Bella POV
A string of profanities tore through my mind as I leapt away from the stranger that answered the door earlier, my back against the wall.
How do the heck do I keep ending up in these situations?! This really couldn't be any worse... depending on their motives. Shit, shit, shit,I thought, gritting my teeth.
"What do you want from me, Leo?" I spat.
"Now, now, Bella, don't get all worked up over this," Leo said conversationally, but I stopped listening when he said my real name, not my middle name.
"How...?" I demanded, trying to piece the puzzle together but my mind refused to work.
"How I knew about you?" Leo asked easily, "Why, your phone fell into my possession yesterday. Great show with the boys by the way, and then I merely chatted up with an old friend of mine."
I stared at him agape, realizing that he had known all along about me. "Who?" I asked blankly, unable to respond to the other vampire who was slowly approaching me.
"Eleazar," he answered with a smirk. "He was so terribly afraid that I would meet you and insisted that I didn't. I couldn't promise him that, you are far too interesting to just disregard. And, why, your powers are simply amazing too! I can only imagine what you can do... Actually, I do know, at least from what I heard going on in that showdown between the vampires and the wolves."
My heart sank, all my lies for nothing. What was I going to do now?
"What do you want from me?" I asked, defeated. I was never going to find Edward at this rate.
"So many things, I'm not sure which one to settle on. For one, I would get my reward if I turned you in, and for another--" I interrupted him.
"Turn me in? Am I wanted too?" I demanded, wondering when the Volturi had placed a price on my head.
"Oh, you didn't hear? They said they would reward any that are in any way affiliated with the Cullens. That includes you," he replied, then went on. "For another, I could create my own coven and kick Volturi out of their powerhouse and move in. I also played with the thought of just keep you for ourselves, you look quite... exquisite. Hmm, oh yes, I could also blackmail the Cullens. It really isn't that hard for me to track them. I've actually ran across them several times a year, but I wasn't really, you know, tracking at the time."
The more he talked, the more disgusted I felt to my stomach.
"Black mail them into what?" I asked, glaring at Leo.
"I'm not quite sure," he said, tapping his face in thought. "So many things I could get for myself. Money, power, women, fame, humans, slaves."
"Slaves?" I spat, unsure whether or not I wanted to know. "Doing what?"
"Oh, more like toys for me to play with. My toys usually don't last the month, so I keep depleting my them," he answered nonchalantly. "Now, Eduardo."
Before I saw what was happening, the large figure loomed over me and grabbed me into a bear hug, holding me tightly, not allowing my arms to move. Panic set in. I didn't know how to fight this as I tried to struggle against the vampire and I realized in horror, he was stronger than I was.
"So, for now, Bella, you will remain in that room until I finally decide what to do with you," he said with a dark smile as Eduardo took me into a room with no walls and a thick door. The panic rose higher in me as I tried even harder to break the hold.
He simply threw me against the wall hard and I crumbled on the floor, wincing at the pain from colliding. I wondered why the walls had simply not crashed down around me like it should have. The vampire smirked at my confusion.
"It's a wonderful thing, having modern technology you know, this metal is strong enough to withstand the strength of vampires," he explained then slammed the door shut, cutting off my freedom. I stared at the door blankly, trying to let my mind catch up to the current moment but I couldn't, all I thought was how to rescue Edward from this situation, when in fact, he wasn't in this danger in the first place.
I rested my back against the wall, the pain in my back for being thrown into the wall now gone. I groaned, wondering what I was going to do now—could I escape the moment they opened the door to talk to me? I looked around in the dark room, no light fixtures were in sight and had to rely on my vampire sight to see anything. I knew it was almost dawn now, and wondered how much longer until the coven realized I was gone. I suddenly remembered that Leo had talked to Eleazar and my hope soared at the thought, they knew I was in trouble, couldn't they?
They had to know.
Hope took hold of me as I sat on the floor, waiting for my rescue. I couldn't expend any energy by trying to get out of the room or walking around or start practicing on how to fight off vampires. For all I knew, I could be in this room for a month before they gave me some sort of sustenance, and I shuddered at the thought of them bringing a human to me. All I could pray for was the coven coming here and busting me out. I knew these walls were strong enough to withstand my power, as the demonstration had proved itself earlier and so, I chose to save my energy for more worthwhile activities, like escaping when I had the chance.
As I sat there, my mind went back to the way I thought about things in the wilderness, namely Edward, and in addition to those thoughts, instead of regretting my loss of control over my dad's death, I thought about the friends in La Push, the mistake I had made in following Leo, and about the Denali coven. I moved not a muscle, focusing only on my thoughts. I was glad I had gotten used to this over the decades, giving me comfort at this point in time.
