A:N/ Hi folks. I hope you're all still enjoying my story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. This one is a longer chapter, but I'd like to say up front that there is a lot of violence in this chapter, so be prepared.
Chapter 31: Violence
EDWARD
"Well, you're a tough bastard, I'll give you that," James said, snapping my head to the side with another blow of his fist.
Sweat dripped down my forehead, stinging the cuts that I couldn't see, but could feel.
My head dipped low from the pain, which caused James to chuckle.
Everything hurt. James had been merciless, but methodical in his punishment. I didn't think anything was broken, but I couldn't imagine being able to move any time soon.
The pain kept me awake, which at this point I really wished I wasn't.
But it wasn't just the pain. I was sick with hunger and thirst. My tongue rubbed against the roof of my mouth looking for any sign of liquid to quench the terrible thirst that was breaking me more than the pain.
I wasn't sure how much longer I could take it.
"All this could end, Ed. I'm not even having any fun anymore. Just tell me where your home is and it'll all end. There's no food left in the city and I don't want to move. By the look of you, you've got a nice stash somewhere. Just share it and we'll be as right as rain," he said in a soothing voice.
I didn't respond. It was my best defense against him. However, when I didn't say anything, my head was yanked back by my hair.
At that moment, a knock pounded at the door.
For a moment, James ignored it, glaring into my eyes.
When the knocking continued, he snarled, "What?!"
The door swung open and I could see someone enter the room out of the corner of my eye.
"Sorry, boss, but Doc is kicking up a stink about seeing dipshit over there."
I turned my head slightly and saw that it was Caius. Alistair had been Caius' cousin and I'd killed him during the battle at Garrett's camp, but even worse he'd become a zombie. Now, he was glaring at me with barely controlled fury.
"Bring him. Can't have our Doc having a hissy fit…" James said with a shrug of his shoulders.
In silence, James strode over to a chair and sat down, staring at me with a calculating look.
I stared back at him, trying to remain stoic. I couldn't let him see how close I was to losing it.
It felt like forever before I heard a commotion in the hallway.
"You don't have to push me…" I heard a man's voice say. "I was the one who wanted to come here, remember?"
I felt relief hearing Carlisle's voice, but I kept my face immobile. I couldn't allow James to notice that I had any sort of connection with him.
"Why have you been rattling the bars of your cage, Doc?" James asked with a smirk as he looked towards the door.
"You told me I could check on your prisoner," Carlisle said, walking into the room.
"He hasn't given me what I want yet," James said, turning back to glare at me.
"If I don't keep an eye on that infection, you'll never get what you want. He'll be dead," Carlisle said sharply.
"Why do you care?" James asked, raising one eyebrow in curiosity.
"He's my patient. You had me treat him. Now, it's my duty to follow up on my treatment," Carlisle said, more calmly this time.
James stared at him for a few moments as he scrutinized whatever he saw on Carlisle's face.
Carlisle's back was facing me as he now stood in front of James. I prayed that he was not showing any sign that he was interested in me beyond as a professional.
"Have at it, Doc," James finally said, gesturing towards me. "I need to take a piss and have a smoke anyway."
Once he'd left the room, Carlisle crouched down in front of me and looked me over.
From the look on his face, I could tell that I was a mess.
"Is anything broken?" he asked.
"I have no idea. Everything hurts," I said, clenching my eyes shut as he pressed on a particularly tender spot on my jaw.
I heard a chuckle behind Carlisle which caused my eyes to snap open.
Caius smirked at us from his place leaning up against the door frame.
"Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," he said with a sneer.
I wanted to respond to that, but I knew it would only make things worse for me.
"I need some wet cloths. I have to get this blood off him before I can do anything," Carlisle said to Caius.
"Fuck that. I'm not getting you anything to help that mother fucker," Caius snarled, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Let me get them, then," Carlisle said, standing up.
"You're not going anywhere," Caius said forcefully.
"Well… make up your mind. Either you go or I do," Carlisle responded, but Caius made no move from his position against the door.
With a sigh of frustration, Carlisle snapped. "For god's sake, lock me in here if you're afraid I'm going to run away."
"Fine. I'll get your fucking cloths. I guess we can't let our little patient die before James gets what he wants," Caius said, pushing himself off the wall and striding out of the room.
The door slammed behind him and I heard the click of a lock being turned.
Quickly, Carlisle opened his bag and pulled out what looked like a bottle of blue liquid.
Taking my chin in his hand, he began to pour the liquid into my mouth. I nearly groaned in relief at the taste of Gatorade sweet on my tongue.
Then, he grabbed a can of what was labelled Ensure and opened the tab. As fast as he could, he poured some of it into my mouth too. The liquid was thick, causing me to choke.
"You need to keep it down. It's a nutritional supplement. It'll help with the hunger," he said, quickly.
After a few gulps of the drink, Carlisle helped me wash it down with some water.
Then, he crouched in front of me again and began checking me for broken bones or any other injury he could treat. However, as he worked he spoke in a hushed voice.
"Where is she? Where's Esme?" I could feel the desperation in those few words.
"She's where you left her," I murmured, barely allowing my mouth to move in case someone was watching. "Do you understand?"
