Chapter 3 - Promises

Chapter 3 - Promises
I woke up early the next morning, hoping to catch Mom without Phil around. No such luck; he had ruined my planned night out with my friends, and now he seemed to be set on trying to ruin my entire life. I walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, Isabella, did you sleep well?" What was up with him? Trying to be all nice. This was a first; he had never stayed overnight before. It was some sort of Christian thing I guess. I guess he now got to have his way with my mother, since she stupidly said yes to his marriage proposal. "Phil," I said, nodding to him as I got a bowl out of the cupboard to have some cereal. "Where is my mom?" I said, turning to him. "She went to the next door neighbour's to give them a key to the house," Phil said sharply. "What? Why?" I really didn't like him. "We are moving today, and we need to leave the key with them so that they can let the movers in to box your things up." He said like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Why the hurry? Can't I stay and put my own stuff in a box?" I asked. Who moved that quickly? "No, I am sorry, Isabella, but Renee and I decided it was best to move as soon as possible. We didn't want to, but we have no choice now," he said, looking back at his paper with a frown on his face.

What did he mean he had no choice? I was outraged. "But my Dad is coming at the end of the month!" I knew I was starting to whine, but I couldn't help it. This was all so sudden. I also knew it would do no good.

"Renee has already called him," he said taking a sip of his tea.

This surprised me; Mom hated talking to Charlie. "Really? What did he say?" "Charlie is going to give you time to settle in, and then come and visit you on the Ranch as planned," he said, putting his tea down, starting to look annoyed with me. This wasn't unusual. "Oh, okay then." Well at least I had a way out if I really hated it; Charlie would take me home with him. "Go and get a few clothes together," he said as I was finishing up my cereal, "the movers will bring the rest in a few days." "Okay," I said, a little shocked, and not really knowing what to think, as my mom came bounding through the back door with a smile on her face. "Good morning, Bella! Beautiful day, isn't it?" she said going over to Phil and squeezing his hand.

"Hmm," was all I could manage as I left the room with tears in my eyes. There was obviously no way I was going to stop this. I wasn’t even going to be able to say goodbye to my friends. I would just disappear off the face of the earth.

Getting into the black four wheel drive that Phil owned always made me uncomfortable, as it had blacked out windows. I threw my small bag of clothes onto the seat beside me. I couldn't believe I wouldn't see this house again. I stared up at the brown wooden boards of the house that badly needed painting and felt sorrow that we were leaving. I wanted my mom to be happy, I truly did; I just felt something was off. This felt too soon, everything was changing too quickly. I bit my tongue and sighed as we pulled away from the curb, and I watched my neighborhood fly by through the darkly tinted window. After God knows how long, I was bored out of my mind. My head was resting against the car window as Mom and Phil were listening to some news report and discussing how the youth of today had gone wild. I wanted to roll my eyes listening to Phil go on, and my mother was agreeing with him, so I just blocked it out and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew we were pulling up to the so called 'Ranch.' I was amazed at how much it looked like a little town. It had its own stores and animals that you could see in the fields in the distance. Truthfully, it looked like we had stepped back in time. I couldn't see any women, just men working. They were all wearing similar clothing, long sleeved shirts and pants, all in white linen like it was a weird type of uniform. "Welcome to Volturi, your new home," Phil said to me, smiling as he opened the car door and slid out. I said nothing in return. I just opened the car door and slid to the ground. I could hear my mom talking about how beautiful it all was, and that she couldn't wait to see the house. I followed her and watched as Phil gave my mom a serious look and they both nodded. Oh, this should be good. "Honey, Phil and I discussed something before we left," my mom looked towards me, reaching out for my hand, but Phil had her other one and didn't let her go. They immediately had my complete attention. Mom continued, "There is a boarding school here; you won't be living with us but at the school." "So... what? I am in the way so you want to get rid of me? How convenient! If that was the case, Mom, why didn't you just send me to live with Charlie? Instead you drag me here, out into the middle of nowhere!" I was beyond angry. Never mind starting a new school in a new area where I knew no one; I now didn't even have my own mother? "No, no, no, honey," Renee pulled away from Phil causing him to frown. "We don't want to get rid of you; it is just the way the school is here. You can probably come home on the weekends?" She didn't sound very sure but looked over at Phil to confirm it. "Look, Isabella, the school has a strict orientation program, Once you have completed that you will be allowed to call your mother, and we will work it out from there, okay?" He smiled at my mom trying to reassure her. I couldn't believe she was listening to him! I was so mad. I turned on my heel. "Fine, let's get this over with." I headed back over to the car to get my bag. "Bella, they are expecting you at the front office for orientation; I will bring your bag up later," Phil said, smiling at me, knowing he had won this round. "See the large building at the top of the hill?" I nodded my head at him, looking towards the big white building that was pretty fancy looking for a school. "Just knock on the door; they are expecting you." Phil turned my mom away from me, "Come on, Renee, let me show you the house." She smiled at Phil and looked over her shoulder and said, "I'll see you soon, okay honey?" Then she blew me a kiss. Great, I didn't even get to hug her goodbye. I was going to go live with Charlie, I already knew it. Phil didn't want me around, that much was clear. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as I walked slowly towards the school. No one took any notice of me as I walked past them. They carried on with whatever they were doing, not surprised by an outsider being in their surroundings. I was a bundle of nerves as I reached the door of the school. I didn't know what to expect as I had been told nothing. It was so quiet you could hear the animals in the distance and the wind rustling the leaves on the trees. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A man opened the door almost immediately. "Hello there, I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen," he smiled. "We have been expecting you." A doctor? "I thought this was a school?" I asked, completely confused as to why a doctor would be greeting me. "I just need to give you a physical examination before you can enter into our program. We need to make sure you are healthy and all of your immunizations are up-to-date. We don't want anybody getting sick, now do we?" he asked nicely. "No I guess we don't," I smiled back at him timidly and followed him into his office. He closed the door behind him. "Okay up onto the table for me please," he said, nodding towards the examination bed, just like the one I had been on many a time in our own GP's office back in Phoenix. I was nervous but Dr. Cullen had a soothing manner. He was quiet and calm, which made me feel comfortable in his presence. "I am going to take your blood pressure to start with," he said, placing the cuff around the top of my arm and securing it in place with the Velcro.

