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Chapter 25- The unexpected savior

Bella's POV-

Minutes passed into hours…and hours into days but I remained there, seated in that half-broken plastic chair, my eyes drooping as sweat drenched every inch of my skin, hunger and thirst being my biggest enemies on this journey of mine, yet gladly solving the purpose of reminding me that I was still alive. For how long, no one could tell.

I was fed every few hours, if the vampires in the house remembered to do so, that is. Otherwise, it could be days before anyone remembered that I was hungry….or that I needed food to survive.

I cherished those brief moments of forgetfulness, despite the protesting of my stomach as it growled out in pain, bringing tears to my eyes from the way it ached.

They were peaceful. Those few and far between moments reminded me of the time long ago when I was not a prisoner…of the time when no one decided of when I would eat, drink or even pee.

For, yes, I was only set free once or twice a day, leaving my prison for a few seconds of peace, my guards dutifully standing outside the bathroom door, waiting for me to return, knocking on the door if I took longer than two brief moments, threatening to even take that small bit of freedom away from me, an illusion of it to be more precise. I often did dream of childishly protesting, internally calling them out on it. What's the worst that could happen?

I was already on rock bottom, no where to go below this.

I had already lost my dignity. I had already fallen lower in my eyes than ever before, doing things that once had been unimaginable to my rational mind. My clothes were already stained, a constant reminder of my shame.

What worse could happen?

Yet, despite wanting to shout it off the walls, I stayed silent. I tolerated everything, tears trailing down my eyes as I sat in the middle of my own puke and pee, unable to believe that this is where my life had brought me today.

Esme did often clean it up, frowning at me as if it was my fault that there was a mess for her to clean up. But it was not always that she volunteered to be this nice. I could see it in her eyes; she wanted me to take responsibility of my actions.

She had been a vampire for far too long to remember that this was not something I could control. And, were it possible to keep control, I definitely wouldn't be this ashamed of myself today.

Sleep was something that came naturally, though. What else was there to do in this dark, smelly room? Sleep was my only entertainment, my only reprieve and current savior. For those few quick hours that went by like seconds, I would be free and happy, that dream ending as soon as I opened my eyes again, reality welcoming me with a sadistic smirk on its face.

I worried about Charlie. I worried about Paul and Jake. I worried about Emily and Sam.

I just….

What else was there to keep myself occupied?

And so, I continued to worry….about anything and everything.

How would they be?

Where would they be?

What would they be doing right now?

Had they even realized that I had been kidnapped?

Were they trying to find my whereabouts?

Did they even care enough to find me out?

And even if they did, how would they be able to locate me?

How would they be able to save me?

Carlisle and Esme were so particular about security. They never left me alone for longer than two whole seconds, and even then, one of them would always be hovering somewhere nearby, their ears open and tuned to me at all times. They went for a hunt separately, having no other valid reason to leave this warehouse other than that.

And now, it was even worse than before. There were more people in here to make sure that I could not escape.

Not people. Vampires!

I don't know who they were, or why they were here?

I don't even know what Carlisle had told them exactly, but from the looks of sheer pity that they offered me every time they passed by, it had to be bad.

He had probably made up some cooked-up story to convince all these random vampires that entered in here, this doubt of mine being confirmed when five vampires in succession assured me that I was safe now. That no harm would come to me in their presence. That I could simply relax and leave the worry to them.

I did not feel safe though.

No.

I never felt safe.

Not even while asleep.

I was a dumb human- their very food source that lay in front of them, waiting patiently to be munched on.

Anyone of them could slip. There were fifteen of them in here, with each passing day more of them turning up. The probability of me become food was rather high at this point of time.

And, honestly, I had even given up hope now.

It was futile to keep hope. I wasn't going to be saved from this.

It was just not possible.

Any hint of suspicion in my mind in regards to that being cleared after my latest 'rescuer' made her appearance.

"Vic…Vic…Victoria…."

I had stuttered, pushing myself as far away as possible from her.

What was she doing here?

Where was Esme?

Damn it. One time I need her, and that is the only time when she wants to give me my personal space?

It is ridiculous!

"Hey sweetie," Victoria creepily grinned. "I see you are doing well?"

I scoffed at that.

Even an idiot could tell that I was the complete opposite of that at the moment.

"What…what are you doing here?"

I had whispered, gathering all the courage that lay in me.

Why was she here?

Had she come to end it once and for all?

"I am here to help you, of course."

What?

"You have such amateur and frankly stupid guards, I tell you! They literally share one brain between five. They are no match for me and my intelligence." She had boasted in visible pride.

