Chapter 6: Search
EPOV
You, shook me all night long
Yeah you, shook me all night long.
I looked at my ringing cell phone playing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" and wondered why Emmett was calling.
"What Emmett?"
"Grab your coat, little bro. We're taking the jet and heading to Seattle."
"Why?"
"Remember that girl I told you about like 2 weeks ago, Amber?"
"Yeah, what about her?"
"Well I just found out she's going to be at this club in Seattle tonight and I wanted to go see her."
"So why do you need me?"
"I don't go anywhere without my wingman!"
I sighed. He wouldn't take no for an answer. "When are you going to pick me up?"
Half an hour later, we were on Emmett's private jet, heading to Seattle.
Emmett kept going on and on about Lusty Lady, the club Amber was performing at.
"Were flying to Seattle just so you can go to some strip club to hook up with a girl?"
"Basically."
I sighed. Typical Emmett.
We eventually arrived at the club and went in.
There was a girl on the stage doing a very seductive dance, wearing a top hat and nothing else.
I saw a few waitresses walking around, bringing the men drinks.
They were wearing bikini tops and black leather skirts.
Emmett and I sat down at a table. One of the girls came over to us looking very stressed out.
"I'll be right with you guys. Just let me go grab these guy's drinks."
She walked over to the bar, grabbed the drinks and gave them to the group of guys at the next table.
"Sorry about that, we're just a little short today because Bella had to go and decide not to some so she could be with her rich boyfriend!" She sounded resentful.
"Excuse me?"
"The other girl who usually works tonight decided to not come in and spend the night with her boyfriend. But the manager won't fucking fire her because her boyfriend is the supplier of booze here. I'm Lauren, by the way."
"I'll take a scotch," Emmett said. "Hey, do you know when Amber is performing tonight?"
"She's up next. Anything for you?"
"No, I'm fine."
Lauren left to go get Emmett's scotch.
I looked around the club for a minute before deciding I'd rather be anywhere but here.
"Emmett, I'll meet you back at the plane in a few hours. I can't stay here."
"Suit yourself."
I left the club and started walking around the city.
I found an open Starbucks and went in.
After getting my grande coffee, I sat down at a table. I was sitting there, alone, doing nothing, when a beautiful woman walked up to me.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked.
"No, go ahead."
I had no idea why she wanted to share a table with me. The shop was almost empty, and she could sit anywhere she wanted, but she chose to sit with me.
"I'm Tanya, by the way."
"Edward."
"So, Edward, what are you doing at Starbucks at 9 in the evening?"
"My brother Emmett decided to take an impromptu trip to Seattle tonight to find this girl, and me, as his wingman, was forced to come. I didn't want to stay at the club with him, so here I am. What about you?"
"Oh, I just got off of work and didn't want to go back to my empty apartment yet. So, you're not from Seattle?"
"California born and raised."
"Interesting."
"What's interesting?"
"Well, you don't look like a California boy to me. When I think of California, I think of tan, blonde surfer boys. You look like you could be from Seattle."
"Nope. I'm in LA right now doing my residency."
"Oh, you're a doctor?"
"Yeah. What about you?"
I run an art gallery here."
"So you're from Seattle?"
"Well, I live here currently, but I'm from Port Angeles originally. My family still lives up there."
"Family?"
"My parents and 2 of my siblings. My one sister is in school at NYU. My other sister is still in high school and my brother is in 2nd grade."
"Wow, that's a big age difference."
"Well, he's adopted. When I was 16, we adopted him from some girl in Forks who got knocked up by some guy and was too young to take care of a kid. My parents wanted another kid, so we took him."
"Oh."
We sat in silence for a minute until my cell phone rang.
Emmett.
"What?"
"Get your ass to the plane NOW! We gotta get the hell out of here."
"What happened with Amber?"
"Don't EVER mention Amber again!" he roared into the phone.
