Well, here it is! Part six of my baby!
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When I arrived back at the house, it was late at night. All the lights were out, and although I tried to listen out for my family’s thoughts, I couldn’t find a single “voice” within the building. It scared me. They couldn’t all be out, could they? I shrugged to myself. It didn’t matter. I could wait. I twisted my key in the lock, and tentatively stepped inside.
Both my feet were barely over the threshold when I felt something hard slam into me, pinning me against the narrow section of concrete against the door by my neck. From the darkness, I heard Carlisle’s voice hiss at me: “Where is she? Where’s Esme?”
As my windpipe was being crushed at that point, I could only choke out the words: “Italy. She’s in…” Carlisle – for I assumed that was who was pinning me here – slammed my head against the concrete again. “Did you sacrifice her to the Volturi, in exchange for your freedom? Did you? Did you?” he kept slamming my head into the concrete as he spoke, and I was glad when he finally let go.
My relief turned to terror as two new pairs of hands – Edward and Jasper, I guessed from the smell – grasped me and began to frogmarch me up the stairs. A light snapped on, blindingly bright, and I was dragged into a room I dimly recognized as the spare bedroom.
Inside, it was totally different to how I remembered. The furniture was gone, and hanging from the ceiling were two thick chains, thicker than my arm, with manacles at the end. “You have to be joking,” I told them as they snapped the manacles shut around my wrists. “What is there to stop me breaking the chains and legging it?”
Edward stared at me impassively. He pointed to two cables, one for each chain, that Jasper was connecting to my wrists. “If those chains break, or even move too far in the wrong direction, the cables are connected to a generator that’ll give you a 1,000 Volt shock. Carlisle’s idea, but Rose and Em built it. Sure you want to try and escape now?” he asked me icily. I shook my head, shocked. I did not doubt his words, and as the door swung shut, leaving me alone in my makeshift cell.
I knew any attempt to escape would a) give me a shock, and b) probably end in certain death, so, sighing, I resigned myself to my fate.
The day Esme got home was the best day of my life. As she opened the door and walked inside, the shields that had surrounded the minds of my siblings, father, daughter and niece simply fell down, and suddenly I could hear their thoughts once more. The overwhelming emotion was shock, shortly followed by relief. I still had no idea as to why I was being held captive in my own home, and so all I wanted was Esme to come upstairs and sort the mess out.
But there was one thing she had to do first. Through her eyes, I saw Carlisle, standing stock-still in his white coat and blue shirt, about to rush off to work. Esme simply ran to him and kissed him for what felt like forever, and then after a quick scan around the room, she realized I wasn’t there.
Moving into Carlisle’s thoughts, I saw her brow furrow. I tried to block all the thoughts that came with seeing her do that, but one slipped through the cracks: God, I love her even more when she does that. I didn’t care how much he loved her, I just wanted her to come and set me free.
“Where’s Aimee?” she asked, and at once, all eyes shifted to the staircase. As she ascended the stairs two at a time, I could hear the others rushing after her, desperate to prevent her from seeing me chained up.
They weren’t fast enough, and I saw her face through the crude porthole they had hacked into my door, an attempt to keep and eye on my without opening the door, saw the look of horror as she saw my chains, and the cables that snaked around them.
For a second, I forgot about them too, and lunged forward frantically. “Mom!” I yelled, and even as I did, I heard the chains slip forward, forward, forward, off the “safe” position, and I felt the agony of 1,000 Volts burn through my body like fire. As I crumpled to the floor, the last things I heard was a terrified scream, as Esme realized that her family had turned into monsters, and then metal on plaster as she slammed through the door and scooped me into her arms.
Somehow, impossibly, consciousness was worse than the blackness that had preceded it. Every fiber of my body burned, and as the world swam into focus, I saw Esme’s worried face looking down at me. A second later, another face entered the narrow frame I could see without moving my head, and I recognized Mia instantly. As my eyes panned down, I gasped when I saw the livid purple bruises across her neck, and silently asked her a single question: Who did this to you?
Her response was instant and concise.
Carlisle, she told me, and I forced my poor, achy arms to reach for her. I held her to my body tightly, and felt her relax into my shoulder. My body was beginning to relax and stopping aching by this point, and do as I released her, I stood up, and pushed her and Esme behind me, placing myself between them and Carlisle.