I couldn't tell him the exact location in case someone was listening.
Carlisle nodded his head slightly.
"We have to get out of here…" I whispered.
"James always has people watching me and if I step out of line he locks me up. He can't lose his only doctor," Carlisle whispered, his voice tinged with despair. "Plus, there are good people here that are sick and injured. I can't leave them behind."
"We have to. James is going to break me eventually and I can't let him know where my family is... Esme is part of that family, Carlisle," I said.
Carlisle stared at me with such a broken look, but didn't say a word. So I continued talking.
"Esme told me about you, Carlisle. That's how I recognized you. She misses you so much. She's still waiting for you to come for her," I whispered sincerely.
Carlisle shook his head.
"We can't-" Carlisle began, but just then I heard the lock begin to turn.
"Peter, Charlotte, Irina, and Eleazar got away. They're with-" I tried to get out, but before I could finish my sentence the door swung open.
"Here you go," Caius said, whipping the rags at Carlisle. "Do your thing and then we're going back to your room. James doesn't think you've learned your lesson yet."
In silence, Carlisle cleaned and treated my wounds. Giving me another dose of antibiotic, he stared into my eyes and whispered, "Be strong," before he was taken away.
Another day went by before Carlisle was allowed to see me again.
By this time, a survival mechanism had kicked in where I was able to sort of leave myself whenever James beat me. I barely moved or spoke when any of James' gang were around.
I knew it was pissing him off that he couldn't break me or at least not in the way he wanted, but I would be damned if I gave in.
I went to a place in my mind where I was the happiest- Bella's smile as she told me she loved me, her laugh as we lounged in the backyard…
"Who's Bella?" James asked.
My mind snapped back into focus with the sound of her name.
He grinned at my look of shock.
"Ah ha… She's your woman… That's why you've been holding out on me. You're protecting her. Well, well, well. Isn't that interesting…"
After that he threatened me with stories of what he would do to her if didn't give him what he wanted. He told me that he would continue searching for my home even after I was dead and when he finally found it Bella would pay.
I knew that these weren't idle threats. James wasn't discriminating with who he hurt. He'd follow through with his promise if he ever caught Bella.
I'd lapsed into a state of semi-consciousness when I suddenly felt a light tapping on my cheeks.
"Edward… Edward… open your eyes, son," a voice said.
Blearily, I opened my eyes and looked into Carlisle's concerned ones.
"Carlisle…" I croaked.
"Shhh… they might hear you," he said, using a cool cloth to wash my face.
I looked past him at the guard named Ben that was watching me today. He was less serious about his job than Caius was. I had a feeling that he didn't like what he was a part of. Sometimes when he was in the room as James hurt me, I would see him flinch at a particularly sharp blow.
While Carlisle worked on me, Ben wandered in and out of the room giving us time to talk.
"You can't take much more of this, Edward," Carlisle said, sadly.
"What choice do I have?" I asked with a note of sarcasm in my voice.
"Where are we?" I asked. "Are we in Camden?"
"We're a little outside Camden, off the East 32 exit. We're living in an old nursing home which is the top two floors of this building," Carlisle said.
"Is there anyone that you trust?" I asked, hoarsely. The only hope that we had of getting out was if I got word to my family. During my times alone, I thought about how I could survive this thing. I couldn't escape on my own. Even if I were able to get out of my bonds, I didn't think I'd be able to walk let alone run.
Jasper knew James, knew how he operated. He'd spent more time with James than I had, tracking and guarding the camp. As much as I hated to admit it, Jasper was probably the key to my survival. While I knew that Jasper wouldn't get involved if it meant leaving Alice unprotected, the fact that I might give up information about where they were all staying would probably be enough for Jasper to come for me.
"James keeps everyone under tight control, especially those that show survival skills. I saw him gun down a man because he wouldn't be separated from his wife and children," Carlisle explained.
"What about any women?" I asked. Having lived with Bella and Rosalie, I knew that women could be just as skilled at surviving as men.
Carlisle shook his head. "They're all terrified. Women are treated like a business here. Any woman that doesn't want to fall prey to James and his guards needs to stay as quiet and submissive as possible. I doubt I could convince any of them to risk getting noticed by James."
"Plus. What chance does one person have against the thousands of wandering corpses out there?" Carlisle asked.
"If you cover yourself with zombie guts, they'll walk right by you. If they can't smell you, it's like they don't even know you're there."
We were silent for a few moments as Ben came back into the room in order to grab his book off one of the metal shelves tat lined the back of the room.
When he was gone, I began to speak again.
"So, there's no one?" I asked, feeling desperate.
"I need to think. I just don't know."
And that was all the conversation we were able to have that day.
The next day, it was the same guard watching me, so we were able to talk again.
"I asked around to the people I trust, but they are just too scared," Carlisle said. "They've seen too many people hurt by James and his guards."
At that moment, James came back in the room with Caius by his side.
"So how's your patient, Doc?" James said with a leer. "Is he ready for round… Actually, I'm not sure how many rounds we've gone through anymore…"
"I don't know how you expect to get anything useful out of him in this condition. He's practically catatonic. He needs food. He needs to get up and move," Carlisle said, his face impassive.
