Run

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Bella

Something felt different. She immediately noticed that first without opening her eyes.

The hard ground below Bella felt softer, a nice fluffy pillow under her head. There was a light chill in the air but there felt as if there was a blanket covering the lower half of her body.

Slowly, Bella's eyes opened. The light was dimmed down, they should've been off at that point, so they didn't bother her that much. The plain white walls were completely bare, save for the shelves that had a few trinkets on them.

This...isn't a hospital, Bella thought as she slowly sat up. The pain in her leg was only a dull ache at that point, something she was thankful for. Where's Victoria? Where am I?

Her chest got tight the longer she looked around. She was in a new area by herself, Victoria nowhere to be seen after she promised to stick by her side.

Bella felt...scared.

As her breaths came in quick gasps, a person with strange yellow eyes was suddenly in-front of her. The older woman had dark curls that fell against her shoulders. She showed a pair of dimples that appeared on her dark cheeks when she gave Bella a calming smile. Though she didn't want to admit it, the panic Bella felt would've been gone if she wasn't so scared.

"You're okay sweetheart," the older woman cooed. "You're safe, I promise that. We're helping you."

Bella's tired eyes flicked across the room, no sign on the redhead anywhere. "Where's...where's Victoria?" Her voice was rough, who knows how long she's been out.

The unknown woman started to hand Bella a cup of water next to her. "She's coming back. Just went out for a while. My name is Esme."

Over the action, their fingers skimmed over one another, making Bella freeze up. Ice cold; her fingers felt just like Victoria's...and James'.

Esme's a vampire.

"You're one of them," Bella whispered, fearfully. She refused to run her luck with trusting another vampire; trusting one was more than enough. "What did...what did you do to me? To Victoria?"

For all Bella knew, the IV connected to her arm could've been filled with Esme's venom, poisoning Bella further.

A soft sigh escaped the vampire. "That's correct, sweetheart. But I can promise you this; nobody here is going to hurt you or Victoria, okay?"

Nobody here? Bella though. So there's more of them. "How-How can I trust you?"

"Look at my eyes, honey," Esme's voice was soothing at the simple command. Unlike the deep black or the paralyzing red she came accustomed to with vampires, Esme's eyes was a strange caramel color. They were somehow...softer.

"They type of vampire we are, doesn't drink from humans," she explained. "The seven of us drink from animals and animals only."

"Seven?" Bella questioned. Plus Victoria, that's eight vampires under one roof. All staying here? "Who are they?"

A smile plastered across Esme's face. "There's myself and my mate, Carlisle. Then five other's, who we deemed as our 'children' here; Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. Rose was actually the one who helped you get here."

Bella slowly nodded. "Are you the only one here?"

"We didn't want to overwhelm you," Esme answered. "Carlisle and Rosalie went to tell the others about our new visitors. They should be arriving within the hour."

When will Victoria come back? It's not that Bella felt uncomfortable with Esme around, which she did, but she needed Victoria by her side. For the first time in months, Bella felt safe— protected.

"We were in Seattle, me and Victoria," Bella remembered. "Are we still there?"

"No," Esme answered, checking on Bella's IV. "We live in Forks."

Bella swore her heart stopped at that simple word. "Forks?" They could've ended up anywhere else. "As in Forks, Washington?"

It was almost four years ago. Bella just turned eighteen and was planning on telling her parents something extremely important. Something that she had been hiding since she was fifteen.

She had gathered her parents, Renee and Charlie Swan, in the living room. They looked at the daughter worriedly as she paced against the carpet floor.

"Okay," Bella sighed, finally taking a seat on the couch across from them. "So um...there's been something I've been meaning to tell you guys for a while now. It's...pretty personal."

"Bells, I'm sure whatever you have to tell us won't be that bad." The comforting smile her father gave her made her feel more at ease.

"Yeah...yeah okay." Taking in a deep breath, Bella simply blurted out, "I'm gay."

The silence in the room was deafening. Her parents glanced at each other, Renee's brows scrunching together and Charlie's face turning red at the one word. Bella squirmed in her seat the longer the silence went.

Until Renee broke it. "You're...what?"

"I'm...gay?" She hesitated, it came more as a question. "I mean, I realized this a while ago and figured I should tell you since I'll be in Phoenix —"

"There's no way Bella;" Charlie pushed out a chuckle. "I mean, we raised you right!"

"We made sure nothing of the sort came across your way growing up," Renee joined. "We even had to stop being friends with Billy because his son Jacob was becoming too feminine."

Bella own face turned red when they mentioned her childhood friend. "You-You told they moved away! I lost a great friendship because of you!"

"Bella we were just protecting you!"

Words flew back and forth, each one more hurtful than the last. Tears were shed from both sides at the realization that their relationship would never be the same. The straw finally broke when Charlie and Renee shouted at Bella to leave their house and to never return.

At that, the silence returned but much more tense than the last. Letting out a choked "Fine." Bella stomped upstairs to grabbed her already packed bags for college and left the house without a second glance.

Once she was in her car, Bella checked her phone which had let out a notification a few times

Jess <3 has stopped sharing her location

So...Mike and I might have reconnected a few night ago and talked things though
Hate to say this but, we're done
Still love you tho <3

Great.

With tears still falling down her face, Bella let out a soft groan. "Cherry on fucking topple."

___________________

Mental health check in because mine has not been the best the last couple months.

So how's everyone been? Hope you've been getting a little sunlight, drinking water.

Bye!