I could sense Esme’s confusion, so I explained it to her: “Mom, look at Mia’s neck. She told me – and I know my daughter wouldn’t lie – that it was Carlisle who did that to her, which is why we’re leaving. Now.”
There was a collective intake of breath.
“No, Aimee. I’m not going anywhere, not yet. I don’t want you to go either. Please. Stay?” she whispered, her eyes pleading.
“What? So Carlisle can attack Mia again? No. For all I know, next time, it could be me – and I could be a lot worse than bruised. No. Mia and I are out of here.” I told her. I knew I was going to hurt her, but I wasn’t going to risk Mia’s life. Carefully, I put up a mental shield, and told Mia to do the same, and putting her onto my back, I ran up the stairs. I didn’t know where we were going, not at first, but as I packed a small backpack for the two of us, throwing in several forged passports, birth certificates and driving licenses, and $50,000 dollars in cash for good measure, an idea began to form.
As I zipped up the bag and placed it on Mia’s back, I knew where to go. Placing Mia and the bag on my back, I jumped from the window and started to run. I knew it would be at least minutes before they knew we were gone. That would be long enough. It would only take twenty minutes to get to Seattle Airport, and from there, it was a matter of hours before we would be truly safe.
Once we arrived at Seattle Airport, I fished around in the bag and searched carefully for the passports I wanted. I had had several made up a while ago, most of which the family knew about – and a couple they didn’t. I had brought with me several of the known ones and two secret ones, and it was one of these in particular I searched for now. I knew that if Edward came here, he would search the thoughts of anyone behind the check-in desks for images of me or Mia, and so I dragged her into a quiet restroom in order to put on our disguises.
In the photos on the passports we would be using – I was Laura Adams, and she was my daughter Chloe – I had long, wavy black hair, and brown eyes, whilst Mia had blonde hair and blue eyes. I had two wigs of about the right shade, and numerous pairs of contacts, as I wasn’t sure if Mia’s eyes, like mine, were venomous, and would dissolve the lenses after a few hours. Carefully, I popped them in, and then we just had to change our clothes and we were ready. We stepped out of the restroom and walked confidently over to the ticket desk. I bought two tickets to Washington, and we would take it from there.
Although the weather in Washington was sunny when we landed, by the time we came to disembark a cloud has passed in front of the sun, and so we managed to get into the airport incognito. We purchased tickets to Tokyo, to connect to Wellington, New Zealand, where we would then switch again to a flight to Christchurch, and then a final short flight to Queenstown. It was an area I had visited once with Will, and it stood out in my mind because it had rained every day we were there, with no hint of sun.
It was – surprise, surprise – raining when we arrived, and we went straight from the airport to a small car showroom. We managed to buy a small, blue Ford Focus without any further problems, and as I drove us to the nearby town of Wanaka, Mia fell asleep in the back. I pulled up outside an real estate agents, where I rented a small house right on the edge of town, and that night, I sat in the small, dark bedroom of number 47, Alder Close, with Mia’s sleeping form in my arms, and cried for everything I had left behind.
We kept ourselves to ourselves in Wanaka, rarely leaving the house, except to hunt, and pay the rent. We shopped for what we needed – mostly clothes – over the internet, and I did my best to tutor Mia myself. Sometimes, to break the monotony, she would make me fall asleep, and we would sleep for days on end, which whiled away a little of the time, but we knew, even with our disguises, and without Alice’s visions, that they would find us eventually.
That day came around four months after our arrival. It was evening, and Mia was flicking indecisively between TV channels, finally settling on some trivial soap. She was laughing humorlessly at the jokes, too loud, too long, and although I had always insisted that she keep up her shield at all times, I wished that sometimes I could hear what she was thinking. I worried about her – if she was happy, if I had done the right thing, and had even considered going back, back to Forks, and taking my chances with Carlisle.
Which was why, when the knock came, I was surfing various airline websites, looking for cheap tickets home. I froze. I knew instantly who it was. Carlisle. They had a shield up, but I knew it could only be him. The rent had been paid. We hadn’t ordered any new clothes, and we had no neighbors to come calling. I knew then that Mia couldn’t go back. I would go, certainly, but Mia would have to run.