I shifted my eyes slightly to the right, so that I could look at Ben for any reaction. He knew that I wasn't catatonic. Carlisle and I made sure not to speak when he was in the room, but it was obvious that I was aware of my surroundings.
However, Ben didn't react at all to Carlisle's lie.
"That's not going to happen, Doc. This bastard is staying put—" Caius said, but was interrupted by James.
"Now, that may not be a bad idea, Doc. The rabble's getting a little restless. Lack of food will do that to people. Maybe they need a little refresher on what happens to someone who goes against me," he said, looking at me speculatively. "Is anything broken, Doc?"
"I think his cheekbone may be fractured," Carlisle said, looking confused. "He also has a concussion."
"As long as his legs aren't broken, he's good," James said as he roughly untied the ropes that bound my hands and feet. "I guess it's time to take a little walk, right Ed?" My arms and legs immediately began to burn as the blood was able to flow freely through my veins. I gingerly tried to move them which caused pain to radiate up my arms and legs until they were in agony.
"Up we go, Ed," James said, yanking me to my feet.
"He can't walk on his own," Carlisle said, taking my arm but Caius pulled him away from me.
"He will, if he wants to eat," James snapped. "Won't you, Ed?"
"It's okay," I said, letting go of Carlisle's arm. However, I was only able to take two steps before stumbling and falling to my knees.
James and Caius laughed, but I was beyond caring. The minute the door had been opened I could smell food. I could practically taste it in the air. I could tell that it was some kind of meat, roasted over charcoal.
The scent brought back a memory from when I was around eight years old.
My father was standing in front of the barbecue in our backyard waving a set of tongs in his hand as he talked animatedly with my mother. I remembered watching their interaction with fascination. It was rare for my father to be home for supper and even rarer to see him without his phone in his hand.
I was jolted out of the memory when I felt a sharp jab in my back, which caused me to fall forward onto my hands and knees.
"Get up, you weak little bitch," Caius laughed, hooking his foot around the wrist of my left hand and pulling it out from under me. Without my hand to brace me, I fell forward hard onto my face.
"That's enough, Caius," Carlisle demanded as he tried to pull him away from me.
"Not nearly enough, Doc. He killed my last living relative. He fucking deserves every ounce of punishment I choose to dole out," Caius responded with a shove at Carlisle.
"Don't hurt, Doc," James said with a clear note of warning in his voice. "Back off, Caius."
Then, he turned to me.
"If you don't get up now, Ed, you don't eat. It's as simple as that."
I could tell by his tone that James was serious, so even though every muscle screamed at me to stop, I crawled to the wall and used it to climb to my feet.
"It's not far, Edward," Carlisle said walking ahead of me but close enough that if I fell again I would fall against him.
Painfully slow, we made our way down the hall. Through a set of closed double doors, I heard a low hum of what could only be a group of talking people.
Striding ahead of us, Caius threw open the doors which caused the room to fall silent.
However, when I stumbled into the room, I heard shocked gasps and whispered words.
"Good afternoon, everyone," James said in a mockingly cheerful tone. "I'd like to introduce you to a member of my old crew, Edward."
Then, turning to me, he grabbed the back of my neck and shoved me forward.
"Even though we go way back, he's holding out on me. He's got some food stashed somewhere, but he doesn't want to share. I think that's pretty selfish, don't you think?" he asked with an ominous tone to his voice.
"Well, this is what happens to people who think they can keep stuff from me."
Stepping in front of me with a cruel glint in his eye, James punched me in the stomach. I folded at the waist and collapsed to the ground.
"Stop!" Carlisle shouted, grabbing hold of James arm that was recoiled to punch again.
"Let go of me, Doc. I swear to fucking god that I'll hurt you. A broken leg or two won't stop you from doctoring," James threatened.
"No… Doc… No," was echoed around the room in hushed words.
"Go get some fucking food," James said, grabbing me by my hair and giving my head a shake.
Carefully, I crawled over to a table and pulled myself to my feet again.
I didn't think my stitches had broken open again, but I was finding it hard to breathe.
Once I was on my feet, I looked around the room, searching for the source of the smell of food.
Past about twenty people, I saw a long table with a line of dishes that steamed with concealed food under their metal lids.
Staggering forward, I lined up behind two people who were waiting for food.
Someone shoved a plastic tray into my hands along with a plastic fork and spoon. I murmured a thank you, but the woman who had given them to me didn't look up or acknowledge me in any way.
I moved on to the next person, but he also didn't look at me as he ladled a scoop of what looked like powdered mashed potatoes onto my tray.
The sight of them made me want to use my hand to scoop them into my mouth. I was so hungry that I could barely resist the temptation.
The next person in the row of servers slopped onto my plate what looked like some kind of meat in a thin gravy. I was about to move on when another spoonful was quickly poured onto my potatoes.
Trying not to react too much in case James was watching, I looked up at the server and into the eyes of a middle-aged woman. She was quite nondescript with short black hair cut in a severe hairstyle and dark brown almost black eyes framed by thin lies, showing her age. She looked like she was in her mid-forties.
