I don't own Twilight.

8. Love of my life

EPOV

Bella was shaking and I could see the tears and hear her screams. She was calling for me. A guy came up behind her and brought the gun down on her head. Of course. They would want her alive. They needed something from her, didn't they? I watched in silence from the floor. The blow on my shoulder wasn't that bad. I had to pretend that I couldn't move or else they would have killed me. I heard more voices. They were so loud.

A man scooped Bella up and another pushed a gun to her back. I shuddered. The bullet in my leg was hurting real bad but at the moment my mind was on the pain of the love of my life. The entire group left. All of them. They didn't even look at me. I slowly, very slowly sat up and propped myself up on the wall. The pain was getting to me now.

"…..doubt she will live" a voice floated back from the passage.

"….we are dead, if she dies. She has the key."

I shivered. The very thought of seeing Bella pale, lifeless, no blush coloring her cheeks was nightmarish. I wouldn't be able to survive that.

"Mr….?" a woman's voice passed out from somewhere to my right. I slowly turned to the direction from which it came.

"Excuse me? Are you here?" she said again. Her voice was soft at the same time it was stern.

"Here." I said softly, my voice failing me. A flashlight shined at me. I shielded my eyes from the glare. I couldn't make out the person to whom the voice belonged. The voice was gentle and I knew that she was here to help me.

"Oh my god!" she cried before rushing to my side and pulling the leg of my jeans up. I stifled a yell. The pain was now too much. She slowly and efficiently started cleaning the wound. The bullet was there. I could feel it. How could I not? She looked up and I saw that her face had a gaunt look to it. She was really skinny.

"I am Kate." She said softly.

"Edward… I managed. I had my eyes closed now. I heard something rip and suddenly she was done.

"Edward. You have to get out. Tyler is waiting." She said pulling at my uninjured arm.

"Bella..?" I asked not quite realizing what was happening.

"They will kill you too. You can't go in there!" she pleaded, her eyes never leaving mine. I felt a shock go through me when she said 'too'.

"Bella's dead?" I asked silently.

She nodded softly, her eyes tender. I turned around. Bella was…..dead. She was gone. Forever.

I felt my heart wrench. This pain was more than my bullet wound. It was not pain. It was something more. I was hollow. They said that if someone you love dies a part of you goes with them. But it was not true. At least not for me. Bella had taken me from me. I wasn't there. I was with her, wherever she was. The emotions I felt were overwhelming. I sank to the ground, my legs not supporting me. The dimly lit passage would be my last memory of her.

"I want him dead." I said emotionlessly.

Kate's eyes widened. She stared at me in surprise.

"You have no idea what you are saying. He'll kill you." She said her eyes clouding.

"I loved her. I love her. I will always love her. He is responsible for her death. I want to kill him. If I don't its fine. At least I won't have to feel guilty that I never tried."

I saw tears in her eyes.

I was sure she was going to protest. She opened her mouth and what came out was quite different.

"There is a passage down by 882. You can go directly into the main room." She said. I stared at her in shock.

"Tyler doesn't know about that." I stated.

"I wasn't supposed to tell him. But in this case….I have no choice. Go now. They will come back for you. I am sure of that. They won't want you to die so calmly. They will ensure you die by torture and you have to leave before that." She said before turning and leaving.

I sighed. Her face flashed before me again. The pain was now my strength. It gave me the energy and the will to continue. To avenge her death.

I limped slowly towards the room marked 882- 07A. It had a wooden door. I had been expecting more metal. Just as she had said there was a trap door on top. It was just about my height. I stretched my arms above me, my wounded shoulder protested but I knew I had to do it. I pulled myself into the small passage. It was cold but not musty. I couldn't even sit straight in it. I had to crawl. It was almost like a vent only larger.

I started off on my hands and knees.

For my Bella.

JPOV (James)

I stared at her beautiful face. Her eyes were of course shut. The cut on her head had been sewn up by a professional, the guy who did the sewing up for dead people after post mortems and stuff. Neil had told me that he hadn't meant to kill her. Of course that was what everyone would say. I had maybe been too harsh on him. His blood was still spattered on the door.

I made a mental note to get someone to clean it up. It wasn't very comfy when you had someone's blood on your door.