The doctor started squeezing the hand pump, and it tightened to be almost unbearable around my arm before deflating. Taking the cuff off my arm, he murmured, “Good, good.”

He placed a digital thermometer in my ear, I heard it beep. "Good good." he murmured to himself writing down the result before coming back to the table.

“Have you ever had a pelvic examination done before?” he brought up the stirrups at the end of the examination table.

What? My eyes went wide as saucers and I shook my head.

“It is nothing to worry about, I promise; it's routine for a girl your age to be checked out yearly. If you haven’t had one, it is important to start now. Are you okay with this?”

Well, if it's normal to have it be done by now, I guess so; my mom was hopeless with these things. I nodded my head warily at him.

“I am going to need you to take off the clothes below your waist, then hop back up on the bed and place your feet in the stirrups.” He sounded very clinical as he turned his back to let me get undressed. I undid the top button of my jeans, kicking off my shoes as I went, just wanting to get this over with.

Pulling my panties down with my jeans I folded them over my shoes quickly, getting up onto the table and placing my feet in the stirrups. Oh, God I didn’t like doing this. I felt almost unclean; it just felt wrong. Where was my mom? How could she let me go through this alone?

“Good girl. This will feel a tad uncomfortable, but it will be over in a second, okay?” I think he smiled at me, but I was not looking at anything but the wall. At least it seemed he was professional, but he looked like he was concentrating as he slipped something cold and wet into me. With the click of the speculum, I was opened up. It felt so uncomfortable, almost unbearable. The doctor obviously sensed my discomfort, as he said, “Just relax, it's nearly over; you are doing so well.” I scrunched my eyes closed. “There you go, all done.” The pressure was gone, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He handed me a paper towel. I guessed that it was to wipe myself down.

“You may put your clothes back on now.” He smiled and moved over to the desk, putting a specimen swab into a sealed tube.

He spoke to me as I threw the paper towel into the bin and pulled up my panties. “When did you finish your last menstrual cycle?”

My face turned bright red, “Um... I finished last week?” I spoke to him like it was a question.

“Do you remember what day you finished?” He turned and smiled at me.

“Thursday,” I said with a little more confidence.

“Good, good. Sorry. I need to know for the test,” he said, obviously trying to reassure me once again.

I smiled in relief as I had no idea why he was asking so many questions.

"How long does your cycle normally last?" he asked.

“Four or five days.”

“Are you allergic to anything?” he said, obviously still writing everything down.

“Nope, nothing at all,” I said thinking at least I could understand why he was asking that question.

“Great,” he said writing more things and ticking off boxes.

“Your mom sent your files over from your GP back in Phoenix,” he said. I was completely surprised about this. “Why are you looking at me in disbelief?” he laughed.

“No, it is just that I didn’t even know I was coming here, and you have my medical records already? My mother isn’t the most organized person in the world,” I said, suddenly feeling like I was being lied to. I knew my mom would never be that organized. I would be surprised if she even had the number for Dr. Gerundy with her.