Okay…

But that still doesn't answer my question of what exactly she was doing here….

"And the dumbest out of the entire lot is that Carlisle! He truly believes that I had a change of heart and am here to help him." she laughed, obnoxiously loud. "Such a fool."

"Why are you here then?"

I demanded to know, staring at her expressionlessly.

"I am here," she smirked, "to take advantage of their disadvantage. When I heard that Carlisle was calling in favors, I came to check, soon realizing that this was the best opportunity that could have presented itself in front of me. So, my dear Bella, you better start counting your heartbeats. For, trust me, you don't have many left. The minute your guards lose focus, I will be ready to pounce. And that is a promise!"

With one last malicious grin, she had walked away, Esme returning to my side, assuring me once again that Edward was on his way and that they would end those disgusting dogs that had dared to keep Edward and I apart.

I did not bother to argue. I had stopped doing that days ago.

What purpose would it even solve?

I just listened, at times simply pretending to listen.

I was aware that there was no out from here.

I just had to wait…to die.

It would end soon….I had hope.

Charlie's POV-

My daughter had been kidnapped.

She had been taken away from me.

No one knew where she was.

Or who had taken her.

When Joy Ateara had called me this morning, hesitantly asking me if Bella had dropped me a message, I had been curious at first.

Curious but not worried.

My Bella was a responsible adult. She knew what she was doing, and she had even been better these past few months. I had been in enough contact with Joy Ateara to be sure of that.

She had started to move on.

She had begun to live her life her way.

She had finally started to be happy…truly happy.

So, what had suddenly changed then?

How had Bella gone from a 360 to a direct 0?

Who had transpired this drastic change in her?

Where was she?

What had happened with her?

Bella was not the kind to disappear without a notice, and definitely not for a stretch of four long days with no contact whatsoever.

Joy had waited for all this while, hoping that Bella would return home safe- that this would turn out to be a fit of rebellion gone way out of proportion, finally calling me when the third night had gone by with no news of my daughter.

That had grabbed my attention.

I had quickly checked Bella's credit and debit card details- no withdrawals or transactions whatsoever- none in the past six months. And unless Bella had external help, she could not have gone far in such a scenario. Even if she relied solely on cash, how did she have so much cash on her? Her salary- and whatever little I gave her per month- was directly credited into her account. There was no scope for her to have saved as much.

That ruled out the possibility of her running away from home, especially alone.

I had then begun to keep track on her friends for any suspicious activity. Sure, it was not completely legal to do what I had done, but she was my daughter and I cared about her.

But no matter how much I tracked their phone calls, or kept watch on their whereabouts, Bella was not in contact with any of them.

They had no idea where she was.

That had left me clueless.

I had been about to involve the other state police departments, when Joy's phone call had stopped in the tracks.

A ransom note had been discovered.

She had been kidnapped.

Someone had taken her away from me.

I had instantly left for La Push, unable to believe how my own daughter could fall victim to such a serious crime.

Who had taken her away?

We did not even have any enemies!

And I wasn't exactly rich for that to be the main motive behind the kidnapping.

It was preposterous!

The distance wasn't exactly far from Seattle to La Push, but it surely felt like centuries had passed by, my feet taking me towards Billy's house, in need for some serious answers.

He was the chief of this tribe, and while I was aware that he did not have any control over such things- no one did, I needed a start.

I had to find my daughter.

She was out there somewhere.

I could hear loud voices coming from inside the house, curiosity pulling me forward as I parked my cruiser and walked towards the house.

Why was such a ruckus going on in here?

Was Billy having a party?

That little shit…

No.

They were fighting in there.

Their voices didn't exactly seem the happy kind, especially if the slurs involved were any indication to go by.

What was going on in here?

"Who invited you here, Leech? Crawl back to whichever hole you came from!"

"I am here to help you. I want to see her happy and safe once again."

"She is not your concern. She is mine."

"Will you just let me help you out? I know what I am doing! I am going against my family for this."

"No one asked you to. How do we trust that you are not playing some double game here? Keeping us distracted as your family finishes the deed?"

"I would never do that to my Bella. I love her. I want her to stay human. More than anyone else in this room."

I had heard enough.

I slammed the front door hard, any scope of speaking disappearing as soon as I took in the sight in front of me.

Paul Lahote and Edward Cullen stood arguing in the center of the room, both crouched down and ready to attack. On one side sat Sam Uley, Jake, Billy and a few other natives, Harry's son and daughter included, waiting on the sidelines for any indication that a fight was about to break out. And on the other side stood Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen, both equally worried about being outnumbered.

"What the hell is happening here? Will someone bother to explain?"