Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of these characters. The storyline is my own and no copyright infringement is intended.

I must've fallen back to sleep, this time thankfully. . . dreamless.

I was woken by the sounds of the heavy metal door being opened, but before I could sit upright to acknowledge the visitors presence, I was restrained on the bed. I felt a knee in my back and my arms were grabbed and pulled behind me. The all too familiar cold metal of handcuffs were being placed around my wrist. Once secured, I was dragged to my feet only to hear James leer in my ear, "On your fucking knees scum. Boss is on his way to see you."

I complied, knowing it would be pointless not to. Resistance would only end up in more pain for me and much more enjoyment for the sadistic bastard at my side.

I knelt on the cold stone floor and waited; my mind racing, wondering what he wanted with me now. He had humiliated me enough as it was, but maybe if I played along with whatever sadistic game he had in mind, I would be able to talk to him; find out more about my child, if there was even one.

I didn't have to wait long before I heard slow, measured footsteps echoing through the corridors as they made their way toward me through the maze of tunnels. When he arrived he had a smile on his face which put me on edge. I didn't know why, but from our earlier meeting seemed that he was dangerous regardless of his mood.

"Ah, Mr. Cullen, nice to see that you settled in." He gestured around the room before turning back to me, looking quizzically, almost expecting an answer.

I was pushed sharply in the back as James snarled, "Answer him!"

"Yeah just like the fucking Hilton here, thanks. Never been so comfortable in my entire life. Although, the room service sucks, and the maid service, well…"

I was abruptly silenced by the back of Aro's hand swinging to make contact with my jaw. I felt the blood pool in my mouth. For a small man, he packed a hell of a backhand.

"Your insolence will stop or I will have it beaten out of you. I've already told you not to push me, Cullen and yet you try my patience, yet again. I'll have to ask Felix to go over the ground rules for your stay here in intimate detail. Don't forget our earlier meeting. As much as I don't want to, I will use your belt against you."

A panicked look must've crossed my face because he clapped his hands together in delight before continuing, "Ah, I see you remember the little shock treatment. Make no mistake, you will remain fitted with that device, and I won't hesitate to use it for further outbursts of insolence. Now, there is a more pressing matter at hand that I wish to discuss with you. However, here is not the place for that. James, bring Mr. Cullen to me in the antechamber. I will speak with him there."

With that, he swept out of the room.

James dragged me to my feet. As he did so, I spat out the blood that had built up in my mouth and surveyed the damage with my tongue. It felt like a split lip, maybe some bruising. That would heal okay and at least my teeth were intact. James just laughed sadistically. He had a baseball bat in his hand, and pushed me continually in the back to make me walk forward.

We arrived at the room where I had written my letters to find there was now another chair at the table. Aro was sat at one side and he indicated that I should sit at the other. This was uncomfortable to say the least, as my hands were still cuffed behind me. Aro noticed this and told James to cuff them at the front. It wasn't a case of being asked ,he was more or less commanded. I couldn't resist the chance to wind him up when he was in front of me to secure them saying in low voice, "Good doggy."

Anger flashed through his eyes as he raised his fist to punch me. I smiled at him, almost taunting him before a sharp voice interrupted, "James! I hand out the punishments here. You will do well to remember that."

Aro glared at him, daring defiance and none came. James dropped his fist and his head mumbling, "Yes Boss. I am sorry."

Wow, whatever hold he had on him was strong. Aro waited until James stood to the side, leaving just the two of us sitting at the table.

"Mr Cullen, your whore is making my life more complicated than I anticipated. She won't stop calling or texting you."

He threw my cell phone on the table between us. How I wished that I could grab it and make just one call, "She's received your letter and accompanying flowers, but she seems to want to speak to you for some unknown reason. I must say, she is a proper little firecracker when she gets angry. I bet she is a demon in bed when riled up."

I knew that he was taunting me; wanting a reaction, so I refused to give one. I simply replied almost in a whisper, "It's one of the many things that I love about her. She won't take no for an answer. I doubt that she'll believe I would leave her this way; it's not my style."

