17

Bella wasn't sure she liked Garrett. The scars on his body told her that he understood something about pain, maybe even humiliation, yet he came off as harsh and bit of an asshole.

As they continued to roll toward Forks, Bella found herself second guessing her decision to make the trip. A smarter person would have gone with Alice and Aro to the bunker, they would have hidden away and let someone else take care of Leah. But Bella had never been smart. After all, smart people don't sacrifice their souls for their best friend.

"How close are we?" Edward asked, drawing Bella's attention to the backseat, where he was stretched out. Emmett and Rose were still asleep in the back of the SUV. How they could sleep knowing that Leah was out there bothered Bella. Did they just not understand how dangerous she was?

"Seventy-three miles," Garrett groused. "Want to wake those two so we can make a plan? Unless you were thinking about just hitting the town with both guns blazing."

Edward snorted, but shifted in the seat and placed his hand on Emmett's shoulder. The large man woke with a start, his eyes shifting to each of them, stopping on Bella last.

"Babe," Emmett murmured to Rose, who groaned and opened her eyes.

"Sorry, guys, but we're close," Edward said, shrugging his shoulders.

"How close?" Rose asked, sitting up and pulling her blond hair into a ponytail. She dug a hairband out of her pocket and wrapping her hair through it.

"Just over an hour," he said, turning back toward Bella and Garrett. "So, we need a plan. Can't just stroll through town and do a house to house, can we?"

"Any idea where she'd go?" Garret asked, pressing his foot onto the gas pedal as he passed a semi. "You said she's bringing Swan here back. Where would she expect her to go?"

Edward shifted his eyes to Bella, who frowned. "Her father's house."

Garrett nodded and sped up.

Forty-five minutes later, Garrett pulled the SUV up in front of the rubble that had once been Bella's childhood home. As everyone else climbed out and stood on the sidewalk, Bella stayed inside the SUV. The last thing she needed was a reminder of the night she killed her father. He begged for mercy, kept screaming that he hadn't meant to hurt Leah, that she wanted him to fuck her and call her by Bella's name. Sliding her blade into him had been easier than she expected. Charlie Swan stopped being her father the moment he agreed to let men rape her so he could buy his own little whore.

Of course Bella knew Leah wouldn't be at Charlie's house. She had been there when Bella lit it in fire, letting the flames engulf what was left of her father. But more importantly, Leah was bringing Bella back to own up to her sins, and there was only one place she could do that.

Bella shifted her attention out the window as Garrett, Edward, Emmett, and Rose were in deep conversation, trying to figure out where to go next. Biting the inside of her lip, Bella slipped across the middle console, and into the driver's seat. Garrett had of course taken the keys, but that wasn't going to stop Bella, who quickly hotwired the car thanks to the knowledge she had learned hanging out on the reservation with Jack, Sam, Seth, and Leah.

At the sound of the engine roaring to life, everyone looked back at her, their eyes widening. Edward took two steps toward her, but Bella flicked the locks before shifting the car into drive and taking off, knowing that by the time they caught up with her, she or Leah would be dead. Maybe both of them.

—BR—

As Bella pulled up in front of the large, grotesque house that haunted her every night, her heart raced and her legs felt weak, yet heavy at the same time. A year hadn't been nice to the place. Weeds had crept up throughout the once pristine yard. Windows had been shattered, and Bella had a mental picture of teenage boys throwing rocks through the glimmering glass, betting on who could do more damage.

The yellow and black police tape had been ripped away from the front door, which had been left wide open. Bella slipped the Glock 43 out of the front pocket of her backpack, tossing the bag onto the porch before blowing out a deep breath and walking into the house.

Her hands were trembling, her eyes stinging as tears threatened to fall. When she walked out of that house a year ago, she never thought she'd be back. Of course, she realized now how naïve that had been. This house had been her Hell, and if anyone deserved to go to Hell, it was her.

A shiver filled her as she stood just inside and looked around. The furniture had been turned over, tables broken, couch slashed to pieces. Whether that was the work of the FBI or just people angry over the control that Cullen had over the town, Bella didn't know. It could have been either. Bella shifted her eyes to the stairs, but her instincts told her that Leah wouldn't be up there. Instead, Bella quietly slipped down toward the back of the house, to the room of pleasure and pain that Carlisle Cullen had loved so much.

