AN: Don't own twilight.
When Bella woke the next morning, her body soft and pliable from the wonderful, and dreamless sleep she'd experienced, it was to the smell of pancakes. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered, even before she had opened her eyes fully. Stretching warily, Bella sighed as her sides pulsed in dull pain, but didn't burn unbearably.
Her eyes opened properly as she sat up and swung her legs over the bed, standing and stretching once more. The worst areas for her pain were her feet, which were stitched and slightly swollen from varying cuts and bruises. She rummaged through her bag and located her pills, popping one and swallowing it dry.
Pulling a face at the chalky texture, Bella looked back to her bag and debated on whether to get dressed or not. She would have preferred to stay in her pajamas, as she was comfortable, but she still didn't feel familiar in the Denali's house, and walking about in her pajamas just seemed too personal, as if they knew each other; which they did not.
Deciding she would dress in clothes, Bella changed out of her pajamas into clean clothes but opted to walk around in socks, rather than shoes, due to the pristine carpets around the house. As she looked at her meager clothing, Bella grimaced. She needed money, and items to call her own: a hairbrush, toothbrush, and to be able to buy things she needed, when she needed.
Bella deliberated on how she would bring this up with either Tanya, or Kate as she made her way to the kitchen. When she did arrive at the kitchen, however, she was met with the site of not Tanya and Kate, but Tanya and a slightly older, dark haired woman. Bella assumed it was the Denali girl's mother, due to her slightly wrinkled face, despite her different hair coloring.
As Bella neared the women, who were chatting lightly while Tanya served the pancakes onto individual plates, she assessed the older woman critically, trying to find the similarities to the two girls she had met so far: Tanya and Kate. Despite searching as much as possible, Bella could find next to no similarity except for the woman's smile: it was the same as Tanya's.
As the older woman turned on Bella's approach, Bella could see that her eyes were as dark as her hair, further dismantling any similarities to her three pale, blonde haired daughters. "You must be Isabella," she said with a slight accent, which again, was different from Kate and Tanya's.
Bella took the woman's offered hand and shook it lightly. "Yes, although I prefer just Bella," she replied.
The woman held her smile as she released Bella's hand. "Well, Bella, I'm Carmen; the mother of the house."
Carmen lapsed into silence for a moment as she passed another plate to Tanya, who had just asked the request. Bella's eyes focused back on Tanya, finding that she was still in her pajamas: shorts and a tank top that she looked like she would burst out of any moment. Bella had to force her eyes away from all the exposed skin, her cheeks burning.
"You're more than welcome to eat," Carmen hinted. "My daughter makes beautiful pancakes."
With her cheeks still flushed, Bella mumbled a, "thanks," beneath her breath and took one of the plates already piled with pancakes from the counter. Carmen handed her a knife and fork, and after she thanked her once more, Bella began to dig in, repressing the urge to moan in delight. The pancakes were light and fluffy, coated with sugar and chocolate sauce.
"So, are you feeling up to today?" Tanya directed the question to Bella as she began putting used items in the sink.
Bella nodded hesitantly, still munching on her pancakes. She waited a moment for her mouth to clear before she answered, "uh… what are we doing?"
Tanya put the last couple of items in the sink and then glanced at the watch on her wrist, before looking back up at Bella, who had started on her second pancake already, having devoured her first one. "Well I think it would be best to show you around town, and then I was thinking we could go shopping."
Bella finished chomping on her second pancake and swallowed with a frown, the food now tasting bitter. Her cheeks flamed once more, this time from mortification. She'd wanted to bring something like this up, but now that Tanya had proposed the idea, it all made her uncomfortable, especially with Carmen in the room.
As if sensing her displeasure at the idea, Tanya interrupted Bella's inner wallowing. "You don't have to worry about money, Bella. Me and Kate actually came up with a really great idea, to resolve the problem."
Looking up from her dirty plate, Bella looked back at Tanya, who was now washing up the pile of items she had gathered earlier on while taking moments at a time to eat her own pancakes. "What idea?"
Tanya finished washing the saucepan while chewing, and immediately began to dry it with a tea towel slung over her shoulder. "Well, me and Kate were thinking about an allowance. We understand that you're not a child, and if you don't like the thought of having an allowance, you can always have a job instead."
Tanya finished drying the saucepan and put it away in its allocated cupboard before turning back to Bella. "So, what do you think? Which do you prefer?"
"I don't really know. I mean, a job? Doing what?" Bella passed her plate over as Tanya indicated to it and watched as Tanya washed her own, and then Bella's.
Carmen interrupted them before Tanya could answer. "Have you taken your medication, Bella?"
