Previously:
Edward walked away signaling that the meeting was over. He went outside to the balcony while everyone dispersed. "Where are you Bella?" Edward shook his head and placed his head in his hands. "Please Bella," Edward whispered, "Come back to me."
When Jacob brought Bella up to the second floor to an apartment, she raised her eyebrows up at him. He quickly inserted the key, pushed it into the lock and dragged her inside.
"You have to stay here Bella. If for one second Edward thinks you're here, he won't hesitate to come get you."
Bella gave Jacob a pointed look. "I am well aware of that Jacob. But, keeping me here in Leah's apartment? Are you sure that's such a great idea?"
Jacob crossed his arms as he spoke, "Leah is out of town for two weeks. I'll hire someone to come in and clean once you're gone. She'll never know. Now, stay here until I come get you and whatever you do, do not open that door for anyone."
Jacob left and Bella made sure to turn off majority of the lights so to not alert anyone of her presence. As she walked around, she could smell the faint aroma of blood and cleaning solution. Deciding to question Jacob about it later, Bella thought she should at least try to get some rest before Jacob came back. She grabbed a blanket and got comfortable on the couch. Eventually she drifted off to sleep.
When Bella awoke, it was utterly dark in the room. After she stretched, she got up off the couch to grab a drink of water from the fridge. When the light illuminated the kitchen, she look down and saw shoes. She jumped back and dropped her bottle of water on the floor. A hand came up and covered her mouth. She tried to fight back until Jacob's softly whispered voice made her relax.
"Jesus Jake, could you have at least made a little noise?" she whispered.
"Can't, Bella, Edward and his guys are literally right out that door." Jacob whispered back.
Bella's eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. "Can they hear us?" Bella asked.
"No, I don't think so. I told them that I needed to get something of mine from my girlfriend's apartment."
A knock on the door startled Bella and she gripped Jacob's arm. "Yo, Jake if you're gonna take all day can we at least come in?"
The doorknob started to turn and Jacob quickly pushed Bella into the bathroom. "Stay here and do not make a sound." Bella nodded her head and sat down on the floor. Jacob quickly shut the bathroom door as she heard the front door open, Edward's voice rang out.
"Jacob, we don't have all day. Get whatever the fuck you need and let's go. I want Isabella!" Bella cringed as she heard the urgency in his voice. She bitterly laughed at the irony of his words.
As if he truly wanted her, No he wanted the idea of her, to control, to manipulate. Nothing about him screamed love. Except for a few times...Bella shook her head of that thought as silent tears fell. She was ready for this whole ordeal to be over with. What she would not give to be with her friends just relaxing on her couch or even shopping with them. Seeing her parents smile when they came to visit or for her to wake up in her childhood room when she went to visit them. She wanted her life back and as she sat there in the bathroom, she realized that the only way she could ever escape Edward was if Jake got her out of there. She didn't even know if she could even trust him. She placed her head on her knees as she slowly began to loose hope.
Outside in living room of Leah's apartment, Edward paced the floor as he waited for Jacob to grab whatever it was he claimed he needed. The more he moved the more the place smelled like Bella. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. The reason no one was finding Isabella was that she was hiding in plain sight. What he could not gather is why she would hide in the apartment building. Unless...
"JACOB!" Edward belted.
Emmett and Jasper looked up at Edward and looked towards the hallway where Jacob emerged.
"What?" Jacob answered
It took Edward less then 3 seconds to reach Jacob and he shoved him up against the wall shaking the picture frames and nearly knocking them to the ground.
"It smells like her in here, Jacob. What the fuck do you know? What have you done? "Edward seethed.
Emmett and Jasper jumped up and wedged their way in between the two. Emmett took Edward while Jasper had a hold of Jacob.
"Jesus, Edward, you need to calm the fuck down. I don't know why you keep thinking I have her. Have I not fucking told you that I would help you? I cannot help it if I gave Bella to you on a silver platter and you managed to fuck it up. I told you not to hurt her."
