http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE09MlR5Ycw
Day one
“Hello?” I yelled, pulling on my chain. “Is anyone there?” I could hear distant
whimpers and crying, but no one would answer back. “Hello,” I yelled a little more firmly. I
started pulling at the chain around my ankle, trying to get closer to the door that seemed to be
just out of my reach.
“What’s your name?” A soft voice called out.
“Bella. Bella Swan. What’s your name?” I asked, walking over to where the chain
connected to the wall and trying to pull at it that way.
“Anna Norton,” she answered in almost a whisper.
“Where the fuck are we?” I yelled, slamming the chain on the floor, but no one
answered. “Anna, how long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. Do you remember what day it is?”
“October second… I think,” I sighed, sliding against the wall to sit next to my
chain.
“Six months,” Anna yelled.
“Two months,” a distant voice yelled.
“Five months,” another said.
“Me too.”
“Jesus, how many are there of us down here?” I yelled.
“Five now,” Anna sighed. “We did have six, but… Nina didn’t make it.”
As much as I wanted to play the ‘What happened to Nina game’ I had to figure out
what the hell happened to me. Okay, Bella, what is the last thing you remember.
“May I dare ask if we’re actually talking about the big L-O-V-E?” Alice giggled
“I don’t know? Maybe?” I blushed, taking a sip of my coffee.
“Oh please, it’s not love till they get you jewelry,” Rose huffed, flipping her hair.
That’s right! I met the girls for coffee on campus. That was around nine in the
morning.
“Hey baby,” Edward whispered, coming up from behind me and kissing my neck.
“How was class?” I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out. “Yikes, that bad?” he laughed,
taking my hand and kissing it.
“You have no idea, but I’m starved. Let’s meet the gang for lunch.”
A tear slid down my face thinking about Edward. He’s going to be so worried. And
my father! My poor father will have a heart attack when he finds out I’m gone. “Stop it,
Bella, focus,” I whispered to myself.
Okay, I left Edward and the gang around one thirty… I went to my truck… and…
nothing. I can’t remember anything after that.
“Shit, I can’t remember anything after lunch,” I grumbled.
“It’s the drugs,” someone answered.
“What drugs? Who said that?” I asked.
“He either put’s it into your food or makes you swallow pills in front of him. You
can’t remember shit after taking them, and I’m Ruth.”
“But I didn’t swallow any pills…”
“He got you with a needle,” Anna said, cutting me off. “It’s how he got all of us.”
“How old are all of you?”
“Well, guessing you’re in your twenties too, we’re all college students. Well except
for Ruth. She’s only sixteen,” Anna answered.
“So what does this asshole want with us?” I yelled.
“Sex,” five voices said simultaneously.
“What?” I screamed.
The room was pitch black. The only light that seemed to filter in was from bellow
the door. I started feeling around the room for something, anything, but all I felt was a
mattress on the floor and a large bucket. “Are you fucking serious?” I yelled. I picked up the
bucket and threw it across the room. “I’m gonna fucking kill him. I’m gonna fucking wrap my
hands around his neck and squeeze till his eyes pop out of his head.”
“Will you shut up?” a girl yelled. “If you wake him up I swear I’ll tell him it was
you.”
“Excuse me?” I yelled back.
“Bella, you have to try and be quiet,” Anna whispered. “If he wakes up we’ll all
suffer. You have to trust us when we say you don’t want that.” The fear in her voice caused
me to start crying.
“How can you guys just sit here and not do anything? Have any of you tried to
escape?” I cried.
“Yeah, why don’t you ask Nina how that worked out for her? Oh, wait, she’s
fucking dead!”
“Linda, please,” Anna hushed. “Bella is just going through what all of us had gone
through when we got here.”
“Had! Had gone through?” Linda yelled. “I’m not in the past tense, Anna. I’m still
going through this shit.”
We all fell silent when we heard movement above our heads. They were loud and
thunderous. I could hear locks turning, at least five, before a door finally opened followed by
heavy footsteps walking down some stairs. I held my breath when I heard a much thicker door
open and shut. It squeaked so loudly when it did that you almost wanted to cover your ears.
The lock caused me to jump, do to it echoing around the room.
“Are my girls being bad?” A taunting voice echoed, followed by the sound of keys.
A large set of keys that held my freedom no less. “Are my girls yelling?” My hand came over
my mouth to cover my whimpers, as I felt my tears starting to fall from my eyes. “You know
how I don’t like my girls to misbehave.” My eyes were glued to the small slit of light that
beamed from bellow my door. I was shaking; almost dry heaving, when the silhouette of two
large feet stopped in front of my door. “Bella,” he sighed. “Have you been stirring up my
girls?” I shut my eyes tight when I heard light scratching, and even moaning from the other
side of the door. “Maybe I should give you a preview of what’s to come.”
I heard footsteps walking away from my door, his set of keys jingling along the
way. A door was unlocked and I heard Ruth cry out. I got up, running for the door, but was
stopped when the chain pulled at my ankle which caused me to fall face first to the ground.
“You fucking coward!” I yelled. “She’s just a child.”
“Yeah, but she swallows like a pro,” he chuckled. “Don’t worry, Bella, you’ll get
your turn soon enough.”
I laid there and cried as I heard the mix between moans and grunts echo around me.
I had to cover my ears when I heard him slap Ruth, yelling at her to stop crying. Please, God,
why are you doing this to me? To any of us? I swore to myself if he tried that with me I’d
fucking bite it off.
I must have cried myself to sleep, because when I woke up there was a small light
overhead that was on. I was still on the floor and ached all over from crying so hard all night.
I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see two black boots in front of me.
“Good morning, Bella.”
Day two
I scooted back against the wall, pulling my knees to my chest. “Don’t touch me,” I
demanded, glaring at him from across the room. He stood there just staring at me, a sickening
smirk swept across his face.
“Oh, I plan on doing more than just touching you, Bella. A lot more,” he laughed.
He smelled, and right off the bat I recognized it. He smelled like pine. We had to be
really close to the forest. He was wearing hiking boots, which meant we were probably out in
the middle of nowhere. I slowly let my eyes glaze over his face, and was shocked at how
young he looked. Twenty six, maybe a little older, I guessed. He wore his brown hair short,
almost military cut, and his eyes were a deep blue.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.
“Because I chose you, Bella.” He walked forward and squatted in front of me. “You
are so beautiful,” he whispered, running his finger across my arm. “A wonderful addition to
my collection.”
“I’m not some fucking action figure, asshole. I’m a person,” I spat in his face. “I
have parents, friends, a boyfriend.” I was silenced with a slap across the face. He grabbed me
from around my neck and lifted me off the ground.
“Let’s get one thing clear. I OWN YOU. You belong to me until I am bored of
you,” He sneered. “You have no parents, no friends, and definitely no boyfriend… you
understand?”
I couldn’t answer him. His palm was pushing so hard against my throat I could
barely nod. He let go of me and I dropped to the floor with a thud. He turned his back to me
and walked towards the open door, laughing.
“My name is Isabella Swan,” I yelled at him, stopping him in his tracks. “My
parents are Charlie and Renee. My best friends are Alice and Rosalie, and my boyfriend is
named Edward.” It felt good saying their names, even though it made me cry. He took a deep
breath and continued to the door.
“How sad for you, and to think I thought you were a smart person.” He turned and
faced me. “Maybe a day or two without food will teach you some respect.” When he slammed
the door I finally let my tears overtake me.
48 hours missing
“Have you called her father yet?” Rosalie huffed.
“Of course I called her father! What am I a fucking idiot?”
“Calm down Edward,” my sister yelled, still in tears. “We can’t fall to pieces now.
We have to keep calm.” I pulled her into my arms when I heard her voice crack a little.
“I know, Alice. I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Alice, Bella, and Rosalie met freshmen year and moved in together by second term.
That’s how I had come to know the love of my life. I came over to help move them in and it
was love at first sight. She was wearing a pair of high school running shorts, and matching
top, that read Forks High Track Team. She was a vision. It took me a year to finally ask her
out, and it had been a dream come true ever since.
“Edward… Edward.”
I shook my head out of my daze and looked at my brother, Emmett, who was
tapping my shoulder. “Sorry, Em, dazed off for a second.” I turned to see Bella’s dad standing
by the front door.
“Chief Swan,” I exhaled, walking over and shaking his hand.
“Any news?” he whispered, looking over at Alice and Rosalie who were crying on
the couch.
“Campus police found her truck in the student parking lot today, along with her bag
and cell phone. They took them down town for prints.”
“Seattle is stunned with fear as another girl from the University of Washington
disappeared from campus October second.” All of us turned our heads towards the television
just as a picture of Bella flashed across the screen. “Isabella Swan, a fun and athletic twenty
year old native from the small town of Forks Washington, was last seen walking to her truck
that was parked in this very parking lot,” the camera zoomed to the now empty parking lot
that was normally packed with cars, “around one thirty in the afternoon, when suddenly she
vanished.” Charlie walked slowly to the couch and flopped down, all of our eyes were still
glued to the television.
“This now brings the total of missing girls to six. Anna Norton, Laura Baker, Linda
Tillman, Sarah Turner, Nina Jenkins, and sixteen year old high school student, Ruth-Ann
Summers, who came to the University on a high school fieldtrip two months ago.” Pictures of
each girl flashed across the screen as their name were called. The sad thing was that I didn’t
even know that any of them were missing. If I had known that there was some sick asshole
out there kidnapping girls off campus I would have followed Bella around like a second
shadow. “The campus is asking that all women walk around in groups, and be cautious when
traveling at night. A meeting will be held at the University gym today, at five, for students and
parents who have any questions regarding what the school is doing to prevent this travesty
from happening again. This is, Tricia Takanawa, back to you in the studio.”
“You girls are not going anywhere without one of us with you until this asshole is
found. Do you understand me?” I ordered, looking over at Rosalie and Alice.
“But…” Rosalie started, but Emmett cut her off.
“No buts’, Rose, I don’t care if you’re just walking to your car to get a pack of gum.
You’re not going alone,” he said firmly.
“That goes for you too, Alice.” We turned to see Jasper, my best friend and Alice’s
boyfriend, stand in the doorway.
“Okay,” they both answered.
Charlie stood up and walked out the door. I followed him to the parking lot where
he lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. He held the pack out for me and I took one. I hadn’t
smoked in a year, quitting for Bella when she expressed her hatred for them, but at the
moment it seemed to be the only thing to calm my nerves. “I’m going to poke my nose
around the local police station and see what they have to say. Maybe they are withholding
information from the media that might help us.” I nodded, trying not to get my hopes up.
Charlie maybe top gun as chief of police in the small town of Forks, but here in Seattle it’s a
whole different ballgame.
“Emmett and I are going to check out this meeting at the gym. See what they have
to say,” I mumbled, blowing out my smoke.
“That’s a good idea,” he nodded. Feeling weak I sat down on the curb, resting my
head in my hands. I felt Charlie sit next to me, and I started to cry when I felt his hand on my
shoulder. “Bella is a smart girl, Edward. If she’s still… she’ll give us time to find her,” he
whispered, sounding a little shaky himself.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I sniffled, wiping my eyes. “What will she allow
herself to go through just…”
“Whatever she needs to, Son,” he answered, cutting me off.
Day Two Afternoon
I had my hands over my ears, banging my head against the wall, to block out the
screams that were coming from the other room. He had been in Sarah’s room for the last ten
minutes, and he didn’t sound like he was going to be letting up any time soon.
“Please, please… it hurts,” she cried, her chain clanging around. “I’m sorry, I won’t
use my teeth again. Please just stop!” she screamed.
“Well maybe this will be a reminder,” he grunted.
I started humming, wishing that would keep out the little bit of sound that was
filtering through, but it didn’t. Her screams and cry’s were getting louder with each moan that
escaped him. He got off on it, the pain. It was as if each scream added fuel to his fire. I knew
it wasn’t a question of if, but when he would come to my door. I swore to myself I wouldn’t
give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream… no matter what he did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuZTk1hdpMs
Day Three
I woke up to the sound of Patsy Cline’s I Fall To Pieces blaring around me. It was
eerie how it echoed through the walls. He seemed to have it on repeat, and after the fourth
time listening to it I almost screamed for him to shut that shit off.
“Anna, are you there?” I groaned.
“Where else would I be?” Anna chuckled.
“Sorry. So what’s up with the song?” I sighed, sitting as close to the door as I could
get.
“He plays it all the time, and it’s annoying as fuck!” Linda yelled.
“I didn’t get my period again,” Laura cried.
“Me either,” Ruth whispered.
“Shit.” I gotta get out of here. “It might just be stress or lack of food. Try not to
think about it.”
“Bella, I pregnant,” Anna sniffled.
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me… I’m sure.”
“So is that what you want you sick fuck?” I yelled. “To have us as your own sex
slaves so you can breed? What did mommy not show you enough love? Go get a fucking fish
or something!”
“He’s not here, Bella,” Linda yelled. “He plays the music when he leaves and turns
it off when he gets home.”
“Well isn’t that just perfect,” I huffed, going over and sitting on my mattress. “I
hope he gets struck by lightning.”
“We can only pray,” Anna laughed.
“Yeah, and then we can all die from hunger,” Laura sneered.
“So tell me about Edward,” Anna asked, obviously wanting to change the subject.
“How long have you two been together?”
“Almost a year,” I smiled. “He is the most amazing man I have ever met. No matter
how far apart our classes were he would run across campus just to walk me to my next class.”
I felt the tears starting to brim my eyes. “I never got to tell him that I loved him.”
“I’m sure he knows, Bella,” Ruth giggled. “Guys just know those kinds of things.
My boyfriend, Troy, just came up to me one day and said ‘I love you too’. I never even told
him that I loved him, but he said he already knew that I loved him and he just wanted to say it
back.”
“That’s sweet Ruth,” I laughed. “He seems like a nice guy.”
“Can we please not talk about this,” Laura groaned.
“Oh shut up, Laura,” Sarah yelled. “I want to hear more.”
“So, Bella, did you guys ever… you know…” Linda asked with a soft laugh.
“Linda!” four sets of voices rang out.
“What?” she laughed.
“Of all topics you have to bring up down here,” Laura yelled.
“So what? It’s not like we’re getting anything good anyway,” Linda sighed. “Might
as well hear about when we did.”
“I never want to have sex ever again if I get out of here,” Ruth whispered.
“Ruth, what you are going through is not the sex we are talking about,” I argued.
“It’s rape. When you meet a guy, and care about him with all your heart, sex can be the best
thing you have ever felt.”
“I almost did it once, with Troy, but…” she trailed off.
“You weren’t ready?” I asked.
“No,” Ruth sighed. “I thought I was ready, and I do love him, but I just got scared
when we tried.”
“We are all going to need some serious therapy if we ever get out of here,” Sarah
sighed.
“No shit,” Anna laughed.
Suddenly the music stopped, and we all fell silent when we heard his footsteps over
our heads. I could hear the locks being turned and the sounds of his footsteps coming down
stairs. I covered my ears as the squeaky door opened and shut. I scooted my back to the corner
of the room when I heard the jingling of keys echo through the hallway. “Eeny, meeny, miny,
moe. Who will be the first to go?” he sang. My heart stopped when the light for my room
turned on. The door swung open, and I stood up instantly ready to fight. “Time to break in the
new girl,” he sneered, walking towards me.
Remember, Bella, don’t scream, don’t scream, don’t scream. He slapped me across
the face and I fell on top of the mattress.
3 Days Missing
The meeting last night, at the gym, was absolutely pointless. Emmett and I sat there
for two hours listening to the campus police give a speech about strength in groups and
hotline numbers. When we got back to the girls apartment Alice and Rosalie were already in
bed, and Jasper was passed out on the couch. To upset to sleep I told the guys to go lay down
and get some rest while I stayed up to wait for any news from Charlie. I was woken up at six
in the morning with a knock at the door. I got up and opened it to find a very exhausted
Charlie Swan on the other side.
“Any news?” I yawned, running my hands over my face. He wouldn’t look at me,
but I could tell he had been crying. My heart sunk to my stomach. “What… what is it?”
“I need you to come with me,” he whispered.
I started to cry. “Please just tell me now…”
“I can’t…” he coughed, trying to mask his own quivering voice. “I just need you to
come with me right now. Okay, Son?” He looked up at me and I could see the pain in his
eyes. I nodded my head, and grabbed my jacket, following him down the stairs towards his
car.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked, once we got onto the highway.
“Aberdeen.”
“What’s in Aberdeen?”
“An answer,” he simply replied.
When we pulled up to the police station there was a man outside waiting for us.
“It’s good to see you again, Chief,” the man smiled, shaking Charlie’s hand.
“I wish it was for better reasons, Dave,” Charlie mumbled. Charlie cleared his
throat and motioned towards my direction. “Dave, this is Edward, Bella’s boyfriend.” I
extended my hand and Dave shook it gingerly.
“I’m sorry for what you two must be going through. I’ll try to make this as fast as
possible,” he smiled, opening the door for us. Confused, and annoyed, I followed the two men
down a flight of stairs, and into the basement. I stopped when I read the words Corner's Office
against the wall.
“Charlie, what the fuck is going on?” I demanded.
Charlie stopped and looked at me. “They found a body, but the face was beaten so
badly that she’s unrecognizable. You know Bella more… intimately than I do. You don’t
need to look at her face… just her… body,” he stuttered, obviously not wanting to be down
here either.
I gave myself a moment to prepare for the possibility that I might be identifying a
dead body as the woman that I love. I took a deep breath and walked through the door. Dave
stood next to a table that had the body on it, a thin white sheet covering it. “Charlie said that
you and Isabella were… um… intimate?” Dave asked, rubbing the back of his neck. I could
only nod, in fear with the fact that I knew if I opened my mouth all I would be able to do was
scream. “Are there any marks, scars, or tattoo’s that you know of that might be able to help us
conclude if this is Bella or not?”
I thought about that for a second and remembered that Bella got a scar last year
when we went hiking. She slipped on a rock and sliced the inside of her thigh. It only took
five stitches, but it left a crest shaped mark once the stitches came off. I made sure to kiss it
every time we made love. “Yes, on the inside of her right thigh there should be a scar,” I
whispered.
Dave lifted the sheet over the body’s legs and lifted the right one. He turned the leg
so that you could see the inside of the right thigh. I walked over slowly and gasped when I
saw nothing there. “It’s not her,” I nearly laughed, running out of the room, and almost
knocking over Charlie. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “It’s not her.”
“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly.
“Positive,” I nodded. “That is not our Bella in there.”
“Oh thank God,” Charlie sighed, leaning against the wall.
“And Charlie…”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t ever fucking do that to me again.”
I bit down on my lip so I wouldn’t scream. I’d rather die than had given him the satisfaction.
The harder I fought back the harder he’d hit me. After awhile he took both of my wrists in one
of his hands and held them over my head. A whimper almost escaped my lips when he ran his
tongue from my neck to my ear. “For such a mouthy little thing you sure seem to suck at
expressing yourself at the moment,” he moaned, rubbing his groin against my center. “But
I’m not worried… I’m always up for a good challenge.” I turned my head to the side when I
felt him start to rub himself back and forth against me.
Don’t think about it Bella. Think of something else… I started remembering
shopping trips with the girls, dinner dates with Edward, going fishing with my dad, but every
time I’d let my mind disappear from the present I was pulled back in with all the disgusting
noises he would make. He laughed when I shuttered.
“You like it when I moan don’t you?” he chuckled, reaching up underneath my shirt
and gripping my breast hard. “You’re such a little slut.” He pinched my nipple roughly and I
shut my eyes tight to keep from crying out. Suddenly he got off of me and ripped off his belt
off. “You think you’re strong?” he yelled, striking me with the belt buckle. I rolled over to my
side and covered my face. “You think I’m being hard on you now?” he screamed, striking me
again. I couldn’t stop the tears at this point. They came out in buckets with each strike. “You
haven’t seen nothing yet you stupid bitch!” he screamed again, striking me over, and over,
and over again. After awhile my body felt too weak to fight back and I let the darkness
overtake me.
Day 4
I obviously didn’t know what time it was when I finally woke up, but I did wake up
to hear that fucking song playing again. So at least he wasn’t here.
“Oh… my fucking back,” I winced, rolling over to my stomach.
“You okay, Bella?” Anna asked, tapping on the wall.
“Peachy keen Jelly Bean,” I sighed, sitting up. “How long was I out?”
“All night,” Ruth answered. “I thought you were dead for a second.”
“Please, it’s going to take more than a whipping to kill me.” I was surprised to see a
paper bag next to my mattress. I opened it and found a small box juice and a half a sandwich.
“Oh what a prince,” I grumbled, taking out my sandwich and taking a bite. “So, Anna, how
the hell are we gonna get out of here?”
“Honey, you might as well rub a lamp,” Laura laughed. “There is no way to get out
of here.”
“Nina figured it out,” I said in a very matter of fact way.
“Yeah, in a body bag,” she replied.
“So then we figure out what she did wrong and not do it again,” Anna said, with a
little enthusiasm.
“Does that mean you’re in?” I asked.
“Hell yes,” Anna yelled.
“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here!” Sarah laughed.
“I’m in,” Ruth added, with Linda agreeing shortly after.
“What about you, Laura?” I demanded.
“Sure, why not?” she sighed. “It’s not like I got anything better else to do.”
4 Days Missing
Time seemed to stand still. Police officers and detectives circulated in and out of the
apartment like flies. Renee, Bella’s mom, flew in last night and immediately took over the
household. Cooking, cleaning, washing, she did it all. We caught her a few times standing in
Bella’s room, crying, but we never said anything. We all understood that this was her way of
coping with the situation, and the fact that she was with us helped us too. Charlie, on the other
hand, had become inconsolable. When the body was identified as Nina Jenkins he lost it. To
him this man was not just a kidnapper, but a killer now, and he expressed to me that we didn’t
have much time left.
“No offence, Charlie, but please try to keep these feelings to yourself,” I whispered.
“I’m not going to have you upsetting the girls by saying such things.”
“I’m sorry, Edward, I didn’t mean to…”
“I know,” nodding my head. “They just don’t need to be hearing that. Especially
Renee.”
“How is she holding up?” he asked, taking a long pull of his cigarette.
“If cleaning is her way of saying she’s a mess… than she’s hardly holding on.” I
sighed, lighting a smoke myself. “Were there any leads after they looked at the… body?”
He shook his head. “They took everything to a forensic lab. We won’t know until
the tests come back.”
“I need to know this, Charlie, and don’t give me the cliff notes version,” I paused
and took a deep breath. “What did this psycho do to that girl?”
“Edward, I can’t,” he sniffled, throwing his cigarette on the ground. “I can’t think
about that again.” He went to walk away, but I stopped him and swung him around.
“No, you don’t get to keep this to yourself,” I yelled. “I need to know!”
Tears fell from his eyes as he looked directly into mine. “He brutalized her in every
way you could think of,” he whispered, removing my hand from his shoulder, and walking
away.
I stood there in agony for what seemed like hours, imagining all the things my
beautiful girl could be going through. I could literally feel my heart squeezing in my chest. I
had to get away. I pulled my keys out of my pocket and ran towards my car. I had to get away
from here.
Bella
“So, Anna, you’re next to me… right?” I pounded my fist against the left wall,
waiting for a reply.
“Yep,” she answered, pounding back. “And Sarah is in the room next to me.”
“And it sounds like Ruth is right across from me,” I concluded.
“I think you’re right, Bella,” Ruth agreed. “And Linda is to my right.”
“And I’m on the other side of Linda,” Laura yelled.
I looked around to see what I had, and as usual all I had was a bucket and a
mattress, four walls and a carpeted floor.
“What are you thinking over there, Bella,” Anna asked.
I looked at the wall and an idea popped into my head. “How thick do you think
these walls are?”
“Not too thick,” Anna guessed. “Why?”
“Well if they were cement we wouldn’t be able to hear each other as well as we do,
so that means it’s just wood,” I yelled, pounding all over the wall, listening for a weak spot. I
noticed the lower I got the hollower it sounded. “You hear that, Anna?”
“Yeah, what does it mean?” she asked.
I knelt on the floor and started pulling at the rug in the corner. It pulled away from
the floor with little effort and I practically jumped for joy when I saw that it was only dirt
bellow, but the best part was that you could see the end of the wall. “Anna, bellow the carpet
is dirt, and the walls don’t go underground.”
“Are you suggesting we dig our way out?” Laura laughed.
“Not out, just to each other.”
“And have you forgotten our little leash problem,” Laura sighed, moving her chain
around loud enough to make a point.
“One problem at a time,” I sighed. “Let’s me work on the chain thing you guys just
start digging.”
“Where do we hide the dirt?” Ruth asked
“In your bucket,” Linda answered. “At least it will block out some of the smell.”
“Just not too much,” I yelled “We don’t want him to notice anything.”
I looked down at my chain and scratched my head. How the fuck do I get you off?
The room fell silent when we heard the song stop. I closed my eyes and sighed. With all my
heart I thought of everyone who I loved, with the last face flashing by being Edward. “I love
you,” I whispered, when I heard the jingling of keys coming down the stairs.
Day 7
“You fucking coward!” I screamed, banging against the wall. I could hear Anna
crying out in pain as he continued to attack her. “You’re such a spineless piece of shit.”
“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty to me, Bella,” he moaned loudly.
The mix between the cries, moans, and slapping was almost making me vomit. I
was pulling so hard on my chain that I could feel it cutting through my skin. “Eat shit minute
man,” I cried, letting my emotions get the best of me. “You want dirty? Take this fucking
chain off me and I’ll show you dirty, you fucking cock sucker!” I was pacing back in forth,
slamming my fist into anything, wishing it could have been his face.
There was a loud thud and then I heard a few slaps against the wall. I stopped and
put my ear against it, and could faintly hear his grunting. “I’m gonna fuck you up till you
bleed, Bella. And it’s gonna feel so good,” he whispered, loud enough for me to hear him.
“You first,” I spat back, slamming my fists against the wall. There were a few loud
bags against the wall again and then I heard him pull up his pants, shutting Anna’s door
behind him. I was seething when I heard him sigh as he strapped on his belt. He came over
and stopped in front of my door, and I just stood there, waiting for the next round against this
prick, but he just laughed and walked away.
“Promises, promises,” he laughed.
“That’s not a promise… it’s a fucking guarantee!” I screamed, as he slammed the
door.
We were all silent, except for Anna’s whimpers that could be heard through the
walls, waiting for the music to start. Once it did I knelt against the wall and cried.
“Anna, are you okay?” Ruth yelled.
“Just give me a minute,” she answered, sounding like she was having a hard time
catching her breath.
Not wanting to waste any time I went over to my corner, lifted the carpet, and
started digging. After awhile I could hear Anna on the other side doing the same. We
remained that way for a long time, digging silently, until she finally spoke.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” I sniffled, wiping my nose with my arm.
“He didn’t finish… in me… because of what you said.”
I leaned against the wall. “What do you mean he didn’t finish?”
“He went over to the wall and jerked off on it,” she laughed.
“Are you serious?” I laughed. “God he’s such a sick fuck.”
“What? What’s going on?” Sarah yelled.
“Dill weed jerked off on Anna’s wall,” I laughed louder.
All the girls started laughing hysterically while Anna continued talking. “It was
kinda weird though. He acted like… it was almost like he liked it,” she giggled. “Like he
liked you calling him all those names.”
I stopped laughing instantly. Shit, good job Bella. I sighed and banged my head
against the wall.
“Bella, what’s wrong?” Anna whispered, so the other girls couldn’t hear.
He figured out that no matter how many times he beats me I wouldn’t cry out, crippling his
ability to get his rocks off, but he knew it pissed me off that he hurt the other girls. He’s
gonna go after them to get to me.
“Nothing,” I answered.
“Are you sure?” she pressed.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”
She sighed, and I heard her lean against the wall. “As sad as it is to say this… I’m
used to it. I’ve been here the longest.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Don’t be. You have given us hope, Bella. Without you we would just be sitting
here waiting to die,” Anna said in a reassuring voice. It made me smile knowing that I was
helping in some small way. We had become a sisterhood, all of us leaning on each other for
comfort. He hadn’t raped me yet, and I stress yet, but I knew my time would come soon.
Hearing the girls cry out in pain everyday was my reminder that of that.
“Bella?” Anna’s voice rang out, pulling me from my daze.
“Yeah?”
“Look,” she laughed. I looked down and saw that she had dug enough to be able to
stick a few of her fingers under the wall. I bent down and smiled, softly touching her small
fingers. She pulled them back and laughed. “This makes me feel a lot better.”
“Me too,” I smiled, letting a few happy tears fall. I let out a small cough so Anna
couldn’t hear the quiver in my voice. “I hate to ask this, Anna, but were you able to feel for
anything in his pockets? Anything we could use to get out of these chains?”
“No,” she groaned. “But I do have this.” I looked down to see her fingers push two
bobby-pins under the wall.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “My chain doesn’t have a lock on it, Anna. And even if it
did I would have no idea how to pick one.”
“None of our chains do, but you never know… right?”
“What? What is it?” Ruth asked.
“Anna gave me a pair of bobby-pins,” I chuckled.
“You guys can reach each other already?” Linda asked.
“Yep, and Anna is in dire need of a manicure,” I quipped, trying to lighten the
mood.
“I’m so jealous,” Ruth grumbled.
“Don’t worry sweet pea, we’re almost there,” Linda said, with a smile in her voice.
I looked down at the two bobby-pins that were in my hand and sighed. Besides
possibly stabbing the fucker in the eyes with these what the fuck can I do with them?
7 Days Missing
Search parties had formed around the surrounding forest areas of Aberdeen after
Nina’s body was discovered. A detective asked us if we wanted to participate, but that
question was answered quickly when Emmett had to stop Charlie from pulling his gun out on
the guy. Fucking idiot. Emmett should have let him shoot the dumb ass for asking such a
thing. Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper started going back to classes, trying to convince me that I
should go too.
“Bella wouldn’t want you to fail out, Edward,” Alice pushed.
“Seriously, Alice? You’re gonna pull that card on me?” I yelled, walking over to the
couch and sitting down.