“Oh, I had them sent over to me this morning by fax,” he smiled.

I stifled a giggle, “Yep, that sounds more like my mom.”

He gave me a small smile, and took a deep breath, “Bella, your TB shot is not up to date. Would you mind if we did that now, so that you will be all done?”

“Yeah, sure, that's fine,” I said, already feeling queasy from the thought of getting stuck with a needle.

“Excellent,” he smiled, “roll up your sleeve for me again, would you?”

I complied and looked away from the needle. I couldn’t stand the sight of blood; all I needed now was for me to faint. I felt the jab and then the coolness as the liquid flowed into my body. I started to feel tingly all over.

“Are you okay?” The doctor quickly moved me over to the examination table and laid me down. My vision was blurring and I suddenly felt so tired that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

I saw the doctor open the door and say, “She is healthy and ready for you.”

“Is she pure?” I heard a deep voice ask.

“Yes, my father,” the doctor answered before I fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 2 - Blessings

Chapter 2 - Blessings

Renee's POV

I was seventeen when I became pregnant with Bella. I don't regret it at all, for I love her with all my heart. I wasn't unhappy with my life, but I never got the life I dreamt of when I was a little girl. Life wasn't supposed to be this hard. After Bella's birth, I left Charlie, deciding I could make it on my own. I was a struggling artist who made just enough money to pay the bills... most months. I love what I do; however, I've always felt like something was missing.

I tried to find love. Some would say I tried too hard. I had been in my fair share of bad relationships. I was forever catching the eye of the wrong man, and I always fell hard and fast. Only then would I figure out that Mr. Right was Mr. All Wrong.

I've just had my thirty-third birthday and things have changed for the better. I finally feel free! I think I am in love for the very first time in my life, and I owe it all to Phil.

I met Phil when he accidentally crashed into me at the hardware store three months ago. I was reading the back of a picture hook box, looking at the different weights and wondering why it mattered. You nail them into the wall and hang the picture; why the need for so many instructions? Then I found myself on my ass on the ground, gazing up at the most beautiful concerned face. "I am so sorry, I didn't see you there," he stumbled over his words.

He helped me up, and I found myself wincing as I righted myself. "Oh, you are hurt. Please, lean on me." He was so strong, and it was so comfortable leaning into his body. Not to mention that he smelled divine. I gazed up into his eyes, and I was a goner.

I had never been treated like such a lady. I couldn't figure out at first what was holding him back from asking for the sex, but Phil's religious beliefs were so strong. I respected him for that. To be honest, it was a nice change to know that he wasn't after me for that alone. You see, we hadn't even kissed yet. I had barely even held his hand. The attraction I had for him was so strong though; the chemistry was undeniable. He drew me in and showed me a different way to live. It was all so new and exciting.

Phil said the spiritual rebirth of our marriage would be magical and worth waiting for. I was excited and couldn't wait to start this new phase of my life. My only concern was that I had to have the blessing of his father. I was nervous about that, so very nervous. Phil said I had to honestly answer everything that his father asked, because he would know if I was lying. I would do this for Phil. I wanted to change my ways; I didn't want to keep sleeping with men who made me feel unfulfilled. I wanted to be with only Phil, but had no idea how I would cope if his father didn't accept me. I knew Phil well enough by now to know he would never turn his back on his family. The reverent way he spoke about them sometimes made me feel inferior.

His values were just what I wanted Bella to believe in, as I didn't want her to end up like me. I wanted her to save herself for that special person, and be to able to grow old with them. Phil believed in a strong family unit where the male provided for and looked after his family's needs. It was nice to be cared for in that way. It was freeing. I had never felt so tended to; I wanted for nothing when I was with him. Phil believed the youth of today were led astray with the violence and decadence on television and in the media. He had a good point; why did we need to see such violence? I never did like some of those shows Bella watched; they were unsettling. It was certainly a man's right to bring his children up without the sins of the world tainting their minds.

Phil believed that no matter what, family was the most important thing in the universe. I knew Phil would look after us and care for us. He was so concerned with Bella's welfare that I knew this was right. I wanted this for us; he was like the missing part of my soul.

And this is how I came to be sitting in the living room of a small house on the outskirts of Phoenix waiting for his father to arrive.

"Relax, Renee, everything will be fine," Phil soothed me for about the tenth time that morning. I was a bundle of nerves. I had put on a full length dress at Phil's insistence. He asked me to leave my hair down, saying he preferred me this way, natural, with no makeup. I just felt bare and selfconscious. I wanted to please Phil and his father though, so I did as I was told and tried not to fidget. "Just be honest and the truth will set you free," he reminded me. I smiled and nodded at him. I knew that made sense, and that he was right.

