15

Guilt filled Bella as she stood back and watched Angela, Jasper, Alice, and Aro drive away from the house in the new truck Bella had just bought weeks before. She knew there was no way Aro and Alice could go with them in search of Leah. Alice simply wasn't strong enough to handle such a dangerous mission, but still, they'd been there for her every night of the last year. They had cried together, screamed together. The only thing they hadn't done was heal.

"Come on," Edward said, placing his hand on the top of her back. "They'll be fine. Jasper and Angela will keep them safe."

Bella nodded. "I know."

She allowed him to lead her to his car. Emmett and Rose had already left, telling Edward they'd meet him at the small airstrip Emmett kept his plane. Edward opened the passenger door for her, but Bella paused, and turned her attention to the house.

"We'll never get to come back here, will we?"

"Probably not," he admitted. "Emmett's arranged for your horses to be taken to a ranch in New Mexico. It's a therapy center for kids with trauma disorders. He figured you'd want them to help other people."

"He's right," she whispered as tears filled her eyes.

"We'll wait a couple weeks and then list the land and house for sale. Should be a quick sale. I'll make sure the place gets cleared first. There won't be any trace that you, Alice, or Aro were ever here."

"We'll disappear," she said, looking at him. "Anna Mason will have moved on with her life."

Edward frowned. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."

"Me too, but it is what it is, so let's not dwell." Bella slid into the car and reached for the handle, but Edward knelt next to her. "It's just hard. This place saved me, Edward."

"You saved you," he said, bringing his hand up to her face. "I'm sorry that my stupidity cost you this place. You told me not to bring her here, and I ignored you. For that, I am so sorry."

Bella nodded, leaning into his touch. "Let's just hope she doesn't hurt anyone before we find her."

Edward sighed, but nodded before standing up and letting Bella pull the door closed. He rushed around the car and climbed in behind the wheel. As he cranked the engine and pulled away from the house, Bella couldn't shake the feeling of dread that filled her — a feeling she hadn't had since the night she left Forks, Washington.

—BR—

Twenty minutes later, after making sure that they weren't being followed, Edward pulled his car up to the side of a small hanger at what appeared to be an abandoned airstrip. As Bella climbed out of the car, she looked around. There were half a dozen metal hangers surrounding the end of the runway, each one needing a good painting and several windows replaced. The grass was overgrown, and the runway overrun with weeds.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" she asked, but before Edward could answer, the doors on the hanger next to them parted and a moderate sized passenger plane rolled out. Bella had been expecting one of those small, four seaters, not a small plane big enough to seat at least a dozen people.

"Yeah, pretty sure," Edward yelled over the roar of the plane.

He grabbed their bags from the trunk and reached for her hand, which she gave. They ran over to the plane just as the door on the side opened and a set of stairs descended. Bella looked up, finding Rose standing at the top.

"Here, give me your bags," she yelled, reaching toward them.

Edward gave her one bag at a time before gesturing for Bella to climb onboard. She had never flown before. It cost money to fly, money her 'father' spent on booze. Bella closed her eyes and pushed any thought of that man out of her head as she gripped the small railing and heaved herself onto the first step, then the next, and the next, until she ducked her head and stepped into the plane. The inside was even more of a surprise than the outside. Instead of typical rows of seats, there were small sections that were grouped together making small couches.

"Take a seat and get buckled in," Rose said, carefully placing her fingers on Bella's arm, who pulled away from the touch. "We need to get in the air."

Bella nodded and selected a seat in the back of the plane. As she reached for her seatbelt, she saw Emmett in the cockpit, his phone pressed to his ear. He looked back, his eyes landing on her, before he nodded and hung up.

"I'm going to sit in the cockpit with Em," Edward said, kneeling in front of Bella and connecting her seatbelt. "That okay?"

She nodded, not knowing whether it was okay or not.

"If you need me, just yell."

"Okay," she whispered, curling her hands into fists.

Edward leaned up and kissed her before rushing past Rose, who was stowing their bags, and climbing into the seat next to Emmett. He looked back at her, winking before grabbing a pair of bulking headphones and covering his ears.

Rose took the seat across from Bella, attaching her own seatbelt. "Close your eyes as we leave the ground and take deep breathes. It helps."

"All right," she said, shoving her hands under her legs as the plane started moving.

Bella tried to keep her breathing even as the plane continues to pick up speed, but found it difficult. Moments later, she felt the jerk as the front wheels left the ground. She clamped her eyes closed and took several deep breathes before the plane seemed to level out. Opening her eyes, she found Rose smiling at her.

"You survived!"

"If you say so," Bella groused. "Sorry, never done this before."

"You get used to it." Rose unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up. "Water?"

Bella shook her head, not trusting her stomach.

Rose grabbed herself a bottle, one for Emmett, and one for Edward, before taking the seat across from Bella again. "Emmett said he told you his side of our story."

Bella's eyes widened. "Told him he didn't have to."

"I'm not mad," she said, waving her off. "Neither Emmett nor I hide our pasts, Bella. We don't advertise them, but we don't hid them, either. They've made us who we are. If Emmett's parents hadn't been murdered, he wouldn't be the man he is today, and he's a damn good man."

"I know he is," she said, quietly. "I just learned a long time ago, long before Carlisle Cullen ever laid a hand on me, that good men were rare."