Sometime later, I had no idea how much time had passed, a few days? A week or two? Not being able to see outside had thrown out all sense of time I had relied on in the wilderness, gone. I heard the scraping of the door being pushed opened and someone was shoved into the room. I looked up and a delicious smell wafted up into my nose as the door slammed shut. I tensed as the venom pooled in my mouth hungrily as I ceased all breathing.
I looked at the human girl who was sobbing softly on the ground as she spoke Spanish to me. I frowned, shaking my head in incomprehension. She moved closer.
"Don't move any closer!" I snarled at her, and she froze, looking confused.
"Please, just don't come any closer," I gritted my teeth, trying not to breathe but needing air to talk.
Either she was stupid or didn't know English, she moved still closer in concern, her situation forgotten. She tried asking me a question, and I let a look of incomprehension fall on my face to her as I tensed up even more. Faintly, I heard laughter outside the room. I let out an involuntary growl, realizing it was their game, making me drink the blood of a human. They knew I was a vegetarian.
The girl—wisely—moved away from me, suddenly wary of me when I growled like an animal. I nodded at her reaction, letting her know not to approach me. The human then moved to a corner, away from me, now sensing some sort of danger that she didn't understand. I closed my eyes, trying not to concentrate on the girl, keeping calm.
As time wore on, it was getting harder, my body growing weaker and weaker. I heard voices from the outside, taunting me that the girl would die soon from thirst and hunger. It was true, she was looking worse and worse as the days wore on. I struggled with myself not to give in, but the need to spare her the pain was getting stronger as well.
How much longer did I have to wait in this room, trapped with a delicious meal I was trying to avoid? Would they come and rescue me anytime soon? I clenched my hands onto my knees, trying to remain strong in this situation. I looked over at the girl, and noticed that she was sleeping restlessly on the ground, cuddled up against her own corner, the furthest one away from me. As I watched her dream, the eyes flickering about under her eyelids, the aroma flowed through my nose unwillingly, causing my throat to burn white-hot, reminding me of my horrible transformation and my nature to feed.
The memory of the delicious blood I had taken so long ago, flowed back into my mind, not recalling whose life I had taken. My body was so weak, so tired, and yet, I couldn't sleep. I had to feed. I had to drink now. A predatory growl emitted deep from my throat, jolting the girl awake and stared at me with wide eyes, filled with fear. I didn't register this emotion on her face in me, but instead, it fueled my thirst even more, relishing in the thought of feeding on her blood.
I stood up quickly and walked over, towering over the too-calm girl, as though she was resigned to her fate. I smiled, showing my sharp teeth as I kneeled before her, not recalling why I was being merciful to this human, that I would not cause too much pain for her.
The human girl closed her eyes as I surveyed my prey, her hair was black, the skin the color of a Hispanic, the eyes brown before she closed them. This girl was beautiful for her age, I knew.
I bit down at her throat, savoring the taste, it rivaled the memory I had of my first drink. This was so much better, it tasted newer, younger. So much smoother than the sharks I had enjoyed in Pacific. I drank quickly, being careful with the human, while at the same time, wondering where my caution came from.
Once every drop had been drained from the girl, I set her to the ground with care, enjoying how the blood of the girl had taken the ever present burning in my throat away. This compared nothing to the sharks or the animals of the wild. Sitting crossed legged in front of the body, I closed my eyes, trying to imprint this into my memory as best as I could so I could recall it as I drank my next meal.
Gradually, I came back to my senses as the monster withdrew into the deep recesses of my mind. The feeling of self-loathing came to me with such force I gasped, recoiling away from the body as I realized what I had done. I heard celebratory sounds outside the room, congratulating me for a job well done. My stomach roiled at the sounds, at the memory. I had no sense self at all throughout the entire meal. None at all, just like the first and last time I had woken up as a vampire. I shuddered in horror, knowing I had taken another life and this time, I took a young girl's life. Who knew what sort of things she was looking forward to, her family? Dreams?
How much longer would I have to wait in this room, tortured by these vampires? Leo called out, asking how I enjoyed my meal. I glowered, refusing to answer his question and thus fueling him even further in his games—whatever they were. I prayed to God that they wouldn't be bringing in another human soon. They were going to ruin me if they did.
Please, please Edward, I need you, I whimpered in my mind, cuddling myself in the furthest corner away from the corpse at the other side of the room. I hated how good I felt drinking the blood, it satisfied my thirst so much better than drinking even the best animal—the shark.