Internally, Bella wondered how Carmen knew that she had to take pain medication. Had they all had a family discussion over her? Well, of course they had. If Bella was taking in a homeless, injured, eighteen-year-old orphan, who had a missing sister and potentially a person killing all her loved ones, she'd have a serious discussion with her family too.
Outwardly, she just nodded. Tanya took up her speech again, as the silence settled. "I own a small book store in town, and you could work there. It works out for all of us really: we can keep an eye on you, you don't go mad with boredom, and you also get paid. But if you want an allowance, you'll have to do chores around the house."
"Chores?" Bella repeated. She was no stranger to chores.
"Not nice ones," Tanya replied, drying up more items.
"I think I'll take the job; I like books," Bella finally decided.
Tanya smiled and finished the last of her drying up. "Good, well I'll give Kate a call and let know while I get dressed. Will you be ready to leave in five? We can do the shopping first, if you want?"
Bella frowned, reminded once more that she didn't have money, and voiced her concerns aloud. Tanya waved her off, promising her that it was a 'one off' thing and that Bella could pay her back with her wages, if it really bothered her so much; which it did. Tanya left to her room to dress and Bella to her guest room to get her coat and shoes.
Five minutes later, they both called goodbye to Carmen and exited the house into the garage, climbing into Tanya's black Jeep. The drive towards town had started and Bella had sat in silence for around five minutes, watching the scenery, when she decided to try and make conversation again.
The three members she had met of the Denali family so far: Tanya, Kate and Carmen seemed friendly enough, and Bella thought she should make more of an effort to get to know them. "So what do you do, in your spare time? When you're not working at the book store?"
Tanya answered as she turned the wheel to round a corner. "I like to read."
Bella arched her eyebrows and then thought about how bushy they must be. She'd have to get some tweezers in town. "I thought you would be more of a party type girl. You look quite young."
Tanya laughed heartily. "Nope. And I may be the youngest, but I'm not young; I'm twenty-four."
Something Officer Cheri previously said made Bella frown. "But I thought Kate was twenty-four?"
Tanya kept her eyes on the road, but shook her head. "Kate's the middle child; she's twenty-five. We were born close together, as you can imagine and finally Irina; the oldest, is twenty-seven."
"Do you know how old I am?" Bella challenged, feeling more at ease with Tanya.
She briefly turned from watching the road and flashed Bella a grin. "Eighteen, and your birthday is September 13th."
Bella laughed, surprised that Tanya knew; perhaps it was in her files. Tanya glanced at her, and a small smile played on her lips as her amber eyes flashed. Bella was going to ask when Tanya's birthday was, but her eyes made her change topic. "Why are yours, and Kate's eyes that color? I've never seen anyone else have eyes like yours. Does Irina have them too?"
Tanya shook her head without looking at Bella and said, "another time. We're here."
Tanya drove the Jeep into a parking space and cut the engine. Bella looked up and saw they were outside a small brick clothing store. As Tanya climbed out her side, Bella did too and they simultaneously shut the car doors. They both walked in silence to the clothes shop and Bella was feeling more anxious by the second; she had no clue what to buy.
It was surprising large inside the shop, a lot bigger than it looked outside. From the looks of the clothing available, it was women only and they sold a mixture of casual, sport and business clothing for women of all shapes and sizes. Bella only grabbed the bare essentials, mindful that it was Tanya paying and stood to the side as Tanya took the purchases to the till.
As they exited the building, Tanya was scowling. "You've barely got anything," she huffed as they stepped outside.
Bella shrugged, thinking they would move on to a tour of the town now. Tanya, however, was having none of it. "Fine, we'll go to another store and you can get some more things."
Bella frowned, not wanting to seem ungrateful but uncomfortable with someone spending money on her. "I really don't want to… can we got to a drug store though? There's some things I need from there."
Tanya seemed to debate this for a moment before she grinned like the cat who had got the cream. "Okay. You go in there, and I'll go back into the clothes store and get you some more stuff. I know your size," she pronounced enthusiastically, holding up Bella's small bag of recently purchased items.
"Tanya, it's not fair," Bella protested, her cheeks pink. "I mean, on you. You work hard for your money, and I don't feel right having it spent on me."
Tanya scoffed. "Bella, my family has more money than they need," she proclaimed, which surprised Bella, but did explain their extravagant house.
"Go," she further ordered, pushing a couple of notes into Bella's hands. "I'll be next door, and I can see from the windows if you try and go anywhere," Tanya warned her.