He brought his fists down on the table hard causing my cell phone to bounce on it, screaming at me, "Well it is now! She needs to realize what a spineless and worthless bastard you truly are. Once she recognizes this, think how much better her life will be without you." He paused, then in a calmer voice continued, "But I know to achieve this, you'll need to tell her yourself because text messages, letters and flowers are clearly not doing it. I know that she is angry with you; I can hear it in the voice-mails she leaves. Would you like to hear them?"

I was unsure if this was a joke or not. I nodded my head slowly. He found this amusing and grabbed the phone from the table. He dialled into my voice-mail allowing me to listen on speaker saying, "These are my favorites. I have, of course, been responding to the text messages, and she doesn't seem to be very happy with them."

My beautiful Bella's voice filled the room as I listened to the messages she had been leaving for me; not knowing that I would never be able to respond.

"Hey baby where are you? I'm here at home waiting for you to join me. I'm worried, please call me back. Love you."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, don't you dare pull this shit on me, again. Where the fuck are you?"

"Edward, you really are a spineless bastard. You dump me by letter? Sending cheap fucking flowers as an apology? You clearly don't have the fucking balls to do it to my face. I gave you, I gave us another chance when really I could've walked away after your night with that slut and this is how you repay me? Well fuck you Cullen! I hope whatever whore you are screwing is worth it!"

"So, I guess from the fact that you sneak in here to take your stuff while I'm not here, really does tell me a lot doesn't it. I thought that maybe you would be a man about it and at least be able to face me. I'm sure that I will have no issues finding someone to fill your empty space in my bed. If this is what you want, then fine. Goodbye Edward, been nice knowing you."

My heart broke in two. Hearing her voice out loud, tore through my soul. To hear her getting angrier and angrier with each voice-mail. Then seeing that Aro was enjoying this little game, "There's also messages from your family. They're also very concerned for you. For now, I'm concentrating on her because she means so much to you; it's written across your face. I want you to record a voice message for her, that way she'll know that you've come to no harm, yet. I'll write the message, and you'll repeat it word for word. Any attempt to say anything other what I have written, I'll hurt you, and then her. Make no mistake about that, I'll bring her here and allow my men to enjoy her while you're forced to watch; helpless. Then maybe I'll kill her, again, while you watch. Do I make myself understood?"

I nodded. There was no point fighting him on this. I had no doubt about his ability to do what he threatened to do Bella.

He got up and left the room, leaving me alone with a silent, but smirking James. He stood there like a statue watching me while my mind raced. Could I possibly manage to get a coded message into the voice message to Bella? I had managed it with my letters. I suppose that was easier because they were written by me, but the message was to be dictated to me. There was hope as Bella clearly didn't want to give up on me, on us without a fight. I just had to hope that she had seen my message in the letter. Then again, that might take time for her to find; I had to hold onto the hope that she would pour over the letter endlessly. I knew that I had to be patient in hoping that she would not believe I would just leave her like that. She was my everything. For now I would have to do as Aro instructed. I couldn't risk her coming to any harm, and I certainly didn't want her brought here.

Aro breezed back into the room some time later, holding a piece of paper in his hand; a smug look on his face. He placed the papers in front of me and I read it. He watched me intently and when I got to the bottom, he spoke. "Well? Do you think that she'll believe that message? I also have one for your family, too. I can't have anyone sniffing around looking for you. Not of course, that they would find you; I am far too clever for that."

He motioned to James, who stepped forward lifting a small recording device to my mouth, and I spoke into it. "Bella, sorry it's been hard for me to speak to you. I know that I've broken your heart, but please believe that I mean what I said in the letter. We are over, there is no future for us. I'm not in the city. I've gone away to clear my head, to put space between us. Please don't contact me, again. Goodbye."

My voice remained strong throughout the message. I knew that he would not risk letting me leave this live on her cell. How could he guarantee that she wouldn't answer? There was no way that she would allow me to speak and not have her say. I knew that I had to ask, "How's this message supposed to be delivered? I assume that this was just a recording to use at a later date?"