“It might help distract you a little,” Jasper added. “Get you out of the apartment for
a few hours out of the day.”
“I don’t want to be distracted, Jazz, I want to be out there!” Pointing out the
window “I want to be ransacking every god damn house until I find her. How the fuck am I
supposed to concentrate on anything but that?” I looked down and ran my hands through my
hair, trying to keep my tears at bay.
“I’m just saying…”
“No!” I yelled, cutting Jasper off. I stood up and walked to him so that we were but
inches from each other. “What if it was Alice?” I growled, pointing over his shoulder at her.
“What if she had been taken? Would you be leaving for class right now or would you be here,
chain smoking,” I let my tears spill over, “praying that every time that phone rang it would be
her voice on the other end?”
He gripped my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. I pulled at his shirt and held him
tighter as I finally let my walls fall, letting my sobs take over me. I can’t ever remember
crying so hard before in my life. I could hear Alice in the background crying too, and that just
made me feel worse.
“Oh my God,” Renee gasped, dropping the plate in her hands. It shattered into a
million pieces as she fell to her knees on top of the glass. “Not my baby,” she cried. “Not my
little girl.” Jasper and I rushed to her, lifting her off the ground so she wouldn’t cut herself.
“No, Renee, no,” I soothed, pulling her to me, rocking her back and forth. “I just…
needed a moment. We still haven’t heard anything.”
She pulled away and took my face in her hands and sighed. “Next time you need to
take a moment… do it in the bathroom,” she sniffled. “Understand?”
“Yes ma’am,” I smirked, giving her a hug. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” she smiled back, pulling away and walking into the kitchen.
I turned to Alice and my heart fell from the look in her eyes. I reached for her and
she rushed into my arms. It had been a long time since I’ve held my sister this way. She
buried her face in my chest and I stroked her hair as tears escaped her eyes. “Alice, please
don’t think for one second that I wouldn’t be just as destroyed if it was you who were taken,”
I whispered, kissing her hair. “I love you with all my heart. Never forget that.”
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
The front door swung open and Emmett walked in with Rosalie. “That’s what I’m
talking about,” he smiled, walking over to us and wrapping his huge arms around both of us.
“Family hug!”
“Oh my God, Emmett,” Alice laughed. “Get off.” We all laughed, including Jasper
and Rosalie who were now helping Renee pick up the glass off the floor.
“Edward,” a soothing voice called out that made me instantly choke up. I turned to
see my mom and dad standing in the front doorway. She started walking towards me, but I
met her halfway, wrapping my arms around her.
“Whatever you guys need; money, private detectives, security,” she sniffled, pulling
away and kissing my cheek. “It’s yours.”
“Thanks mom.” It was a little comforting to have my parents there. They loved
Bella the moment they met her, and I knew they would help as best as they could.
Alice and Jasper went off to class while Emmett and Rosalie took my parents to a
hotel. Renee was in Bella’s room taking a nap, and Charlie was still downtown at the police
station tracking leads. I walked outside and pulled my pack of smokes out, lighting one and
taking a hard pull. I smiled to myself remembering the conversation with Bella, about my
smoking, as if it happened yesterday.
“I hope you have stock in Scope,” she grumbled
“Come on, babe, it’s not that bad,” I sighed, putting out my smoke. “I already cut it
back to three a day.”
“Three more than I would like,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “You know they say
you give up seven minutes of your life with every pack.” She smiled and walked over to me,
taking the pack of cigarettes out of my pocket and held them up. “To think what we could do
with those gained seven minutes,” she smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Done,” I growled, taking my pack of cigarettes out of her hand and throwing them
over her balcony. She giggled when I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.
“Edward Cullen, what are you doing?” she squeaked, playfully smacking my butt.
“Making up for lost time,” I answered, rushing into her room and shutting the
door.
I took one last pull from my smoke and flicked it away. That same night she told me
she loved me. She may have been talking in her sleep, but she still said it, and being the idiot
that I am I never got to say it back.
Please, God. I prayed. Let me be able to say it back.
Day 10
“Bella… Bella…” Anna called out in a loud whisper, tapping on the wall, waking
me from my sleep. “Bella, wake up.”
“I’m up,” I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “What’s…” I stopped when I
heard a struggling gasp, along with a loud grunt, outside my door. Shit, it’s Ruth. “Fuck,” I
yelled, when I heard Ruth cry out. Not her… not anymore. She’s just a child. I took a deep
breath, preparing myself for what I was about to do. “Hey, you needle dick son of a bitch,” I
screamed. “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size?”
“Oh there she is,” he panted. “I was wondering when you’d join us.” Ruth cried out
when the sound of fist meeting flesh echoed out around me. It was loud enough to even make
me flinch. “Don’t worry, Bella, I’m almost done here.”
“Bella,” Ruth cried out, when another smack hit her skin.
I took a deep breath and crossed the line. “You know why you can’t get me to
scream? Because you’re less than a man.”
A few seconds later I heard a door slam against a wall, and then mine swung open. I
stood there with my fists clenched as he walked in, not even bothering to close the door
behind him, like he normally did. For the first time I saw the eyes of one of my captive sisters.
Ruth was in a room directly across from me. She looked so small and frail. Her dress, tattered,
stained with dirt and blood. Her long red hair tangled, and her pale skin was covered in
bruises. Her eyes met mine for a brief second before I met the gaze of my attacker.
“What did you say you stupid bitch?” he screamed, punching me in the face. It
wasn’t hard enough to make me fall, but it was hard enough to make me stumble back against
the wall.
I licked the blood off my lip and laughed, knowing that it would just piss him off
more. “You heard me, bitch,” I spat, spitting blood in his direction. “Only a real man can get
me to scream.” He lunged at me and wrapped his hands around my neck.
“You’re dead, you stupid bitch,” he screamed. “Do you hear me? You’re dead!
You’re fucking dead!”
I could hardly hear Ruth’s screams between his yelling and my own heartbeat
pounding in my ears. I clawed against his face unit I felt my fingers graze his right eyes. With
as much force as I could muster I plunged my thumb into it, causing him to cry out and drop
me to the ground. I grasped my neck, coughing, gasping for air while he scrambled off the
floor. I watched him as he went back over to Ruth, hitting her with so much force that she fell
to the floor, and didn’t get up.
I sat up against the wall and laughed. “How does it feel to get your ass kicked by a
girl you fucking loser?” I wheezed.
“Kick this, bitch,” he yelled, walking back into my room and kicking me in the
head.
Several hours later
I clawed at my head, feeling like there was a sledge hammer pounding against it. I
felt nauseous and could feel dried blood sticking to my face. I tried to sit up but was so dizzy
that all I could do was lift my head. “My kingdom for an Advil,” I moaned.
“Bella!” the girls all yelled, causing me to wince.
“Not so loud, please,” I groaned.
“Bella, Ruth’s not answering,” Anna cried. “She hasn’t made a noise since he left.”
“Shit.” I sat up and gasped when I saw that my door was still open, but more than
that so was Ruth’s. I could see Ruth lying on the floor, in the same position she was in when
she fell. “I can see her!” I yelled.
“What do you mean you can see her?” Linda asked.
“I mean I can fucking see her! The dumb ass left our doors open,” I yelled. “Ruth!
Ruth, honey, wake up!”
“Come on, Ruth,” Linda yelled, banging on the wall. “Wake up baby girl.”
I crawled towards the door until my chain pulled against me. “Ruth! WAKE UP!” I
screamed as loud as I could, still feeling the effects of my strangulation. I couldn’t tell if she
was breathing, and the fact that she was still in the same position as before caused my tears to
brim to the surface. Finally after a few more yells I breathed a sigh of relief when she started
to move. “Oh thank God,” I sighed.
“Is she moving?” Laura yelled.
“Yes.” I couldn’t help the laugh of excitement that came out when she slowly sat
up. “Ruth, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. I just feel…” She stopped in shock and looked at me. I knew it
wasn’t because she realized that her door was still open, and that she could see me, but it was
because her chain fell loose from around her ankle. “Holy shit!”
“Holy shit!” I mimicked.
“What?” Anna asked.
“I’m not chained!” Ruth yelled, laughing as she stood up. Before I could stop her
she started walking towards me, and out of the darkness of the hallway he lunged out and
grabbed her from around her neck.
“No!” I screamed out when I saw the disgusting grin across his face.
“Nighty night,” he sneered.
For a split second my eyes met Ruth’s, and then I fell to my knees screaming when
he snapped her neck. I stayed that way for I don’t know how long, just looking at her lifeless
body. Her eyes were pitch black as they stared off into nothing. He walked over to me and
kneeled down so that we were eyes level.
“That ones on you, little girl,” he grinned, tilting his head. “Remember that next
time you go running your mouth off.”
He stood up and laughed, grabbing Ruth’s body by the hair, and dragging her away
from my doorway. He looked at me one last time and then slammed my door shut.
10 Days Missing
Charlie called around ten in the morning asking me to drive down to his house so he
could go over a few things with me. Being only an hour’s drive away, the way I drive, I got
there a little before noon. When I walked in, and into the kitchen, I stood in shock as I saw the
kitchen table and counters covered with files and news paper clippings.
“Hey, Son,” Charlie smiled, walking down the stairs.
“Hi,” I responded, looking around. “What’s all this?”
“Answers,” he replied, reaching in the fridge and pulling out two beers. “Come sit. I
have some things to show you.” He handed me the beer and I sat in the only other kitchen
chair he had, aside from the one he was sitting in. He pulled out a picture of every girl that
had been kidnapped from campus and lined them up in front of me. “The detective on this
case lied to me, saying that none of the girls have anything in common, that this guy must be
choosing the girls randomly.”
“How do you know he’s lying?” I asked, taking a drink of my beer.
“Look at the pictures,” he pointed. “What do you see?”
I looked down at the pictures and saw… nothing. One girl was black, one was asian,
the others were all white. Blondes, brunettes, red heads. All beautiful young girls. “I’m sorry,
Charlie, I don’t see it,” I sighed, sitting back in my chair.
He picked up the picture of Bella and shoved it in my face. “Look harder,” he
pushed.
I took the picture of Bella and gazed at it. I remembered when this picture was
taken. It was last year on the track field. We all came out and rooted for her, even my parents,
and she won second place in the 100 meter race. Wait… I looked at all the pictures again, and
each one of the pictures had a girl in a uniform. A soccer player, cheerleader, lacrosse, track,
softball…
“They’re all athletes,” I gasped.
“And not just any athletes, but athletes that played on the field,” he smirked, taking
a drink of his beer.
“So you think it’s someone in the Athletic Department?”
“I know that’s where they’re looking right now.” Charlie stood up and walked over
to the counter, picking up a file. “Your brother played football, right?” he asked, handing me
the folder.
“Just his freshman and sophomore year,” I answered, taking the folder from him
and opening it. “He blew out his knee and couldn’t play anymore.”
“In that folder is a list of people who work in the Athletic Department. I need you
and your brother to check out anyone who’s new to the program.”
“Why only the new ones?” I asked, looking over the list.
“Because if this guy was someone who had been around for awhile there would
have been more girls missing over a longer stretch of time. This guy has to be new, maybe
working there for only a little over a year. Do you think you can do this?”
I looked at him and nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Charlie. You know that.”
“I know that, Edward,” he smiled.
Day 13
After Ruth was killed I couldn’t find it in myself to do anything but cry. Anna
begged me to move my mattress closer to the wall where our hole was, so she could hold my
hand while I cried, but I couldn’t. All the girls tried to get me to talk, even Laura, but I just
didn’t have the energy to care. He even seemed to be pissed off that I wasn’t talking anymore.
He would come into my room and kick me, hard, screaming at me to say something, but I
wouldn’t. I would just roll over into a ball and wait for him to finish. He spat on me, saying I
was worthless, and that I better wise up or I would be next to go. Normally I would have told
him to eat shit, and trust me I was thinking it, but again… I didn’t care.
“Bella, please come over here,” Anna whispered. “Look, I can fit my whole hand
through now.”
I looked up to see her hand waving at me and for the first time, since Ruth’s murder,
I let myself smile. I walked over and laid down on the floor, talking her pale hand in mine. I
couldn’t control the tears that started to fall when Anna’s thumb lightly stroked my fingers.
“I’m so sorry,” I wept. “God, I’m so, so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“No,” all the girls yelled.
“No, Bella, never think that,” Anna demanded, gripping my hand tighter. “It’s him,
and his sick and twisted game he’s playing.”
“If I just would have…”
“Bella,” Linda yelled, cutting me off. “I swear to God if you blame yourself again I
will kick your ass.” There was a small pause before we all started laughing. “Well, whenever
we get out of here it will be the first thing on my to-do list,” she said in a very matter-of-fact
way.
“Oh, I doubt that,” Sarah laughed.
“I’m serious!” Linda yelled.
“Really, Linda, the first thing?” Sarah asked.
“Well… I’ll kick her ass after I take a shower,” she giggled. “Maybe just smelling
me will knock her out.”
Even I had to laugh at that. We were some smelly bitches.
“I don’t know why you said shower, Linda, but I plan on taking a nice warm bath,”
Laura sighed.
“Well then you obviously don’t have a removable showerhead,” Linda laughed.
“Oh, stop teasing me Linda,” Anna chuckled. “I’m still going through withdrawals
missing mine.” Anna tugged on my hand and laughed. “What about you, Bella? What’s the
first thing you gonna do when you get out of here.”
Still holding Anna’s hand, I sat up and wiped the tears from my eyes. “I’m gonna
burn this fucking place down,” I smiled. “I just haven’t decided if I want him in here or not
when I do it.”
“Why burn it?” Laura asked.
“To get rid of the smell,” I laughed. It felt good to joke around again. All the girls
laughed with me, all except for Anna. I felt her pull at my hand, and I knelt down so I could
hear her better.
“Promise me, Bella, that we’ll get out of here,” she whispered. “Promise me you’ll
let me be here when you burn it down.”
I put both of my hands over hers and gripped it tightly. “I promise, Anna,” I swore.
“Or I’ll die trying.”
I kissed her hand and let go, needing to stand up and stretch. I walked around,
dragging my chain around, wondering how I was going to live up to my promise. It was
getting colder, which meant it was either raining more, or the snow was starting to fall. You
would think being underground we would be well insulated, but every day I found myself
pulling my arms through the sleeves of my shirt just so I could warm my arms up. I dug my
hands into my pockets, to warm them, when I came across the bobby-pins Anna gave me. I
twirled them between my fingers allowing myself to get lost in my thoughts. I found myself
singing along with that fucking annoying song that kept repeating upstairs.
“You want me to forget. Pretend we've never met. And I try, and I try, but I haven't
yet,” I sang to myself, unable to help it.
I found myself staring at the metal plaque that was bolted to the wall. The end of
my chain led right up to the center of it, where a link was sawed in half and welded to it. The
plaque was held up by four blots, one on each corner, and the plaque came up to my knee. I
sat down Indian style, running my fingers over the plaque.
“Hey, Anna?”
“Yeah?”
“The plaque that holds your chain to the wall… can you describe it to me,” I asked.
And in full detail she did, describing the exact same thing I was looking at. “Do all of yours
look like that?” I yelled, and received confirmations from everyone.
“Why? What are you thinking,” Anna asked.
“Not sure, but I have an idea.”
Suddenly the music stopped and there was a lot of ruckus over head. He came down
the stairs in a rush, opening and slamming the main door behind him. Quickly I rushed to the
overturned carpet and flipped it over, covering my hole to Anna. He came right up to my door
and banged on it.
“Your family’s gonna cause you a world of hurt, little girl,” he sneered, opening my
door. “Get over here,” he demanded. I slowly walked over to him, crossing my arms over my
chest, trying to look unfazed by his presence. “What do your parents do for a living?” he
asked.
Shit, my dad. Not wanting to put Charlie in any danger I lied. “My dad, Phil, plays
minor baseball, and my mom, Renee, is a house wife,” I answered. “Why, you want me to get
you Phil’s autograph?”
He walked over and slapped me across the face. “Don’t get smart with me, bitch,”
he yelled. “And you better not be lying, or I’ll make it so you’ll being pushed in a wheelchair
around that track for the rest of your life.” He turned away and walked out, slamming the door
on his way out.
Track? How did he know I ran track?
I heard Sarah whimper as he unlocked her door. I noticed when he came down here,
pissed off, he always went to her. We could hear her being slapping around before he took off
his belt. I started seeing a pattern when it came to who he picked and why. When he was
angry he picked Sarah, she always cried the whole time he raped her, and she was the only
one that did. I think the sick fuck really liked that more than anything.
With Anna it was torture. She told me once that his favorite new thing to do was
tape a ball to her mouth, because when he rapped her she would vomit, due to her pregnancy.
So he liked seeing her choke when he did it. Sometimes he would burn her with a lighter, and
I would scream and pound on the walls hearing him flip open his zippo.
When he was in a good mood he picked Linda. If Linda didn’t act like she was
having sex with him, instead of being raped, he would hit her till she fell unconscious. She
said that it’s the hardest thing she’s ever had to do; to kiss him back, pretend to moan in
pleasure, even sometimes hold him afterwards. The sick fuck.
And then poor Laura. Laura seemed to be his favorite. We all knew why, even she
did too. Laura always fought back, and he loved it. You could hear her slapping and hitting
him, but he would just laugh at her, throwing her down and doing whatever he wanted. He
rapped her more than any other.
With me I think it’s just a pain thing. He hasn’t tried to rape me. Not even once.
Fondle, but never rape. I think he saw me as his own personal punching bag. A few times he’d
just come down here to beat me and then leave. Even when he’s just dropping off that pathetic
bag of food, or empting our buckets, he would have to beat me. To be honest I wasn’t sure
what would be worse, being raped or being beaten, but it’s a question I hoped I never got to
answer.
“That’s right, bitch, cry out,” he laughed, hitting her again.
Feeling a little bit of my confidence coming back, and wanting Sarah to know we
had her back, I started to sing.
“Oh yes I am wise, but it's wisdom born of pain. Yes, I've paid the price, but look
how much I gained. If I have to, I can do anything. I am strong. I am invincible. I am
woman.” I sang it so loud that my voice cracked at the end. While I continued my singing of
the chorus, being that it was the only part I could remember of the song, I turned my attention
back to the plaque. With bobby-pins in hand I put my crazy idea to work.
13 Days Missing
Everyday, for the last three days, Emmett and I had been checking out every person
on the list. Emmett’s old football trainer, Joe, helped us limit the list down to thirty from the
almost hundred that were there. Joe had been working for the Athletic Department for over
thirty years, so we felt comfortable going to him over anyone else.
We spent hours following these men around, not sure exactly what we were looking
for, but taking notes like what car they drove to what brand of cigarettes they smoked. Charlie
would call every once in awhile, just to see if we were making any progress, but I kept telling
him if we found anything he would be the first person I’d call.
“I bet he’s not getting anywhere on his end, and that’s why he keeps calling you,”
Emmett grumbled. Emmett was ready to move on from the guy we had been stalking. His
name was Richard Castro, and we had been following him around for five hours. All he did
was time the runners for their practices, writing the time down on his clip board. We made a
copy of the list for Jasper so he could look up the addresses to all the people Joe said were
new. Jasper was driving over to Richard’s house to see if this guy seemed decent.
I felt my phone vibrating again, and was relieved to see that it was Jasper.
“Hey man, how’s it looking?” I asked, answering the phone.
“Man has a wife and three kids,” he answered. “Lives in a nice little area too. Don’t
think he’s the guy.”
“Yeah, me either,” I sighed. “So who’s next on the list?”
“I want to check out this guy named Thomas Reed.”
I looked down at my list and found the name towards the bottom. Joe took the time
to write a few notes by each of the names, and by Thomas’s name it said; field department,
working almost a year, seems nice but doesn’t talk much. “Where does he live?” I asked
“Matlock.”
“Where the hell is that?”
“About fifteen miles north-west of Olympia,” he sighed. “ It’s near the Olympic
National Forest.”
“So out in the boonies?” I laughed
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s why I want to check it out.”
“You need me and Emmett to tag along?” Asking that seemed to perk up Emmett’s
attention a little.
“No, but how about you give Charlie a break from girl-sitting, and eat some lunch.
I’ll call you if I find anything.”
I hung up the phone and Emmett and I headed for the car. When we got to the
apartment Charlie was chain smoking outside while the woman folk were in the living room
watching some annoying chick movie. Watching them sitting there on the couch made my
heart ache. Renee was sitting in the middle with Alice to her left, and Rose on her right. Each
girl with their head on one of Renee’s shoulders, and all of them holding hands. They didn’t
even seem to be watching the movie, but just needed to be close to one another. I could feel
the tears start to rise up when the phone rang. I walked over and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Detective Chase.” He sounded very monotone, which made me very
nervous. Detective Chase normally seemed very upbeat and uplifting. “Is Charlie there?”
“Um… sure… hold on,” I stammered, looking over at Charlie and motioning for
him to come over. I mouth Chase to him and he nodded.
“Hello?” he whispered, not wanting the girls to hear him. “Uh-huh… okay… I’ll be
there in,” he looked over at the clock, “an hour.” He hung up the phone and grabbed his keys
off the counter.
“What’s going on?” I asked, following him out the door. He seemed to be in a rush
and I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I’ll call you when I find out?” he answered, walking over to his car and unlocking
the door.
I put my hand on the driver door to stop him from closing it. “What did he have to
say? I know something is wrong, Charlie, just tell me,” I demanded.
Charlie sighed and looked up at me. “Another girls’ body was found.”
My hand flew over my chest and I swear my heart stop beating.
Day 17
“Come on, Bella,” he laughed, hearing him flip open his zippo. “I know this is your
favorite part.”
I cringed when I heard Anna scream out. I bit my lip, resting my forehead against
the wall. It was a double edge sword talking shit now. Either I say something and he goes
after me, by killing her, or I say something and he kills me. I banged my forehead against the
wall, trying to contain my anger.
“Fuck,” I yelled, when I heard Anna scream out again.
“Oh, please, is that the best you can do?” he chuckled.
There was a loud bang against the wall, and it caused me to move away from it. He
must have pushed Anna against it because his movements were literally causing the wall to
bend. “Please stop,” she whimpered, as the banging became more frequent.
I put my hands against the wall, laying my forehead back against it, trying to
console Anna. “Listen to my voice, Anna,” I whispered. “I’m right here. Just pay attention to
my voice.” I felt my tears start to well up behind my eyes. “It’ll all be over soon.”
“It’s not over till I say it’s over, bitch,” he yelled. The wall thumped a few more
times and then I heard Anna slump to the floor. He walked out and over to my room, opening
the door and barging in. He took me by the throat and shoved me against the wall. “You’re so
heartless,” he sneered, running his nose along my cheek. “To give them hope, raise their
spirits.” He pulled back and looked me strait in the eye. “I would say you torture them worse
than me.” He pulled his fist back and punched me in the stomach. He let me fall to the floor
where he proceeded to kick me in the side. “God it’s such a turn on,” he moaned. I rolled onto
my back and bit my lip, holding my aching stomach. He reached down, picked me up, and
threw me on the mattress.
“Knowing that when I’m not here you’re here just making it worse for them,” he
smiled, lying on top of me, and licking the side on my face. Trying to push him off me was
useless. My body was in so much pain all I could do was close my eyes, hoping that this
wouldn’t last long. He started rubbing himself against me, unable to hold back the lone tear
that escaped. I turned my head so he couldn’t see it. “God you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
He continued rubbing himself against me while I just lay there, waiting for him to
finish. He let out a low moan, shaking slightly over me, then grabbing my face and plunging
his tongue down my throat. He stood up and laughed, walking towards my door. “It may have
taken me a little over two weeks, but I have yet to find a horse I couldn’t break.” He laughed
again, shutting the door behind him.
I rolled over to my side and held myself. As soon as the main door was shut Anna
called out to me.
“Bella, are you okay?” her voice still trembling.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“Forget about what he said, Bella. It’s all bullshit,” Linda yelled.
I knew what she said was right, but I couldn’t help but feel that, because of my
mouth, some of their blood was on my hands. Too exhausted to answer I just closed my eyes,
letting sleep take over.
17 Days Missing
“They all check out,” Emmett sighed, tossing his list on the kitchen table.
“I still have a weird feeling about this guy,” Jasper pushed, pointing out one of the
names at the bottom of the list.
“Just because the guy is an emo loner doesn’t make him a serial kidnapper,”
Emmett laughed. “I mean that was Edward for years, and look at him. Maybe this guy just
needs to get laid like Edward did.”
“Emmett,” I warned.
“Okay, okay, sorry….bad joke,” he apologized, setting down his beer. “Look I’m
just saying that this Thomas guy lives in a double wide in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly
a place to keep six girls.”
“Five,” I corrected.
Four days earlier the body of Ruth-Ann Summers was found by the side of the road
in Shelton. Shelton was about forty miles from Aberdeen where Nina Jenkins was found, also
by the side of the road. Just like Nina, Charlie said Ruth’s face was beaten to the point of
being unrecognizable. She was also raped repeatedly, brutalized, and damn near starved. The
worst thing was that she was found to be pregnant. That information alone killed me. When
that news got leaked out Charlie was damn near inconsolable. Only Charlie and I knew this
information, and kept it to ourselves, not wanting to upset the girls.
Sleep was becoming more and more difficult for me. Every night I would hear the
echo of Bella’s voice, screaming out in pain, while being attacked by a man I couldn’t see. I
was completely surrounded my darkness, and no matter what direction I ran in I was never
getting any closer to the source. Alice would even come wake me up when she heard me
yelling Bella’s name, now that I had practically moved in and lived on their couch.
“But look where he lives,” Jasper argued, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Aberdeen is here,” he pointed. “And Shelton is over here. Matlock is practically in the
middle. It’s a secluded area, and when I dove by the place you wouldn’t have even noticed his
home unless you were looking for it.”
“Wait, you only drove by it?” I asked, slightly annoyed.
“Well it had a gate around it. I couldn’t drive up,” he said, almost apologetically. “I
could see his trailer and that was about it.”
“We have to tell Charlie about this,” Emmett said, draining his beer.
“I agree,” I answered, picking up the papers, and following Emmett towards the
door. “If we leave now we can make it to Forks my six.”
“I’ll stay with the girls,” Jasper whispered, standing and facing us.
I walked over and gave him a hug. “You’re doing great, Jaz. Thank you for your
help.”
He nodded and patted my back. “Thanks, man. Now hurry up,” he smiled, pushing
me out the door.
BPOV
“All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces. Bright and early
for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere. Their tears are filling up their glasses. No
expression, no expression. Hide my head I want to drown my sorrows. No tomorrow, no
tomorrow,” Anna sang.
“And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad. These dreams, in which I'm dying,
are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take. When people run in
circles it’s a very… very… Mad World, Mad World,” Sarah sang, along with Anna.
There was an eerie silence among us, besides the stupid record playing upstairs. I
was about to say something when Linda started to sing.
“Children waiting for the day they feel good, happy birthday, happy birthday. And
they feel the way that every child should, sit and listen, sit and listen. Went to school and I
was very nervous, no one knew me, no one knew me. Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson?
Look right through me, look right through me.”
“And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad. The dreams, in which I’m dying,
are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take. When people run in
circles it's a very… very… Mad World, Mad World. Enlarging your world… Mad World,”
we all sang, some of us in tears.
Anna found comfort in singing after he would brutalize her. She was in too much
pain to crawl off her mattress to our hole, where we would always hold hands after he would
hurt one of us, so she just laid on her bed singing to us. Most of the time we joined her,
needing to hear something other than Patsy Cline.
Each girl had found something, in a way, to deal with the aftermath that was ‘The
Douchebag’. Linda would talk, sometimes for hours, but of course we never complained.
Sarah sought comfort in Anna; their whole was about the same size as ours, there for they
were also able to hold hands. Laura, being Laura, found comfort in denting her walls with her
fists. I couldn’t blame her; I had, on occasion, done the same thing a few times. Some of my
knuckles are still swollen.
I, on the other hand, had found a new hobby…. our escape. Using the bobby-pins
Anna gave me I had been scrapping the rust off around the bolts that held the plaque up
against the wall. Satisfied that one of them looked good enough to try I brought the bobby-
pins together, sideways, placing them inside the crevice of the bolt. Like a makeshift flat-head
screwdriver, I proceeded to try and turn the bolt loose. The bobby-pins kept cutting through
my skin, causing me to bleed, but after awhile it turned loose. My heart practically stopped
when I brought my fingers to it, unscrewing the bolt the rest of the way. I looked at the bolt in
my hand as if it were the best fucking thing I’d ever seen.
“Well fuck me,” I whispered, smiling to myself. “Broken horse my ass.”
Day 20
"Just don’t fucking talk to me right now, okay?" I yelled, pulling my shredded shirt
over my chest.
"Bella, it will be okay," Linda said reassuringly. "We’ll get this guy and…"
"Did you just say it will be OKAY?" I screamed. "That is my fucking family out
there."
"We know that, Bella, but there isn’t anything you can do about it," Anna said.
"You need to worry about you, and what he did."
What he did. Those three words playing over and over again in my head. I tried to
push the thought of it to the back of my mind, but I couldn’t. I was now able to answer the
question that I wished I never had to. Rape was far worse than being beaten.
Two hours earlier
I was laughing at the girls as they joked around with each other about who had the
sexier voice; George Clooney or Sean Connery. I pulled myself out of the debate when Anna
and Linda were making me choose sides.
"Sorry girls, I’m not in this one," I laughed.
"Traitor," Anna grumbled.
As fun as it seemed I had more important things to take care of. With two bolts
now loose I was working diligently on number three. For the last few days Anna had been
asking me what I was doing, but I didn’t have the heart to tell them. Not even Anna. I didn’t
know if this was going to work, and after what he said, I didn’t want to give them hope that it
might.
"You fucking lying bitch," he screamed upstairs.
I instantly knew he was talking about me. I quickly hid the bobby-pins and
screwed the bolts into the wall, leaving them slightly loose. We were all silent as he ran down
the stairs and unlocked the door. I stood up and readied myself for the beating I knew for sure
was coming. He unlocked my door and flew it open.