"Sue…" the man next to her admonished barely above a whisper.
We stared into each other's eyes for a fraction of a second, but in that second I saw a look of anger and rebellion simmering under the surface. Then, she moved on to the next person and I was through the line.
No sooner had I stepped out of the line than Ben stepped forward and grabbed my arm, dragging me to the table with James.
Shoving me into a seat next to Carlisle, I was allowed to eat in silence.
It was hard at first, my stomach wasn't used to food after days of nothing but the small amount of Gatorade and Ensure that Carlisle was able to slip to me in our minutes alone together, but when my stomach roiled at the greasy taste of the meat I struggled to keep it down. I didn't think James would let me eat again, now that his point had been made in front of the group.
By the horrified looks people were throwing my way, I knew that the message had been received loud and clear.
I'd barely taken my last bite when Caius knocked the spoon out of my hand and hauled me out of my chair.
"Back to your cage, bitch," he said, his hand like a vice on my arm.
"I'll go with yo-" Carlisle began, but Caius cut him off.
"Stay where you are, Doc. We don't need you," he said.
A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I was pulled away from the others by Caius.
"Not too much, Caius…" James said to him as we left the room.
Miraculously, the abuse Caius doled out on me wasn't enough for me to throw up the food I'd eaten. I could tell that was what he wanted, but I gritted my teeth and held it together, falling into unconsciousness before he could.
That night, Carlisle was allowed to see me. After doing his regular check of my many injuries, he leaned forward as if to check my shoulder.
My guards weren't paying attention, too busy talking amongst themselves.
"Sue's agreed to help us…" he whispered.
The next day we were able to create a rough plan. Sue told Carlisle that she wasn't watched all the time and that she knew of a place where she could slip away unnoticed.
I then explained to him how she could get in touch with my group.
"Do not give her the exact location of our home. Get her close enough so that they can see the flare," I insisted.
"I trust her. James killed her husband," Carlisle began with a frown on his face.
"I don't trust anyone anymore and neither will my family. If she just shows up at their door, Jasper will probably kill her."
"Okay," Carlisle said with a nod. "What should she do if they don't believe that she's helping you? They might think it's a trap."
"Tell her to tell Bella that I still choose Slytherin."
JASPER
I had no idea what I was going to do about Bella and Esme.
Bella was out of control in her desperation to leave the community. I had a black eye and gouge marks on my face to prove it.
A part of me felt like I should just let her go. If it were Alice out there dead or alive, no one would be able to stop me. Eleazar even agreed to go with her. He was guilt-ridden for his part in what happened to Edward.
However, the biggest reason that I refused to allow Bella to leave was that I owed it to Edward to protect her. I'd done something unforgivable to him. Even though his behavior had been unpredictable and dangerous at the farm, I'd always known he was a good person. I should have helped him but I'd just been too scared about losing the first good thing in my life- a family, so unlike my own. So, I basically sentenced Edward to death because of my selfishness.
I had to protect Bella for his sake. I knew he'd do it for me. He had done it for me by welcoming us into their community.
But now there was Esme's situation too. Peter and Charlotte told us that Carlisle was being forced to remain with James' group because he was a doctor. They wanted him to escape with them, but he was under constant guard.
Both of them had good reasons to want to leave the community but I just couldn't let them go.
Aside from Alice, I never thought that I'd ever care for another human being.
In the beginning, nothing seemed real to me except Alice.
I was half-insane. I knew it.
I still had hallucinations of being on the road and fighting for our lives and these waking nightmares could hit me any time and anywhere.
I'd feel the rasp of the rope as it was pulled tight around my neck. I'd feel the jerk and sudden strangling pressure crushing my larynx as my feet dangled in the air.
When I would come out of the hallucination, I would often find myself clawing at my throat as I struggled to breathe.
Alice was very understanding, telling me it would take time to get over the trauma. But I feared that it would never go away and I would always be a danger to her and our child. I was terrified of having a child. Bringing a baby into this horrible world was the worst crime that I could have ever committed. Condemning it to a world of death with an insane father was a tragedy.
I told her once that I thought I should leave once the baby was born. It was the only way for me to keep them safe from me. But Alice told me that it wasn't an option. She would not raise our child without me.
Now, here I was trying to keep our home, our family together. Not a role I ever thought I'd have.
I monitored the perimeter day and night. I kept a look out at night for any sign of the flare even though I was fairly certain that Edward was dead. At the same time, I tried to think about what could be done about Carlisle. Besides wanting to rescue Carlisle for Esme's sake, he was a doctor and Alice was going to need one in the not so distant future.
Esme didn't try to leave the community, like Bella. She knew that she'd never get far in her search for Carlisle because she didn't know how to use weapons and I'd told Eleazar, Peter, and Charlotte not to tell her where James' camp was located.
Instead, she'd fallen into a deep depression that affected me more than I thought it would. Esme was an amazing woman who had taken to caring for us like we were her own children. She never showed any fear around me or judged me when I would act strangely. When I was having a particularly bad day, she would just pat my shoulder or rub my back in sympathy.
All of these thoughts were going around and around in my head as I sat on the roof of my house, staring at the night sky.