He smiled back at me and said, "That's none of your concern; next message to your parents."

I took a breath reading through what he had prepared, before nodding to indicate I was ready, "Hi Mom, Dad. What can I say other than I'm sorry. I love you, but I can't stay here at the moment. Don't worry about me I'm okay, but I'm not ready to talk to anyone. I'll be in touch soon. Please give me time and space."

I wondered if they'll notice that I had called them Mom and Dad and not my usual greeting of Esme and Carlisle. They might not, but I hoped that things would fall into place for them. Carlisle was an incredibly smart man.

"Okay Cullen, now for your brother and sister, make them convincing."

"Emmett, I'm sorry to leave like this, but I have to get away from her; from my life. I know you're worried. Please don't be. I'm a grown man and this is what I want. I couldn't talk to anyone about it so that's why I just left. Look after Bella, Mom and Alice for me. I'll be in touch soon. Please just leave me in peace, for now."

"Alice, I'm sorry to leave like this but there is no other way. Please don't hate me. Look after Bella for me. She'll need a friend. Don't look for me. I'm not worth it."

When I finished the last recording, I glanced at Aro, his expression was one of deep thought then he levelled his gaze, staring at me for what felt like hours; in reality it was minutes, if that, he clapped his hands together slowly as he spoke. "Bravo! The Oscar for best male performance goes to, Edward Cullen. I'll use these when the need arises. I may require more from you, but for now you may return to your accommodation. James, see to it that Mr. Cullen is presentable and ready to be transported to the venue at 21.00 hours sharp. Tonight, you'll see what I have in store for you."

With that he left. I was pulled to my feet by James and led back toward my cell when suddenly, we took a detour; fear spiked within me. James was taking me somewhere new, this could not be good. There was no-one else around, either, to stop him.

We entered a large room. To my relief, I saw that this was a bathroom with a shower. God, it looked like heaven to me.

I was allowed to shower, although the water was cold, but least I felt slightly more human before being led back to my cell.

Once back inside, I noticed that there were fresh clothes on the bed. My heart sank when I picked them up. Instantly recognized them. These were mine from the apartment. How had they managed to get hold of them? Then I remembered, he knew where I lived; he already had my cell phone, so wallet and keys would also be in his possession.

A chill ran through me as I thought of Bella being there when they went inside. Then one of the voice-mail messages made sense. Bella said something about me sneaking in and taking my stuff. I heard the softly spoken voice of Laurent from behind me, he was leaning against the door and confirmed to me, "These are your things from your apartment. Don't worry, Bella wasn't inside when they were obtained. We made sure of that."

I was relieved to know that and said, "Thank you. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to her. Where am I being taken tonight? I'm slightly scared of what's happening here, Laurent, can you help me out?"

A look uncertainty crossed his face before he spoke, "The Boss has an event planned this evening. Don't worry, all will be revealed to you. You must learn to trust me, Edward. I'll ask to be part of the detail that's to escort you there, but please do as you are told. The others won't think twice about harming you if you disobey. I'll see you later; I suggest you sleep because it will be a long evening." With that he left.

I laid down on the bed, grateful for the fact that I had at least been allowed to shower and had my own clothes to wear.

I still had that damn belt wrapped around my waist, which I wanted rid of. The pain it caused when activated, is like nothing I had ever experienced, and never wanted to again. It was clear to me that this wasn't going to be removed any time soon, so I would have to comply with their instructions.

What was this 'venue' that they had talked of, and what exactly did Aro have in store for me? I had no perception of time here; it could be either hours or minutes before I was transported. I closed my eyes and waited.

Authors Note:

So… what do we think is going to happen to poor little Edward next?

Thanks for a fab beta job goes to DreamofRob10 who is an angel – KISSES!

If anyone wants to join a group I have set up on Facebook where I will be posting teasers, updates and new plot bunnies as they bite let me know by PM with your FB name – I am Loopy Lou (look for Red Fraggle) and I will add you in.

Please do leave me some love and let me know what your thoughts on this.