Jacob was about to continue but Jasper slapped him on his shoulder as if telling him to shut up.
Edward on the other hand looked at Jacob as if he lost his mind. "You sorry son of a bitch. You know - I should have known that given the off chance Bella escaped you'd be there. Acting like this great friend while in reality you're not. Look at how far back this goes Jacob. I mean hell - you were ready to hand her over to me back in grade school, for a profit, or all the other times she wouldn't give you the time of day and you told me what you wanted to do to her? You think I'm the fucked up one? OH and let us not forget about the recent mess I helped you clean up with Leah, huh? Think I don't remember that this is her apartment? How long have you been letting people think that Leah is out of town?"
Jacob seethed at Edward, "Watch yourself Edward. You have no idea what you're saying." Truth was Jacob knew exactly where Edward was about to go. The last thing he needed was for Bella to hear every word.
Edward looked back at Jacob in disbelief. "You're in denial. I know exactly what the hell I'm talking about this place or better yet Jacob, just tell me where she's at!"
While Edward and Jacob continued their little spat, Bella sat on the toilet trying quietly to relieve herself of the water she drank. She decided against flushing until she knew they were gone. After finding some antibacterial gel, she rubbed her hands together and dried them on the towel. Bella walked back over to the door and placed her ear against it so she could hear what was being said.
All of a sudden, the door shook and jolted her. She lost her balance and caught herself on the shower curtain. It had pulled back in the midst of her fall and she saw what she thought was red paint. Upon closer inspection however, she realized it was not paint. It was actually blood. She yanked the curtain back and brought her hands to her mouth to stifle her yelp. There was blood all over the shower, in the tile grout and everywhere. She looked down by the drain and saw several pieces of black hair. Bella stumbled back and tried very hard to not hyperventilate. This was why it smelled off in the apartment. Oh my God, Bella thought, what did Jacob do? She focused on the voices on the opposite side of the door. Edward was telling Jacob repeatedly that he was in denial. However, what he said next froze her to the core.
"I know you killed Leah. I remember how you called me, panicking because you had smacked her around to many times after she told you no. How you took her on her own bed and then slit her throat. I remember how you said that if you had Bella to smack around and fuck whenever you wanted to then that would have never happened. You're a sick fuck Jacob." Jacob pushed Edward away.
"Maybe I'm a sick fuck, but at least I don't go stalking a girl, then take her and abuse her!" Jacob shoved his finger in Edward's chest.
Edward shoved Jacob back and barked, "What the fuck are you talking about? I may have hit her a few times and I hate myself for it but at least I don't go and act like a knight in shinning armor to try and save said girl and lie to your best friend about it!" Emmett and Jasper finally stepped in to intervene.
After a few minutes, Edward spoke up again, "I have the right mind to eliminate you Jacob. I know there is no broken pipe down in the basement and I know you have been hiding Bella. She's here, isn't she? That's why you were so nervous with us coming in here. Were you really going to help her escape or were you going to cling to her like you have in the past to the point that when she says no. She has nowhere to go?" Jacob didn't answer he instead hung his head.
"Well answer me, goddammit!" Edward yelled. Jaco flinched,
"Yes, fine. I was going to help her get to a different location so I could keep her for myself alright?" Jacob shoved off Jasper and began to walk towards the bathroom door. "Bella, it's over. I can't help you."
Edward shoved Jacob to the side and seethed. "You are not going anywhere near her. Do I make myself clear?" Edward began to make his way towards the bathroom door."Bella, honey," He didn't want to scare her so he thought if he called her name it would help once he opened the door. However, when he opened it was empty.
As soon as Bella had discovered the blood and heard everything from Jacob and Edward, she began shimming her way out the window. When she heard Jacob start to move towards the bathroom door, she quickly pushed herself the rest of the way onto the landing and down the fire escape carefully. Last thing she needed was for Edward or his goons to find her or to injure herself. She heard Edward's voice threaten Jacob about touching her, but she refused to look up.
