Chapter 4 (Return)
B.P.O.V
It's my 15th birthday today, and I've been dreading it for weeks. It's not only my birthday, but the day Renee died, and Charlie always hurts me more today.
For another year I live… another year I remember why she died…
Also tomorrow is the day the new kids come to Forks. I don't know why they would want to come to a town everyone wants to get out of, but it's their choice, and none of my business. Rumor has it their dad's a young doctor.
Looks like I'll see him soon, I thought, as I walked slowly through the rain home from another exhausting day of work. Not that home was much better; I work five days a week after school to make money for myself and my father. The rest of the money that Charlie doesn't take goes to the white house's kitchen food supply.
I slowly opened the door to see the couch was vacant.
Good, he's not home yet. Charlie is a full-time cop, and because of that he is always at work from 4a.m. to 10p.m. And that does not help his bad-temper at all.
I cleaned up and made his favorite dinner, hoping he would be hungry when he got home. The door creaked open, and Charlie walked in just as I put the homework I was working on away.
"Move you bitch!" Charlie yelled, walking into the kitchen and sitting down, shoving a bite in his mouth.
Maybe I should warn him it's hot? I thought, but it was too late.
"Aaaaah! You tried to kill me!" Charlie yelled, getting up and kicking my already bad knee. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground, but Charlie wouldn't have that. He picked me up by my hair and banged my head against the wall.
"You murderer; first you kill Renee, then you try to kill me you monster!" Charlie yelled, but I knew my own definition of monster, and he was first on the list. Charlie pushed me to the stairs, and I crawled up as Charlie went back to eat. I crawled to my room and went straight to my window.
I need my sanctuary, I thought, and climbed down the tree. I ran into the forest, tripping constantly. I would have forever run away if it was not for this knee. Tears fell from my eyes as I tripped again. I finally made it to the house and wiped away my tears.
I'm home…
E.P.O.V!
Our family was moving again. But I knew we had to.
We all sat in the living room, deciding where we were going to move.
"How about Virginia?" Rosalie asked.
"We were there twenty years ago!" Alice complained.
"Why not Las Vegas? A lot happens there at night," Esme suggested.
"No way! It's too noisy, and the forest is too far!" Jasper said.
"How about Forks?" Carlisle suggested.
"The mall is horrible!" Alice said.
"Yeah Forks!" Emmett said; he likes the bear there.
"Oh, I love that house!" Esme said.
"A mall is a mall, Alice. Come on, it's been too long," Rosalie said.
"Fine," Alice said grumpily.
"Sure, I'm good with that," Jasper said.
"What do you think Edward?" Carlisle asked, noticing I was the only one not replying.
"Does it matter?" I asked.
"Edward! Of course!" Esme said.
"Little Eddie needs a kick in the balls to get them working again," Emmett joked.
"Shut it Emmett!" I snapped.
"Eddie needs a girlfriend! Otherwise I would be a grouch too!" Emmett said.
"I'm not a grouch, and call me Eddie one more time!" I threatened.
"Calm down Edward!" Jasper said, and I felt a wave of calm come over me.
"So it's decided! Forks it is! Pack up kids, we're leaving tonight!" Carlisle said.
"Don't tell me you didn't see Alice's vision, Eddie." Emmett used my nickname again.
"What vision?" I asked.
"The one with you kissing a…" Emmett could not finish because Alice had covered his mouth.
"Emmett, you fool! What was the one rule about me telling you that?!"
"Don't tell Edward," Emmett mumbled through Alice's small hand.
"I'm right here!" I yelled.
"So?" Alice asked.
"So tell me!" I barked.
"And if I don't want to?" Alice mocked.
"If you don't, I'll tell Jasper what you're planning to get him for your anniversary," I threatened.
"Tell me what?" Jasper asked, coming down with a suitcase.
"Nothing," Alice said, and thoughts rushed into my head.
Fine!
Vision: A human girl was sitting on the couch of our house in Forks and seemed scared. Emmett was on the floor and our family surrounded her. She turned around, scared until her eyes met mine, and she kicked me in the balls. Then the scene changed into a forest and I leaned in and KISSED HER! End Vision
"That's what you meant by a kick in the balls!" I barked at Emmett.