"Minor league baseball my ass," he yelled, walking in and slapping me across the
face. I fell to the floor and covered my face as he continued to slap me. "Your father’s a
fucking cop." Slap "He and your little cronies" Slap "are all over town asking questions." Slap
I tried to put my hands up to block the strikes, but he would just push them away,
hitting me harder. He picked me up and threw me at the wall. I bounced off of it and landed
on the floor with a thud. I heard him start to unbuckle is belt as he walked towards me.
"You have no respect, Bella," he growled, wrapping his belt around his fist. "But
trust me when I say that today you will learn to never lie to me again." He took me by my hair
and proceeded to hit me so hard my vision blurred, and soon I blacked out.
I woke up feeling a pressure on my chest. I was so dizzy that when I tried to lift
my arms, to push it away, they fell back down beside me. The more I started coming to the
more I realized my surroundings. My clothes were torn, the smell of blood and sweat was in
the air, I could vaguely hear low moaning, but more importantly he was still here… on top of
me. Dear God help me… he’s inside me.
"No," I slurred, trying my best to move, but he just laughed and continued doing
his business. "No," I whimpered, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
"Oh, yeah," he moaned. "Cry for me."
I don’t know what it was about what he said, but it seemed to have revived me.
With all the strength I could muster I reached up and scratch him, dragging my nails deep and
long across his cheek. He yelled, looking down at me with intense hatred in his eyes. He
reached behind himself and out of the corner of my eyes I saw something shiny. Before I had
a chance to react he brought the knife to my cheek and sliced it. I cried out when I felt the
blade against my throat.
"Now we match, whore."
With the blade to my throat I stayed completely still, letting him have his way
with me. Within minutes, which felt like hours, he was done; moaning and grunting, resting
his weight on me as if we were lovers.
"Not bad, Bella," he smiled, kissing my cheek. "Not bad at all." He got up and
moved off to the side, zipping up his pants and brushing himself off. "Here’s a little
something to think about while you’re down here." I stayed perfectly still while he walked
over to the door. "If your father, or one of your asshole friends, question anyone about me
again… they’re dead." I looked over at the door in horror as it slammed shut.
I wrapped my arms around my ever thinning body, attempting to grasp some
sense of the person that used to be there. The person with a life outside these hollowed walls,
the person with other people besides the four that shared that same cell, the person who had
Edward. A person, I hoped, that wasn’t completely lost.
After telling the girls I wanted to be left alone we all sat in a deafening silence. I
couldn’t bring myself to care if I hurt their feelings or not. I’m sure I wasn’t alone when
thinking how uncharacteristic it was for him not to be playing that irritating song upstairs. For
once I welcomed the noise that would have easily disguised my soft tears. Curled in a ball,
still facing the door, I promised myself something I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep.
Never again.
Never again will he touch me, and I was prepared to do anything to make sure I
kept that promise to myself.
20 Days Missing
Twenty days… nearly three weeks… four hundred and eighty hours… twenty
eight thousand eight hundred minutes… I can’t even think about how many seconds. Each
second was just another reminder that Bella was still gone, still not in my arms, still suffering
God knows what. My heart feels so hollow, but yet so heavy every time the phone rings. It’s
all in vain. That phone never had the voice I needed to hear.
Thomas Reed checked out. After telling Charlie our idea he agreed that it was
something to look into. He talked to Detective Chase and the both of them went to Thomas’s
home to question him. Thomas explained that he was there house sitting for his brother,
David, who was in the military. He explained that his brother was sent overseas and only
planned to live there until his brother returned home. Charlie said that from the looks of it he
seemed to be alone. The trailer home was small and, although the property was large, all they
found was a small shed in the back that mostly held tools.
I felt defeated hearing this. I was absolutely convinced that this Thomas guy had
to be the guy. It all seemed to fit. My head was telling me to trust Charlie’s words, but my
heart couldn’t. There was something about this guy, I couldn’t explain, but I knew he had to
know something. Emmett, Jasper and I took shifts watching him. We followed him around
everywhere; when he was working, grocery shopping, going to the drive thru. I wanted eyes
on him twenty-four seven. Emmett and Jasper tried their best to show interest in the guy, but I
knew they felt the same way Charlie did. I stopped asking them to follow Thomas after the
third day. I didn’t deny that I had become obsessed with watching him, but I refused to give
up. He knew something, and I would be there to catch him when he slipped.
"When was the last time you ate?" Alice asked. I had Thomas’s schedule
memorized by this point. I was rarely ever at the apartment, and when I was it was always
very late at night, when I knew Thomas was asleep. I would quickly drive home to shower,
change, and head back, hoping to get a few hours sleep before the sun would rise. I would
always park my car down the road against the street, the high brush camouflage my car
perfectly.
"I got a coffee and muffin at the campus cart this morning," I answered honestly.
Normally I didn’t answer my phone when I was watching Thomas, but he was eating lunch at
the campus dinner, so I was outside smoking. I only answered because I thought maybe they
might have heard something new about Bella.
"Edward, where are you? I’m sending Jasper over there to switch places with you,"
she sighed. "You need to eat and get some sleep."
"Don’t, Alice, I’m fine." I stopped paying attention to Alice when I noticed
Thomas get up from his chair and throw his trash away. "I gotta go, Alice. Talk to you later."
I hung up the phone quickly, not caring what she was about to say. It’s not that I didn’t trust
Jasper or Emmett, I knew they would help if I asked, I just didn’t trust that they believed me
when I said this was the guy.
I maintained my distance, as always, trying to seem inconspicuous while
continuing to follow him. Thomas went through his normal routine at work. He assisted the
coaches with paperwork, ran errands for them, and helped put equipment away. I stood behind
the bleachers, as always, adding to my on growing pile of cigarettes that were accumulating at
my feet. I nearly choked on the one I was smoking when Jasper came up behind me.
"Dude, seriously?" he laughed, looking down at the mess at my feet. "I really hope
those weren’t your so called coffee and muffin this morning."
"No," I simply replied, stubbing out my cigarette and turning my attention back to
Thomas.
"Why don’t you let me take over for awhile, Edward," Jasper said, patting my back
and glancing over at the field. "Go take a shower and get some good food in your system."
"I’m fine, Jasper. I’ll come home later on tonight and eat."
"When? At two in the morning?" he snapped. "Just so you can get back there by
four and maybe get two hours of sleep?"
"This isn’t a debate, Jasper."
"No, it’s more like an intervention."
I was growing annoyed. I already had a similar encounter with Emmett about this,
and I wasn’t about to deal with it again. "I understand you’re all worried, but I don’t have
time for this. It’s been twenty days, Jasper…"
"You think we don’t know that?" he bellowed, pushing me against one of the
metal pillars. "You think you’re the only one that misses her? She has a mom and dad, at her
apartment, that are in agenizing pain," he slams his hand against his chest, "Friends who are
constantly worried that they will never get the chance to tell her how wonderful she is." He
pushes me again, forcing me to look at him. "A best friend, your sister, my girlfriend, who
cries herself to sleep every night because she feels that she didn’t just loose a sister, but a
brother as well." I couldn’t help but cry. Jasper was right. I pushed everyone away in my need
to find some form of solace with Bella being gone. Jasper pulled me into a hug and allowed
me to cry. "All we’re asking for is a few hours."
"How many?" I asked shakily, trying to steady my breathing.
"Eight hours."
I pulled away, shaking my head. "That’s too long," I argued.
"For us or for you?" he asked.
For me. "For you," I lied, knowing he wouldn’t hear it.
"Look, I’ll take the first four and Emmett will take the last. You can relieve him
from watch at," he looked down at his watch, "two in the morning. It gives you enough time
to eat, shower, and get a few hours of sleep."
I sighed and caved. He was right, again, but he knew that. Jasper had always been
the voice of reason in any situation. And when we did find Bella I didn’t want her coming
home to a mess of a boyfriend. "Thanks, Jasper. You know… for everything," I smiled.
"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled. "Go home and get some rest. I’ll have my phone on if
anyone needs to reach me."
I walked to my car feeling anxious. This will be the first time in days that I’m
having to confront the realization of what’s going on back at the apartment. The darkness that
seemed to consume that place was haunting. It was as if Bella was the light, and with her gone
we were blind, surrounded in constant darkness. My only motivation to keep going was to
find Bella, and to find the monster who took her. I turned around and looked at Thomas one
last time. And if it is you… you will suffer to your last breath.
Day 23
He hadn’t come down in a few days. I found it reassuring that he wasn’t coming
down here, but a few of the girls were becoming scared that we would end up starving to
death.
“We would end up dying from dehydration first,” Sarah corrected.
“Thanks a lot, Sarah,” Laura yelled. “As if that’s any better?”
I hadn’t talked much the since the… attack. I would whisper to Anna a little bit, but
that was it. As much as I knew that the other girls know how I felt their words fell on me like
faint whispers. My mind wasn’t here. It never fully was. My mind was on Ruth and Nina. I
could feel it in my bones that I was next. It was only a matter of time.
I was able to get three out of the four bolts loose, but number four was being a
bitch. My hands ached from the bobby-pins cutting into them. It also didn’t help that it was
getting colder, and was now constantly shivering. With my tattered shirt now useless to keep
me warm I ripped it into strips, wrapping them around my hands to stop the bleeding. I tried
everything to get that fucking plaque off, but even with just the one bolt it held on to the wall
like a champ.
Fatigue was becoming a problem for me. Due to the lack of food and water it was
becoming harder to keep my strength up.
“Can I just state the obvious for a minute,” Anna grumbled. “I’m fucking starving.”
“You think something actually happened to him?” Linda asked.
“You mean like maybe he got caught?” I answered, pulling at the plaque again. “I
doubt it.”
“Why do you say that?” Linda replied. “And what are you doing over there?”
I sighed, walking away from the slightly loose plaque, stretching my arms. “If he
was stupid enough to get caught he would have been arrested awhile ago.”
“Okay, I buy that, but Bella… what are you doing over there?” Linda asked again.
I didn’t want to say anything, but I knew I had to tell them sooner than later. “Girls,
I have something to tell you, but I don’t want you to get excited. Not yet anyway.”
“What’s going on Bella?” Anna asked.
“You know that plaque on the wall, the one holding our chains?”
“Yeah?” four voices replied.
“Well I sort a have been getting the bolts loose off of mine.”
“What?” Laura yelled. “How the fuck did you do that?”
“Well awhile ago Anna gave me some bobby-pins, and I’ve been using them to
loosen the bolts on the plaque.”
There was an unnerving silence amongst them that seemed to last a lifetime.
“What are you going to do if you get loose?” Sarah asked, finally breaking the
silence.
“Bash his fucking head in I hope,” Anna laughed. We all kinda laughed at that.
“To be honest I really haven’t thought about it,” I sighed. “Right now plane A is to
just get this fucking chain off the wall. I’ll figure out plan B once I get there.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed, Bella,” Laura yelled. “When he comes down
here, and sees what you’ve done, he’s gonna kill you just like Nina and Ruth.”
“He has to show up first,” I grumbled.
“Have you thought what might happen to all of us with you doing that?” Laura
asked. “He might think we can all do it and end up killing us all.”
I never thought about it that way. Maybe I was being selfish. I had to be honest with
myself. I had been only thinking about getting myself out of this room. Before it was about
getting all of us out, but when he threatened my family my motives shifted. It was about
getting out and helping them. There was no way to change what I had already done, but I had
to fix it.
“I won’t let him, Laura. I swear.”
“Oh, really?” she scoffed. “And how do you plan to do that?”
“Because if I get this plaque off, and he’s in the room with me, he’s not coming
out,” I swore.
“Bella, just please be careful,” Anna whispered. I looked down at our little hole and
walked over to it, sticking my hand through it. She must have seen my hand because she took
it quickly.
“I will, Anna,” I promised, gripping her hand. “I’m gonna get out of this room and
the first door I’m breaking down is yours.” I kept my voice low, not wanting the others to
hear me.
“Bella, can I say something and not sound like a raging lesbian?” she laughed, with
a slight sniffle.
I couldn’t help but smile at her question. “Sure, Anna, what is it?”
“Even though I have never seen you I feel like you’re… a sister in a way,” she
laughed. “Like we’re some twisted fucked up family down here. I just want you to know, if I
don’t make it, Bella… I love you.”
“I love you, too, Anna,” I whispered.
I wasn’t just saying that to make her feel better, I really did love her. I loved all of
them, but there was little comfort coming from such a truth. This last annoying bolt in the
wall was causing some major problems with my confidence. It was as if it were mocking me.
No matter how hard I pulled, tugged, and bleed, it wouldn’t budge. After the first bolt popped
off the others seemed to come off like a breeze, but not that one.
I felt Anna’s hand become loose in mine and I realized she had fallen asleep. I stood
up and stretched. My body was still recovering from the latest attack, and I was more than
confident that if I were to look in a mirror I wouldn’t even be able to recognize myself. My
right eye was still swollen, and looking down at myself I could tell something was fractured
around my ribs. Time was slowly running out for us. I could feel it. It was as if a giant
pendulum was swinging over my head ready to strike.
*~**~**
I was woken up by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. I quickly rushed
over to the plaque on the wall and screwed the bolts back into the wall. I’d be damned if I
were to get caught now. A few locks turned and the door squeaked open, and then shut just as
quickly. I felt myself tensing up but that quickly receded when he spoke.
“Everyone turn around and face the wall,” he whispered.
This wasn’t him. This was someone different. This man’s voice was softer. The
other guy would walk harder, but this guy… his footsteps were softer. I did as I was told and
stood in front of the wall, facing it.
One by one I heard the doors opening, and then shutting, with nothing being said.
No crying, screaming, or whimpering. Finally he came to my door. It opened slowly and I
heard a small hiss escape his mouth. I could smell the pine off of him, but there was
something else. Something very familiar, but I couldn’t place it in time. The door shut
quickly, leaving just as fast as he came. I turned around to see a bag of food, water, and a
small pile of clothes left just within my reach.
“Anna?” I called out.
“Yeah?” she answered.
“Are you looking at what I’m looking at?”
“Uh-huh.”
I didn’t know if I should be grateful or nervous for the fact that there were now two
of these assholes up there. At least one of them didn’t seem so bad. For now.
23 Days Missing
Thomas hadn’t left his house in three days. After Emmett went to the University,
and very nonchalantly asking where Tom was, he found out that Tom had called in sick with
the flu. I didn’t buy it for a second. Charlie was back in town and I asked Emmett to take over
watch while I talked to Charlie. Jasper called saying he was taking the girls grocery shopping,
so I was glad that Charlie and I would be alone. When I reached the apartment I found Charlie
out on the patio, smoking. I whipped out a cigarette and stood next to him.
“Heard anything?” I asked, lighting my smoke.
“Nothing you want to hear,” he grumbled. Charlie agreed that Thomas was
someone to keep tabs on, but not as extensively as I was.
“Seriously, Chief, is there any news?” I pushed.
He shook his head. “No, son, I’m sorry.”
The phone rang and Charlie flicked out his cigarette and ran over to answer it. I
stood there staring out at the scenery, thinking of nothing else by my beautiful girl. I found
myself calling her cell phone just to hear the sound of her voice on the voicemail. In the
beginning I would have to be alone, allowing myself to cry without having to worry about
people seeing, but now it seemed to be my wake up call. Anytime I got tired, or found myself
not paying attention, I would dial Bella’s phone number. Her voice pulsated through me like a
shot of caffeine.
“No… no, thank you,” Charlie said enthusiastically, writing something down on a
nearby notepad. He hung up the phone and then took his cell out of his pocket, dialed a
number, and started talking quickly. I couldn’t tell what he was saying, but when he saw me
watching him he hung up the phone, ripped out the piece of paper, and grabbed his coat. “I
gotta run.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. I found myself asking him that a lot lately, and it was
really starting to piss me off. I was tired of playing catch up to Charlie’s constant phone calls.
“Just something I have to verify. Keep your phone on you,” he rushed, as he ran out
the door.
I stood there in a daze wondering what the hell just happened. I went over to the
notepad, picked it up, and took it into the kitchen. Turning the stove light on I held the paper
below it, hoping to make out what Charlie had written. The only thing I could make out was
the name Dave…
Who the hell was Dave?
Day 25
I woke up crying again. I had been dreaming of Edward a lot lately, and it seemed
that every time I did I’d wake up thinking that he was next to me. I would reach over every
time, thinking I would feel him, but there was nothing there, nothing but the cold, dirty
mattress that lay beneath me. Some nights I knew that I was dreaming. It was always the same
dream; we were lying in bed, facing each other, and we would just silently staring at one
another. When I would slowly start to wake up, I would watch him softly fade away, and I
would just cry. I wanted to reach out for him, to yell out his name, but I never did. I knew
there was no point. I curled myself around the huge flannel shirt that was given to me by the
guy who we now called ‘Number Two,’ and bit my lip to hush my tears.
Number Two seemed nice. He never once hurt us or yelled, but came down every
day to bring us food and empty out our buckets. I didn’t know what to make of it. We were
never allowed to look at him, or even speak, but there was just something about him…
something familiar.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of footsteps above us. They were loud
and heavy, and I knew it was him. He was back.
“Wake up,” I yelled, pounding on the wall. “He’s back.”
Before anyone had the chance to say anything, the soft, annoying voice of Patsy
Cline filtered through the air. I looked over at the plaque against the wall and gave that
fucking last bolt the evil eye as I heard his footsteps come down the stairs. I stood up when I
heard the jingle of the keys unlocking the door. When he opened the door I could hear the
faint whimper of Sarah’s voice, and I couldn’t help but jump when he slammed the door
behind him. He didn’t make a sound, which made me anxious because he always had some
stupid quip to throw at us.
He walked down the hall, and opened one of the other girl’s doors, and closed it
shut behind him. If he spoke anything it must have been in a whisper, but I knew he was with
one of the girls when I heard a chain clang against the floor. Normally I welcomed some form
of silence against the screams and cries; having to cover my ears and hum just to block it out,
but this was different. I’d never heard such silence down here, and frankly it scared the shit
out of me. What also scared me was how quick he was. I could only guess how long he had
been in the cell, but compared to his other visits there was no way he had come down here for
his normal business.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I heard a door slam open. I couldn’t
help the shutter of breath that escaped my throat when I heard something being dragged
across the floor. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around my bruised body, letting my
warm tears fall from my eyes as I heard thump, after thump, after thump, go up the stairs. It
was the sound of a head hitting the stairs; he had murdered another girl. My body shook with
rage when I heard his footsteps come back down the stairs, only to shut the main door and
lock it. I was breathing heavily by that point and almost screamed out when Laura spoke.
“It was Linda,” she simple said.
“She didn’t do anything,” Sarah yelled. “She never fought back, or yelled. She was
his favorite.”
It was true; Linda, out of all of us, was treated better in the sense the he didn’t beat
or torture her.
“He’s gonna kill us all,” Sarah cried. “We’re not gonna make it out. We’re not
gonna make it out. We’re not gonna make it out.”
“Will you just shut up for fuck sakes?” Laura screamed. “We don’t need you to
state the obvious.”
But there was no use trying to calm Sarah. It was as if she had been finally been
broken. I couldn’t blame her; if I wasn’t so angry I’d probably be a fucking wreck too, but I
didn’t have time to let my sadness take over. I had to get that fucking bolt off. I used my new
found anger to be my strength as motivation as I pulled against my chain. With the three freed
bolts kept securely in my pocket, I lifted my foot up against the wall, and with all the strength
I could muster, started to pull. Visions of Ruth’s face and Laura’s voice played over and over
as I tightened my sore hand around the chain.
Flash
“Hey, Bella, why don’t we get out of here? Don’t you think it’s a little loud?” Mike
asked, plugging his ears and leaning towards me.
“Um, no thanks, I’m good,” I smiled, taking a sip of my drink and bobbing my head
with the music. Mike was on the track team with me, but for the life of me I had no idea why I
had agreed to go out with him. He was such a freak, and not in a good way. The only reason I
had agreed to the date was because I knew that Edward would be at the party, and I wanted
to make him jealous. I’d grown so sick and tired of the awkward tension between the two of us
that I’d finally now stooped to belittling myself into accepting dates from mouth breathers.
“How about we go outside? Just to get a little air?” he suggested. I thought about it
for a second and decided that I could handle that.
I hadn’t realized how smoky it was in there until we stepped out onto the front
porch. It was slightly chilly outside, and I crossed my arms over my bare shoulders to keep
them warm. Why oh why did I have to wear a tube top in November?
“Isn’t that a little better?” Mike laughed. “Now I can hear what you were saying.”
“Yeah, as if you even gave a shit? You were looking at my boobs the whole time.
You’re still looking at my boob,” I thought. In reality, I had been ready to end the date the
second I got out of the car. I hadn’t seen Edward all night, and my ass and I were growing
incredibly annoyed with Mike’s wandering hands. “Yeah, I guess,” was all I could muster.
For the next hour all I could do was smile and occasionally nod my head as Mike
blabbered on about politics and philosophy. I excused the yawn that I couldn’t hold back,
explaining that I had gotten up early this morning for track practice. I’d be lying if I said I
wasn’t relieved when he asked if I wanted to go home. All I wanted to do was take a hot
shower and dive into a pint of Cherry Garcia.
Mike walked me to my door, which I repeatedly assured him wasn’t necessary, but
found him in front of my door anyway. I unlocked my door and put on the fakest smile
possible. “I had a nice time, Mike. Thank you for inviting me to the party.”
“Me too, Bella,” he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Maybe we
can go see a movie or something?”
Oh crap. “Maybe,” I smiled, giving a small nod. “Well goodnight, Mike.” I turned
to go in but was stopped when Mike took my wrist in his hand.
“Bella, I was wondering… I mean what I wanted to ask was…” I kept looking down
at his hand on my wrist as he stuttered with his words. “Would it be okay if…”
“Mike, let go of my wrist,” I asked nicely.
“It’s just that I really like you and…”
“Let go of my wrist,” I said a little more firmly, feeling a little nervous.
“I was thinking maybe you might want…”
What the fuck was this guy,s problem? I couldn’t even comprehend anything that
Mike was saying because all I knew was that his grip, for some reason, was becoming tighter
around my wrist. My heart started to pound in my chest and my stomach started to feel heavy.
“Mike, let go of my fucking wrist,” I yelled.
“What?” he asked, looking surprised by my comment.
Suddenly Mike was pulled away from me, and thrown to the ground. “The lady said
to let go,” Edward growled. He went at Mike in two strides and picked him up by his collar.
“And when a lady says let go you fucking let go. Understand?” he yelled, causing Mike to
shiver and nod his head in agreement. “If I see you so much as look at her the wrong way I
will break your fucking neck. You feel me, Newton?” Mike just nodded his head again and
ran for his car when Edward let him go.
I stood there in shock, holding my wrist in my hand. It would bruise, but I’d be fine.
Edward stood there for a long time; his breath was labored and he looked as stiff as a bored.
It took a few tries, but by the third time I called his name he finally turned and looked at me.
He saw me holding my wrist and immediately came to my side to look at it.
“We should put ice on that,” he whispered.
Edward waited on the balcony while I washed my face and changed. I wanted to
shower, but I didn’t want to keep Edward waiting. Normally I would have reveled in the
chance to wear something a little… smaller, but for some reason I felt the need to cover up.
So I put on a pair of loose fitting pajamas and followed the familiar smell of smoke that lead
outside.
“Hey,” I smiled, running my fingers through my hair.
“How’s your wrist?” he asked, tossing his cigarette over the ledge.
I lifted my ice packed wrist, which Edward tapped, and sighed. “Sore, but I’ll live.”
“Promise me you’ll never go out with him again, Bella,” he whispered.
“I won’t,” I whispered back.
There was an awkward silence between us again, an awkwardness I unfortunately
had grown accustomed to, but thankfully he spoke. “Why did you?”
“Why did I what?”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Why did you even go out with that
guy?”
“Well it’s not like I have a guys breaking down my door, Edward,” I laughed. “It
felt nice to be wanted for once.”
“Is that how you feel? Like you’re not wanted?”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I bit my lip and looked down,
nodding my head softly. I felt him move towards me and I couldn’t help but feel my heart start
to race.
“Bella, I…”
I looked up at him and saw it in his eyes. He wanted me, I knew it. His need for me
radiated off his body like electricity. His right hand slowly started to rise up towards my face,
and I closed my eyes in preparation for the feeling I was about to experience. A feeling I’d
been waiting for for far too long.
“I have to go,” he whispered.
I opened my eyes and watched him as he gathered up his jacket and headed for the
door. He wouldn’t even look at me as he exited the apartment, shutting the door softly behind
him. I just stood there dumbfounded. “Why won’t he kiss me? Was I wrong? Was I reading
into sighs that weren’t there?” I wondered. I went over to the ledge of the patio and crossed
my arms over it, letting my head rest on top of my arms. I couldn’t help the tears that seeped
through my eyes as I cried at my idiocy. I cried because I felt stupid, I cried because I felt
lonely, and I cried because at that moment I gave up on ever having Edward Cullen.
“Bella.”
My heart stopped when I heard him whisper my name. I slowly turned to see
Edward standing behind me looking just as pained as I did. He let his jacket fall to the ground
and took my face in his warm hands. He wiped my tears away with his thumbs and leaned his
forehead against mine. “I want you,” he whispered, pressing his lips against mine.
“Bella!”
I was pulled away from my thoughts when Anna yelled my name.
“I’m here. Sorry, I just kinda spaced out for a minute,” I grunted, continuing to pull
at my chain.
“Okay,” she simply answered.
Thinking of Edward calmed me down, but at the same time pissed me off. I needed
that anger, that extra boost of energy that seemed to fuel my fire. “God fucking dammit,” I
screamed, slamming my chain on the floor.
“Still no luck?” Laura asked.
“No, I just like taking the lord’s name in vain for the hell of it,” I yelled, leaning
against the wall and sliding down. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms
tightly around them. I needed to focus on something, anything but the dull, aching pain in my
chest. I was letting my mind wander on too many things, and all it was doing was causing me
to become overwhelmed.
I decided to focus on running. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on my
knees. I could hear my feet pounding against the ground, my ponytail was swishing back and
forth, and I could feel the steady wind blowing past me. This was my safe zone, this was my
sanctuary.
“I’ll make it so you’ll be pushed in a wheelchair around that track for the rest of
your life.”
His words echoed through my head like a high pitched scream, but with this echo
came a realization. He knows me.
It was starting to make sense now.
“Anna, do you play any sports?” I asked.
“I play softball.”
“At school?”
“Yeah, why?”
I stood up and started pacing.
“Laura, what about you?” I yelled.
“Soccer,” she laughed. “And you run track… that son of a bitch.” I was grateful that
Laura was catching on. “Sarah, what sport do you play?”
“Lacrosse,” she whispered.
“Linda and Nina must have played sports too,” I said, mainly to myself, but knew
the other girls heard me.
“So you think he’s someone that works in the Athletic Department?” Anna asked.
“No, not him, but I think Number Two does,” I concluded.
“Why do you think it’s him?” Sarah stammered.
“Because every time he comes down here, I smell something familiar about him.
Something I couldn’t place until just now.” I sighed, feeling relieved that I had finally found a
main piece of the puzzle. “He smells like…”
“Chalk,” the four of us said, simultaneously.
“Shit, I know him,” Laura yelled. “I know this guy’s name. He chalks the practice
field every morning. I used to see him all the time. Connie, our captain, kinda had a thing for
him. Shit, what is his name?”
At that moment I could care less what Number Two’s name was. I wanted to know
His name. That was going to be my card to get him in here when I got that final bolt loose. I
don’t know why, but I had the feeling that if he was going to start killing us off one by one he
was going to leave me for last.
25 Days Missing
“Who the fuck is Dave?” Jasper asked.
“There isn’t one Dave on the list,” Emmett sighed, tossing the sheet across the table.
After Charlie left the other night I started forcing my attention on him, and not
Thomas. Charlie seemed to be on a different track than the rest of us, and I couldn’t help but
be annoyed at his secretiveness. I called Detective Chase and asked him if there were any
leads, but he just said that they were doing the best that they could, and that he would call if
anything came up. I knew I was being blown off, so I concluded that I had to keep doing this
on my own.
“Well, we have to figure this out. We’re running out of time,” I sighed, taking a
drink of my beer.
Emmett let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. “Maybe if we just asked
Charlie…”
“No,” I whispered firmly, not wanting to upset the girls in the other room. “Charlie
and Detective Chase are no longer an option. They are hiding something from us and I’m not
going to listen to another speech about being called when something is found.”
“So does this mean we’re no longer stalking Tom?” Jasper asked.
“For now,” I nodded. “Now we’re following Charlie.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Emmett yelled.
“Shhhh,” Jasper and I whispered, pointing towards the other room.
Emmett motioned his head toward the front door and we all got up and shuffled out.
I lit a cigarette the second the door shut.
“Edward, are you seriously asking us to stake out Bella’s dad?” Emmett groaned in
annoyance.
“I’m not asking you to do shit, Emmett,” I fired back. “You want to help, and that’s
great, but I’m focusing my attention on Charlie for awhile. If you want to join then the more
the merrier, but I know Charlie is hiding something about Bella, and I’m not going to be
satisfied until I find out what the hell that it.”
“And you think it has something to do with a guy named Dave?” Jasper whispered
to himself, lifting the piece of paper that had the imprint of Charlie’s message on it. He held it
up towards the sun trying to make it out better. “Can I take this? I know a guy in the science
department that might be able to help.”
“Sure, do whatever you can,” I nodded.
Emmett and I stood there as we watched Jasper drive away.
“I’m not saying I won’t help, Edward. I’m just saying I don’t like it,” Emmett
sighed, crossing his arms.
“Neither do I, Emmett, but I have no fucking choice.”
We both stopped talking when the front door opened and Renee stepped out. “Hey,
did Alice leave with Jasper?”
“No, I thought she was in there with you guys?” I asked, confused.
“Well, she went to go lie down but when I went to check on her she wasn’t in
there,” Renee said hesitantly.
