AN: SMeyer owns Twilight. No profit is made or intended.
WARNING: The following chapter contains extreme violence for the first half. If you are squeamish or feel uncomfortable with any of the following subjects: sexual abuse, extreme physical abuse, then please skip all the way until it says EPOV. Thanks!
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I love all of them and I appreciate you taking the time and sending me a note.
Once again this chapter has not gone through my awesome Beta, so please forgive me if is not up to quality.
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BPOV
I gritted my teeth as hard as I could every time Mike brought down the paddle. I may have accepted my dead fate, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of begging him or of showing him how much he was hurting me. At this point I didn't care if that meant that he would punish me and hurt me that much harder.
Just when my resolve was about to leave me I was surrounded by darkness and for that I was thankful. Darkness was the only thing that brought me peace and I was hoping that I would be surrounded by permanent darkness soon.
I was lying in bed, my head resting against Edward's smooth and broad chest. My hair was fanned all over him and I sighed as I realized that I was home. I had so many things I wanted to tell him, so many things I wanted him to forgive me for.
Was I dead? Had I joined him in heaven? Surely that was too much to ask, but whatever the case was I was going to relish my time with him because I knew that we were on borrowed time. I turned so that I could look into his eyes and I screamed in agony as I realized that his eyes were dead. My Edward was dead.
I cried against his shoulder for what seemed like hours only to realize that I was just clutching a pillow, a pillow covered in blood. His blood.
I wanted desperately to wake up from this nightmare but soon I realized that the nightmare waiting for me in the real world was much worse than this one. I felt so alone, so lost in my own little maze of horrors.
I was suddenly jerked awake by an intense pain in my chest. I realized in horror as I opened my eyes that Mike was hovering over me, his hands pinching my nipples.
"MIKE NOOOO!" I screamed as I realized what he was about to do.
I watched like a marble statue as he removed his pants and his shirt. Once he was completely naked, Mike knelt down beside me and started to lick my neck as he made a trail down over to my breasts while his nasty clammy hands moved all over my waist.
"I'm going to claim what's mine," he whispered against my ear causing me to recoil in disgust.
Without thinking I pushed my knee upwards and I connected with his groin. I hear him curse in agony as I tried to move myself out from underneath him.
"You fucking bitch," he yelled as he slapped me in the face.
I made a fist and I punched him in the nose, successfully making him roll off me and I made my move. I stood up in shaky legs and I delivered another swift kick to his center as I scrambled to run free out of the room.
I was reaching the door handle when I felt his hand on my ankle as he tried to push me down. I grabbed the door handle with all my strength as I tried to juggle free from his grasp. Once I was able to open the door I ran from the room towards the direction of the warehouse entrance.
I kept looking back to see if Mike was following but all I could hear was his cursing followed by chuckles. He had really lost it. I was almost at the entrance when I took a look back towards the direction Mike had been as I crashed into something solid. James.
"Did you really think you could escape, Bella?" Mike asked from the entrance to the room where we had just been.
"Bring her over here James, we are not done yet," Mike instructed as James grabbed me my both of my arms, lifting me in the air. He dragged me all the way into the hideous room and threw me forcefully over the mattress.
I moved my arms and legs in frenzy as I tried once again to stand up, but Mike pushed me hard once more before slapping me once again. I dug my nails over his face making him scream in agony as he slapped me again.
He then punched me on the face before proceeding to choke me. I tried desperately to escape from his dead grip as I felt the air in my lungs extinguish little by little. He let go of my neck as he stood up and kicked me hard on my stomach making me double over in pain.
I started to cry and scream as I realized that I couldn't fight him, he was much stronger than I was. I let out a loud sob as he once again knelt beside me and forcefully pushed my legs open. He moved so that he was kneeling in between my legs and I moved my head to the side waiting for the inevitable.
I waited, and waited, nothing.
I chanced a look at his face and I realized that he was red in anger. I couldn't understand why he looked the way he did until I realized that his tiny member sat shriveled and flaccid between his legs. I couldn't help myself as I started to laugh out loud at his situation.
I laughed and I laughed as tears welled in my eyes, no longer knowing if I was laughing at him or if it was simple hysteria. Needless to say, Mike didn't take lightly to the fact that I was laughing at him and proceeded to punch me and hit me anywhere he could get to.
