6

September 2001

Alice had fumed over the last email and Renée's treatment of her daughter for the full two weeks before she got another mail.

Hi Alice,

Well, I was right. It is a good thing that I moved school. The teachers are all wonderful here and the subjects are interesting.

You will never believe what she did! Yesterday morning I had been in school for about an hour when Renée called the office to say I had forgotten a dental appointment and had to leave. When I got home she told me she couldn't find her red blouse! I was so angry. After I found it I found out why it was so urgent.

Renée was kind enough to tell me that she was going off for the week with her new boyfriend. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that she seems to have forgotten the date, as her school was badly damaged by a gas leak during the holidays and she has not started back yet.

She had the nerve to say that she had thought it was still August when she agreed to go and that she thought that I was going to be at Charlie's while she was away. I only got back 2 weeks ago. She takes such an interest in me she never noticed I was gone for a full month (except when she needed something doing, I guess). Anyway in the end I told her to just go and that I could manage, not that it took a lot to convince her, it never does.

Oh and her latest idea? I have to call her Renée and not Mom as she really doesn't think she is old enough to be seen as my mother! I'm guessing she's told her latest boyfriend that she is younger than she is, well it's not like I want to talk to any of them anyway, so I wouldn't think her age would come up in conversation at any time.

At least with her going away I will be able to get my homework done, without having to break off to cook when she comes in.

Got to go, email you after school tomorrow!

Bella.

Hi Alice,

I've looked over my last few emails and it seems I complain about my mother a lot (notice I didn't call her Renée? I do it just to annoy her now!). I don't mean to whinge, it's just that I have had a lot to do lately and it got to me, please just ignore what I said. Sometimes she just gets on my nerves and I have to vent.

I had a great night last night, I baked a batch of muffins and ate the lot! I didn't even feel ill after! I hope I don't put on any more weight though, Renée will go mad if I do. Do you have any tips on how to lose weight quick?

I haven't heard from you for a couple of weeks, are you travelling again?

Love Bella.

It wasn't a surprise that Esme had to be held back from visiting Renée to have a small chat after these emails, however what shocked everyone but Alice was that it was Rose that was most vocal in their family after reading them. She had regretted not being able to have children of her own ever since she woke from the change and to see such a sweet child being neglected and made to feel unworthy like this made her extremely angry, but not yet angry enough that she agreed to the whole of Alice's plan.

However as she was one of the couple in Phoenix at that time it fell to her, one night when Emmett was hunting, to rescue Bella. Alice had called in a panic, two men who had records of burglary with violence had targeted the house, knowing Renée wasn't home.

Rose almost flew out of the window, dropping the 7 stories to the floor as lightly as a feather, she sprinted to the house they had been watching for so long just as the men were reaching into their bag for a bar to pry the door open. She entered through the rear door, knowing Renée often didn't bother to lock it (which was the main reason the Cullen's had chosen the apartment they had, as it overlooked the back door), a slight scrape of metal on wood sounded and she flicked on the hallway light.

The men paused, she listened to their heavy breathing, but they were not moving! As they had a history of violence against people who disturbed them as they 'worked' something more was needed to deter them. Alice sent Rose a text, and she silently opened the living room window and pretended to call 911, telling the 'operator' in a voice just loud enough that someone was trying to break in. The retreating footsteps sounded quickly and she refused to move until they were no longer audible even to her superior hearing.

As she was in the house anyway she checked on their charge. Bella slept on undisturbed by the horror that could have encountered her that night. Her face looked sad even in sleep, and Rose finally fell as much in love with the girl as the rest of the family.

"We WILL keep you safe!" she promised in a whisper Bella could not have heard had she been awake. She gently brushed a stray hair off the girl's forehead, anger for the woman who had neglected her child so much building in her.

What was Renée thinking? Allowing it to be known that she would not be in her house! The answer, of course, was that she was thinking of herself and her own enjoyment. Her latest boyfriend was actually a drinking buddy of the 2 would-be burglars. When, after too many drinks, she had let it be known that she was spending time with her new beau, the 2 men had immediately tried to take advantage of that, Renée had gone home with her man oblivious and uncaring of the danger she had put her daughter in.

Even worse, from Rose's point of view, Alice told everyone that it would be Bella's birthday in a couple of days and it seemed to look like her mother had forgotten all about it! The Cullen's couldn't do much about it though. It was still too early for them to intervene in Bella's life directly.