I watched Bella. Her chest rose and fell. Her pulse was there. Only it was feeble. Her entire dress was drenched in blood. That somehow only made me feel more attracted to her.

Even when I was young I had been attracted to blood. Blood was beautiful. Whenever I got hurt I would never allow my mother to clean the blood up. I would sit and watch it until my father slapped me and told me to behave normally.

Somehow when I watched Bella I could feel myself forgetting my past. I didn't love her. I just seemed to become numb with her there.

"Isabella….you look…luscious. I wish you could have been awake to see me. To tell me my key." I said before getting up and stalking out of the room. This place was nicknamed the 'Torture Chamber'. It was a wonderful place. The screams, the pain, the pleading.

Only last week a woman had been in the room.

Flashback

"Please! Don't hurt me. I'll do anything! Please let me live!

She had been pretty but much too whiny.

Alec had brought the blinds down and I could hear all the screams of pain. Her cries for mercy. Finally she had pleaded to let her die.

The screams had stopped then. Alec never refused grant the wish for death.

End Flashback

I slowly slid into my seat. The place was cold. I leaned back and replayed the vision in my eyes.

EPOV

I closed my eyes shielding them from the glare. The lights were shining brightly from below me.

The moment I had entered the lighted area I had heard voice, very loud voices. For a minute I had thought that I had been discovered. But it turned out that the voices had come from the room below me. I moved again. It had been almost twenty five minutes. My back was hurting and so was my leg. But I had forced myself to keep moving. Something kept telling me that Bella was alive.

"….I am supposed to do 766 today. A woman. They are much better then men. They beg for mercy and that is fun." A hoarse male voice floated up to me. I shuddered. They were all as cold blooded as they could be. The door opened and a guy wearing a bloodstained coat entered. I gagged. The coat wasn't just bloodstained, it was covered in blood. The guy who entered seemed pleased with himself.

"How was it?"

"Great. Easy actually. The guy asked for death before I even got started. I couldn't do that could I?" he sneered. The other monsters laughed along with him.

They were all inhuman.

"I am scheduled to attend 212." A guy said loudly. His voice showed that he was proud of it. There were many hoots and whistles.

"That is James' room isn't it? Who is there?" a guy at the back asked.

"A brunette. She is barely alive. I just saw her now. She is almost dead. I guess it won't be much of the usual considering she is almost dead. But doing that in James' room is an honor." He said pompously.

I felt my heart speed up. She was alive! Not too much. But enough. If I could get there in time I could save her. I continued on my way. Bella, love, I am coming.

….

The long passage finally came to an end. I pushed open the trapdoor slightly. I could peek out now through the crack. There was no light and no noise. I pushed it open fully and slid out. The smell here was of chlorine and bleach. I saw no one. The passage was dimly lit. I was getting used to this sort of lighting now. I looked to the right and saw a room marked 299.

I looked to the left and saw 296. I knew where I had to go but I was still nervous. I had no weapons, nothing. I had to get a decent gun if I wanted to face James.

I slowly pushed myself against a wall when I heard the sound of boots on the tiled floor. The guy who entered was burly but I knew I could take him on. I needed a gun after all. The moment he passed I lunged.

Within minutes he was knocked out flat on the floor. I noticed that he was wearing a uniform, the same one that the guys who had almost killed Bella were wearing.

…

I was done and ready. The big guy was in one of the storage units in his undergarments. I pulled at the bottom of the big shirt to make it look like it was meant for me. It wasn't very comfortable but comfort wasn't exactly what I wanted now. I had a gun, a very good one that, a pass key into any room and a uniform.

I was careful now. There were more people in this corner of the…..torture chamber. All of them had uniforms or coats. It actually looked like a hospital wing.

"Hello there!" a big guy said slapping me on the back. I stumbled.

"Uh….right….hullo." I said trying to keep cool.

"You new here?" he asked his eyes still searching.

"Yeah. I am supposed to do 212" I said swiftly.

His eyes widened. "You know whose room that is?" he asked looking awed. I shook my head. I couldn't know that. Better play along.

"That is James' room. If you make a mistake you are dead, like today Neil got his brains blown out." He said grinning. I gagged. This was harder than I thought.

"That's wonderful." I said trying to sound like I was enjoying the guy's gruesome demise. His eyes widened.

