Disclaimer

Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the aforementioned characters except Beth and the plot of this story (that is, should it stray from the original Twilight). This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline. I am not in any way, shape, or form benefiting financially from the publishing of this story on this site and am very grateful for Mrs. Meyer's creation. Besides, if I did own Twilight, I'd be sipping a Long Island Iced Tea right now.

TW: Mentions of Robery, Knife Crime and Blood below.

Warmth greeted her cool fingers as they wrapped around the to go cup of coffee, tall and filled to the brim. The smell of the delectable beans nearly brought tears to her eyes. Already, the caffeine was working through her system, alerting her and jolting her mind from the sleepy haze that she'd been in for the better part of the day. Her mind flitted back to the reason; nightmares of something bad happening to her sister- that had kept her awake for hours on end, neck prickling like someone had been watching her. The window, thankfully, had been covered by curtains and was still shut from the last time she'd closed it.

Shaking her head, she ridded herself of such thoughts, focusing on the wide expanse of sidewalk in front of her. Still, that persistent feeling was ever present, on the back of her neck and stopping, she glanced around quickly but spotted no one- wait. A silver car drove past, and just there, sat down in front of a bar, looking rather tense, was a man who kept glancing over. Shaking her head again, her hands gripped the cup just that tighter, telling herself that he wasn't watching her at all. He was probably just a regular guy enjoying a beer.

Sighing, she focused ahead of her again, eyes catching on the one thing that could ease her mind-books. And loads of them! Checking her phone, she saw that she still had time, the girls surely wouldn't mind if she made a quick stop? But when Beth had walked inside and all time had ceased to exist in her little bubble that she'd subconsciously made, fifteen minutes turned to thirty, thirty turned to forty-five and suddenly she was well over an hour past the time she had told Bella that she'd meet them.

"Fuck," Beth griped, regretfully placing the book back on the shelf. She'd debated buying it, she really did- but she'd have to come back another day when the line at the front desk wasn't as long.

Picking up her pace, Beth exited the building, tossing a smile at a passerby who'd held the door open for her, before her eyes unconsciously found the empty seat where that guy had been sitting before. She relaxed, assured that her earlier deduction had been correct. Pulling out her phone, she cursed again upon seeing the bright red, 'No Power' sign pop up before her screen went black. The little flip phone was utterly useless now.

Trying again, even for a smidgen of power, Beth pressed the power button to no avail. And then she was being pushed. Gasping, she began to turn around before a cool hand grasped her elbow and shoved something into her left side, the metal of the knife cutting through her jacket and shirt as she was pushed forcefully along the sidewalk, stumbling. Her coffee fell to the floor, spilling onto her converse and jeans.

"Keep walking," a low muttered hiss instructs her.

Skin paling, Beth struggled against him, stopping only when the pressure of the knife increased just between her ribs. She groaned, obeying, and despite her panicky look- no passers by seem to notice that something is amiss as this stranger escorted this young lady by her arm.

Before long, the buildings thin out and the more populated areas are left behind as the man behind her finally stopped at the entrance of a large alleyway before shoving her in and pushing her up against the wall. Her breath caught as her head made sharp contact with the wall behind her.

"Please," she begged quietly as he stepped from a shadow. And it's then that she finally recognized him as the man that had been sitting across from the bookstore. Eyes widening, she tried to steady herself. But the knife in his hand is longer than her ring finger and its sharp edge glints from an orange streetlamp whose dim light only does so much.

"Shut up," the man commanded her, raising the knife to press against her side once more. He came close enough that Beth could smell him, his scent a bad musk that hung over him with a dark cloud. It's nothing but body odor and a tinge of alcohol, no doubt from the beers he'd been drinking prior. He's wearing old clothes, it's a wonder that Beth hadn't seen before. His nose is large, taking up a great expanse of his face, where just below a seven o'clock shadow covered his rounded jaw.

She took him in as her keys are pressed against her from where they are in her pocket and thinks that if he just lets up off of her side for a moment, that maybe she could get them into her hand and give him a good scrape. He pushed her further into the wall,

"Where the hell is your cash, lady?!" He shook her roughly, voice bouncing off of the empty alley. She flinched, knife pinning her uncomfortably.

"I don't have any," she tried to dissuade him but he pushed her into the wall again, head cracking and suddenly the knife was at her throat. Her hand reaches up to hold it away from her skin as much as she can, his knee parting her legs to keep her up against the wall.

"Don't lie to me," he breathed into her face and Beth had to angle her head away from the stench coming from his mouth, "How else would you have bought that coffee? Don't think I don't know.." His left hand reached for her right pocket where her keys were and Beth closed her eyes in preparation of what she was about to do.

"Left! It's in my left pocket!" She admitted, and the man stilled, hold slackening for just a moment. But a moment is all she needed.

As his hand dug into her left pocket and grabbed her phone, Elizabeth reared back and delivered a shocking right hook into his cheek. The man stumbled, knife falling as he cradled his face from the blow and Beth made a frantic grab for her keys, knuckles straining.

"You bitch!" He got back up again, and in her panic, her fingers managed to pull her keys from her jeans but it's not enough as a hit to the side of her head almost knocked her completely off her feet. Her back hit the side of the building and her knees struggled to keep her standing. The keys clattered to the ground noisily and the man bent to get the knife again, legs unsteady under his weight. He groaned, righting himself.

But Beth reached again for her keys, rising again despite the stinging on her cheek. And he lunged at her, knife moving swiftly in the night air and it caught her side at the same time her keys scraped the side of his face in a long, deep swipe. Beth groaned, hand flying to her side as the man fell away again.

"Ah!" he screamed, struggling to open his eyes as blood began to pour from his wound. Before anything else could happen, the sound of tires screeching alerted them both. Beth gritted her teeth, hoping that she might make it to the entrance of the alley to try to get someone's attention but the pain in her side makes her pause, eyes still on the man shouting in pain just across from her. Her cheek throbbed, no doubt beginning to swell.

Thankfully, by some small miracle, a car stopped just at the entrance, headlights shining brightly on the two figures and someone jumped out of it. She gasped, eyes struggling to see her savior beyond the bright lights and then faster than she can register, the person is shoving the man back down and away from Beth,

"You sick bastard," Beth heard from her spot and her sight darkened for a moment. And when she opened them next, a familiar face looked down at her with visible concern, penny coloured tresses disheveled as though he'd been running his hands through it multiple times.

Beth blinked as something cold and wet touched her cheek and she flinched, her stomach rolling.

"Beth?"

And then she'd thrown up, stomach heaving and rolling in rebellion. Distantly, she worried that the man was still in the area, but the thought soon disappeared when cool hands lifted her brown hair from her face and spittle- what little she'd had for lunch returning the way it came with more vengeance than she was prepared for. She spat, trying in vain to get rid of the acidic taste of vomit from her tongue.

Her chest shook, hands shaking in tandem with her stunted breaths.

And it registered, somewhere in the back of her mind that she was crying. Gently, strong hands lifted her from her spot, keys dangling uselessly from her frozen fingers as her mind began to catch up. She did little to struggle, a small feeling of safety emanating from being in this person's presence. He put her in the passenger's seat, door open as he tried to assess her properly.

Edward's face hovered in front of her, his cold hands cradling her like the finest china, like she was moments away from cracking. His dark eyes flitted to and fro, as though searching for something as his nostrils flared.

"You're hurt," but it wasn't a question.

Then she was heaving again, leaning out of the open car door as Edward danced away just in the nick of time. But nothing came up, stomach bile burning her throat but it refused to move, choking her.

And then he was back, opening her eyes with gentle touches, and even more gentle instruction to breathe. She obeyed, diaphragm expanding and contracting. He placed her hand on his chest as he tried to coach her through the beginnings of a panic attack, eyes blinking dazedly as her thoughts strayed to what had just transpired. Or what could have transpired.

Edward eyed her blue tinged lips worriedly, waiting for her to come to, the smell of blood permeating the air. He had stopped breathing long ago, when he'd first smelled the inklings of the iron tinted fluid from that wretched, spineless man. He nearly growled thinking about how he'd let him out of his sight to focus on Elizabeth who'd fainted dead away, her own blood dripping from the knife that the creature discarded carelessly.

Still, he snapped out of it, the beginnings of a haze disappearing just as rapidly as he took in the visage of the crying girl in front of him.

"Oh, god," she cried, leaning back into the seat. Her hands came up to cover her face as she shook, she could have nearly died!

"Beth, I think I need to get you to a hospital," he tried again, but the girl shook her head, thoughts clearing as she rationalized her next steps. She couldn't think about that right now. She-she needed to go. She needed to see her dad. She needed Charlie. Her trembling hands reached for her pocket, before coming up empty as she remembered that one- her phone was dead- and two- that creep had stolen it!

"My phone," Beth mumbled in distress, her hand wiping her face. Edward glanced around, eyes searching for any sign of the tiny flip phone in the darkness before coming up empty. "He stole it,"

Gritting his teeth, he quietly cursed, "dammit," thinking that he should have just decapitated the bastard when he'd had the chance. But a strange hesitance, in the form of Carlisle who'd he'd imagined would be very disappointed in him if he'd done anything, stopped him in his tracks.

Pulling out his phone, he gave Beth to use without question.

Beth's fingers dialed a familiar number, her eyes closed as the ringing tone sounded once, twice before Bella was on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" her sister answers unsurely, no doubt wondering why an unknown number called her and feeling a pit of dread grow in her gut. Her brown eyes meet Jessica and Angie where they stood by the former's car, Isabel long been picked up by her parents. The two girls talked quietly, frowns marred their faces.

