Authors Note: Sorry bout taking so long. I've had this chapter written for ages, but never had the chance to put in on.
Thanks for all your encouragement; it's been great to read.
Thanks also for my beta, RentAngel12.
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Chapter 4 – Memories
Flashback
We were on a short stretch of unlit sidewalk. The little shops lining the street were all locked up for the night, windows black. Half a block ahead, the streetlights started up again, and I could see, farther down, the bright golden arches of the McDonald's she was heading for.
Across the street there was one open business. The windows were covered from the inside and there were neon signs, advertisements for different brands of beer, glowing in front of them. The biggest sign, in brilliant green, was the name of the bar- One Eyed Pete's. I wondered if there was some kind of pirate theme not visible from the outside. The metal door was propped open; it was dimly lit inside, and the low murmur of many voices and the sound of ice clinking in glasses floated across the street. Lounging against the wall beside the door were four men.
I glanced back at Jessica. Her eyes were fixed on the path ahead and she moved briskly. She didn't look frightened – just wary, trying to not attract attention to herself.
I paused without thinking, looking back at the four men with a strong sense of déjà vu. This was a different road, a different night, but the scene was so much more the same. One of them was even short and dark. As I stopped and turned toward them, that one looked up in interest.
I stared at him, frozen on the sidewalk.
"Bella?" Jess whispered. "What are you doing?"
I watched as the short dark one elbowed the man next to him and gesture towards us. They took a step towards us, the other two following in their wake.
"Bella!" Jessica hissed. "We have to go!" she tugged at my arm without avail.
I stared at them, uncomprehending.
Run, Bella, a voice shouted, reverberating the words inside my head, you have to run away from them!
Dimly I realized that it was not Jessica's voice, but Edward's. I was briefly occupied with the painful hole in my chest; so occupied that suddenly the four men were standing in front of us, and Jessica was shaking with adrenaline, her eyes wide with fear.
"Hello, girls," one of the men drawled. My eyes flickered to the hand of his that was clutching a rather scary looking object.
"He-hel-lo," stammered Jessica. She glanced around anxiously, her hand unconsciously finding mine and tugging gently.
"So-sorry, but we hav-have t-to go," she gasped.
The short dark one slowly walked around us, as if we were for sale, a smile that said he liked what he saw on his face.
"Well, unfortunately, I'm afraid that we can't let you go. You see, we came down to Port Angeles to find fresh blood, and well we found it. Wanna guess who's the fresh blood?" one of them whispered seductively.
Jessica whimpered, spinning around to find an exit. There were none.
I just stared at him dumbly.
"You'll do both quite nicely," sneered another, a man to my right.
In a man so fast I had no way to see it, he had me in a headlock, and a needle was jabbed firmly into my neck.
"No!" I gasped.
"Bella!" screamed Jessica.
I struggled vainly against his strong arms, but the strength ebbed away from me, and lethargy sank deep within me.
As my eyes fluttered closed and I collapsed against the warm body of my captor, the final words I heard were Jessica crying softly, praying for her parents. I would remember those words forever.
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When I came to, I was in a box. Or, at least it seemed like a box to my drug induced haze. Looking around I noticed Jessica slumped against the wall, bruises forming on her fragile features. After several minutes of dazedly contemplating, I came to the conclusion that I was in a moving box. A van.
"Jessica!" I hissed at her, reaching slowly over to her, to shake her awake. She stirred, but did not wake.
Just as I was about to shake her again, the van screeched to a stop. I jolted forward and hit the wall, unable to stop myself due to my drug induced state. I moaned in agony.
"Sell one of 'em to Sam," I dimly heard a voice say through the walls of the van.
"Which one?"
"Dark haired one. She'll fetch a fair price. We'll sell the other to Jacko."
My eyes widened at that. They were going to sell me to this Sam. I blinked tears back furiously; crying would not get me far. How had I gotten myself in this mess? It was all my fault.
"Jessica!" I whispered again. If only I could wake her. As a last effort, I kicked her gently.
"Aaaarrrrggghh..." she groaned. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Jessica, we gotta get outta here! They are going to sell us!" I gasped.
Just then the doors were slammed open. I protected my eyes from the bright light flooding in from the torch. I briefly heard Jessica doing the same.
"I like the pale, dark haired one," a voice said gruffly. "Especially her chocolate eyes. She'd be popular."
He turned to the men.
"I'll pay ten G's for her."
"Done," the small dark one said smoothly. They shook hands.
Climbing in, the dark one pulled me to my feet and held me in his tight grasp. I struggled vainly, but it did no good against him.
"She better not be a fighter," the man who bought said suspiciously.
"Nah. Give 'em a few shots and they'll be easy as anything. In fact, the other was more of a fighter."
Jessica just watched me sadly, a broken look upon her face that said everything. Obviously, while I had been drugged, she had been beaten and raped. She would never be the same person.
As I continued to resist, one of the men stepped forward with a syringe.
"No," I yelped, shrinking back from him. My captor just pushed me into him, and I felt the needle bite into my skin. I fought drowsiness valiantly, but it overcome like a tidal wave, and I sank like a dead weight into dark depths.
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The days after that were a blur. I never fully woke from the powerful drugs they anesthetized me with. I never really saw the faces that crushed me, or the felt the pain from the blows I was dealt with.
After a while, I could not even remember my family, or the people who left me, so long ago. I only knew the hunger for the needles, and tablets. I was addicted to the numbness I received. It was better than the pain and awareness.
It was just a normal night. I would wait on the sidewalk for Sam to find a customer, before doing my job. If I was really lucky, and had lots of customers, I would get a reward, small coloured pills that would take me impossibly high, higher unlike anything I had ever experienced.
But this night was different. These customers took me away, and they never brought me back to my master...
After Notes: Wow. Longest chapter I've written in ages.
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