"Okay, I'll be right there." I hung up the phone and tuned back to Tanya.
"Looks like I have to go. Emmett probably offended someone or tried to hit on a married woman or something like that. Doesn't surprise me."
She laughed. "He sounds like a classy guy."
"Oh, he is." I really liked talking to Tanya. I wanted to see her again, but she lived so far away…
"Hey, could I get your number?" she suddenly asked. "You know, just in case I'm in Los Angeles and need a doctor." She laughed.
"Sure. How about I get yours, just in case I ever come back to Seattle and need some new paintings to decorate my home with."
We exchanged numbers and said goodbye.
I met Emmett back at the plane.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened with Amber? What was it this time? Married? Bad breath? A decent personality?"
"No," he shuddered. "Amber is…a transvestite."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, I found that out when I suggested we take things into the back room and she said that wasn't possible. I fucking made out with a dude!"
I started cracking up. "Wait till the guys hear about this!"
"You're a dead man if you tell ANYONE about tonight," he threatened.
"Alright, alright, I won't tell anyone, but you have to admit that it's pretty funny."
"The hell it is."
We flew back to LA, and I spent the entire flight thinking about Tanya, and wondering if there was any way I could transfer to a hospital in Seattle to finish my residency.
********
I swear this girl was trying to drive me crazy.
I want her. I keep trying to ignore my feelings, but it's no use.
I won't try to pursue her since she's still mourning the loss of her boyfriend.
She shares a hut with me, but won't touch me.
Then, the other night, she moves into my arms during the night, but then she spends all her time with that douche bag Felix.
Then, tonight, she does a sexy striptease and states at me the entire time.
When she finished, I wanted to pull her in my arms and kiss her. Hell, I wanted to do more than kiss her. Instead, I sat there like an idiot and didn't say anything.
When everyone went to bed, I didn't say anything to her.
I'm an idiot.
I should have told her she looked amazing and hot and sexy during that dance.
I should have told she looks amazing and hot and sexy when she's fishing.
I should have told her I'm in love with her.
I sat up from my mat.
She was still outside, probably waiting until I fell asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to me.
I would go out there and tell her how I felt. She had to know.
I got up, then stopped.
She was still trying to get over the death of her fiancée.
How would she feel if I went and professed my love for her after only knowing her for 3 days?
She would freak out. It would make things super awkward.
I would have to apologize to her tomorrow for acting like a tool and not telling her she did a good job.
What a fucking idiot I am.
I lay back down and tried to get to sleep when I heard something fall over outside.
I got up and opened the door to my hut to see what happened.
I sat a log by the jungle had fallen over.
Maybe some animal had hit it.
I didn't see Bella.
Did she decide to spend the night with someone else tonight?
No, she would have told me.
I looked around, but didn't see her anywhere.
Where was she?
"Bella?" I called out, hoping she would answer.
Nothing.
I walked over to the fallen log to see if she was sleeping outside.
I saw her shoe.
One shoe.
And I saw footprints heading into the jungle with something dragging behind them.
What the hell happened?
I looked around the camp and saw Felix's door open.
I looked inside, but no one was there.
I went in and looked around.
It looked pretty normal. I saw a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up, curious.
It was a list.
Pretend to be plane survivor—check
Gain the trust of one of the girls—check
Get a girl to some into the jungle with me alone—check
Bring her back to the compound for tests—tonight
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
I brought the list with me and sprinted to Emmett's hut.
I started banging on the door, trying to wake him up.
"Emmett! Emmett! Fuck, open the door!"
The door opened and Emmett came out, looking extremely pissed.
"What the fuck? You are the definition of a cockblock, you know that? I'm trying to fuck here, do you mind?"
"Sorry, but I need help now. Look at this—" I thrust the list I found in Felix's cabin towards him.
He read it over, his eyes widening.
"What the fuck is this?"
"It was in Felix's cabin."
"Oh shit."
