Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. I simply borrow the character and put the in interesting situations for my own warped pleasure.

Chapter 20 – The Rescue

BPOV

The man walked inside the house. I saw a light come on but I couldn't see in the window from my position on the ground. My body was shaking violently from the cold. I could feel the sting of the scratches on my stomach as it shook. Since I was stretched between the trees, I couldn't look down at my body to see how bad the damage really was.

A few minutes later, the man came out wearing some jeans, a sweatshirt, and some boots. He was carrying a cup and a spoon. He sat down on the ground beside me and gave me a creepy smile. "When I was good, I always got a treat. You were good, so I think you deserve a treat. Open your mouth."

He scooped something from the cup. I could feel the cold metal touch my lips. It was ice cream. I am already freezing! Is he trying to make me cold from the inside too? I turned my head away. "I'm too cold to eat that. Can you please unhook me and give me some clothes or a blanket?"

The man looked angry. He scooped up another spoonful of the ice cream and pressed it to my lips. I turned my head again, causing him to spill the ice cream down my cheek. "NO! That's bad!" I felt his big hand smash into my face as he slapped me. He grabbed my cheeks making my mouth open and shoveled a spoonful of the chocolate ice cream in my mouth. I could taste the blood from my split lip mixed with the chocolate. "You are going to eat this and like it Izzy! It's not every day that you get a treat. You need to learn to appreciate it." He shoveled another bite into my mouth.

When the ice cream was gone, he went back inside the house and brought out a juice box for me to drink. He held it to my lips and waited for me to drink the entire thing. "Izzy, you look sleepy. It's late. I think you need to get some rest. You look comfortable there, so I will let you sleep right here tonight. OK?" He patted me on the head right where my knot was, making me wince.

"Can I please have a blanket?" I asked, "I have been a good girl. Sam even liked me!" I was trying to play up to his insane fantasy. I even gave him sad eyes.

He scowled and looked at me, and then his face seemed to soften. He went inside and brought out a small towel. "I don't want to get the blanket dirty." He draped the towel over me lengthwise, from my shoulders to my upper thighs. It was wide enough that it just barely touched the ground on each side of me. He stepped back and looked at me with a grin. He was proud of himself.

He turned and went inside the house. A minute later the lights went out and the house was dark. He must have gone to bed because I didn't hear anymore movement. I lay there shaking uncontrollably from the cold. The sky was clear. I could see a thousand stars in the sky. The moon was bright casting a dim blue-gray glow over the earth. I took a good look around. I knew this place. It had been years since I had been here. When I was a kid my dad used to take me out here to play with Jacob while he played cards with Billy and some of the other guys. Back then the place was warm and fun. Now it was cold and scary. The house was in pretty bad shape. It must have been empty since Billy moved to town six years ago. No wonder it was in such bad shape.

I heard a noise coming from behind my head. I tried to look but it was just out of view. There was a soft crunching noise, like dried leaves being crushed. I tried to lay as still as possible while shivering and shaking. I prayed that the wolves had not come back. The temperature must still be dropping because I started to see the fog of my breath. This was not good! Even if I didn't freeze to death, I was definitely going to come down with something. I cold tell that hypothermia was starting to set in because I was feeling really lethargic, like I wanted to just close my eyes and fade away.

I felt something moving on my ear. I shook my head but it didn't go away. It was moving to my face. I shook my head frantically then felt a sharp pinch on my cheek. Oh Shit! ANTS! They must have been attracted to the ice cream that spilled down my cheek. I could feel them moving in my hair, on my ear, and on my cheek. When they got near my mouth I blew at them trying to get them off. I quickly realized that when I moved, they would start to bite. Shit! Do I scream for the guy to come out here and help me or do I just sit still and hope that they clean the ice cream away and leave?

I heard sounds from the driveway. Someone was coming! It was dark. They must have their lights off. They were still a ways from the house when they stopped. I couldn't see them but I could hear the faint sounds of the doors opening and closing then the sounds of footsteps coming my way.

