Chapter Nine- Time's Up

Bella's Point of View.

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I knew exactly who to expect as I turned around. I gasped as our eyed met, his were mere slits as he glared at me, obviously unhappy with my sudden move towards the door or the sets of eyes now upon us. But this wasn't what had caused me to gasp.

This man was one of the five men who had been sitting at the back corner table. One of the men who had cornered me in the alleyway those few years ago. And one of the men now staring at me. Panic swept through my body in waves, causing my body to involuntarily shiver.

"Now, now" I heard him murmur.

I was shocked to hear him speak, his voice rough and unpleasant. He glared at me intently, his mouth torn and twisted into an forced smile. His grubby hand still had a firm hold of my shoulder, his nails leaving deep marks. As I looked past him, I saw the other men rise slowly and push their chairs in. I froze, my body tensing as if preparing for a confrontation right there in the cafe.

"You'll come with us, won't you." He said more quietly, now. It wasn't a question.

I knew that I should struggle, put up some sort of fight, anything to draw more attention towards myself here in the crowded cafe. I tried moving my locked muscles, twisting feebly to the side in an attempt to rid my shoulder of his uncomfortable grip. In response to my movement, his hand tightened more forcefully on my shoulder. I felt the familiar sensation of tears welling up in my eyes as the pain became more intense and shot threw my arm in a series of unpleasant shocks.

My attempts were useless and I knew it.

I was even more bewildered to see that all the pairs of eyes I had attracted before had now shifted from me.

"That's better" He said in a smug voice.

I felt his other hand push roughly against my back and I was suddenly being propelled out the front door. As we reached the sidewalk just outside the shop, I twisted, trying to remove his rough grip on my shoulder. His hand only tightened, causing my already abused shoulder to ache in protest. Many pedestrians swarmed the streets, paying us as little attention as they would any other person. To them, this was a harmless confrontation. Nothing to spare any fret over. Great. Just great.

"Let go!" I mumbled. I had meant to lather my voice in authority and control. However, what came out was only a mumbling gurgle as his black eyes fixed themselves on me yet again, silencing my protests.

"Now now" He murmured huskily, a smirk spreading across his face. He raised a finger and wagged it patronizingly at me. "We wouldn't want to create a scene here in front of all these people, now, would we?"

I opened my mouth to scream, something I should have done long before this moment. I felt my voice build in my chest and I opened my mouth to let it out. Someone would definitely hear and notice me. I would make sure of that. Not a second after the sound erupted from my chest had a dirty hand clapped down on my mouth and silenced it.

The other four men made their way to the counter at the front of the room where the friendly women stood smiling warmly at them, unaware of the events taking place right in front of her very eyes. I watched them through the front window, one of his hands still gripping my shoulder while the other covered my mouth.

I was frozen in place. I should have tried yelling for help once more, should have caused some kind of scene to draw attention to myself. However, my lips wouldn't move. They couldn't even if they were able to. I just stood their, my eyes wide with horror as they walked towards us.

I was trapped, helpless and incapable of escaping.

A deer caught in headlights.

"Look who I ran into" He said as they neared, removing his hand from my mouth. I felt his body relax beside me. However, pray as I might, he never removed his hand from its uncomfortable grip on my shoulder. I could feel my muscles ache in protest.

" 'ello toots" One of the larger men said, smiling widely in anticipation. The others snickered as they met my eyes and saw the expression on my face.

I felt a uncomfortably familiar hand push me forward and I unwillingly complied, forcing my legs to unlock one painful step at a time. The others began to walk just in front of us, each casually talking with one another as if they were just out for a nice walk in the city.

I should have been worried for my life - scared because I knew that I most likely had only a few hours to live. But all I could think of was Edward. I would never see his face again. Not even to say goodbye. I would not see him flash the crooked smile that made my heart skip a beat or hear his velvet smooth voice as he sang me to sleep. Never again.

We walked for several blocks, the five men talking in hushed voices. Every so often, one of them would peer at me from the corner of his eye and smile as my fearful gaze met one of theirs. Every time, I cringed. They were toying with me.

Only once did I muster up enough strength to try to escape their grasps. And as I had predicted, I failed miserably. I had opened my mouth to scream, intent on forcing someone to stop and help me. However, nothing happened. The plea had stuck in my throat, unable to surface. My fear was choking it back, making it impossible for any noise to come forth.

I tried again and this time, succeeded. However, the same awkward gargling noise escaped my lips. It was hardly even audible.

As we walked, the buildings became smaller and shabbier, not nearly as nice as the shops Alice had forced me into earlier. Each building has a shabby, almost abandoned look to it and a familiar sense of deja vu lingered as the we advanced further and further into this unfamiliar neighborhood.

The tall man who had grabbed me before, guided me towards an alleyway, pushing on my back forcefully whenever I stumbled over a crack in the cement or a dip in the road.

I knew that my time was drawing closer to being up. It was as if a timer had been activated and was suddenly counting down the minutes that I had left. And from the looks of things, I knew I did not have much time.

Why couldn't I be like every other girl? Why did I have to be the odd one out, the freak? Why did danger always find me, even in those most unlikely of circumstance?

Question after question seemed to pour into my head, filling my thoughts with remorse.

It was as if I was reliving that moment in Port Angeles all over again...only now, there would be no escape. I was cornered. There would be no knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet and carry me to safety. Not this time.

I felt the familiar tears well up and spill over as I was forced forwards toward the alleyway, the men whispering to one another in anticipation.

Time was almost up.

I had let Edward down.

I could picture him as he enters the cafe, smiling that breathtaking smile of his, he searched for my eyes. I wouldn't be able to see me because of the too-full cafe, but that would not stop him. He would be able to smell me and that would be enough. That would guide him. He would rush towards me, gliding easily through the tiny crowded cafe only to stop at the table where my scent was most distinct and find the chair I should have been sitting in, empty.

But maybe it was better this way. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to accept my death. After all, he had wanted me to stay human. It was what he wanted, wasn't it? For me to live a human life? Surely he understood that taking the path of mortality eventually lead to death. Death was inevitable if you were human. And it seemed that was that much more inevitable for me. I was especially danger prone. It seemed that even fate itself was against me. Maybe it was better to let it take it's course. Had we not agreed that we were both fighting fate? That each time Edward saved me, he was fighting off the inevitable?

More tears filed my eyes, brimming over the edge and spilling down my reddened cheeks as I realized that this was it. The timer that I had felt ticking away, counting each second, was finally coming to a stop.

I was out of time.

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Author's Note: Next chapter, coming soon!
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