Welcome back to Chapter 12 of: Missing Person.
Thank you to those of you who have reviewed.
Thank you to those of you who have put me on their favourites/alerts list.
Edward's POV this time.
Bella's explanation.
* You'll hate Emmett! *

-Chapter 12-

Edward's POV

"Bella," I breathed, as I took in her beauty.

It had been nearly ten minutes since Alice left the room and we just stared at each other in complete and utter silence. It was a comfortable silence, not one to become awkward. It was as if we took our time to admire each other's presence. To really look at each other - not just at our appearance, but our personalities... if that makes any sense.

"Edward," She smiled weakly. And for a second I saw a glint of fear and guilt in her eyes but was quickly replaced with happyness and joy.

"I...I can't-t believ-ve you-you're here-re," I tried to chuckled lightly, but it came out in a rough cough.

"I've made so many mistakes," She confessed, laying her head in between her hands.

She couldn't possibly be blaming herself for everything that happened! She didn't choose to be kidnapped and held against her will. She knew that if she refused to do as she was told, something bad would happen. But I could see... with the bruises on her arms and the red marks on her face that she did fight for her innocence.

"It's-s not-t yo-you're f-fault-t," I tried to comfort her, this stupid stutter was really getting in the way of my real emotion. It made me sound like a freak.

"I'm just happy I didn't give in. That I actually fought long enough for them to find me," She laughed a little, and I can see that she was happy for one thing.

"B-Bella," I tried to reach out to her. She flinched away and quickly got off the stool to pace in front of the foot of my bed. She had her arms hugging her body like she was just violated. She was staring down blankly at the floor, traumatized. And she kept gnawing at her lip like she was unsure of something.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment and took sharp breath of air before staring straight into my eyes like she never has before. It felt like she was peeking into my soul. As if she really, really knew who I was. It was as if... she were me.

"It's about time I tell you what happened." I noticed her fists clench tightly before loosely falling to her sides.

"You d-don't..."

"I have to." She interrupted me. "Let me start from the very beginning."

She pinched the bridge of her nose; she picked up at that habit from me. Her eyes started to moisten but I could see that she was fighting it.

"I was just going to go to Jessica's pool party for ten minutes. I was going to say hi, pass through and then walk the rest of my way to your house like I always do on Saturday evenings. Well, I didn't really say good bye to anyone when I left so I kind of 'disappeared'," She air quoted. "as some people would have put it. And... I was near your street when a dark SUV pulled up next to me, matching my pace. My instincts told me to run and knock on the nearest door I could find - to safety - but there weren't any houses close by. And knowing how clumsy I can be, I knew I couldn't run away. But I tried. I tried to run as fast as I could but I tripped over my stupid feet. And the big guy, his name is Emmett, laughed at my attempt. I was mortified, embarrassed and scared. I didn't know why he was stalking me or why he was following me, but I knew that he wouldn't leave me alone.

I got up and tried to run away again, but he jumped out of his car and grabbed me by my arms. I tried to struggle away from his grasp but he was too strong. And you've seen him," I nodded at her remark. "he's too big. He can knock out a bull in one blow... and that's exactly what I felt like when he took a blow on me. When I wouldn't stop screaming for help, he punched me right in the gut, knocking the air right out of my lungs." At this point, I was fuming. And my heart monotor was running wild. Bella ran to my side and held on to my hand and clutched it tight. She wasn't looking at me directly, but she could see me.

"He threw me in the back seat of his car and drove to that disgusting place of a whorehouse. He dumped me in that room that you and I were in when you tried to rescue me. I was stuck in that room for a day with no food or water. I cried myself to sleep that first night. But the following days after that, this guy named Jasper would always come in with some food or something to drink for me. He tried to help me escape. I didn't know what his deal was, but Emmett told me to call him Boss. He said if I didn't call him Boss, I would get beaten up. I called him Boss, because I figured that was my easiest way of avoiding another beating.

Boss took better care of me then he did with any of the other women there. Emmett came in daily with some food for me, like he did with the other women, but Jasper gave me more. He never really talked to me, but he showed sympathy and he really wanted me to escape. He said it was a dangerous place and that a girl like me shouldn't be here. He said none of us had to go through with this. But I knew that he was only saying that to calm my nerves down. To calm me down until... until they wanted to use me!" She yelled. She let go of my hand and started to thrash her head on my bed, causing me to feel a little startled.

"One night, Emmett told me that it was time for me to get some excercise. To 'get in shape'. So, every night from then on, which was roughly a week or two after they abducted me, they started letting me go out on midnight walks outskirts of town. They figured that people were only searching for me inside the little town of Forks. Emmett said that the police there were oblivious. I was mad that he called my dad that, indirectly, but I was still mad either way. He... he was so rude! So abusive! So mean, vile, cruel, vain and immoral! He was so full of himself and I hated him. I hated Emmett McCarthy. I hated that bastard. He was so bossy and so demeaning to women. Especially to the younger ones." Her eyes were on fire. She was burning with hate. I stayed silent and frozen, mesmirizing the scenery that played in my mind as she told me her story.

