(Jacob’s POV)
Later that afternoon we got to take Bella home.
When we arrived at Charlie’s place, Charlie put Bella to rest on the couch in the living room and Charlie, my dad and I retired to the kitchen.
Charlie was still on call and he was very anxious about having to leave Bella alone.
My dad tried to calm him down.
“C’mon Charlie, we’ve been friends for as long as we can remember! We’ll be glad to help you and Bella out in any way that we can.”
He then turned to face me.
“I’m pretty sure that big, strong son of mine can get the job done while you’re away. And who knows, maybe Jacob and Bella spending time together will put things back into perspective for them.”
“Dad…” I scowled.
But my dad raised his hand to silence me.
“Don’t back-talk to me boy, your old man knows what’s best for you.”
To be honest, he was right. We always have been the closest of friends.
I closed my eyes thinking of those days.
I don’t want to leave Jake, I really don’t!
Don’t ever forget me Bella Swan…
I snapped out of it.
Who was I kidding? She had forgotten all about me, whether it was willingly, or forced upon her.
I got up from my chair, walked to the sliding doors between the kitchen and the living room and leaned against the doorpost.
I watched Bella as she slept, her chest heaving peacefully in an even breathing pattern.
My eyes wandered her body, the places where she must be hurting.
And then my eye fell upon something I hadn’t seen in the longest time.
The charm-bracelet around her wrist; the one with our tribe’s totem.
The one I gave her when we had to say good-bye.
She was still wearing it, after all this time?
I had to have meant something to her then!
“Jake? Are you ?” I heard my dad ask.
I turned around d swiftly.
“I’ll do it dad!”
My dad and Charlie beamed at me equally happy and proud.
“Thank you Jacob,” Charlie said. “Thank you for being willing to look after my darling daughter.”
I nodded, sat back down at the kitchen table and felt my thoughts drift back to that one day that should have never happened.
The day my Bella was taken from me…
(Bella’s POV)
His eyes pierced into mine as he slowly got up from the ottoman he was sitting in.
“Well? Where – have – you – been?” he repeated slowly as he walked towards me.
“I er….Well you see….I was um….” I stammered.
Now he was standing so close to me that I could smell the alcohol in his breath and see that his otherwise brown eyes were almost black.
“How many times have I told you not to leave the house unless it’s for school?” he almost spat out in my face.
I squeezed my eyes shut and cowered, knowing what was to come.
Before I expected it I felt his fist make contact with my left eye.
A sharp burning pain jolted through my head as I fell to the ground.
“Now you see what you made me do? I don’t want to have to discipline you, but you just don’t listen, do you?” he half shouted, grabbing me by my wrists.
“I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again!” I pleaded.
“You shouldn’t have done it in the first place!” was his reply as he started dragging me up the stairs by my wrists.
I started kicking my feet and screaming.
“Please! Don’t do this! I promise I’ll never do it again!”
He reached the top of the stairs and let go of my wrist for a second.
I groaned as my back was sore from scraping over each of the steps and tried to crawl away from him.
He punched me again, right in my stomach.
I groaned and curled up like a little ball, wrapping my arms around my stomach.
Another punch to the left side of my face.
I screamed in pain and then he grabbed my legs and dragged me into the bedroom, where he tossed me into a corner.
“You need to be severely punished for your disobedience!” he panted as he started to unbuckle his belt.
If I could have crawled up the wall, I would have, I was so scared.
I had never seen him like this before.
He dropped his trousers and walked up to me.
“Please no….” I begged.
He grabbed me by my hair, forced me to lay flat on the ground and started ripping my clothes off of my body.
I started to kick my feet and wrestle to get out of his restrain.
He tried to remove my panties with his one free hand and then I just started to scream at the top of my lungs.
“Shut up bitch!” slap
“SHUT UP!” punch
I couldn’t stop screaming. I did it out of self-preservation.
Then I felt his hands around my throat and he started to push.
He was trying to strangle me!
My hands flew to where his hands were squeezing and I tried to peel them off of my throat.
I felt my nails scratching the skin of my throat.
I got so light headed…
I can’t breathe… I can’t scream…
Then I felt two soft, warm hands grab me by my shoulders gently.
They were nothing like Edwards hands.
“Bella? Wake up! Are you alright?”
(Jacob’s POV)
Bella’s eyes flew open as I softly shook her and she nearly jumped up from the couch, gasping for air trying to remove something I couldn’t see from her throat.
“Calm down!”
I carefully grabbed her hands and urged her to sit down.
“It was just a bad dream. He can’t hurt you anymore…”
She slowly nodded, coming to her senses.
That bastard must have done terrible things to her, so terrible that they’d even haunt her in her sleep.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked once she calmed down a bit.
She nodded. “A cup of coffee please,” she squeaked.
I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee.
Horrible scenario’s flashed through my mind of what that son of a bitch could have done to her.
I poured water in the coffee machine, then added coffee and switched the machine on.
I heard some soft shuffling behind me and when I turned around she had appeared in the kitchen doorway.
She blinked against the bright kitchen light and whispered, “Where are our dads?”
“Well, your dad was on call so when he got paged, he had to go to work. And my dad was exhausted so I sent him home.”
She nodded.
“But you really didn’t have to stay here. I wouldn’t want to keep you from all the fun stuff you’re missing out of now…” she whispered.
I looked down at my feet.
Does she really think I have anything better to do than looking after her?
Truth was I haven’t been able to commit to any woman after Bella and I shared that one moment.
Of course I had dates and a bit more, but I never managed to take those relationships farther than a one-nighter.
“No it’s alright. I promised both our dads to be here if you need anything.”
“, I just feel bad about keeping you from your day to day activities,” she whispered as she carefully lowered herself on a chair.
I poured each of us a mug of coffee and sat down at the table across from where Bella was sitting.
She scooped two spoons of sugar in her coffee and stirred it silently for a while.
Then she started to smile to herself.
“I must sound so stupid to you, squeaking and whispering…” she whispered.
I looked up from my coffee mug.
“No you don’t. I think it’s awful because of what has been done to you that made your voice this way!” I exclaimed.
She looked down and stirred her coffee again. “I just hope it’s not forever…” she whispered and then she took a sip of her coffee.
We drank our coffee in silence and when Bella finished her coffee she got up and said that she was going to try and get some sleep.
I nodded, put the mugs in the sink and watched her climb up the stairs.
I sat back down at the kitchen table and sank away in my thoughts.
I had no idea how to handle this situation.
(Bella’s POV)
When I reached the top of the stairs, I instinctively went into the direction my room used to be.
I placed my hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it, a bit anxious to see what my room would look like after all those years of my absence.
When the door was fully open it dawned upon me that my room was exactly the way I had left it.
I guess my poor dad didn’t have the heart to change a single thing about it.
I slowly walked into my old room, my sanctuary. I stroked the wood of the dresser where I kept my socks, underwear, bathing suits. The curtains hanging in front of the bay window.
The stuffed animals sitting on the shelve across from my bed.
My grandmother’s handmade quilt on my bed.
I closed my eyes and I remembered Jake climbing in the tree, softly knocking on the window.
I would let him in and we’d talk for hours…
I shook my head and dragged myself into the bathroom.
I splashed some cold water onto my face and looked at myself in the mirror.
Ew… I shuddered at the sight.
How could I let him do that to me?
I freshened myself up, took some sleeping pills and then retired to my own little sanctuary, collapsing on my bed.
I fell asleep in no time; those medicines worked a miracle.
