chapter 32

Bella's POV

"Dar!" I yelled impatiently.

She shivered and her voice was really weak, unusually. What was wrong?

"Bella..." she whispered, her voice almost breaking down to silence and tears.

"Yeah?" I asked, really anxious to know what was happening.

"H...Henry is b..back!" she finally blurted out and sent a shiver down my spine, with my head in complete confusion. I froze!

"No! It can't be," I tried to wipe out reality, hoping she'd laugh and say its all a joke. Like she always does...

"He is. We are pretty sure the first person he'll get is ma, then he'll come after you for jailing him," she said in a tensed voice and I could tell how worried she was from her tone.

"I need to be there," I insisted, trying as much as possible to calm myself down and prevent those stinging drops of tears.

"No, Bella. You just stay where you are. You are a lot more safer there," she insisted.

There was a knock on the door. I shrieked.

"I need to hang up now, Dar. I'll call you later. Please take care. Bye,"

"Bye,"

I hung up immediately and buried my phone under the pillow, cleaning my tears instantly.

"Its open!" I yelled and Caden opened the door.

Great! Note the sarcasm.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked, his eyes roaming every single corner of my room, then returning his gaze on me suspiciously.

"None of your concern!" I shot with a blunt look as Dar's voice echoed in my head again and again and again...Oh God!

"Woah! Hold it there, feisty! Aren't you supposed to be thanking me for not ratting you out just a while ago?" he asked, laughing.

"Huh? Thank you? That's pretty strong coming from you. I? Thank YOU? You must be mistaken," I replied, trying to handle the current situation.

"Yadda yadda. yeah, yeah. Don't thank me anymore. I don't really care. You ARE gonna pay back the favour, anyway," he bluffed.

"Just as I thought," I sighed and looked away.

He smirked and went out, walking like he had all the time in the world to himself and I shut the door immediately.

I was so confused. I didn't know what to do. Ma, Pa and Dar were in a ton of trouble. With Henry out, their safety was nothing.

Henry Walter was a monster. He was a devil in disguise. The worst living creature on the planet.  In fact, he still is. It saddened my heart every single time I remembered he is my father. Ex father, actually. I mentally disowned him and kicked him out of my life.

Henry Walter, Ma's ex husband, was a torture to the family. He was a drunk and a drug addict. Ma spent years in rehab because of him.

He tortured her, beat her up, raped her forcefully on countless occasions and maltreated the hell out of us, but ma never left him. I just don't know why. I think they call it love. Love my foot. To hell with love.

The most depressing part of the story was, it was not only ma he took advantage of. I, Arabella, was a victim too. Such a sad tale. I hate to remember everything.

Henry used me at a very young age for his stupid, selfish, insatiable sexual desires.

He warned me not to tell anyone, which I did, foolishly, because I was an obedient little child.

That monster took advantage of me!

It lasted! At age fifteen, I couldn't take it anymore and that was when I reported to mum. She wasn't surprised. It was as if she knew, but wasn't saying anything. That's how much of a slave to Henry she had become. Pathetic.

After that, I reported to the local police, and he was jailed for child abuse, molest, drug trafficking and theft. It was a whole lot.

When he got jailed, it was a happily ever after for my family. Soon enough, Ma got married again to Peter, my current Pa. Peter was the best thing that happened to my family.

I had actually faced real monsters in my life than I could imagine. I didn't know why my refusal to have a boyfriend was because I didn't want to, I was not good enough for anyone, or I was still traumatized by Henry's ordeal.

Let's just say it was all that with the fact I was a total nerd. And a feminist. The one you wouldn't like to mess with....

Anyway, with Henry being out, we were in big trouble. Ma he could've killed her. Then after that, I would've been next.

I sighed and stood up from the floor with a lot going on in my head.

I walked slowly and indefinitely. I was headed for the roof. Caden was downstairs, working as usual. I sighed and walked up to the attic and then the roof.

It was quiet, cold and peaceful as usual.

A beautiful scenery as always and that scent filled my nose again. The dogs of the neighbours barked, and then seized.

That glorious scent came again and again, swept by the wind. It was beautiful, calm and relaxing.

I closed my eyes to completely grasp this moment. I spread my arms apart and my hair floated in the wind.

I opened my eyes and slowly brought my arms down. I was distracted once again by the same masculine figure from last time.

He waved. I didn't reply. I wasn't in the mood.

Immediately, I sat on the hammock where he wouldn't see me. I stood up again, bothered. He was still there.

I just laid on the hammock and rested my head, staring into space.

I wasn't aware when I finally fell asleep.

°°°°°°°°°°°

I felt someone tap my body and then I opened my eyes lazily and stared at Caden.

"Go away!" I Yelled in anger.

"Rehearsal at nine," he said and walked away, closing the door.

Oh My God! I totally forgot! The rehearsal and our "love story."

Immediately, I ran to the cupboard and searched for laptop, with multiple scents hitting my nose every time I raised a box of perfume.

I finally hit my fingers against a surface and my fingers ran through a hard surface and I just knew my hands ran through a bitten apple.

Found it!

I turned it on and just prayed its something easy to learn. Something my brain could memorize in minutes.

My heart sunk when it finally came on and displayed the words,

Password.

I could count the beats of my very own heart for it was slow and finally giving up.

How was I supposed to get the love story? 

Or, I could fake a sickness and not go.

Better still, I could probably ask Caden. He should have a copy and when he asks why, I'll just say for little verification purposes.

Much more easier said than done.

I opened the door and ran downstairs. He was still working with multiple files on the table and two computers glued to his face.

"Hey!" I spoke up hesitantly.

"I'm working! Make it quick!" he shut, not even fixing a quick glance at me.

"Can I have the file of the love story?" I asked with my heart racing and my fingers suffering my anxiety as they got ripped of the only remaining nails they had left.

"Why? You lost your copy?" he laughed, looking up at me and winding his chair to relax a bit, spinning the chair around and engulfed in a laughter only he could understand.

"No. Just to verify if its same with mine." I lied, really anxious and trying my best of  bests not to stutter. I'm not a really good liar.

He laughed again and pointed his finger at me, holding his stomach and trying to catch his breath.

"You know, for a person who's always on TV, you have no idea how this lying thing works," he laughed again. "I'd teach you," he added before smirking and coughing a bit.

I sighed.

"I mean, you wrote that story, and you can't remember it. Tell me, are you still sane?" he asked, finally recovering from his laughter fit.

I sighed and ran upstairs, really disappointed.

So, bad thing was Mercedes wrote the love story, and she must have had a rough copy apart from the original in her computer.

I searched everywhere and found nothing until I opened a cupboard and found a box hidden underneath clothes in the closet.

Inside it was a book and a key. It was her diary, no doubt.

Ugh! I needed to do it. I really needed to. I just prayed that wherever she was, she could forgive me for sticking my head in her business.

I slowly unlocked it and rummaged, looking for any rough draft or anything at all.

All I saw was diary entries with headings like

Hello diary or dear diary...Ugh!

I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. As in NOTHING.

But then, I came across an envelope. It definitely had something in it. Something that just might help me in this stupid love story of a thing.

In the front, it said. 'Property of Mercedes. Please, do not open'.

That heading was so catchy and attractive. Who wouldn't have wanted to open it? Even Dar would've pay a million bucks to just read what was in it.

I didn't want to be doing it, but I needed to. I just needed to.