Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Obsession

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 01:

Contemplation is the action of looking thoughtfully at something for a long time, or in simpler terms, deep reflective thought.

Deep reflective thought was something Bella had been engaged in since before moving to Washington in December. Oh, she wasn’t regretting moving in with her father. It was something she had been wanting to do for some time in order to forge a closer relationship with him. Her mother, Renee, with whom she had grown up in Phoenix, Arizona, was happy as long as she didn’t have to deal with anything stressful. This, of course, precluded Bella from being able to discuss any problems she encountered while growing up. In short, she couldn’t be candid with her mother for fear of stressing her out. So, when her mother remarried and expressed a wish to travel with her new husband, Bella took the opportunity to suggest that she move in with her father so the newlyweds could travel without a teenager in tow. The newlyweds agreed with alacrity at the idea. Therefore, as soon as Christmas vacation started, Isabella Marie Swan moved in with her father.

Three weeks had passed since Bella moved in with her father, and she felt she hadn’t made a connection with him yet. It was clear her father was still uncomfortable with her. There had been a few awkward moments, especially during dinner, when they each seemed to want to say something to each other but decided not to. But Bella was determined to overcome the shyness because, for once, she wanted a dependable parent, not a flighty one.

Bella liked her new school. She felt safe, unlike at her old school, where it was not necessarily so. The new students were friendly, and she did her best to put herself forward instead of being her usual introverted self. Since moving to Forks, she made many changes. She had been on a quest for self-improvement ever since the incident.

Oh, the incident didn’t happen to her. In fact, it didn’t involve her or her group of friends at all. It was just something she had witnessed involuntarily, and the event made her feel helpless and guilty. She never wanted to feel that way again.

“Bella, I’m home. Come downstairs and have dinner. I brought pizza,” her father called, jogging her out of her thoughts.

“Coming!” she replied before heading downstairs to join her father. He had already set the table with pizza and salad. She sat down on the adjacent side of Charlie, happy to be eating dinner with him.

They quietly served themselves and ate a few bites before Charlie asked, “How was your day, kiddo? Are you enjoying your new school? It’s been a full week since you started there.”

Bella took a sip of her Coke Zero before replying. This could be a good segue into what she wanted to discuss with her father. She considered her words carefully. “Um, I like it at Forks High. It’s way better than my old high school. The kids are super friendly, and well, I feel safe.”

Charlie put his beer down and turned to his daughter in concern. “Safe? Did something happen at your old school to make you feel unsafe? How come I wasn’t told about this? Are you okay? Did you report it to the school resource officer?”

“Dad, Dad. Stop. It didn’t happen to me, but the resource officer knows about it.” Hell, all of Phoenix knew about it. It had been on the news.

“Bella, what happened?” Charlie asked seriously.

She took a deep breath before speaking. “There was an incident at my school. It didn’t happen to me, but I witnessed it-a lot of students witnessed it.”

“Well, what was the incident?”

Bella shook her head at the sad memory. “In October, just before homecoming, a group of female students ganged up on a girl and beat her. I don’t know the reason, but apparently, it was gang-related. As I said, I wasn’t involved and didn’t know any of the students personally. All I know is that I had stayed to make up a history quiz after school, and when I walked out to go to my car, I was blocked because a crowd of kids had gathered. I tried to maneuver my way out because I had to go to work, but somehow ended up getting a prime view of the incident.” And then she started crying. She had no idea why, but the memory made her ill.

“Bella? Come here.” Charlie pulled his wailing daughter into his arms. Whatever she had witnessed must have impacted her, not in a good way. “Alright. Calm down and breathe with me. In through your nose; out through your mouth.” They repeated the exercise together several times until she was ready to talk. “What did you see?”

“Dad, the girls were kicking, punching, and pulling her hair. There were five attackers and one girl. Just one girl against five girls, and the five assailants were mean and ruthless. The other students stood around filming the incident like a TV show. No one defended the girl. I was about to turn around to get the school resource officer, but someone must have called him because he showed up along with the principal and a few security guards. When I looked down at the girl…” Bella teetered off, gasping, her tears falling in huge droplets down her cheeks. “Dad, when I looked down at the girl, she was lying face up on the ground with her eyes open and… lifeless. Daddy, I threw up when I saw that, and I thought… I thought… If it could happen to her, it could happen to me. I felt so helpless. I wished I could have helped her, and I felt guilty. I felt guilty because there was nothing I could do to help.”