The door was wide open and a light shone from inside. Bile filled her throat, the taste of it on her tongue causing her to grimace as she choked it back and carefully slipped into the room. Leah was standing on the far side of the room, in front of the large wooden cross. Flickering on the wall behind the cross was a video recording of Carlisle Cullen fucking Bella as she screamed for mercy, while she begged him to stop.

"I knew you'd come." Leah smiled as she turned and faced Bella. Her left hand was wrapped around a black handgun that matched closely to the one she held, while Leah's other hand came up over her breast and wrapped around her throat. "You can't help yourself. Always trying to be the hero, save the day."

Bella didn't respond. There was nothing she could say, nothing that would make what she was going to have to do easier.

"Sir never brought me here," Leah said with a sigh as she turned her attention back to the video. "I expected him to bring me here, but I was just his office slut, I guess. Sir's whore between eight and five. Sir's and whoever he sent to my apartment." Lean shifted her eyes back toward Bella. "Men like Daddy. He loved his sweet little Bella. Loved when she cried, loved when she begged him to fuck her ass. Oh, Daddy, don't stop. More, Daddy, more."

Bella tensed as her grip on the gun tightened.

"But you know, don't you?" Leah took two steps toward her right, causing Bella to move in the same direction. She smiled. "Sir wanted you, needed you. He tossed me aside, gave me to Daddy so he could have you. Bet he did horribly, naughty things to you in here, didn't he? Sir loves his whore, loves her screams."

Leah tapped the barrel of the gun against the side of her leg. "You should have killed me that night, too. You took Daddy from me," she murmured. "You couldn't just leave us alone, could you? You had to come in and take him from me, just like you did Sir."

Bella simply stared at her, which appeared to infuriate Leah, who shrieked and grabbed a fistful of her dirty, matted hair.

"Don't act like you don't know what you did!" Leah screamed. "Daddy loved me, loved his sweet little Bella!"

Leah dropped her hands to her side, taking a deep breath as she smiled at Bella again. "You were jealous of me and Daddy, weren't you?"

Bella scoffed.

"You were!" Leah laughed. "Oh, it makes sense now. You wanted Daddy all for yourself, wanted him to love you the way he loved me."

"Loved you?" Bella muttered, shaking her head. "He didn't love you, Leah. He used you. Made you pretend to be me because that's as close as he was going to get to fucking me."

"That's not true!" Leah exclaimed, the gun tapping even harder against the side of her leg.

"Isn't it?" Bella asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Think about it. He never called you by name, did he? Nope! It was always call me Daddy, Bella. Be my whore, Bella, but never Leah. Never you."

"It was a game," she insisted. "He loved me."

"Please," Bella snorted.

"At least he didn't give me away!" Leah raged. "Nobody wanted you, Bella. Not your mommy. She killed herself so she wouldn't have to be around you anymore."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Bella screamed, her arm lifting from her side as she pointed the gun at the girl who had once been her best friend.

"Aw, poor little Bella," Leah tittered, tilting her head to the side. "You don't really believe that she was sick, do you? Your momma couldn't stand the sight of you, and slit her wrists to get away from you."

"That's not true," Bella denied through gritted teeth. "You're a fucking liar."

"Am I? You sure about that, sweetheart?" Leah grinned. "I almost feel sorry for you."

"Feel sorry for me?" Bella scoffed, letting her arm drop to her side. "I'm not the one who craves to be beaten, Leah. I wanted to save you, to make everything okay, but I couldn't. You're broken, and nobody can fix you."

"Then why are you here?" Leah asked, raising her gun and pointing it at Bella, who mimicked her action.

"Because, like you said, I should have just killed you that night."

Leah laughed. "You came here to kill me? You can't kill someone who's already dead, Bella."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you, Lee," Bella whimpered. "You were my best friend."

"Yeah, I was."

The sound of Leah's gun firing echoed just moments before Bella pulled the trigger. Like in the movies, time seemed to slow down, and Bella watched the shock that filled Leah's eyes as a bullet tore through the flesh, shattered bone, and sank into her chest. Bella didn't feel the sharp, stinging pain as Leah's bullet blasted through her shoulder. She jerked backward onto the floor at the same moment Leah crumbled to the floor, her eyes open and lifeless.