Standard Disclaimers Apply: I am not Stephenie Meyer not Kurt Sutter. I make no money. I just like to play around with their characters :-) Oh and FYI the title is something that I just came up with but I'm not completely satisfied with it. Maybe in a couple of chapters I'll have a better idea. Or if you my precious reader get inspired with one I won't argue ;-) Thanks for reading!

NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have been going through and editing. I was reading back through the story to get my brain back on track for the next chapter and noticed little mistakes here and there. I will be uploading all edited chapters now and I AM working on new content. Apologies in advace for all the update notices on the app that are not new chapters! There is also a small plot point changed b/c I got an idea and wrote part of a future chapter so…yeah lol. Anywho, chapters are improved and I hope you still enjoy the story :-) Edited 4/16/20

Chapter 1

Bella Swan was desperate. For years she had held out hope for some kind of rescue. But now? Now it was time to take matters into her own hands. Michael's attack was the last straw. She was going to Charlie.

It took little to no time to pack her meager belongings into a small duffle bag she had squirreled away. Quietly, she placed it behind the door. Midnight couldn't come fast enough. They would be passed out by then and Bella would be able to make her escape. She had spent many sleepless nights chipping away at the cheap paint around the window in her room. And then many more nights greasing the sides so the window would not make a sound when she opened it.

She sat quietly on her bed, listening to the sounds of the derelict building. It was the last of a long line of crappy places. But no more. No more cold nights on the bare mattress on the floor. No more tolerating sneers or dirty names or beatings. Never again would her mother's hand touch her face in anger. The leers from her "boyfriends", the wandering hands copping a feel. All of it was done. She was running and no one would stop her.

Bella had frequently wondered what her life would've been like if her mother had just said "Fuck it" and left her with her father. Would they have stayed in one spot her whole life? Would he have let her have her own things? A T.V., decent clothes, a computer? Was he caring? Did he even think of his long gone daughter?

That last question she knew the answer to. During one of her few trips to the school library, she had looked up her father, one Charlie Swan. That was all she knew of him until that point. But now she had a plethora of information about him and his 17 year search for her. From what she could find, Charlie Swan had come home from his first day back on the job after she was born to find his house ransacked and his girlfriend and daughter gone. His frantic search began that day. All the money that had been in the house was gone, all of Renee's possessions, but oddly, barely anything of Bella's was gone. The only thing of hers missing was a few onsies, the diapers, and formula (because Renee refused to breastfeed). No toys, bibs, nothing of significance. So Charlie started where he knew best: Forks, Washington. No sign there so he continued his search through the west coast and eventually spreading throughout the US. But every time he got anywhere close, any solid lead, he would hit a dead end. But what Bella noticed was that when he got close, it would coincide with memories of Renee picking them up and moving somewhere. Just before the librarian came over to shoo her back to class, Bella managed to get an address and phone number for him. The information had been hidden deep under her mattress on the floor just waiting for the right time. Now it was in rested in her bag ready to be used.

Bella tensed as she heard the loud voices outside her door. "Hey babe, let's get Bella, give her another lesson on how to treat a man." Michael. Shit she thought. This wasn't good. He was relentless. But this time, Renee's "seductiveness" won out. "Oh leave her alone. You just gave her a lesson the other night didn't you?" She giggles, high pitched and nauseatingly sweet.

All the blood drained from Bella's face. No way she'd heard what she thought she heard. Renee knew? She knew Michael had been in her room, ripped her clothes off, beat her, tried to…. NO! She wouldn't think about it. He didn't succeed, thanks to a quick kick straight to the balls. Bella couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face as she remember the way he had curled up, holding himself and groaning like a baby. Shaking herself sharply, Bella refocused her hearing. She shouldn't really be surprised that Renee was so nonchalant about her most recent companion attacking her only child. Renee never gave a shit about her anyways. She always did the absolute bare minimum to keep authorities away. She at least had enough sense to do that. So yeah, Bella was fed, mostly clean, and mostly clothed. But she completely lacked the things she needed most: love, affection, stability.

Bella cringed upon hearing the laughter turn to deep moans. She knew what was coming now. The moans lead to slaps on the ass and screams of "pleasure". So she did the only thing she could do: bury her head under her pillow, hum, and wait it out. After several hours (or at least it seemed to her) the headboard stopped banging on the wall. She listened for the panting breaths to turn into the slow deep breaths of sleep. Again she waited on the edge of her bed until the snores finally started.

Standing a quietly as possible, Bella tip toed to the door. She leaned her ear to it gently, letting out the breath she had been holding when all she heard was the loud snores of two people drunk off their asses passed out after a raucous tumble in the sheets. She snatched up her bag swiftly, stuffing her sneakers in it. They would be on her feet after she hit the ground. Bella paused at the window, barely daring to breathe. The snores still emanated from the room across the hall. On silent feet, she made her way to the window and gently eased it up. She was so very thankful for her foresight to grease the casing. Gently, she stepped onto the fire escape, pausing with every big move to make sure there was no changes in the snoring patterns inside the apartment. Nothing, thank God. Swiftly, Bella put her beat up sneakers on her feet and shut the window. She dropped the bag over the side of the rail and made her way down the stairs. Fortunately the sounds of the city and frequent sirens muffled any noise she made on the rickety steps. She cautiously jumped from the last set of stairs as the ladder to the ground didn't work.

Bella stood quickly, brushed off her knees, and grabbed her bag, taking off. The only thought going through her mind was "Police Station, police station, police station." She rounded the corner a block away from the apartment building and kept running. It was another six blocks to the police station and she was not stopping until she was safe inside the building. Her lungs ached, she was sweating, and her feet were throbbing as they pounded the pavement in her relentless pursuit of freedom. She would not stop no matter what.

She ran from everything and everyone she knew. No big loss for her really. Bella had no friends and was definitely no love lost for her mother. The only thing she could do was look forward and pray to anyone who would listen. She prayed that Charlie would still care, that he would accept her into his home. She dared not think about him saying no. There was no turning back now.

Finally her destination was in sight. She burst through the front doors of the 5th Precinct of the Phoenix Police Department. The doors slamming against the wall made everyone look towards her. She knew she was a sight, but at this point she couldn't really find it in her to care. It took her a moment to catch her breath but finally she got her words out, "My name is Bella Higginbotham. I was kidnapped 17 years ago. My father Charlie Swan is looking for me. Please help." She swayed on her feet for a moment before the adrenaline of her escape finally left her body. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground.