Disclaimer I don't own Edward or any of his past in this story, but who knows? I do, however, own Jessie and her own history. Enjoy!

Jessie's heart pounded. She had been planning this for months now. The Great Escape. It couldn't be more perfect. She was finally going to be free from the place she had called home since birth. No, not home. Prison. Home could not possibly be a proper name for it. She had never loved that house any more than she loved the man who she called Father. He could barely be assumed as one, though. No father ever treated their daughter in such a way. Jessie placed her backpack on her shoulder and opened her window. The fresh, crisp night air filled her lungs. With a sigh of relief, she swung her legs over the window pane and stood on the thin balcony. With the greatest of ease she then reached out for the draping vines that crawled down the side of her prison walls. Jessie was a spry young girl, and so had no troubles at all in climbing down. The last step was probably the hardest for her to take, and so she held her breath as she jumped it. Assuring her backpack still resting on her shoulder, Jessie nodded to herself and started to run. To where, she did not know. She just kept running down the street. Not a person followed her, and yet her heart raced in such a manner that with every beat she felt as if they were the footsteps of a man. Her father.

"Dear God," she cried out aloud, stopping her running. She was an agile girl, but she was not one with the highest of metabolisms. Jessie placed a hand to her heart, regaining breath. She looked around her, seeing she had barely come a few yards away from her house. She gave an exasperated moan, and straightened herself. That was when her eyes wandered over to that building. The building. The mansion. Not many people talked about it. Especially not Jessie's father. Her head tilted as she looked at it. Perhaps it was worn down and old, but Jessie could not imagine a more beautiful building. She placed her bag back onto her shoulder and started to run again. Her sights were set on the mansion constantly, unmoving. Her feet carried her through to the very gates of the mansion, and without any haste she pulled at the bars which were rusted terribly. With enough determination, though, Jessie managed to pull one of the gates open slightly and slipped through the gap. She pulled it closed after her and fled towards the doors. But not before she was brought to a halt. There was something awfully wrong with the atmosphere. Perhaps not wrong, but strange.

"What the-" Jessie trailed off. There was a large amount of greenery surrounding her. Nothing at first can be considered wrong with this, but the shrubs and trees and hedges were all perfectly trimmed. Not only that. They were trimmed into the most unusual of shapes. A large hand. A spiralling piece of art. A dinosaur, even. They were hauntingly beautiful. AT that point, Jessie was mesmerized, but soon brought back to sudden life when a small amount of rain started to fall upon her. It soon started to be come heavier, and then there started a storm. Strange, she thought to herself, as she started to run inside the mansion. It would be today of all days the weather forecast becomes terrible. A thunderous bang came from the door when she closed it after entering the mansion, and then all was quiet apart from the frequent tapping from the rain.

"Hello?" Her voice echoed through the dusty halls. "Is anybody here? Does anyone live here?" Jessie thought she could have sworn she heard a small sound, but she put that down to the amount of rain playing tricks on her mind. She dropped her backpack on the floor heavily and looked around her. It would at least do as a place for the night, if no one was around to claim the place as their own. It might even do as a permanent home. Her father would never expect her to be there, and there was no sign that she was there at that very moment. A small smile spread across her face, and Jessie turned to the staircase. There was a certain curiosity in those walls that could not be ignored for Jessie. Her shoes padded on the steps, echoing out. It made her giggle slightly, as well as the liberty now provided to her. She winced slightly as her wrist collided softly with the banister. She then cradled it in her arm. It was only a small bruise, but it still pained her as much as any of the others. Suddenly, there came a strange noise from above her. A few footsteps sounded.

"Hello?" The footsteps quickened pace. "Who's there? I'm sorry if I didn't hear you before, it's the rain." I heard the footsteps go up another flight of stairs. They headed towards the caved in attic at the top of the mansion. Jessie followed them eagerly.

"I don't mean to be rude, whoever you are. I'm only here because of the rain, if you don't mind. Terrible weather, really." She finally came to an opening at the highest floor which led into the crashed attic. She had seen from outside that there was a large gaping hole in the roof, but she had not known of the rubble that lay beneath sight. Despite the shock, Jessie still managed to give out a small outcry at the pile that sat before her. She stared for a moment, and then moved vigilantly towards it. It was then that she heard the clicking. An incessant clicking that sounded about the room. Jessie turned around after a moment of the sound, and was confronted by a figure in the distant corner of the room. It was crouched, as if it were some sort of creature. No, it wasn't a creature. It was most definitely a man.

"Hello? I'm sorry if I've disturbed you at all, how foolish of me. If I could just stay here until the rain's stopped I'd be ever so-" Jessie found she could not speak now. The man who had been crouching up until this point stood straight, facing her. She looked down slightly and saw his arms.

"Kim?" The man spoke, his voice small and trembling. Jessie shook her head.

"No, never heard of her." The man bowed his head and I saw him twitch nervously. It was then she noticed his hands. Jessie uttered a small shriek. "Please, put those down! I-I promise I'll go, I won't tell anyone anything, just put those down."

"Don't be scared," he said in that small voice, now even smaller. He stepped forward a bit, and she stepped back.

"Please, don't come any nearer."

"I won't-"

"Please!" Jessie stopped, and looked carefully at those blades. "Oh my," She whispered, her eyes glued to those scissors. "Those are your hands?"

"I'm not finished." She warily took a step forward towards the man.

"Those are your hands," she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. Jessie reached out one of her own hands, and attempted to rest it on the man's wrist where a hand should have connected. He flinched and moved back.

"I won't hurt you," she said soothingly, calming him. He complied to Jessie's implied request and stayed perfectly still. Jessie stroked the leather around his wrist, mesmerized by the sight.

"What's your name," she asked.

"Edward."

"Edward. I'm Jessie."

"Jessie." Edward simply repeated her name. She laughed at that slightly, stopping abruptly to observe the blades.

"Why did you call me Kim, Edward?"

"You look like her."

"Well, who is she then?" He flinched again.

"She was my friend."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know." Jessie moved her hand away from his wrist and looked into Edward's eyes. They were sweet, if somewhat mysterious.

"Edward, my grandma was called Kimberly."

"Really," he asked eagerly. "Is she alright?" She swallowed.

"Edward…Edward, I'm afraid she died."

"Died," he repeated, slightly dazed.

"Yes, Edward. She's dead." Jessie paused. "You do know what that means, don't you?" He nodded, and the warmth that spread from him at the mention of Jessie's grandmother's name died away.

"Was she happy," he asked quietly.

"She was," she said in a tone that expressed her sentence. "She was very happy. At least, she always seemed to be." Jessie could not help but think that, perhaps, her Kimberly was not Edward's Kim. Her conscience would not allow her to say it.

"Thank you," he said softly after a few minutes of silence.

"Edward, would I be too bold in asking to stay here for a while?" He looked at her.

"No."

"Thank you."

"Where is your family?" Jessie tensed.

"I don't have one, so to speak. It is a story for another time, I think." Edward nodded. It was slightly difficult to ignore the fact, that night, that a man with scissors for hands was simply a floor or so above her that night for Jessie. She had only just escaped an abusive father, and now she was under the roof of a man with blades freely under his power. But he was a sweet, gentle soul. There was no way that he could harm her.