"Another afternoon, I was let out of my room, finally. They said I can roam around the building. But I wasn't allowed to go outside without Emmett or Boss because I wasn't 'skilled' or 'trained' or however they put it. Then... I ran into a sweet girl.

Her name is Lily. I don't know if she's still alive right now, considering how Emmett treated her. She was like his personally ragdoll or punching bag. She was constantly being abused but she kept a brave face. She would always tell me that one day, she would be free from this mess and that she can finally live a happy life. And instead of... of pleasing other, she would finally be able to please herself, in a non-sexual way." Bella let a smile tug the corners of her lips before fully ingulfing her face in a sweet, content smile. She was smiling at a good memory she had in an awful place.

"Lily told me she was to have children of her own some day. That she wanted a husband who would love her not only for her abilities... but for personality. She wanted to live in Malibu in a summer beach house... Lily had wonderful dreams. And I could only imagine how a sweet, beautiful girl like her could end up in such a horrible place. She told me everyone there ended up there the same way I did - abduction. I wanted to scream! I was so mad at the world. How can the most sweetest people in the world be tortured so harshly?!" Bella started to form tears in her eyes as she relived the memory in her mind. I could only imagine the pain she was in.

"Then... then that night, I found some sort of room. It was unlocked for the first time and everytime I passed it in the hallways, it was always barred off with some padlock or a chain. But this time, it was left open, just a crack. And you know me, with my curious mind, I waltzed right in and checked the place out. In the room, I found tens of monitors. So many of them lining up against the wall. All of them showing me a different picture. All of them were showing a room with a bed... and I knew exactly what that meant. I knew what this room was for. Whoever used this room monitored everything that the women here do to please their clients. And, you might ask why I used to word 'clients' instead of something else, but I can tell you is that I found out that these women were prostitutes. Highly paid ones, at that. That disgusting motel was used for a 'high-end' whorehouse. And I realized at the same time, that this was my destiny. That one of these days, I will be watched from a cheap monitor. That I will be used and then dumped. I was just some bank machine to them. They didn't really care about me. Not even Jasper. He pretended... I still can't believe someone so angelic was so immoral. So... disgusting." She shivered in disgust. I watched her in fascination as she described her tail in such detail. OI was truly suprised at how much she had to go through before being found.

"Then, that night when you found me wandering the empty highway, I thought someone had shot me with a silenced pistol or something because no way could the person I loved most in the entire world could have found me. That only happened in the movies. But I was wrong, like I had been many other times. You were really there, waiting for me to run away with you and into safety. But I warned you that I couldn't leave. Because they were watching... they were always watching. Even when I'm sleeping. Even in the goddamn shower, for Christ's Sake's! They were perverted, so gross. I felt so unclean. So... I can't describe it. I was violated." She took my face in between her hands and stared at me tenderly.

"When he knocked your car down that hill, I lost it." Her lips were so close to touching mine and I ached to kiss her, but resisted. "I tucked and rolled out the door to save you. To make sure that you were all right." Her lips brushed over mine, as if she wanted to kiss me but couldn't.

"But he swung me over his shoulder and threw me back into his car!" She growled then pulled away, there was an emptyness in me at that moment. "I begged him to take you with me. But he refused. And when I mentioned that someone else could find you and report you, then he agreed instantly. I was overjoyed. I thought I would never see you again. Then... you know the rest."

"B-Bella..." I sat up straight, and she rushed to my side in a hurry.

"Edward, you shouldn't move." Her tone changed from grief to worry.

Without worrying about the IV's attached to my arm, I ripped them away and grabbed Bella by the sides of her face. She tried to restrain against my touch, worrying about the IVs when I shook my head, dismissing her worry. She stood still and closed her eyes.

"B-Bella, I l-love you-ou," I whispered, before brushing my lips ever so gently over hers. Then I pressed my lips on hers with a little more force. Beneath my lips, hers were warm and soft. I felt a shock of electricity go through my body before Bella returned the kissed. I could feel her press up against me and wrap her arms around my neck.

At this time, the monitor was beeping wildly but I couldn't care less. And apparently, neither could Bella.

I pulled away, gasping for air, and she looked down shamefully.

"I-I'm so-o s-sorry!" I apologized.

"For what? Giving me what I had wanted for the past three years?" She smiled, completely forgetting her huge monologue.

"I..." I sighed, my voice a little sleepy.

"Go to sleep," Were the last words I heard from her before I let the darkness come over me.