“Oh, Bells. I wish you didn’t have to witness that incident. I really do. But, honey, your feeling so strongly about it proves you’re a good person. You, yourself, admitted that you witnessed the incident accidentally. You didn’t go seeking to film it like the other kids did. You were minding your business and trying to get to work when you came upon the scene. You reacted physically by throwing up, and that’s not uncommon either. In fact, it’s typical for rookie cops to react the same way you did. Now, we have to get you through the trauma because you’re feeling survivor’s guilt and a bit of post-traumatic stress, which isn’t surprising at all.”

Bella flung her arms around her father. She knew it would be a good idea to come and live with him. When she tried talking to her mother about the incident, she made it about herself, telling Phil how worried and sick she felt about Bella witnessing such a thing. And how much it stressed her out when bad things like that happened. It was at that exact moment Bella decided to move in with her father.

Quite frankly, she didn’t like Phil. Sure, he loved Renee, but he clearly felt Bella was a hindrance, an afterthought. So, when the pair suddenly got married over Thanksgiving without informing her, Bella felt no qualms about moving in with her father. She stayed for three weeks until school got out, and then Charlie flew into Phoenix so father and daughter could drive her car back to Washington together.

“You know, Bella. The first time I saw a murder victim, I reacted the same way you did. I vomited. I felt ashamed about my reaction, but Old Chief Martinson told me it proved I wasn’t a hardass. Empathy for the victim is essential, and you have that in droves. I’m proud of you for coming to me. You were brave in confessing your feelings,” Charlie said. “Now, let’s get you better.”

---

The following day, Charlie took steps to get Bella some much-needed help. He first consulted with the police station’s staff psychologist, explaining what his daughter had imparted to him the previous evening.

“That’s a tough thing for Bella to have witnessed. She must have felt very vulnerable following the incident,” Julia Lahote surmised. “If she is comfortable talking to me, I’d be willing to see her. She’s your daughter, and as you’re aware, part of my job is to counsel the family of employees, too. I’d say you count as an employee since you are my employer.”

Charlie chuckled. “You make a good point, Jules. I’ll have Bella stop by at the station after school.”

“I look forward to meeting her.”

After returning to his office, Charlie closed the door and looked up the incident Bella told him about. Sure enough, a sixteen-year-old student was beaten to death at her old high school in Phoenix. Five girls between the ages of fourteen and seventeen were charged with her murder. What a complete waste of six lives! He sent as much information about the incident to Julia so she’d have an idea of what happened; then he got into his squad car and went to Forks High School to meet with the school resource officer and the principal, who were close friends of his. Both men were single fathers, and Charlie especially appreciated their guidance now that Bella was living with him.

“Thank you for telling us about Bella, Charlie,” Lieutenant Ken Marshall said. In addition to being hunting buddies, they had attended the police academy together. He was the school resource officer. “We’ll be able to keep an eye on Bella and help her feel safe. I’m not surprised she felt unsafe at her old high school after witnessing that incident.”

“Tell me about it. I was shocked to the core, and when I looked through emails from her old school, there was nothing regarding the incident except for a single email offering bereavement counselors for students and staff due to the death of a student. I discovered the information by going through the police database, and that’s after seeing videos posted online by students,” Charlie griped in disgust. “I’m glad she’s home with me now.”

“Did Renee say anything?” Billy Black, Charlie’s lifelong best friend and the high school principal, said. He was also the chief of the Quileute Nation.

Charlie sighed. “I didn’t bother calling her. Bella told me that Renee doesn’t like addressing anything unpleasant. It stresses her out. Her new husband was helping her through the tragedy.”

“Stresses her out? Are you kidding me? Renee is her mother, and in life, we face a good amount of stressors. So, Bella didn’t even have an adult she could go to for help dealing with her emotions. I’m glad she was proactive in coming to live with you, Charlie.” After a moment, Billy continued, “We will keep Bella under our radar, and I’m glad you’re getting her counseling. I think Julia is better equipped to handle the situation than the school guidance counselor.”

“I agree.” Charlie chuckled. Of course, Billy would promote Julia. He had been dating her for the last few months. “Now, how is Bella adjusting to school?”

“Well, she’s the most popular girl in school because she’s new. It looks like she’s trying her best not to be shy like usual. She’s become close to my daughter Katie and her group of friends. They’re all good kids,” Ken informed him.

“I think my one concern is she hasn’t signed up for any extracurricular activities since coming to Forks. When I brought it up, she said she’d be signing up for softball, but I encouraged her to do a club activity as well,” Billy opined. “She’ll need it when she applies for college.”

Charlie nodded appreciatively. “I’ll bring it up to her.”

“Katie is in the volunteer club. She might feel comfortable joining a club with someone she knows,” Ken suggested.

With that, Charlie returned to work, contemplating how to get his daughter to feel safe and secure again.