4.

Bella

...

Confusion and fear rattled my breath when I came to. I was terrified, but I couldn't remember why – but I knew I couldn't feel my hands, my arms were stuck above my head, my head throbbed, and I was thirsty.

The room was dark, I was almost completely, and the wall behind me felt slimy – and I was scared.

For the first time since I'd been brought here, my helplessness felt real. I was tied to a wall by a sadistic vampire and used as a blood-prize – I knew it wouldn't stop until I died or whenever Maria decided she was done with me.

Waking up once more to the filth, the pain, and the fear rammed home the realization that this was it for me – I wasn't going home. I wouldn't get to lay in my bed again, or play with my cat, or finally apologize to Charlie, or hug my mom.

I was dying, and I was scared – I wanted to cry, but no tears came.

My mind hazed over, the fear and pain dominating my thoughts until eventually I heard faint noises outside of the door to my cell and through the sewer grate above my head, leading to the open sky.

I welcomed the noise – noise meant vampires, and vampires meant a quicker end to my current plight.

Maria burst through the door, bringing with her a dim, yellow light from the hallway. In the semi-darkness she looked completely inhuman – face contorted into a snarl, eyes deep red, fingers cramped into claws.

"Donde esta Peter?" her words almost lost in a growl, she moved closer to me. "Cuando no que viene para ti?"

I looked into her crazy eyes, tried to clear my dry throat, then rasped, "Why would he come for me?"

Maria growled; her body began to vibrate and her growl rose and grew into a shriek. She lurched forward and wrapped her hand around my throat, squeezing tightly. "You little bitch. You made me think he'd come for you! He's supposed to come for you! Then I get my Jasper back, my major…" her eyes became dazed and she smiled sexually for a moment before rage took over.

"But you. You're just a little whore…. And I won't let you ever forget it."

She back away slightly, her facial expression twisted into a sick, manic smirk. Her animalistic face disappeared from my view as she crouched in front of me so that I could no longer see her – but then I felt her.

A point of coldness touched the skin on my lower stomach, then pushed into my skin – pain radiated outward in dull waves, and a sharper pain moved with the coldness across my skin, slowly down and around in patterns from the right side to the left.

A warm wetness trickled down my legs, pooling in the arch of my feet that barely touched the ground as I remained hanging – when the smell of iron hit my nose, I recognized the blood and bile stung my parched throat.

Maria jerked away suddenly - growls and shouts rang out from someplace distant from my cell. For one moment, I saw the crazed vampire's eyes widen with almost a holy reverence and joy, before she disappeared.

Leaving the door open behind her.

Yet I still hung by my numb wrists – I tried tugging at the rope by moving my arms, but they wouldn't cooperate.

Frustration filled me, and I fucking cried, again.

The door was open, but I couldn't move, everything hurt, blood dripped down the lower half of my body, and I was fucking dizzy again. No no please, I can't pass out now, I just need to get my hands out…

I struggled and cried for more seconds until spots began to appear in my vision – in my dizziness it reminded me of the old 1960s-style television Charlie had when I was little – then my hearing faded into static and everything went black.

...

Peter

...

Five miles south of the city, a run-down farmhouse stood amongst a field of overgrown weeds and wildflowers. Peter sat on the front stoop, watching the stars shift as the night passed and listening to the cicadas and wind through the undergrowth.

Flashes of Bella's face from all the times he'd seen her ran through the back of his mind, prompting him to dig out an old pack of cigarettes to chainsmoke the anxiety away. He watched the smoke swirling its way up through the sky until the sun began to rise and he smelled his brother's scent on the wind.

Peter felt relief when Jasper finally reached the old house – he, Jasper, and Charlotte had pooled their limited funds for the house years ago when they'd wanted somewhere to call home permanently. Peter was anxious to get a move on – get Bella, kill everyone hurt her, and then maybe he'd allow himself to give in to the burning he felt whenever he saw her.

"Peter," Jasper said in greeting as he crossed the overgrown front yard, the sun bright behind him. He took a seat next to Peter on the creaking steps, his golden eyes curious. "Why the hell am I here? And where's Charlotte?"

