Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

sixty

Serena

Alice brought me into a large room with multiple bookcases as well as a desk and some armchairs scattered around, "this is my room, I figured I should make you feel comfortable since this is all new to you" she said

"No bed?" I asked

"Funny, Bella said the same thing when she first saw Edwards room, vampires don't sleep so there's no point in having one"

"That makes sense, so what do you have to do to see my future?"

"Usually they just come to me or I can force one to come, but since you're around your wolves twenty four seven you're being blocked by them" she said before pulling a bag off the ground, "which is why I need you to change into these. They don't smell like wolf so it'll be a much easier and quicker process I'm hoping"

I nodded and took the bag from her hands, watching as she left the room to give me some privacy. I pulled out a pair of low rise jeans and a brown tight fitted long sleeve shirt and questioned whose clothes they were because they certainly were not Alice's.

Once I was done Alice came back in, "they're Bella's, she said you can keep them as well. I figured that would be the best option so your wolf boys won't flip out on us. She doesn't smell much like us"

I sat on one of the chairs and Alice sat across from me, just staring. We sat like this for thirty minutes before she sighed, "this isn't working," she complained, "I'm going to try and make contact with you to see if it helps"

She stood and moved around to the back of the chair where I was sitting, placing her hands onto my shoulders. We sat there for forever as well, and I was begging to get bored.

The door opened, breaking us from the silence. "Alice," the voice said, "take a break, I'll sit with her"

Alice left the room and soon Edward was sitting in the chair across from me, just staring at me. "What are you doing?" I asked him

"Reading your thoughts, trying to see if I can help Alice at all" he replied

"You can read my thoughts? What am I thinking about right now?" I asked him, thinking about the time my fake parents locked me in a closet because I didn't clean the kitchen how they wanted it to be cleaned.

"That's a very harsh thing for them to do to you," Edward said, "how long did they keep you locked inside the closet for?"

"I don't know," I replied, it was dark out when I went in and dark out when they let me out but I didn't get a chance to check the clock before hand. It felt like forever though"

"What else did they do to you?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I'm trying to figure you out, maybe if you open up a little bit it will help Alice see why Victoria is after you"

"So she is after me? That's confirmed?"

"It's not official, but there's high concern that she created the army that is after you and Bella"

"When I was five my mother threw a record player at me and it broke my foot. They always said they didn't believe in doctors but I know now that they wanted to keep me away from the public as much as possible. I walked on it for three days before they brought a boot and crutches for me to use"

"Let me grab some paper and a pen so I can write all of this down" Edward disappeared from the room for literally three seconds before returning with paper, then he urged me to continue.

"Growing up I wasn't allowed to eat meat and was on a strict vegetarian almost vegan diet. I wasn't even allowed salt or pepper. I didn't get a phone until a few months ago and I was never allowed to leave the house besides for school"

"Were there any other instances where you were physically harmed?"

"Henry would hit me sometimes. When I misbehaved"

"What kind of misbehavior?"

"Not going to bed by nine, getting less than a 95% on a test, spilling anything. Basically anything that should have been let go by normal parents"

"How often?"

"At least once a week, not very much, but just enough to leave a bruise or two"

"Alice is in her way back in, keep talking"

"Whenever there was a storm they would drug me to make me sleep throughout the night, and even sometimes when it wasn't storming so they wouldn't have to deal with me. I didn't realize it was happening until I was 13, but I didn't know how to stop it"

The door broke up my stories, and Alice walked back in, placing her hands back on my shoulders. "Keep talking, Serena, we're going to sit here for hours if we need to" Alice said.

"They would force me to sleep outside sometime when dinner wasn't ready on time. There was one time when they left me out there for two days when I was 6 and couldn't get over the fence"

"She's starting to get something, keep digging into your memories Serena" Edward told me

"Um, when I was 12 they cut my hair all short because I cut my own bangs without permission. When I was 13 they made me start skipping meals because I outgrew a pair of jeans"

"We're almost there, it's almost there" Alice whispered

"One more Serena, something really deep that you've been hiding from everything" Edward urged and I shut my eyes, trying to blink back tears.

"No, I can't, I can't say it!" I cried

"You have to, Serena, it's what's going to help Alice see what's going to happen" Edward said

"Please, Serena, I need this" Alice pleaded

"Earlier this year, in January, Henry raped me" I sobbed, tears streaming down my face.

"She got it" Edward whispered, pulling me into a hug.