DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended. Additionally, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" belongs to Dylan Thomas. No copyright infringement is intended.
WARNING: This story is about human trafficking including what can happen once someone is taken. I will address topics such as sexual assault and violence against women. I will reference events of this nature; however, I do not plan to describe them in detail. Our imaginations are active enough. I will try to include warnings at the beginning of chapters that contain something that may need it.
The focus of this story is on Bella and how she survives such an ordeal. It's about the mindset she lives in, and if escape is a possibility. I hope you decide to join me on this journey, and feel free to send me your thoughts, ideas, theories, and questions. If you drop me a line, I will response. You give me your time, and I'll give you mine. Moving forward, author notes will be at the bottom; the top is for disclaimer and warnings only.
My eyes felt heavy as if they'd been glued shut. It took a few attempts to pry them open, and when I did, they were gritty with sleep. What's going on? I tried to swallow, but it felt as if cotton filled my mouth, and my throat was parched. Even breathing hurt. It hurt…everywhere. Slowly, I pushed myself to a sitting position. The movement, even though it was slow, caused my head to throb as a jackhammer beat against my temple causing my stomach to churn.
I closed my eyes and took slow, steady breaths. After a few moments, it felt safe to open my eyes again. Where am I? I looked around at my surroundings, but it was dark but my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. I thought I could make out the silhouettes of other people lying around me.
"Bella?" I heard the faint whisper to my left. I turned slowly, my eyes landing on her frightened ones, tears brimming just below the surface. Even though she was two years older than me, she looked so young in that moment.
"Alice," I whispered, her name almost getting stuck in my throat. It was in that moment that it all came rushing back.
We had a study session with a group of people from our Econ 326 class at Starbucks. We'd left to head back to the dorm around 8:30. It was a good 15-minute walk, and we were meeting our friend Jamie to watch a movie. The week had been long, and a movie on Friday night was a great way to unwind.
We were only five minutes into the walk when two guys approached us. I was still slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but Alice was used to it. She was short, five-feet and one-inch with her tennis shoes on. Her long, dark locks were always styled to perfection and framed her petite face with button nose and perfectly symmetrical eyes. Her bright smile captivated people, and her exuberant personality drew everyone to her. At twenty, I was still uncomfortable in my body. Therefore, I was uncomfortable with the opposite sex.
For once, I could see that Alice wasn't enjoying the attention of these men. We tried to ignore them, told them we weren't interested. However, they were persistent and continued to follow us. I was worried about heading back to the dorm, because I didn't want them to know where we lived. I moved closer to Alice to quietly tell her my concern. Next thing I knew, the men had my arms pinned to my side and placed a cloth over my mouth. I tried to fight them off, but it was too late. It happened so fast.
"Bella, what happened? What's going on?" Her voice quivered, and I heard her scoot closer. What was going on? I wasn't sure, but I knew I didn't want to find out. Nothing good could come of this.
"We have to get out of here," I whispered, and she whimpered. "We have to go." Hurriedly, I pushed myself up and swayed. I leaned against the wall to steady myself.
"How? What are we going to do?" She stood, her balance seemingly unaffected.
"We're going to get out of here, but we have to be very quiet. Once we get out of…wherever we are, we're going to run until we find a public place. Then we'll call the cops."
"Bella, I'm scared." Me too.
"You have to be brave. When we get clear, you run. Run hard and fast. Don't stop and don't look back, no matter what happens." I had a feeling I was going to be a hindrance in this escape. My head was killing me, and my balance wasn't equalized. "Okay. Let's go. Stay behind me." I felt her grab the back of my shirt before I moved forward where I could see the outline of a door. I reached for the handle hoping against hope it was unlocked. "Shit." I let out a deep breath. Wait! "Alice, give me two bobby pins."
A few seconds later, she placed them in my hand. I knelt down and felt for the handle then slid the bobby pins into the locking mechanism and tried to remember what Dad had taught me. When my Police Chief father insisted on teaching me how to pick a lock, I'd complained. Why would I ever need to know this? 'Bella,' he'd said, 'just humor your old man. You never know. You're going off to college, and I won't be there to watch after you. Let me teach you some tools to protect yourself.' I'd rolled my eyes but listened. Charlie was never going to let me hear the end of this when I told him.