I could hear one of my ribs break as he delivered a nasty punch to my side but I still couldn't stop from laughing. I had finally lost it.
After Mike got tired of using me as a punching bag, he stood up and started to kick me. First he kicked my legs, moving to my groin and finally kicking me in the chest until I was left with no air.
"That quieted you down bitch," he spat as he spit on my face before delivering once final kick to my head. Darkness claimed me once more.
----
I woke up once again tied up to the chair frame. I couldn't open one of my eyes and I could taste the blood on my swollen lips. I whimpered as I was filled with the most horrific pain. Every single inch of my body hurt.
From what I could see with my one good eye, there wasn't a single piece of skin left that wasn't turning purple. I had fist marks all over my arms and tights. I straightened my head so that I could take in my surroundings.
The place was quiet, almost too eerie. I shook as I realized how cold I was. My lips trembled as I felt my body temperature drop. It was once again night time.
I wondered where Mike and James were. I was hoping that they would leave me alone for the rest of the night. I needed to recover my strength. I wasn't about to go down without a fight.
I closed my eyes and I cried in silence as I realized that I had been very lucky. Mike was unable to perform the unspeakable acts that he wanted to perform because his own body failed him. I thought it was ironic. I had a feeling that his issues had nothing to do with me and I wondered if that was what triggered in part Jessica's death.
Jessica. I couldn't shake the images of her mangled body from my head. It was almost as bad as the images of Edward's lifeless body on the sidewalk. Was I going to become another picture, a new trophy in Mike's collection?
"You shouldn't fight him," I hear Mr. Green whisper as he untied my hands and placed a bowl of oatmeal on them.
"So I should just let him take my life just like that?" I yelled at him as tears clouded my vision
"Shh, you are going to wake him. All I'm saying is that it would be much faster for you if you let him do things without fighting him. All you are doing now is egging him on and he is going to prolong this unnecessarily. Don't you want to join your lover in hell?" he asked with a smirk.
"So you are playing the good cop now huh? Do you enjoy being Mike's little pet?" I spat at him.
He took the oatmeal bowl out of my hands and threw it across the room before he tied my hands to the chair once again.
"Fu… fu…fuck you bi…bitch!" James yelled as he stomped away.
"The less you feed me, the faster I die you asshole," I yelled back surprising myself at the venom in my voice.
After that I just sat there with a smug grin on my face. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me submit to them before I died.
----
The next couple of days proved to be very repetitive. Mike would try to rape me, never being successful in his attempts to arouse his minuscule dick, and then he would proceed to beat me out of frustration.
I could no longer open either one of my eyes. My lips were so swollen that I couldn't even manage to eat the disgusting oatmeal they served me. James tried to force feed me every night, only to have me spit it all out all over him.
This had become my hell. I would cry in silence every night after my two tormentors went to bed. I would cry for the pain and the desolation I felt. I would cry for all of those who I had lost and for the things that would never be. I would cry because of my naked humiliation and for the never ending beating of my heart. It was as if I was doomed to never die.
I also found it really hard to stay conscious. Each beating that Mike delivered leaving me weaker than the one before. I had a hard time keeping track of the days, the hours, even the minutes. The only solace that I had was that every time I closed my eyes, Edward was there to greet me. My fallen Angel.
I would wrap myself against his ultra white wings and I would let him comfort me.
"It'll be over soon baby," he would whisper in my ear.
"We'll be together soon, my Bella," he would coo, and then disappear into thin air.
There were times that I could even smell his wonderful scent. I could feel the silkiness of his bronze hair between my fingers. I could feel his lips against mine. When I was at my worse, I could hear him recite words of encouragement in my ear.
"Keep fighting baby, don't let them win…"
I stiffened in my uncomfortable position as I heard footsteps approach.
"Well look who decided to wake up," Mike sneered.
I kept my silence trying to ignore him as much as I could. I knew that it would only earn me another beating, but talking or acknowledging him would be giving him the upper hand and I was not giving up until the last beat of my heart was gone.
"I have something special for you my little whore. I need to leave you for a couple of days so that I can keep up the pretenses, but I thought you would appreciate it if I gave you a taste of what was to come upon my return," Mike told me on a low, deadly voice as he placed his horrific suitcase in front of me.
"Have you ever seen my dagger collection?" he asked as he grinned.
A cold sweat ran down my spine as I realized what was in store for me.
