Title: The Art of Online Dating
Chapter 15: Across the World with No Return?
Rating: M
Summary: Bella and Alice have decided to try eHarmony just before going off to college. Will they find Mr. Right? Follow their adventures as they meet some handsome men online and discover what love is, and isn't.
Type: AH AU OOC; Pairing: Bella/Edward, Other Canon Pairings.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They all belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I also do not own any songs or websites mentioned. They belong to their respective owners.
A/N: I feel so bad, you have no idea. If you care what happened to me this summer a.k.a. Summer of Hell or feel the need for an explanation, check out my profile page for a link to my blog at the top. While you're there, vote on the poll just above that link on my profile page. Also, make sure you check out the bottom AN so you can see what you need to vote on for next chapter. If you pick the one I already started, the chapter will be out much sooner than if you don't. So choose wisely! :P Btw, you guys took that last chapter surprisingly well, so let's see what's happening with dear Bella, since she's been Bellanapped lol. :D
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I saw now that there was a recorder on the table playing voices for invisible people. They had tricked me. I knew I should've checked up on the business, but it was too late now. They had me right where they wanted me.
Something didn't make sense, however. Why didn't they want me and not Alice? Wasn't Alice the one that got away from him?
What was I supposed to do now? Even if I screamed, I couldn't be heard this far up with windows closed tight. I was tied to one of the multiple chairs in the room. As soon as I had been secured, they had walked away to plot, or something, I wasn't sure.
They were circling around a table filled with objects I couldn't see, while I tried to think of all my options. Screaming was pointless, running wasn't possible, and just sitting here could be a very bad outcome. Edward, Alice, and the rest wouldn't even realize I was gone until it may very well be too late.
That's when it hit me. What were these two planning to do once I wasn't home at a decent hour? Everyone knew where I was and even if they moved me, Alice, or any one of my friends would call my dad, since he's a sheriff, albeit of Forks.
Unfortunately, they seemed to have it covered. They had gotten onto a cell phone and were talking to a woman that seemed to be in on their plan.
They turned on the speaker, so I could hear everything they were doing to take the proper precautions that many careless criminals did not think to take.
"Hello Maria," Victoria said, in an abnormally high voice that did not match her.
"I take it you need another favor for this plan of yours?" a woman's voice responded.
It dawned on me that this Maria and e-mail Maria, must be one in the same. Did she even work at the school or had she somehow created the e-mail? For all I knew, she could be just another student, thanks to the fact the student and teacher e-mails were in the same format for school.
"How smart you are. This is why we asked for your help in the first place."
"Think you could send Miss Swan's household an official school message from Danser saying we will be keeping her for the three days in a company suite with work attire?" James asked in a persuasive voice.
"Ahh, of course. No problem at all. Is that it?"
"For now. Goodbye," Victoria said, before clicking the phone off.
So this was it. They were probably going to kill me and no one would even know. James made his way back over to the table for a moment before he came back over to me. There was a video camera in his hand and a Canon around his neck.
"Well aren't you a pretty specimen? I knew it was good to bring my baby." He stroked the lens of his Canon.
Alice had told me about his "wall of women," he had apparently kept as prey of stalking...or of much worse.
"Edward will know something is wrong. He knows I would always text him back. He'll be able to tell the difference between you and me," I said, sounding more confident than I actually felt.
"We'll just have to see then." He stepped back and placed the video camera next to him on the main table.
His Canon was now aimed at me, as I heard random clicks of the lens and watched as his hand made zoom adjustments. I tried to mess up the shots by moving around as much as I could, but he seemed to enjoy the challenge even more. I settled on staring at my feet, so there was only my hair visible. I hadn't noticed he had finished until I heard Victoria speak.
"Stop fooling around and do what you should be doing." Her voice was growing increasingly more annoying.
His feet appeared in my line of vision. He roughly lifted my chin up to make me look at him. The video camera was now in his hand and recording, by the look of the red light.