"Bella's missing, and Felix isn't here either."
"Shit."
"What are we going to do?"
"Get everyone up, we need to find her NOW!"
Emmett and Rose got up. The three of us started waking everyone up.
Once everyone was on the beach, Emmett stood up on a log and spoke.
"Yo people, we got a situation here. Edward just found this is Felix's cabin. It's a to-do list. Now, I need everyone to think: does anyone remember seeing him on the plane?"
No one said anything.
"I don't remember seeing him, and I was at the end of the front section. The plane split three rows behind me. I would have seen him," A woman towards the back of the group called out.
"Fuck.
"Emmett, this fucker was already here before we crashed. He's been playing us all ever since we arrived."
"So what if he wasn't on the flight? What does that have to do with you guys waking us up in the middle of the night?"
"Bella Swan is missing."
Everyone went quiet.
"What does the to-do list say?" asked Seth.
"It has tasks he was supposed to complete. He was to pretend to be a survivor, befriend the women, get one of them alone, then—" I broke off, unable to complete the sentence.
"—then take one of them back to his compound or camp or whatever," Emmett said, finishing my sentence.
"What are they going to do to her?" Leah asked.
"We don't know."
"How do we even know Felix took her? It could just be some joke. Bella could have gone out for a walk," Newton piped up. I could see why Emmett fucking hated the guy.
"Well, first of all, both Bella and Felix are missing. Second, we found a fucking list in his cabin that says what his plans are, and third, Edward heard a disturbance earlier, and found one of Bella's shoes by the jungle."
"So?"
"There were footprints by it, along with tracks that looked like someone was dragged into the jungle against their own free will."
"Fuck."
"So, we need to start searching for her. This means we're all going to have to go into the jungle tonight. We'll go in groups and stay together. We don't know how many more nut jobs like Felix are in there, waiting to kidnap the rest of our ladies." Emmett turned and smiled at Rosalie.
I saw Jasper standing next to Alice. She was crying. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him.
"Okay, we don't want any women going off by themselves, especially if these natives are gunning for them to perform experiments and shit. Every group of girls must have at least one guy with them."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with Emmett.
"What are we going to use to see? It's pitch black in there!" Leah shouted, sounding worried.
"We'll have to find something to use as torches. Use smaller logs from the beach to light the way."
"Emmett?"
"Yeah bro?"
"I think we're going to need that gun."
********
"Hello?"
"Tanya?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's Edward."
"Edward?"
"From the Starbucks in Seattle. We met like a month ago. I was in Seattle with my brother."
"Oh yeah! Hey, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight."
"Why? Aren't you from LA? How would me doing anything have any effect on your life?"
"Well, it just so happens that I'm in the area and was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me." What she didn't know was that I flew up to Seattle JUST to have dinner with her.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Oh my gosh! I'd love to have dinner with you! I'm at work right now, but I'll give you a call when I'm done."
"Okay, cool."
"Okay, I'll talk to you in a few hours. Bye, Edward."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone and relaxed in my chair in the hotel lobby. I had a date tonight with an amazing woman.
Two hours later, my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Tanya. I just got off of work."
"Awesome. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Why don't I come over to your hotel. Where are you staying?"
"The Ritz."
"Rich bastard." She started laughing. "I'm kidding. I'll be there in a few."
She hung up, and I walked outside the hotel to wait for her.
Ten minutes later, a green truck pulled up. It was old, dirty, and beat up. It stopped right in front of me."
"Hey." Tanya had rolled down the window and was smiling at me. "Hop in."
I tentatively got in the car. This thing looked older than my father. "Nice car."
"Hey, not all of us are rich doctors who have football stars for brothers." She smiled and let out a laugh.
"I guess you're right. Well, it has personality. So, where do you want to go?"
"Why don't you choose? This was your idea, after all."
"Well, you probably know the restaurants around here better than I do."