Emmett and I ran inside and went straight to Alice’s room. The cold October wind
swept through her open window, but what stood out was the fact that her screen had been
taken off. Alice would have never done that. I ran over to the window and hopped out,
grateful they lived on the first floor. I looked down at the ground and saw two large footprints
facing the window, and right off to the side was Alice’s cell phone. I picked it up and looked
at Emmett through the window. Rosalie came in and looked around at our faces. Not needing
to be told, she fell to her knee’s crying, holding herself as she rocked back and forth.
“Don’t say it Edward,” Emmett warned. “Don’t you fucking say it.”
“He got her, Emmett,” I gasped, holding onto the windowsill so I wouldn’t collapse.
Emmett came over, and lifted me through the window, and threw me on the floor.
He grabbed me and pulled me up, shaking me roughly. “Don’t you fucking say it,” he
screamed. “Not Alice! Not my little Ali.” He fell to his knees and wept as I just stood there. I
couldn’t feel anything. My whole body felt numb. Not realizing Alice’s phone was in my
hand I almost ignored the fact that it was vibrating. I looked at the phone and saw that it was
Jasper calling. I opened the phone and heard Jasper’s voice, but couldn’t find the words to
answer.
“Hello? Hello, Alice?” Jasper’s voice rang out, but I couldn’t answer. All I could do
was fall to my knees and hold my crying brother.
Day 26
What is that… I was ripped from my thoughts when I realized I wasn’t in my room.
I knew it wasn’t my room the second I opened my eyes. It was too dark, and the smell almost
caused me to gag. Oh, God, where am I? I tried feeling around for something, but all I noticed
was a large bucket and a cold mattress.
“Hello?” I whispered shakily, unsure if I wanted to hear an answer or not.
“Alice?” a familiar voice called out.
Oh my God, it’s Bella.
“Bella? Bella, is that you?” I laughed, through my tears. She’s alive. Thank God
she’s alive.
“Alice, what are you doing here? How did you get here?” Bella asked, sounding a
little shaky herself.
“I don’t know. The last thing I remember is lying down to take a nap,” I answered. I
wrapped my arms around my shaking body and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It
was unbelievably cold in here and pitch black; I noticed a faint light beneath what had to be a
door. I went to stand up but quickly sat back down on the floor, feeling slightly dizzy and
nauseous. There was something cold and heavy around my ankle, and upon further inspection
I discovered that there was a heavy chain locked around it. “Bella, I’m chained in here.”
“Welcome to the club, sister,” a female voice laughed. “We all are.”
“Who said that?” I yelled.
“My name’s Laura,” she replied.
The name clicked in my head, remembering it from the news report. “Laura Baker,
right?” I smiled.
“Yeah, how did you know that?” she asked.
“Are Anna Norton, Linda Tillman and Sarah Turner down here too?” I couldn’t
help the excitement in my voice. They were still alive.
“Not Linda,” Bella whispered. “Linda was… taken… not too long ago.”
My heart broke for Bella. She sounded so hurt that all I wanted to do was hold her
in my arms and take away her pain.
“Alice, is it?” a soft voiced seeped out. “I’m Sarah by the way.”
“Yes,” I answered.
“How do you know our names? Are there people looking for us?” she asked.
“Yes, but I’m not going to lie… I don’t know much besides that.” I hated not being
able to tell them more. Edward, and the boys, always kept that information pretty quiet.
“Alice, are you okay?” Bella asked nervously.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry I just spaced out for a minute.” I collected my thoughts and
took another deep breath. After few moments of letting my nerves calm, I noticed that there
was a song being played above us. It sounded familiar, like I heard it being hummed before.
“I think I know this song.”
“Yeah, well, get used to it,” Laura grumbled. “He plays it all the fucking time.”
“Alice?” A different voice called out. It was very meek and had a slight accent to it.
I assumed it had to be the other girl, Anna. “What day is it?”
“October twenty-sixth, well, if it’s not the twenty-seventh already.”
“It’s only been twenty-six days?” Bella asked. “I thought it had been longer.”
“Bella, I’m just so happy you’re alive,” I smiled, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
“You have no idea how hard your father, and Edward, are looking for you.”
“What about the rest of us?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, they are looking all of you,” I answered reassuringly. “It’s been all over the
news. Everyone is trying real hard.”
“Not hard enough,” Laura sneered.
Annoyed by her ungratefulness, I was about to yell back when the sound of
footsteps coming down the stairs stopped me.
“Alice, listen to me, whatever happens, whatever you hear, don’t scream,” Bella
demanded. “Promise me, Alice. Promise me that no matter what happens down here, or
whatever happens to me, don’t react. Swear it.”
My heart was beating in my chest, and I felt hot tears spilling from my eyes. I was
barely able to let my promise to Bella spill past my lips before I heard a set of keys unlock a
heavy sounding door. Below my door the a small gleam of light became brighter, and I nearly
stopped breathing when I saw the silhouette of a pair of shoes stand in front of it.
“You have ten minutes, and then you’re done,” a deep voice whispered.
“Understand?”
“Yes,” a softer male voice responded.
When I heard my door being unlocked I stood up quickly and slammed myself
against the adjacent wall. I bit my lip as it slowly opened. There were two men standing
before me, one clearly taller than the other. The shorter one reached out on the outside wall
and flipped a switch, turning on a soft glow overhead. I squinted against the light, as my eyes
had already become accustom to the dark.
“Very nice, very nice indeed,” the taller one whispered smugly. “You sure you
don’t want to share?”
“She is mine,” the smaller one answered quickly.
“Fine,” the taller one sighed. “Ten minutes, and that’s all.”
The smaller one stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. We stood
there in silence, listening to the taller one go back up the stairs, and turning the music up
slightly when he’d finally reached the top. My eyes were slightly becoming more relaxed as
they adjusted to the light. I rubbed them quickly, and then gasped when I recognized who was
in front of me. It was Thomas.
“Hello,” he whispered, taking a small step forward.
Instinctively I slid closer to the corner, trying to get as far away as I could from his
advances, but soon realized it was all in vain when I felt a slight tug against my ankle.
“Does that hurt?” he asked, looking down at my ankle. Surprised by how genuine
his voice sounded I simply looked down and shook my head no. “Will you please sit with
me?” he asked. “I swear I’ll stay right here. Look…” I looked up and watched him sit Indian
style right where he was standing. “I won’t move, I swear.” I looked over at the mattress on
the floor. It was covered with stains of blood and dirt. Trying to keep my calm, I walked over
to it and sat on the corner, bringing my knees close to my chest. “I know you’re not dumb,
Alice,” Thomas whispered. “I know you know who I am. I could tell by the look on your face
when I walked in.”
My heart started beating even louder in my chest. I could feel the slight sheen of
perspiration coat my body, and even a little bit of bile rose in my throat. He knew my name. I
was unsure if I should respond, but I decided that maybe it was for the best that I did. .
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked.
“For not thinking I’m dumb.”
He seemed a little excited at my comment, and smiled at me.
I was still confused about why he took me. I didn’t play sports; I hardly went to any
of the games. The only time I did was when Emmett played, but that had been years ago. I’d
been to a few of Bella’s track meets, but was the extent of my sport’s experience.
I overheard Edward telling our dad what the girl at the morgue looked like, and I
had to know if this was my fate. Was I going to be used and cast aside, just be found by some
hiker in the woods.
“Are you going to hurt me …like the others?” I stuttered, trying to keep my tears at
bay.
“No, that’s… that’s him. Not me,” he whispered back.
Needing to know if he had hurt Bella, I asked again.
“So you don’t…”
“No,” he yelled, loud enough for me to jump in fear. He sighed and ran his hands
through his shaggy brown hair. “No, I don’t force… I mean… I wouldn’t do that.”
So I was just here for him? Like some doll in a case? I was confused, and had to
know why. “Thomas…”
“Tom,” he rushed, cutting me off.
I looked him in the eye, and tried again. “Tom, why did you take me?”
He smiled and scratched his head. “I saw you awhile back, with him, the one who’s
been stalking me,” he answered, looking at me almost adoringly. “The moment I laid my eyes
on you I knew I had to learn everything about you. You were, are, the most beautiful woman I
have ever seen. When I found out you were Bella’s roommate, well, it made it even easier to
find you.”
Him? Shit, he must be talking about Edward.
“So you just took me? Instead of just, I don’t know, coming over and saying hello?”
I tried to keep my voice calm, not wanting to upset him. I had no idea what Tom was capable
of, for all I knew he was a murderer.
“You were never alone,” he sighed. “You always had some guy around you.
Especially him,” he sneered at the end.
Tom seemed to be getting upset; he more than likely thought Edward or Emmett
were boyfriends or something, since we were always together. Not knowing if he would try to
harm them, I felt it would be smart to reveal who they were.
“They’re my brothers,” I whispered, looking away.
“They are?” he asked, with a hopeful voice. “You’re not… seeing them?”
I just shook my head no.
“Well that’s a relief. Although it’s going to make it harder for you once they’re
gone.”
My heart stopped cold. Once they’re gone? Oh God, he’s going to kill them. I knew
what I had to do. To save my brothers, and Jasper, I had to pretend to care for this man. This
is what he wanted. He wanted someone to care about him, and as much as it repulsed me, I
had to pretend to be that someone. I took a deep breath and slowly moved towards him. His
eyed widened in shock as I took his hand in mine. “Promise me you won’t hurt them? I’ll stay
with you, here, and… learn to love…” I looked at him and hoped the tears in my eyes
wouldn’t go against the sincerity I was trying to push in my voice. “But only if you swear to
not harm my family, and friends.”
“You mean that, Alice?” he smiled, squeezing my hand. “You’ll stay with me
forever?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, giving a shaky smile. “As long as
you live up to your end, I’ll stay,” I assured.
He pulled me into a hug, and I nearly cried out in fear. “I swear, Alice. I swear on
my life I won’t let anything happen to them.” I sighed in relief realizing that they would be
okay. For a moment, I let the feeling wash over me; knowing that my family, my brothers,
and my dear sweet Jasper would be safe. It was a huge burden off my shoulders. I ignored the
feeling of Tom’s hands rubbing small circles on my back as he smelled my hair. “You’ve
made me so happy, Alice. I swear I’ll earn your love.” I bit my bottom lip, held back my
tears, and let my hands rest on his shoulders.
“I know,” I whispered.
Tom quickly pulled away when the sound of footsteps came down the stairs. He
motioned for me to stand back against the wall as the sound of the heavy door opened.
“I won’t let him hurt you, Alice. I swear,” Tom whispered.
“Times up,” the man yelled, cutting off my ability to reply. I wasn’t even sure if I
wanted to. For the first time in my life, I felt that I’d said enough to last me a few days. In my
heart, I knew I didn’t mean a word I said. I would never care for this man, never love him in
the way he wanted me to. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for telling him I could, my heart
belonged to another, and I felt destroyed saying such words against him.
“Are you descent?” the man asked with a chuckle, as he tapped on the door.
“Yes,” Tom sighed.
The door opened slowly, and the tall man poked his head in. “How’s the new girl?”
he said with chuckle.
“It’s not like that,” Tom answered angrily.
“Still a fucking pussy I see,” he said in a very matter of fact way. “That’s why you
can’t hold onto a woman. You need to learn to take charge. Maybe I should go in there and at
least soften her up a little.”
I yelped as he went to pass Tom.
“Ha!” Bella yelled.
The man’s demeanor shifted quickly; and he walked to the other side of the hall,
and banged on the door. “You shut the fuck up bitch or… actually, you know what,” he pulled
out a set of keys, “It’s been a while since I beat that smug face of yours.”
I gasped when he opened the door, and I saw Bella for the first time in over three
weeks. She was bruised, and bloody. Her hair was matted, and her jeans were torn all over. I
started to cry when I saw her standing there ready to fight. Something bad was going to
happen to her because she thought I was going to be attacked. Her eyes met mine and she
mouthed “you promised.” I nodded my head and mouthed that I loved her, and then he
slammed her door shut behind him.
I looked at Tom for help. “You promised that none of my friends would get hurt.
You swore!” I yelled.
“I’m sorry, Alice, but Bella is the one promise I can’t keep,” he whispered, closing
the door behind him.
I slid down the wall and pulled my knees against my chest, covering my hand
against my mouth to cover my cries as I heard the beginning of Bella’s torture. I promise, I
promise, I promise. I chanted to myself in my head, as I rocked back and forth.
Bella
I flew across the room, but was stopped by my chain as it pulled at my ankle. I fell
to the ground, face first, and felt blood pool in my mouth. He took the chain and dragged me
back to him, laughing.
“You just never learn when to shut up, do you?” He reached down and lifted me by
my hair, and threw me against the wall. “I’m starting to think you love our time together.”
I spit the blood out of my mouth and onto his face. “Oh yeah, it ain’t a fucking
party without you,” I sneered, taking advantage of his moment of shock as he wiped his face,
and slammed my heel into his gut. He stumbled back and clutched his stomach, looking at me
with pure rage.
“You have no sense of self worth do you?” he asked, stalking towards me.
“Better to die on my feet than beg at my knees,” I growled, right before he hit me
again.
He lifted me by my throat and slammed me to the ground. “It’s a great theory to
test,” he spat, lowering his head and licking the side of my face. Soft Stars clouded my vision
as I felt his hand lower down my body and between my legs.
“I know what you want, and it’s not going to happen,” I said, pushing through my
fogged mind.
“Oh, really?” he chuckled, pulling the zipper down on my tattered jeans, forcing
them down along with my underwear. “And what is that?”
I looked at him square in the eyes, and smiled. “You can’t fucking break me. No
matter how hard you beat me, or how many times you rape me, you fail to realize one thing. I
don’t have a breaking point.”
He stopped what he was doing and just glared at me, his chest rising and falling in
anger. I decided to push my luck and kept going, looking down at his slightly hard member,
and laughing.
“You can’t even get it up, can you? You can’t even fuck a woman unless she’s
crying out…”
“You shut the fuck up!” he screamed.
“…or nearly unconscious,” I laughed, ignoring is outburst. “That’s why you were
only able to have me that one time, but you can’t now, huh?”
“I said shut the fuck up you fucking whore,” he screamed again, taking me by the
throat and shaking me. I couldn’t help but continue to laugh. I finally did it. I found his
weakness and cut it open for everyone to hear. “Stop it! Stop fucking laughing,” he yelled, but
his pathetic tantrum only caused me to laugh even harder.
He got off me and pulled up his pants, turning his back to me. He walked over to
the door and rested his hands against it, breathing deeply. I allowed the feeling to wash over
me. I was beating him at his own game. The fact that I knew I was hitting a major nerve of his
was causing me to laugh so hard that I had tears running down my face. Not even bothering to
pull my pants back over my hips, I stood up, and braced myself against the wall.
“What, pissed off that you can’t get it up now? Can’t handle a little girl, like me,
calling you out as the piece of shit that you are?”
With out saying a word, he swung open the door and left my room, slamming the
door behind him, and locking it. Not even thinking I started to walk forward. “What, are you
gonna go cry now you big fucking loser?” I laughed and then grimaced as the chain pulled
against my already sore ankle. I felt it go slack and turned to see that the plaque had pulled
away from the wall. I walked over to it, and with little strength, pulled it the rest of the way
out.
“Well, I’d be God dammed,” I whispered to myself, in disbelief.
Alice waited until he was back upstairs before speaking out.
“Bella, oh my God, are you okay?” Alice yelled.
Still looking at the plaque in my hands I smiled, nodding to myself. “Ladies, it’s
time to get the fuck out of here.”
26 Days Missing… and then some
“Don’t fucking give me that shit, Charlie, I know you know something,” I yelled,
feeling my whole body shake. We were all, Rosalie, Jasper, Renee, Emmett, and myself,
staying at the Sorrento Hotel where my parents. They had now set up temporary residence.
One of the hardest things I had ever done was to call my parents and tell them Alice was
missing. The news had crushed them. My dad had to go as far as to sedate my mom just for
the flight from Chicago to Washington. With the girl’s apartment now a crime scene, and my
apartment was too small for all of us, so my parents asked for all of us to stay with them. I
think they felt better having all of us around. We were gathered in the living area, getting our
daily briefing from Charlie.
“Edward, we are doing the best we can,” Charlie said in a low voice.
“That’s horse shit,” Emmett yelled.
“Watch your tone,” Charlie warned. “There are people everywhere looking for
them.”
“Well, they’re just wasting their time because we all know where they’re at,” I
seethed.
“And going in there half cocked is just going to wind you up in jail or killed,”
Charlie pushed.
“So Thomas does have something to do with this?” Jasper asked quietly. Six pairs
of eyes looked at him in shock. Jasper hadn’t spoken a word since he found out Alice was
missing. Everyone had seemed to have reacted in some form of distress, but not Jasper. He
just sat in silence, deep in thought. It was as if he had retreated into himself.
“I’m not completely sure, but I recently learned some information out that doesn’t
mesh with the story he gave me and Chase,” Charlie answered. “But until I have more on the
guy, there is nothing I can do.”
“Fine, then who’s Dave?” I pushed.
“Yeah, who the fuck is this guy, and what does he have to do with anything?”
Emmett asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Charlie sighed and shook his head. “I can’t say.”
Before I had a chance to call bullshit, Jasper was out of his chair, across the room,
and had Charlie pinned against the wall.
“Answer the question,” Jasper screamed. Emmett and I tried to pull Jasper off, him
but it was as if his hands had a death lock around Charlie’s neck. “Answer him or I swear to
God…”
“Jasper, he can’t breathe,” I yelled, watching Charlie’s face turning bright red.
“Come on, Jaz, let him go,” Emmett said, strained, pulling on Jasper’s arm.
Jasper let go and stood back, watching Charlie slide down the wall, and onto the
floor. Charlie pulled at his neck and coughed as Jasper stood before him, breathing deeply. He
knelt down and pushed his index finger into Charlie’s chest.
“If she dies it’s on your hands, and I will spend the rest of my life reminding you of
that,” he growled. He got up quickly, grabbed his jacket, and walked out the door.
“Edward, it’s not that I don’t want to…”
“Save it,” I murmured, grabbing my jacket, and following Jasper. I ran out to the
parking lot just in time to see Jasper getting into his car. “Jasper!”
He turned and looked at me, seething. “If you’re coming with me then we’re doing
this my way.”
I nodded my head and got in the car. My phone went off, but I ignored it. “What are
we doing?”
With out saying a word, Jasper put the car in gear and sped off. He waited until we
were outside the city before he spoke. “We’re going to Charlie’s.”
“What’s at Charlie’s?”
“Didn’t you say that Charlie’s house looked like a shrine of information?”
I nodded my head. “But I thought you’d want to go straight to Matlock?”
He tightened his hand around the steering wheel and growled. “That depends on
what we find at Charlie’s house.”
*~**~*
You know what’s the best thing about Charlie living in a small town? People never
lock their windows.
Jasper and I snuck in easily and started going through all the folders, scattered
papers, and pictures that lined the kitchen and living room. Jasper was in the living room
while I stayed in the kitchen. I nearly lost it when I found the crime scene photos of the two
girls they found. It looked like something out of a horror movie. They were naked, bloody,
and disfigured. I had to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to compose myself. I
couldn’t allow myself to think that Bella could end up this way.
“Edward,” Jasper called out, pulling me out of my small panic attack.
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember Tom’s brother’s name?”
And then it clicked. Son-of-a-bitch. I ran into the living room and saw Jasper
waving a folder.
“Got’em,” he smirked.
Day 29
His hands moved slowly up my body, not letting one inch of skin escape his
fingertips. I withered against his touch as his firm hands moved my legs higher, letting his
body sink deeper inside of me. I bit my bottom lip to hold back my cries, which were quickly
approaching.
“No,” Edward said, panting, thrusting into me with haste. “I want to hear you. I
need to hear you.”
I threw my head back and moaned when I felt his hot mouth attack my neck.
Edward had always been so attentive when it came to sex. I shouldn’t even say sex. Edward
never even said sex. We never said we loved each other, but that is what we made… love.
“Oh God, Edward, please,” I cried out, feeling as if my release was right at the cusp
of breaking through.
He didn’t say anything, but only continued to thrust into me harder. His hands
tightened around my breast and squeezed, hard. I felt his teeth against my neck, and I yelped
when they bit roughly against my skin.
“Edward, please, slow down,” I lightly chuckled.
“Wrong name, whore,” his voice rang out.
I looked up to see him, not my Edward, but him and those dark demon eyes glaring
down at me. I went to reach out and hit him, but my hands were tied over my head.
“That’s right, bitch, you’re all mine,” he laughed.
I opened my eyes and screamed out, thrashing my arms all around me.
“Bella… Bella…,” Alice yelled out. “It’s just a dream, honey. He’s not here.”
Of coarse he’s not here. Chicken shit. I guess my little outburst scared him off. The
pussy. When I told the girls that the plaque fell off the wall, everyone seemed to have relaxed,
except for Alice. Unfortunately, Alice was still receiving daily visits from Number Two, who
we now learned was named Thomas. After he left that day, Alice told us everything she knew
about Thomas, confirming our suspicions that he worked for the athletic department at the
University. I could tell that Alice’s forced visits were becoming more and more stressful on
her. She would cry for hours afterwards, feeling as if she were cheating on Jasper. She swore
Thomas never hurt her, or even tried to force her to do anything against her will, but it was
simply the fact that she had to sit in that room with him and pretend to care for him that
caused her so much pain. It made me sick.
During Thomas’s visits he would still check on all of us, making sure that we had
food and water, which he would slide beneath the door. The guy seemed like an alright kid,
and I believed Alice when she said he wasn’t hurting her, but if he ever opened my door he
was going to get a mouthful of steel. I wouldn’t kill him, but I’d make sure he wouldn’t be
getting up anytime soon.
I used my new found freedom to try and figure out how to break down the door. It
was locked, of course, but it was loose. I tried kicking it down, throwing myself against it,
even swinging the heavy plaque against the hinges to break it down, but it wouldn’t budge.
This motherfucker was becoming more annoying than the plaque.
“Bella, please, just give it a rest for awhile,” Anna pled. “My ears are killing me.”
“At least it’s drowning out the noise of Patsy,” Laura laughed.
The last few days had been filled with nothing but tension, and questions. When
was he coming back? What else did Alice know about Thomas? Was she sure she hadn’t seen
the other guy before? I could tell she was becoming annoyed, and I couldn’t blame her. I
didn’t have any questions for Alice. I didn’t have a need to know more about these men,
unlike the other girls. Laura, in a way, had become obsessed in a way with her questions. She
asked Alice every possible question you could think of about Thomas. What they talked
about, how he dressed, if he shaved, things that didn’t mean shit when it came to getting out
of here.
Sarah had become quieter than usual. She only spoke to Anna in whisper, and that
was only to prove she was still alive. Anna felt that Sarah was starting to fade away, and in
time would stop answering her calls all together. Anna was starting to feel that maybe he
wasn’t going to come back, and that my plan to get out would fail, but I wasn’t worried. I
could feel it in my bones that he would be coming back soon. He was never able to stay away
from us for long. He needed this; like the air he breathed, and I would be ready.
My body was slowly healing itself, and I pushed myself to start exercising again. I
did push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and even set the mattress against the wall to use as a makeshift
punching bag. I had to be ready.
With every punch I landed on the mattress I would see his face. His dark eyes.
Punch. His short brown hair. Punch. That grin he would have every time he hit me. Punch.
“You’re dead,” I yelled, punching the bag as hard as I could. “I’m going to fucking rip your
heart out.” I lifted my chain and stared swinging my plaque against the mattress. I ignored the
onslaught of feathers that flew around me as I continued to slash away at my now tattered
mattress. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” I screamed. I fell to my knees and clutched my
chest. My heart felt like it was about to rip it’s self out of my chest.
“Bella, are you okay?” Alice whispered.
I got up and let the plaque fall from my hands. “Ask me that after I get out of here.”
I smiled.
I lifted my hands and slowly closed them into tight fists. There was a collective
gasp when a soft rumbling vibrated overhead. I looked up and took a deep breath.
I’m ready.
EPOV
Jasper and I had been camped out on the Reed property for three days now. We
decided it was for the best not to let anyone know where we were, or what we were doing. We
only turned our phones on to call Emmett and to find out if he had heard anything.
“When are you two coming back?” Emmett asked.
I had him on speaker phone so Jasper could hear his updates on Charlie.
“When we find the girls,” Jasper answered.
“Emmett, I’ll call you tomorrow. Tell mom and dad I’m fine, and not to worry,” I
sighed. Every time I called Emmett, the only thing he could talk about was how frantic mom
had been about Jasper and I being gone.
“Yeah, as if anything I have to say at the moment means shit,” he grumbled,
hanging up the phone. I pulled my thick jacket tighter around me, shivering at the feeling of
the soft drizzle that had started to come down. It was almost pitch black out there. The only
light that we had was the bright moon that glowed overhead.
I knew Emmett was having a hard time keeping our parents calm, but how could
any parent stay calm in this situation. He left a voicemail yesterday letting us know that
Charlie had called to say that the King county sheriff’s department had found the body of
Linda Tillman lying on the side of the road. Just like the others, her body had been beaten
beyond recognition, and she had obviously been brutalized. Emmett told us that dad had to
sedate mom again when she heard the news on TV. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I
should have at least called my dad to let him know I was okay, but we weren’t playing by the
normal rules anymore. This was about finding the girls, and not just Bella and Alice, we
wanted all of them.
Charlie was leaving a countless number of voicemails on my phone, yelling at
Jasper and I to turn up or else. He wasn’t stupid; he knew where he could find us. Charlie
knew we had broken into his house and taken his file on David Reed. If he wanted the two of
us to come forward, then all he had to do was come to the Reed property, and arrest David
and Thomas. We knew we were doing the right thing. The police were moving too slow,
acting like they had all the time in the world. Jasper and I knew better, and the body of Linda
Tillman proved that.
“Edward,” Jasper whispered, motioning toward the rickety house. I took out my
binoculars and saw a large dark jeep pulled up beside the small shed, behind the home.
Thomas, and very tall man we didn’t recognize, exited the jeep and went straight into the
shed.
“You think that’s Dave?” I whispered.
“I have no doubt in my mind,” Jasper answered.
“So what do we do? Call Charlie?”
“Fuck Charlie,” he growled. “Like I told you, Edward, we’re doing this my way.”
Finding the folder on David Reed had become a blessing and a curse at the same
time. David “Dave” Reed was the older brother of Thomas Reed. Their parents had died in a
house fire fifteen years ago. At the time, David was nine, and Thomas was six. Charlie had
seemed to have recovered the police report from the incident. It stated that when the boys
were found, they looked as if they had been abused for years, and David seemed to have
gotten the worst of it. The state placed them with some out of state relatives until they became
adults. David joined the Navy as soon as he graduated, and Thomas bounced from job to job
until finally landing the one at the University. They both seemed to have been doing fine until
last year. David was sent overseas to do a tour in Kuwait. He was only there for a month
before he disappeared, and was reported as missing in action. That was where Thomas fucked
up. If he would have kept his mouth shut, Charlie would have never looked into it. Lucky for
us, Thomas didn’t seem that smart.
“Missing in action my ass,” Jasper laughed. “You got to give him this… he ain’t
that stupid if he was able to make it all the way back undetected.”
We sat there, staring at the small shed until nightfall. “What the hell are they doing
in there?” I huffed. My watch let out a quite beep, and I looked down and saw that it was
midnight. It’s been thirty days.
BPOV
I wrapped the chain around my fist, letting the plaque swing back and forth. “I just
want you all to know that I love you. All of you,” I yelled.
“Bella, please, don’t do this,” Alice wept. “They’ll find us. Please, I beg you. Don’t
risk your life.”
I tried to control my breathing as I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the
stairs.
Better to die on my feet than beg on my knees.
The main door slowly opened, and I bit down on my bottom lip to stop my teeth
from chattering. To say I was anything less than petrified would be a lie. This was going to go
down in one of two ways; I was going to die or he was going to die. It was just about who
wanted it more.
I slowly walked toward the door when I heard the two of them walk in. I carefully
peaked through the bottom of the door and watched their feet move around.
“You only have fifteen minutes with her,” he whispered, his voice laced with
venom. “Make it count.” He was pissed, which meant he was either going to come in here or
go after Sarah. I watched as Alice’s door opened slowly and then closed. I laid there against
the ground, waiting on his decision. I heard him groan, and then he started to walk down the
hall. Shit, he’s going after Sarah. I stood up quickly at the sound of her door being unlocked. I
tightened my grip around the chain when I heard Sarah’s whimpers echo through the hall.
Taking a deep breath, I started the battle. “Come on, asshole, you know you want
it,” I yelled.
“Shut up,” he growled.
“Come on, baby, I want it,” I said in an almost lustful tone.
I could hear Alice sob even louder as he relocked Sarah’s door, and started walking
towards mine. “You would, wouldn’t you?” he laughed.
I wrapped another link of the chain around my hand and smiled. “More than you
know.”
I carefully walked to the wall, next the door, and pressed my back to it. You can do
this, Bella, you can do this.
“I knew I’d get you to beg for me,” he moaned, unlocking my door.
Day 30
The whooshing sound the chain made as it sliced through the air echoed like a
scream in my dark cell. The adrenalin that pumped through me was intoxicating as I felt the
plaque connect with his chest. You could hear the air escape from his lungs as he toppled over
in pain. I took a step forward and swung the plaque again, this time hitting him in the face. He
flew back into the hallway, falling against Alice’s door, causing it to burst open. I was
hesitant to walk out into the hallway, feeling like I was going to be punished for leaving my
room. This only fueled my anger even more. He had damaged me, and I was going to return
the favor. I slowly crept into Alice’s cell and gasped when I saw who had to be Thomas
crouched over his unconscious body. I froze when he looked up at me.
Thomas looked down at my chain, then over at Alice’s cowering body in the corner,
and then back at me. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and threw them at
me. “Here,” Thomas whispered. I caught the keys in my free hand and held them tight to my
chest. “Take the others and go.” I looked over at Alice and went to step toward her, but
Thomas stood up and blocked me. “No, she is mine.”