I was afraid to scream. I didn't want to wake the psycho or cause the ants to start biting again. I saw a quick flash of light shine on the car and heard faint whispers say, "He's here. That's his car."

I could hear them coming around the house but they were down toward my feet so I couldn't really see them. A quick burst of light shone on my body and people started running my direction.

Edward was the first to reach me. "Bella!" He knelt down beside me and said, "She's alive." as Jake and my dad ran up behind him.

Dad said, "Where is he, Bells?"

"In the house. I think he's asleep." I whispered.

Jake and dad quietly climbed the front steps and slipped inside the house while Edward brushed the ants off of me and tried to get me free. He was crying, "Oh Bella! What did he do to you? You're naked! Here take this. You're freezing!" He took off his coat and tried to cover me up. "Where is the key?" he asked while trying to figure out how to set me free.

"He has it on a key chain he keeps in his pocket." I said.

Edward managed to unhook the straps from the trees but he couldn't unhook them from me. He lifted me with the straps, bars, and all and carried me to the car. "We need to warm you up." He shoved me in the backseat and tried to cover me as discreetly as possible with the towel and his jacket before he jumped in the front and started the car to turn the heat on. He was still crying, "Oh Bella, I was so worried! I thought I lost you for good!" He got out and climbed in the back with me to look me over. "What did he do to you? You look horrible."

He was frantically rubbing my fingers on the side that was closest to him, trying to get the color to come back. I could barley keep my head up. I was struggling to stay conscious. Dad came out to the car with a dingy blanket to wrap me in.

"How is she?" he asked.

"I don't know," Edward said, "she looks pretty bad. She had ants all over her face when I found her. Her skin looks strange. Its red in some places and blue in others. She has some strange bruising and scratches on her stomach and legs. It looks like she's getting a black eye. I'm afraid that she is getting frostbite in her fingers and toes. She is definitely hypothermic. I'm going to try to warm her up. See if you can find the keys so we can get all this shit off of her. She said that he keeps them in his pocket"

Dad turned and went back inside the house. I could hear sirens in the distance. Edward was talking to me telling me to hang on. I wanted to respond but I couldn't. Edward pulled his own shirt and pants off, so he was sitting in his boxers and pulled me onto his lap so his body was touching as much of my skin as he could. What he couldn't touch he covered with the blanket. The temperature difference between our skins made him gasp. His skin felt so hot to me that it almost stung.

Dad came back out with two key rings. He tried several keys before he was able to unlock the collar. A few more keys later and he managed to unlock my wrists and ankles too. It took both dad and Edward working together to get the metal bands off my wrists and ankles. The one around my neck came off pretty easily. They had just managed to get me free when the ambulance and police pulled up.

Charlie flagged the ambulance driver over to the car and gave him a rundown of what he and Edward suspected my condition was. They promptly pulled a stretcher from the back and headed toward the car. Within a few minutes I was strapped to the stretcher and stuffed into the back of the ambulance with Edward by my side. He put his clothes on before getting in the ambulance, of course.

Before they closed the doors and drove away, I saw Jake helping the police wrangle a very angry Wolf Boy into the back of the police car. He was kicking and flailing about making the entire car shake! One of the old men from the reservation yelled at him and he settled down.

The man in the ambulance covered me with an electric blanket and started an IV while we were on our way to the hospital. Edward kept telling me to hold on and stay awake but I started to drift off anyway. I don't know if it was from the hypothermia or the lack of sleep. Either way, I didn't wake up until I was being transported into the emergency room. The doctors looked me over closely and barked out orders to the nurses who were frantically writing notes on my chart.

They took my temperature and wheeled me into a room with a big tub. They put me in the water to slowly bring my temperature back up. One of the nurses gently rinsed the mud, straw, and leaves from my hair so the doctor could get a better look at my lump. He decided the wound needed to be cleaned and it needed a few stitches.

The solution he used on my head burned and I managed to yelp and move a little. This made everyone in the room smile. They had been worried about my lack of response. The doctor said, "Looks like she is starting to warm up a little."

