Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.
Panic
" Oh, Edward that was marvelous ! I'm so thrilled that you took me to the opera on our first date!" Victoria crooned in my ear. I winced at how high and scratchy her voice was. Emmett and Jasper snickered from beside me while Alice and Rosalie rolled their eyes.
" Uh, sure. No problem. I had a... good time too." I choked out. I was trying to suppress a gag and a grimace as she smiled back with what was supposed to be an alluring smile, but turned out to be more of a frown/ smile.
" Maybe we could go back to my house and spend some time together. My mother and father won't be home tonight until late. We would have plenty of time..." Victoria whispered in my ear. This time I couldn't help but grimace.
" I would love to, but my parents are expecting me, so I have to go. Bye!" I said as I grabbed the hands of Jasper and Emmett. Alice and Rosalie followed us into my carriage. I looked out the window, and saw Victoria standing on the sidewalk outside the theatre with a shocked and menacing expression on her over powdered face. I sighed in relief that we had escaped from her clutches. Everyone laughed.
" Well that was interesting. I may never be able to watch an opera the same, but it was still interesting. " Jasper said. He was referring to the fact that Victoria sang along with almost every song, and that she sounded like a dying cat. Every so often she would glance at me and wink before returning to her singing. I actually ducked my head a couple times from embarrassment. Alice giggled.
" Thats for sure! But its not like I could focus on the show anyway. Not with the stunning girl that was sitting next me. " Emmett said as he kissed Rosalie's hand. Rosalie blushed and looked away. I rolled my eyes as Jasper and Alice began to flirt.
My thoughts drifted back to the one person I had been thinking about all night. Bella. I couldn't stop picturing what she was doing right now. I felt a twinge of guilt as I remembered the interaction that we had had earlier. Alice and Rosalie had tried to talk to Bella, but Bella was too stubborn to care what they said.
I closed my eyes and remembered how adorable Bella was when she was angry. Her pale cheeks flushed with anger, her wide brown eyes flashing with emotion, her long, soft hair framing her face perfectly, but slightly out of place. I remembered how she had thought that all of her friends had ditched her for men. It hurt me to know that Bella was feeling betrayed, and as much as I wanted to sprint over to her side right now and comfort her, I knew that she would only just pushed me away. Suddenly my plan to make her jealous didn't seem so brilliant.
We pulled up in front of the campus and we all got out of the carriage. When we got to the girls dorm, I couldn't help but look to see if a candle was lit in the sitting room. It was dark. I felt my heart deflate a little, and my face fell. Alice and Rosalie both hugged Jasper and Emmett goodnight before beginning up the stairs. Emmett, Jasper, and I started towards the exit to campus. We were each lost in our thoughts.
We suddenly heard two bloodcurdling screams coming from the direction of the dorm we had just left. We all whipped around and dashed back to the building. I raced up the stairs. The only thing that was on my mind was that Bella was hurt. We burst through the door, and looked around.
Alice and Rosalie were both standing in the middle of their bedroom with wide eyes and pale faces. Emmett and Jasper raced to their sides. Meanwhile I searched the room frantically, looking for a sign that Bella was there. Nothing. I began to panic. I raced to the sitting room. Still no sign of Bella. I searched the washroom and was again filled with panic. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. I turned back to Alice and Rosalie who had broken out of their trance and were now crying.
" What happened. Where is Bella?!" I asked them. They both sobbed harder when I said her name. I had a bad feeling about this.
" This is all my fault! I was so selfish! I didn't even come check on her when she was upset! I shouldn't have gone to the opera! I'm a terrible friend!" Alice sobbed. My face paled. So something had happened to Bella. My eyes widened in shock and I felt a sudden yearn for Bella. Just to hold her in my arms, or if she could even just burst through the door and say that it was a joke and that she was hiding the whole time.
" Alice where is Bella." I asked in a detached voice. Rosalie turned to me with sorrow etched across her face.
" We don't know. We came home and all the lights were off. Nobody was home. And now we don't know where she is..." Rosalie trailed off as a sob ripped through her throat. Emmett hugged her closer to his chest. Bella was missing. Bella was missing. The words kept going through my head, but I couldn't seem to grasp them. Bella. Was. Gone. I finally snapped out of my thoughts and straightened up.
" We are going to find her. Now. I don't care what time it is, but we will search the streets for her. She ran away because of me." I said. I rushed to the door and grabbed Alice and Rosalie's jackets. I threw them at the girls and dashed down the hall. I could hear faint footsteps behind me, but I didn't even bother to see whose they were.
I ran out onto the street and looked around. Most of the street was deserted except for a few people coming home from a pub. Not caring if they were sober or not, I rushed up to them. As I got closer to them I saw that the group consisted of three men and two woman. At first glance you could see that the women were exposing too much skin. I fought the shiver of repulsion that rocked through my body as I saw one of the men clutch one of the women's breasts. They both laughed sloppily. They were clearly drunk.
" Excuse me, but did you happen to see a woman wandering around the streets by herself?" I asked them. They all looked up at me. The two women eyed me hungrily while the men snorted.
" Well it depends what kinda lady you're lookin' for. What does she look like?" A fat man said as he burped.
" She is medium height, pale skin, long mahogany hair, wide brown eyes, full lips, and a slender body. She is about 17 years old." I answered hastily. The men both thought for a moment. The third one spoke up.
" I thinks I might have seen a girl like that. Whats her name?" He asked in a thick accent.
" Bella. I mean, Isabella Swan." I was beginning to get anxious. If these men had seen her, then she obviously wasn't in the nicest part of town.
" Oh, yeah I know who she is. Isn't her dad some kinda government guy? Charles Swan is it? Anyway, even if I had seen her, I wouldn't have been paying attention to her. Her family is a bunch of stuck up snobs. And she is no exception." One of the women answered. I glowered at her. How dare this harlot talk about Bella that way! She didn't even know her! I turned back to the man who had seen Bella.
" As I was saying, I saw a girl like that walking around in her nightie. I was wonderin' what a pretty little thing like her was doing in her nightie all by herself. " He said.
" Where were you?" I asked hurriedly. The man pointed back a few blocks and walked away with his posse. I finally looked behind me to check if Jasper, Emmett and the girls had come. Sure enough, Jasper was behind me running to catch up. I waved him towards me. He picked up the pace.
" Where are Emmett and the girls?" I asked as we walked down the street to which the man had pointed us too.
" The girls were too tired and upset to come, so Emmett offered to stay and keep them company. I figured that you would need help fighting off any thugs, so I came along." Jasper joked. He was trying to lighten the mood, and I didn't appreciate it.
" Jasper! Bella has just disappeared, and you are trying to joke around?!" I yelled. He rolled his eyes as we walked down a desolate cobblestone street.
Suddenly a piece of white flickered out of the darkness and caught my eyes. I ran to it, and bent down on my knees to see what it was. With sudden horror, I saw what it was. A letter. But not just any old letter. A letter addressed to The Swan Family. From Bella Swan. I looked at Jasper and handed him the letter. I didn't dare read the actual content of the note, but it was enough to convince me that Bella hadn't run away. Someone had kidnapped her. And I was going to find that person. Even if it killed me.
So there was Edward's panic attack! And for all of you who were curious. No, Bella didn't agree to be a prostitute. It was kinda unclear in the last chapter. Sorry. But she was so tired and worn out that she couldn't really refuse a bed, and she kinda figured that if she tried to escape, that James and Mike would be on her ass... Anyway, I hope that you all liked this chapter!
REVIEW!!
xoxo
kenza