I shook my head and took another step towards Alice. “I’m not leaving without
her,” I growled.
Thomas straightened up and then shook his head. “Then you’re not leaving,” he
sighed.
I took a few steps back into the hallway as Thomas came towards me. He had the
same look in his eyes that he did. The look of absolution. I shoved the keys into my pant’s
pocket and lifted the plaque into my hand. “Listen to me, Thomas, you don’t need to do this,”
I said calmly, still backing away from his pursuit.
“We love each other, Bella,” he smiled. “You could have been a part of that. You
could have been her maid of honor, or something.” His tone may have been calm, but his
eyes… I had never seen such blackness. Not even in him.
“Tom, please, don’t hurt her,” Alice cried out, from her cell.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Alice,” he whispered to
himself, and then lunged at me.
I swung the plaque at him, hitting his arm, but it was like it didn’t even faze him. He
flew on top of me, knocking me to the floor and pinning me down. I struggled against him as
he wrapped his hands around my neck, squeezing hard. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he
repeated at me as I felt all my blood rushing to my face. I scratched and clawed against him,
kicking my feet everywhere, trying to get loose in some way. I could see small white spots
glazing over my vision, and for some reason my father came to mind.
Flash
“Dad, I don’t need to learn this,” I laughed. “There is plenty of security on campus
and I didn’t sign up for any night classes.”
“Just give your old man some peace of mind, and follow my lead,” Charlie
grumbled.
I laughed as I watched my dad take off his jacket off and fling it on the couch.
“Dad, I’m not going to pretend to fight you. I’ll sign up for a kickboxing class or something if
it would make you…” My dad flew at me and pinned me against the wall, cutting me off. He
wasn’t hurting me, but he was making it known that he was stronger by tightening his grip on
my arms when I tried to pull away.
I have never once been afraid of my dad, but looking into his eyes… seeing the
seriousness in this situation, well, I decided to stop joking and pay attention.
“He’s got you against a wall,” Charlie said calmly. “It’s late and you two are all
alone… what do you do?”
“I… um… kick him in the nuts?” I stammered.
Charlie murmured something like ‘God help me’, and pushed himself flush against
my body. “You can’t because he’s right on you, Bells, what do you do?”
I tried to remember everything my dad had ever told me. Every conversation we
would have after reading about a woman being attacked or mugged. What do I do, what do I
do, what do I… slack! I made my body become heavy which caused Charlie to bend his knees
to keep me up. With this new space for my legs it allowed me to kick at his right knee, causing
him to fall onto his back.
He laid there for a second and then started laughing. “That’s my girl.”
I was shocked that I felt so out of breath. I had been running track for years, and
you would think that in those last few minutes with my father, I had ran ten miles. “I can’t…
believe… you just… did that… to me,” I panted.
He stood up and shook his head. “You know why you’re out of breath?” he asked,
and I shook my head no. “Because you always stop breathing when you’re scared, Bella. You
have to learn to control that. What if this happens?” he said quickly, and before I knew it he
had me on the ground with his hands loosely around my neck. “He has you on the ground, all
his weight is in his hands, and Bella… he is going to kill you. What do you do?”
Flash
My father’s words echoed through my mind. What do you do, Bella? When I looked
into Thomas’s eyes, it was then that I remembered. ‘Take away his sight first’, I heard my
dad’s voice whispering to me. Feeling the thick ring of keys digging into my side, I reached
down and pulled them out of my pocket. I clutched a key tightly between my thumb and
finger and jammed it as hard as I could into his right eye. He let go of me instantly, clutching
his face in pain. ‘Take his breath’, I heard my father say next, as if he was right there next to
me. With everything I had in me I flung out my fist with everything I had in me and punched
his exposed throat. Thomas sank off to the side, still holding his face, his blood seeping
through his fingers.
Pulling myself up, I steadied my shaky legs, and lifted the plaque in my hands over
my head. ‘And if you can’t get away, you make it so he can’t come after you again’, my
father’s voice said, fading away. I looked down at Thomas and gritted my teeth. “Burn in hell
you sick fuck,” I screamed, slamming the plaque as hard as I could on his head. He instantly
fell limp, and then everything was silent. I remained standing there, glaring at him, not really
knowing how to register the events that just took place. I just took a man’s life. I slowly knelt
down and picked up the keys that were now covered in blood. I bit my lip hard and shoved
them back into my pocket.
“Bella?” Alice called out nervously.
“I’m fine, but I think I just killed Thomas.”
“Where’s the other one,” Anna asked.
“Who gives a shit,” Laura yelled. “Just get me the fuck out of here.”
I went back into Alice’s cell and stopped in the doorway. He was still knocked out,
or dead, I wasn’t sure. He had a huge slash across the left side of his face and chest, and I
smiled down at him when I maneuvered around his body. “Loser,” I whispered.
Alice stood up and opened her arms to me; in which I fell into them instantly. We
were holding each other so tightly that it was becoming hard to breath, but I didn’t care. I
pulled away quickly and took her face in my hands. “Did they hurt you? Tell me the truth,” I
stammered, not even realizing until then that I was crying. Her head shook hastily as I
continued to question her.
“No, Bella, I’m fine,” she smiled, pulling me back into her arms. “I’m just so happy
you are alive.”
I don’t know how long we stood there, just crying and holding each other before
Laura called out again.
“This is all very touching, but what part of ‘Get me the fuck out of here’ do you not
understand?”
I pulled away from Alice and looked down at her chain. “I don’t know how to get
them off, Alice,” I whispered. “There’s no lock for a key.” I pulled the keys out of my hand
and shrugged.
“Why don’t you at least unlock their doors,” Alice smiled.
I nodded my head and kissed her cheek. “Will you be okay alone?”
“I’ll be fine… just,” she paused and looked at him on the floors, “could you move
that?”
I turned and looked over at the still unconscious body of our abductor. “I’ll drag
him into the room I was in.” I shoved the keys back into my pocket and slowly walked
towards him. Biting my lip again I bent down and took his ankles with both my hands and
dragged him across the hall into my room.
“What are you doing?” Sarah called out.
“Securing the prisoner,” I grumbled, dropping his feet on the floor.
“Bella, see if he has a cell phone on him,” Anna yelled.
I laughed at myself for not thinking about it first. I padded down the front pockets
of his jeans with shaky hands. I did feel something, but it wasn’t a phone. I reached in and
pulled out another set of keys. “No cell, just keys,” I yelled. I stood up and walked out of the
room. I looked at the keys and they looked almost identical to the ones Thomas had. The only
difference between the two was that his keys; had a set of car keys on them.
I unlocked was Anna’s door first. I opened the door slowly and gasped at the tiny
little woman sitting crossed legged on the mattress. She had short dark hair, like Alice’s, and
burses all over her body. With the faint light that was streaming in from the hallway I could
even make out some burned marks that slashed across her skin like zebra stripes. But what
stood out more than anything was the round belly that protruded from her slim form. She
stood up quickly and started walking towards me, smiling. “Bella,” she laughed with a slight
sob. I flung open the door and walked toward her, crying.
“Anna,” I whispered, forcing a soft smile. We stood there crying for a short time
before I pulled away, wiping my nose with my sleeve. “Hey, you’re Asian,” I laughed.
“No kidding,” she chuckled. “And you look like hell, Angel.” She lifted her hand
and softly caressed my face. I looked down at her round belly and laid a hesitant hand on top
of it.
“Anna, I’m…”
“Shh,” she whispered, shaking her head with tears trickling from her eyes. “Go help
the others. Make sure they’re okay too.”
I smiled and nodded my head. I took her hand in mine and gave it a soft squeeze
before running to the next door.
I found Sarah balled up in the corner, rocking herself, when I opened the door. Her
long blonde hair covered her face, but it couldn’t hide the black and blue welts that covered
her body. I walked over to her slowly and sat down next to her, engulfing her in my arms. She
didn’t even look at me; she just wrapped her arms around my neck and started to cry. She felt
so small and fragile in my arms, and yet so heavy with her pain. I wished I could have held
her all night, if only to try and ease some of her pain, but I had to see Laura. When I went to
pull away she held onto me even tighter. “I’ll be back,” I promised, softly smoothing my hand
over her hair. “I’m going to check out Laura, okay?” She nodded her head and reluctantly
released me.
I stood up and walked across the hall to Laura’s room. I unlocked the door and
smiled at the sight before me. She stood there, arms crossed, tapping her foot on the floor. She
sort of looked like me; with her long dark hair and slim form. “Saved the best for last?” She
smiled back.
“You know it, babe.” We collided into each other’s arms, laughing and crying at the
same.
“Sorry for being a bitch,” she whispered.
“Sorry for taking so long to get to you.”
Laura chuckled against my shoulder and took a shaky breath. “Look at us, two
tough bitches crying like a couple of babies.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” I laughed.
Laura pulled away, dried her eyes, and looked down at the chain still connected to
my ankle. “Plan on taking a souvenir?” she snickered.
I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know how to take it off.”
“Bolt cutters?” Laura shrugged.
“Yeah, let me run over to the store and get one,” I laughed, sarcastically.
“Yeah, fuck you too,” she smiled. “Well, you’re just going to have to go find some
help. It’s not like we’re going anywhere.”
I pulled her into my arms and squeezed her tight. “I’ll be right back, I promise.”
“I know,” Laura whispered.
I walked back out into the hallway and slowly walked passed Thomas’s body,
making sure he was still dead. Then, I went over to where he still laid, also to make sure he
hadn’t moved. I didn’t want to leave the girls, but I knew I had to go get help.
“I’m going up to try and find some help,” I yelled out, so they all could hear me. “I
promise I won’t be gone long.”
I poked my head into Alice’s room and met her eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she smiled back.
I walked over to the heavy metal door and fumbled with each key until I found the
one that unlocked it. It took all my weight to pull the door all the way open. A gust of wind
flew in, and I could smell the pine instantly. I looked up the many metal stairs that rose up in
front of me, and took a deep breath. Not knowing what I’d find at the top of those stairs, I said
a silent prayer and took my first step towards freedom.
EPOV
We had been sitting out here for over an hour, and still those two hadn’t come out
of that little shack. I was becoming annoyed and impatient with Jasper’s need to wait it out.
Jasper sighed, shaking his head. “Look, Edward, I want nothing more than to go
down there and beat the living shit out of those two, but they could lead us to the girls when
they leave.”
I looked at him, and gritted my teeth. “Don’t you think I would have seen Thomas
sneaking off somewhere strange when I was tailing him for weeks on end?”
Jasper stood up and tossed his binoculars on the ground. “And what happens if we
go down there, Edward? We’ll either get arrested for trespassing because we have no proof, or
worse case scenario, this Dave guy gets arrested because he’s been UA from the military, and
then we never find the girls.”
I knew Jasper was right. We had to wait and see what happened, but it was killing
me to know that these two assholes could possibly have my sister and Bella stashed away
somewhere. It was becoming almost unbearable.
We sat there, silently looking out into the dark nothing, when loud creaks from the
shack rung out through the field. Jasper and I stood up immediately, holding our binoculars to
our faces.
“Do you see anything?” Jasper whispered.
“No, it’s too dark. All I can see is…” I stopped when I saw some movement around
the entrance to the shack. The figure was small, a lot smaller than the two assholes that went
in earlier. No that can’t be, I thought to myself. Without even giving Jasper a second thought,
I made my way down the small hill, through the tall grass, and out into the open field. Still
keeping out of sight, I lifted the binoculars and gasped when I saw her shaking body emerge
from around the large car, still parked by the side of the shack. Her name escaped from my
lips like a whisper, but it was as if she heard me because she turned in my direction, and
called out.
“Who’s there?” Bella yelled out.
I dropped my binoculars and started slowly walking towards her. In that moment
the clouds seemed to have taken pity on us and moved themselves away from the moon. I
almost stopped in my tracks when the soft moonlight bounced off of Bella’s skin. She looked
like she had been beaten within an inch of her life. The right side of her face was swollen, and
her left eye almost looked black. She smiled at me and whispered my name. It was the most
beautiful sound I had ever heard. I started jogging towards her when I saw the slight limp in
her step as she made her way towards me. She was only mere feet from me when David
turned the corner.
“No, Bella, get down,” I screamed when I saw the gun rise up from David’s hand,
and point towards Bella.
It was as if she didn’t hear me. She just kept limping towards me with a smile on
her face. I ran towards her as fast as I could, but when the sound of the gun rang through the
air I found myself on the ground with Bella in my arms. She had been shot.
“B-baby,” I stammered, looking down at her limp body. “Baby, open your eyes.” I
rocked her back and forth, waiting to see those beautiful brown eyes open up for me, but they
didn’t. I heard a hammer being cocked and I looked up to see nothing but the barrel of a gun
pointed straight at my head. I closed my eyes and pulled Bella’s limp body closer towards
mine.
“I love you,” I whispered, as the sound of the gun went off.
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
handful of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat, and tears
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
LINKIN PARK
I sat there with Bella in my arms, chanting in my head over and over again to God,
thanking him for letting me hold her in my arms one last time before I died. Every touch,
every kiss, every soft word Bella had ever blessed me with passed through my mind as the
sound of the gunshot echoed through the trees.
“Edward?” I heard Bella whisper. I looked down to see her round brown eyes
looking back at mine. She lifted her hand and touched my face. “It’s really you.”
Regretfully, I tore my eyes away from Bella to see Jasper standing over David’s
twitching body. You could see the smoke still seeping from Jasper’s gun, which was still
clutched in his shaky hand. “Jasper,” I called out, trying to pull him out of his daze. He looked
over at the two of us and was at our side instantly.
“Where did he shoot her?” Jasper asked.
Bella gasped as I turned her body over, already knowing it was somewhere on her
back.
“Shit,” he murmured, standing up and pulling out his cell.
“Alice,” Bella gasped in pain, as I laid her flat on the ground.
“Where, Bella? Where is Alice?” I asked, taking off my jacket and laying it over
her.
“In there,” she said softly, pointing to the shack. “Underground.”
I looked up at Jasper and he nodded, handed me the cell phone, and ran straight into
the shack. I looked down at the phone and saw that Jasper had dialed Charlie’s number. He
answered on the first ring.
“Where are you two?” Charlie growled.
“Charlie, it’s Edward. We found Bella.”
“Where are you?” he asked again.
“At Thomas’s house. Please hurry. Bella’s been shot,” I said hurriedly, and then
hung up the phone. I knew it was wrong to end a call that way, but Bella was starting to drift
off again.
“Bella, baby, stay awake,” I yelled, feeling tears escape my eyes. I tried as hard as I
could to hold back my sobs when her eyes started to flutter.
“Edward,” she said in such a hushed tone I could hardly hear her.
I held her hand in mine and carefully stroked her bruised face. “I’m here, baby. I’m
not letting you go. Not ever.”
She pulled at my hand, and I leaned closer to hear what she needed to say.
“I love you,” she whispered.
I leaned down and lightly kissed her lips. “I love you, too, Bella,” I murmured.
“With everything that is in me, I love you.”
I leaned my forehead lightly on hers and let my pain take over. I wanted to be
strong for her, to look her in the eye and tell her everything would be alright, but I couldn’t. I
was just thankful to have been able to tell her how much I loved her while I still had the
chance too. I lay down next to her and cried as I watched my heart slowly drift away.
I could hear yelling in the distance, but I ignored it. It was as if everything had
faded away. Bella was fading away, and all I could do was pray that God would show mercy
on me, and take me too.
Flash
I softly caressed the side of her face as she slept. We were facing each other, still
slightly sweaty from another mind blowing love making session. She fell asleep almost as
soon as I pulled out of her, a hushed moan of disappointment escaping both of our mouths at
the absence of connection. Normally, I would pull her against my chest, needing her body as
closed to mine as possible, but I wanted to see her face. I could lay here for days, just looking
at her angelic face. The only thing I needed was for her eyes to open. I knew that if they did, I
wouldn’t be able to hold myself back from ravaging her again, but she needed her rest, so I
let her be.
“You are so beautiful,” I whispered, trailing my finger from her rosy cheek to her
full lips. She never stirred, or pulled away, but like always, leaned towards my touch. Even in
her sleep. “I wish I could tell you this when you’re awake, but you know me… over thinking
shit, as always.” I let my finger move over to her hair and played with a strand that was
curled in between us. “If wish I had the nerve to tell you how much I love you. Not a day goes
by when I don’t think about you at least a hundred times. I constantly dream of marrying you,
making a family, and growing old with you.
I hate myself for waiting so long to kiss you. The time I wasted, being afraid you’d
say no, and push me away.” I stopped and took a deep breath. “I love you, Isabella Swan,
and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
I didn’t mean to say it as loud as I did, so when she mumbled a little, and scooted
closer to me, I couldn’t do anything but hold my breath and wait.
“Edward,” she whispered, and then fell back to sleep.
I exhaled and pulled her to my chest. “Right here, baby,” I yawned, letting my
exhaustion take over.
Flash
“I said move away from the girl,” a man’s voice yelled out.
I ignored his outburst and held onto Bella’s hand tightly. “I promise, Bella. I’m not
letting you go.”
I felt hands reach out for me and pull me away from Bella’s limp body.
“There’s blood on him,” a woman’s voice yelled.
I struggled against them, everything felt like a blur, until I heard one of them call
out.
“Down here,” a police man yelled out. “They’re all down here.”
I went to sit up, but the female that was looking me over pushed me back down to
the ground.
“Where is he hurt?” a male voice asked.
“I can’t find any wounds, John,” the female replied. “I think he’s just in shock.”
I turned my head towards Bella and watched as two paramedics worked on her. She
wasn’t moving, she wasn’t breathing, she was just…
“We got a pulse,” one of them yelled.
“Come on, Miss, hang in there,” the other paramedic said, and I watched as they
started placing a breathing tube down her throat.
She’s alive.
The paramedics sat me up, and the male shined a light in my right eye. “Sir, can you
tell me your name?”
“Edward,” I simply replied, still not taking my eyes off of Bella.
He nodded and moved the light to my left eye. “Can you tell us if you have been
injured in any way?”
Injured? The love of my life has been shot and is now fighting for her life, and is
hanging on by a thread. I’m not injured… I’m fucking destroyed. “No,” I answered.
“Well, Edward,” the paramedic sighed. “We’re going to have to take you to the
hospital anyway. The police will meet you there to ask you some questions.”
I didn’t even respond. My only train of thought was Bella. I watched as they lifted
her onto the gurney, ran her quickly to the ambulance, and quickly drove away. This was not
how it was supposed to happen. It’s not supposed to be her in there; it’s supposed to be me.
Hasn’t she gone through enough?
“He’s stabilized; let’s get a gurney.”
For a second I thought he was talking about me, but I quickly realized he wasn’t
when they rolled the bed over to David. That fucker is alive?! I didn’t even know I was
running towards him until three police officers pulled me back, and held me down. “He
fucking shot her! He doesn’t deserve to live. He’s a murderer, and you’re just going to save
him?” I felt cold steel wrap around my wrists as I screamed out.
*~**~*
“Let me get this straight… you two broke into Chief Swan’s house, stole
confidential files, and decided to camp out on the suspect’s property?”
Detective Chase had been questioning Jasper and I for about an hour. I was relieved
when Jasper first walked into the interrogation room. I walked right up to him and wrapped
my arms around him for a tight hug. I didn’t care how gay we might have looked at that
moment. To say I was relieved to see him was an understatement. He told me that Alice was
fine, and at the hospital, with the others. When I asked how Bella was doing, he just shook his
head and shrugged.
“If it wasn’t for us, those girls would either still be down there, or dead,” Jasper
argued back. “If you’re looking for an apology then you’re wasting your breath.” He sat back
in his chair and crossed his arms, closing himself off like he normally did when he was pissed.
“You’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean you guys can just do whatever you
want,” Chase fired back. “You should have called us the second you saw David pull up.”
“Why, so you guys could fuck up again?” I asked, gritting my teeth. “You had
Thomas, and you let him go. So excuse me if I don’t give a rat’s ass if we stepped on your
toes.”
“And where did it get you? Two people are fighting for their lives from gunshot
wounds, and a man is dead,” Chase yelled.
“We had nothing to do with Thomas’s death,” Jasper sighed. “Like I said before, he
was already dead when I went down there.”
I slammed my elbows on the desk and rested my head in my hands. I was growing
increasingly annoyed with all of this. Bella and my sister were in the hospital, and I was here.
To hell with this. Detective Chase was becoming my second least favorite person in this
world, number one being the fucking asshole who should have died out on that field.
“Unless Chief Swan plans on pressing charges, I’m not answering anymore fucking
questions,” I growled.
“I agree,” Jasper nodded. “Anything more will require an attorney present.” Jasper
then looked over at the mirror and flipped it off. “And that goes for all of you watching back
there too,” he yelled.
Detective Chase stood up quickly, causing his chair to fall back loudly onto the
floor. I looked up and rolled my eyes as he bent over the desk and glared at us. “They could
have all died because you two wanted to play cowboys for a day. You could have died. I
really hope you both understand that…” He trailed off and then ran his hands over his face.
“Go. Be with your girlfriends, but understand that this isn’t over.”
Jasper and I didn’t even answer; as soon as we heard ‘Go’ we were out of our chairs
and out the door. Once we got our belongings back, I called Emmett to pick us up.
*~**~*
“Edward?” Emmett said softly, moving his eyes from the road to look me over.
“Yeah?”
“You’re covered in blood,” he murmured.
I looked down at myself, and sure enough I was. I hadn’t even paid attention to my
appearance until he pointed it out. “It’s… um… it’s not mine,” I stuttered, running my hands
through my hair.
“Is it his?” Emmett asked next, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
“No, there would be more,” I quickly replied. It was true. If I would have killed him
I would look like I had bathed in it.
“Then…”
“It’s Bella’s, Emmett,” Jasper yelled, cutting him off. “Let’s just move on and get to
the hospital.”
Emmett told us as soon as we got in the car that Bella was in surgery, and Alice was
tranquilized, as were all the girls. They were all placed in a quite and very secluded area in the
hospital, getting much needed medical attention and rest. When we rounded the corner, I saw
nothing but flashing lights, news vans, and reporters.
“Oh, yeah, and the Nazi Squad showed up an hour after they all got here,” Emmett
yelled, flipping them off as we drove by.
Bella didn’t need this. None of them did.
Emmett led the way through the endless halls until I finally saw my parents up
ahead.
“Mom,” I yelled out. She turned, and the look on her face almost made me want to
turn around and walk in the opposite direction. “Shit.”
“You have no idea,” Jasper whispered. “I hardly have any ass left.”
I stopped walking when my mother started coming towards me. Her face was puffy
and red, from crying, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Jasper and Emmett stood
back as my mom reached up and slapped me across the face.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she yelled, and then pulled me into a tight
embrace. She sobbed into my neck as I rocked her back and forth.
“I’m sorry, mom. I promise I’ll never do that again,” I whispered into her hair. I felt
her nod against my neck, and I smiled in relief. I deserved way more than just a slap in the
face for what I had put her through, but I would do it all again knowing I’d get my girls back.
“It was all Jasper’s idea,” I whispered, burrowing my face in her hair.
“I heard that you dick,” Jasper mumbled.
*~**~*
3 Days Later
Bella had been put in a medically induced coma after her surgery. Today they had
slowly started taking her off the medication, and we were expecting her to wake up at any
minute. You would think, from the amount of stuff in her room, that Bella had died that night
with how her room looked. Flowers upon flowers stacked everywhere, cards taped on the
walls, and tons of gifts lined the small hospital room floor. I felt like I was walking into a
funeral home every time I saw her. Charlie and I joked how Bella would hate all this
attention.
Yesterday, Detective Chase held a press conference to confirm that the girls had
been found and that the suspect was in custody. What he failed to mention was that the
asshole was upstairs, in a different area of the hospital, recovering from the bullet wound that
should have killed him.
“Edward?”
I turned to see a young nurse standing in Bella’s doorway. “Yes?”
“There is someone who would like to meet you,” she announced.
I glanced over at Charlie, who looked as tired as I felt. “I’m good. Renee will be
here soon to switch with me.” Bella was never left alone. Renee and Charlie would switch
every twelve hours so they could eat and try to sleep, but neither of them ever looked like they
did. As for me, I had yet to leave. I showered, slept, and ate in this hospital. Everyone had
begged me to go get out and breathe some fresh air, but I couldn’t. I promised Bella that I
would stay here, and I planned on keeping that promise. Although I was itching for a
cigarette, Bella’s needs were more important than my own.
I followed the young nurse down the hall to where I knew the other girls were
staying. She opened the door slowly, gave me a small smile, and stepped aside. I walked into
the dimly lit room and immediately recognized Anna. I had all the girl’s names and images
ingrained into memory. Charlie told me that when he had spoken to Anna, she’d told him that
she and Bella had become close during their time together. I wasn’t planning on meeting
Anna, or any of the girls, until Bella was awake, but who was I to turn down her request.
“Wow, you are a cutie.” Anna smiled. “Bella spoke about you all the time, but her
words didn’t do you any justice.” She ran her hand over her large belly and sighed. “How is
she?”
“Better,” I nodded, scratching the back of my neck. “She’s supposed to start waking
up any moment.” I motioned towards the chair next to her bed; and she nodded and smiled
softly. “So how are you holding up?” I asked.
She waiting until I sat down before answering. “Better, I guess.” She rubbed her
belly again, and I could see her eyes gloss over a little. “It’s a girl.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, unsure of what to say. “Have you decided if…”
“If I’m going to keep her?” she finished, wiping her eyes. “No, but I already know
what I’m going to name her.”
“Really?”
“I’m going to name her Isabella. It only feels right. Without Bella we wouldn’t be
here.” She gave me a look that I could only assume was a question of approval.
I nodded my head and smiled. “I think she would feel honored.”
“No, she will be annoyed, but she’ll get over it,” Anna laughed, and I joined in.
Yep, she knew Bella all right.
There was a long pause, and I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to
say something. I cleared my throat and leaned forward in my chair. “Anna, I can’t tell you
how sorry I am for what happened to you all, but I need to ask you something.”
“Okay,” she murmured.
“I can’t imagine what went on down there, but I need to know… is… is she going
to be… my Bella when she wakes up?” I felt like shit for asking this, but I had to know.
“Does it matter?” Anna asked.
“No, I will love her no matter what, but I want to be prepared… for a lack of a
better word.”
Anna nodded and took a deep breath. “Each of us was hurt in different ways, but in
my opinion Bella suffered the most.” She wiped the tears that fell from her eyes and continued
on. “He punished her for giving us hope. She blames herself for Ruth’s death. She was always
picking fights with him so he would hurt her and not one of us.”
I held my face in my hands, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to take
over. The pain she must have gone through, the suffering. I don’t know why but I had to know
more. “Did he… did her rape her,” I choked back.
“Yes,” she whispered.
I felt my body start to shake as my tears spilled over. Anna didn’t say another word
after that, and for that I was grateful. I didn’t think I could handle hearing much more.
“Doctor Kent to room 233, stat, code red,” a voice blared throughout the room.
“That’s Bella’s room,” I said, standing up and frantically wiping my eyes.
“Go,” Anna yelled.
When I turned the corner, I could hear Bella’s screams echoing down the hallway. I
ran right into her room and was dumbfounded by the number of nurses and doctors that were
holding her down. She was thrashing around as the nurses tried to tie her wrists and ankles
down.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
I pushed one of the doctors away and held Bella’s face in my hands. “Bella, look at
me,” I whispered. Her eyes were wide, wild with fear, and tears were streaming down her
cheeks. She kept looking around everywhere except at me. “Bella,” I said a little more firmly.
“Look at me.” Her eyes quickly moved to mine and she instantly stopped fighting.
“Edward?” she whispered, sounding stunned.
“Yes, baby,” I smiled. “You’re safe. You’re in the hospital. You were shot.”
Fresh tears started to trickle down her face as she hesitantly raised her hand to cup
my face. “You’re here,” she whispered, almost sounding surprised.
“Of course I’m here,” I whispered back. I leaned forward and rested my forehead
against hers. “Nothing could keep me away from you. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she sniffled, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I looked over her shoulder and saw Charlie ushering the doctors and nurses out of
the room. I nodded my head when Charlie mouthed that he would be right outside.
I held Bella tightly as she sobbed against my neck. “Shh, baby, it’s alright. I’ve got
you, and I’m never letting you go.” I felt her nod and take a few deep breaths.
“Where are my parents?”
I pulled back and kissed her cheek. “Your dad is right outside, and your mom is on
her way.”
“And the others?” she asked for firmly, looking very serious all of a sudden.
“They are all here, resting, some of them are even being discharged soon,” I smiled.
“Alice is leaving today. She will be happy to know you are awake. She is constantly asking
about you.”
She didn’t smile. She just nodded her head and bit at her lip. “And what about
him?”
“He’s upstairs. Jasper shot him, so he’s recovering from surgery.”
Her eyes shot up at mine. “I want to see him,” she demanded.
“What? Why?” Why would she want to ever see him again?
“I just have to,” she whispered, sitting back in her bed with a hiss.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain?” I panicked, searching for the nurses’ button.
“I’m fine, I don’t feel too much,” she yawned.
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake
up.”
I sat back down next to her, took her hand in mine, and kissed it. She smiled and
mumbled that she loved me. I told her I loved her too, and laid my head down next to her
hand, and let sleep take over.
6 Hours Later BPOV
“The poor thing,” a woman’s voice whispered, rousing Bella from her dreamless
sleep. “I can’t imagine what they must be going through right now.”
“I know,” another woman’s voice whispered back.
Bella kept her eyes closed, ignoring the soft pain in her back. She had developed a
tolerance for pain, and even though it was due to being chained up underground for weeks,
she learned that tolerance can be an ally.
“If I had it my way, I would have let that psycho die on the operating table,” one of
them huffed.
“I just hope he gets put away for a long time so he can go away and never bothers
these poor girls again,” the other one whispered back.
There was some rustling around and then they started whispering again.
“Shouldn’t we wake her? Doctor Kent wanted her to start moving around as soon as
possible.”