"You were the one who never bets against Alice!" Emmett barked back.
"Not until now," I said back, and ran to my room to pack.
Later in Forks
We walked into our house and all smelled it… human! It was the most amazing smell I had ever smelled, but the beast didn't want it…
"Smell that?" Emmett asked.
"Who can't? It's all over the place…" Jasper said.
"Whoever it was likes Edward's room and my study," Carlisle said, holding the Vampire Encyclopedia, which had a very strong smell.
"He stocked our kitchen!" Esme said.
"She's coming!" Alice said.
"What should we do?" Rosalie asked.
"Let's hide and see who she is," Alice said, and we all hid as a 15-year-old girl walked into the house.
"It's her!" Esme whispered.
"Okay! Who doesn't know about Alice's vision?" I asked in a bear whisper. No one spoke up.
"Oh, thanks Alice!"
"Ha, ha! Birdseye view," Emmett said. He had his back against the ceiling, his fingers digging into the roof.
"Emmett! Out of all places to hide, why the roof?" Esme asked.
"It's not going to support you for long Emmett," Alice said.
"Yes it will." Then we all listened to the girl
"I'm home!" she yelled, and fell over nothing. She walked over to the couch and opened the medical kit that was on the table.
"She looks badly hurt!" Carlisle said.
"Awww the poor thing!" Esme said.
"Did she say home?" Rosalie asked.
"She's so alone," Alice said.
"Oh crap the roof!" Emmett yelled as the roof gave way and Emmett came smashing onto the floor, making the girl scream.
"I've been waiting for you to come back vampire!" the girl yelled, and pulled out a knife from her pocket. We all gasped and ran around her. She looked shocked as she turned around, taking our number in, and then her eyes went to me and she kicked me right in the balls. I should have seen that coming…
There was a long pause…
"Aaaah!" the girl screamed, grabbing her foot. A few seconds later Carlisle had sat her down on the couch and was examining her foot.
"You're not the vampires that came a while ago, are you?" the girl asked.
"No, how did you guess?" Rosalie asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Your eyes are gold, not red," she said.
"Who are you?" Esme asked.
"Isabella, but do call me Bella. And you?" She asked.
"I'm Carlisle. This is my wife Esme, the big one is my son Emmett, his wife Rosalie is the blond, my son Jasper is the other blond, and his wife Alice is the more pixy-like one. The one you tried to de-man was Edward. You seem to have bruised your foot, but it should be fine."
No, that's not embarrassing at all, I thought.
"Thank you. Sorry for acting like that, I thought you were someone else," Bella said.
"Okay, whatever, now tell us what you're doing in our house!" Rosalie said.
"It's your house!" Bella said in shock, tears starting to fall from her eyes.
"Why are you crying, and who did you mistake us for?" Carlisle asked.
"A vampire. And for as long as I've known this house has been completely abandoned and saved me from a vampire as well," Bella said.
"How do you know so much?" Jasper asked.
"The vampire who tried to eat me told me what she was, and I read the book upstairs," she explained.
"Have you finished it?" Jasper asked.
"Three times," she said.
"So you should have known the knife was no use," Jasper said.
"It was the only weapon I could possess in case a vampire came back. What else was I supposed to use? I needed some protection," Bella said.
"Are you angels?" Bella asked out of the blue.
"No, why would you suggest that!?" I asked, mad.
"Well, you're not vampires cause of your eyes, and you're not human cause of your beauty, so my conclusion was..."
"Well, it's as far from the truth as possible!" I yelled at her, taking a step forward.
"That smell…" Bella whispered to herself.
"What smell?" I asked.
"The one in the room… you smell just like the room only stronger…" Bella said.
"That's probably because it's my room."
"Well then you have an excellent smell and taste in music, I prefer the CD's with no titles best," Bella said, and I was flattered.
"Thank you; I was the one who composed that," I said and a spark flew across Bella's eyes.
"Really? It's incredible! I love them! You have so much talent I even made lyrics for some of the creations!" Bella was jumping in her seat.
"Okay, back to business!" Rosalie said.
"Right. What are you?" Bella asked.
"We're vampires that feed on animals, but you must keep it a secret," Carlisle said.
