A/N: Thank you everyone for the wonderful response.

Also, a heart felt thank you to Becky, aka princess07890, who beta'd this chapter. Checkout her story, Forbidden Love, which got me obsessed with the Mob theme.

Another thank you to all those who have recommended this story, especially 'snoopylover60'and 'Random Rita'.

Love,

P

Disclaimer: SM owns all the characters.

August 25, 2003

Bella swung her water bottle as she made her way back from the library to her home. She couldn't wait for twelfth birthday; it was only two weeks away, September 13. Her mom and daddy were throwing a party for her, and she had invited everyone from her school and the reservation, even that mean Lauren, but her mom had insisted that Lauren would feel bad if she was left out. She looked around, waving to Mrs. Webber, who was taking a walk with her newborn twins in the stroller. Her daughter, Angela, was Bella's second best friend. But she never told Angela; it would hurt her feelings. Her first best friend was, of course, Jake, who lived on the reservation and whose daddy was also her daddy's best friend.

Bella Swan loved her small town, Forks. When she was younger, she would ask her mom, Renee, where Spoons and Knives were? Forks was not even a blip on the map of America. It was a small, happy town, where people lived their lives, minded their own business, and didn't what happened beyond the sign that said "Welcome to Forks; Population, 3175". They had one bookstore, one diner, one grocery store, and one church. The largest building in Forks was Forks High School, and that was right at the edge of town. But, despite that, it still was only a ten-minute trip by car from Bella's house. The closest McDonalds was in Port Angeles, which was about an hour and twenty minutes from Forks.

Her daddy, Charles Swan, was the chief of Police of Forks, and Bella was proud of her daddy for keeping her town safe. Bella knew he had been stressed for the past few months, and then last week, he had uncovered a huge human trafficking operation, taking place right here in her sleepy town.

She first noticed something strange was happening when her daddy started keeping a loaded gun with him at all times. In his entire career, he had yet to use his gun, but now he would carry his gun everywhere, even to the dining room when they had dinner, or he would keep it under his pillow while sleeping. She had heard him have several strange conversations on the phone, and he kept talking about some wolves in the forest that had been eating deer in Canada. This sounded strange to Bella, because there were no wolves in Forks, so why would they eat deer in Canada, which was over three hours away.

When she had told Jake about it, he agreed with her, and told her that her dad had been cancelling fishing with his dad, Billy, for quite a while now, never giving a reason. So, last week, she had snooped around in her daddy's work files that he brought home when he wasn't looking. She saw pictures of several trucks passing through the forest, along with what seemed like people in them. Charlie had marked several routes on a map, had a long list of names, and so many papers that didn't make sense to her. But, it didn't take long for her eleven year old mind to figure out that 'wolves' were actually these trucks, and the people in them were 'deer'.

Then, just one week earlier, Forks had more police officers than residents. There were helicopters flying and gun carrying men everywhere. No one left their home that day; they had seen their very own chief of police, Charles Swan, lead a few thousand men into the forest. They all came out a few hours later with at least twenty men handcuffed, and more than a hundred scared looking people.

Overnight, Charlie Swan had become a national hero, having successfully discovered the human trafficking operation of Aro Volturi, the head of the largest mafia family in the country. Forks was suddenly on the radar of the government, and he was being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Turns out, on one of his patrols of the forest, he had seen several trucks going through the forest, and on their way to the Canadian border. At first, he had almost stopped them on his own, to see their license, but his intuition had stopped him. Instead, he contacted his good friend, the head of the Seattle PD, who then, in turn, contacted the head of the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and every other government agency.

For the first time in American history, all government agencies had joined hands, as they tried to bring down the biggest criminal in the country. Over the last few months, they had been communicating and keeping as few people as possible in the loop as they worked together to uncover this operation.

The FBI and CIA had agreed to involve very few people in the operation, because they knew that the Volturi had spies on the inside and they didn't want to take any risks. For the past several years, they had been trying to figure out how Aro trafficked people from the American border and into the Canadian border, and had been unsuccessful, until Charlie had accidently stumbled upon them.

As Bella walked home from the library, she was elated; only two weeks until her birthday. She smiled as she entered her home, shouting out to her mom, letting her know she was back.

September 6, 2003

Bella sighed as she lay in her bed. It had been a horrible week so far. She didn't understand what was wrong with her daddy. He had received a phone call from someone, when, suddenly, his face had turned ghostly white and he began shouting at whomever was on the line. From that day on, she had two of her dad's deputies dropping her off and picking her up from school. Her dad had installed heavy locks on their front door, and sealed all the windows of the house, so that it was impossible to open them. They even had five to six men stationed outside their house at all times during the day.

