CHAPTER 32

BELLA

Never had I ever imagined in my wildest of dreams that I would experience flying and swimming together. But that's exactly what was happening to me right now! As I ... um, floated I guess, yeah, floated out of the window, I couldn't help feeling like some graceful super model. The one with a killer body but a sassy face, saying I have the body of a rose but my face itself is a claw. Come close to me and I'll shred you to bits. Except that I was no super model and I knew better than anyone else that my face was that of a weak and harmless teenager who couldn't even hurt a hair on anybody's body. I didn't mind it though. I enjoyed proving people wrong whenever they underestimated me. The only thing I enjoyed in a fight was the stunned look that came on my opponent's face when he/she saw the moves I made to defend myself. Apart from that, the reason of the fight and its consequences were of no interest to me.

Down and down I went, inhaling the sweet smell of pine all the way. My eyes were closed but I didn't need them to remain open to see what was present in my surroundings. Water could see it, so I could see it too. The palace in which I had been brought after being abducted was in the middle of a dense forest. The spot where it was made had been chosen with care and intelligence. There was a fixed distance between all the trees and the palace and each tree was covered in different flowers. With birds sitting on each branch and the green blanket of grass enhancing the ground, the sight looked breathtaking. The bad boy lived with vigor, beauty and style. Had I been a normal girl, I would have melted at the exotic combination.

I sensed the shadow of a person standing near the corner most banyan tree. Opening my eyes, I looked at Jeff who was watching me quietly. The beauty of the surroundings stopped appealing to me at once. I was out of hell which was smacked in the middle of a heaven situated under the wraps of a bigger hell. Now I was back to the ultimate hell which my life was except that maybe this time, that hell would make sense.

My feet touched the ground and I resisted the urge to moan in pleasure. The soft grass appeared like feathers to my skin. It was mid-evening and I could see the outline of the setting sun. I had been in the room for not more than a few hours but still I felt as if I hadn't been out since ages.

The loud thrashing sound broke my peace and I looked back to see the entire side from which I had escaped demolishing. The walls were cracking at an alarming rate and their gravels were falling continuously. If it continued like this, the whole palace would be gone in the next few minutes though I still had no idea how huge it was. Guilt swamped my heart for a moment. I had done too much damage this time. But then I remembered the treatment I had received from Edward and the feeling of remorse vanished in a jiffy. The last few tender moments could not make up for all those times when he had acted like a dick.

"Bella" I turned to look at Jeff. "Wear this" He threw a huge dark maroon robe towards me but still I could not bring myself to express my gratitude, because I wasn't feeling any. I was angry with Jeff, very, very angry. Catching the robe, I wore it quickly, managing to hide my pathetic excuse for a body. I had just finished tying the robe when I felt Jeff's hand on my arm. How did he come so close so quickly? And when? "Let's go" he said and was about to pull me with him when he noticed something and stilled.

I followed his gaze and found a golden pendant on my collarbone. A sun. The pendant was heavy and the chain was thick. I knew without a doubt that it was made of twenty-four carat gold.

"What the fuck!" Jeff swore loudly "take this off!"

He raised his hand to pull the locket away but the moment his fingers touched it, he backed away screaming. I watched, shocked beyond measure. His fingers were burnt badly. It was a third degree burn. Their skin had come off and they were bleeding profusely. Jeff had a high tolerance for pain but the way he was wailing in agony and jerking his hand up and down clearly showed that he was in a lot of pain.

Instinctively, I raised my hand towards his with my palm facing upside down. The water which had rescued me rose from underground and splashed on Jeff's hand. A minute later, it vaporized. But there was no wound on Jeff's hand anymore. It looked as if it had never been hurt. Jeff looked at me, his eyes shining with the tears of prideful joy. Why was he looking so elated?

"You finally found it" he whispered.

"Found what?" I asked.

"Your legacy"

"My what?"

He opened his mouth to reply but then his gaze fell on the locket again and his face hardened. "You need to take this off" he said coldly.

I looked at the locket again. I don't know why, but wearing it was making me feel ... safe ... secure ... protected. Something which I hadn't felt in a really long time, not after my first and last brief embrace with my father. I knew I had Jeff to watch my back, but ... I had never felt this safe even with him.

I looked at him. "Why?" I asked. I did not wish to take it off.

"We don't have time Bella" I could see Jeff running out of patience. This was puzzling. I had never seen Jeff behave like this before. He looked ... desperate, but for what?

But I didn't care, not anymore. He was acting bipolar, just like Edward, and I had be damned if I went with this too.

"I'm not leaving until I get my answers" I said with a tone of finality.

"Bella..."

"Now or never Jeff!"

"I swear I'll tell you everything but first we need to get out of here. But before that, you need to take this off of you" I raised an eyebrow at his pleading. "They will be behind you any moment and we have to leave Durango at any cost" he insisted.

That brought me back to my senses. I looked back and sure enough, I could hear the sound of shouting and screaming as the people inside the palace tried to save themselves from getting hurt. The damage was still on. Damage. Blood chilled my bones. Alice was still inside.

"I need to save Alice!" I was about to rush inside but Jeff held my arm and stopped me.

"She's safe" he promised.

I tried to jerk my arm free. I was running out of time. "How do you know that?" I yelled angrily. If anything happened to Alice then...

"Because you are fine"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Concentrate Bella!" Holding my shoulders Jeff gave me a good shake. "Don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" I wanted to break his arms for stopping me. Alice was the only true friend I had ever had after Jeff and this fucker was not letting me save her.

"Focus Bella focus" saying this he pressed his finger to my forehead and I stilled.