"You know, Bella, I've been watching you. Waiting for this moment. You and that dumb oaf took Alice away from me. Edward took someone away from my girl. It's time for payback. You'll be able to see how Edward is doing without you, when we move you. There are cameras on his house and yours."
I couldn't, no, wouldn't believe what he was saying. How could Edward have done anything to Victoria? I still didn't understand why I was the one here, though. I looked away from the camera, though James continued to film around me and go on talking.
"We'll record you for him, so he has something to relive the pain after you're long gone from here. Tell him how much you loved him. Tell him so it'll burn every time he sees this. Give him our pain."
"Why should I do anything you say? They're gonna find me. When they do, my dad is gonna lock you up with no mercy," I said, feeling the anger rushing through me.
I tried futilely to untie myself, but Victoria quickly walked over and tightened the restraints, giving my wrists rope burn.
"If you try and run when we leave, I have no problem hurting you, or anyone in your family. I know where your parents live, where they work, and where they shop. Just keep that in mind," Victoria whispered in my ear, while a frustrated James turned off his camera and set it down.
James gave me water from time to time, as I watched them making arrangements for flights. I would have refused it, had I not already felt so sick to my stomach. I was starving, as well, but I didn't want to ask them for anything both from fear and defiance.
However, lacking food and trying to squirm out of my bindings was wearing me out. My eyes dropped closed and I fell asleep. I woke up much later feeling disoriented and disappointed. The had accidentally jostled me awake by untying my hands, while my arms were being held in a vise grip. They were moving me.
As soon as I was out of the chair, my hands were retied and they led me out of the room. We left the building and I was thrown into the backseat of a very tinted minivan. We drove past several familiar streets until I saw that we were out of Seattle. We didn't go much farther, so I had assumed we had stopped in one of the small neighboring cities.
They lugged me into a house that was shabby looking with paint peeling all around. The living room shocked me.
They had about ten television screens next to each other. Each was playing something else. Live feed from various parts of my house and Edward's. I couldn't hear them, but I could see everybody going on with their daily lives. It was well past five by now, so they had to have already heard the fake message from the school.
I felt hopeless and wondered if anyone would ever find my body, if they decided to kill me. I wondered if anyone would even bother to look, but I knew I was just letting the situation get in my head.
Victoria and James still hadn't exactly told me what they were doing with me. I decided that I might as well find out if I was stuck here anyway.
They had settled themselves in front of the video feed station after securing several locks on the front door. I had just been gawking at the screens the whole time, so I decided to sit in one of the quite comfortable looking chairs. My body sunk into the puffy cushion.
"Excuse me," I said, my voice sounding cracked and frail from not speaking for a while.
"What?" Victoria spat, not bothering to look at me.
"What exactly are you planning to do with me?"
"The day you should be going home from your internship, you'll actually be halfway across the world with nothing to get you back here, but yourself. Your precious Edward will never see your ugly mug again," she said, turning to face me. Her mouth curled into a vicious grin, her eyes piercing me.
What was I supposed to do now? If their plan worked, my only way back would be to somehow get a job without proper papers, or even any identification, or...sell myself. I shuddered at the options before me.
I could feel my eyes starting to prickle with tears, but I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me breakdown. I forced the tears back and let my fear turn into strength.
"Why did you even pick me? What did Edward even do to you?" My voice did not shake or crack, surprisingly.
"He took someone dear away from me and now I'm finally getting my revenge."
"How? When? How do you even know him, anyway?" I said, getting defensive and a bit skeptical.
"I met him in Elementary school. My boyfriend didn't like him, so he got into a fight with him. My boyfriend got kicked out because that idiot went and told on him and it wasn't his first offense. I never saw him again and Edward decided to be home-schooled." She finished her story with a snarl on her face. I, however, felt like laughing in her face, but thought better of it.
Edward had told me at some point he was home-schooled, but he hadn't told me when or why.
"What grade was this?"
"First," she answered simply, turning her nose up at me.
I was sure she had to be kidding. She couldn't seriously have held a grudge for twelve years. Ridiculous.