She'd also had the biggest fight with her dad when she found out that he was cancelling her birthday party. She had screamed, fought, and stamped her feet, but he hadn't budged. So, for the past two days, she hadn't spoken a word to him. Even worse,, that her mom now slept with her, and Charlie slept in the hallway, his gun in his hand, ready to shoot anyone who made the slightest sound.

Bella sighed again, as she rolled over and saw the moon in the sky, thinking of how to convince her dad to allow her to have the party.

September 8, 2003

Bella jumped as she heard the loud noise that came from outside. She looked over, and saw her mom had also woken up from the loud sound, but her face was as white as the moon, as she looked at her daughter with fear filled gaze. Silently getting up, her mom put a finger on her lips, indicating for Bella to keep quiet, as she silently took her hand and led her to the closet. Her mom pushed the clothes aside, and Bella gasped when she saw her mother pull open a small door at the back of the closet, and pushed her inside.

Bella whimpered, but her mom just kissed her forehead lightly, before whispering, "We love you, Belly. Happy twelfth birthday, baby."

Her mom then closed the door, leaving her surrounded by darkness, as she pushed a knuckle inside her mouth to stop herself from crying. She could hear loud noises from outside, and as she pushed her ear against the door to hear what was going on.

She could hear her father shouting, several men laughing, and then her mom scream. She pulled up her knees, and put her head in between them, covering her ears, to drown out the screams. She whimpered, as she rocked back and forth, as she heard the shrieks and yelps of her parents. She could hear her father begging, and the cold laughter of a man, before another screech. Every time her mom screamed, she heard her dad plead helplessly, and the strange man's gleeful echoes.

Bella's young mind knew what was happening, and she whimpered when she heard a gunshot, and then just the anguished cries of her father. She waited to hear her mom's screams, but she knew she wouldn't hear them anymore. She could feel tears running down her face, and she struggled to reign in the pained cries as they tried to escape her mouth.

She sat there, in the dark, listening to the unknown man laugh, and her father's painful weeps. Bella sat up when she heard a noise outside the door, and she knew someone was in her room. She could hear their boots clanking, as they came nearer to where she was hiding in the dark. She screamed loudly, suddenly a man's face appeared in front of her, before she was pulled out of her hiding place. She bawled, as the huge man dragged her out by her hair, not caring as she tried to claw at the man's hands.

Bella wailed as she took in the scene in the drawing room. Her mom was lying naked on one side, her eyes open, as they stared into the emptiness, her face and body matted with blood. Charlie was tied to a chair, his face unrecognizable from the brutal torture he had endured for the past hour; his body so bloodied that it seemed impossible to pinpoint his injuries.

Bella crawled to her mom, pushing her mom's hair out of her face, as she cried helplessly. She took off her robe, placing it delicately on her mom's body, and wiping the blood off her face with her sleeve. She closed her mom's eyes, before leaning down, putting her cheek against her mom's cool one.

Bella yelped, when she felt a man pull her up, and run his finger down her cheek.

"Oh, yes," he whispered. "So sweet; so innocent. Oh, yes, she'll go at a good price."

Bella sniveled, as she looked into the cold black eyes of the man in front of her. He had jet-black hair, but what stood out was the pure evil expression on his face, and Bella felt a shiver run down her spine. This man terrified her.

Bella howled, as she felt the man strike her face. She fell down from the impact. She could hear her wrist crack, as she tried to break her fall.

"Please, please don't," Charlie whispered brokenly, looking at his little girl from swollen eyes.

Bella cringed, as she heard the man, whom she'd later learn was Aro, laugh cruelly.

"Should have though that before becoming the American hero. Right, Charles Swan?" Aro said, hatred pouring out in every word.

"Kill him."

Bella screamed, as she saw her father smile down at her for the last time, before the huge man who had pulled her out of the closet, shot him. She stared at her father's unmoving body, as she felt someone pick her up, and carry her out, before throwing her inside a car.

She gazed at the moon, as tears streamed down her face, silently saying good-bye to her parents.

September 12, 2003

Bella whimpered, as she rocked herself, hiding beside a chair, as she tried to maneuver it, so that it would cover her. Aro had brought here two days ago, often looking at her in a way that made her nerves stand on end. They were in a warehouse, and from what she had understood in these past two days, the police were everywhere looking for him. He was hiding out here with the few men that had yet to be arrested.