"There are a couple of rules, Bella. I hate it when people make any noises while I'm working on them with my precious knives. So it's in your best interest to be a good girl and remain quiet for me. I'm going to place a gag in your mouth, since this is your first time and all, and then I'm going to make you watch as I give you my own kind of branding."
I whimpered as Mike placed a nasty rubber ball in my mouth. James moved beside me and held my head forcefully so that I could not turn away. Mike pulled out one of his knives and ran the blade across my face, not cutting me, but collecting the sweat that was now pouring all over my body.
He then ran the knife over my breasts, across my stomach, and once again over my face.
"These are for later," he whispered in my ear as he pulled all the daggers away.
As soon as I started to feel relief I was stopped dead in fear. He had removed a scalpel from the bag and was dipping it in alcohol.
"I love making body art," he sang to himself as he dug the scalpel right at my hip bone and started to scrawl on my skin.
I let out a guttural sound as I cringed in pain and tried to no avail to release myself from James grasp. The smell of my own blood started making me dizzy and I was about to pass out when Mike placed some smelly salts under my nose.
"No you are not," he warned me.
Tears ran freely as I sobbed against the gag while Mike kept scrawling on my skin. Every time a sound escaped me, he would dig in deeper, bringing more and more blood out.
"There we go. That wasn't so bad, was it now?" he asked as he rubbed alcohol against my skin making me scream.
He had created a large 'M' right above my hip bone. He slapped me across the face before he removed the gag from my mouth.
"You are mine now bitch," he yelled at me before slapping me once again.
"Please just kill me," I begged as he retreated from the warehouse.
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EPOV
"Gage? You are supposed to be dead! Oh God, am I still dreaming?" I asked confused.
"I'm alive Edward, just like Bella is. She is not gone, not yet,"
"I don't understand. We… we buried you. Bella spend hours crying at your grave site. What happened?" I asked bewildered.
"I was left for dead but was still breathing when the police arrived at my apartment. They took me to the Naval Hospital in Bethesda and I was in a coma for almost a month. Then it took me another two to finally be released from the hospital. I've been on witness protection," Gage explained.
"So you know who the killer is? Do you know where we can find Bella?" I asked with renowned hope.
"It's not that simple, Edward," he stated as he casted his eyes down.
"What do you mean? If you know how to find Bella then you need to tell us now. We need to find her, Gage," I said raising my voice.
"I never got a chance to look at his face. He was wearing a ski mask," Gage said while he stared at the ground.
"God, this can't be happening. I'm so frustrated," I sighed as I let myself fall on the couch.
"Look Edward, I'm really sorry. I wish there was anything I could do to help. I came here against the FBI advice to see how I could help. There is not a single day of my life that I don't regret not being able to look at that asshole," Gage stated as he sat next to me on the couch.
"Nah, man, is alright. I'm glad you are alive. I don't know why, but somehow it gives me hope that maybe Bella is still alive. I know that you two were dating when all of this happened, but I have to be honest with you, I love her with all my heart. She loves me too," I explained to Gage as I tried to gauge his reaction.
I was expecting him to be mad, to yell at me, but I was not expecting him to smile.
"She's very special," he sighed.
"You are not mad?"
"How could I be? Bella and I started dating because we were both looking for love, and I'm really happy that she found it. Now we just have to make sure we find her and protect her from that bastard."
"But, don't you have feelings for her?" I pushed.
"I do, but only as a friend. The day that ugh… the day that I was hurt, we were going to talk about our relationship. You see, we tried really hard to feel something for one another, but there was nothing there but friendship. I'm pretty sure that is what she would've told me that day should we've met. I knew she was holding out for someone else, and I'm glad to find out that it was you, my friend," Gage told me as he patted me on the back.
"I failed her. I was unable to protect the most important part of my life. This is all my fault. I never deserved her," I sobbed.
"Edward, the killer is skilled. I know martial arts, and I am pretty strong, and I still couldn't outmaneuver him. I don't think anyone could've prevented this from happening. You need to stop blaming yourself and be strong for Bella."
"Gage is right. You will not gain anything by blaming yourself. Now more than ever you need to stay strong for her," a tall blonde woman said from the other side of the living room.
I looked at her in confusion as Gage cleared his throat.
"Pardon my manners. Edward this is Agent Lamb from the FBI. She is the Agent in charge of my protection. Charley this is my friend Edward. He's Bella's boyfriend," Gage introduced us as Agent Lamb approached us.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Cullen," Agent Lamb said as she offered me her hand.
