EDITED VERSION, POSTED JAN22
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: Sixteen
Chapter Title: Call
Warning: Includes mention of violence, and rape.
Author's Note: So I log into my hotmail account the day after I posted this and was welcomed by 56 new e-mail- OMG! I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! To everyone who reviewed/fav author/fav. Story/ story alerted. To all of those who did one of those but didn't review- you had the box open anyways :P Commmooonnn..... you know you want to review! Haha.
Alright, this chapter only came out to be like 6 or 7 pages, but it's an important one. The Major 'twists' are starting!!!! ENJOY! ^^ hehehehehehee.... sugarrrrr
Special Thanks: divine divinity, Salvations Redemption, -Azn-Grl-Twilight-Fan-, Offically Dazzled(lmao), iamkagomeiloveinuyasha, RoryAceHayden147, DancinBlondeGurl, switzerland10105, wickedlylovely, arizonajess, Drama Kagome, Crystallized Hope, sicklittlesuicide, Twilghtlover101, carosonrisa, Ghostwriter, AND anyone else I forget with the crap that went down. I'm really sorry to anyone whom i missed.
Now I was even more worried about what I would say to Jessica; how was I supposed to attempt girl talk knowing that Edward was all but sitting right next to me? I sat in my usual seat, slamming my bag in aggravation.
"Morning, Bella," Mike said from the seat next to me. I looked up to see an odd, almost resigned look on his face. "How was Port Angeles?"
"It was..." There was no honest way to sum it up. "Great," I finished lamely. "Jessica bought a really cute dress."
"Did she say anything about Monday night?" he asked, his eyes brightening. I smiled at the turn the conversation had taken.
"She said she had a really good time," I assured him.
"She did?" he asked eagerly.
"Most definitely." I said, nodding. "And she hasn't even had a chance to really talk to me about it, so I'll bet she had a better time then she let on. I'm sure I'll get details later." Mike smiled brilliantly. It was so easy to please Mike.
Mr. Mason called the class to order then, asking up to turn in our papers. It seemed strange; impossible even, how the real world seemed to carry on without a hitch, even though another world was carrying on within it. Constantly my mind seemed to wander back to Edward, making it impossible to concentrate in either English or Government. I worried about how I was going to explain this to Jess, when I could barely understand it myself. I also wondered if Edward would actually be listening through the medium of Jessica's thoughts- how very inconvenient his little talent could be. You know, when it wasn't saving my life.
The fog had almost dissolved by the end of the second hour, but the day was still dark with low, oppressing clouds. I smiled up at the sky.
Edward was right, of course. When I walked into Trig, Jessica was sitting in the back row, nearly bouncing off her seat in agitation. I reluctantly went to sit by her, trying to convince myself it would be better to get it over with as soon as possible.
"Tell me everything!" she commanded before I was in the seat. A warning sign began to flash in mind's eye- I had to watch what I said, for his sake. I wouldn't want to slip and let out too much.
"What do you want to know?" I hedged.
"What happened last night?"
"He bought me dinner, and then he drove me home."
She glared at me, her expression stiff with skepticism. "How did you get home so fast?"
"He drives like a maniac. We where easily going 100 the whole way- I don't know how we didn't get pulled over." This didn't impressed her; Jessica probably didn't care about cars at all. The fact I did was my own dirty little secret, mind you.
"Was it like a date- did you tell him to meet you there?" Right to the point.
I hadn't thought of that. "No- I was very surprised to see him there."
"What aren't you telling me?" She whined, her lips puckered in disappointment at the absolutely honesty in my voice. I debated for a long moment, wondering if I should tell her something- small.
"Well," I started, "what happened was this: I went to this book store to look up some local history, you know, out of interest- my dad is friends with the elder of tribe down in La Push-"
"Oh yeah, we ran into some of them at the beach. The kids, I mean- nice guys. Fairly good looking, too." Jessica giggled.
"Yeah," I said, awkwardly, "so any how, I was walking back to the restaurant, and got lost. Some creepy guy started following me, and Edward just happened to drive by, and noticed me out by myself. I probably would have been mugged if he didn't show up." I whispered quickly; never mind that it was more then one guy, and I would have been much worse then mugged.
"That's so romantic!" Jess squealed. My ears ached in protest.
"So are you going out again?"
"He offered to drive me to Seattle on Saturday- does that count?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Well, then, yes."