"Really? Twelve years? Why didn't you just give up on that?" I asked, trying to stifle my laughter at her ridiculousness.
"I never give up. I make sure to get what I want. Giving up is for people who want the easy way out. Easy isn't always good. Although, you were quite easy to get a hold of. You sure are a stupid, little girl." She smirked at me and for once I wanted to slap the smirk right off of someone.
Who was she calling little girl? Or stupid for that matter? She was my age and she was the idiot who kidnapped someone.
I was getting really ticked, but I wasn't sure what I could do. Sitting here wasn't really making things better, so I decided to look around.
The kitchen had been stripped of anything sharp. They obviously weren't letting anything get past them.
Realizing there was nothing else worth what little time I had, I went upstairs to one of the tiny bedrooms. At least I could get away from my captors and maybe even get some sleep. They had at least tied my hands in front of me this time, so I could sleep more comfortable.
The room I was in smelled of cats and old lady perfume. The bed was hard and squeaky. I could practically feel every spring. There was only a plastic lamp and a rocking chair. The chair mocked me, reminding me of my childhood bedroom and how soon it would be so much more than a couple hours away.
I tried to sleep. It seemed the easiest way to pretend this wasn't happening.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I work with a start. I had had the strangest dream. I had dreamt that James and Victoria had basically kidnapped me. I tried to turn on my light, but it wouldn't work.
I felt around my nightstand and found one of those plastic kids' flashlights. I turned it on to realize my dream was anything but. I started to cry.
I shined my light on the lamp to see why it didn't work. There was no light bulb. The had wanted to make sure I didn't break one to use as a way of cutting the ropes. It made me feel even more hopeless.
I walked to my window to see what I could in the darkness. The window wasn't locked, but I guess they had figured that even if I tried to run, I'd probably break something in the process and probably wouldn't get too far with bound hands. I didn't feel like trying my luck, as it wasn't nice to me, if ever.
I decided to try and find food and possibly another way out. I heard Victoria and James snoring loudly down the hall, as I made my way downstairs. The living room windows were all locked. The locks had all been broken off in that position, so that they couldn't be opened.
Three of the seven locks on the door were key only. It seemed a little excessive, but they really weren't going to let anything be easy for me.
Giving up on finding an exit, I tried the kitchen for food that didn't need to be cooked or cut. I only found stale cereal and saltine crackers, but the flicker of television screens drew my attention.
There was Edward on screen six. He was not sleeping. He was on the roof, playing his piano. The angle of the camera made me feel like I was the stalker. The camera was aimed up at him from somewhere close to the ground. I wondered what the cameras looked like, since they apparently went unnoticed.
He looked beautiful, as he got into the music he was playing. I wondered if it was my song, or one of his new ones. He stopped to grab hold of his sheet music. He furiously marked away, either crossing out or adding in notes. I wanted so badly to hear what he was playing. I tried to imagine how it would sound, but I knew it would never compare to the real thing.
Having seen enough, I checked what the other cameras were focused on and I saw that screen two was zoomed in on Alice's room. She was sleeping soundly. It disturbed me that James had probably been watching her earlier.
I realized then that there must be remotes to control the cameras. I found each of them connected to the side of the screens, one for each camera. I grabbed them all and decided to see where they were all placed.
I zoomed out on Alice and spun the camera all the way around. It was outside her bedroom window. It could see her bed and the opening of her bathroom, but unless she left the door wide open, he wouldn't be able to see her doing anything in there. I saw Jasper emerge from the bathroom in pajama pants and climb into bed with her. I felt unclean watching them, so I decided to see where the other cameras were positioned.
The first one was focused on our front door, seeing who came and went. The third was focused on Edward's backyard. The small pool he had created was still there. It made me wonder how long the camera had been up and how long they had been watching Edward and I together at his house. I shuddered, but continued to check the others.
The fourth camera was outside of Edward's bedroom. It was littered with crumpled sheet music and clothes. He wasn't in there and it made me feel disgusted at how long the camera could've been positioned there. Camera five was focused outside Emmett's room. It made me wonder why Alice and he never shut their blinds. If I ever made it home, I would make sure they did.