"Bells?" Beth inquired. "I need you-", she paused.

"What-?"

She interrupted, "I just-I need you to meet me at Forks Police Station."

"The police station?" her sister asked shrilly. "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

Beth's eyes snapped shut and her jaw tightened, "Bella, please. Just do it,"

And before she heard confirmation from her twin, she hung up, handing the phone with shaking hands to Edward who'd maneuvered himself around to the driver's side, rolled down the windows and started the car without so much as a word. The engine hummed beneath them, warming the car- or was that the heater? Beth didn't really care to know. The cool breeze took her mind away and not even Edward's quiet conversation with someone on the phone could interrupt her reverie.

______________________________________________________________________

It felt like seconds, with how fast they'd been driving back into town. To Beth it seemed as though time no longer existed, the blurred trees and stinging wind that cooled her swollen cheek had turned into bright red and blue lights from the parking lot as one of the cop cars drove in. Beside it, a sleek black Mercedes was parked, a blonde figure, statuesque in his stance leaning against the car, black bag at his feet. As soon as they'd pulled in, Dr. Cullen had walked over, exchanging a few words with Edward before the latter was opening her door and helping her come out on unsteady legs.

"Let's get her inside," the good doctor instructed.

"Elizabeth?" Her dad's voice had called next and her eyes finally strayed away from the linoleum to take in the sight of her father getting up from his desk. He rushed over, his baby falling into his arms and collapsing with relief.

He held her upright, eyeing Dr. Cullen and his son with a confused frustration. Dr. Cullen reached over and together the two men managed to get Beth into a small office just off to the side, drawing the blinds closed to offer some privacy.

"What happened?" he asked loudly, face beginning to redden as he took in the near catatonic state of his daughter. His eyes sweeped the room, looking for his other daughter, but coming up empty.

"Where's Bella? They were supposed to go out together with some girls this evening?"

But the blonde doctor merely looked at his son, having no answers. And so Edward began to explain, Chief Swan's face hardening with every word until the recount of the event was finished.

"Edward told me when he called, that he saw a knife as well. Beth has been holding her side since she walked in," Carlisle added, setting his bag down on the desk, "there is a possibility that she could have gotten hurt, but I need to check to make sure?"

Charlie barely nodded, eyebrows scrunching, "Yes, could you?" He walked over to the door, calling his deputy to ask him to send an APB out for a man. He asked Edward to describe the man, and the two walked out while the blonde slipped into his work mode.

"Elizabeth?" he called her and in the haze of her subconscious, she finally acknowledged him and where she was, her shoulders slumping from relief.

He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket, shining it into her open eye and taking note of how blown her pupils were. Her lips tinged blue and her breaths were labored but she was there.

"Do you know where you are, Ms. Swan?"

She nodded slowly, opening her chapped lips and croaking out, "My dad's office in Forks." She cleared her throat, leaning to her right just barely. No other doctor would have seen the way she'd been favoring it with the slightest sign of discomfort. But Carlisle saw.

"I can see blood on your side where your jacket was cut. Do you mind if I take a look?" He asked, already removing a pair of scissors and gauze. But Beth acquiesced and then tried to raise her left arm. She grimaced in pain, Carlisle assisting her to lift her shirt. Her skin was pale and there, oozing the slightest bit of blood just between her ribs was a shallow, thin cut. Dr. Cullen didn't flinch, getting to work immediately.

When Charlie enters the room again, his breath hitches as he sees the bloodied tissues and the bandage covering the left side of her torso.

Carlisle's lips quirked just slightly, assuring the chief, "Everything's good. She should take a day to rest, right now she's experiencing a bit of shock so she might feel a bit faint. I don't see any sign of severe head trauma, so she doesn't have a concussion but she might experience a bit of swelling in her right cheek from where he had hit her," he motions to the swelling.

"I'd recommend a few pain medications, some ice and a good night's rest. The bruising will come later, so don't worry if you see some dark coloring in that area for the next few days," Dr. Cullen warns, writing down the name of a few medications.

Charlie sighs a bit, walking over to hug his daughter. She slowly reciprocated, arms wrapping tightly around her dad's torso as she angled her throbbing face away from rubbing against his uniform.

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen." Charlie bit out, brushing her hair. "And thank your son, Edward, for me. I'll never forgive myself for not being there to stop it from happening but I'm really grateful that Edward was there to help her."

The door opened while he was speaking, a honeyed voice gently interrupting, "I can't take all the credit, Beth keyed him really good too. Right across the temple and the cheek."

Charlie tensed but the pride that he felt was palpable when he said, "that's my girl." And he pulled her closer.

The door opened again and then Bella raced into the room, checking her twin before hugging her too- the two Cullen men slipping from the room to give the small family some time to themselves unnoticed by all except the Chief who thanked them again and nodded his goodbyes, relief and concern still present on his aged face.