"I wasn't like you, Bella," Rose said. "I grew up in a house full of love and acceptance. All my parents cared about was that I was happy." She took another drink of her water. "I was twenty when I met Emmett. I had just started my junior year at Brown, was starting to think about my future. Finals had just ended and I needed to release some stress, so when my roommate invited me to go out with her and some friends to get drinks, I said yes. I'd never been much of a drinker, but that night, I had way more than I should have."

Rose paused, her lips curving into a frown. "I don't remember leaving the club. I don't remember why I left alone. But I do remember the feeling of someone grabbing me, of them dragging me into the alley. I remember their hands touching me, the smell of their breath. Whiskey, I think. I remember them inside me, them telling me how much I liked it, how much I'd teased them. It was in that moment that I realized that the man raping me was the boyfriend of my roommate. He'd followed me that night when I left the club, took advantage of my moment of stupidity."

Rose closed her eyes for a moment before they opened and she looked back at Bella. "When he was done, when he'd taken everything from me, he beat me until I was almost dead. He thought I was dead. He left me laying in the alley, left thinking he'd get away with it. I was lucky that Emmett found me, that he rushed me to the hospital. The doctors said if he hadn't, I wouldn't have survived. When I could finally tell the police who had attacked me, they called me a liar, said the son of the mayor would never do something so depraved. Royce King was considered royalty, and while my family had money, we were peasants compared to the King Family. They refused to file charges, saying there wasn't any proof. Just my word against his. My roommate turned against me, everyone turned against me. Everyone except my parents and Emmett. He was always there, always holding my hand. He saved me, Bella."

"You feel in love with him," she said, quietly.

"I did over time. It wasn't easy to let him in, and it wasn't easy for him to let me in, to change his life, but he did. Drugs and alcohol had become his refuge to the pain and guilt for not being able to save his parents. Without them, he had to face his feelings head on. As did I. Together, we've created a decent life for ourselves."

"What about your parents?" Bella asked. "Do you ever see them?"

Rose frowned. "They died last year in a car accident, but they were always just a phone call away, for me or Emmett."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was right before we met you. Helping you and Alice and Aro, it gave us a reason to keep going."

Bella nodded. "I understand why you didn't tell me who you were, or your affiliation with Edward, but I trusted you, Rose."

"No, you didn't," she disagreed with a smile. "And I don't blame you, either."

"You don't?"

She shook her head.

"Think you're the only one who doesn't."

"Emmett doesn't. Jasper doesn't. Edward doesn't. After everything you've been through, Bella, it's a wonder that you can function from day to day."

"Who says I can," she scoffed.

"I've seen you doing it," Rose laughed before tossing her empty water bottle in the trash. "We're going to find Leah, Bella, and hopefully, we can get her the help she needs."

"I hope so."

—BR—

"Look at you," Carlisle Cullen purred, running his hand down Bella's back, caressing her ass. She whimpered, the feel of his hands had her trembling. "I've been fantasizing of you like this all day. Strung up in front of me like a good, little whore."

Bella cried around the gag that filled her mouth. Her arms ached from being pulled up over her head all day. Carlisle had tied her hands together that morning after he forced her to suck his cock, as he always did. Her toes barely reached the floor, the pressure on her shoulders had been excruciating.

Carlisle brought his hand up to the back of her head, grabbing her hair and yanking backward. Bella screamed, though the sound was muffled by the gag. "I sent some men to your daddy today. Told them to make sure he satisfied them in every possible way. You know what that means, don't you?"

Bella refused to acknowledge the question.

"Maybe I should have them come see you," he said with a smirk. "See who sucks dick better: you or your daddy."

Carlisle laughed as he released her. She watched as he strolled across the room, opening the cabinet once more. He looked back at her and smiled before pulled out what looked like an electric prop that ranchers used on cattle. Bella's eyes widened as he closed the cabinet and walked back to her. He removed the gag, tossing it onto the cement table.

"I want to hear you scream, hear you beg for mercy."

"I'll never—"

But before Bella could finish speaking, Carlisle pressed the tip of the prod against her right breast. Over and over, he pressed it into her skin. Her screams echoed throughout the room, as they had since the moment she walked into his house.

"Bella, baby, wake up," Edward said, grabbing hold of her arms.

Bella snapped her eye open, the realization that she'd drifted to sleep hitting her like a ton of bricks. Rose was standing next to the cockpit, her eyes wide and her fingers covering her mouth. Emmett kept looking back over his shoulder at her.

"Hey, look at me," Edward told her softly. She shifted her eyes back to him. "You're okay. It was just a nightmare."

Bella nodded, sliding out from under him as she sat up. "Please stop staring at me."

"Oh, sorry," Rose said, and turned to face Emmett, though Bella knew they were still listening.

"Are we almost there?" Bella asked, pulling her knees up in front of her. She tucked her arms between them and her torso, feeling to see if the marks from the prod were still present. They were, just faded than they had been a year ago.

"Still have about half an hour." Edward shifted from the floor to the seat next to her. "I shouldn't have left you back here by yourself."

Bella bit her lip, unsure what to say.

"It sounded bad," he whispered.

She nodded and looked away. "It always was."

"Bella—"

"I'm okay now, Edward," she said, interrupting him.

Edward sighed, but didn't press the issue. Bella knew he only wanted to help, but knowing the sordid details of what she'd put herself through wasn't going to help anyone, least of all her. He was the only person who didn't look at her with pity and she'd do everything she could to keep it that way.