"You are some loon. Guess James loves them the best." He mumbled before leaving me alone. I stared after him. At least he had given me something for my non existent plan. The game was here. Either I got Bella or I got my brains blown out. Both were equally bad because Bella was unconscious.

I set off again. This time I was careful. Nobody bothered with me.

…..

I was finally there. I stared at the gigantic door I was standing in front of. The people in the passage were giving me awed looks. I tried to keep my cool. The card in my hand slid into the slot and I heard a click. The door swung open.

This place was going to be the death of me. I mean it literally. The moment the door opened I was faced by a large room. There were many rooms in one huge room. I now had to find out where Bella was. This was going to be tough.

The door swung shut behind me and I locked it.

There were just too many rooms. I took a deep breath and opened the one on the left. Empty. I repeated the same procedure with many others. The same results. Empty. Where was Bella? Was I too late? That thought made my blood go cold. I went back to my thorough search. Finally there was only one room left. It was the main room. I was sure that she was there. She had to be. I walked over to it. The doors opened. I froze. Oh my GOD!

A man walked out. He was not bloodied. I stared as he took me in. His eyes were scrutinizing me.

"You are Laurent I presume?" he asked coldly.

I nodded. Whatever he said.

"You're early."

"I…..well…had nothing to do. I guess if I was early I could make all kinds of plans to….end her." I said whispering at the end. He didn't seem to mind. He smiled at me all the coldness had vanished.

"That's the spirit. You'd better go. It is wonderful meeting such spirited people." He said before leaving me alone.

I turned my eyes to the room in front.

The sight there brought my breathing to a halt. She was on the table. It looked like an operation theatre. The room was clean. But the girl inside wasn't. My Bella was covered in blood. Her hair alone was free from any contamination. I slowly stepped into the room. I knew I had to.

…..

"Bella. Love wake up." I whispered. I was standing so close. Her breathing rose a little. I continued with my gentle words or so I thought. She didn't wake up. I called again, loudly this time, her body twitched. I slowly touched her forehead and traced down to her lips. I felt like an idiot but I had to kiss her. Then and there. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. She didn't move. I was about to pull back when her arm came around me holding me to her. I could have laughed with joy. I felt like the prince in sleeping beauty.

"Edward?" she asked silently. Her eyes held mine. I nodded wordlessly. If I talked I would lose my control and start crying.

"Edward what happened? Everything is so blurry. I missed you." She added smiling a little. My eyes tightened. She was still on the table and I was almost on her. If anyone walked in there would be a big problem. I walked over to the cupboard and opened it praying for a uniform. It was there. A smaller size but it would fit Bella.

"Bella put this on." I said throwing it to her. She got up slowly and started stripping. I tried to keep my eyes off her but I just couldn't. I pulled her to me and kissed her. I had gone without that for a long time. She blushed. Oh…right…..no clothes. I gave her sheepish smile before letting her go.

"I love you Bella." I whispered as we exited the room. She was still not steady on her feet.

"I love you too Edward." She said and that gave me my strength.

"Come on."

She walked beside me.

"Well well well. What do we have here?" a rough voice asked from behind us. We whirled around.

A blond guy was standing there with his revolver. I looked at his casual stance and his evil smile and I knew who this was.

"James." She said coldly.

"Nice to meet you too" he said looking at Bella. I looked back and saw nearly ten people pointing their guns at us.

He raised his revolver and I pulled Bella into my side and planted a kiss on her temple.

"I love you Bella." I whispered. She looked at me with fear in her eyes.

"I love you too."

James watched our exchange with interest.

I turned back to him. My eyes were hard. He raised his revolver. I shut my eyes and I felt Bella go rigid.

At least I was going to die with the love of my life. I smiled slightly. She was her with me. I would love her always.

My Bella.

The trigger was pulled.

The shot was deafening.

The end had come.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks to all who reviewed. I promise I will reply to every reply from now on. I had no time until now. So when you read this don't let your mind go into overdrive. Live in the moment.

READ THIS!

1. Kate is Tyler's girlfriend. She is just doing him a favor.

2. All this is happening in a supposed-to-be uninhabited place.

3. Yeah James is mad. I guess I don't want him to be inbuilt with evil. He is just mad, crazy, psychologically affected, use whatever you want but you know what I mean right?

Thanks for reading this. Please please please review.