Peter sat silent, unsure how to phrase his situation; he and Jasper had barely spoken in decades. "You know how Maria's been coming after me for years? She's been sending groups of newborns after me wherever the hell I go – can't fucking live in peace." Peter hedged, not entirely wanting to get into the rotten details of the end of his marriage. "Char got sick of it. Left me a couple years ago."

"Jesus, Peter, why didn't you tell me?" Jasper almost looked offended.

"You really think I wanted to interrupt your perfect life? Maria's just trying to get to you through me, you know that. She's still pissed I got you to leave her."

Jasper groaned, rubbing his hands over his face as the rising sun glinted off his straw-colored hair. "It's been almost a hundred years. You'd think she'd just fucking give up eventually."

Peter choked at Jasper's words. "Are you kidding me? You've been just waitin' and hopin' she'll give up on you? Who the fuck have you turned into? Last I knew, if anyone fucked with you, they'd be cryin' in pain and dead in seconds."

Jasper looked at him sharply, sending out a bolt of anger as his eyes met Peter's. "Well, what the fuck do you expect me to do? I'm here now, aren't I? I got away as soon as I could."

Peter cast him eyes skyward and took a deep breath. "Maria took someone I need back. And I need you to help me."

"What about Maria?"

Peter looked back at Jasper. "We kill her. Then we find my girl – if she hasn't been drained yet."

"What, drained? We're attacking Maria and her guard for a human?"

"Yes. She's mine. And you better not fucking say she's not worth it, considering your vegetarian lifestyle." Peter focused with all his might on radiating his determination to Jasper, and leaked desperation in the process. "And you know that Maria deserves everything she gets for what she did to us."

"All right, all right."

...

Peter and Jasper ran south as the sun rose in the clear sky. Brown dirt and orange rocks flashed under their feet as they ran, kicking up clouds of dirt behind them. A few miles further into the desert, they encountered the caustic smell of Maria's camp emanating from a crack in the dirt, which gave way to an underground systems of tunnels serving as the vampires' compound.

Jasper entered the tunnels ahead of Peter, his back straight as he threw off waves of authority and power. The dirt-covered rock walls of the tunnels smelled old, dug over a century earlier, and they muffled the sounds aboveground, the wind and the wildlife.

Hope, anticipation, and anxiety built in Peter the further they walked into Maria's tunnels, passing rooms, some dark and empty, some with dark figures slumped against the walls smelling of death and decay. Peter felt sick and wanted to hurt something or someone as he imagined Bella lying dead in a dirty underground cell in this hellhole.

The darkness of the tunnel ahead of them shifted – a noise came from the dark ground, and as they rounded a corner, the tunnel became a bridge over a room that extended all around and below them. The room was deep and dark, with only a few torches jutting out from the walls. Peter could make out the dark figures of newborn vampires crouched around the edges of the room.

Growls came from the newborns, carrying their fear, anger, and thirst up to Peter and Jasper. Peter knew Maria kept her newborns in this pit – it used to be his job to keep them in line as they trained, fought, and fed.

Yards ahead of them in the darkness at the end of the path across the pit, Maria emerged. The newborns' growls increased at her entrance. Her hips swayed as she walked slowly toward then, followed by two guards – tall, vicious-looking vampires.

Peter stood tall and straight next to Jasper as Maria neared. With smears of blood on her face, she paused in front of Jasper and laid her hand on his chest. He growled at her in warning, and she grinned up at him. "I knew you'd come, my pet. I've missed you."

"You're sick, Maria. Why in the hell would I ever come back to you?" Jasper's low voice dripped condescension.

Maria only looked confused – her delusions apparently hadn't included anything but Jasper's willing return.

"You're done, Maria." Jasper began, but Peter wasn't content to wait and listen this stupid bitch's posturing. His rage at finally cornering the vampire who'd made his existence a living hell for a century and who'd taken the only woman he'd wanted in just as long got the better of him got the better of him.

With a growl, he burst forward, grabbed both of her forearms, then with a heavy kick to her sternum, ripped both of her arms clean off. The force of the blow sent her body flying off of the path, down into the pit of newborns.

Jasper smiled grimly down at her - Peter felt waves coming off the other vampire – Jasper was sucking up all of the newborns' fear of Maria and feeding their anger and frenzy.

Peter had seen him do it many times before as they had fought for territory when they'd been with Maria – Jasper would manipulate their enemies into attacking their own leader, and then Maria's army would attack from behind.

