Mute girl

Chapter seventeen - Black eyes.

A/N You know the drill, I don't own the Twilight saga, only my own crazy plot lines and characters. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

— Em.

"Bella!" Edward gasped, his eyes searching mine in trepidation. "You spoke..." His voice came out in a little breath, but with my heard pressed against his chest I could hear every word. "Yeah," I mumbled, a small, triumphant little grin sneaking it's way onto my face. "Yeah I did."

I looked up from Edward's arms to watch the reactions of everyone else. Alice seemed both surprised and expectant — making me wonder whether it was not a vision that had let her know how I'd react, but the fact that she was my best friend. "Extraordinary," Jasper muttered, his eyes flicking between Edward and me, resting finally on Edward as he gave him a very significant look.

"You have no idea how in control Bella is right now — her emotions, they're all suppressed, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not." I glared at him, a silent warning not to say anything else, not just yet. He met my eye with curiosity, his gaze smoulderingly black, but looked away again before the others could catch it. "Carlisle?" Edward asked, shifting his arms around me so that we were facing the remaining four members of the Cullen family. It didn't surprise me at all when I saw them all standing there, Esme and Rosalie too, since they must have heard what we'd said.

"Carlisle, how could this be? How could she not be pregnant?" Edward questioned him, his arm still protectively shielding me. "Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure," Carlisle told him. "But perhaps... well, in some cases of extreme abuse — especially when the victim has been underfed to the point that Bella has — it is not uncommon for the body to simply shut down menstruation, due to the lack of nutrients and the severe trauma that it's been through." I shuddered and curled myself up into a tight little ball.
Talking about Charlie was not my favourite thing to do.

"Hey, it's okay sweetheart," Edward murmured into my ear. I shifted my body slightly to the side so that I could look at him, clutching his chest for all I was worth. "I h-hate this," I muttered darkly, my voice still all croaky from lack of use. "I hate f-finding new bruises everyday, and h-having scars that I know will n-never go away. I h-hate all the memories th-that won't go away e-either." Edward looked shocked at how much I'd said, and to be honest so was I — I hadn't spoken this much since before James...

"Sweetheart, I know," he murmured, his voice hypnotic in it's soothing. "I hate him too," he added with a bit more force, his tone gone slightly harder with anger. I felt my ankle begin to ache with a more intense pain, my foot sore from standing up for so long. I winced at the ache and gingerly shifted my weight onto the other foot, trying to be subtle about it. Too late, Edward had seen. He pulled me back onto the bed with ease, being very mindful of my foot but still keeping me in his arms.

Emmet leaned forwards, his face set in a stony glare. "That man deserves to die," he stated, his voice deadly serious. My eyes swept the room to see that nearly all the vampires were nodding; their faces angry and dangerous. They were beautiful in a terrifying way, and for once, they actually looked like the cold-blooded vampires I knew they were.
I'd never seen them less human, and I'd never been more afraid.

I shuddered and turned away from all of them, even Edward, to look at the face of Carlisle, the only one who didn't seem set on murder. "Emmet calm down," he said, his eyes anxious as he took in my accelerated heartbeat and terrified expression. "I called the police to report Charlie yesterday. He was arrested, but has since been released on bail, and I have been told that he is very reluctant to be called into court." I must of looked surprised, because he continued where he usually would have stopped.

"It seems quite possible at this point that you needn't give evidence against him, Isabella. If he agrees to relinquish all parental rights and attend some sort of support group, then perhaps we don't need to press charges." I raised my eyebrow as high as it would go, astonishment clouding my mind. Was he suggesting that Charlie was going to walk free, no mark against his name for raping and abusing his own child? How could they say that? I was filled with that terrible, crushing sense of betrayal again, my own throat clamped shut with the weight of what he'd just told me.

The Cullen's really weren't human.

"How can you say that Carlisle? Are you insane? Have you not seen what Charlie's done to Bella — he raped, threatened, beat and starved her! Bella hasn't talked in months, she stopped having her period, tried to push us away and now she can't cope with people touching her too much! She still has fucking nightmares about what he did to her!" I cringed away from Rosalie as she yelled, moving super fast towards Carlisle, until she was standing over him in rage. "And I really don't understand how you can dare to even think that, let alone say it to her face!" she finished with a dangerous look in her eye.

I was tired of it, of everything. Weary of life already, all I wanted to do now was sleep forever.

"I understand why you're angry," he told her calmly, that first sentence somehow negating everything she'd just said. "But I think that it would be best for Bella if we didn't force any more extra stress on her, such has having to appear before a court and testifying against her father, the man who did all that." I shuddered, only then noticing how tightly my fists were clenched, and how many tears had already spilled down my cheeks.

"Maybe this isn't the best time to be discussing this..." Esme said, maternal as ever as she swept towards me, lifting me out of Edward's arms and under the covers in an instant. She looked very concerned, making me wonder how tired I must seem to her. "You look exhausted dear, you need to go to sleep," she told me softly, a slight smile on her face as she tucked me in. I was about to protest, but the heavenly feeling of the duvet was too strong for me, and my eyes were already drooping as the rest of the Cullen's disappeared, leaving me alone with Esme, Alice and Edward.

"I love you," Edward whispered as he stepped outside. "Sleep well, my love." Esme followed him out after kissing me goodnight, her steps as slow and gentle as any human. "Bella," Alice said, sitting down on the bed next to me. I was so far gone I couldn't be sure if I was really dreaming. "I'm sorry about what the others think, they don't understand how horrible it is when your father betrays you like this..." I wondered vaguely about how she could understand, but of course I couldn't make out most of what she was saying — it was surely a dream.

"I love you Bella, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you're safe." she finished, her hand resting gently on top of my head. I was drifting, drifting, wondering how I could get so sleepy so soon. "... S-stay with me..." I murmured as she was about to stand up, feeling the desperate need for whatever safety she gave me. "Of course," she  said, holding me in her tight cold arms.

"Goodnight Bella," I sighed into her arms, grateful that she was here. "Sleep well."