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I was pulled away from the comfortable grey haze in which I floated, weightlessly. With the rush and sound of an oncoming freight train, I was hurled out of the safe, dark, nothing toward painful consciousness. The ache that blossomed across my cheekbone and temple grew and grew until I blinked my eyes open and winced against the scratchy material of the sofa under my face. I was twisted and lying chest-down, apparently in the same position that I had fallen after Jasper struck me with the back of his hand.
Jasper.
I didn't know what I had done to illicit such a drastic and violent turn in his behavior. But I instinctively held my breath and tried to remain still. My heart pounded loudly in my ears, making my head hurt more. But I knew that I needed time to figure out what was going on. I was in trouble. Big trouble. And pretending to be asleep might buy me a few moments to try to formulate a plan.
I needed to find Rosalie. And I needed to get out of this cabin.
I quickly squeezed my eyes closed when I heard approaching footsteps. I breathed deeply, trying to force my body to relax and mimic sleep. But I tensed when I felt a breath rush icily across the skin of my ear and neck.
"I know you're awake," Jasper said with a low, deep voice. "Your pulse is racing."
It didn't matter to me how he could possibly know that. He knew I was awake. I licked my lips nervously and strong fingers on my shoulder rolled me to lay on my back before I opened my eyes.
Jasper had leaned over the back of the sofa when he spoke to me. His face was only inches away from my own. The tips of our noses practically touched. And I saw that now, both of his eyes burned a brilliant, fiery red. My chest rose and fell with my escalated breathing.
"Jasper?" I said softly. I tried to use a calm and coaxing voice. I hated the tremor I heard in the tone that belied my nervousness. "I don't know what's going on… but I think that there has been some misunderstanding…" I thought that perhaps, remaining non-confrontational would be my best course of action. Jasper had hit me with no earlier indication that he should be feared. I had no idea what he was capable of.
"What, exactly, did you misunderstand, Bella?" Jasper murmured. His breath fanned icy and sweet against my lips. I felt light headed, and had to remind myself to breath. Fear had frozen me in place.
"Please…" I whispered. "Let me get Rosalie, and go."
Jasper raised himself away slightly and closed his eyes while a cold laugh tumbled past his pink lips. A shiver ran down my spine but I tried to ignore my body's automatic response to the chilling sound, using the moment instead to reach quickly into the pocket of the jacket I still wore. When Jasper turned to look at me again, I was ready for him. I simultaneously pulled the collar of my jacket over my nose, and pressed the red button on the top of my pepper spray.
He blinked at the unexpected attack, and I rolled off the couch. My knees hit the floor hard, and I coughed and gagged into my jacket. The burning chemical I had discharged from the can into the confined space was acting against me. Tears streamed down my face as I crawled frantically toward the front door.
"Okay. Now you've just managed to piss me off," I heard Jasper scold from somewhere behind me. I crawled faster. But then a harsh grip on my right ankle pulled my leg up and back, and I was sent off balance, crashing to the floor beneath me.
"Ooomph!" The breath was knocked from my lungs, and I threw my arms out, palms flat to the floor, trying to find something to hold on to. I was being drug across the hard wood floor as though I were a doll being pulled by a reckless toddler. And the skin on the inside of my knee pulled painfully away with a burning friction caused by my struggle.
Jasper hissed. Low and steady, like a snake, and his body paused. When he released my leg, I tried to pull my knees beneath me to rise and crawl away again. But his body immediately formed a cage over me as he crouched and flipped me beneath his hands.
I was breathing heavily, and my eyes still stung from the residual burn in the air. I flinched when Jasper's hand circled my calf, and he roughly pulled my legs apart. Horrendous thoughts of rape and further molestation seized me in panic. But his hands didn't tarry on my skin. His concentration was on the red, raw place on the inside of my knee. He moved close… so close that I could feel his breath on my bare thigh. I bit my lip as he looked closely at my abrasion.
"No blood," he murmured quietly. He sounded disappointed. "So close." He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before resting his hand across his own bent leg. He stared at me for a moment before sighing and straightening. I hurried while he moved, and placed my hands behind me. With my heels dug into the flooring, I tried to scurry backward like a crab. But Jasper merely grabbed the material of my jacket front and hauled me easily to my feet before him.
I couldn't fathom how such a wiry man could demonstrate such strength. In the next moment, he spun me and threw one arm around my midsection. My feet were lifted from the floor as my back aligned with his rigid side. I wanted to kick and squirm, but the cutting pressure of his arm under my ribs made my first priority merely to breathe. I wheezed and my fingers ineffectually tried to pry his arm away from my stomach. My feet dangled in the air beneath me, and I saw spots before my eyes. My own gasping breath filled my ears as Jasper carried me down a long, dark, hallway.