I went silently into the lounge. Long ago, long, long ago, we had agreed on a hand signal if Carlisle found us. I went into the lounge and placed two fingers on my forehead. Mia froze, and I mouthed at her: “Go into my room, and get the backpack. Your passport is in there, and some money. Climb out of you bedroom window and down the tree, and then run, as fast as you can, OK?” She nodded. She went upstairs, and the knocking became more insistent. I waited another two minutes, and then I flung the door open wide.
I had expected to see one person – Carlisle, alone. Instead, I was confronted with four: Esme and Alice, who were stood closest to me, and behind them stood Carlisle and Edward. It was not the presence of Edward or Carlisle that alarmed me. It was the fact that Mia was in Esme’s arms, her face burrowed into Esme’s shoulder, and she appeared to be crying.
I scanned her body quickly, and after seeing no visible damage, I made as if to snatch her from Esme, and Mia looked around at me and smiled. Jumping down, she smiled at me again, and then I realized that she wasn’t hurt, she was just happy, and I realized that I was happy too. Happy to see my mom, and dad, and Alice, and Edward, and they were happy to see me.
I sort of half reached my arms out, and then I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew someone had picked me up, and was clinging to me like they’d never let go, and I was clinging back. Opening my eyes, I stared into Carlisle’s eyes, and realized I had forgiven him a long time ago. Jumping down, I reached out to Edward, who hugged me a little less enthusiastically, but I was just happy to see him. He pulled away that time, and I braced myself for what was coming next.
Alice jumped at me with little warning. It was so good so see her again, to hear her musical, trilling voice, even if only in her thoughts, so good to hug her tiny, elfin form. She picked me up a little way, swung me round, and as usual, it was a shock to remember that she could punch through a wall, if she so desired. It was hard to let her go, but I wanted the next hug more than anything in a long time.
Esme swept me into her arms gently, and I rested my head on her shoulder gently. I found there were tears running down my cheeks, and reached up, embarrassed, to brush them away. Esme let go unwillingly, and as I led the little party inside, she kept one arm firmly around my waist, anchoring me in the present, and keeping me from drifting back into the past.
I felt embarrassed as I led the way into my tiny lounge, trying to tidy as I walked. As I pushed open the door, I could feel an overwhelming sense of horror from behind me. I could sense the incredulity as my family took in the shabby couches, peeling paint and bare light bulb suspended from the ceiling. Mortified, I perched in the middle of the largest couch, and to my surprise – and joy – Alice sat on my left and Esme my right.
Edward chose the armchair nearest to Alice, whilst Carlisle opted for leaning on the mantelpiece. I knew what was coming, and as I mentally recoiled, I noted Edward’s tiny nod at Esme, and she gently returned Mia to my lap. Grateful for a reason to look away from Carlisle’s grave eyes, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair.
I was expecting to be shouted at. To be told how irresponsible I had been, how I had made my mother cry, how nobody laughed any more. But when Carlisle finally spoke, his tone was surprisingly gentle – a tone I was amazed to hear reflected in his thoughts: “Aimee, my darling girl, please come home. We miss you. I’m sorry about what I” – here he flinched – “did to Mia. It was unforgiveable. I was distraught, and I want you to forgive me, and maybe… just maybe… consider… coming… home?” he trailed off there, and an emotion I was shocked to see flitted across his face.
Fear.
He was scared of me, scared that I wouldn’t agree to come home. I felt horrible, then, and I knew that deep down inside, I had forgiven him, a long time ago, and that all I wanted was an end to this awful isolation and loneliness.
I wanted to be loved.
“Dad,” I started, and I felt the warm glow inside me – and him – as I used that simple word for the first time in so long. Too long. “I know that you’re sorry. I forgave you almost as soon as I arrived here, and I wanted to come home, but my stubbornness kept me here. I didn’t want to be the first to crumble, to weaken. I missed you, too. I haven’t laughed since I left, haven’t smiled with feeling for too long. I only had to picture Esme’s face, or yours, and I would feel tears forming instantly. I knew I had hurt you again. I knew I had to make amends. I was going to come home. I promise I was.”
I flipped open my laptop – it was displaying the comparative prices of two airline tickets back to Seattle – and tossed it lightly to Edward, who caught it deftly.
The wave of pure joy that crashed through everyone there was so warm, so sincere, that once more my eyes welled up, and I found myself leaning into Esme’s shoulder and sobbing tears of relief, of happiness, of regret.