"Has he officially asked you out?" I'm sure my face was bright red before she even finished the sentence. I looked down at my books, unable to open my mouth, then nodded. She squealed quietly.
"W-o-w." She exaggerated the word into three syllables. "Edward Cullen."
"I know," I agreed. 'Wow' didn't even cover it.
"Wait!" Her hands flew up, palms towards me like she was stopping traffic. I knew I should have taken the break to bring up Mike; damnit. "Has he kissed you?"
"No," I mumbled.
She looked disappointed. I'm sure I did, too.
"Do you think Saturday...?" She raised her eyebrows.
"I really doubt it." The discontent in my voice was poorly disguised.
"Well, you never know," she shrugged, but it was clear she didn't really care. "Maybe he's just being a gentleman." I didn't say anything.
"So what did you talk about?" She pushed for more information in a whisper. Class had started by Mr. Varner wasn't paying close attention and we weren't the only ones still talking.
"I don't know, Jess, lots of stuff," I whispered back. "We talked about the English essay a little." A very, very little. I think he mentioned it in passing.
"Please, Bella," she bagged for the second time. "Give me some details."
"Well... okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him- it was over the top. But he didn't pay attention to her at all." Let him make what he could of that.
"That's a good sign," she nodded. "Was she pretty?"
"Very- and probably nineteen or twenty."
"Even better. He must like you."
"I think so, but it's hard to tell. I hope so anyways, but he's always so cryptic." I threw that in for his benefit, sighing.
"I don't know how you're brave enough to be alone with him," she breathed.
"Why?" I was shocked, but she didn't understand my reaction.
"He's so... intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him." She made a face, probably remembering this morning or last night, when he'd turned the overwhelming force of his eyes on her.
"I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him," I admitted.
"Oh well. He is unbelievably gorgeous." Jessica shrugged as if this excused any flaws. Which, in her books, it probably did.
"There's a lot more to him than that." I muttered, slightly defensively.
"Really? Like what?"
I wish I had let it go. Almost as much I was hoping he'd been kidding about listening in.
"I can't explain it right... but he's even more unbelievable behind the face." The vampire who wanted to be good- who ran around saving people's lives to he wouldn't be a monster... I stared towards the front of the room.
"Is that possible?" she giggled.
I ignored her, trying to look like I was paying attention. I didn't like how Jessica analyzed him, like he was just a piece of meat to ogle at.
"So you like him, then?" She wasn't about to give up.
"Yes," I said curtly.
"I mean, do you really like him? 'Cause dating someone, and really like them are totally different things," she urged. I attempted not to shoot her a dirty look- did I look like that kind of girl?
"Yes," I said again, blushing. I hoped that detail wouldn't register in her thoughts.
Jessica had enough of the one syllable answers. "How much do you like him?"
"Too much," I whispered back. "More than he likes me. But I don't see how I can help that." I sighed, one blush bleeding into the next.
"Excuse me, Mr Varner?" Ms. Cope's voice came over the PA system.
"Yes?" he called back, surprised by the interruption- Ms. Cope rarely interrupted class.
"Could you please send Isabella Swan down to the office? We have a call for her."
"She's on her way." Mr. Varner said, while motioning for me to go.
"Thank you." She said, followed by the distinctive sound of the PA being hung up.
I slowly rose to my feet, gathering up my things, while everyone was watching me. Who was calling me at school? Was Charlie alright? Panic flooded my mind, so I hurried out the door, barely aware of the whispers which broke out as soon as I was out of the room.
The cold moisture clung to me, but I barely noticed. Something inside of me was telling me something was wrong, and I couldn't ignore it. I broke into a run, and burst into the office doors to see a concerned looking Ms. Cope.
"Line one, dear." she said, motioning to the phone on the counter. I picked up the receiver, and pressed the top right hand button.
"Hello?" My voice was shaky.
"Is this Isabella Swan?" A strong, husky males' voice asked.
"Yes, that's right. Who am I speaking with?" I asked, politely. A cold wind brushed on my back, but I barely registered- I was far to busy listening to the busy background of the man on the other end.
"I'm Dr. Miller, from St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix Arizona. I apologize for contacting you during school, but I'm afraid your mother insisted. Renee Reed is you mother, correct?"
"Yes, sir." I sat down in the plastic orange Chairs. There was a lot of movement around me, but I couldn't process it.
