When Bella woke Renesmee was already gone. She was a strange girl. One Bella couldn't quite wrap her head around. The girl had spent the night watching her work and pretending to sleep whenever she turned to check on her. Bella could feel Renesmee's eyes, her energy. Even though she couldn't explain it, it was more of a comfort than anything. As usual, she'd barely slept and her restless state left her tossing and turning all night.
She got up and went into the kitchen and got a drink of water, passing by the sofa. Renesmee had folded the blanket and left it over the arm of the chair. There was still an impression left across the seat where the girl had slept. Bella curiously felt the cushion but it was cold. She moved through the dark apartment and dressed in her sweats and grabbed a sports drink from the fridge.
Jacob's email still hung heavy in her mind. He hadn't given her much about the next boy to disappear. Only that his name was Homer Barrymore and he had vanished from Central Park by The Lake. The police report wouldn't be released to the press yet, but she knew in her heart he was a match to the others. Somewhere inside she felt it coming and she couldn't stop it. Like a train running off the tracks. Jacob wanted to meet at nine at the St. James hotel near Times Square. Why he was in panic mode was still a mystery, but she knew it couldn't be good.
Bella jogged out of her building and ran through the darkened streets of East Harlem. At this hour, the only people awake were the late-night zombies and the early-risers obsessed with their health. She was both. Ironic, she thought to herself.
She made Central Park in good time. When she reached The Lake she wiped the sweat from her face and neck and paced in circles before examining the grounds. It was still quite dark and the canted light from the lampposts left her with the feeling like she was being watched.
'Keep it together, Bella,' she breathed. She watched the dark water when it hit her like a thunderbolt. The boy in her vision. This was the place she'd seen in the puddle on her floor when Renesmee touched her. Chills flashed up her spine and she shivered violently. She knew. Bella looked up to see two men watching her from across the lake. As soon as she made contact they disappeared.
Bella backed toward the trees and stood in the shadows. She threaded the brass knuckles through her fingers and made a fist. In the silence her ears rang against the bulldrum of her heart. The seconds felt like minutes, the minutes like hours. She was about to run when the rustle of dying brush startled her from behind. Bella swung around and stumbled over a catch of tree roots. A family of rabbits froze and then darted past her into the shadows.
'Jesus,' she laughed with relief. She looked back toward the lake when a dark figure hovered over her and grabbed her by her throat. Bella swung as hard as she could, hitting her assailant across the cheekbone and ear. He cursed in Russian as another kicked her and dropped her onto her stomach. The life left her lungs.
Bella gasped for air. 'Don't touch me!'
'Hold the bitch down,' one of them said, his accent thick. There was a sharp click, like that of a lock-blade knife.
Bella squirmed across the ground and then she was lifted into the air and thrown face first into a tree. Pain flashed. Her head and entire body tingled with shock. She scrambled wildly against dulling of her muscles.
'Help…' her lips fumbled. She kicked to no avail. They snatched her by her hair and then she felt her sweats being ripped from her waist. Her panties torn away. Cool morning air prickled her skin.
'No…' Bella slowly shook her head as her face was pushed into the dirt. The men were laughing. She felt the darkness coming. So cold. So consuming. Her body went limp and everything became magnified. The whisper of the leaves. Ripple of the wind moving across the lake. She smelled leather and vodka. Every pore on her body burned.
She lay shivering as one of them unbuckled their pants. Then she heard the shrieks. One of the men's heads rolled past her, bouncing across the ground. Blood mixed with the grass turning it black. Blood was everywhere.
Bella moved to her back, listening to the other man being ripped in two. She couldn't see. Everything was so dark. She felt as if she were falling into the blackness of a deep well. She was sinking. She couldn't hold on. She lay there helpless and then she felt the warmth of her sweats being pulled over her naked form and she let go.