Though I was pretty sure I might just faint from the lack of oxygen, an increased sense of panic sent me kicking against his legs as he opened a brown, wooden door. The light from behind us illuminated the first of what I assumed were bare steps leading down to a basement. I struggled with renewed fervor, and wasted the air in my lungs with a plea that came on instinct.
"No. No. NoNoNoNo." I shook my head, whimpering and begging. I didn't want to go down those stairs. But my fingers stopped trying to pry Jasper's arm away. Instead, I clutched at the stone restraint of his hold and hoped that he wouldn't throw me down the stairs in a fit of rage. "Please," I whispered brokenly. "Please! I'll do anything."
"You're right," he said menacingly near my ear. "You will."
He had already begun our descent. I stared around me, wild eyed, and tried to concentrate on my surroundings. The room was dark, and damp. I continued to hang, clutched to Jasper's side as he reached up to slide a long leather cord from around his neck. On the bottom of the cord, barely illuminated from the light that followed us down the stairs, was a brass key.
"Can't have you running off," Jasper explained while he carried me further into the dark room. "What's the fun in that? You'd just be caught too easily."
I didn't understand his words. But I heard the scratching sound of his key touching what I imagined was a lock. And then a harsh, metallic groaning filled the air.
"In you go," Jasper turned his body and released me. My feet tried to find purchase beneath me, but my body crumpled to the ground where I was dropped. I slapped my hands to the cold, hard floor and my shoulders heaved while I sucked in deep, healing breaths.
"What? Where…" I turned my head toward the sound of the grating metallic noise I heard before. But this time I heard the distinct click and turn of his key. Though my watery eyes had not yet adjusted to the dark area around me, I understood then. Jasper had put me in a cage.
His unusually silent movement made it impossible for me to hear his departure. But when the door closed at the top of the stairs, and the small slice of light that had provided any relief in this black space was taken away, I knew that I was alone.
A ragged sob tore from my lips, and I turned to my hands and knees. With one arm extended in front of my face, I pressed my palm against the damp air and began to crawl forward. It didn't take long before I found what I knew I would. My fingers brushed against, and then grabbed at a cool, cylindrical bar. I let my fingers slide upward around its craggy surface, and pulled myself to a standing position. With both hands acting as my eyes then, I was able to rely on touch to take in my surroundings. Hand over hand, I gripped the bars as I travelled the perimeter of my prison. It was a large cell, with bars over head that I could barely feel if I stood on tiptoe. And by reaching through the widely spaced bars, I could tell that it must have been located centrally in the basement. I could feel no walls beyond. Slowly, and specifically I made mental note of my environment. It gave me something to concentrate on, so that I could not let my thoughts linger on the reason why I was brought to such a place.
Resigned, I crawled my way back to what I guessed was the far corner of my cage. With my back pressed to the hard steel behind me, I wrapped my arms around my upraised knees and rested my forehead against my cool skin. Weariness tugged at me, tempting me to drift back to a less frightening oblivion. But I fought it off, instead, conjuring imaginary scenarios that might explain my current situation. College hazing pranks, amateur film makers trying to capture "real" footage… My imagination struggled to find less-terrifying alternatives to explain my captivity. But a tiny voice in the back of my mind reminded me to consider the very real possibility that this was something much, much worse. Surrendering to a moment of earned pessimism, I let my legs slide straight out in front of me.
I blinked my eyes then, and stared at the thin limbs that sprawled on the floor in defeat. A dim blue glow cast long, dark shadows in front of me, and illuminated the chipped red toenail polish on my right foot. Somehow, I had lost a shoe. I raised my head and focused on my source of light. A small, rectangular window set high in the dark wall shoplifted a pocket of moonlight and shared it here, in my dark confinement. I sighed with a shaky breath. The clouds had lifted.
And with the evidence of the change in weather outside, I borrowed a change in attitude. There was light in the darkness. My car was on a main road. I left a note in the windshield. Surely someone would call my father. Charlie Swan, the Chief of Police had run his share of search parties in this state. He would find me.
I just had to keep my head. I needed to stay alert. I needed to stay complacent and not invite violence from Jasper. If I could buy myself some more time my father would find me. And by morning, Rosalie would realize that I was missing. Hell. She might have already noticed and escaped the house. Help would come. I could survive. I would survive. I just needed to buy myself as much time as possible.
I stared with eager eyes toward that small window. Clouds came and went, but the light always returned, reminding me to stay strong and to persevere. I waited for the sun to bring a new day. The day I would be free again. But the song of the morning larks acted as a dark lullaby, and I slumped in my cold corner, losing my battle to remain awake. Somewhere, in the foggy recesses of semi-consciousness, the song of the birds changed to something deeper, something sweet and lilting and infinitely more comforting. I listened to the beautiful sound and let it wrap around me, finally succumbing to the sleep my body so desperately needed.
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