"True. Actually, I'm a little worn out from work. Would you be opposed to the idea of going back to my place and ordering in and watching a movie?"
"No, that's fine."
She drove us to an apartment complex in the heart of Seattle and parked her truck on the street.
"Welcome to Chateau Tanya," she said, gesturing to the building on her left.
We got out of the car and entered the building. Tanya waved to the doorman and said hi to a few people passing us. They all gave me an interested look, but said nothing to Tanya about me. Maybe it wasn't unusual for her to have a male guest.
We arrived at her apartment and she unlocked the door, letting us in.
I expected something small with used furniture after seeing her car, but it was the complete opposite.
She had a huge place, furnished with the most exquisite pieces. I think she had an original Monet hanging on her wall.
She had crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, china figures placed all over, and expensive furniture that you only saw in castles all over the room.
She had an enormous flat panel television hanging on her wall with a stereo system next to it.
I looked in her kitchen and saw all the counters were made of granite, and all of her appliances were top-of-the-line.
"Wow."
"What were you expecting, small and run-down?"
"Kind of. After seeing what you drive, I expected more of the same."
"Well, I bought that car in high school with the money I earned at my part-time job. My family has a lot of money, but I still had to work to pay for things I wanted. I haven't bought a new car because most of my money goes into paying for this place and funding my very expensive shopping habit."
"I see." I looked at her again and saw she was dressed very nicely in all designer labels.
"Well, a car isn't very high on my list of priorities. Let me get the phone and order us some food. I know this little Italian place that delivers." She picked up the phone and called the restaurant.
"If you want, we can put on a movie to watch. I don't mind eating in the living room. I'm kind of messy in case you can't tell."
I looked around and saw things thrown all over the room. There was a pair of heels here, a notebook here, a purse here, take out containers all over the kitchen, and her carpet seriously needed to be cleaned.
I went over to her movie cabinet and gasped.
She had more movies than a movie store. More movies than Emmett.
"Umm, what do you want to watch?" I called out to her.
"Ooh, how about Ghost? That's my favorite."
I grabbed Ghost from the cabinet and popped it in the DVD player.
Once the food arrived, we sat down on the couch and started watching the movie.
The famous pottery scene came on, and I had an overwhelming urge to kiss her.
She must have been thinking the same thing, because when I turned to face her, she was already looking at me. Without thinking, I leaned forward and touched my lips to hers.
Before I knew what had happened, Patrick Swayze was saying goodbye to Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg as he went to heaven.
Tanya pulled away from my lips, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Well, I guess I should get back to my hotel," I said, stalling.
"Umm yeah, unless you'd rather stay here tonight." She looked at me with her big, blue eyes.
This was the girl I was going to marry.
********
Once we got everyone organized, we decided to split into groups to find Bella.
Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and I would start where the footprints ended.
Newton, Leah, Sam, Emily, Austin, and Maggie would go down the shore and around the jungle.
Mary, Randall, Carmen, Garrett, Peter, and Charlotte would enter with us, but go left instead of straight.
Liam, Benjamin, Tia, Eric, Katie, and Charles would also enter with us, but go to the right.
Cynthia, Seth, Collin, Brady, and the rest of the younger survivors would stay on the beach. We were all a little apprehensive about this in case Felix returned, but they would be safer here than in the jungle.
The beach group set off around the jungle, while my group and the other two jungle groups entered through the trees.
We said goodbye to the two other groups as we went straight.
We had three torches with us. We had used logs from the beach and wrapped cloth around them, making the flame last longer.
We walked through the woods, not seeing anything or anyone.
I was starting to get worried. We hadn't found a single trace of Bella or Felix, and we had been walking for over an hour.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the fuck is going on here?" I heard Emmett curse under his breath.
"Guys, stop. I think I hear something." Rosalie put her hand on Emmett's chest and he stopped. The rest of us followed suit.
We listened and heard a rustling sound coming from the trees in front of us.