Bella kept her face clear of emotion, wondering why she would say something like that. Just last night Bella had been determined to find her sister today with some excuse to get her outside. When Tanya had said they were going to town, she was side tracked with feeling uncomfortable about having money spent on her.
But since they had just left the clothing store, Bella had been debating on a plan on how she could slip Tanya and sneak off; go looking for Lisa at the address she had memorized from Kate's notes. Tanya seemed to take her silence for consent and left to go back into the clothes store, while Bella left for the drug store.
Once in there, she decided to push her discomfort for spending Tanya's money as she did need quite a few things. Toothbrush, hair brush, bobbles, her own shampoo and conditioner, body wash, razors, a pair of tweezers, etc. By the time she had made it to the till and was ringing up her purchases, Tanya came in with three more bags, which made Bella groan internally.
"Why have you brought so much?" Bella demanded as Tanya approached her.
Tanya tusked. "You needed it. You only own one small bag of clothes, Bella! I'll take it out of your wages, don't worry."
Bella sighed and took her bags and change, thanking the cashier. She passed the change to Tanya, who took it and put it into her purse. "So what's next?" Bella questioned.
Tanya shrugged. "Tour of the town, maybe? But then, I thought you could see the town when you start at the book store, and instead we could go home now, and hang out."
Bella's heart began pounding as she realized that her chances of finding Lisa depended on right now. She thought of something on the fly. "Oh, um, this is really embarrassing but I forgot… things… for the end of the month," she hinted, her cheeks blazing red.
Tanya smiled, somewhat sympathetically, and dug out the appropriate amount of change from her purse without comment, handing it to Bella. "Here, let me take your bags. Hurry back."
Bella smiled as she traded off her bags and made her way to the appropriate isle, trying to remain cool and collected. When she had finally lost sight of Tanya, she made haste and approached a member of staff. "Hi, do you have a toilet I could use?" She asked.
The older lady nodded, smiled and pointed Bella in the direction of the staff toilets. Bella thanked her before making her way towards her pointed out destination and prayed that there was a window big enough for her to slip out of. She quickly entered the toilet, locked the door and sighed in relief at the sight of a small window.
As the adrenaline washed over her, Bella's sore body began to pulsate and she cringed at the thought of making it cooperate to get her out of the window. A part of her didn't want to do this: it would get her in to so much trouble, the Denali's would never trust her again and she could possibly be putting Kate's job on the line for losing her.
But this was for Lisa, and if Bella needed anything in her life; it was her sister. Taking a deep, encouraging breath, she flipped the toilet lid down and stood on it, preparing to exit the window. Bella pushed it open as far it would go, thanking everything in the universe that it was big enough for her to fit through.
She carefully maneuvered her body through the gap, wary of her injuries and after agonizingly long seconds, her shoes touched down on the ground outside. Bella tucked her head under the window as she pulled her upper body through the gap and pushed away from the opening, taking a deep breath. Tanya would be looking for her any moment now.
As she moved quickly down the alley behind the toilet, Bella tried to calm her racing heart. This was a ridiculous plan, she admitted. She didn't know any parts of town, where she was going, how she was getting there and most importantly: she could be caught any moment. As she exited the alley, she came out onto the main pavement where Tanya's Jeep was.
Bella's heart stuttered and she made her way down the street as fast as she could, looking back over her shoulder at the drug store she had left Tanya in every two seconds. It wasn't too busy in town today and only a few people were around, which didn't help Bella's escape plans. Tanya would easily be able to pick her out of the crowd if she spotted her.
Bella really needed to ask somebody for directions before she got lost so she stopped a grey haired, older woman who had a kind face. The woman told her that the place she was looking for was in the woods near a tourist attraction spot and couldn't be missed. She also told Bella the best way to make it towards the woods.
Bella was apprehensive to go into any kind of woods alone again, as it was quite clear she couldn't successfully travel them without nearly dying and going insane. But she pushed the thought away, reasoning that it was day time now and it was for Lisa. She held on to this reasoning for the twenty minutes it took her to get to the tourist attraction.
Bella was down heartened to see that it was closed, as she had wanted to go inside and ask for further directions. Her heart was still hammering, aware of the time that has passed and that Tanya would now be looking for her. A thought suddenly struck Bella: Tanya might think that whoever had been hurting those around Bella, had actually gotten Bella.
That meant that she had left Tanya worried sick, thinking that Bella had been taken and hurt. Guilt tugged heavy in her gut but Bella tried to shake it away. She had no obligations to Tanya; she had obligations to her sister. Knowing the address she was looking for was somewhere in the area, Bella continued to look.