Suddenly in the distance I saw a burst of light shoot up into the sky and hang there suspended for a moment before going dark.
I stared at it disbelievingly for a few moments before reality hit me.
"Holy fuck…" I gasped in shock.
I quickly tried to pinpoint the direction that I'd need to follow to reach it and tried to calculate the distance.
Then, I slipped down off the roof and rushed into the house.
"Alice. I saw the flare" I gasped, rushing to shove things into my backpack.
"What?" she asked, groggily.
"I saw the flare. I saw Edward's flare," I said, grabbing my coat and weapons.
"Oh my god. Does that mean…?" she asked, but couldn't complete the question. She was too afraid to hope.
"I don't know who else would shoot off the flare…" I said.
She climbed out of bed and started throwing on her clothes.
Once she was dressed, we rushed next door.
"Emmet! Bella! Rose!" I shouted.
I heard muffled thuds and rustling upstairs.
Footfalls erupted followed by the three of them rushing down the stairs.
When the three of them were standing in front of me, I blurted out.
"I saw the flare. I think Edward's alive."
BELLA
My mind was a chaotic mix of emotions and thoughts as reality tried to reach past my sleep muddled mind.
"Where? Where did it come from?" Emmett gasped as he grabbed his backpack and started shoving supplies into it.
"The same direction that you and Edward went in. I think it's about 3 miles away because that's what my dad said the visibility range of a flare gun is," Jasper said.
While they talked, I packed quickly. I grabbed food, but more than that I packed a first aid kit with extra bandages and medicine. There must have been a reason that Edward hadn't contacted us until now.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest. I'd felt with every fibre of my being that I would know if Edward were truly dead. However, as the days passed, I'd begun to doubt that feeling.
Now, faced with the knowledge that he was only three miles away, I needed to be on the road.
"Let's go!" I said, pulling on my backpack.
"Just a second…" Jasper said, blocking my way towards the door.
"NO! You are not stopping me Jasper! Not this time!" I yelled, trying to hit him.
"Bella… Bella… BELLA! Calm the fuck down!" he growled at me, grabbing at my flailing hands. "I'm not going to make you stay for god's sake. We just need to have a plan before we head out in the dead of night."
My arms dropped to my sides at his words because he was right.
When he saw that his words had gotten through to me, Jasper relaxed his posture.
"Let's go. The truck is parked just on the other side of the wall," Emmett said.
"We can't drive," Jasper said.
"Why not?" Emmett asked in confusion. "Edward must be hurt if he shot off the flare."
Jasper shook his head.
"We can't completely trust that this isn't a trap. James and his crew are out there. If Eleazar, Peter, and Charlotte were close enough to pass by here, then James and his people could be close by too. We can't risk the engine of the truck making too much noise and attracting their attention if they are out there waiting to ambush us," Jasper said.
While we were busy talking, Rose had left the house and apparently woken up Eleazar, Charlotte, and Peter because they'd slipped into the house as well during our frantic discussion.
"You're right," Peter said, stepping forward. "James could have followed us to Camden. When we escaped, we were careful to make sure that we weren't being followed. However, a logical guess would be that we'd head towards a bigger city."
Eleazar nodded his head. "James compound is only about an hour away, so it is a real possibility."
Looking at us seriously, he then said, "I want to go with you. I can help."
Jasper looked ready to argue, but Eleazar kept speaking.
"If it is James, I can create a distraction. I know him better than you do Jasper," he said bitterly. "I had to stay with them, it was the only way that I could keep Carmen safe," he said a look of pain crossing his face. "I didn't want to stay with them, you know that Jasper."
In the last couple of days, we'd learned a little bit about the three of them. Jasper had wanted to immediately get rid of them, not trusting that they weren't spies sent by James. But Eleazar explained how the three of them had been forced to re-join James group. The number of James' group had been significantly reduced when Garrett's camp was destroyed. So James gave Eleazar no choice but to join them or else he'd kill his wife Carmen.
James had set up a camp in an abandoned nursing home. There were about twenty people in his group besides his guard. The majority of them didn't want to be there, but were too scared to leave. When Eleazar, Carmen, Peter, Charlotte, and Irina made their escape, they were able to slip out unnoticed, but it had been a pack of zombies that had caught them. During the fight, Eleazar had lost Carmen in the mob. His last sight of her was on the far side of the herd of dead. She'd been fighting and losing a battle with three dead that were overpowering her.
I tried to hate the three of them for being a part of Edward being left behind, but it was clear that they weren't bad people. They were just people who'd been stuck in a bad situation.
I didn't completely trust them, but I also knew that Eleazar could be useful.
Jasper must have come to the same conclusion.
"Okay. You're coming, but I'm telling you now if you make one false move I'll kill you without blinking an eye."
We had no time to lose, so we quickly left the community and headed down the main road in the direction of the flare.
We were probably only a block away when we saw another flare shoot up into the night sky.
I broke into a run, desperate to get to Edward. But Emmett grabbed my arm before I got too far ahead.
I whipped towards him furious that he was slowing me down, but the look on his face stopped me.
There was excitement, but also fear in his eyes that reminded me that this could be a trap.