“In a minute,” the other answered. “Let’s add this to the computer and find her a
good wheelchair.”
I waited until they left the room before I opened my eyes. The room was dimly lit;
and the only sounds around me were the steady beats of the machines. Edward was asleep in
the chair next to me, his face buried in his arms as he rested against my bed. At the far corner
was my mom. She was curled up like a cat on the small sofa bed. She seemed a lot more
peaceful and relaxed than earlier.
Slowly pulling myself upright, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and bit
down on my lip to hold back the sting of pain that shot through my back. I looked down at my
right arms and quietly removed the blood pressure cuff. Just as I was about to let my feet
touch the ground, one of the nurses from before walked in the room. Her name was Tabitha,
but she preferred to go by Tabby.
“I know you ain’t trying to walk on your own,” she whispered, walking towards me.
“Just seeing if I can do it,” I answered, producing the fakest smile I could.
Tabby held onto my left arm to help steady me as I tried to make my way towards
the bathroom. I hated having that damn needle in my arm. I had to drag the stupid IV stand
everywhere.
“You seem to be doing pretty well, Miss Swan. Maybe I can get you a small walker
to help you move around,” she smiled.
I nodded my head and opened the bathroom door. “That would be great. The more
mobile I am the quicker I can heal.”
When I walked in the bathroom, Tabby looked over her shoulder and then back at
me. “I’ll see if I can find one. Just don’t forget to put the clip back on your finger when you
go back to bed.”
“I will. I promise.” I smiled.
I went to the bathroom as quickly as I could and then peeked out into the room to
see if Tabby had come back. She hadn’t. Everyone was still where I left them. I slowly made
my way over to the other side of the bed where Edward was sleeping. As carefully as I could,
I slipped the clip on his index finger, and then started to slowly make my way out of the room.
I opened the door quietly and peered out into the hallway. It was late, so I wasn’t
surprised to find the hallway completely empty. There was a thick wooden railing that lined
against the wall, and I used that to help me walk down the hall. When I reached the elevators,
I was relieved to find an abandoned wheelchair sitting off to the side. I used it to help me into
the elevator, and quickly pushed the up button, not wanting anyone to see me.
When I got to the third floor, I stuck my head out and made sure no one was around
there before making my way around the halls. After a few minutes, I almost gave up - until I
saw a police officer sitting outside a room.
Found you.
How the hell was I going to get him away from that door? I looked around and
contemplated pulling the fire alarm, but decided against it. It’s not that I cared about getting
caught; I just wanted to make sure I was done before it happened. Looking up at my IV poll
stand, I pulled the clear bag off the hook and through it on the seat. For a second I thought
about hitting the cop in the head with the metal stand, but I threw it across the hall instead,
cringing as the sound echoed everywhere. It finally skidded to a stop and bounced off the
wall. I watched as the cop stood up from his chair and started heading towards the discarded
pole. As fast as I could, I rolled myself over to the door, and opened it, rolled the wheelchair
inside, and shut the door behind me.
Wow, Jasper got you good.
He had wires, IV’s, and tubes coming out of him from every direction. I smiled at
the thought of him feeling some pain, but more than anything, knowing that he was going to
be feeling a lot more real soon.
I wheeled over to the chart that lay on the small table by his bed. I picked it up and
opened it.
“So your name is David,” I mumbled to myself. “You’re in the military, but are
considered UA.” I looked over at him and spit on him. “Loser.” I continued on reading about
him until I felt satisfied that I knew enough about who he was. I moved closer to him and
noticed his wrists were handcuffed to the sides of the bed.
“Who’s chained up now, bitch,” I smiled. “Can you hear me, David?” I asked
softly, giving him a light slap on the face. “Can you hear me in that fucked up head of yours?”
I slapped him again, hoping he could hear me. “I know what’s going to happen once you get
well. There’s going to be a trial, and you’re going to plead Temporary Insanity, and the girls
and I will have to live in fear wondering if you’ll ever get out and find us. Well, David, I’m
here to tell you that that is not going to happen.”
I reached up and tightened my hand around his breathing tube, cutting off his air
supply. All I could see was Ruth’s face as I watched the lines on the screen start to move
erratically. I’m sure there had to have been beeping; maybe even alarms going off, but I didn’t
hear them. All I heard was the thumping of Linda’s head as it was being dragged up the stairs.
I could feel tears starting to sting my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. This was their peace.
This was me fulfilling my promise to them.
“Its judgment day, asshole.”
It’s true the way I feel
Was promised by your face
The sound of your voice
Painted on my memories
Even if you’re not with me
I’m with you
(Now I see, keeping everything inside)
With You
(Now I see, even when I close my eyes)
LINKIN PARK
They say time heals all wounds, but I don’t think I fall into that category anymore. I
was once; happy, safe, and carefree, but not anymore. Now, I knew that every shadow, every
sudden movement, every unfamiliar sound would be him, and his haunting memory. He had
left his mark on me, on all of us, and no amount of time could remove that. We would all be
that way. We will be sixty year old women, crying in our sleep, still afraid of the dark. His
death wouldn’t change that, but it would’ve been a start.
I didn’t even hear the door burst open, or the yelling that filled the room, because all
of the scenes flashing through my mind.
Flash Every cry of pain that echoed out when he hit one of the girls.
Flash Hearing his Zippo flip open.
Flash Ruth’s neck snapping.
Flash Sarah screaming for hours when he was done with her.
Flash That fucking laugh he would bellow when he was raping us.
I could feel people around me, clawing at my hand as I squeezed tighter.
“Miss Swan, let go,” a man yelled, but I wouldn’t answer. If they wanted me to let
go then they were going to have to saw my fucking arm off.
“Bella… Bells… let go sweet heart,” I heard my dad say softly.
Why is it when a girl hears her dad’s voice in pain the water works turn on like a
damn flood?
I shook my head violently and maintained my grip. “He has to pay, daddy, he has to
suffer,” I cried, not taking my eyes off of him.
“And he will, Bells. I swear to God he will,” my dad whispered, moving closer to
me.
“No, I’m not going to let some fucking lawyer get him off,” I yelled. “He has to
pay. It has to be me. I promised,” I gasped, finding it hard to talk suddenly.
The room was becoming fuzzy and I was having a hard time holding on to the tube.
I felt hands separating my fingers and pulling me away from his body.
“No,” I slurred.
“Its okay, Bells, I got you,” my dad whispered, kissing my forehead.
“I promised,” I cried, feeling the darkness take over.
EPOV
Bella had to be sedated after what she did to David the other day. The hospital
wanted to strap her down to the bed, but Charlie, and I, told them to go fuck themselves.
She’d been chained to a fucking wall for thirty days, and these motherfuckers wanted to strap
her down? Idiots. We settled for mild sedation so she would still be somewhat coherent, but
unable to move around without our help. She hadn’t said a word since she had woken up from
the first injection.
Flash
I woke up to the sound of alarms going off in the hallway, and I immediately noticed
Bella wasn’t in her bed. I looked behind me and saw that Renee was looking just as worried
as I felt. I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom, hoping that Bella was in there, but it was
empty. When we walked out of the room, we saw a gurney being rolled down the hallway with
an unconscious Bella on it.
“What the hell is going on?” Renee yelled, spotting Charlie talking to a doctor at
the nurses’ station.
“There was an incident,” Charlie simply answered.
“Can you vague that up a little more for me, Charles?” Renee sneered. She turned
to me and pointed towards the group of people that were pushing Bella down the hall.
“Follow them and I’ll catch up in a minute,” she ordered. She didn’t have to tell me twice.
Bella was taken to a room at the end of the hall that was almost like her other
room… almost. The first thing that stood out was that the door was metal, and not wood. It
also had a keypad on the front and back of it, which took me aback. ‘Had David escaped?
What’s with the extra security?’ I noticed Tabby, Bella’s nurse, walking towards me, and I
hoped she could give me some answers.
“Tabby, what’s going on?” I whispered.
She looked over her shoulder and leaned in to me. “Bella left her room, while you
and her mom were sleeping, and went to… his room.”
“What?” I yelped.
“She tried to kill him. Wrapped her hand around his respirator and cut off his air
supply, but her father distracted her long enough for a doctor to sedate her,” she whispered.
I looked into her room and saw the doctors starting to strap her down to the bed.
“Tabby, please, don’t let them tie her down,” I begged. “She’s been through so
much already.”
“I don’t know, Edward. The hospital…”
“Tabby,” I whispered, cutting her off, and taking her hand in mine. “That
monster… chained my girl to a wall, and raped her. She had to sit down there and listen to
him do that to these other girls, too. She sat there, defenseless, as he killed her friends.” I
could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Please, Tabby, I beg you, don’t let her wake up
tied down again.”
Flash
Tabby was definitely going on the family Christmas card list from now on. Bella
may not remember her, due to all the drugs they were pumping in her, but I’ll never forget
her. She had no idea what it meant to me to see her go in there and call those doctors stupid
for tying Bella down. She pissed a lot of doctors off that day doing that, but as she put it,
“They can kiss my fifty year old black ass.” I developed a whole new level of respect for
nurses, the unsung heroes that are the nurses of that hospital.
I wasn’t supposed to be staying overnight in Bella’s new room, but Tabby took care
of that for me. Bella would wake up every now and then, only to eat and move around a little,
but she never spoke. She would hardly even acknowledge anyone, barely nodding or shaking
her head when asked a question. Renee would leave the room to cry, and Charlie would be
gone for hours some times, always coming back smelling like smoke, but I couldn’t find it in
myself to leave her. She was my forever. When she was in pain, then I was in pain too. Even
though she wouldn’t talk to me, or look at me, I knew she wanted me there. I held her hand
and she squeezed back; and that was all the reassurance I needed.
The only time she seemed at peace was when she was asleep. I would stroke her
hair, and kiss her hand, as she slept the night away. I caught myself singing to her all the time,
never knowing why I started, only that it just felt right.
The stars lean down to kiss you
And I lie awake and miss you
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere
'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly
But I'll miss your arms around me
I'd send a postcard to you, dear
'Cause I wish you were here
I sat back in my chair and scooted it as close to her bed as it would allow, still keeping a soft
grip on her hand. I kept my voice low as I hummed the melody to her.
I'll watch the night turn light-blue
But it's not the same without you
Because it takes two to whisper quietly
The silence isn't so bad
'Til I look at my hands and feel sad
'Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly
I leaned forward, and softly left a soft kiss on top of her index finger, and rubbed the tip of my
nose over it.
I'll find repose in new ways
Though I haven't slept in two days
'Cause cold nostalgia
Chills me to the bone
But drenched in vanilla twilight
I'll sit on the front porch all night
Waist-deep in thought because
When I think of you I don't feel so alone
I lifted my other hand and gently caressed the silky soft skin that was exposed
around the tape that held her IV to her arm.
As many times as I blink
I'll think of you tonight
Bella stirred and shifted her body slightly towards mine. I smiled a little, relived that she still
did that because before all this happened, no matter how far away I rolled away from her in
bed, she always scooted towards me.
When violet eyes get brighter
And heavy wings grow lighter
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again
And I'll forget the world that I knew
But I swear I won't forget you
Oh, if my voice could reach
Back through the past
I'd whisper in your ear
Oh darling, I wish you were here
I started humming again and I felt her hand tighten around mine. I leaned down and
kissed it, resting my forehead against her hand.
“I love you, too, Edward,” she whispered softly in her sleep.
I felt a warm tear escape my eye and land on top of her cold hand.
“Forever, baby,” I smiled, letting my eyes close so I could finally sleep.
3 Days Later: BPOV
The definition of Funeral - A ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering
the life of a deceased person.
I was released early from the hospital so I could go to Nina, Ruth, and Linda’s
funeral. Personally, I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t say that out loud. Everyone was making a
very big deal about going and I didn’t want to seem like a bitch for saying no. I had nothing
against anyone who wanted to go. I loved these girls, but to me a funeral was nothing but a
depressing pot-luck. You sit around and listen to everyone talk about how wonderful the
deceased was, and then you go somewhere to eat, and cry, and then you’re done. I didn’t see
the point. I already knew how wonderful and strong these women were. They are my sisters,
and I loved them. I didn’t need to stand around a bunch of strangers to prove that.
I hadn’t really spoken since my failed attempt at killing… him. I couldn’t even say
his name. He had no name in my mind. He will always just be him. After they stabilized him,
the detectives moved him to another hospital, and only a select few knew which one. I felt
like such a failure. I was there. I held his worthless life in the palm of my hand. I wasn’t going
to choke this time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, but I did. No one spoke of
it, and I appreciated that. I didn’t need a reminder of my failure. My dad was the one to come
into my room and explain to me that it never happened. The hospital staff, and detectives,
were turning a blind eye to the incident, and it would never be mentioned again. I guess I
should’ve been grateful, but I wasn’t. A part of me wanted him to know that when he was
helpless I held his life in my hand. I should have just shoved a blunt object through his
heartless fucking chest.
We hadn’t been back to the apartment, due to all the news coverage surrounding the
case, so we all ended up staying at the same hotel as Edward’s parents. And when I say all I
mean all; my parents, the girls, and all my friends.
The first night was the worst. After I got out of the shower, and dressed, I stood
there, just looking at myself in the mirror for hours. It was the first time I had really looked at
myself since… well, it had been awhile. I didn’t even recognize the woman looking back at
me in the mirror. Aside from the cuts, bruises, and black eye; I still couldn’t see myself. It
was as if I was looking at a stranger.
Edward had pulled me out of my thoughts with a soft tap on the door. His room was
adjoined to mine, so he was constantly checking up on me. I walked out to find the room
dimly lit and a carpet picnic spread out in front of the TV. He was being supportive,
thoughtful, and caring, and I felt like an utter bitch when I told him that all I wanted to do was
sleep. The funeral was the next day and I knew I needed the rest, and being the wonderful
man that he is, he smiled and nodded his head in agreement.
“It has been a long day, hasn’t it?” he smiled. “Rain check?”
I smiled back and gave him a hug, thanking him for his thoughtfulness. I went to
bed, leaving the lights and TV on, for obvious reasons, and drifted off to sleep fairly quickly.
‘I fall to pieces, each time I see you again. I fall to pieces. How can I be just your
friend?’
No. NO! I got out! I looked down at my ankle and saw the chain around it. “No, this
isn’t real. I’m going to count to ten and it’s all going to go away.”
‘You want me to act like we've never kissed. You want me to forget, pretend we've
never met. And I've tried and I've tried, but I haven't yet. You walk by and I fall to pieces.’
I could hear the footsteps coming down the stairs and I start to panic. “Anna!
Linda!” I yell out, but there was nothing, nothing but the sound of the metal door opening,
and the voice of Patsy Cline.
‘I fall to pieces, each time someone speaks your name. I fall to pieces. Time only
adds to the flame.’
I hear the jingling of keys as the door closed, and the sound of footsteps coming
closer. I look around for something, anything I can use to help defend myself against for what
was about to happen, but there was nothing.
‘You tell me to find someone else to love, someone who'll love me too, the way you
used to do. But each time I go out with someone new, you walk by and I fall to pieces.’
The footsteps stopped in front of my door, and I held my breath, and closed my
eyes. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real. I heard the lock turn and the door being pushed
open. I let out a shaky breath, opened my eyes, and cried out when I saw his silhouette in the
doorframe. I felt my body tremble when I watched him reach behind his back.
“Nobody but you and me, whore,” he growled, pulling out a gun and aiming it at
me. “I always save my favorites for last.”
‘You walk by and I fall to pieces.’
The song ends with the echo of a gun and the whiz of the bullet flying towards me.
“Bella, BELLA! Wake up!”
I sat up in bed screaming and thrashing out at whoever was holding me. Even when
I realized that it was only Edward, I still pulled myself out of his grasp, and tumbled onto the
floor. I immediately realized that the room was dark. “Why aren’t the lights on?” I yelled.
“I turned them off,” he answered cautiously.
“Why?” I yelled again. “If I wanted them off I would have turned them off myself.”
“I just thought…”
“No, if you had thought you would have understood why I left them on,” I
screamed, cutting him off. I went over to the wall and flipped the switch, causing the room to
light up brightly. I noticed Edward was still sitting on my bed in his pajamas, looking like I
had just slapped him in the face. I turned away from him, not needing to feel guilty for lashing
out on him. I covered my face with my hands and tried to force back the tears that were trying
to escape. “I just need the lights on, okay?” I said quietly.
“Of course,” he whispered. I could hear him stand up and walk towards me. He
didn’t touch me, but I could feel him right behind me. It was as if his body was radiating some
kind of calming influence on me. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.
I turned and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his strong
chest. “I’m sorry, too,” I whimpered.
We stood there embracing and whispering how much we loved each other for what
felt like hours, and for a small time, he helped me forget the pain.
I woke up in bed, still wrapped in Edward’s arms, and it felt… nice. I didn’t have
the nightmare again, so I decided that if sleeping with Edward kept them away then he better
get used to sleeping with the lights on. Alice, and the girls, thought it would be nice if we all
matched at the funeral, so Alice and Esme picked out black and white dresses for all of us.
My mom did my hair, and Alice finished my makeup. Once we were all ready, we left out the
back exit of the hotel. The media had been less than respectful towards us; it was almost as if
they felt we owed them something. Luckily, we had a police escort all the way to Lake View
Cemetery.
“Wow, Lake View? That’s pretty…”
“Emmett, don’t even,” Rose growled, cutting him off.
“What? I think it would be an honor to be put to rest next to Bruce Lee. The man’s a
legend.”
Esme huffed and crossed her arms. “Really, Emmett? Keep it to yourself. This is
neither the place nor the time.”
“Sorry,” he whispered as the car pulled off to the side. I sat there for a minute,
watching the flow of unknown faces pass by as they headed towards the three coffins at the
top of the hill. I spotted the others right away, since we were the only mourners wearing
white. They all smiled and hugged each stranger that approached; each unfamiliar face was
probably a relative or close friend of one of our fallen sisters.
“Bella?”
I turned to see Edward’s hand extended towards me. I took a deep breath and placed
my hand in his.
“Just say the word and we’ll go, okay?” he whispered, kissing the side of my head. I
slipped on my sun glasses and nodded my head, and concentrated on putting one foot in front
of the other as I followed my family to our seats.
It was eerie to look at the large blown up pictures of Nina, Linda, and Ruth. The
pictures made them seem so calm, so happy. A snap shot in the life of a girl that would never
had existed again, even if they had survived. Alice, Anna, Laura, Sarah, and I all had white
roses with us, and as we walked by the caskets, we dropped them in the ground as they
lowered. I stood there, watching my fallen sister’s caskets sink lower and lower into the
darkness and I found myself becoming annoyed at their families. These girls died in the
darkness, and now they were being left there to rot. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I moved
away quickly, not wanting anyone to touch me.
“I’ll just… give you a minute,” I heard Edward say, and I turned around to see that I
was the only one left standing there.
“Thank you,” I whispered, as he walked away.
I stood there and watched as the workers started shoveling the dirt over their
caskets. I found it hard to breathe when I looked down and saw that I couldn’t even see Ruth’s
casket anymore. I felt the tears start to roll down my cheeks as Linda’s soon became
consumed in dirt. I glanced at Nina’s and nearly fell to my knees when I saw that her gave
was almost full. I couldn’t bear the thought of walking to the car yet so I turned in the
opposite direction and ran. I found a quiet spot and sat down, leaning against a statue of a
woman. It seemed that this would be a good place to allow myself to have a much needed
break down. I don’t know how long I was there, but when I finally opened my eyes the sky
had already started to darken a little.
“Bella,” a soft voice called out. I looked over my shoulder and there stood my
sisters. One by one Alice, Anna, Laura, and Sarah came towards me, and sat down around me.
“We need to get drunk,” Laura sniffled.
“Fuck that,” Sarah laughed. “We need to get fucking wasted.”
All the girls laughed.
“Well, I guess that makes me the designated driver,” Anna sighed.
“Fuck yeah, Anna, that’s the spirit,” Laura laughed.
“Why not,” Alice smiled. “I think we’ve earned it. What about you, Bella?”
“Sure,” I nodded. “We evaded death… I say we party.” Why not? Anything to help
numb the constant feeling of failure that seemed to be wrapped around me.
When we made it down the hill, I saw that there was a limo waiting for us, and
Edward and Jasper were standing outside smoking.
“When did this start back up?” I whispered to Alice.
“Do you really have to ask?” she sighed.
I waited outside the car with Edward while everyone got in; I had the feeling he
wanted to say something and sure enough he did.
“Look, I’m sorry about the whole smoking thing,” he started to stammer, running
his fingers through his hair.
“It’s okay,” I smiled. “I understand.”
“I’ll quit. I swear.”
“Edward,” I chuckled softly, raising my hand and resting it on the side of his face.
“It’s okay.” He seemed to calm instantly and sighed, nodding his head.
We made it back to the hotel fairly quickly, and Alice and I explained to the guys
that we just needed some girl time alone in my room. They seemed hesitant at first, but we
finally came to an understanding - and I promised to leave the adjacent door unlocked to
Edward’s room, so they could come and check on us at anytime.
I quickly showered and changed as the others did they same, and by the time I got
out of the bathroom all the girls were sitting on my bed, arms full with every little bottle of
alcohol they had in their mini fridge. We sat there in silence for a minute, looking at the large
pile of booze that sat before us - and feeling brave, I picked up the small bottle of jack and
opened it.
“To Ruth,” I said, lifting the bottle in front of me.
Sarah picked one and opened it, clinking it against mine. “To Nina,” she smiled.
Laura laughed and opened a bottle, too. “To Linda, Lord knows that crazy bitch is
looking down at us, pissed off that she’s missing out.”
Alice picked a bottle, opened it, and sighed. “To making it.”
Anna lifted her bottle of water and rubbed her belly with her other hand. “To the
sisters,” she smiled, looking over at me.
We all smiled and pounded down our drinks. It had been awhile since any of us had
drank alcohol ,so we all kinda had a hard time with choking down that first round, but by the
seventh we were all starting to finally unwind. Well, all but Anna.
“Can I just say something,” Laura slurred, sipping her drink. “Was it me or did that
bastard have the worst breath ever.”
“Laura,” Anna groaned. “We swore not to talk about him.”
“I know, but come on… you have to admit…”
“Yes,” Sarah and I said at the same time, cutting Laura off.
“Can I ask something?” Alice whispered. We all nodded for her to continue. “I
know I didn’t nearly have it as bad as the rest of you, but am I the only one that has to sleep
with the lights on.”
“Hell no,” Laura laughed. “I sleep with everything on.”
Alice looked over at me and I nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry, you’re not the
only one,” I smiled.
“I don’t want to be here,” Sarah slurred, tearfully looking at her empty drink.
“Neither do I,” I said.
“Where the hell do you want to go?” Anna asked.
“I want to have a drink with my sisters,” I whispered, clutching the small bottle in
my hand.
“You are,” Alice said.
“No we’re not,” Laura cut in, looking at me and nodding.
“No,” Anna said quickly. “No way. It’s locked up and my fat ass is not jumping any
gates.”
“Come on, Anna,” I pleaded. “They had their time to say goodbye, and now it’s our
time.”
“Bella, I…”
“They put them in the ground, Anna,” I yelled. I got off the bed and pulled my
shoes on.
“Bella, where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“I’ll go alone. I don’t care, but I don’t want to be here,” I rushed, grabbing a sweater
and pulling it on.
“Well I’m in,” Laura said, pocketing the rest of the booze, and slipping them into
the pockets of her robe. She turned around and looked at Sarah and Alice. “You coming?”
“I’ll come if Jasper and Edward can come, too,” Alice said firmly. “They won’t
come in, but I’m pretty sure they’ll help us get over the gate.” she said quickly, before any of
us could say no.
“Are you sure, Ali?” I asked.
“Positive,” she smiled.
- - - - - - - -
I don’t know what Alice said to Edward and Jasper, but less than an hour later we
were all standing outside the gates to the Olympic Park Cemetery.
“Again I say How are we going to get my fat ass over this?” Anna groaned.
Before any of us could answer, Laura started to climb up the gate.
“You are fucking crazy,” Sarah laughed.
“And so am I,” I sighed, following Laura up the gate.
Soon Laura, myself, Alice, and Sarah were over and we were doing was waiting on
Anna to join us.
“Come on, Anna. It’s really not that bad,” Alice promised.
“You guys better catch me if I fall,” Anna yelled, starting to climb up the gate. We
all cheered once her feet touched the ground on the other side. We started to walk away when
Edward called out for me. I quickly made my way back to the gate.
“Be careful,” he whispered, reaching out and softly touching my face.
“I will,” I smiled, leaning into his touch. “Thank you, you know, for doing this.”
He smiled and nodded. “Go do what you gotta do.” I nodded and ran off with the
others.
- - - - - - -
It was easy to find the grave site. I guess the workers were going to wait until the
morning to remove all the flower arrangements and photo stills. We stood there silently, each
of us in our own world. I was more than confident that the others were thinking about what
they went through, down in that hole, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t. My thoughts were only on the
three faces that seemed to be staring back at me from their pictures. I had never even known
Nina, but I clearly felt some type of burden seeing her face. It was as if I failed her too. Not
by not saving her, but by not giving her the justice she deserved. My eyes scanned over
Linda’s picture quickly, unable to find the strength to look into her eyes. Linda was the
perfect example that at any moment he could have killed any one of us at any moment. I
fought back the tears when I turned to Ruth’s picture; so innocent, and sweet. I could still hear
the sound of her neck being snapped as if it were happening right next to me.
I took a step forward and gazed down at Ruth’s grave. “I’m sorry, it should have
been me,” I whispered.
“What?” Anna yelled.
“No, honey,” Alice sniffled, coming over to my side and trying to wrap her arm
around me, but I shrugged her off. “Bella, without you none of us would have made it.”
“She’s right, Bella,” Laura whispered.
I turned around and started feeling annoyed at their lack of understanding. “You
didn’t see it happen,” I growled. “You didn’t see the look on her face when he came from
behind and wrapped his hands around her neck.” I was yelling now, causing the girls to move
back a step. I felt bad when I saw the looks on the girl’s faces, but what was worse was the
feeling of the tears that were threatening to spill over. I was tired of crying; it seemed that was
all I had been doing lately. I turned around and glared at the pictures of Nina, Linda, and
Ruth. “I swore to myself that I would avenge their murders. That he would suffer till his last
breath for what he did to you all, and I failed.” I staggered a little bit, letting the last word fall
from my lips in a whisper.
“What do you mean ‘What he did to us?’,” Laura yelled. “Bella, he did is to you,
too. He deserves to suffer just as much for what he did to you. It’s not your…”
“Yes it is,” I screamed. “I was ready to go. I made my peace, and was ready to take
him down with me.” I don’t know why I started to walk away, but I had to. Standing there
was only reminding me of my failure. “I want to know why,” I screamed again. “Why did it
have to be them? I was stronger than them. I was more of a threat; I made sure of it, and yet
he took them. He ripped them out of this world like they were NOTHING… AND I WANT
TO KNOW WHY!”
I couldn’t hold it back anymore; I let the tears flow freely. “I had his life in the palm
of my hands, twice, and yet I’m still that weak little girl stuck in the basement.” I fell to my
knees and gripped my hair tight in my hands. “I had him, down there. I could have easily
bashed his face in, or snapped his neck, but I was weak,” I yelled at the end, causing the girls
to jump. “And then when I had the chance again I blew it.” I was sobbing now. I wrapped my
arms around myself, feeling like my body was going to explode at any moment. “It should
have been me,” I whimpered, leaning forward and resting my forehead on the cold ground.
I heard footsteps coming towards me and felt the grass shift. Too tired to protest, I
didn’t flinch when I felt a hand glide over my hair. “We all feel that way, Bella,” Sarah
whispered. One by one I felt each girl come around me and rest their hands on my back.
“I just don’t know what to do,” I cried into my hands.
“We do what we need to do to make sure he can’t do this again,” Anna answered.
“And we speak for the ones who didn’t make it,” Alice added.
“And we make sure that when he gets to jail, he shares a cell with the biggest,
baddest, inmate in that fucking place,” Laura sniffled, causing us all to giggle.
We all sat together, silently crying, for what felt like hours before finally someone
spoke.
“Do you think any of us will be normal again?” Sarah asked.
“We have to,” I answered, sitting up and looking around at the girls. “We owe it to
the others not to let him destroy us.”
They all nodded in silence at my words, but I wasn’t even sure if I believed what I
was saying.
“We should start heading back,” Alice sighed. “The guys are probably freaking
out.”
We all stood up and slowly made our way back to the grave site to say our last
goodbye’s to our sisters. I felt different looking at their pictures. I couldn’t explain it, and I
didn’t even want to try. Whatever I was feeling was better than what I felt before, and I was
okay with that.
“I’m still going to live up to my promise,” I breathed softly, unsure if I was saying it
to myself or to them.
I looked down when I felt a hand grasp mine and smiled when I saw that it was
Alice’s. “And I’m going to help,” she smiled weakly.
“Me too,” Anna said, coming up and wrapping her arm around my other side. One
by one the girls came forward and declared their promise to help me as we looked down at
our fallen sisters. We knew we had to leave, but none of us wanted to let go yet. We were
making our peace, our promise, and with us standing there, together as one, I had never felt
stronger. We knew what we had to do. We had to face him, again, one last time.
Wait
I'm coming undone
Irate
I'm coming undone
Too late
I'm coming undone
What looks so strong so delicate
Wait
I'm starting to suffocate
And soon I anticipate
I'm coming undone
What looks so strong so delicate
Korn
Six Months Later
EPOV
I sat in my car, shaking, wishing that this damn cigarette would calm my fucking
nerves. I thought I could handle this. I felt ready. It had been six months; and Bella still
wasn’t talking about it, and I just had to know exactly what she went through. She had this
stupid idea in her head that I wouldn’t want to be with her if I found out what happened down
there, and although she had been seeing a therapist, she wouldn’t let me touch her. Well, not
the way I wanted to. She was fine with a hug, a kiss on the cheek or the forehead, and hand
holding, but that was it. She still wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with me. It killed me to hear
her wake up screaming in the middle of the night.