The year before, Alice had seen, Bella had realized that other girls her age had birthday parties and had asked if she would be having one. Renée had laughed at her, saying that they could not afford such an extravagance, and anyway she had no friends to invite so it would be a waste of money, she had then promptly spent $200 on a pair of designer jeans that were 2 sizes too small for her to even wear… they still sat in the back of the closet, unworn.

As Bella had told them in her mail, Renée had told her that she was going to Florida for the week with her new boyfriend. However the surveillance team of Jenks' men told the family that she was in an apartment less than ten miles from home. Though Bella assumed her mother had forgotten her birthday, it was reported that Renée had been overheard saying that she didn't see why she should spend her hard earned cash on… "that good for nothing, lazy, child." They also reported that she was telling people that she had adopted Bella when she was younger, out of the goodness of her heart, insisting she wasn't old enough to have a child of her age!

Alice!

I received a package this morning! You really shouldn't have. I don't remember telling you it was my birthday but thanks! I love the books, mine were getting a little worn. Charlie gave me some clothes for my birthday while I was in Forks, (Renée said they are unfashionable and make me look like a boy, but I don't care!) however I think the sales lady must have picked them out. I don't think I have ever worn so much purple and blue, but then at least he did think of me!

Still no word from Renée, I knew she would forget.

Got to go, I just needed to say thanks.

Love you

Bella!

After consulting with Jasper on strategy Rosalie smugly earned her self-proclaimed title of queen bitch by the end of the week as a slight revenge on Bella's behalf.

She had walked into the man's local bar dressed in a designer outfit that didn't cover much more than the bare essentials and had immediately caught his attention. She made sure to keep that attention all night. Renée had drunk heavily and fumed to herself while her 'date' had done nothing but talk to the younger-looking beautiful woman.

The icing on the cake was when at the end of the evening, the man had ended up kicking Renée out of his apartment so he could invite Rose around.

Of course, Rose didn't go, she was much too busy lurking in the shadows enjoying the look on the other woman's face when she was told to pack her bag and go home.

Renée had screamed and shouted at the top of her lungs at the man until someone called the police to remove the public nuisance, the man who cared so much for her then proceeded to dump most of the things she had bought with her for the 'holiday' into the street for her to find when she was released from custody the next morning after a night in the drunk tank!

However, this revenge almost backfired, as, when Renée got home early the next morning she was in such a temper that she took it out on her daughter. Things almost took a physical turn when Bella refused to show any sympathy for her mother. Luckily Mrs. Vaughn arrived extra early. She had planned to walk with Bella to her new school to see what it was like. The tantrum Renée was just winding up to throw was aborted and she had to swallow her ire, rather than risk the suspicious old lady getting anything concrete to complain about.

However, Renée did get a small revenge. She sold the books.

Over the next few years Bella was saved from serious harm nineteen times by the Cullen family members or their agents, from death, five times, and from trauma, fourteen times.

Just crossing the road was a hazard of unbelievable proportions for this girl! Any time blood was involved the damage could increase exponentially as she would grow faint and drop to the floor like a brick. Several times the accidents were so close together or so severe that the social services were called. Overall more than a half dozen times healthcare professionals launched investigations after numerous visits to the ER when things that just could not be helped happened. Renée actually attended a few of them too. Things would have been very bad for the young girl if the Cullens and their agents had not actually stopped most of the serious accidents from happening.

However no matter how much they prevented, the repeated broken bones, bruises, strains… all added up, in some people's minds, to abuse. Though the Cullens (as well as some others) knew she was being neglected, she was not actually being physically abused.

The school nurse even had a sign "Bella Swan's bed" on the couch in her small office as a joke. CCTV footage had been produced by the school twice (both times Bella had ended up with a rather nasty concussion as she fell into things at the sight of blood) to prove that accidents were just that, and not incidents of bullying.

Renée had grown increasingly bitter over the years, what had started out as a self-centredness, had grown to full blown neglect. The odd nasty phrase she was used to throwing out had lately become frequent verbal abuse of her daughter. Renée was drinking more as she saw signs of aging in herself and resented Bella's youth and vitality, she had been downright malicious on occasion and Alice could only see it getting worse as the years progressed.

The future that Alice hazily foresaw was threatened several times when Renée met someone new, even though there was nothing at all wrong with some of the men, the ideal future would shimmer and disappear, so each time it happened it was just a case of breaking the relationship up for things to get on track, some of the 'jobs' were too sensitive to trust to the men hired to help the Cullen's so the family could not move away en masse from the area. Renée was growing increasingly desperate, she knew that eventually Bella would want to move away, and Renée didn't want to be left on her own. She made stupid decisions and threw herself at men, hoping that one of them would be someone she could rely on to look after her. As she grew more and more dependent on Bella, she resented her daughter more and more.

Each Cullen pair travelled north after their time looking out for her disgusted with the fact that they could not do anything to alleviate the problem.

Bella's attitude to her mother changed as time progressed. From exasperated but willing to cope, to quietly resentful.

Phoenix wasn't the ideal place for vampires to live among humans, apart from the sun it was altogether too close to Maria, and the problems of vampire armies had not been forgotten by anyone. However on the positive side, with the problem of sunshine and the Volturi keeping an eye on the area for any reoccurrence of trouble, the number of nomadic vampires the Cullen's encountered during their stay in the south was nil.

With the human men being hired to safeguard Bella, and the back-up of one pair of the family, the others were all able to move to more… suitable climates. Taking turns to 'baby sit' their charge, the majority of the Cullens lived mainly in Alaska during that time, the rotation of people helped blur people's minds about the un-aging family and the remoteness of their home deep in the Denali National Park meant they could hunt properly. Everyone was happier with this arrangement, especially when Alice assured everyone, frequently, that the ideal future was still on track.

May 2005

The May of the year after Bella turned 12 things took a serious turn for the better when Renée 'met' and started dating Phillip Dwyer.

The nephew of the science teacher at Bella's old elementary school, he had moved into the area after Mrs. Middleton's death. As the only living relative of Mrs. Vaughn he moved into the house with her and applied for a transfer to a local baseball team.

Though Bella was generous enough to be happy for her mother, her emails to Alice were strangely unsettled.

Alice,

Hi once again.

Sorry I haven't mailed you for over a month, but Renée has got a new boyfriend (again). I think I may have mentioned Phil to you, his aunt is Mrs. Vaughn, the teacher who was on holiday when your father took over and we met.

Ever since I moved from the Elementary 3 years ago I have visited Mrs. Vaughn on a Saturday as I go home from shopping (I think I have mentioned how much I love her scones!)

It was on a Saturday, I was… as usual… doing the shopping, and had called at Mrs. Vaughn's house. As I was leaving to go home Phil came in from practise (did I mention he plays Baseball for the Angels, a local minor league team?) as he passed he tripped over the cart handle and landed on the corner, and the wheel fell off my cart. I have used it ever since I was 5 and so was rather upset that it had broken, my father bought me that! And apart from the fact that I am now well able to carry the shopping, it does leave me a hand free so I may read when I am walking home. Well he promised he could fix it, but he didn't have a bolt. I said I thought we had one at home and his aunt asked him to carry my shopping and help to fix it.

He came home with me, I felt OK about this, I have seen him several times and he seems a nice man, and of course his aunt is great. For a change Renée was home when we arrived, and though she was not interested at all in the broken cart (or even the shopping) she WAS interested in Phil!

She invited him to dinner, and from there they have seen each other regularly.

It is strange. First because even though Renée is her usual self, he is still here! Most don't last a week as you know but this one has staying power I guess. Second, though he is seeing my mother, he insists on giving me a lift to school every day that he can, he also picks me up if he is able afterwards. He takes Renée shopping (oh that was fun when she had to admit to him she had no idea what to buy as she hadn't done the shopping for years!) and third, isn't it strange that my mother's boyfriend is closer in age to me than her? I wonder what will happen when he finds out her REAL age!

His aunt comes around twice a week now and 'helps' me to do the washing and things. I don't like it Alice. Would I be ungrateful if I said I want things to keep on the way they were? I was happy being left alone. I did what needed to be done and no one bothered me, and now I suddenly seem to have adults looking over my shoulder all the time, telling me that I shouldn't be doing things that I have managed to do for years.

Renée scowls at me whenever she thinks Phil isn't looking, as I 'make her look bad'. But is it my fault she cannot cook? That she has not shopped for groceries in six years? That she has… as far as I know… never ironed a blouse? Used a Hoover, a washing machine, a dryer?

