The Safe Haven

Chapter Three - Telling The Truth

"It wasn't too long after you had to leave that I left for Forks. Phil, who I don't think any of you ever met except for Bekah, got a job pitching for some minor league baseball team that was travelling. You had just left, and I really wasn't up to travelling the country and watching baseball every weekend, so I decided that I would go and stay with my dad for a while. It was fine at first, quiet and completely normal. My first week at school was... interesting." Bella stopped, not quite knowing how to explain the situation she had somehow gotten herself into.

"Interesting how? Please elaborate, Bells." Kol asked politely, which surprised Bella at first. He moved from his seat at the bar to sit next to Elijah on the couch.

"Well, my first day at school I was paired with this boy, Edward, in bio class. At first, everything was fine but then I started to notice things. That night in Florida where we had the bonfire on the beach by your house, do you remember?" Bella asked, the five people in the room nodded.

"Well, whilst Klaus was cooking and Rebekah and Kol were arguing about something or another by the ocean, Elijah told me the story about the Volturi and the other kind of vampires that exist. Like I said, everything was fine, and then he started to act... weirdly, like me being near him was painful for him. Then I noticed the unusually pale skin, generally strange behaviour and his eyes. When I first realised what he was I expected them to be red, but they were gold, which I now know is because they were 'vegetarian'. So..." Bella started to continue but was interrupted by a roaring laugh from Kol.

"Oh my gosh, you're kidding, right? They are vegetarian vampires?" He continues to laugh hysterically.

"Well, not vegetarian entirely. They hunted animals instead of humans. There were also wolves. Quileute wolves who could shapeshift. Once I realised what they were I made sure to stay far away." Bella shook her head, remembering the time one of the wolves had almost attacked her down on the reservation.

Once Kol had finished his laughing fit, Bella continued.

"Okay now before I tell you the rest of the story, you all have to promise that you aren't going to get mad or fly off the handle, or go and hunt down some cold ones. Just shut up and listen, okay?"

Once Bella had gotten the nod she was looking for, especially the one from Niklaus, she continued with her story.

"The cold one I met in the class had four siblings, if you can even call them that despite the fact they look exactly the same. There were also two adults, parental figures if you will, that kind of managed the family. I now realise, that I stupidly allowed myself to be controlled or whatever it is they did to sway my mind. I know this will make you angry but you have to remember that I got away. The only one of you that knows any of this really is Bekah, and I honestly believed that if I hadn't had contact with her over the past year I would be stuck for life in the marriage I was being forced into." Bella reached over and took Rebekah's hand in hers.

"You're welcome, Bella. You're my best friend, we have to stick together." Rebekah smiled.

"Marriage?" Elijah asked, his eyes flashing with anger.

"It didn't happen. It was supposed to happen this weekend but Edward's brother and sister helped me get out. At first, I realised that I had never questioned or gotten mad when he had told me what to do or made a decision for me. I slowly started to realise that my whole life had been taken over by this family of vampires, and that's when I first called Rebekah to ask for some help. Rosalie and Emmett, Edward's siblings, were amazing. Rosalie was the only one I could really talk to about everything that happened in Florida, and how I had found love and family there with you guys. She also understood what it felt like to be confused and controlled, so she helped me with that a lot. Anyways, they got me a plane ticket and left a car at the airport for me which was so kind of them, and I will let them know I am safe now that Freya has blocked them from ever knowing where I am." Bella nodded her head to Freya in thanks. The pair had become close in the weeks leading up to the Mikaelson's departure from Jacksonville.

"At least you're safe now. Do you think any of them will have any idea where you've come to?" Rebekah asked.

"No, they only know one witch and she is nowhere near as powerful as Freya so the location-blocking spell should remain intact. I spoke with both Rosalie and Emmett about you guys, and they are the ones who got me the plane ticket to come here. They won't tell anybody though, they wanted me to leave as much as I wanted to." Bella explained.

"And the wedding?" Klaus asked. He had remained surprisingly quiet throughout the conversation, Bella noted.

"It didn't get that far. It was supposed to be two weeks from now but for whatever reason, they decided to move it up. Alice probably saw that I vanished from the face of the earth before the ceremony could even happen." Bella explained, the pixie cold one could be a nightmare.

"So some of them are gifted? The girl can see the future?" Elijah asked.

"Yeah a few of them have abilities. Edward can read minds, well, every mind except for mine. It used to piss him off so much that he couldn't read my mind, but I still have no idea why he couldn't, maybe it was the vervain I was taking?" Bella directed her question to Elijah, who nodded telling her that her theory was correct.

"Alice, Edward's sister is the one that can see the future. And there is Jasper too, he's Alice's mate, and he's an empath. I always had to be mindful of controlling myself around him because Edward was always looking into his mind to see how I was feeling." Bella grimaced.

"What a bloody weirdo," Rebekah spoke, her distaste for the man evident.

"And your father, I am sure he did not agree to this relationship," Klaus asked, he knew the police chief had a sixth sense when it came to spotting bad apples. 

"You are correct, my love. Charlie was against the relationship from the beginning, but as I was bought into their trap the less I cared what he thought. He was very relieved when he found out I was leaving town, he knows you guys will keep me safe." Bella smiled, reaching for Klaus' hand and squeezing it gently.