"Nice to meet you too, but please call me Edward," I responded as I shook her hand.
"Gage, I'm going to go meet with Agent Ford at a coffee shop around the corner. Please do not leave this place. I'll come get you once I'm done. Would you be ok here?" she asked with concern.
Something told me that there was something else going on with Agent Lamb and Gage. There seemed to be this energy floating off them, just like when I was with Bella.
"I'll be fine. I think Edward could use the company," he winked at me as he smiled back at her.
"Alright then, you know where to call if something happens," she told him as she gave him a shy smile and walked out the door.
"What was that about?" I asked Gage as soon as the door closed.
"She is just worried about my safety," Gage answered.
I detected a hint of nervousness in his voice so I decided to press the matter.
"Somehow I think there's more there," I told him as I gave him a small smile.
I hadn't smiled in what seemed like days. I was really glad that Gage was alive.
"Well, I may have been kissing her this morning before we came over here," he sheepishly admitted.
"Ha! I knew it. I am happy for you man."
We spoke for a little longer catching up about the investigation about Bella's disappearance and his recovery program when my cell phone rang.
"Jasper?" I asked after glancing at the Caller ID and answering my phone.
Jasper was supposed to follow James to California so I had assumed that he was on a plane headed that way.
"Edward, please forgive me. I had to stay in DC," he said.
"What? What happened?" I asked irritated.
"I got a call from Alice telling me that the police had called about a fire at our Townhome," he explained.
"What? Is Alice ok?" I asked panicked.
"Yes, she is fine, but we lost everything. Do you think it would be alright if we stayed with you for now?"
"Of course man, you guys have been staying here ever since Bella… ugh. Are you headed this way?" I asked trying to change the subject.
"Yes, Alice and I will be arriving there in twenty minutes."
Twenty five minutes later Jasper walked through the door.
"I think you should start locking that door," he said as he stopped dead on his tracks.
"Gage?"
"Hey Jasper. I guess I'm back from the dead," Gage joked as he embraced Jasper.
We spent some time going over what had happened to Gage. No one other than us knew that he was alive. The FBI wanted to keep him in hiding until the killer was apprehended so he could testify in court.
"Edward, I'm worried about losing track of Mike. This fire on my place was a little too convenient don't you think?" Jasper asked as he put his hand over his eyes and leaned back on the couch.
"Who's Mike?" Gage asked as he looked at both of us.
We told him the story about Mike and Bella and how Bella had met with him the morning before her disappearance. Then we explained how Mike had showed up at the hospital I was being treated at with Bella's mother and how he had been trying to help with the investigation.
At first Gage couldn't understand why we felt the need to follow him or why we couldn't trust him so we told him about all the manipulations he had been orchestrating with Bella's mother and Bella's reaction after he showed her some pictures of their supposed house.
"The guy keeps on referring to her as his Bella. He gives us all the creeps," Jasper explained.
"I understand now. However if he was the killer, then wouldn't he be with Bella? Unless… oh God, I don't even want to think about it," Gage said as I groaned.
We spent another hour catching up and after making my usual calls to the MDPD and the FBI to see if there were any new developments, I decided it was time to run around the neighborhood and ask people if they had seen Bella.
That was my every day routine and I would not stop doing that until Bella was found. Gage left with his Agent "friend" but told us that they were relocating to a safe house in the area and that he would be by as often as possible.
I was about to step out of my apartment when a big bear of a man stood in front of me at the door.
"Are you Dr. Cullen?" he asked in an intimidating voice.
"Yes."
"I'm Chief Swan, Bella's father. May I come in?" he asked as he pushed pass me.
"Are there any new developments about her disappearance?" he asked from the middle of the living room as Jasper gave him a glance over.
"Nothing new. We were just leaving to see if we could find anyone who's seen her," Jasper replied.
"And who are you?" Bella's father asked.
"I'm Jasper, Edward's brother-in-law and Bella's friend.
"Chief, would you like to join us?" I asked trying to be polite.
"Just call me Charlie son. I'm going to head out to my hotel and then I have a meeting with Agent Ford. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I'm in town," he responded as he dropped his guard.
I could see in his face that he was just as worried as the rest of us were about Bella. After exchanging phone numbers he took off leaving Jasper and I to resume our search routine.
