Chambers of the Soul
Summary: Bella lives with her abusive father; Charlie, her older brother; Maxi and her younger sister; Harmony. She almost thinks there's no hope but what happens when the new family comes to town? Will she ever be happy? What if Bella and her siblings became happy and then someone came back to haunt them…
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All characters and other twilight-related things belong to SM. I only own the storyline.
Like we always did every night, Edward and I were curled up together on one of the couches in the front room of the Cullen's house. We were watching some program on the Discovery channel, but my mind was elsewhere.
Edward picked up on my restlessness and squeezed my hand in comfort. "Hey, stop focusing on the front door. Charlie isn't going to come back."
"You don't know that…" I whispered, trying to keep my voice down so Harmony wouldn't hear me. "They don't even know where he is…"
"That doesn't mean he's going to come here." Edward whispered back.
I remained quiet. If Charlie was looking for all 3 of us, to make sure we were dead this time, he probably would've done it by now. He probably would've come when we were all in hospital. Or maybe he was waiting; ready to attack when we didn't expect it.
A shivered ran through my spine and I cuddled into Edward more tightly. He didn't mind.
I let thoughts run through my head for a few minutes before I commanded myself to snap out of it as Rosalie carried Harmony into the room.
Harmony, who was still a little unstable on her feet from recovery, stumbled towards the couch in her little pink tights and tutu with a matching pink polka dot top and climbed right up into my lap. She smiled at Edward happily and cuddled into the crook of my neck.
Alice, who'd walked into the room behind them, scowled in disproval. "Harmony," she chided, "You're supposed to keep your clothes nice and clean."
I rolled my eyes, "Alice, she's five years old."
She shrugged and picked up Harmony and placed her gently on the carpet. "Still, Rose and I spent 2 hours working on her so that she could rock the stage tonight."
"The floor," Edward corrected and removed Harmony from the carpet. "I think she's perfect the way she is, but if you must, get the fashion show over with."
Harmony always sat quietly through our bickering and when she saw we had stopped, she giggled. "Carliwle!" She screamed in her little voice. "Emseee! Come watch me strut!"
Esme and Carlisle appeared in the living room and sat themselves down on the other love seat. Emmett came slouching in very tiredly behind them. I didn't know where Maxi was. This worried me.
I got up from the couch knowing I was going to miss Harmony's show, but I needed to find my brother.
I took the staircase quickly before the others could call me back to the front room. "Maxi?" I whispered as I walked softly across the landing. I didn't want to scare him.
There was no answer, but I could hear heavy breathing from somewhere. I stopped, and then I listened. I quickly entered Edward's room and expecting to find Maxi somewhere. I didn't see him, but I could hear him. I scanned the room with watchful eyes and finally saw that Edward's built-in wardrobe was slightly open. I gradually made my way across the room and opened the door.
Maxi stared up at me; his brown eyes lifeless and his hair a messy nest.
"Oh Maxi," I whispered quietly; pulling him out and onto the floor. I clung to him and he clung to me; both of us taking comfort in each other. "What's wrong?"
He sat there quietly for a few moments before he stared at me. "What importance do we have? We weren't meant to live our lives the way Charlie made us – especially not little Harmony. But we adjusted to it. It was our life. Now it's not. I don't want to go back to that – I want to get far from it – but Bella, this isn't right either. It's not stable, it's unfamiliar and I don't like it. They're nice people, and it's a nice place, but this isn't home. Home is where mom is, home is Charlie – no matter how bad he is. I don't know what's happening Bella…I don't."
I sat there in silence – the thoughts running through my head. Was Maxi trying to say that he'd rather suffer in the hands of Charlie than be here with the Cullen's? He was, and I felt it too. The Cullen's were amazing and the best people there were, but Charlie's home was our home. No matter what happened there, it was our house. I didn't want to go back though – I just felt the longing.
I gripped Maxi's face in my hands and coaxed his breathing. "Maxi, calm down. It's alright, Max. It's okay. I love you Maxi, and we'll do it, alright?"
He nodded and I helped him to his feet. He said he didn't want to face everyone but I told him Harmony wouldn't want us to miss it. So, we went downstairs and joined the Cullen's.
"You like show, Bwella?" Harmony asked 15 minutes later. She jumped into my arms and snuggled there tightly.
"I sure did!" I informed her. "It was great. You're very pretty."
A light blush covered her small cheeks. "Thank you!" She whispered happily.
Everyone was gathered in the front room, all enjoying each other's company. Everything seemed perfect – everything seemed fine. If we worked on it, we would fit in fine here and we'd be happy again. Forget Charlie, forget the past. The future was coming.
Or so we thought.
Harmony was just falling asleep against me when the doorbell rang. Carlisle, who'd be interrupted from his TV program, slowly made his way to the door. His footsteps stopped, the door opened, a female voice.
"Hello…" A pause. "Is this the…Cullen residence?" The voice was sweet, perhaps mid 30's. I wasn't sure.
Carlisle was quiet for a few moments. "Yes, this is the Cullen house. May I help you?"
The female laughed. "Yes actually! Are you looking after Maxi, Isabella and Harmony Swan?"
Esme got up – after hearing our names – and rushed to the door.
Maxi, Harmony and I huddled together on the couch – all expecting the worse.
Esme butted in this time. "Yes, and how or why do you know this?"
There was an awkward silence, and then the stranger spoke. "My names Renee Swan. I'm here to take my children."
Guys, this is such a bad chapter. I know it, please don't rub it in. Right now I'm going through some stuff. I've got Depression and some other things and I've just lost all inspiration…It took me multiple weeks to just right this, and I'm so not happy with it. Everything right now sucks. I hope you can understand and you'll be patient with me.
please review! :)
Savannah
xxxx