For some reason, camera seven was focused on Emmett's bedroom from his other window. This one had a better angle. I realized that the fifth camera was actually looking through Emmett's bedroom to the hallway. Seeing in Emmett's room, however, made me smile a little. Fortunately no one was in there, but there were boxers strewn about the room and the bed was still unmade, like it had been all his life.
The eighth one was on Edward's family room and kitchen. It had to be just outside the sliding glass doors. How many times had they watched us kiss, eat, watch television and hang out with our friends and family? Each camera was painting a creepier and creepier picture, but camera nine topped them all and if I had been holding something breakable, it would've shattered on the floor. Instead, the camera remote clattered on the floor, barely muffled by the dingy rug under the coffee table in front of me.
Camera nine was completely inside our house. It could see our family room, kitchen, the entrance to the hallway, and the stairs. James or Victoria had somehow been inside our house, long enough to install a camera.
Part of me wondered why they just hadn't put all of them in there. The rest of me wanted to know how the hell we didn't even notice it. What could they have possibly covered it with in order to make us unable to see it all this time?
I felt violated. I needed to get away. I wished that none of this had happened or that I had at least found some way to get away from this awful place.
The first thing I could think to do was to make the cameras useless somehow. I made all the cameras face away from the way they were intended, most of them ending up looking at leaves, fences, skies, or walls. Camera nine was the most difficult to figure out. How could you get rid of a camera inside your house? I tried to find a stop recording button on the remote. The best I found was an effects button. It turned the whole image into a heat sensor, making it difficult to figure out what you were actually seeing.
I saved camera six for last. I needed to see Edward in case it was the last time I ever saw him. I knew I was stuck here another night, but tonight, I was ruining their watch station. I zoomed in on his beautiful face and saw that he was actually singing to whatever he was playing. I recognized the words falling from his lips as the lyrics to Muse's, "Endlessly." He was singing and playing our song.
I couldn't help the tears that were now flowing freely down my face. I cried silently, not wanting to alert Victoria or James to what I was up to. Seeing Edward play our song, while I was stuck in this hell-hole, strengthened my resolve. I needed to at least ruin their plans as much as I possibly could. First, I tried to see if turning the camera in circles would knock it off it's position and break it. Doing so proved to be futile, as it only made me feel nauseous watching the image spin. Instead, I made it face the empty sky behind the previous position. I then gathered all the remotes, one by one, into a pile.
One last time, I checked to make sure none of the cameras were focused where they were supposed to. Grabbing the edges of the dingy rug as best I could, I pulled it out from under the coffee table and used it to transport the remote pile to the laundry room, next to the kitchen, which was the farthest part of the house from their bedroom. Listening for any sounds or stirs, I went about my plan. I jumped on the remotes, using the beat up dryer for support, catching myself often, when I almost slipped off the pile of plastic. The sound of the crackling plastic was one of the most rewarding sounds I had heard in my life. I felt empowered within my captivity.
Once I felt the remotes were destroyed, I gathered the rug back up and snuck back out the living room, looking to make sure they hadn't come down to check on the noise. I kicked the broken pieces under the couch and replaced the rug the way it had been laying. Tired out from my work, I leaned back on the couch and shut my eyes for a moment. Before I knew it, I was being woken up by a bucket of cold water being thrown on me. My eyes opened and settled upon Victoria's furious eyes, while the screeches of her yelling filled my ears.
"You insolent, little wench! How dare you ruin our equipment! You're lucky James convinced me to let your sorry ass live," she snarled at me.
"Why would he want me to live?" I said in a voice that even I didn't recognize from the dead tone of it.
"Because he knew it'd be more suffering for you. I'm all about making you suffer as much as possible, especially after this."
I used my joined hands to wipe some of the water off my face. I had figured that the less emotion I showed for them, the more frustrated they would get with me. I was hoping they would get sick of me and decide not to bother with me anymore. It was a big hope, but hope was better than nothing.