Moments flashed in front of my eyes, all the sweet memories I had created with Alice, our time on the tree, the secret spot of hers and Rosalie which she had shared with me, how she had taken my side despite craving for Jasper, her promise to always choose me over him, her forgiving me even after I had hurt her, how her jovial, understanding and innocent nature had slowly found its way in my ... heart, how I had started caring for her all of a sudden, how I had experienced so many firsts with her and how I had developed the fear of losing her. Each memory brought a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart. And every time through a memory, I knew, Alice was fine.

"Do you believe me now?" Jeff asked in a gentle voice.

Opening my eyes, I nodded slowly.

"Then let's go"

I tried to resist. I wanted to say good bye to Alice but Jeff was having none of it. When he found that I was still being uncooperative, he turned and glaring at me, tossed me over his shoulder. Shocked, I could not react for a few seconds before my senses kicked in and I used every swear word in my dictionary to stop him from carrying cum taking me like that. Because getting carried like that reminded me of a bittersweet memory.

"Jeff!" I screamed for probably the tenth time "Stop it otherwise I swear I will..."

"THERE THEY ARE! CATCH THEM!"

I raised my head up to look at the source of voice and boy, for the first time in my life, was I glad to see Jasper!

ROSALIE

I swear to every fucking force in this universe that I would cause a mayhem once I was out of this prison. The gall of these guys! How dare they lock us again?!

"I don't believe this" Alice cried furiously as she struggled against the chains. "I fucking don't believe this!"

"This is what you get for forgiving a dick!" I spat venomously and made another feeble attempt to free myself of the chains. For the first time I wished my powers were strong enough to get us out. Had I not been so exhausted after using all my energy in the bedroom to save ourselves from the falling roof, I would have broken these chains with my mental force and got us out.

The entire male species is a curse! A fucking bloody curse! It's the way for the cosmic energy to laugh at us, mock us and play sick jokes on us! What did we do to deserve all this?

After coming at the right time, that is when the roof had already fallen and I was fizzing out from the strain, I had expected that we would be treated with some respect or at least with less animalist attitude. But surely that had been too much to ask! As soon as Jasper had found out that Bella was running away, he had looked at Emmett in a strange way which I had understood was their mind talk. Whatever he had said, Emmett had clearly agreed to it and together, the douche bags had carried me and Alice to the dungeons. I was drained and in no condition to fight and they had taken complete advantage of my condition. Within seconds I and Alice were chained to the walls and they had left without any explanation. I had been too weak to yell even a curse at them.

So here we were, in the ultimate dungeons of the Sunshine Pack with no fucking idea of what was going on outside except that Edward and his clan were after Bella.

Bella. The black moon of my destiny. How I couldn't wait to get rid of her!

"That's it" Alice said through gritted teeth. "I don't care anymore. I'm rejecting Jasper the second he comes in front of me"

"Happy illusion making" I rolled my eyes. Alice would never do that. It may have been possible earlier but now it wasn't. I had seen the way she had embraced Jasper after he had rescued her. Alice had come too far. Too bad all the assholes were reserved for me and my friend.

"No I seriously will and then I will..."

"Will you shut up for some time?" I wanted to press my temple because it was throbbing painfully. "I need time to think and also to regain my strength to break out of here"

Alice looked at me and her eyes softened. I groaned. I knew that look. Any moment from now, she was going to start with her you-have-already-done-too-much-and-please-don't-hurt-yourself speech backed with the stupid hope that things would get better.

"Ms. McKenzie will rescue us" she said in an assuring voice.

See what I meant.

"And the pigs fly" I slumped on my knees and closed my eyes. My body was not going to start recovering any time soon.

ALICE

I watched sadly as Rosalie closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Sighing, I sat on the floor. Seeing her like this broke my heart. She had had such a rough life and was so used to the pain that even the idea of happiness and comfort appeared disgusting to her. I know she detested Bella. Her eyes reflected the passion with which she hated her and I know that she held Bella responsible for our current condition. But as of now, I could do nothing about it.

What Rosalie hadn't realized till now was that she was a lot like Bella. Tough, a hard nut to crack, stubborn, badass in the battleground and the habit to put up a brave front in every situation. It got to me at times, how these two girls absolutely refused to accept that they were tired to the point of annoyance and continued fighting even after knowing that it was pointless. They loathed weakness at all costs. If they became partners, then this duo would be unbeatable. But as of now that was my far-fetched dream.

Yes, I was angry with Jasper. Very angry. But when he had taken me in his arms, I had felt home. I loved him. Loved him with all my being, and that love, was going to be a big problem. I couldn't reject him, not now at least, but later, if this is how things continued, then I wouldn't be left with any other choice. I wish I had the power to set everything right, at least for once.

I couldn't decide what outcome I wanted for Bella. I wanted her to escape from here because I couldn't see her getting treated this way by Edward but at the same time, I did not want her to leave. She was the most important person in my life. Without her I was nothing. My existence was useless. I was born for her. To be with her, forever.

Closing my eyes, I let the exhaustion and shock was over me. I needed to shut my mind for some time or else I was sure my head would burst. At least this time I knew that the boys had locked us in this room not to satisfy their egos but for the greater good. Because Emmett had said something to me before leaving, something which he hadn't been allowed to tell but he had done it anyway.

"You will be free soon" he had promised and the sincerity in his eyes had made me believe him. Besides he was the sanest person in Edward's gang anyway. I had seen how his eyes had filled with pain when he had been forced to chain Rosalie against his will. He was taking the situation in stride but the truth was that he was finding it nearly impossible to handle the rejection.

"We are doing this to protect you" He said the next words to me, but I knew they were meant for Rosalie.

Why was love so painful?

Thinking about it, I drifted off to sleep.