Finally, she made it to the ground where she ran towards Jacob's truck. She remembered it wouldn't start. Thinking quickly she scanned the street and saw a green hummer. Looking in the window, she sighed heavily. No keys, but she remembered what her dad taught her.
When she was in high school her truck would act up every once in a while with the key, so her father taught her how to hot-wire the truck. It was now that she was incredibly thankful for that useful skill. She saw that the windows were cracked and placed her arm in to reach the handle, just as she grabbed it, she heard Edward's yell for her. Bella quickly manuvered her hand back out and roughly jumped inside. She looked up and checked the doors making sure they were locked. Glancing up in the mirror, she could see that Edward, Emmett, Jasper and Jacob were some five-hundred yards and closing in on her fast.
She tried to calm her breathing down so she could focus. She dove under the dashboard and set off to work. It took a few times but the truck finally roared to life. She was about to put the truck into drive when she heard someone yanking on the door handle. A hand slapped against the glass and she let out a shocked scream. Edward was on the driver side door desperately trying to open it.
"Isabella, open this door now!" Edward growled.
"No, stay the hell away from me!" Bella screamed.
She put the truck into drive and stomped on the gas only having to slam on the breaks before hitting Jacob.
He looked at her pleadingly,
"Bella, you have to get out of the truck. There is nowhere for you to go," she shook her head and looked back to back up.
Emmett was standing directly behind her. She glanced to the passenger side and saw Jasper was standing there.
"C'mon darlin, no one is going to hurt you. We realize that you're scared, but you need to come out."
"No! Stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you!" Bella yelled.
She heard a crash and glass flung around her. Startled, she accidentally slammed her foot on the gas. The hummer lurched forward directly towards Jacob. She completely ignoring the fact that she had just clipped Jacob and kept driving making sure to get as much distance as possible. Unfortunately, Edward was still on the vehicle with her. After Edward had managed to break the window he grab the steering wheel and steered it so it would not hit Jacob head on.
However, now, the speed of the truck was increasing and he was barely hanging on.
"Bella, honey, stop the truck." Edward looked into her eyes pleading with her.
Bella looked over at him, tears streaming down her eyes. She could feel a cut on her forehead as well as some knicks on her hands from the shards of glass. She did not want Edward to die, but be damned if she would let him capture her. She worked to hard to get away from him. She slowed to a stop so Edward could get some footing. Once she realized he was safe enough, she shoved him backwards away from the door. As soon as, Edward stumbled away, Bella hurriedly pulled her arm back into the cab only to slice it open from her elbow to her wrist on a jagged piece of glass still stuck in the windowpane. Crying out she tucked her arm into her lap but knew she didn't have time to dwell on the severity of the situation. Pushing her leg into her arm to try to help with the bleeding, Bella pushed down on the accelerator and was quickly gone from Edward's sight.
"Bella!" Edward bellowed as his crew caught up.
"Man, she just swiped my truck," Emmett half chuckled and half cried causing Edward to snare at him.
Holding his hands up, he laughed heartily, "Dude, ever hear of Lo-jack," Jasper couldn't help but snicker at Emmett's idea. Edward reached over and kissed Emmett on the head. "Brilliant! Let's get to work shall we?"
Hello all. Sorry it's been so long. Life in general has been..eh..and we all know how crazy it can be. It also doesn't help that I have either been out of town or working on my computer. Apparently there have been LOTS of issues with it. Forget the fact that the moniter is starting to go out. FREAKING LOVELY! OH wait there's more...my muse has ran away thus leaving me scratching my head trying to figure out what to write. GRRRR.. Ok, Rant over. I hope everyone had a great Christmas or Holiday season and that 2011 will be great..and it will be b/c in November Breaking Dawn 1 comes out! YES! :) Enjoy and before I forget:
SM owns Twilight, I'm just borrowing them.
Thanks to my lovely beta Nails 233; if it wasn't for her I do think my muse would completely vanish. ;) I did tweek it a bit so any mistakes are mine.
You all..the readers. Thank you so much for reading my story. It means a lot!