The Alchemist

Chapter 7

WARNING : Some of Leona's past is explained in this chapter. It includes some rather dark subjects such as rape and abuse on an emotional level. If you are triggered by such subjects I suggest you either skip this chapter entirely or scroll past it until you see ~~~~~~ this. it signifies the end of that part. There is a warning for where it starts so you know when to start scrolling if you choose to read the chapter after all.

If you choose to skip the chapter but still want to know the lighter parts, send me either a message or ask for it in the comments. I will tell you what happened without going into too much detail.
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"You know, I don't swing that way, but nice that you're falling for me." Alice smiled. She set me down and gave me a dry jacket to wear, to at least keep my body warm. "We all got worried, when you didn't come back. And most of us set out to find you. Esme stayed back, in case you came back on your own." She told me.

"Even Rosalie?" I doubted she would.

"Only because of what Emmett said, about his motives for being your friend. He scolded me for being so hard on you, and accidentally spilled the basics. Of course, we all heard and now I know, I want to apologize for not seeing it myself. Can you forgive me for acting so jealous, when you really only wanted a friend?" Rosalie said joining us.

"Only if you can explain why we aren't that different, because I doubt that it's just because we both like fixing cars." I didn't blame her for being jealous, just for the splitting headache she caused.

"That's fair. I'll tell you when I take you home." She agreed.

"Thank you." We got back to the house and there I was given a big hug from Esme.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that as well, and while you're still so young too." As well? Does that mean...?

"You guessed right." Edward spoke softly. It kind of shocked me as I returned the hug. Rose stayed, as did Esme while the others went for a hunt as the two women told me their stories. They stayed calm talking about their human lives, while I actually cried. Not just for me but for them, for their losses. Their pain. Sure, they might have moved on from it over the years but still.

"I-I'm sorry." I was barely able of speaking steadily.

"You weren't there when it happened." Taking a breath, I calmed down enough to explain.

"Not that, but that you were alone going through it all. And thank you for telling me." I was genuinely touched they felt okay talking about it with me, a practical stranger.

"Oh sweetheart. You have no idea how much it helps us knowing there is someone else who can understand what we went through." Esme smiled gently.

"Especially since you know our secret it feels freeing to be able to talk about it, as we as vampires feel stronger about it so getting over it is harder than for humans." Rosalie added. They both seemed genuine as well.

"Do your parents know?" Esme asked.

"No. I don't have a mother I can talk to and I don't know how to tell Charlie." That fact kind of hurt too. I wished Renee didn't hate me so I would've had someone to talk to.

"Isn't Renee your mother?" Rosalie asked looking confused.

"She is biologically speaking, yes, but I know that if it weren't for Charlie, I wouldn't have been here. She tended to send me cards on my birthday, with manners in which she tried to get rid of me during the pregnancy." After the first three I tended to just throw them out.

"Why?" I think this was their way of making me release some of my pain.

Warning: the dark parts start here. and it actually ends where the chapter ends so I guess you can skip the rest of the chapter if you want to do so.

"Charlie isn't my real father. I am a product of rape, and she hates me for it." I confessed.

"What happened?" It was far different from what they went through, and yet there was a sense of something like understanding here.

"She had been out with friends and it is actually the cliché, drunk guy couldn't take no for an answer, kind of thing. It happened in an alley next to the club. If it hadn't been for the bartender throwing some trash out, she could've been killed. When she found out about my existence, Charlie had been just newly in the picture, yet he was more than happy to step in and be my father, but Renee was unable to be happy with me. She was only reminded of that day, and once the period for abortions ended, she tried everything to cause a miscarriage.

Eventually Charlie did get her onboard with keeping me, but she was never a mother figure. She did her best to ignore me, and it just became worse when Bella was born. Renee went out of her way to show favoritism. After a while it caused a fight between Charlie and Renee, and she left not wanting to be stuck with an unwanted child, nor a man that wasn't on her side in this case. She took Bella with her but the judge decided I should spend time with her as well.

Those were never fun times. I was often left alone so I began fixing things that got broken, and were never repaired as they couldn't always afford a handyman to come by. I think it was also a way for me to try and impress her for a bit of affection. Then, when I finally reached a deep point of unhappiness and Renee had kicked me out once more, I decided to just do as she said. Join the army and don't come back, unless your dead or a high-ranking officer. 

I knew it was a way for her to get me away from Bella, to avoid her getting influenced by me. I used a fake birth certificate and fake-ID to get in and by the time they found out I had made myself more than a promising talent. The rest is history." It felt like a huge burden was taken off my shoulders talking about all this.
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end of the dark parts. 

And also the end of the chapter as I try to keep it around 1000-1100 words per chapter. Please tell me your thoughts on it. but please be constructive about it. I don't mean to make the mistakes I make but I might have made some without knowing. Therefore there is no need to be rude about it.