Chapter Thirty
"They were murdered," Bella repeated. Her voice was lifeless, monotonous. "In my house, their house," she corrected.
Edward stayed quiet and let her speak. He didn't want to say anything to make her stop talking. He knew she needed to get this out, even if it was only to him, it had to be better than holding it all in.
"It was the middle of the night," she continued as if she were talking to herself. Edward rubbed his hand up and down her arm in a comforting manner, reminding her that he was there with her and he would always be there with her. "They were both in bed, sleeping, when they heard a noise downstairs. My father was a police officer, he took his gun from its cabinet and he crept downstairs. When he didn't go back up, my mother…my mother followed." Bella heaved a deep lungful of breath as her shoulders began to shake and she fought back the tears which nearly overwhelmed her.
Edward gripped her tighter, pulling her onto his lap and encasing his arms around her completely.
He rocked her back and forth as she broke down, unable to continue for the time being.
His lips caressed her cheek, her temple.
He made shushing sounds.
He calmed her.
Quieted her.
And after some time, the tension left her body and she relaxed against him.
The tear tracks still marred her flawless face.
She licked her dry lips, glanced briefly toward him and then looked away once more.
"There were four of them," she said, her voice taking on that lifeless tone once more. "By the time my mother got downstairs; they'd already overpowered my father and had him restrained on the couch. My mother followed soon after. Please don't make me go into details," she whispered as she rested her head on Edward's shoulder, her eyes closing as visions of the scene flashed in her mind.
"I won't," he promised.
"They were tortured right up until the end, until…they…begged…"
Her fingers clenched into fists, pulling roughly on Edward's shirt as she fought to regain her composure. "They…begged…to…die!" she gasped out and Edward had heard enough, Bella had told him enough.
He picked her up and held her in his strong arms as he carried her to his bedroom, prepared to settle her beneath the sheets and take another uncomfortable night on the couch but Bella clung to him, turning her red and swollen eyes to his pained ones.
"Please don't leave me."
He nodded and moved onto the mattress beside her, kicking his shoes to the floor and remaining dressed as he settled himself against the pillows.
Bella immediately moved to him, resting her head on his chest as she cuddled against his warm and kind body.
"There was so much blood, Edward." Her voice was muffled as she buried her face against him, but he heard the words as if she'd just shouted them in his ear. "So. Much. Blood."
Edward hated that she'd had to witness it, figuring that the police had shown her images of the scene in some fucked up version of giving her closure, little did he know that there was so much more to it.
There was a lot more that Bella wasn't willing to share just yet.