The rest of the day, they left me alone. They didn't want to bother with me. I liked this because it gave me time to figure out what I would do when we went to leave for the airport the following morning. I decided to snoop around upstairs while they were in the kitchen trying to figure out how to fix their cameras.
Walking past their bathroom, I shuddered remembering what a debacle going to the bathroom had become. Checking out my hands, I realized that i should probably wash them.
While drying them off, my entire left hand slipped out of the binding. I froze with shock. Two things could happen with this new development. I could try and make a run for it, praying to God that my clumsiness stay absent for a few hours, or I could put it back on and use it to my advantage at the airport tomorrow. I figured the airport would probably be my best shot at getting away, considering the lack of exits in this house.
I slipped the rope back on with some difficulty and went to look for our tickets. I wanted to know which airport I would be going to, to figure out how far from home I would be. I also wanted to figure out where they were planning on sending me.
I found the tickets printed out and placed in the drawer of the nightstand in the room they had been occupying. I was apparently taking a non-stop flight on Volterra Airlines to Italy. My flight left at 8:00 am from Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Luckily, I knew the airport well and could actually have a chance to get away. I heard them walking upstairs, so I quickly walked to my room and laid down on the bed.
When they finally came upstairs and fell asleep, the sounds of their snores like music to my ears, it was already eleven o'clock at night. I knew I would be leaving by at least six to try and get there early enough for check-in. I pulled my hand back out of the rope and found some old, broken crayons, and a newspaper they had been reading. I tried to draw a map of the airport from what I could remember. It would help if I knew how far they would be walking with me and how they were going to keep me tied up without being noticed.
Having done as much as I could, I stuffed the re-folded paper into my pillowcase and put my hand back in the rope. I fell asleep, anxious and worried.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sound of their shrill alarm woke me up. Instead of feeling tired, I felt wide awake. They came in looking tired, which actually made me feel more confident with my plan. They were carrying large coats, a fresh shirt, the tickets, and my purse.
The clothes were the downfall of my plan.
"Get up," James said, gruffly.
I stood up and faced him, trying to hide my smile of confident relief. He started to untie my bindings and even my hidden smile seemed to falter.
"Change your shirt and put on the coat. Quickly, girl," Victoria said, throwing the articles of clothing at me.
My shirt was changed out quickly, glad to be rid of the sweaty, smelly mess. I put my arms through the puffy sleeves of the coat, wondering how I was going to work my plan out once they tied my hands up again. They tied the rope the same way and began to fill me in on our itinerary.
"We will carry your purse until the check-in. We will find a way to get you past security unnoticed. We will hand you your new license and passport as we approach check-in, so that you can carefully show the security who you are, yourself. You make sure that rope is hidden, or else the convenient gun we have placed in our bag will become Plan B," James said, showing me the doctored documents, as well as a peek into my purse, which currently held the gun they were speaking of.
Apparently, my new name was Samantha Whitby, and I was sixteen years old again. I hated that the frail look I had made me look so young.
They left me then, to go get their things together. I quickly tried to test the rope again, but it wasn't budging. I reached under my pillowcase and quickly stuffed my paper into my shirt. I was glad I had thought to fold it tiny enough to fit in my bra last night.
I decided to try my luck with the rope by washing my hands again. I snuck in the bathroom and did my business. Washing my hands, I hoped with my whole being that it would work.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: Woot, almost 5000 words and 10 pages! Okay, here's where you vote. First, would you like the rope to come loose, or not? Either way, there's a happy outcome. I'm also a third of the way through with one of the options, so choose wisely lol. Second, I have a poll on my profile for which chapter you would like to see as an EPOV. Whichever wins will be written by Christmas. After the next chapter, I will really need to focus on getting a couple chapters written of I'll Want You Forever so that those readers don't feel abandoned either. I haven't updated that one even longer than this one, and they're waiting for the lemon chapter. Oops. Lol. Thanks to those that stuck it out and remember, review=preview. Make sure your review has your vote! :D
-DL