Blockbuster Teaser

Edward

“You need to know,” she whispered.

“I need to know what?” I asked, getting up and dragging my exhausted body to the couch.

“The truth. My story. The nightmare,” she said emotionlessly. She looked at me. Her espresso-colored eyes were vacant, and her face was drawn. “You need to know everything. It all began when I was a junior in high school …”

Bella

“… I lived with my dad. He was the police chief of Forks, Washington,” I explained. “My mom took off, not caring about me or Charlie. So, for as long as I could remember, it was the two of us. Occasionally, we’d hang out at the nearby reservation since my dad was close to the tribal leader of the Quileute Nation, Billy Black. He had a son who was about my age. We were friends from the moment we met.”

“Jacob?” Edward asked.

“Yeah. He had two older sisters. They used to babysit us when I was younger until they went away to college or to get married. Rebecca lives in Hawaii with some Samoan surfer. Rachel lives in Vancouver, working on getting her doctorate in sociology. They’re not close with Jacob or Billy. The tribe doesn’t think highly of women,” I sneered. “Both of Jake’s sisters were sexually assaulted by members of the tribe. Jake, at first, was appalled. It was before he was brainwashed by the tribal elders. Billy, however, condoned it. He said that it was a rite of passage for the boys who wanted to become men and the girls just needed to submit. Rachel and Rebecca both left within weeks of their attacks.”

“Fuck,” Edward spat. “That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah, it is,” I shrugged. “However, we didn’t know, at the time, that Billy was a misogynistic pig, a monster, really. At first, he was just my dad’s best friend and fishing buddy. Before his true colors were shown, he was a kindly, sweet uncle type who gave me hard candies.”

“Your dad didn’t know about any of that?”

“No, he didn’t. I wouldn’t have known either until it happened to me,” I whispered. I waved my hand, trying to wish my past was a horrific nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It was a reality. A sick, twisted reality that absolutely broke me.