For these two days, she had been tied to a chair in the corner, and given only water once a day. He would talk about selling her innocence not to the highest bidder, but also to the cruelest one. He said he would ensure that she suffered so badly, and was destroyed in ways she couldn't even imagine, that then, and only then, would his revenge be complete. He had planned for the auction to take place tomorrow, saying it would be his birthday present to her. He wanted her to be tainted with every evil that existed on this planet as revenge for her father's actions.

Shortly before midnight, there had been a huge blow, and Bella could hear everyone running around. Aro had jumped up from his desk, grabbed his gun, and ran out, leaving Bella alone in the room. It was like the night in her house, except, this time, she didn't have her mommy to hide her somewhere, and she didn't have the blanket of darkness to shield her.

Bella gasped when she heard the door open, and she pushed herself against the wall, trying to be invisible. She peaked from above the chair, and saw a man with blonde hair looking around the room. She could see his face shine with rage, as he held a gun in front of him, his eyes slowly sweeping across the room.

Bella ducked down when he turned towards her, but she knew he had seen her. Their eyes connected for a millisecond before she ducked down. She felt tears run down her face as she said her prayers, before the man killed her.

She sobbed when she saw boots appear in front of her; she looked up, her tears blurring the face of the blonde man. She blinked, and as her tears fell, she could see the man kneeling in front of her. She flinched when he raised his hand, as he slowly reached out and wiped her tears.

"What your name?" He asked softly.

The man's expression was gentler than Aro's; his blue eyes looked into her brown ones. She could see kindness in them. Looking at his face was like looking at the sun, and a cry escaped her, as she took in the compassion this man exuded.

"Bella." She whispered so softly, she wondered if the man had heard her.

"Hi Bella," the man said. "I'm Carlisle. I promise not to hurt you, ever."

Bella bit her lip as she looked up at him. She heard his surprised exclamation, when she threw her arms around him, clutching at him and sobbing.

Something within her made her trust him. He was her savior, her sun.

September 13, 2003

Bella whimpered as she clutched Carlisle's hand with her plaster covered one. Carlisle had taken her to the doctor, who had kept her overnight for dehydration and starvation, before discharging her this morning. She had several bandages on her body, including one on her head, and a purple colored cast on her hand.

Carlisle had stayed with her all night, and talked to her, telling her about his family, and how she would be safe now. Bella didn't know if his family would be as nice as he was, but she trusted him.

Bella whimpered as she saw a woman standing on the huge porch of Carlisle's mansion. She had caramel colored hair and sympathetic eyes, but Bella still clung to Carlisle.

The woman stepped up to Bella, as she said, "Hello, Bella. I'm Esme."

"Hello," Bella murmured softly, as she tried to hide behind Carlisle's leg.

"I hear it's your birthday today."

Bella just nodded, her eyes filled with tears. She was supposed to be with her mom and dad and all her friends right now. She could imagine her daddy laughing as he sipped his beer, and her mom calling everyone as she got the cake. She wanted to hug her parents as she made her wish before blowing out the candles. She wanted to hear her mom's exclamations and see her dad's eyes twinkle as she opened her presents with them.

"Oh, sweetheart," Esme whispered, "I promise I would never let any evil touch you ever again."

Then Esme pulled Bella into a hug, and Bella broke down in her arms. Esme's hug was warm, inviting, and the best Bella had ever had. She could smell her mother in Esme, and feel her father's warm embrace in her arms. She felt safe in that moment, and, for a moment, she truly believed that she would never be harmed again. She felt her heart healing during the hug.

Once Bella stopped sobbing, Esme took her inside and introduced her to others. They all kept their distance, and were polite, no one said a word, except for a small 'hello' and a courtesy 'happy birthday'.

She was introduced to Esme and Carlisle's eldest son, Emmett, who was nineteen, and their daughter, Alice, who was thirteen. She met Jasper and Rosalie Hale, the son and daughter of one of Carlisle's good friends; they were twins who were seventeen.

And lastly, she met Edward, the middle child. He was sixteen, and had copper hair, a shade darker than Esme's caramel hair. He was really tall, and a bit on he lean side. His eyes reminded Bella of her home, Forks, and its forests.

But he looked really angry with her for some reason, and she cringed as he spoke harshly, "Who has sent you here?"

Please read and review. Guest reviews accepted as well.