Things in the house have become more and more uncomfortable. I wish it were summer! As much as I complained about the weather last year, I would walk all the way to Washington just to get out of here for a while! I know that usually when I am up in Forks with Charlie Renée spends every penny she has on take-out and such, I think this year she is in for a shock, or she is if she wants to keep Phil…

Alice gritted her teeth so much that it sounded like gravel was being crushed in the living room. The last 2 years, while Bella had been in Washington with her father, Renée had actually helped herself to the 'college fund' that Charlie had been paying into and had gone to a 'health spa' for the duration. There was little-to-no fund left. The only reason that the Cullens had allowed it, was because they knew that by the time Bella was ready for college, she would be one of them and they could pay for her. Alice's visions had shown that if Renée had been denied the 'little holiday' she would have taken it out on Bella and the little tolerance the woman felt for her offspring would be totally obliterated. This would be bad for Bella and once more foster homes loomed in the visions.

…I have to say I am not really enjoying school very much since coming to high school. It was bad enough starting 2 years earlier than everyone else, but this last semester it has got bad. The girls who are popular are always making nasty remarks about my clothes, though they are clean and were new at the start of the year! They seem to have got nastier as the year goes on, I am sure a couple of times that I have actually fallen over someone's foot when it was deliberately stuck out for me to trip rather than falling over fresh air as I usually do.

Jessica Taylor is the worst, she is 17 and captain of the cheerleader squad and always whispering when I walk past, she doesn't even pretend that she isn't talking about me anymore, she stops whatever she was saying and just stares until I leave. I hate her!

Renée doesn't help either, when Phil insisted that I tell them what was wrong, she waited until he had left for practise and then told me it wasn't a surprise that they didn't like me as I didn't look after myself, always wearing baggy clothes and jeans… it isn't fair, SHE is the one who insists I get clothes too large so they last me longer and I don't grow out of them as quick! She often says it's a pity I take after Charlie and not her, she used to always be in the popular set at school, but my looks are against me, no one wants an ugly friend.

Alice paused and frowned. This wasn't like Bella at all. She usually just sat and took whatever life threw at her. She thought of forwarding Carlisle the email and the vision of the result popped into her head. Of course! Bella was hitting puberty. Her self-esteem was at an all time low and the bitches at school weren't helping her with it, never mind her mother!

Don't you think it's strange, Alice? You are my best friend, my only real friend and you are quite a way older than I am, (Alice smiled sadly to herself, if only Bella knew how much older!) we only actually met 4 times! Isn't it weird? Maybe that's why you are still my friend, you don't have to see me in real life. You probably have better things to do than to listen to me moan anyway, so… change of subject.

Did you decide to go to college after all? I know you were still undecided last month but really I would love the chance to leave home and do nothing but study all day! I can understand you wanting a year or so off, but this is your future, and it is so much better with a good education behind you (trust Bella to give the supposed 20 year old education advice that sounded like a 40 year old was speaking, Alice sighed, wishing she could rescue Bella from the next four and a half years. But it was too soon. If Bella was established in Forks too early she would start seeing the blond idiot from the camping store, and that would NOT go down well with Edward once he found her. It could also lead to her being pressured into acts that she normally would be too sensible to do, there was no way they could carry out the full plan if she had a baby by the time the bond formed!).

How is your family? Give your dad my regards, if he remembers me, though I doubt he will unless you have mentioned me over the years. He must see so many children, I doubt I made an impression.

Oh… I forgot! How was Greece? You are sooo lucky! Imagine walking in the footsteps of the Greek Gods and Heroes! I got a book from the library after you wrote about it, about the mythology of the region. It was rather hard going in some places, and I bet I don't pronounce anything like I should, but it is fascinating!

What landmarks did you visit? I hope it was sunny for you.

Changing the subject again (sorry), do you think I would have any chance of getting Charlie to take me to California instead of me going to Forks? I know if he takes proper holidays I will only see him for two weeks instead of the month but I REALLY hate Forks. I have never seen the sun there! Ok that is an exaggeration but not by much. I just feel that if I am getting a break from housework and homework I should be able to laze in the sun!

I suppose I better go. Phil will be waiting outside for me to take me home. Is it wrong of me to dread going home? Even more than usual? I have taken ever single after school class (that does not include any sporting activity) that I can, just to avoid going home, if I'm not careful they will try and skip me another grade!

I still think it is strange to walk out of the door and see someone waiting for me. Phil really is a nice man, he isn't creepy in any way, but really! I have been walking home alone for YEARS! Why does he insist on going out of his way to pick me up? When I told him I could manage he gave me a strange, sad smile and said that he knew I could. I will NEVER understand adults! If he knows I can, why does he still sit outside for ages waiting for me? It has stopped me having time to come to the computer room or library and email you!:-(He could be getting home and getting on with something more important, but no, he sits there, up to an hour sometimes, just to take me home in the car.

