-1I.M.S POV
I sat under the stairway, in a small gap that I felt safer in then the rest of the room. I was less exposed here. He had forgotten to tie me up again. I had gathered up the scraps of fabric left of my dress (they'd been left on the floor after that first time) and used them to cover myself, like a blanket. It didn't keep out much of the cold but the cloth smelt like home. I thought of my mother and father. They'd be missing me I was sure but I didn't know if I was even in the same country as them anymore (A/N Château mer Morte, is a real castle that belonged to a French nobleman called Gilles de Rais. He was a serial killer which is why I liked the name of his castle. It's in France, so, no, she is not in the same country anymore. And I'm surprised she could do geography at a time like this!)
The door above me creaked as it had done before, an omen.
"Where is she? I don't see her"
"Come out, come out, where ever you are!"
"If we have to come and find you, things will be much worse for you!" I stayed still and silent. Perhaps, they wouldn't find me here. There were footsteps, walking round the cell.
"Out you come little girl!" I could distinguish each voice now. The quiet voice, the polite voice was Edward. My last hope. The laughing, loud one was the big one, Emmett. The mocking tone, belonged to the blonde, Jasper. That one sent shivers of fear down my spine. A figure ghosted past my hideout and I froze.
"Anything over there Edward?" called Emmett. Edward was in front of me! Oh god, had he seen me? Heard me?
"No Emmett. Can't see anything" I heard more footsteps and then an intake of breath.
"She's here. Somewhere" said Jasper. Slow deliberate steps, heading towards me. No, no, no! Please. They can't find me! A shadow was thrown over me.
"Isabella…" Jasper's sing-song voice called out. How did they know who I was? They'd never called me that before! The figure in front, crouched down so he was level with me. Jasper. He'd found me.
"Look what we have here" he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out. He threw me down in the centre of the room. There was a bucket of what there.
"now, we are going to conduct a little experiment. How long can a human stay underwater for without breathing?" no. I tried to jump to my feet, to run away but Emmett knocked me to the floor again.
"Edward…How long do you think?"
"Varies, depending on the human"
"Okay. How about this human? Our little Isabella" I shuddered. I detested the way he talked about me, the way he said my name.
"Thirty seconds maximum" Edward said eventually.
"Emmett?"
"Umm…a minute?"
"Okay, and I'd say…forty five seconds. So, shall we see who's right?"
"Can we make this interesting please?" Emmett asked.
"Okay. Whoever is closest gets to choose what we do with Isabella today"
"Don't call me that" I blurted out. They turned to me, as if amazed that I could speak.
"What did you say?"
"Don't call me Isabella"
"Why not? That is your name"
"Because…I don't like hearing my name in the voices of scum like you!" Jasper was, of course, the first to react. He grabbed my hair and stuck my head in the water bucket. No! fighting and kicking to get free.
"Start timing" oh god. I had to make sure that I went out around thirty seconds or a minute. I didn't want to be at Jasper's disposal, slightly more then I didn't want to be at the other two's disposal. I struggled as hard as I could, trying to count the seconds. I needed to breathe! I felt my head spinning and darkness surrounding me.
*****
"Wakey wakey!" something hit me round the face. I opened my eyes.
"So that was about a minute she was under for. Nice guess Emmett"
"But she was unconscious before that minute" argued Edward "You saw, her body went limp before then"
"So who's is she Edward?" Jasper asked. Not Jasper. Please not Jasper.
"Oh! I'm hurt!" said Jasper, looking at me. God, had I said that aloud? I looked at them beseechingly.
"Fine. Emmett" said Edward. Thank you.
"I think she likes me" said Emmett. Not again. I'd spoken again?
"She's all yours bro. just…go easy okay? She's only human and if she dies Father will never let us have another pet again" Jasper said.
"What are you going to teach her?" Edward asked. Emmett just smiled. Okay, now I was seriously scared.