Flash
“I want to be there,” I argued.
“Why?” Charlie fired back.
“Because I… ,” I stopped and looked over at Bella’s bedroom door. You could see
the light coming from underneath it, and it killed me to know that she still needed to keep that
light on to sleep at night. I flopped down on the couch and sighed. “I have to know, Charlie,”
I said, looking up at him. “I just do.”
For the most part, I had moved out of my apartment, and moved in with Bella. Once
Alice was released from the hospital, and the police allowed the girls back into their
apartment, she packed up most of her things and moved into Jasper’s room. At first it
bothered me, but I knew Alice needed that security, and so I pushed my brotherly emotions
aside and moved out. I wanted… no, needed to be closer to Bella. Rosalie didn’t seem to
mind, and Emmett was slightly relieved that I was going to be living there.
“If you didn’t move in I would have.” He smiled.
Bella had decided to take a year off of school, and the University granted her
request. They didn’t have a fucking choice anyway. The news was still all over the case and
upcoming trial, and the University had their hands tied. It was about making sure these girls
got better, and if the University didn’t support that, well, the news would have ripped them to
shreds.
Bella hadn’t left her room that much since returning home. The only time she came
out was to eat and go to her therapy sessions. Anna called when baby Izzy was born. She
talked to Bella for a long time on the phone before Bella caved and went down to the hospital
to visit them. She said she wanted to go alone, and although I fought against it, I eventually
folded and let her go by herself. She came back looking a little better, and even talked to us
for over an hour about the baby. It may have been a small step, but it was still a step.
Bella’s therapist, Maggie McQuinn, told us repeatedly that Bella was doing a
remarkable job opening up and sharing details about what happened to her down there. She
reassured us that we just needed to give Bella more time. I just couldn’t seem to understand
how she could talk to a stranger about these details and not us, or me for that matter.
Renee had stayed for a month, after Bella came home, before she went back to
Florida. Bella had a really hard time without her mom. The day Renee left, she didn’t even
leave her room all day. Renee felt that Bella needed to start facing life again, and we all
agreed. Bella was closing herself off, and the trial date was fast approaching.
When Charlie called and said that David was going to be interviewed by Detective
Chase downtown I knew I had to go. I had to know - I, no, needed to hear from him why he
wanted her. Why my girl. Why my Bella.
Flash
Charlie and I were ushered into a dark, room empty room. There was a large glass
window that allowed us to see into the interview room that David was being led into. Charlie
reassured me that David wouldn’t be able to see us, but I wasn’t stupid. Even though he didn’t
know who was on the other side of the glass, it still didn’t stop him from looking at it and
smiling after he was secured to the table.
Detective Chase threw a file across the table towards David. It was a file that held
photo’s of the girls; alive and dead. Some of them were even crime scene photos taken of the
girls after they were found in the forest.
David gingerly held out his finger and placed it on top of one of the pictures,
turning it, and dragging it towards himself. He looked down at it and smiled. “She had
promise. Too bad someone had to go and mess with her head. She’d still be alive.”
“Tell me what happened to Ruth,” Detective Chase said calmly.
“No,” David smiled, pushing the photo away.
Detective Chase calmly took the photos and lined them up next to each other. Not
the crime photos, but the head shots. The ones used on the news coverage’s. “You had great
taste in women, David,” Chase said collectively. “Each one very beautiful, and talented in
some way.”
“They are, aren’t they,” David said, with pride.
“Out of curiosity, who was your favorite?” Chase asked.
“All of them,” David said quickly.
With a slight tilt of his head Chase chuckled. “Really? All of them?”
“They each had special… qualities,” David grinned, placing his cuffed hands
behind his head. “They all fed a desire I needed fulfilled.”
Chase only nodded and slid a photograph out of the lineup towards David. “What
need did Laura fill?”
“My excitement,” David simply answered.
“Excitement? Huh,” Chase murmured, scratching his head. “I wouldn’t have
guessed that. You see, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Laura, and I must say I wouldn’t
expect someone so… mouthy to -”
“That’s what makes her exciting.” David smiled, cutting Chase off. “To unlock that
door and not know what she was going to do, or say.” David ran his tongue over his bottom
lip and I couldn’t help but shiver. “Very exciting,” he purred.
“And Ruth?” Chase asked, pushing her photo towards David. “Was she exciting?”
“No,” David sighed, shaking his head. “Ruth was innocence. Innocence in its purest
form.” David raised his hands from over his head and placed them on top of Ruth’s picture.
“To touch something so soft, so… precious. Having her mouth around me was like slipping
into a warm bath.”
I nearly vomited. He was talking about these girls like they were lovers. I wanted to
break through the glass and rip his fucking head off.
“So you enjoyed having sex with them. It wasn’t about pain?” Chased asked. I
couldn’t understand how he seemed so calm, so collected with him. It was baffling.
David sighed again and pulled two photos towards him. He lightly stroked the
picture of Linda. “I wanted to give them pleasure. I wanted them to feel my love for them.
They were exquisite.” David lined up the four photos, and as I looked closer I saw that they
were the pictures of Laura, Linda, Ruth, and Nina.
“So why did you murder them?” Chase asked, pointing to the three at the end.
“To save them,” David said softly. “To have them prepare our place together in the
afterlife, so that when I die they will be waiting there for me and we will be together for
eternity.”
“And you only chose these four? Why not the others?”
“I was going to prepare Laura that night, but I was rudely interrupted,” David
growled.
Chase pulled back all the photos, but then lined four others in their stead. There
were photos of Anna, Sarah, Alice, and Bella. “So tell me, if these women weren’t to follow
you to the afterlife, what were their purpose?”
David looked down at the photos with a menacing face. He quickly reached over to
Alice’s picture, lifted it, and flipped it to face Chase. “She was nothing to me. She was Tom’s
poor excuse to try and be like me.” David tossed the photo on the floor and shook his head. “I
would have never looked twice at that girl.”
“I was given the impression you fancied her?” Chase asked.
“Sure, I would have fucked her, but she was too weak,” David answered in a very
matter of fact way.
“And the others? What was their part in all this?” Chase asked, pushing the three
leftover pictures forward a little more.
David took one of the pictures and flipped it over and held it up. It was Anna. “She
was about pain. She was my muse for getting out my frustrations.” I could feel my anger grow
by the second. He looked so smug as he continued talking. “She’d make a great submissive;
never talking back, always following orders. Well, until the end.”
He threw the photo on the flow and it landed next to Alice’s.
“And this one,” he chuckled, reaching for Sarah’s picture next. “She was about
suffering, and man did I make her suffer.” I heard a growl behind me and I looked over to see
Charlie start to pace. We were thinking the same thing - David was saving Bella for last.
Chase seemed to pause for a bit and then reached for Bella’s picture, but David beat
him to it by tossing Sarah’s picture on the floor and snatching Bella’s. David stared at it for a
long time and then smiled.
“I love this girl,” David whispered.
“Really?” Chase asked, leaning back in his chair.
“She is the rarest type of woman,” he purred, rubbing his thumb over the picture.
Charlie came up to the glass so fast that it rattled a little. He was breathing hard, and
looked like he was about to scream.
“What was Bella to you?” Chase asked.
“Anger,” he smiled. “And she took it like a champ.”
“Is that why you only raped her once?” Chase pried.
“She wasn’t chosen for that. She was strong and willful. I just wanted to destroy
that. The more she fought back the harder I hit.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Man, she
could take a hit. She would have been great in the Military.” David then looked up at the glass
and for a second I swear for a second he could see Charlie and I. “But when I was inside her,
thrusting into that beautifully bruised body, it was heaven.”
It was my turn to growl at that point.
“Does it bother you?” David yelled, still looking at the glass mirror, at us.
“Knowing I know your daughter better then you? Knowing that I will have a piece of her that
you will never touch? ” An eerie smile swept across his face. “And although she’ll never
admit it, a small part of her, deep down, loved every second of it.”
“You son of a bitch,” Charlie screamed, flying out of the room, and reaching for the
door that went to the interrogation room. I grasped for Charlie as he tried to open the door.
Another officer nearby helped me pull him away as Detective Chase exited the room. “I’ll
fucking kill him. I swear to God I will,” Charlie screamed.
“Get him out of here,” Chase yelled, and the officer took Charlie away.
I stood there in silence as Detective Chase talked to another officer. He seemed very
deep in conversation, so I took the opportunity to slip into David’s room undetected.
“A little old to play police man, Edward,” David sneered as I shut the door behind
me.
“It’s good to know I don’t have to go through the mundane introductions, and
pleasantries, with you,” I replied, locking the door behind me.
“So, what, come to fight for your beloved Bella’s honor? I’d thought we could be
friends. Swap stories. ” He laughed.
“No,” I smiled, shaking my head and walking towards him, trying to keep my
nerves in check. “Not just for Bella.” I could see the slight worry in his eyes as I stopped in
front of him. “But I’m not here to harm you either, only to promise you something.”
“Promise me?”
I leaned forward, but just far enough that he couldn’t reach out for me. “You will
get what’s coming to you. I promise,” I sneered.
Before he could say anything, I pulled back my fist and hit him as hard as I could in
the face. His head flew back like a rag doll, and it took every ounce of self control I had in me
not to hit the bastard again. Bella needed me, and I’d be useless to her locked up in a cell next
to this piece of shit, although it was an intriguing idea. Pulling myself together, I straightened
up, and walked out of the room, and all but ran out of the police station.
Bella POV
She just had to go there, again, didn’t she? I always knew we were getting close to
the end of our session because she always asked the same ending question.
“So tell me, Bella, how is your relationship with Edward going?” Maggie asked.
“I’m thinking of breaking up with him,” I whispered.
She looked a little shocked by my answer, and set down her pad and paper. “Did he
do something wrong?” she asked, sitting back in her chair.
“No.”
“Is he being pushy or forceful in anyway?”
“No, not at all.” He’s been an angel.
“Has he said any ---“
“He deserves someone who isn’t damaged,” I sighed, cutting her off. “He deserves
to be touched, and kissed, and… he just deserves more.”
I loved Edward with all my heart. He has always been there for me. He let me cry
when I needed to cry, gave me space, and loved me when I allowed it, but he needed more.
More than what I could give.
It killed me to see his face look so deflated when I’d pull away from him, or turn
my head away from a kiss. I wanted to kiss him, to hold him and never let go, but I couldn’t.
He had kissed my lips. He had touched my skin. No matter how hard I’d scrub my skin he still
lingered there. He had burned himself on me. A scar that only I could see.
“Do you not deserve love?” Maggie asked. “If Edward is not expecting these forms
of affection then why break away and end a good thing?”
Because I’m damaged goods. “I don’t know,” I whispered, wiping a small tear
away. “I just don’t feel I’m ready for what he needs, but I don’t want to lose him.”
Maggie looked up at the clock and then sighed. “I want you to do something for me,
Bella. I want you to talk to Edward about these feelings.” I looked at her like she was crazy.
“I’m serious,” she said a little forcefully. “I bet you haven’t even started preparing yourself
for the trial next week because you’re too focused of why you’re not good enough for
Edward.”
I glanced over at the calendar that sat on Maggie’s desk. Was it already May?
“You’ve been losing days again, haven’t you?” she asked.
“I’ll talk to him,” I replied, ignoring the question. I didn’t want to talk about my
constant sleeping or spacing out. Weeks would go by and I wouldn’t know. If it wasn’t for
Edward I wouldn’t even know it was Tuesday. Therapy day.
“If you love Edward as much as you feel you do then, in my opinion, talk it out. If
you two need me, or even if you need to talk to me about it, you know you can call me at any
time.”
Maggie wasn’t just my therapist, but all of our therapists. We decided that we liked
the idea of group therapy, and Maggie came highly recommended. Monday’s was Anna; I
was Tuesday’s, Sarah Wednesday’s, and Laura Thursday’s. Friday was always group day, and
it was the only time I’d ever see them. Alice was the only one who decided against therapy.
She came to the group sessions with me because she wanted to be supportive to all of us, but
she felt she was fine.
“I’m not giving up my Thursday’s when she cracks.” Laura mumbled last week as
we left.
They all seemed to be getting better in some small way. Sarah and Laura dove right
back into school, needing the distraction and normalcy again. Anna and I chose to take a year
off. Anna had the better reason, being pregnant and all, but me… I just didn’t want to think
about school. I just wasn’t ready yet. I appreciated that nobody pushed me about my decision.
As if it would have mattered.
As always, Edward was outside waiting for me. Always with a smile on his face,
and a cup of coffee in his hand. Before, when I’d come home from a session with Maggie, I’d
go right to bed and sleep until the next day. Edward thought if he got some coffee in my
system it would keep me awake for a little while, hoping to get me to talk. Of course, we
never talked about what he wanted to talk about, but I liked hearing about his classes, or about
what Emmett did that day. I even caught myself laughing a few times when he talked about
going off on Jasper for being too loud in the other room with Alice.
“No brother should ever hear that shit,” Emmett would complain.
We sat in silence this time. It made me feel a little nervous. Edward was never silent
after my sessions. I guess it was a good thing. It allowed me to think about what Maggie and I
talked about. Did I really want to let Edward go? Could I imagine a life without him? I knew
the answers to these questions already. It was a no brainer. I just didn’t know if I needed him
more than he needed me.
Once we got home I was relieved that Rose wasn’t there yet. So instead of walking
to my room, like I always did, I went over to the couch and sat down. “We need to talk.”
I looked up at Edward and saw a mix of fear and excitement in his eyes. “Okay,” he
nodded, coming over and sitting next to me.
“I’m sorry that I’ve been so… distant,” I stammered, restraining myself from saying
undeserving.
“You don’t need to apologize for that, Bella.” He smiled.
“I don’t…”
“Don’t,” he growled, standing up and walking away. “Don’t say it.”
I sighed and rested my head in my hands. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” Edward yelled. “I can’t for the life of me understand why
you feel you don’t deserve to be loved.” I felt him walk in front of me and sit on the table,
facing me. “Why do you have this constant idea that we don’t deserve each other?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I’m not the same girl you once knew. Not anymore.”
“Bullshit!” he yelled.
“I’m broken,” I whispered again. “I’ll never feel right… work right again.”
“Bullshit.”
“You deserve better, alright?” I fired back. “Fine, you want to know how I feel?
You think you’re ready? I live in a constant state of fear.” I kept my eyes on him the whole
time, willing my tears to maintain their distance. “I fall asleep every night, knowing I’m going
to be dreaming of that man’s breath on my face. Hearing the screams of the girls as he raped
them, and I don’t know when it’s going to stop. If it will ever stop. You deserve a girl who…
you just deserve more, Edward. I love you, but I’m not enough for you.”
I kept my eyes on him as I watched him take in my words. His face looked like a
kaleidoscope of emotions. I was about to get up when he stood up, and lifted me off the
couch. He pushed me into his room and stood me in front of his mirror. “Look at yourself,” he
breathed. I tried to pull away from his grasp, but he wouldn’t let me go. He moved himself
behind me and rested his forehead on the back of my head. “Please, Bella, just look.”
I looked up slowly and stared at my reflection. One word only came to mind
whenever I looked at myself. Broken.
Edward stood up straight and looked over my head to gaze at my reflection. “I’m
going to say this one time, and then I never want to hear the words ‘undeserving’ come out of
your mouth again.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?” he whispered. I could already feel
the tears start to prickle behind my eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I want this?” he
asked, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his chest. “I don’t care if you were
bald, scars running down your face, and the most disgusting form of athletes’ foot I’d ever
seen. I’d still want you.” I rolled my eyes, trying to hide the tear that fell slowly down my
cheek.
“No,” he growled, turning me around so I was facing him. He fell to his knees and
hugged me around my waist. “Please, believe me,” he implored, resting his cheek against my
stomach. “Please believe me when I say I love you more than anything.”
I bit my lip to hold back the sob that was threatening to explode out of my body. I
slowly lowered myself onto my knees and cupped his face in my hands. He looked so scared,
so worried. I ran my thumb over his cheek to try and comfort him in some small way. “I
know,” I whispered. “Please, Edward, don’t think for one second that I don’t love you, too,” I
smiled.
“Then what do I have to do?” He trembled, resting his hands over mine. “What do I
have to do to show you how much I need you? How much I have to have you in my life?” I
couldn’t hold back my sobs any longer. I crumbled as his words kept pouring out. “I want to
marry you, Bella. I want to fall asleep next to you while resting my hand over your growing
belly. I want to come home after a long day of work, and see you smile as our children come
running towards me. I want to argue with you, cry with you, grow old with you, and I know
you might not want these things right now, if ever, but I need you to know that I do. I will be
here until you tell me to go.”
I couldn’t believe these feelings, these words that seem to wrap around me like a
warm breeze. A feeling I didn’t think would ever exist for me again. I wrapped my arms
around him, and held him as tight as I could. “Y-yes,” I stammered.
I felt him exhale against my hair. “Yes?”
I nodded my head quickly. “Yes.”
He pulled back and carefully cupped my face. “Yes?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He looked as if I was speaking in a foreign language. I
took his hand off my cheek and lifted it to my lips, pressing a firm kiss there.
Edward’s chest started to shake as a smile spread across his lips. Slowly a laugh
erupted from his lips. “Yes!” he yelled, standing to his feet. “She said ‘yes’!” He bent down
and wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up, twirling me around. “Oh my God, Bella,”
he sighed. He placed me back on the floor, but still held onto me. He looked into my eyes and
slowly lowered his forehead to rest on mine.
We stood there for what felt like hours, just holding each other. We were looking
into each other’s eyes as if we were having some bizarre staring contest. For the first time in
months, I had the need to show my love for him. To prove to him how much I needed him just
as much as he needed me. His eyes widened a little as I moved my lips towards him. His
demeanor completely changed in a second. He went from happy to ecstatic with a simple
swipe of his tongue over his bottom lip. Taking a shallow breath I closed my eyes and pressed
my lips softly to his. I had missed that warmth, that tingle I would get whenever our lips
would touch. His hand came up into my hair and softly messaged my scalp. I sighed against
his lips and smiled. “I love you,” I whispered.
“Always,” he whispered back, capturing my lips again.
I am color...blind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am
taffy stuck, tongue tied
Stuttered shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am...fine
Colorblind
Bella POV
I jumped as Judge Davis slammed her gavel loudly against the wood. It was day
three of the trial, and each day was becoming even more unbearable than the last.
“Mister Williams, please try to control you client,” Judge Davis sighed, tossing her
gavel across her desk. “I do not appreciate these sorts of outbursts in my courtroom.”
“Yes, Judge,” Williams nodded, leaning over and whispering in David’s ear.
Sarah was on the stand, being questioned by the state prosecuting attorney. She was
having a hard time keeping it together, so I was doing my best to keep her focused on me.
Before the trial, the girls and I, all agreed that when we were on the stand, and it got to be too
much, to just to look at me.
I couldn’t explain it, but it was like the second I walked into the courtroom a switch
flipped inside me. I was no longer the Bella who was crying in her bed, afraid of the dark. I
was the Bella who was trying to save her sisters, again. Sitting in that courtroom, waiting for
the nightmare to begin, I could instantly feel David as the bailiff escorted him inside. I didn’t
even need to look up to confirm my fear. It was as if death itself had entered the room. When
I had the nerve to finally look up, I found myself frozen by his eyes, those haunting eyes that
held my gaze as he looked at me. He was a monster, a soulless beast walking the earth, and I
had to destroy him. I had made my promise, and I intended to keep it.
When the prosecutor was done questioning, Sarah we were all hoping the judge
would grant her a small break, but the defense attorney was a slime ball, and immediately
started his cross examination.
“So you never tried to fight back?” Williams asked.
“Well, we were chained--”
“Yes or No answer please,” Williams interrupted, cutting Sarah off.
“No,” she answered quickly, looking down.
“You never once tried to escape on your own?”
Sarah’s bottom lip started to quiver. “No.”
“Don’t you feel that’s sort of odd?” Williams asked, facing the jury. “A young girl,
taken, chained up in a room, and you don’t try to escape?”
Sarah’s head popped right up and she looked directly at me. I gave her a smile, and
a small wink, letting her know that she was doing great.
“No, it doesn’t sound odd to me” she answered firmly. “It sounds like someone who
was scared.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Sarah was rarely sassy, but when she was, she
did it with class.
“Anna, please tell the court how you obtained some of your scares,” Ms Howard,
the prosecutor, asked.
“He enjoyed burning me with a Zippo lighter when he came into my room,” Anna
answered quietly.
“Objection,” Williams called out. “How could she possibly know what my client
enjoyed, or did not enjoyed, during their supposed altercations?”
Supposed altercations? I wanted to jump over the rail and castrate the fucker. What
a way to water down the word torture.
“Sustained,” the judge murmured.
Howard just smiled, nodded, and faced Anna again. “Anna, what gave you the
impression that David was enjoying this form of torture?”
“Objection!” Williams yelled again.
“I’m only asking for my witness’s opinion, Judge,” Howard countered quickly.
“Overruled.” Davis nodded.
Howard motioned for Anna to continue.
“He would smile and laugh when I would beg him to stop. He even did it sometimes
when he was…” but Anna couldn’t finish. She started crying right there on the stand. I knew
what she was about to say. I had to sit on the other side of the wall and listen to her cry out as
he raped her, and burned her skin with that fucking lighter.
“Judge Davis, can we please give my witness a few minutes to collect herself?” Ms
Howard asked.
Judge David looked at her watch and nodded. “We’ll take a short recess in and
when we come back the defense will have their opportunity to cross examine the witness.
Following cross examination, we will take an hour break for lunch. Be back in fifteen.” And
with a smack of the gavel, we all stood up as Anna rushed into our open arms. Our little group
all stood there in silence, holding each other, crying for her. We slowly began making our
way out of the courtroom when a soft hum stopped us all in our tracks. It was him. Alice
started to shake, and Jasper was quickly at her side. Sarah nearly fell to her knees, but Laura
caught her. I met Laura’s eyes as Anna buried her face in my hair.
“That son of a bitch,” I growled, looking over Anna and seeing David smile at us as
he hummed the tune of the one song I prayed I’d never have to hear again.
“What it is?” Edward asked.
“It’s the song,” Laura answered. “That fucking song he always played.”
“Get me out of here,” Alice whimpered, clinging on to Jasper tightly.
I was still glaring at David as smiled at us, still humming away as if he didn’t have a
care in the world. Suddenly Rose was standing in front of me, blocking my view. “Let’s go,”
she whispered.
As soon as I made it out of the courtroom I handed Anna to Edward, and rushed to
the bathroom. I just barely made it into the stall before I started throwing up. ‘Oh, yeah, cry
for me.’ His voice rang out through my head. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and the saliva
from my chin.
“Shut up,” I growled.
‘That ones on you, little girl.’ He sneered, as the sound of Ruth’s neck snapping
echoed around me.
I lifted my hands to my ears to block out the noise. “Shut the fuck up.”
And as if he were standing right over me, the humming returned. That fucking song.
The annoying fucking song that seemed to haunt my every dream since I’d returned home.
I sat there frozen on the floor, pulled my knees to my chest, and rested my forehead
against them. Get a grip on yourself, Bella. Don’t let him win. He can’t win. Ruth, Linda,
Nina. Ruth, Linda, Nina. Ruth, Linda, Nina.
I don’t know how long I sat there on the cold tile floor, rocking back and forth,
willing that song to erase itself from my memory. After awhile, all I could hear were the soft
noises of my own heartbeat as it pumped in my chest.
I faintly heard the bathroom door open, and the clicking of heels on linoleum.
“Bella?” Rose called out. “It’s your turn, sweetie.”
What? I looked down at my watch, and sure enough almost two hours had passed. I
stood up quickly and slammed open the bathroom stall door. Rose stood there in silence as I
went over to the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. I looked up and glared at my
reflection.
‘Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Who will be the first to go?’ his voice sang.
I could feel the rage building up inside of me. An unrelenting feeling of hate and
anger pulsed over me, feeding my nerves like a starved child. I craved it, begged for it, needed
it to help me get through this day. I took one last look at myself before walking past Rose, and
out the door.
‘Who will be the first to go?’ he sang to me.
You, you sick fuck.
“Miss Swan, could you please tell the jury what a typical encounter with the
defendant was like, during your time in captivity?” Ms. Howard asked.
“He would come into my room and beat me, sometimes touch me,” I answered
quickly, trying to push down the acid that was creeping up my throat.
“Touch you?” she countered. “Over the clothes? Under the clothes?”
“Both, over and under,” I murmured.
“What were some of the things he would say?”
I looked over at my father, who gave me a small smile, and nodded his head. “He
would call me names, threaten my life, and even threaten my family’s lives.”
Ms. Howard nodded and walked over to her table, picked up a notepad, and faced
me. “I want you to try and remember October 10th, nine days after your kidnapping. The day
Ruth-Ann was murdered.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and started tapping my heel against the floor.
“How did that day begin? Howard asked.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Anna woke me up,” I said slowly. I
opened my eyes and looked straight at Anna. “She tapped on my wall and kept calling out to
me until I woke up.”
“What happened next?” Howard pushed.
Still looking at Anna, I felt a tear roll down my face. “I could hear him in Ruth’s
room, moaning. Ruth cried out, in pain, over and over.” I took another deep breath and let my
eyes drift over to Edward’s. “I knew by then that he didn’t like being called names, so I
decided to pick a fight with him to get him away from Ruth.”
“Why did you do that?” Howard asked.
I looked over at her and quickly ran the back of my hand under my nose, wiping
away the wet residue. “She was just a child. I had to get him away from her.”
“What happened next?”
“I called him names and taunted him until he finally left her room and came into
mine. He left her door open when he came over…” I trailed off when a flash of Ruth’s
petrified face flashed through my mind.
“Miss Swan…” The bruises over her delicate face. “Miss Swan…” The blood and
dirt that covered her dress. “Miss Swan…” The hint of a pregnant belly that pushed against
the tattered fabric. “Miss Swan,” Judge Davis practically yelled, tapping her gavel against her
desk.
“Sorry,” I whispered, running my fingers through my hair.
“Do you need a minute?” Davis asked.
I shook my head no and looked over at Howard, who smiled and nodded, giving me
a small wink. “What happened when the defendant came into your room?”
“He beat me, strangled me, threatened to kill me,” I answered; my voice sounded
robotic and dull.
“How did you survive?”
“I fought back, clawing and hitting him as best as I could. He got mad at me for not
giving in and went across the hall and hit Ruth so hard that it knocked her out. Then he came
back into my room and kicked me in the face, also causing me to back out.”
“And then what happened?”
“I woke up, and saw that my door was still open. I could see into Ruth’s room.”
“So Ruth’s door was also left open,” Howard said, addressing the jury.
“Yes.”
“Could you see Ruth?”
“Yes,” I answered. “She was still out cold. The other girls, and I, called out to her
until she finally woke up. That’s when Ruth realized she wasn’t chained to the wall anymore.”
“How did was she become unchained?” Howard asked.
“I’m not sure.” I blinked slowly, dazing off for a second. “She just stood up and the
chain was gone.”
“Did you ask Ruth to come into your room?”
I looked up at Ms. Howard and shook my head. “No, I told her to stay where she
was, but she didn’t listen. As soon as she stepped into the hallway he came out and snapped
her neck.”
“He, meaning the defendant?” Howard asked, motioning towards David.
No, it was fucking Santa Clause, you stupid bitch. “Yes,” I whispered, trying not to
cry out at that moment.
I was scratching the top of my right hand raw, a nervous habit I had taken up soon
after I had came home from the hospital.
“Miss Swan, could you please tell the jury how you managed to escape from your
cell.” Ms. Howard smiled, walked slowly over to the jury, and leaned against the wooden rail.
I took a deep breath and looked up at the girls. They all smiled and nodded at me.
The looks on their faces made me want to cry at that moment. They were all being so strong
for me, so supportive. But, I couldn’t allow myself to crumble now.
I told the jury them about the holes we dug between our cells, and the exchange of
bobby-pins. I explained how I used them to unscrew the bolts on the wall, which caused the
scars that still covered the insides of my hands. Ms. Howard had me raise my hands, palms
up, so the jury could see them. I told them how I waited for David once I was free, and how I
provoked him to open my door.
“When you hit the defendant with the plaque did you think he was dead?” Howard
asked.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And when you stepped out of your room what did you see?”
I closed my eyes and took a shallow breath. “Darkness. Everything was dark. I
could tell I was in a hallway, but I could hardly see anything around me.”
“Where was the defendant at the time?”
“He was on the floor. When I hit him, he fell and it caused his body to fall against
the door across the hall from mine, causing it to open.”
“And that’s where you found Miss Cullen?” Howard asked. I nodded, unable to
respond with words. “Was she alone?”
“No,” I pushed out, clenching my eyes tighter. “Tom was in there with her.”
“That would be Thomas Reed, the defendant’s brother, correct?”
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“What did he say to you?”
“He told me to go, to take the others and leave – all except for Alice. I had to leave
Alice behind.” I could feel myself start to shake. I was hoping that Ms. Howard would call a
recess, or something, but she just kept pushing me.
“But you said no, correct?”
“Correct,” I nodded.
“Is that when Tom attacked you?”
“Objection,” Williams yelled, causing me to almost fly out of my seat as I opened
my eyes. “Leading.”
I didn’t hear anything after that. When I opened my eyes again, my head
immediately turned toward Mr. Williams, and unfortunately to David. He was glaring at me
and smiling, as if he was having the time of his life. His eyes bore into mine and all I could
think about was running out of the court room as fast as I could. As I gazed into his eyes, the
only thing I could see was Ruth’s horror stricken face. I nearly cried out when I felt a hand
softly touch my arm. I looked up to see Ms. Howard giving me a worried look.
“Do you need me to repeat the question, Miss. Swan?” she asked, giving me a
reassuring smile.
I nodded and ran my hand through my hair, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Please.”
“What happened when you told Thomas no?”
I felt slightly dizzy all of a sudden and rubbed my fingers over my eyes. “He came
after me. He…” I paused and took a deep breath. “He tried to kill me.”