Emmett pulled out the gun, cocked it, and pointed it at the trees.
A man jumped out of the trees, and froze when he saw the five of us there, pointing a gun at him.
"Help me," was all he said before he collapsed.
Alice rushed forward to help the man up.
"Who are you? What happened to you?" she asked him kindly.
He looked at us for a moment, sizing us up, making sure we were trustworthy.
He took a deep breath and began his story:
"My name is Eleazar. I belonged to a group of people on this island. We were on a boat when our ship crashed. A group of us were able to get into a lifeboat and find refuge on this island. It was me, three crewmen, my wife Ana, and my daughter Julia.
Once we arrived here, we set up camp in the jungle. We began searching for food, and trying to make signals so someone would see us and we would be rescued.
Two months passed, and there was still no sign that anyone knew where we were. We began to give up hope that rescue was possible, and tried to live on the island.
We were fine for a month, enjoying the nice weather and the beautiful landscape.
One day, George, one of the crewmen, went out into the jungle to get a new supply of water.
He never returned. We searched for him all day, but there was no trace of him. We assumed he was out exploring, and he would come back soon.
Three days passed, and George still had not returned. We began to worry, especially my daughter. She was only seven, and could not understand why her 'Uncle George' wasn't there are night to tuck her in.
Every day, we would comb the jungle, looking for any signs of George, but there was none to be found.
A month passed without a sign of George , and we assumed he had been killed by an animal. We heard them sometimes, and had even seen a bear in the distance once.
A week later, Ana, Julia, and I went for a walk. After the incident with George, no one went anywhere alone. Ana and I watched as Julia picked flowers, when suddenly we were surrounded by people, all of them holding guns pointed at us.
Julia screamed as a man with brown hair picked her up and carried her away.
Ana and I tried to follow him, but we were seized by two other men. Both of us were dragged away after bags were thrown over our heads.
I couldn't see where we were going or if Ana was still with me.
After awhile, the sack was pulled off my head. I was in some type of cage, and I was alone. Ana and Julia were nowhere to be found.
That's when I started screaming. Screaming for help, screaming for Ana, screaming for Julia, screaming for anything.
Every so often, someone would walk by. I would try to ask them about my wife and daughter, but they would act like I wasn't even there.
I began acting out. I would throw rocks I found on the floor at the people walking by, hitting them in the chest and head. I tried escaping three times, but was thwarted. The last time, I managed to shoot two of the men before being captured again. I didn't know if they lived or died.
A few days later, a man walked up to my cage. He was about 40 years old and had long black hair.
'Hello friend,' he said to me.
'Where are Ana and Julia?' I screamed at him.
'Patience, patience. Screaming will get you nowhere. Would you like to get out of this cage and see your family?' He pulled out a set of handcuffs. 'I only ask that you put these on before I unlock the door. For safety reasons, of course.'
He passed the cuffs through the bars and I put them on my wrists.
The man unlocked the door and walked in. He pulled out the sack they had put over my head and handed it to me. "Please place this over your head."
I obliged and was immediately plunged into darkness.
I was led blindly through the man's camp, unsure of where we were going. I was led into a building and through many rooms. Eventually, we came to a stop.
The man took the sack off my head and unlocked the handcuffs. I looked around and saw we were in a room with another cage. In the cage were Ana and Julia.
I ran toward the cage, calling their names, but they didn't respond.
'Ana, Julia, wake up! It's Eleazar, Ana! It's daddy, Julia!'
'They won't wake up.' I turned around and saw that the man who had brought me here had spoken.
'Why? Are they sick? Have they been drugged?' My voice rose higher and higher with each question I asked.
'They won't wake because they no longer belong to this world.'
'What?' I could hear the panic in my voice.
'They are dead,' he said, calmly.
'Dead!? How can they be dead?'
'They were executed 2 days ago. You didn't honestly think we would allow you to kill two of our people with no consequences, did you? Those two men you shot while trying to escape died.'