"I've kept this house and the vampire a secret since I was like eight. I think I can handle this too," Bella said, a smile on her face that quickly disappeared again.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You want the house back, don't you?" Bella asked, tears coming from her eyes again.
"Well, it is our house," Esme said.
"But I need this house, it keeps me safe!" Bella yelled.
"Safe from what?" Jasper asked.
"From HIM and THE VAMPIRE!" she screamed.
"Who is him?!" Emmett yelled. Bella's eyes widened as she looked down.
"Secret for secret, now spill!" Rosalie yelled.
"My father…" Bella said, shocking all of us.
"That's all I'm saying, so don't ask for details!" Bella said.
"Fine then. Shall we try to work something out…? Since you found the house it is yours now, but was ours so we should share it. You are too young to live on your own there, and can't live here for good, so you may keep coming here as you please just know that we are staying in the house as well," Carlisle said.
"Really?!" Bella asked.
"Yes, just be careful… and don't tell a soul about us," Carlisle said.
"Deal. Now I must be going… I hope to see you soon… bye," Bella said.
"I'll help you home," I offered.
"No need, I do it all the time and memorized my way back," she said, and walked to the hallway. She all of a sudden fell in the hall, and Carlisle and I ran over. I caught her, and Carlisle looked at her leg.
"You have a broken cartilage. You should have a tenser bandage around it," Carlisle said.
"I know, I just don't want it or the medicine," she said, but I could tell she was lying. However none of us objected.
"Let me help you home," I said again.
"No thank you! Now I have to go, bye," Bella said, and opened the door.
"Bye house," Bella whispered, and left running into the forest.
"I vote we spy on her," Emmett said.
"I want to make sure she does not hurt herself," I said.
"You're not leaving me out," Alice said.
"Just don't get discovered. She should have a tenser bandage around it or her knee might get worse and she could lose her ability to walk on that leg. And I don't know if you saw it, but the rest of her is beaten up pretty badly too…" Carlisle said, and the rest of the family but us three left to unpack except Jasper.
"Guys, I just thought you should know…" Jasper said, sounding a little scared.
"What is it?" Alice asked.
"Well… she looks tough, but she's scared, really scared, and I just want you to be ready for whatever you may find in her house," Jasper said, and left the room.
"Okay, ready?" I asked.
"You bet," came from Emmett.
"Let's go," came from Alice. And we were off… it was amazing running through the forest, but it came to an end quickly as we spotted Bella crying on the forest floor face first.
"She must have fallen," Alice said, and then Bella got up and walked again. We followed her to a small house that we could only assume was hers. Bella climbed the tree and went through the window. Alice and I followed her through to a small room with an old mattress covered in rags. It had rats in the corners, and her clothes were in two little piles. But the thing that surprised me most was that there was dried blood everywhere. Poor Bella was curled up on the blood-stained bed tossing and turning from the cold.
"Emmett, go get a small blanket," I said, and Emmett nodded, feeling sad for the poor girl, and left.
"Alice, do you think her family is poor?" I asked.
"No, the place reeks of alcohol. Her dad would be able to afford better for her if he didn't buy so much beer."
"Then what do you think it is?" I asked.
"Maybe our house is a place where she can forget about her alcoholic dad? Her future is a blank, I think it's because of some werewolves that are friends of her fathers. Her father fishing with Billy Black was the last thing I saw. What about you?"
"Her mind is just blank… there's nothing there."
"I have the blanket," Emmett said, coming in with a nice blue blanket. I took the blanket and placed it over Bella's shaking frame and kissed her forehead, taking in her scent: floral…amazing…strong … yet the beast inside me was calm. I looked back up to see a shocked Alice and a grinning Emmett.
"Explore down stairs, okay?" I asked.
"Sure," Alice said, pulling Emmett out of the room. I looked back at the girl I was leaning over. She was skinny and bruised, but had this beauty about her. Something that was drawing me to her…slowly pulling me in.
"Pleas…mom forgive me… I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Bella started to cry in her sleep, mumbling that as she tossed and turned, and I had no idea what to do…all my vampire strength and I could only watch as she told herself she should die… but why?
"We should get going…" Alice and Emmett said, returning.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Lots of glass all over the floor and alcohol stains. There was also some more blood on the walls," Alice said, and we left back to our house, hoping that our questions would someday be answered.