She had to hike up a small hill, staining her shoes with muck. She had no idea how long she had walked up it and her feet were in agony. Bella prayed that she had picked the right direction. Above her the clouds began to darken and rain began to trickle down, bouncing off the leaves of the trees surrounding her, and Bella's jacket.
The rain wasn't that heavy, but Bella had always loved the sun and just the small pattering was a dampener on her mood. Finally, after an age, she came out into a small clearing and within that clearing, hidden beneath moss and leaves, branches and thicket, decay and other elements of the earth, was a small wooden shack that looked about ready to cave in.
Bella stopped to stare at it for a moment, wondering why in the hell Lisa would have been seen here. It was so far from not only the Denali's, but their original house. It just didn't make sense. The longer she stood, staring, the more the cold air wormed its way under Bella's clothes, making her shiver violently.
She needed to see what she could find here, if anything, and then she needed to get back to town; to the Denali's. Bella gathered her courage and made her way towards the desolate shack, noticing for the first time that dirty police tape hung from the door, blowing in the wind. Bella's eyes widened in their sockets. Night was beginning to fall, and she was scared.
"For Lisa," she whispered to herself.
It took a lot of Bella's strength to get the shack door open, which didn't make her hopeful of finding Lisa, as it suggested that the door hadn't been opened in a very long time. The moment she did get the door open, a horrid stench enveloped her. Bella immediately covered her mouth with the collar of her coat.
It was hard to see inside, but from the last of the sun Bella could make out the blood stained walls and floors. I don't want to go in there, she thought. She was terrified, and her heart was bouncing beneath her ribs. Bella had to physically force herself through the door. As she did, the floor creaked and more blood was available to her gaze.
Bella's head began to swim and her throat convulsed in repulsion, threating her stomach with the idea of puking up the pancakes she had devoured this morning. Wanting to get out quickly, the stench unbearable, Bella frantically looked around for some sort of clue as to Lisa being there, or her whereabouts. But why would Lisa have been here, in this blood soaked shack?
It was as Bella searched attentively, did she noticed how silent everything had become around her. The rain and wind had stopped and even the sound of birds in the trees had quietened down, as if sensing something evil; something that could kill them all. Bella's gut clenched and her heart raced. She felt terrified, and she couldn't pinpoint why.
Deciding she could find nothing, Bella hastily left the shack and began to hurry to get down the hill. The shack door slammed shut behind her, despite the lack of wind and Bella screamed, sending a dozen birds into loud, startled flight. Panic set in and laughter resounded around her, overlapping the birds and Bella's screams.
She stumbled down the hill as quick as she could, the manic laughter following her with disjointed whispers of her name. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screeched.
Of course, in her state of panic and blurred gaze from frightened tears, Bella did what Bella does best: she tripped and went flying down the hill, rolling over and over herself. As she landed, her hand bent around her and her finger snapped right back. Bella screeched in agony and looked down in shock at her broken finger.
Heat and wetness flooded down Bella's sides. With shaking hands, she pulled back her jacket to find that her cream jumper was covered in blood. The stitches have ripped, she thought, dazed. She pressed her hand to her right side, as she was stuck on her left and blood began to flow between her fingers.
Bella was stiff, too scared to move but knew that she had too. She had to get back to Tanya and Kate, to safety. With tears pouring in quick succession, Bella took harsh gasps between her teeth as she began to walk in the direction of town. Her heart kept up its frantic beating, but the person who had laughed at her terror seemed to be nowhere in sight.
After another five minutes, she thought she was free and that her only problems would be getting back to the Denali's before she bled to death. That was until her recurring bad luck charm kicked in and heavy footfalls descended behind her. Bella spun around as fast as she could manage, pumping more blood through the fingers at her sides.
She couldn't even manage a scream at the large black shape with pale eyes behind her, covered by the darkness. It darted from the bushes, ran towards her, and knocked Bella to the ground. All she could manage was a harsh gasp that escaped from the base of her throat. The thing then pounced on top of her, and Bella finally let out a terrified scream.
The thing snapped its muzzle at her and Bella pressed her blood soaked hands into its face, trying to push it away from her. The scent and taste of her blood seemed to make the thing grow more frenzied, and excited, and it overpowered her, bending its large head and clamping down on Bella's shoulder.
The scream that came out of Bella's mouth was not natural, not human. It was a scream of pure, unadulterated fear and agony. The things teeth sunk into her skin and an intense burning ran through her veins, turning her inside her out. Her back arched of the floor, but her shoulder stayed pinned as she screamed, and burned.
AN: Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! this story is not all human its just taking its time :) Thanks to LeighJ11 for being the outstanding beta as usual!