I nodded at his look and stopped fighting him.
As a group, we cautiously made our way down the street, moving in the shadows that were cast by the large cement buildings that surrounded us.
Thankfully, there were no dead wandering the street which allowed us to move more quickly and quietly, so it wasn't very long before we saw the faint sign of light ahead.
But my excitement turned to despair when I could clearly see as I came around the side of a building that the person outlined in the light wasn't Edward.
I heard a hushed curse behind me, followed by the click click of guns being readied for an attack. Jasper gestured at himself and then pointed in the direction of the alley next to us, showing that he was going to try to slip up behind whoever was waiting for us.
I grabbed a hold of Emmett's arm and squeezed as we edged forward.
Before we were able to get a good look at whoever was standing in front of the light, a female voice spoke.
"I know you're there. You might as well come out."
But none of us did.
"If this is Jasper and his group, I've been sent by Edward," the voice said.
At the sound of his name, I couldn't help myself from hurrying forward into parking lot she was waiting in.
"Bella," Emmett hissed behind me, but I ignored him.
"How do you know Edward? Where is he?" I asked.
I could now see the woman in the light of the lantern. She was a short middle-aged native woman with cropped hair. She watched me as I approached with a cold but non-threatening look on her face.
"He sent me," she said again. "He's in trouble."
"Sue?" Eleazar suddenly asked from behind me.
The woman looked past me and her eyes widened when she saw Eleazar step from the shadows.
"Eleazar? You're alive! Thank god. Where's Carmen?" she asked, looking left and right.
"I lost her," Eleazar said in a choked voice as he approached her.
Reaching up, she pulled Eleazar into a hug. He looked like a child in her arms even though he was quite a bit taller than her.
"Are Peter, Charlotte, and Irina with you?" she asked, cupping his face in her hands scanning him for any injuries.
"Irina's gone, but Peter and Charlotte are safe. We were rescued by some good people," he said in response. "How did you get out?"
"It would never cross the minds of James' crew that someone like me would want to leave the 'safety' of the camp. It was actually pretty easy to slip past them," she said.
"Why did you come looking for us?" I asked.
"Carlisle asked me to help a young man who'd been captured by James. His name's Edward," she said, looking at me.
"I said no at first but then James decided to parade him around in front of us," she said with a bitter note in her voice.
"He thought that by showing us a beaten young man we'd all fall in line. James' guards are getting worse now that the food is starting to run low. So, people are starting to talk about fighting our way out. I guess James must have heard about it and decided to show us what would happen if we tried anything."
"Is Edward okay?" I asked, desperation making my voice shrill.
"Is he your man?" she asked with a look of sympathy on her face.
I nodded mutely and she patted my shoulder.
"James has beaten him pretty badly, but nothing seems broken. Carlisle told me that James is trying to get Edward to tell him where his camp is," she explained.
Jasper suddenly appeared out of the shadows.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" he asked, looking dangerous in the glow of the lantern.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, taking a step back.
"Edward's family. Now, answer me. How do we know that you're not just here as a trap set by James?" he demanded.
Instead of answering him, she turned to me. "You're Bella, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm Bella," I practically whispered.
"Carlisle told me that Edward wanted you to know that he still chooses Slytherin."
After that things started happening really quickly. Everyone was talking at once which seemed to stir up some of the dead that were in the nearby buildings.
We quickly took care of them and returned to planning.
I thought at first that Jasper was going to refuse to go after Edward because it would mean that he'd have to leave Alice behind, but it was the opposite. He was adamant that we had to leave right away. He was afraid that Edward would give up after being tortured and tell James where we lived.
"Somebody needs to go back and tell the others what is happening," he said, his eyes scanning the group before settling on me.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I said, incredulously. "I'm not going back."
With a sigh of frustration, Jasper scrubbed his hands over his face.
"Bella…" he began.
"I'll go," Emmett said.
We all looked at him in surprise. I never would have expected that he'd choose to stay behind.
"Someone needs to protect the rest of our family. We can't guarantee that no one followed Sue here. It would be easy for them to find our home if they searched the area," he said. "Eleazar needs to go with you. He was one of James' group so he'll know where they've posted guards on watch."
Eleazar nodded.
"Sue," Emmett said, looking at the older woman. "You're welcome to back with me," he said, sincerely.
I saw Jasper bristle at his words, but before he could say anything Sue responded.
"I need to go back. My children are still there. Seth and Leah need me," she said.
"Okay," Jasper said. "It's settled then. Let's find a vehicle that we can take half way there and then we'll go the rest of the way on foot."
We finally found a tan sedan which had a half a tank of gas. As Eleazar got into the driver's seat and started the engine, I could feel the anxiety pouring off Jasper.
"I'll take care of her, Jasper," Emmett said, his voice soft.
"Alice… the baby…" Jasper said, stuttering over his words.
"They'll be safe with me, Jasper. They're my family too," Emmett said, patting Jasper on the shoulder.
Jasper looked Emmett in the eyes desperately.
"If I don't make it back, tell Alice that I love her and that I think the names… the name Matthew or Clara is perfect," he said, hoarsely.