“How did you get away?”
“I gouged his eyes and then, when he rolled off of me, I hit him with the plaque.” I
bit my lip and brushed away the lone tear that escaped my eye. “He didn’t get up after that.”
Ms. Howard started reading my police statement to the jury, recounting the incident
and how I found each of the girls in their rooms. I was grateful that I didn’t have to talk about
that again. It was hard enough the first time.
“So when you realized that you couldn’t free any of the girls, and had moved the
defendant’s body into your room, what did you do?”
“I used the keys that Thomas had; I opened the metal door at the end of the hallway,
and walked up the stairs until I came to an open hatch.”
“What did you see when you reached the top?”
“When I got out I found myself in some kind of tool shed. There were chains and
metal boxes all over the place. I looked around to see if there was a phone, but I didn’t find
anything except for some tools and an old record player.” I looked over at the girls when I
said that, knowing that they would be the only ones to understand its significance of that.
“Were you locked in?” Howard asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“No, the door was open.” I wanted to look over at Edward at that moment. To look
into his eyes so that he could see the happiness in my eyes when I told the jury how I walked
out into the moonlight and found my now loving fiancé waiting for me, but I couldn’t. I just
looked down at my lap and finished my story, up until the point I was shot - after that I
couldn’t remember anything.
“Thank you, Miss Swan,” Ms. Howard smiled. “No further questions at this time.”
At this time? Well, fuck you lady.
I sat there in silence, keeping my eyes to the floor, as I heard Mr. Williams shuffle
paper around his desk. My heart started to speed up when I heard him stand up from his chair
and slowly make his way towards me.
“That’s quite a tale, Miss Swan.” Williams smiled, buttoning up his jacket. “Almost
sounds unbelievable that a young girl, such as yourself, survived such an ordeal. Don’t you
think?”
I snapped my head up at him and almost growled, but I knew he was just trying to
fuck with my head, so I kept calm. “You’d be surprised with what a woman can endure.”
I heard a chuckle come from the audience, and knew from the sound of her voice
that it was from Laura.
Williams only nodded and continued. “You said earlier that when you were awoken
by Anna, the day Ruth died, that you had to get Mr. Reed away from that. That you provoked
him into a fight. Is that correct?”
You fucking sleaze ball. I knew exactly where he was going with his questions
before he said another word. “Yes,” I answered tightly.
“So you enraged my client, causing him to become irrational. Don’t you think Ruth
would still be alive if you would have just kept quiet?”
“Objection,” Howard yelled.
“Maybe you can just stand by, while an innocent child is being brutalized, but I
can’t,” I snapped, ignoring the objection.
“Very well,” Williams countered, walking slowly towards me. “Let me ask you this,
Miss Swan. If my client was the one who was doing all the brutalizing, then why didn’t you
kill him when you had the chance? Why murder his brother, who gave you food, clothes, and
water? Why murder the man who was willing to set you free?”
I sat back in my chair, astonished. I couldn’t believe a human being could even
fathom to ask such a thing. To be honest, I really didn’t know how to answer the question, so
I said the first thing that came to mind. “I wasn’t leaving unless they were all going with me.”
“And Thomas?” he pushed.
“I guess if he wouldn’t have attacked me he would still be alive, too,” I sneered.
“You guess,” Williams chuckled. “I guess if you would have kept your mouth shut,
so would Ruth.”
“Objection,” Howard yelled.
“I have no further questions for this witness,” Williams smiled, walking back to his
seat and sitting down.
Judge David tapped her gavel against her desk and addressed the jury. “We will
continue this tomorrow at eight in the morning. Court is adjourned.” And with another tap of
the gavel, I was finally able to breathe.
EPOV
“What a fucking asshole,” Rose yelled, from the kitchen.
“Which one?” Emmett chuckled, taking a swig of his beer. “They were all assholes
in my opinion.”
“William’s,” Rose yelled again. “How does he even sleep at night?”
After saying goodbye to everyone at the court house, Rose, Emmett, Bella, and I
came back to our apartment in silence. I was so worried about Bella. As soon as we walked
through the door, she went straight to her room, and fell asleep. I wanted so badly to walk in
there and hold her in my arms, caress her hair and tell her how much I loved her, but I knew
she needed her space. We hadn’t told anyone about the engagement yet, knowing she
probably wanted to wait until after the trial, but it still didn’t stop me from reminding her
every chance I could. It was always in simple ways: rubbing my thumb over her ring finger,
telling her how I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her, and if I was lucky, share
another heated kiss like the one before.
“All I’m saying is that the guy better get the death penalty,” Rose sneered, walking
back into the room, and pulling me out of my thoughts. She passed out another round of beers
and perched herself on Emmett’s lap. I couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy
seeing how Rose and Emmett were with each other. I missed the way Bella would easily fall
into my lap every chance she got. She would always say it was the best seat in the house.
“Washington may have the death penalty, but they’ve only executed four people on
death row since 1976.” Yeah, I looked that shit up. I wanted to know how that fucker would
die if he did get it. After googling the shit out of ‘Capital punishment in Washington’, what I
found astonished me.
“So, what are you saying? You don’t think he’ll get it?” Emmett asked.
“How much do you know about this shit, Emmett?” I asked. “Have you ever looked
it up?”
“Oh, yeah, everyday man,” he smirked.
I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. “No, he’s not going to die, not by the
state anyway.”
“How do you know?” Rose pushed. “I mean, look what he--”
“Because all he has to do is plead guilty, before the trial is over, and the state isn’t
seeking the death penalty in this case. Too expensive to deal with all the appeals,” I growled.
“Look it up. This state is all fucked up.”
“Fuck,” Emmett sighed. “And if he did get it, how would he die?”
“Lethal injection or hanging.”
“Dang, they still hang people?” he laughed. “I thought that shit only happened in
the 1800’s.”
“He deserves worse,” Rose whispered.
I looked up at her and our eyes met with an understanding, and I nodded my head in
agreement. I looked over at the clock and noticed that three hours had gone by, and still no
Bella. “Hey, do you think you guys could scatter?” I asked. “Give me a few hours alone with
Bella?”
“Sure,” Rose nodded, standing up and taking Emmett’s hand.
I sat in a chair across the room and watched Bella sleep. She looked so peaceful, so
… I couldn’t explain it. For a second it was as if the last seven months hadn’t happened. It
was as if I was looking at the old Bella. Old Bella. I shook my head in annoyance. I couldn’t
help but remember the last time Bella and I had been intimate. I had memorized every touch,
every kiss, every soft word that escaped her lips. I prayed for the day that I would be able to
make her feel that way again - to make her feel beautiful.
I felt the dim vibration of my phone in my pocket, and I carefully slipped out of
Bella’s room before answering it. It was Jasper.
“I’m outside,” he simply said. I tossed my phone on the counter as I made my way
to the front door.
“Is it done?” I asked, letting him in.
“Yes, it’s done,” he answered in a mild tone. I walked over to the patio door and
opened it to have a smoke. “The money will be in their account as soon as we find out what
happens.”
“And it won’t get traced back to us?”
“No, I made sure if it,” he chuckled, shaking his head. He watched me as I lit up
and exhaled my cigarette. “That was a hell of a lot of money, Ed.”
Just then a soft whimper echoed throughout the apartment, followed by the
stumbling of feet, and the bathroom door shutting. I winced when I heard Bella coughing over
the toilet.
“It was worth it,” I growled.
Several weeks later
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?” Davis asked.
“We have your honor,” The jury foreman answered. The bailiff walked over to the
foreman, took a piece of paper from his hand, and delivered it to the judge. The judge looked
at it, his face not giving away any hint to the verdict. He folded the paper and gave it back to
the bailiff, who returned it to the jury foreman. Davis nodded for them to continue, and the
foreman started reading. I felt Bella’s hand tighten around mine as the verdicts were read.
“We, the jury, find the defendant guilty in the first degree murders of Nina Jenkins, Ruth-Ann
Summers, and Linda Tillman.”
I wrapped my arm around Bella when I felt her body start to shake. I looked up at
Davis and watched her nod at the jury, again, to continue. “We, the jury, find the defendant…
guilty of first degree kidnapping on all counts.”
For some reason I looked over at Jasper at that moment, and he was looking straight
at David. I followed his eye sight and what I saw nearly caused me to jump out of my seat.
David was looking right at us. No, not at us, at Bella. I lifted my hand and covered Bella’s
face, knowing he was enjoying seeing the tears pouring out of her eyes. As soon as I did that
his eyes bounced up at mine and he smiled.
“Thank you ladies and gentleman of the jury, you have done your job well,” David
nodded.
“Your honor,” Williams cut in, standing up quickly. “I believe at the beginning of
this trial my client wished to have his sentencing read to him as soon as the verdict was read.”
I looked over at Jasper again, but he was still staring at David.
“Very well,” Davis answered.
My heart sank knowing what was going to happen, and I was hoping that there
could have been a way to protect Bella, and the girls, from it. I looked over at David and
growled. Of course he had a smile on his face. This was his last act at causing them pain. He
knew exactly what he was doing.
“I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and suffering you girls went through,” Davis
sighed, addressing the girls. “And I hope that after today you all can rest easy knowing Mr.
Reed will never be able to hurt you ever again.” Bella’s head popped up at that moment as
Davis continued, and looked over at David. “Due to Washington State Law I cannot sentence
you the death penalty, but I can sentence the maximum. David Reed, I hereby remand you to
the custody of the Washington Department of Corrections, where you will serve three
consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Court is adjourned.”
Bella stood up quickly, tripping over my legs. I helped her right herself knowing
she was heading to the bathroom.
“Ha,” a loud bark echoed throughout the courtroom. “Should have killed me when
you had the chance, you stupid bitch.”
Everyone’s eyes traveled over to David, who was being taken away by the bailiff. I
wanted nothing more than to jump over the barrier and beat him to death, but I couldn’t. Bella
needed me and she was my number one priority, so I gave a slight no to Jasper and chased
after Bella as she continued to walk out of the courtroom.
“When is it going to happen?” I whispered.
“As soon as he gets to the prison it’s a done deal,” Jasper smirked, taking a long
pull of his beer. “I’ll get the call as soon as it’s finished.”
I nodded my head in approval.
It seemed as if everyone went to bed after we got home. Rose was in her room with
Emmett, Alice was crashed out in my room, and Bella… well, after crying for an hour she
finally fell asleep. Jasper and I were the only ones left up. It was two in the morning, and I
was more than annoyed that the few rounds that we had shared had done nothing for my
rattled nerves.
“The girls are gonna kick your ass for smoking in the house, bro,” Jasper laughed.
“I think this is one of the few times they’re not gonna care,” I chuckled, blowing out
my smoke.
Just then Bella’s voice cried out, but it wasn’t the normal type of hysteria that
escaped from her. It was frantic, and even bone chilling. I leaped up and ran into her room.
She was laying in her bed, thrashing around, screaming out my name. In the almost seven
months that she had been back she had not once cried out for me. I quickly went to her
bedside and picked her up, settled her on my lap, and held her against my chest.
“I’m here, baby. I’m here,” I whispered, rocking her back and forth. I heard the
door creak behind me and turned my neck in time to see Jasper close the door to give us
privacy.
“He just kept kicking, and kicking,” she sobbed against my chest. “But it wasn’t in
that room, it was here. He was in my room, Edward. In my room!”
I lifted her chin up so she had to look at me. “Never,” I said firmly. “He will never
touch you again, Bella. I promise you… I swear to God,” I stuttered, feeling my body shake
slightly with anger. Anger because I had never seen such fear in my little girl’s eyes before, a
fear that that son of a bitch had put in her. I knew I was the only one who saw this side of her.
I don’t know why she had to put up so many walls around other people, but I was relieved
that she broke them down for me.
“I just wish I could forget him, for one night. Just forget it all,” she whispered.
“Me too, baby.” I nodded. “I would do anything to take your pain away… even for
one night.”
Bella’s eyes trailed down for a second, and I sat there waiting. I didn’t know what
to do, what to say, but she seemed deep in thought, so I stayed silent. Suddenly I felt her
warm palm rest against my chest. I followed her eye sight and saw that she was focused on
her hand, pressed against my chest. Slowly she slid it up, and cupped around my neck. I
closed my eyes when I felt her nails softly scrap against my scalp.
I don’t think this is a good idea.
I felt Bella sit up and then straddle my hips, lifting her other hand, and resting it
against my cheek.
Not a good idea, Edward. Not in the slightest.
So delicately, that I almost didn’t feel it, Bella’s lips ghosted over mine.
“Bella, I …,” I whispered, still keeping my eyes tightly shut.
“Please, Edward,” she pleaded. “If I die tomorrow, for whatever freakish accident
that may happen, I don’t want his hands to have been the last hands that touched me.”
Her statement jarred me, and I opened my eyes, and was met with two of the most
beautiful eyes I will ever see. I could see the pain in them, the agony that still haunted her,
and for that I couldn’t go any further. I could understand the reasoning; hell, I wouldn’t want
that man to be the last thing to touch me either, but I couldn’t let her relieve the pain this way
- not the way she needed me to.
I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my lips firmly against hers. “Come with
me,” I whispered, standing up slowly. I took her hand in mine, and she gripped it tightly, as I
led her into the bathroom.
Once inside I turned on the water and made sure the temperature was just right.
When I turned around I couldn’t help but smile at the utter look of confusion on Bella’s face.
Wanting to ease her confusion, I slowly walked over to her and kissed her forehead. “I love
you,” I whispered.
“I love you, too.”
Slowly I reached behind Bella, and carefully unzipped the back of her dress. I let
my fingertips softly glide up her arms, and to her shoulders, where I hooked my thumbs under
the straps of her dress so it pooled at her feet when it fell. I let my lips feather over her
forehead again while I reached behind her, a second time, and unhooked her bra. “Turn
around,” I murmured, and smiled as she did so with no hesitation.
Leaving my hands on Bella’s hips, I trailed warm kisses down her spine until I was
on my knees. I let my hands move up and rest right below her breast as I dipped my tongue
into the small dimples on her lightly scared back. I knew they would be there, and I wanted to
cry out in anger the first time I saw the red, puckered marks on her porcelain skin, and seeing
them now didn’t make me feel much different, but this was about Bella. This was about
making her feel good, again, even for only one night.
I felt myself grow hard the second I heard a moan escape from her lips. I let my
hands move up, and very carefully, I pulled at the bottom of her bra, allowing it to fall on the
floor with her dress. I rested my forehead against her lower back as I let my hands continue
up, and finally brushed my finger tips against her nipples. I couldn’t help but smile when she
sucked in a tight breath, and then exhaled it with a low moan.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, hoping I wasn’t moving too faster for her.
“Yes.” she breathed out softly, as I let my thumbs rub softly against the pebbled
peaks.
I opened my eyes and looked up at the dainty white pair of panties that my beloved
was wearing. Feeling slightly eager, I slowly trailed my fingers down her sides, and to the
elastic on her underwear. Inch by inch I carefully lowered them, allowing my tongue to glide
over the exposed skin as it unveiled itself before me. I had to curb my inner hunger after
seeing such a sight in front of me. I was becoming harder by the minute, and seeing Bella like
this was not helping me tame the wild beast inside. I slowly stood up and removed the hair
band that was holding Bella’s hair up in a loose ponytail. I swept her hair over to one shoulder
and softly kissed the exposed skin. I closed my eyes and straightened up. “Get in before it gets
cold. I’ll be there with you soon.”
I didn’t open my eyes, or even touch her as she walked around me, but I felt her
nodded as she followed my every word, and got into the shower silently.
I stood there for a second, calming myself down, reminding myself to take it slow
with her. She didn’t need to be told again how strong she was, because deep down she knew
that already. She didn’t need to be told that she was a survivor because she made it out alive.
She needed to be reminded that she was beautiful, that she was mine, and that I was hers. I
could tell by looking in her eyes that she knew it, but didn’t feel it. I had to show her, to have
her feel it, to have her remember how good we felt together.
I quickly stripped off my clothes and walked into the shower. Her back was to me,
her hair already soaked, and instantly I felt myself start to leak. I couldn’t help but let my eyes
dance over the water that was cascading down her firm ass. It was a beautiful thing. I could
write sonnets about that ass alone. I reached forward and let my arm wrap around her waist, as
I moved my other arms to wrap around her chest, pulling her tight to my chest.
“You are so beautiful, baby,” I moaned, feeling myself rub against her smooth ass.
“I can’t wait to make you cum again.”
“Please,” she panted, rubbing herself again against me.
Biting back a moan, I let my hand trail down her stomach, and towards her heated
core, while I let my other cup over Bella’s perky nipple.
“Oh God, yes,” she cried out as my finger swept between her wet lips, and over her
soft clit.
“Does it feel good?” I smiled, rubbing my fingers over it again, this time applying a
little more pressure.
“Oh, Ed… please,” she panted; as I let my fingers slide lower, circling over her
dripping opening.
“Tell me,” I whispered into her hear, causing her to shutter. “Tell me what you
want.”
“I need to feel you. Edward, please, I need to feel you in me,” she whimpered, as
she bucked her hips against my hand.
Running the tip of my tongue along her ear I let two of my fingers dip into her
warm center. I let my palm grind against her swollen clit as I rubbed myself against her again.
We stood there, panting, moaning, and whispering words of love as I moved my
fingers faster, and harder, inside of her. I felt her knees starting to grow week as her walls
began to tighten around my fingers.
“That’s it baby,” I moaned. “Let go.”
“Edward,” she panted, bucking her hips even faster.
“I love you, Isabella. My love, my forever, and soon… my wife.”
And with those words she gripped one hand into my hair, and the other over my
unrelenting fingers, and finally let go.
I lay in bed with Bella, naked, and watched the sun begin to rise. Its warm colors
cascaded over her soft skin, causing it to almost shimmer like diamonds, as it peeked between
the soft purple curtains that I should have closed earlier.
After the shower she fell asleep quickly, and stayed that way for the rest of the
night. No nightmares, no crying out, just wonderful, blissful sleep. I didn’t care if we didn’t
ever have sex again. I would gladly pleasure this woman for the rest of her life if it meant she
would never have one more nightmare ever again. To have had Bella wither against me, moan
my name, feel her juices drip down my fingers… there are no words. There are no words for
her, only love.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
I looked over at my phone and sighed, hating that I had to take my focus off of
Bella. Even for a minute.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“Damn it,” I murmured, reaching over and snatching my phone off the side table. I
opened up my phone and saw that it was from Jasper.
It’s done – J
“Who is it, Edward?” Bella groaned, stretching against me.
I closed my phone and tossed it back on the table. I pulled the comforter up, and
wrapped my arms around her. “Nothing baby, it can wait.”
She smiled and kissed my chest. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby,” I smiled back, knowing I was going to have the best sleep I
had ever had. I was in the arms of my beautiful fiancé, and now I didn’t ever have to worry
about that monster ever hurting my baby girl again.
Burn in hell, asshole.
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what’s lost can be found
You stand in the rain
Superchick
Several months later
BPOV
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Sarah whispered.
“Are you kidding,” Laura laughed. “This is the best fucking idea she’s ever had.”
Alice, Anna, Laura, Sarah, and I stood facing the vacant lot that we never thought
we’d ever step foot in again. Alice’s hand held on to mine tightly as we slowly made our way
to the locked gate.
“Another gate?” Anna whined. “Why am I always finding myself climbing gates
when I’m with you people?”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “Sorry, next time I’ll remember to bring bolt
cutters.”
I gave Alice’s hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go and making my way
towards the tall fence. I was overcome by the memories flashing before me, memories of
sitting in that dark room, and wondering if that was the day I was going to die. The funny
thing was that not all of my memories of those thirty days were bad. To this day, I still found
myself laughing at the most inappropriate times, because one of Linda’s many colorful jokes
came to mind. Edward would look at me and tilt his head, asking wordlessly what was wrong,
but I would just shake my head and let him know I was fine. No matter how much you love
your man, some things are just meant to stay between your girlfriends - your life sisters.
Once I reached the fence, I lifted my hand and let my fingers interlock around the
thin chain link fence. I rested my forehead against it as I let the memories take me away.
Flash – Hearing Ruth talk about her home life, and the girl teasing her about Troy.
Flash – Linda cracking bad sex jokes, just to piss Laura off.
Flash – Anna singing to us when one of us was having a bad day.
“You don’t have to do this, Bella,” Alice murmured, coming up from behind me. I
hadn’t even realized that I had started crying. I looked up at her and she gave me a soft smile.
“This wasn’t a promise.”
I shook my head and wiped the stupid lonely tear off my cheek. “Yes, it was.” I
nodded.
EPOV
“You let them go alone?” Emmett barked, rushing off the couch and heading for the
front door.
“They needed to do this, Em,” Jasper yelled after him, making his way over to the
front door so Emmett couldn’t get out.
I went over to the patio door and opened it so I could light up a cigarette. “They
needed closure, bro.”
Emmett turned and faced me, and if looks could kill…
“He’s dead!” he yelled, throwing his keys against the wall. “He was gutted like a
goddamn turkey and lit on fire like a bag of dog shit in front of a door. How much closure do
they need?”
I looked over at Jasper, and he just shook his head and sighed.
“After tonight, Emmett, it will be finished, but they need to do this on their own.”
BPOV
“It seemed bigger last time,” Sarah said, her voice barely a whisper.
“It was late that night,” Anna cut in.
“It’s not locked.” Alice smiled. “Rock, paper, scissors on who opens it?”
No, it has to be me.
I stepped forward and used my index finger to push the rickety door open. All of us
seemed to take a small step back as the door let out a horrible groaning noise.
“I can’t do it.” Sarah sniffled. “I thought I could, but I can’t”
“That’s fine, Sarah,” I answered, still keeping my back to all of them. “I don’t
expect anyone to go with me. This is my job to finish.”
I took a small step forward and nearly lost my nerve when I saw the hatch on the
floor already wide open.
“H-hand me the gas c-can,” I stammered, holding out my hand, but still maintaining
my focus on the open door below me.
“You don’t have to go down there, Bella,” Laura said, slipping the small gas can
into my hand. “We can just light the bitch on fire from here.”
I shook my head slowly, and closed my hand tightly around the can. “No, it needs to
be done right.”
Without giving the girls a second glance, I walked to the open hatch and started
making my way down the stairs.
EPOV
“So, when are you going to tell me what really happened?” Emmett asked, looking
at Jasper and then back to me.
“About?” I smiled.
“David,” he simply replied.
“He got what he had coming to him,” Jasper growled. “End of discussion.”
“The fuck it is,” Emmett barked.
“What exactly are you implying, Emmett?” I asked, putting out my smoke.
“The guy wasn’t even in prison for a day and get’s beaten, stabbed, and then lit on
fire.” Emmett raised his eyebrows while taking a swig of his beer. “This has you two written
all over it, and don’t tell me Charlie didn’t help.”
We all sat in silence, looking at each other for awhile. Charlie, Jasper, and I swore
an oath to never speak of the matter again. It was as if it never happened. I wasn’t losing any
sleep at night knowing that I paid a large sum of my inheritance to the biggest mother fucker
in that prison to get the job done. He was more than happy to accept the money after what I
told him what David had done. But what sealed David’s fate was what he did to Ruth. In
prison, child molesters are frowned upon, to say the least.
“Does it really matter, Emmett?” Jasper asked. “Will you not be able to move on if
you don’t know everything that happened?”
Emmett ran his hand over his face and sighed. He looked through his fingers over at
Jasper and then at me, nodded, and finished his beer. “I won’t say a word to the girls.
Goodnight.”
Jasper and I sat there and watched Emmett set his empty beer bottle on the counter
and walk into Rosalie’s room. As soon as the door closed we both took a deep breath.
“Think he’s pissed at us?” Jasper asked.
“No,” I chuckled. “Probably just hurt that he wasn’t in on it.”
Jasper nodded his head and laughed in agreement. I looked up at the clock and saw
that it was midnight. One year. It’s been exactly one year.
BPOV
I stood there in silence, taking in my surroundings. For a split second it didn’t feel
like a year had gone by; hell, it felt like no time had passed at all. I even caught myself
looking down at my ankle, expecting to find a chain wrapped around it. All the doors to our
cells were open, and I could still smell the mix of blood, sweat, and filth throughout the air.
I walked down the hall and went into Sarah’s room first. The mattress was gone,
and so was the chain and plaque. I suspected all the rooms looked the same. Not wanting to
spend more time down there then I needed, I quickly unscrewed the cap off the gas can and
began pouring the heavy liquid onto the floor. I did this to all the rooms, making sure I left a
trail leading out to the hallway.
Leaving my room for last, I walked in and nearly had a panic attack: so many
feelings, so many emotions… so many memories. I couldn’t help but just stand there and take
it all in.
“You think you’re strong?”
I flinched, remembering how the belt buckle felt against my skin.
“You think I’m being hard on you now?”
Flinch
“You haven’t seen nothing yet you stupid bitch!”
Flinch
With my eyes clenched tightly shut, I tried to ignore the voice that haunted my
dreams.
“Let’s get one thing clear. I OWN YOU. You belong to me until I am bored of you,”
he sneered. “You have no parents, no friends, and definitely no boyfriend… you understand?”
I opened my eyes and tipped the gas can, breathing in the foul smell as it poured on
the floor.
Oh, I plan on doing more than just touching you, Bella. A lot more,” he laughed.
I slowly started walking backwards out of the room, letting the trail of spilt gas
connect with the stream I left in the hallway.
“Bella?” I heard Alice call out. “Bella, are you okay?”
Taking one last look around, I took a deep breath and slowly started making my
way up the stairs, spilling the gas on the stairs behind me.
The girls and I were standing in the neighboring field, across the street, watching as
the flames erupted in the air.
“This was a good idea,” Alice whispered.
“Damn right,” I replied, drinking out of the flask that Laura had brought.
“You think they’re watching?” Sarah asked, knowing we’d already know who she
was referring to.
“Are you kidding,” Laura laughed. “They’re probably sitting on a cloud roasting
marshmallows.”
Anna laughed in agreement. “I think I can ever hear Linda singing, ‘The roof is on
fire’.”
“She did love to sing,” I murmured, taking another sip out of the flask and handing
it over to Sarah.
We stood there in the quiet field, taking in the destruction that we had caused. The
bright orange and red shined brightly through the trees as the flames raged on. We should
have been running, or at least hiding in some way, but we stood there out in the open, not
caring if we were seen. We were free, and David was dead. It was finished.
I felt movement behind me and turned to see Anna and Laura sit down in the moist
grass. Anna smiled up at us and waved for us to go sit with them. Ignoring the cold ground
and slight wind, we all sat together, holding hands and clinging to one another. A smile
slowly started to spread across my lips when I heard Anna start to hum, and then finally sing.
Take all of your wasted honor. Every little past frustration. Take all of your so-
called problems. Better put 'em in quotations
,” she sang softly.
“Say what you need to say,” Sarah sang along with Anna, as we all started to hum
along. We let out a light laugh when we all joined in for the next verse.
“Walking like a one man army. Fighting with the shadows in your head. Living out
the same old moment. Knowing you'd be better off instead, if you could only… Say what you
need to say.”
“Have no fear for giving in,” Anna sang alone. “Have no fear for giving over. You'd
better know that in the end its better to say too much then never say what you need to say
again.”
We all sat there and held each other tightly, understanding the meaning of why Anna
chose to sing that song. There was always a hidden meaning to all the songs she chose.
“Even if your hands are shaking,” I sang, not knowing why.
“And your faith is broken,” Sarah sang, looking over at all of us.
“Even as the eyes are closing,” Alice added, with a small smile.
“Do it with a heart wide open,” Laura laughed, and we all joined her as she lifting
the flask in the air.
“Say what you need to say,” Anna finished, with a soft nodding of her head.
EPOV
It was a little past one in the morning when Bella finally came home. I smiled at her
as I rose from the couch to meet her at the front door. I waited until she took off her jacket to
pull her into my arms. I burrowed my nose deep into her hair and could smell the smoke in it.
“How do you feel?” I asked, running my fingers through her damp hair.
“Like it’s finally over,” she answered.
I pulled back a little so I could look into her eyes. I could see the freedom in them,
the clarity. A little bit of the old Bella was coming back to life. I leaned down and pressed a
soft kiss to her lips.
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips.
“I love you, too.” She smiled.
We stood like that for a short time before I led her to her room so she could shower
and change. I was already in my pajamas, so I sat on the bed and waited for her. When she
stepped out of the bathroom I found myself in daze. I still couldn’t believe that the girl of my
dreams was going to be my wife some day. She only wore the ring when we were alone, but I
didn’t mind. I’d wait forever if I had to.
As if she could read my mind, she finally said the words that I had been dreaming
about since I popped the question.
“Charlie is going to have a heart attack when we tell him,” she chuckled.
I shot off the bed and wrapped her in my arms. I picked her up and swung her
around like before. “He’ll be fine,” I smiled, setting her back down.
“I’m sorry I made you wait so long,” she whispered softly, looking down at the
floor.
I gently cupped her chin and kissed her lips. “I would have waited forever.”
Not being able to wait one more moment, I went over to the dresser and picked up
my phone.
“Who are you calling at this hour?” Bella asked.
I sent a quick text to Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie, and then shut off my
phone. “I’m not calling anyone.” I smiled, walking over to Bella’s phone and shutting hers off
too.
“What are you doing?” she laughed, as I rushed to lock her bedroom door.
“Nothing, I swear.”
I could already hear Emmett grumbling next door as his phone started to go off.
“It’s almost two in the morning, people,” Emmett whined. “Why the fuck am I
getting a text?”
As Bella got into bed she gave me a knowing smile, and all I could do was shrug as
I got into bed with her.
“She said yes?” Emmett yawned. “What the hell does that mean?”
And then a loud squeal from Rosalie vibrated through the walls, causing us both to
start laughing.
“Thanks for locking the door,” Bella sighed, wrapping her arm around my waist,
and kissing my chest.
“Any time, baby,” I smiled, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll share you in the
morning, but tonight… tonight it’s just you and me.”
The End
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