They kept me in the water for a little while longer as they monitored my heart and temperature. The nurse that had been working my hair managed to get the rest of it cleaned for me while the doctor asked me common sense questions to make sure I was alert and my brain was functioning correctly.

After pulling me out of the tub and drying me off, they gave me a hospital gown to wear. They cleaned and bandaged my scratches and put something on my ant bites to make them stop itching. I was transferred into a bed and covered with heated blankets before anyone was aloud to see me.

The head nurse said I could only see two people at a time, so Edward and Dad came in together. "Hi, Pumpkin." Dad said, "I know you are probably not ready for this yet, but I need you to answer a few questions."

I nodded my head. "I know. It's procedure. Do you need me to write my statement?" Growing up as a police chief's daughter, I knew a lot about the procedures of Forks PD.

"Not at this time. I just need you to tell me everything you can remember. I will take some notes for the file. We can worry about the official version later. Right now we just need to know what all to charge him with. I am sure his lawyers will say that he is mentally unstable and ask that he be sent back to the hospital but…"

"He is unstable, Dad. He needs help." I said as my dad scowled. "I really don't think he meant to hurt me. He wasn't really mean or sadistic, he was kind of child like."

Edward sat on the edge of the bed and said, "The doctors told us about your strange injuries, can you tell me how they happened?"

"Sure." I pointed to my head and said, "When he busted into the apartment he hit me with something on the head. I don't know what it was. When I woke up I was chained and shackled in the shed wearing an old housecoat. I checked and I don't think he did anything sexually to me while I was out. I tried to fight him off when he took the housecoat off of me and he slapped me. I think that's how I got the black eye. He made me stand in the sun because he thought I needed to get a tan. He left me out too long and I got sunburned. He tried to bathe me and got the housecoat wet so he hung it out to dry and wouldn't give me anything else to wear but then it got really cold."

I involuntarily shivered and said, "He talks to the wolves, Dad. He calls the black one Sam. He has been feeding them, so they come out to the house at night time. He tied me down because he thought the black one needed to approve of me or something. When he was feeding them, they starting fighting right on top of me. I have bruises and scratches from being stomped on and trampled during the fight. The black one made the others stop fighting and they all ran off. The guy tried to feed me ice cream to celebrate that the wolves didn't kill me and I tried to refuse to eat it, which caused it to spill down my face and in my hair. This made him angry and he slapped me, splitting my lip, and then forced me to eat the ice cream anyway. The ants came for the ice cream and bit me."

Dad kissed my forehead and said, "I love you, Bells. I'm glad your back. I don't know what I would have done if we lost you for good."

"I love you too, Dad." I said with a smile.

Dad looked over at Edward then back at me, "We wouldn't have even known were to start looking if it weren't for Edward here. He is a brave man and loves you very much." Edward smiled sheepishly. "I really wish you would have given me a chance to get to know him before you married him and I'm disappointed that you didn't let me walk you down the aisle."

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry. His parents are pretty hurt by it too." I said taking Edward's hand. "I guess we weren't thinking very clearly."

"Well, love will do that to you." Dad said patting Edward on the shoulder.

I smiled at my two favorite men in the world. I truly am a lucky woman! Edward looked toward the door and said, "Jacob is outside. He wants to see you. He was the one that figured out who took you. We wouldn't have found you if it weren't for him. I'm going to step outside so he can come in." He kissed me softly and said, "I'll be right outside."

When he left, Jacob came in and took his place on the edge of my bed. He leaned down and tried to give me a hug, being careful not to touch the sunburn. "Gee Bells, frostbite and full body sunburn in one day! That has to be some kind of freaky record or something." I laughed. "So, I hear that you went off and got hitched."

I nodded my head. "Yup, looks like I did."

"He seems like a good enough guy, I guess. Much better than that loser you were dating. Does this mean you are going to stop baking me cookies for my birthday?"

"No, Jake, it means that you are going to have to come over to my house for a birthday dinner followed by cake, ice cream, and maybe cookies." I teased.

Jake smiled. "I love you, Bells. You are the best friend a hungry guy could ever ask for." Then he got a serious expression and said, "I only want to make one thing clear though. If you think that I am going let you step one foot in the door at Heidi's you have another thing coming! I can't believe you drove all the way up there to do that!"