After I was done crying, the mood in the room lightened, and it was then that I felt Alice stiffen beside me. “What is it, Alice?” I asked her worriedly, but even as I did, I saw the answer in her mind and laughed out loud. “It’s not funny!” she protested. “Look at what Mia’s wearing!! Didn’t I teach you anything?!” She asked, half-serious.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “The second we get home, you are free to play dress-up with my daughter for as long as you please.” I promised.
I felt Mia’s excitement immediately, and passed her over to Alice, where she sat, motionless, on her knee for a few seconds, before smiling up at her aunt and flinging her arms around her. “But in the meantime, Alice, you can help by assisting me in packing. Not that there’s much to pack, of course, but…” I blinked. Alice had already launched herself from the room and I could hear her upstairs, humming a tune I dimly recognized as Duet Of The Flowers.
“Was Alice always that… exuberant?” I asked Esme worriedly. She laughed, and answered me by sweeping me into another bone-crushing hug. When she released me, she answered me simply by nodding, and then we were both crying again. I was dimly aware, through my tears, of being prized away from my mom, and onto a cold stone lap that was wonderfully familiar. Looking up, blinking through my lashes, I looked deep into the warm, golden-brown eyes of my father, and felt the love that seemed to emanate from his very core.
I knew I was forgiven.
It was a long flight back to Seattle, and I sat in first-class between Esme and Alice, each of whom gripped one of my hands possessively, as though I was going to attempt to make a break for it. At some point, I felt a small hand on my shoulder, and when I next awoke the seatbelt icon was flashing and I realized with a jolt that I was finally home.
We piled into Carlisle’s faithful black Mercedes for the drive home, me sat in the back with Mia on my lap, flanked once more by my immortal guardians, Esme and Alice. As we pulled up to that wonderfully familiar house, I felt a flood of emotions, and once more I buried my head in Esme’s shoulder.
Pushing open the front door, the first thing that struck me was the overwhelming sobriety of the place. It seemed to be full to the brim with despair and sadness. As the five of us entered, it felt as though we cleared the melancholic air, and brought light to the huge house for the first time in months. The first person we saw was Jasper, who flung himself down the stairs and into Alice’s arms in the space of a second. Suddenly, without warning, he had let her go and swept me into a tight embrace. I was shocked. Jasper had always been so reserved around me before, and it was surprising –s and reassuring – he had finally let his guard down.
The next person was Bella, who made a beeline for Edward, shortly followed by hugging Alice, before finally noticing me, stood quietly at Esme’s side, and she gasped before hugging me as well. I had never been comfortable around this strange girl with her private mind, but I realized now that perhaps – just perhaps – she wasn’t so bad. I felt Edward’s smugness as I thought that, and looked down quickly, embarrassed.
That was when I noticed Nessie, peering shyly at me from behind her mother. Jeez, she had grown. She needed no invitation to hug me, and she jumped into my arms happily. Burying my head in her soft curls, I inhaled her familiar freesia-and-strawberry smell, and realized how much I had missed her.
The final couple to greet us announced their arrival a few seconds before I saw them. From outside, I could hear Rose grumbling to herself about the fact that she had already done all she could to the existing Cullen cars, and couldn’t somebody please get a new one, possibly? In the rare moments she paused for breath, I could hear Emmett’s low chuckles and half-serious comments, although both voices came to an abrupt halt as they ascended the front steps and opened the front door. Rose gasped, and Emmett gave a low chuckle and said, half to himself: “about time too.”
I had just registered this comment when Rose flung herself at me, and enveloped me in a tighter hug than Jasper or Bella, and when she pulled away, I saw the tears in her eyes. I saw in her thoughts the faces of her family in the past four months. Esme, eyes blank and expressionless. Carlisle, grave and silent. Alice, eyes brimming with unshed tears, all joy gone from her voice, her face. Edward, quiet and brooding. And woven between those faces were two words, over and over. Thank you, thank you, thank you…
She wasn’t done showing me when the next hug came. Bone-crushingly strong, it could only be Emmett, and I heard in his thoughts his playful challenge: Bring it, sis. Laughing, I squeezed back, harder and harder, until he silently begged for mercy. As I released him, he smiled, and I knew that smile and the hug was his way of saying what everyone was thinking.
Welcome home.
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