After what felt like an eternity, I heard the lock pop. Pocketing the hair pins, I stood on shaky legs. Before opening the door, I reminded Alice to be quiet and pressed my ear to the door. I couldn't hear anything besides my harsh breath, and it sounded like the pounding of my heart was in my ears.
Slowly, I turned the handle and prayed the hinges wouldn't squeak as I pulled the door ajar. I peeked through the tiny opening and watched my surroundings as I counted to 50. There was no movement, no sign of life at all. I took a deep breath and opened the door fully. With my heart racing, I stepped into the hallway with Alice hot on my heels. Once she was out, I shut the door and tried not to think of all the girls I saw laying on the floor that I was leaving behind. If someone came by, I didn't want them to see an open door and think anything was out of order.
Left, or right? It looked darker to my right so I pulled Alice as I moved to the left. At the end of the hall there was another long hallway running opposite directions. Doors lined this hall, but it didn't seem like they'd be to the outside world. It looked like we were in some kind of office building.
"Bella!" The urgency in Alice's voice was startling. I turned to question her but before I could, I heard it too – voices coming from the hallway on the left. I couldn't see anyone yet, but it wouldn't be long before they reached us. I took her hand and hurried to the right. I kept my hand on the wall, because my vision was blurry and my equilibrium still off kilter. Their voices grew louder, and it sounded like two men. I couldn't make out what they were saying, though, and my panic started to rise. I took a chance and tried the handle on the next door. It opened, and I peeked inside. The room was dark, but it appeared to be empty. I pulled Alice inside and shut the door as quietly as possible. We would just have to wait for them to pass and pray they didn't come in this room.
Seconds later we heard them outside the door. They were talking, but it wasn't English. I didn't recognize the language, but it was too throaty to be a romance language. Luckily, they walked past without stopping. We waited a few more seconds before leaving the room and heading in the same direction as the men. My stomach was churning, my nerves shot. I stumbled over my own feet, and Alice steadied me.
"Bella, are you okay?" I took a deep breath and nodded. There was no need to alarm her further.
At the end of the hall was another split. How many more? I peeked around the corner to the left, and what I saw filled me with relief. There, a hundred or so feet away, was a door, and I could see outside through the window. I turned to Alice and held her face to make sure she was paying attention to me.
"When we get outside, run. Run as hard and as fast as you can. Do whatever you have to do to get to a public place. When you do, call the police." She looked confused.
"What do you mean? We-"
"I'll be right behind you. But just in case, you promise me you'll do this."
"I won't leave-"
"Promise me!" My voice left no room for argument. She hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. I smiled and turned, leading us to the door. I looked through the window and didn't see anyone. "Ready?" Before giving her a chance to answer, I opened the door and pushed her out. "Run!"
We both took off down the stairs. At the bottom, the nausea overwhelmed me to the point I fell and vomited. Alice grabbed my arm and tried to pull me to my feet. She was frantic. Once I was standing upright, she wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled my arm over her shoulder, and drug me along. Every few steps though, I'd stumble. This isn't going to work. I'm just slowing her down.
"Ali, you have to go ahead. Go get help!"
"Bella-"
"Go. Run. Get help. You promised. Run. Run, and don't look back." I pushed her away and swayed but stayed on my feet. "Go!" She finally turned and ran. I headed in the same direction but at a much slower pace. Ice coursed through my veins and my heart kicked into overdrive when I heard shouts behind me. We'd been discovered.
"Run!" I yelled. "Run!" I stumbled and fell, my body having no strength left. I looked back up to see Alice running through a patch of daisies. Abruptly, someone pulled me up enough to throw me on my back. A stocky man with broad shoulders stood over me. His full jaw was clenched in anger. He yelled at someone to his side, and I watched as the man took off in Alice's direction. I opened my mouth to warn her, but before I could get a word out, the man pulled his hand back. I only saw the gun for a split second before he slammed it into my temple and everything went black.
A/N 07/29/2018: Hello returning readers and new readers! We're jumping into this story right out of the gate. Let me know what you think.
I plan to update on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday unless something happens. This story is fully written and in the finally editing stages, so that won't keep me away.