Of course Renée isn't pleased about it either. She told him he was supposed to be HER boyfriend. He accused her of being jealous. I almost wet myself laughing at that. As if she had any reason to be jealous of me! Though maybe when he finds out how old she REALLY is that will change, he doesn't know it but he really IS closer to my age than hers!

At least we haven't had the electric cut off since Phil came around. And he always makes sure her car is topped up when she is running low without me having to go fill a jerry can at the local gas station. (Thank god they never asked me for proof of age! I never realized all this time that they weren't supposed to let someone my age buy gas until Phil told me.)

Altogether life is different, and I'm honestly not sure I like it as yet. Maybe he will get tired of looking after me, it can't be easy for him, I'm not even his child.

REALLY I have to go now!

Love you loads A.

I'll write again soon!

B

If Alice could have cried she would have. Usually Bella's emails were rather impersonal. Lists of books she had read, classes she had attended. Only a handful of times over the years had she ever cracked and written about more personal things. It was a sign of how much stress she was feeling that she opened up so much. And still, there was nothing that could be done for her, not yet.

Phil Dwyer was a good man, he would make sure that Renée looked after Bella better, or he himself would look after her if her mother wouldn't. Bella was right, he wasn't a creep. She may be a danger magnet and accident prone, but she WAS a good judge of character.

Alice fantasized getting her hands on Renée's neck, the roiling twisted future that fantasy produced made her ill and she stopped quickly.

She stood and closed the lid on the laptop and looked out of the sheet glass window. She and Jasper had been living in the apartment for four months now, they could see things changing in the small house in the near distance. No longer did Bella sweat over the garden at weekends, Phil took care of it. No longer did she get up at 6am to make sure her mother was dressed in nicely pressed clothes (several times in the past couple of months Alice had witnessed that woman knock over the pile of clothing that Bella had just ironed on a purpose while 'looking' for something and then insist her daughter do them again!)

The house was too far away for even them to hear what was being said, but all the Cullens were adept at lip reading now, having spent so many times watching from a distance. As Alice watched Phil pulled into the driveway and Bella got out, her stance was hunched as if she was expecting a blow, but when she couldn't see her mother anywhere she straightened up slightly. It was obvious from her body language that she wasn't comfortable with his show of parental concern. She shrugged her bag onto her shoulder, almost unbalancing herself with the weight… some things had NOT changed! … and she moved into the small kitchen.

Alice watched as Phil stood by his car, a frown on his face. Renée walked out of the house and Alice saw him clench his jaw in anger before he swallowed it back and smiled at her.

Alice concentrated on the world in front of her, rather than trying to force a vision. Bella quickly put together a lasagne from various tubs she had stored in the fridge, and put it in the oven. No matter how much Phil didn't like her doing the cooking, they could not afford take out every night and they definitely couldn't survive on the slop Renée produced.

Bella opened her mouth and Alice read her lips as she shouted that she had homework to do. She disappeared from sight and soon the curtains in the tiny back bedroom opened and Bella threw herself onto her bed.

She pulled a small paperback from her bag, which she had dropped as soon as she entered the room by the looks, and turned onto her back and started to read.

She was safe and sound and at home. Alice turned from the window to see a frown on her husband's face.

"What's wrong suga'?" he asked. Alice stepped into his open arms and shuddered as she thought of the email. "Bella?" she nodded.

"She's so alone! She was complaining that Phil takes care of her and she doesn't like it because she isn't used to it. It's wrong Jasper!"

"I know love." Jasper sighed. He had been close enough to read Bella several times. The girl was seriously depressed and didn't even know it. He had managed to lift her mood dramatically when she was on the 'plane the year before heading north, (at least one Cullen always caught the flight with her as Renée dropped her at departures and left her to find her way on her own, sometimes leaving her there at 2am when she came in from the nightclubs as she was 'too busy later to take her'!) but he knew that the girl needed someone to care for her properly. As a solider he understood tactics and the need for waiting until the right time for action, but the plight of the child was wearing on his whole family and his wife in particular and he was sorely tempted to rush in and solve the problem of her mother permanently.

However it was a waiting game. Bella would be happy for a very, very long time, as long as the Cullen's made sure everything kept on track.

It was just so damn hard!