We heard a car pull up outside. I saw through the window that it was the same type car as Phil's, a huge black four wheel drive with blacked out windows. This took me by surprise. I could not make out anybody in the car as the engine shut off. My heart was in my stomach doing flips as I tried to keep breathing in and out at a steady rate. God, I thought I was going to be sick.

The driver's door opened, and a young man dressed in a white linen suit stepped out and immediately opened the rear door. Out stepped a tall man dressed head to toe in a black robe. Holy Shit! Phil's father was a priest; no wonder we had never done anything more than hold hands! Things made much more sense now.

He walked with authority up to the front door, and I jumped to my feet, ready to greet this man who might become my father in law.

He didn't speak to Phil; he just nodded, and I watched in wonder. "This is she?" he asked, his tone curt.

"Yes, my father." Phil made no move towards me, they both just stared at me. I felt uncomfortable as I tried to stand still.

I bowed my head a little, and said quietly, "Hello, Father." A small smile graced his lips, and the tension in the room abated slightly.

He motioned me over to the chair in the corner, and said, "Sit." He sat down on the sofa, and I perched nervously on the edge of the chair, trying to calm myself.

"How many men have you been with?" he said, looking me straight in the eye.

Holy crow! My face grew heated and my eyes were as wide as saucers as he went straight into the questioning, not beating around the bush at all.

"Five," I answered, nervous and ashamed. I was here with a man of God who believed there was only one husband for each woman, and I had to tell him that I slept around.

"A whore, my son? A whore? How could you?" he snapped at Phil and rose to his feet, pacing in front of me.

"Please, Father, continue," Phil pleaded with him.

He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I believe you were married before?" he snapped.

"Yes, Father." I felt worthless; was he going to point out all my failings? I was not going to be worthy of Phil; I knew it now.

"Why did you leave?" He looked annoyed and bored. There was no way he was going to approve of our marriage.

"I became pregnant at a young age, and believed that I needed to marry the father for the sake of my child. I never loved him." I was close to tears, and I saw a look of surprise grace his features. Oh hell, that was the last nail in my coffin, wasn't it? He definitely wouldn't approve now that he knew I was single mother.

His tone changed, "How old is your... son?" he asked with interest.

"I don't have a son, Father; I have a daughter, a very beautiful, smart daughter. She is fifteen," I said looking down at my hands. There was silence. I dared to look up and around the room and I was amazed to see the priest smiling. He stood and began to walk towards the front door. As the front door was opened for him by his driver, he looked at Phil and said, "You have chosen well, my son. You will move tomorrow." He then turned to look at me and said, "Welcome to the family." I couldn't help but feel total relief, and tears welled in my eyes.

"Thank you, Father. Thank you." I smiled at Phil. I had passed. We had passed.

Chapter 1 - Life

Volturi Order

Chapter 1 - Life

I loved my life. As I looked up towards the sun and closed my eyes, the heat of Phoenix warmed my skin. I could feel the hot breeze against my face and smiled. I loved being here. My mom and I had moved here from Forks, Washington when I was five years old. She hated the weather in Washington, and I agreed with her, there was nothing better than the sun on your face and the warmth that spread under your skin. It made you feel alive, and I felt alive.

Forks, Washington was the exact opposite, cold, wet and literally no sun. My only problem was that I had to visit there every so often because that is where my father, Charlie lived. I didn't mind seeing him, I just hated the place. However, this year Charlie was coming here for a holiday. He wasn't going to stay with us, mom didn't think she could put up with his OCD tendencies for three weeks. I was excited to see him, and I was just happy he was coming here so I didn't have to leave the sun and the warmth that my home provided me.

I was fifteen and had top honors at Desert Vista High School. I was so excited tonight as the school was holding a dance. It had been the talk of the school for weeks. I couldn't wait to get dressed up and meet my friends. My only problem was having to ask my mom for permission to go. My mom was pretty strict with me. She was always worrying about boys and the trouble I could get in. Her fears stemmed from her own experiences when she was my age. You see my mom is what you would call a free spirit. She had little to no boundaries growing up. Her parents were part of the "hippie movement" as my dad so lovingly called it, which meant that she was more of a best friend than a child. Making a long story short, she basically ending up with me at an early age, and she didn't want that life for me.

After much persuasion, she had agreed I could go to the school dance because I promised that the teachers would be there, and I was ecstatic.

