is if these are left untreated, then they can lead to dissociation episodes, or even to full blown depersonalization disorder."
"You're telling me that if we don't deal with this, now, my daughter might loss touch with reality?" Charlie sounded upset, but more in a defeated way, then an angry way.
"Not quite. For periods of time, yes. For the most part, depersonalization its- well it's been described like watching TV."
"So can't we get her on some medication, fix her sleeping, getting her in to see someone?" Charlie was getting desperate; bad sign.
"That's where this get's tricky. Antidepressants have been know to cause, or increase night terrors. Not to mention they're extremely addictive, and take time to work. So, even if they do work in time, that in between period Bella will have worse terror's, and will either start to grow a dependance on the medication, or stop taking it. Also, ironically, as medications effect some people different, they have been know to, in rare cases mind you, increase likelihood of suicide."
"So she needs antidepressants to stop the terrors, but we can't give them to her."
"Bella needs to see a psychiatrist before we do anything. They'll be able to help identify what will help Bella best with coping, wither that be that she remain in school, attempt to live a normal life, or hospitalization."
"Hospitalize her?"
"If there's any chance that Bella has thought about, or is thinking about, harming herself or other's it's our responsibility to make sure she's safe. And sometime's that means keeping them safe from themselves."
"Okay," Charlie sighed heavily in defeat. "Then what do we do?"
"Well, once we discover just what's going on with Bella, the psychatrist will be able to determine if putting her on something like chlordiazepoxide, a benzodiazepine based drug which helps with nervousness and insomnia, would be the right course of action."
"That's complete gibberish to me, you realize that."
"Anxiety medication, and then maybe antidepressants."
"Could we back in up here?" I said, pulling myself through the narrowly opened door. Dr. Cullen and Charlie booth stood, surprised by my sudden appearance. "I heard everything, you don't have to repeat it."
"Bella, I know this is stressful for you." Dr. Cullen said, reassuringly. "And you're experiencing completely normal reactions to a traumatic event. We're going to run some tests, and make sure that you're physically in good working order. The problem is, if we don't treat this now it's going to become much worse."
"No, we're not, because I'm fine. First of all, they're just nightmares, not 'night terrors', secondly, it's a phase, I'll grow out of it. I have bad nightmares every eight months, like clock work. Other then that, I talk in my sleep. I didn't mean to scare anything, but this is normal for me."
"Common and recurring nightmares, aren't normal." Dr. Cullen said, looking severely concerned.
"Look, the wind and the rain bother me when I'm trying to sleep. I've just moved, and I'm trying sort out my new life here, okay? Can we just drop this whole getting me to shrink thing, at least for now? Give me a week or two, they'll go away.
"In fact, last time this happened, I started exercising everyday and it helped, maybe it will this time. Can you please let me do this my way?"
"Bella?" Edward's voice came from around the corner. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"She was just going back, Edward." Dr. Cullen put his hand very carefully on my shoulder, and lead my back into the semi-private room.
"We'll do it your way for now."
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked, well we filed into the room. I slipped, and Edward caught me.
"Normalizing her right now might be the best thing for her. Let her get her bearings a little bit first. She seems to know what she's talking about."
"Thank you." I said, pulling the covers over me. "When can I go home?"
"I want to monitor you for about an hour, and then you can go home." Dr. Cullen smiled.
"Home? Can't I go back to school?" The thought of Charlie 'watching over' me was enough to make me laugh. The over-protective, watchful type wasn't him.
"You should take the day easy, I think. And come back if you have an dizziness, nausea, or headaches."
"Do you get to go back to school?" I asked Edward, well aware of his answer.
"Someone has to spread the good news to the school that we survived." He smiled impishly, making him look even cuter. I blushed with the thought, and looked away.
"Actually, I think mot of the school is in the waiting room." Dr. Cullen said.
"Oh, God." I placed my right hand on my forehead. This was ridiculous. At least Tyler was gone.
"Do you want to stay?"
"No. One hour, then I'm out of here."
"One hour." Dr. Cullen smiled, and walked away with Edward following.