I saw Dad's eyes bulge and he quickly exited the room. Obviously he knew exactly what Jacob was talking about. "Who told you, Jake?" I snapped.

"Your Dad and your husband, that's who. Apparently Paul stole my key to Heidi's and was using it to see you."

My head was spinning, "Paul? You mean the guy that took me… That was Paul?"

Jacob nodded his head, "Yes, you remember Sam and Paul don't you? Sam was older. He was kind of big, like me now. Paul was the short skinny little kid that always followed his older brother around. He only played with us when Sam wanted to play."

A light came on in my head. I remembered playing hide and seek with Sam and Paul. Jacob was counting and I couldn't find a good place to hide so Sam let me have his spot. He was a nice kid. I remember Paul getting mad that Sam gave his spot to me. He said I was cheating. He was a little brat. I haven't seen him in years!

"Jake, isn't it kind of creepy that someone I knew from my childhood was using my best friend's membership key to watch me perform in a secret place that's hours away from where we all live? The fact that we were all secretly going to the same place in Seattle makes me wonder how many other guys from Forks have memberships." The thought made me queasy. "Being so far away, I was pretty sure there was no chance in hell that I would ever run into anyone from Forks."

Jake laughed and said, "Just be thankful that I didn't run into you there. I would have busted through that glass and yanked your little ass right out of that place! It's just not right for someone like you to be doing something like that on stage."

I was getting irritated at his demeaning attitude. "What's up with the double standards, Jake? It's ok for you to have a membership but not ok for me to perform? You can waste half your paycheck to watch a woman in a little room but I can't perform and get paid?" My temper was flaring now, "You don't get a very big paycheck, Jake. How many bills did you have to postpone just so you could go to Heidi's? How often did you put off buying things you needed because you wasted your money? Well, I will have you know that I paid for my car repairs, paid for my cruise, bought tons of new clothes, and still have a little money sat aside. If it weren't for Edward convincing me to stop, my next purchase was going to be a new car!"

Jake's mouth dropped, "Geez, Bella, I didn't realize how much money a person could make at that place. Why don't the other dancers do it then?"

"Because Heidi is very picky about whom she will allow to perform. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm not going back. I promised Edward I would stick with my day job at the school. Being a librarian isn't that bad."

"You have a teaching degree, why don't you get a job teaching English, like you wanted?" Jake asked.

"The English department is full, Jake. There are no openings. Until someone quits or retires I'm stuck in the library."

"You could change schools, you know."

"No, I want to stay in Forks. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else." I said feeling nostalgic. "Besides what would you and Dad do without me? You'd starve to death!"

Jake was laughing when we heard a little knock on the door. Jasper and Alice were waiting to come in. Jake left, saying he would come see me when I got out of the hospital. Alice brought me some clean clothes so I would have something to wear when they let me leave the hospital. I was grateful for that. Jasper apologized profusely for not walking me to my apartment and making sure I was ok before leaving. I told him that it was not his fault and that I didn't blame him one bit.

The doctor came in to check on me, kicking Jasper and Alice out of the room. He told me that he was ready to release me but he wanted me to come back in a few days for a follow up visit. Edward came in and listened to him explain about treating the scratches so I didn't end up with any scars and what I should take for pain. He recommended that I take the rest of the week off so I could relax and gave me the number to a counselor if I had nightmares or anxiety due to the trauma.

By the time we got checked out of the hospital and headed home I was exhausted. Edward told me that Jasper, Alice, Kate, and Garrett had taken the day off from work to move all my stuff from my apartment to the house so I wouldn't have to go back there. I was thankful that I had such good friends. Edward told the school that we were both taking the rest of the week off to recoup. They were very understanding considering the circumstances.

Edward lay down with me when we got home and held me until I fell asleep. Thankfully I didn't have any bad dreams or anything so I was able to get some good, restful sleep. I awoke to the sound of Alice barking orders in the living room. Edward was gone. I assumed they were bringing some of the stuff from my apartment. I got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom before heading out to see if I could help. When I flipped the light switch on and saw myself in the mirror I was shocked at how bad I looked.