"I'm afraid that she's currently been admitted into our care. Due to legal reasons, we cannot admit her husband as the medical proxy, which leave a you. I know that this is a lot of place on your shoulders, but if you could please find a way here, as soon as possible, we need to speak." He sounded almost bored- obviously someone who had said this a million times. But to me, it was all new- and terrifying.
"Of course," I agreed. "I'll get on the first flight out, or something."
"We apologize for the inconvenience-"
"Don't." I cut the man off harshly. I didn't want to hear whatever long, overly practice apology he had. "Tell me- is John in custody?"
"He's currently being held at the police station as we speak."
"Good. Do not, under any circumstances, allow him in that room. I don't give a damn what my mother says." I stood back up, and hung up the phone.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Ms. Cope asked, as I stared angrily into the counter top. I said nothing, then grabbed the phone back.
"Do I hit 9-9 to dial out?"My voice was full of compounded rage.
"Y-yes." She nodded.
I quickly dialed 9-9, then the police station number. I expected some sort of long introduction, but someone actually answered the phone on the other end.
"Fork's Police Depart-"
"I need to speak to Charlie- it's his daughter, and it's an emergency."
"On sec- CHARLIE!" he yelled out. There was a lot of shuffling around, followed by static- then silence- then the phone was picked up again.
"-Bells?"
"Dad, it's Renee. She's in the hospital. I've got to go- I'll be back, I promise. I'm going to drive to Seattle, and take the next flight out." I said quickly. He was quite for a moment- processing the information. Luckily, in a crisis my dad was always a rock.
"Is she alright?" He assessed first.
"No." My voice was curt. Tears threatened to explode out. "Dad, I need you to do something for me."
"What is it, Bells?" A cold hand rested on my shoulder, and I saw him from the corner of my eye. The cold breeze had been him entering to room before. Always watching, like a guardian angel.
"I need you to start processing that report. Whatever you have collected for it."
"I already did, Bella. A long time ago." His voice was sad. "Bella, are you alright?"
"No." That time I couldn't hold it back- the treas began to flow out.
"Bella, give me the phone." Edward's comforting voice said, while his genle hands pulled it from my grasp.
"Hello, Chief Swan? Yes, this is Edward Cullen- that's correct, Dr. Cullen's son." Edward was putting out all the stops to lure in Charlie with his voice.
"Yes, I've already spoken to Bella in depth about this- no, she won't change her mind, I've already tried. Not willing to wait, either." I sat down in the plastic chair, with Edward in front of me. His shoulder was holding the phone, his hands resting on my knees. Ms. Cope seemed to have left the room, or was sitting out of view.
"Well, it seems that the Hospital had made her Renee's proxy, so she's responsible for all medical decisions. Which means she needs to get there as soon as possible." He paused for a moment, nodding.
"No, I agree- she's in no shape to be driving. No, she wont wait- I'm practically forcing her to stay put right now-" which was a lie- I was still in shock that Edward was even in here, let alone that he was speaking to my father- and I wasn't putting up any fight right now.
"Well, sir, if you'll allow it, I'd like to drive Bella to Seattle. Yes sir, I have a perfect driving record- feel free to look it up. No, I agree. Yes, of course I will. Do you have a pen? I'd like to give you my cell phone number. You do? Good. It's 360-555- 8765. Got that? Excellent. Right. I'll make sure she calls you regularly. Don't worry, sir- I'll watch over her." He stood up, and hung up the phone.
"Edward?" I suddenly said, shocked.
"Ms. Cope, Bella and I will need to be excused for an emergency- I hope you'll forgive the late notice."
"Of- of course, Edward. Would you like to notify your father?"
"If you wish to call him, feel free- I'm going to do the same myself." Edward grabbed my arm, and lead the way out the building. I had no idea what was going on, as he pulled a cell from his pocket, and turned it on.
"What's going on?" I muttered.
"I'm driving." He said, simply, without looking at me. With the touch of three buttons, he had the phone up to his ear. He spoke so fast, I could barely understand what he was saying, but got the main idea of it-
My mom was hurt, and he was taking me to go see her.
Beside's that, I had no idea.
We stopped beside his car for a moment, looking across the roof at each other. I smiled weakly. "Thank you, Edward."
"Everyone has baggage, right?" he quoted. "Get in." I quickly obeyed.