I arrived home from school promptly, I knew I had a lot to do before I would be ready to go to the dance. I took a deep breath and looked towards the house I lived in with my mother. It was small with only two bedrooms, but that is all that we needed. The house was overrun with Renee's art supplies. My mom was an artist, and loved to paint. The main problem with this was that she couldn't find a room with "the perfect lighting" and she never cleaned up any of her art supplies. Because our house was small, space became a problem. My room was the only room that didn't have canvases and other art supplies all over it. I didn't mind however because she had a real talent and sold enough to get us by. Plus, painting made her happy, and that was good enough for me.

I walked inside shutting the screen door and could hear an argument going on between my mom and her new boyfriend Phil. I didn't know what to make of him. He seemed decent enough, always looking out for our welfare. He was always bringing over meals for both of us and more supplies for mom. He always tried to include me on their "dates" by going to the zoo or the movies, which he thought I would enjoy. We didn't have much money, so mom loved the attention. He was very old fashioned in his ways and beliefs, but he respected my mom and for that, I couldn't fault him.

"Renee you are crazy letting her go to that dance," I heard Phil hiss at her.

"Phil I promised she could go, I can't go back on that now." I heard my mom plead with him.

"You are making a mistake Renee, I can't let you." He stated firmly.

I expected my mom to tell him that he should mind his own business. I could hear her saying something like, "She is my daughter!" So I was shocked when I overheard what she actually did say next.

"Okay, fine I will tell her she can't go. You're right. I do agree with what you are saying, Phil."

"Children are not to be trusted. They just don't have the same values we do, Renee," I stood in the doorway watching Phil tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as my mom looked lovingly into his eyes. Then he continued by saying, "I think it is time, I think it is time you moved in with me. Isabella needs a father figure in her life more than twice a year. She is going to go down the wrong path if you let her. Is that what you want, Renee? Do you want her pregnant and strung out on drugs for the rest of her life?"

I couldn't help the gasp that left my mouth, revealing that I was standing in the doorway and they were not alone in their conversation. "You, we can't move from here." I yelled.

Phil looked at my mom giving her a knowing glance, what was that about? Surely, they couldn't think I would be happy to move?

"Bella," my mom looked over at me squeezing Phil's hand, "Phil has asked me to marry him."

"What?" I asked completely shocked, "You have only been seeing him... what three months? Are you crazy? We know nothing about him." I lost my cool and my temper. My mom was crazy. I always knew she was flighty and very unreliable... but this?

"You will not speak to your mother that way." Phil spoke up and snapped back at me. His eyes were seriously scary. I didn't know what to think other than we could not move in with him, but the look in his eyes frightened me. I tried to focus my next words only on my mom and pretended that he was not even in the room.

"I," I was not sure what to say, "I am sorry mom; I just don't want to move. My life is here. My friends are here. My school is here, please mom?" I was begging, trying to get her to understand.

"I hear a lot of 'my's' in that plead Isabella," Phil stated. My mom nodding along with him as she pulled herself closer into his arms. This action alone made me understand that they were together in this decision and I had nothing to say about it. "What about your mother's needs and what she wants? You will have a life where we move to as a family. You will meet new and more appropriate friends and there is a perfectly good school that will teach you the more important things about life."

"Stop being so selfish Bella." My mom added into Phil's speech.

I felt betrayed. It had always been my mom and me. She always told me that together we could overcome anything, and here she was making life-altering decision with basically a perfect stranger. I teared up and ran to my room slamming the door.

"This wouldn't be tolerated where I come from Renee," I heard Phil through the door. I heard heavy footfalls outside my closed door. They must have followed me. Oh, shit.

"Just give her time," I heard my mom's voice, "she will come around; she always does."

"We don't have time Renee. I want to leave tomorrow. Besides, you cannot accept this type of behavior. This is exactly what I was talking about. She needs to know her place." Phil stated.

What leave tomorrow? Was he kidding? I was so upset. There was no way we could pack up and leave by then. I had a huge smile on my face. Maybe I still had time to work on mom.

New Story

Footroza and TSO had to start this.. it was consuming us in ideas..

We would like to take the time to thank Jennmc75 who has encoraged TSO with this idea and getting it off the ground. She also is responsible for the wonderful blog and banner! The link for the flashing avatar is to the right..

Thanks to our beta for this story Lead69!!!

Fifteen year old Bella has a fairly normal life in Phoenix Arizona. That was until her mum's new boyfriend came on the scene and turned her world upside down.

This is going to be a very very dark story with LOTS of issues... If you read TTSS it is going to be probably the same as that maybe slightly darker at times.. if you have a problem with TTSS please don't read any futher.

TSO xxx