'But…why? Why my wife and daughter? Why not just kill me?'
'A life for a life. You killed two members of our family, we killed two from yours. Consider us even.' I couldn't understand how he could stand there so calmly while he spoke of the murders of my wife and daughter.
'Now,' he continued, 'You will start behaving, unless you want to meet the same fate as your family.' He smiled menacingly as he locked the door to my cage.
I didn't know what to do. My family was gone. I was trapped in a cage by the people who killed them, and I was most likely going to be next."
"What happened next?" Rosalie asked, intrigued. "Did they try to kill you? Is that how you got all the gashes on your body?"
"Not exactly," Eleazar said. "I got those in the Palacio."
"Palacio?" Alice asked, confused.
"It's the center where they perform all kinds of experiments."
"Experiments?" I asked. "What kinds of experiments?"
"All kinds. After the man, who I later learned was named Aro, brought me back to my cage, a group of people came and took me to the Palacio. There, I met a man named James.
James is a sadistic type of person. He gets high from causing other people pain. He is one of their experimenters and their chief torturer.
I got this," he pointed to a scar on his arm, "when I kicked him and tried to run away. I didn't realize he had a knife hidden in his belt. He pulled it out and shoved it in my arm.
During my two-year stay at the Palacio, they implanted random contraptions in my body to see how they affected me, gave me dangerously high doses of drugs to see if I would OD, and tortured me unmercifully.
Every day, I prayed to the gods to kill me. I tried escaping multiple times, but each time I was caught and subjected to pain that you couldn't imagine.
Throughout my imprisonment, more people were brought in. There was a girl, Bree, who told me she had been on a boat race when hers crashed on the island.
She was raped repeatedly by the men at the Palacio. When she found out she was pregnant, she killed herself.
Another girl, Sara, remembered being hit over the head, and then waking up in the cell next to mine. She was impregnated by James. After the incident with Bree, they kept a close watch on her.
During her pregnancy, they constantly performed tests. When she finally gave birth, she died along with the baby.
All the girl test subjects became pregnant somehow, and all of them died giving birth along with their child.
I noticed security was always relaxed when they brought in a new subject, so I planned my escape for the next time they brought someone in.
Last night, after everyone else had left, James brought in a new girl. When he was busy attending to her, I slipped out of my cage and made a run for it.
I got into the jungle without anyone seeing me, and then I met you people."
We were all staring at him, shocked.
"The girl they brought in, what did she look like?" I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer.
"Brown hair, thin, medium height. She looked like she had been shipwrecked here or something. Her clothes were all torn and she was missing a shoe."
"Shit," Emmett muttered.
"What?" Eleazar asked, taken aback by Emmett's comment.
"She's from our camp. Her name's Bella. She was kidnapped by someone we thought was a friend last night. He turned out to be one of these barbarians."
"Do you know where this Palacio is?" I asked him.
"Yes."
"Could you take us there?"
"I don't know. If I go back there and they see me, they'll kill me. However, I know James will be the only one there today."
"You have to help us!" I shouted at him.
"Okay, I'll help, but we have to be careful. James is absolutely lethal, and he has unparalleled senses. He'll know we're coming before he can see us."
"How can we fight someone like that? We have one gun." Emmett showed him the handgun we had found on the jungle floor.
"I can help with that. I know a place in the jungle where they have a storage of rifles we can use. It's there for when they are under attack in the jungle."
"How do you know this?"
"I lived there for over two years. You pick things up when they think you're sleeping."
"Let's go, then!"
"Alright. Just stay quiet, and everyone listen to me."
We followed Eleazar further into the jungle, unsure of where it would lead us or what would happen to us once we reached our final destination.
This is actually a two-part chapter. The second part, "Rescue" should be up by Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when I have time to write it. Also, after the next chapter, I'm going to start writing from the other character's viewpoints. If you have any requests, let me know!