My eyes teared up at his words, but I brushed them aside as I climbed into the backseat of the car with Sue.
Once we were on the road, there was a tense silence that had fallen over the group.
There was a very real chance that we could all die, trying to break into James camp. From everything I'd heard, James people were skilled hunters which meant that they were good shots. On top of that, James camp was the top two floors of a six story building. There was a fire escape, but we'd have to be out in the open in order to climb it.
Sue believed that she could get us in through the building next door which was the way that she'd snuck out. The two buildings were side by side with only a small alleyway separating them. Each one had a side exit facing each other, which meant that a person could slip easily from one building to the next without being seen even if the guards were at their post. That wasn't the tricky part. It was getting upstairs to the top floors without running into anyone that was going to be difficult.
The only thing that was on our side was that it was the middle of the night. If we got past the guards, the hope was that most people would be asleep. Eleazar thought that Edward was probably being held in the store room that was down the hall from the cafeteria. If everyone was asleep that part of the floor should be empty.
I tried to focus on the plan, but my mind kept wandering anxiously to Edward. Sue said that he was beaten badly. Did they break anything? Would he even still be alive when we got there?
Sooner than I expected, Eleazar turned the car onto the East 32 Exit. After driving another ten minutes, he pulled the car over in a grocery store parking lot.
"Let's stop here and walk the rest of the way," he said. "It's about five blocks east of here."
As we walked down the road, taking side streets as much as possible to avoid being seen by any guards that may be monitoring the streets, it took us about twenty minutes to get close to the buildings.
To our left across the street, I saw two apartment buildings, one about ten stories high and the other six. The shorter one was where James' camp was located.
Without a word, Sue began to hurry across the street followed closely by Eleazar. But before I had the chance to even step off the curb, gun fire erupted around us.
I watched as Sue fell to the ground with a scream and Eleazar limped across the street, ducking for cover into the taller apartment building. I spun around in a circle, frantically looking for an escape.
It wasn't until a gunshot zinged by me at close range that I made a run for it. I ran back in the direction that we'd come. However, as I dodged around a building, I ran straight into a tall man that was holding a machine gun in one arm.
Out of pure instinct, I raised my gun at the man and pulled the trigger. The blast of the gun was loud in my ear, so I couldn't tell whether the man made a sound as he fell to the ground lifeless.
For a moment, I stood over him in stunned horror. I'd never taken a human life before and the sight of his blood slowly spreading across the ground was enough to make me want to cry. But then shouts suddenly surrounded me and I saw shadows move in the darkness.
I was about to keep running when someone grabbed me from behind. I flailed in panic when my gun was pulled out of my hand.
I kicked back at whoever was holding me causing my attacker to grunt as I hit his shins, but his grip didn't loosen.
I was forced to the ground onto my knees and my arms were pulled behind my back and bound together tightly.
Then, I was pulled to my feet and dragged in the direction of the large building that housed James' camp.
As my captor began to climb the stairs, my fighting began to annoy him as I kept throwing him off balance, so with a curse he picked me up like I weighed nothing and slung me over his shoulder.
I screamed and yelled and struggled, but nothing seemed to work.
As the blood rushed to my head from hanging upside down, the world around me turned hazy. I fought the dizziness though. I needed to focus on my surroundings so that I'd know which direction to go in when I escaped.
I stopped fighting after a while because with each twist and thrash of my body, I became dizzier and the worst thing that could happen right now would be for me to pass out.
When we reached the top of the stairs, we entered a long hallway lined with doors. It looked like we were in a hospital wing, but I knew that it was actually the nursing home where James had set up residence.
"Who the fuck is that?" a whispered voice asked from someone standing in one of the doorways ahead.
"We caught some of them, trying to sneak in," the deep voice of my captor answered. "Go wake up James."
The other person scurried away down the hall, while my captor followed behind him at a slower pace.
At the end of the hallway, the man that was carrying me threw open a door and stepped into the darkened room.
Before I had time to prepare myself, I was dropped to the ground.
I cried out in pain as my knees slammed against the hard vinyl floors and then I fell forward onto my stomach because my hands were tied behind my back.
Struggling with all my might, I managed to sit up but there was no way I'd be able to get to my feet.
"If you don't let me go, I'm going to kill you," I threatened, but that only made the man laugh.
He was large, his shape filling the doorway as he loomed over me. While he was slightly on the thin side, it was clear that he was a powerful man that could easily kill me if he wanted to.
"Good luck with that, princess," he said, shoving me with his foot so that I was knocked to the side.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from out of the darkness of the room.
"Don't touch her."
My head shot up at the sound of Edward's voice.
I desperately searched for him in the gloom.
"Shut your mouth, dipshit," my captor responded.
"You're such a tough, guy, aren't you Caius… Picking on some defenceless girl," Edward said, but the tone of his voice was off. His words were strong, threatening even, but there was still a detached quality about them. The fierce protectiveness that usually laced his voice when I was in danger was missing.
It was that tone more than anything else that made me stay silent.
I couldn't see him clearly in the dark. He was no more than a shape.
"I'll do whatever I want asshole," my captor, Caius, said.