----
Another couple of days went by and we still had no clues about Bella's whereabouts. Everyone was on edge as we all started to lose hope of ever finding her again.
It turned out that the fire at Jasper and Alice's home had been ransom and the police was trying to find any evidence that may link the fire to the killer.
My parents had returned from their trip with Emmett empty handed. No one had seen or heard about Bella. My mother was so worked up about the entire situation that my father kept her sedated for most of the day. She truly loved Bella as if she was her own daughter.
After exchanging a few choice words with Renee, Charlie demanded that she went back to Florida. He couldn't believe that Renee had come over to push Bella back into Mike's arms. He told her that she did not deserve to be called a mother and that Bella was better off without her.
He also warned her that if he found out that she had anything to do with her disappearance that he would personally hunt her down. Even I felt sorry for Renee once Charlie was done and I didn't blame her for leaving, though I was pretty sure she was not going back to Florida.
We also had a big brawl with both the FBI and the MDPD, ending with Charlie punching Jacob in the face. Apparently they had known from the very beginning that Bella was much more of a target than they let on, and they didn't protect her, opting instead for doing surveillance in hopes they would catch the killer in the act.
After doing months of surveillance, they decided to call it off because they felt that the killer was no longer in the area and no longer a threat to Bella. We were all livid. I couldn't believe that her own friends would risk her life like that just so they could catch a guy.
Jacob and Seth were extremely apologetic, but communication with them and the rest of the team had been strained since then.
Gage came over every afternoon to get updates from the case and to give me support. I felt most comfortable with him because he had faced the killer and survived and I was hanging onto that single thread of hope.
"So Edward, I know you are not in the mood for much, but how about we play some 'Wii'?" Gage asked with rehearsed enthusiasm.
"Nah man, I'm just not in the mood," I told him as I sat on my piano bench.
"No worries, I understand. Do you mind if I go into your office and use the computer?" he asked.
"Sure, no problem. I'll be here," I responded as I turned to look out of the window.
Bella, love where are you? I thought as I gazed down towards the crowded streets. Today was a Saturday, Bella's favorite day to go and venture out around Bethesda. We enjoyed going for walks around the city and trying new restaurants. Afterwards we would always catch an Independent Film and then have S'mores at Cosi.
Sometimes we would spend hours in the bookstore. I would be entertained in the music section while she would curl up in a couch or a corner and read a book. She usually read the classics, but every now and then a non-fiction book would grab her attention and she would engross herself in it.
On Sundays we had taken up riding our bikes on the Capital Crescent Trail. Most times we would hop off the trail near Georgetown and we would walk around the shops in the area, often picking fruit and chocolate from Dean and Deluca. Sometimes though, we would make it all the way to Alexandria, VA and we would walk around Old Town, always taking the Metro back home.
I felt my chest tighten as I revived all of those memories. We hadn't been together for that long, but the time we did spent with each other seemed like a lifetime. I felt so frustrated. I wished there was something I could do to bring her back, anything at all. I wanted Bella back so bad I would have been willing to exchange my life for hers.
I was just about to doze off when there was a knock on the door.
Gage POV
I decided to head towards Edward's office in order to give him some time alone. I could sense the tension and the sadness roll off him and I felt so impotent. I regretted not being able to offer any clues about the killer. All the things that I had provided had proven useless in finding Bella. Why did I survive if I wasn't able to help at all? I often asked myself that same question.
I wasn't really interested in using the computer so I decided to think about Charley instead. She was so beautiful, so tender and caring, yet so intimidating and strong. It was hard trying to keep my hands off her.
Every single second I spent next to her, I spent it exercising my control so that I would not devour her right then and there. I had never experienced a feeling so intense, so encompassing. I was falling in love with her.
I wasn't sure what to make about our relationship. Because of the nature of her relation to me and the Witness protection program we were not allowed to get close. So I very often felt like a horny teenager hiding from the parents while making out with the hot girl in school.
I was starting to imagine the things I wanted to do to her as we furthered our relationship when I heard a distant knock. Realizing that it was the front door, I decided to stay put until Edward called me, if he needed me.
I tried to go back to my Agent Lamb fantasies when I heard a voice that made my entire body tremble. I sat there shaking in fear as memories flooded my head. This was the voice I had sworn to recognize for the rest of my existence.
The killer was here in this apartment with us.