The Safe Haven

Chapter One - The Runaway

"Be free, Bella."

They were the last words spoken to her before she picked up her small suitcase and ran. She had been through something that nobody should have to go through in their life. The idea of marrying someone against her will was awful, but that was what she almost had to do. Bella had been happy for several months, after getting permission from her father to finally date the Cullen boy, but then she had started to feel trapped and cornered as soon as the big question had come.

She had kindly turned down his marriage proposal the first time he had asked for her hand and then rejected it completely the second time he had asked a few weeks later. Bella was well aware that she loved him, but for the weeks leading up to the engagement, she doubted his love for her. After divulging details to her about how much her father would love to see her married and how it would be amazing for her to finally be a vampire, Bella relented, and he finally got the ring on her finger.

Then the problems significantly worsened. Bella had been told, instead of asked, how the wedding would take place. Without first asking Bella, Edward had given his sister Alice free rein over the wedding and when it would occur. Alice was well aware of the kind of person Bella was and the kind of things she liked, even after knowing her for almost two years, but all of that quickly went out of the window.

For Bella, it was like one of Alice's shopping trips, only ten times worse. The first thing was the dress. Alice had chosen a dress that showed much too much skin for Bella's liking, but bought it anyway against Bella's wishes, even though Bella had shown Alice over a dozen dresses that she actually did like. Then Alice chose food that she didn't like, and a cake she wouldn't eat, and invited people Bella hadn't wanted to invite. The final straw was Bella's mother. Alice and Edward had talked Bella into not inviting her mother to the wedding, pushing thoughts of doubt and resentment into Bella's mind, and she doubted it was the first time they had done it, which lead Bella to think of all of the other things the pair had dazzled her into over the past year.

It had been a warm summer afternoon when she finally saw a glimpse of freedom. The wedding was set two weeks exactly from that date, and Bella was sitting on her couch at home with her knees drawn up to her chest. The door had knocked quietly, and at first, she hadn't got up to answer it, assuming that it was Alice or Edward, or worse both. It wasn't until she heard a voice outside that she realised who it was. Emmett and Rosalie.

Rosalie had been the first person to realise how Bella had been feeling, given her own treatment in the past. She had helped Bella so much, despite all of the differences they had. Emmett was the next person to understand the situation and had apologised to Bella more times than she could count for not realising the place she was in further. That had been almost a fortnight ago, and since then they had been devising a plan to get Bella out of Forks, to a place they couldn't find her.

"Hey, guys. I didn't know you were coming over today." Bella stepped aside, welcoming the pair into her home. They walked silently into the living room and sat down.

"What happened?" Bella noticed the grim look on both of their faces, either something terrible had happened or someone had caught wind of their plan.

"Alice moved the wedding up." Rosalie finally said. Bella's eyes widened, why would Alice do that?

"Up? By how much?" Bella questioned warily, taking her own seat across from the two vampires.

"This weekend."

"This weekend?! What about the plans we had? I am not going to be able to get out of here before then!" Bella panicked, her mind running at a thousand miles an hour at the possibility of actually having to marry the controlling cold one. Once they were married, Bella knew that there was absolutely nothing that she could do. The Cullens would either dazzle anyone Bella went to into thinking that she was lying, or they would simply pay them off.