There were dark purple bruises under my eye and on my swollen lip. My skin was bright red and there were places on my shoulders, back, and nose that had blistered from the sun. Because of the way the housecoat had been hanging, my forearms, butt, and the backs of my thighs were white but everything else was red. My neck, wrists, ankles, and knees were scraped up. I had greenish purple bruises on my calves, thighs, and stomach. The ant bites on my face were red and swollen. I didn't remove the bandages on the claw marks to see how they were looking. I was sure it was going to be pretty bad.

I went into Edward's closet and pulled out a pair of his sweatpants. Apparently my clothes hadn't made it to the house yet and I didn't feel like wearing the jeans I wore home from the hospital. They were a little rough on the front of my sunburned legs.

After tying the sweatpants, I had to roll the waistband a few times so they would stay on. They were actually quite comfortable. I pulled on the softest t-shirt I could find and a pair of his socks that fit me like knee highs. I brushed my hair carefully so I wouldn't pull the stitches and left it down.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Edward said softly as he tapped on the door to the bathroom.

I opened the door and said, "I'm fine. I was just getting dressed so I could help."

His green eyes sparkled as he looked me up and down with a sexy half smile. "I think I like you in my clothes. You make them look so… hot." He kissed me softly.

"Edward, there is nothing hot about me right now. I look like hell!"

He gently ran his fingers up my back, "You're not wearing a bra. He whispered in my ear before kissing my earlobe.

"Because my nipples are sunburned and my shoulders are blistered." I turned and gave him a stern look, "Edward, you don't have to pretend to think I'm sexy just to make me feel better. I know I look like shit right now. I will be back to normal soon."

He stopped my ranting with a kiss as and placed my hand on the bulge in the front of his jeans. "I'm not pretending, Bella. I really do think you look hot in my clothes. I miss you." He held me gently and said, "Hopefully you will start feeling better soon so I can show you just how much." Have I mentioned that I love this man? Well I definitely do!

When we came out of the room Jasper and Garrett were carrying my bed in and taking it to the guest room while Alice and Kate were unpacking my kitchen stuff. "Edward," Alice said, "You have two toasters now. Are you planning on keeping both of them or donating one to charity?"

Edward looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. I turned to Alice and said, "Most of my stuff was hand me downs so you can donate any of my duplicates except my mixer. I love that mixer and will break the fingers of anyone that tries to make me part with it." Everyone started laughing. If they only knew how attached I was to that old KitchenAid they would be quivering in fear!

Edward leaned down to my ear and said, "I feel the same way about my Bunn coffee maker so I'm glad you're not too attached to yours."

Having everyone help out was a lifesaver. We were able to get everything moved and mostly unpacked in one day. I guess it also helped that I didn't have that much stuff. My bedroom furniture was set up in the guest room. My comfortable living room furniture was set up in the media room. My little dinette set was put in the garage to donate, along with some of my small appliances and some old clothes. Kate and Garrett bought my washer and dryer. They were finally moving into an apartment together. They compromised and found a place that was half way between his work and hers. We were all happy to hear that they worked things out. It's about damn time!

Dad came by the next day to check out the house. I think he was a little impressed, but it's kind of hard to tell with him sometimes. He grilled Edward about how he could afford a nice car and a house like that with only one teacher's salary. I thought Edward was going to be offended by my Dad's insinuations but he wasn't. He went in the office and pulled out some paperwork and handed it to Charlie. What ever it was, it made Charlie almost choke on his beer.

"Damn, Edward! You shouldn't spring something like that on a man just after he takes a drink! You really should make them sit down and take away anything they could break or spill for Christ's sake!" Dad looked at the paperwork again and said, "And it wouldn't hurt to have an ambulance on stand-by!"

Edward just laughed. "Sorry, Charlie, I'll be more careful next time." He took the papers back into the office. Dad looked stunned. I was curious about what Edward showed him but I didn't want to discuss it in front of my Dad. When Edward came back into the living room he asked if we wanted to order pizza.