Before anything else could be said, I heard muffled voices coming down the hallway.
"Caius, what the fuck are you doing waking me up in the middle of the night?" a man snarled as he strode through the doorway.
He'd brought with him a large gas powered lantern that brightened the room with a surprising amount of light.
Now, that I could see, I tried to quickly take in my surroundings.
Caius was a scary looking man with a rectangular face, a defined chin and a sturdy jaw line. His dark hair was cut in a brush cut, giving him a distinctively military look.
The man standing next to him that was now looking at me with curiosity was quite different.
He had an angular face, thin and without much flesh so that the bones were noticeable. Unlike Caius, this man's features were sharp, with high cheekbones, a thin nose, and a pointed chin. Even his sunken pale blue eyes gleamed with a keen intelligence that made him seem even more dangerous than Caius.
It was clear that he'd been called out of bed. His long blond hair hung around his face in stringy tendrils and his clothes looked like they'd just been thrown on.
"I found this little bitch and a couple of her friends, trying to sneak in here. She was with Sue and Eleazar. I shot the bitch, but Eleazar got away. I have some of the boys out looking for him," Caius explained.
He made no mention of Jasper which gave me hope that he hadn't been noticed.
"Bring her over here," the blond man who I assumed was James said.
Yanking me to my feet, I was dragged towards James who was now sitting in a chair and staring at me with interest.
When I was within reaching distance, James pulled me onto his lap and grabbed a hold of my chin, yanking my face up so that he could look at me.
"Well, she's a pretty little thing isn't she?" he said with a sickening grin on his face. "Where did you come from little girl?"
I didn't say anything. Instead I just glared at the man who had caused my family so much pain.
"I said, 'Where did you come from, honey?'" James said, with a hard edge to his voice. The hand gripping my chin clenched tight causing tears to come to my eyes.
"Don't hurt her James," Edward said from the corner.
James lessened his grip on my chin and turned his head in the direction of Edward's voice.
However, I didn't look. I was afraid to look at him for fear that I would give away the fact that I knew him.
I knew now that the reason Edward barely reacted when he saw me was that he didn't want them to know that we knew each other.
"Well, it finally speaks…" James said. "I was starting to think that I'd beaten the voice out of you, Edward. But I guess you just needed a little bit of incentive."
James used the hand gripping my chin to yank my face to the left so that I was looking in Edward's direction.
It took everything in me not to react to what I saw.
Edward's face was terribly swollen and mottled with bruises. There was a large lump on his forehead that had grown to the extent that one of his eyes was swollen completely shut and the other squinted in even the small amount of light. If it hadn't been for his hair and clothes, I might not have even recognized him.
"She's a cutie, isn't she?" James said with a leer. "I wonder if she'll be just as pretty with a little roughing up. Personally, I like my women a little roughed up."
His words sent a current of fear through me. Everything I knew about James flooded my mind- Rosalie's rape, Garrett's murder.
Without even being conscious of doing it, I began to desperately try to fight my way out of his grip.
With a laugh, James stood up holding me off the ground as I struggled.
"You're a feisty little bitch, aren't you…" he chuckled.
With a grunt, I threw my head back, hitting James in the face and then I kicked my legs backwards, striking James in one of his knees and his upper thigh.
"You fucking bitch," James snarled, wrapping his hand around my throat and squeezing.
"Stop!" Edward said, struggling against his bonds. "Stop! You'll kill her!"
Instinct fuelled my movements as panic drowned out everything. Despite my sight becoming blurred around the edges, I continued to kick and thrash in his arms.
"Calm the fuck down," James snapped. "Or I'll bash your fucking head in."
But I couldn't, I was beyond logical reasoning as I struggled to breathe.
"Stop… Stop! STOP FIGHTING, BELLA!" Edward yelled.
James' grip loosened on my neck as he turned towards Edward in shock. Then, with a laugh, he dropped me to the ground.
"Is this your woman? Is this Bella?" James asked with a wide grin.
I looked blearily at Edward and saw his eyes wide in horror at what he'd done.
"I think the tides are a changin' Ed. Let's see how rebellious you are now that your little woman will be taking the beating instead of you," James said.
Droplets of blood spattered the floor next to me which caused me to look up at James.
Blood was gushing from his nose as he tried to use his sleeve to staunch the flow.
"You're going to fucking pay for that, bitch," James said, pulling his foot back as he readied to kick me.
I clenched my eyes shut, preparing myself for the blow. However, it never came.
Shots rang out from somewhere downstairs, causing the room to go silent for a moment.
"What the fuck was that? Who's shooting?" James gasped.
I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at the two of them.
"It must be that bastard Eleazar… I'm going to fucking skin him alive," Caius hissed, slamming his fist against the wall.
"Get the guards and do a full sweep of the place. It can't just be Eleazar. He wouldn't have the balls to do this with only himself and this little girl," James growled. "While you're gathering the others, send Ben up here. He can guard our prisoners."
With that Caius was gone and James was in the hallway barking orders.
I turned my head to look at Edward. When I saw the questioning look in his eyes, I mouthed the word Jasper.
Edward's eyes fell shut in what seemed like relief and his body sagged in his restraints.