Growls, shouts, and screeching metallic noises rang from the pit. Maria was ripped apart and dying in seconds – the newborns lighting her body parts with the torches from the walls.

Peter took his chance and raced past Jasper, leaving him to deal with Maria's two useless bodyguards. Across the bridge and back into the tunnels, Peter searched for Bella's scent of wildflowers underneath the blood and fear in the air.

As he ran through the tunnels past closed doors, he focused on Maria's scent of rotting apples, knowing it would lead him to Bella. His anxiety built, and his body seemed to buzz with anticipation. He saw an open door in the hallway ahead of him, and he slowed before stopping at the doorway. The room was filled with light from a grate on the ceiling leading to the desert sky above.

He leaned his hands against the doorway, and squinted past the bright light – a woman hung from her wrists tied together above her head, wearing only tattered underclothes with blood and cuts covering most of her body.

Peter stepped into the room, nervous as fuck now that he was here - and knew that the woman was Bella. Her heart beat softly, steadily – she was alive.

Bloody wounds on her lower stomach caught his eye – spelling out his name in blood. Peter had been cut into her flesh.

In that moment, he felt worse than he ever had before – his throat seized up in imitation of the long-lost human urge to vomit. Bella just hung there; a picture of ruined beauty against a grimy, dirty wall, with her long brown hair covering her face, tilted to the side. Peter felt like shit in that moment – Bella never should have ended up here. And she wouldn't have, if it weren't for him. Fuck.

He rushed to her side and reached up to rip away the remaining rope tying her hands to the rusty nail on the wall. Gently he lowered her to the ground and leaned her head back into the crook of his arm, letting her dark, tangled hair fall away from her face.

Bite marks marred the pale skin of her neck and shoulder, some healed and some fresh. Her face was dirty and tear-stained, with only a few scratches. Cradling her face in his hand, Peter leaned down and touched his forehead to hers, overwhelmed with gratitude that she was alive. He rubbed his cheek against hers, reveling in her wildflower scent and the warmth of her skin.

Peter then leaned back and surveyed the numerous cuts and wounds on Bella's skin; his eyes landed on the bite mark peeked out from her inner thigh, and he felt a tugging on his heart. The wounds disturbed him, and he knew he could heal her.

He lay Bella on her back on the dirty floor; venom pooled in his mouth until he lowered his head to the wound on her thigh and licked the wound shut with a layer of venom. Quickly, he did the same to each of the marks on her stomach, to each letter of his name, then to her neck.

Bella began to stir as he finished healing the bites on her neck.

"Bella?" Peter asked, but she didn't respond. She moaned quietly, but her eyes remained closed. Peter cursed to himself, then gathered her into his arms, stood, and carried her out the door.

Peter hurried back to Jasper on the bridge; the blond vampire stared down into the pit, where smoke rose from a pile of ashes. Jasper looked up as Peter neared, his eyes going wide when he saw the woman in Peter's arms, clutched against his chest. Peter radiated protectiveness, but Jasper just looked surprised at the sight.

"Bella?" Jasper asked incredulously. "How do you know Bella? And how the hell did she end up here?"

"She's fine, thanks for asking. Let's get the fuck out of here." Peter walked right past him, but Jasper grabbed him by the arm he had hooked under Bella's knees. Peter jerked to a stop. "What the fuck? Watch it, she's hurt."

"Peter, how do you know Bella?" Jasper asked harshly. "What, are you keeping pets now?"

"Are you fucking serious? All that animal blood's rotted your brain – I don't play with humans, and you know that damn well." Peter turned his back on Jasper and strode away, not bothering to rein in his disgust and anger. Jasper waited a beat before following him out of the dark, dirty tunnels, and up into the light of day.

Bella moved slightly in Peter's arms, and he looked down to see her tuck her head more closely into his chest. Her hands felt warm where they grasped at the neck of his button-down shirt, but her eyes remained closed as she seemed to fade in and out of consciousness.

Jasper was quiet at Peter's side, hands in his jeans pockets and his eyes on the dusty ground. Peter walked next to him as they went back to the house at the outskirts of town. With the sun at his back and Bella in his arms, he walked back to his house, determined to make things right for her. In the mean time, Peter let Bella's warmth and steady heart beat comfort him.