Dad said, "Sure, but you're buying!"

Later that evening, Edward pulled the papers back out and sat down with me to discuss our financial situation. Apparently Edward had quite a large inheritance that he received in quarterly payments. Since he wasn't going to be wasting his money at Heidi's anymore, we would have plenty of money to put down on a new car for me.

Within a couple of weeks, Edward and I settled into a comfortable routine. We woke up and I snoozed while he took a shower. He cooked breakfast while I was showering. By the time I was dressed and ready, Jasper was at the house. The three of us would eat breakfast together and then pile into Edward's Volvo to head to work.

All the excitement had finally died down and people weren't just stopping in the library to see if I was ok anymore. A newspaper reporter came to the school to interview me for the local paper. He was shivering in the library so we ended up having to do the interview in the hall. He commented in his article that he suspected that the only reason I didn't freeze to death outside while being held in captivity was because I had grown accustomed to working in an arctic environment since the school library had no heat. I think that was what it took to finally get the school district to decide that they would work on the heating problem over the summer. Thank God!

Jake stopped by on the evening of April 1st. "Happy April Fools Day!" he said as Edward opened the door. "I am running a fool's errand. Is Bella around?"

"Sure Jake, come on in." Edward led Jake into the kitchen where I was working on dinner.

"Hey, Jake, what are you doing here? Are you staying for dinner?"

"No, I was just up at the hospital visiting Paul and he asked me to bring you this." He pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and sat it on the kitchen counter. "You don't have to read it if you don't want. Now that he's back on his meds and thinking a little more clearly, his doctors have been talking to him about what he did to you. I think they finally realize how serious his condition is. Anyway, he asked me if I would give this to you and I told him I would."

Edward picked up the paper and looked at it then folded it back up and sat it on the counter while I went back to cooking. "Thanks, Jake. I'll look at it later." I said, "Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? We are having stir-fry."

He scrunched up his nose and said, "Do you think I got this body eating like a rabbit? I need some meat!" He posed like a body builder.

"Ooooh, mister muscle man, you're so strong!" I teased

"You know it, baby! Besides, I already have plans. I am meeting some friends for a few beers, so I had better get going." He gave me a hug and Edward walked him out.

After dinner, Edward put the dishes in the sink and brought the piece of paper to me. "Here. I think you should read it." I tried to prepare myself for the worst, took a deep breath, and then opened the letter.

Dear Bella,

They say that I took you and tied you up and hit you and made you cold. I don't know why I would have done that. You were just a little girl that played with us sometimes. You were one of those outsider kids that didn't live with my people but came around a lot. I never had any mean thoughts of you or anything. I can't believe that I would have hurt you on purpose. The last time I remember seeing you we were only 13 years old.

Jake helped me remember seeing a woman in Seattle. I remember her being my girlfriend but Jake says she wasn't. My mind says she loved me but they kept her locked away, like a wild animal at the zoo. I remember thinking that she needed to be rescued and trained how to not be a wild animal. I don't know. It's all mixed up in my head. Jake says that the woman was you, but I swear it wasn't but sometimes I get confused.

I hope that you are ok and that you are warm and that you are free. If I did it, I'm sorry!

Paul

A/N: Happy Tuesday!!! Ok, I am sniffling a little. They found Bella and she is safe. Paul is completely insane and it kind of breaks my heart a little that he seems so broken. He did some fucked up things but he though he was trying to save her and make her better.

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A special thanks to NoWayWithWords for being my ever faithful Beta and concert buddy. Muse rocked! Next up, Blue October!!!! (Give me a minute while I do my little happy dance… Ok, I'm back now.) She is the best! She has come such a long way in such a short time. All this time, she has been telling me that she could never write because she has no imagination. Boy has she proven herself wrong. Her first multi-chapter story is currently being posted. She updates on Thursdays. It is fantastic. It is called My Imaginary Friend. Now it's my turn to be her beta. (He-he-he!) Vicki, I know you are reading this… Don't you think you have a story to work on? Your fans are waiting!