Author's Note: I was waiting until I at least finished the epi to post these. I can't guarantee it will post soon as my beta is on vacay, but I will as soon as I can. This is a killer cliffhanger, but I will be posting the next chapter tomorrow which will wrap up the main event. The epi is sort of the final wrap up. Hope you like it!

Big thanks to AgoodWITCH for her work on these and Have a great vacay doll. Also big thanks to my WC friends for their input!

Chapter 10

An hour before the deadline, I carefully approached the steps that led from the street to the blue Victorian we had discovered in our search. All I could do was pray that we were right, or else Rose was doomed. Armed with eight concealed weapons in addition to the .45 in my hands, I had one traditional wire taped between my breasts, one video feed in a lapel pin that said FBI on my shirt, a GPS tracker in my shoe and in my bra, and another audio feed pinned to my underwear. I held onto the hope that Caulfield wouldn't find them all if I were searched and my team, who were less than a block away, could still keep tabs on me after I entered the house.

I knocked on the door when I reached it, only to have it open to find an unfurnished house. My stomach dropped in fear that we were wrong. I carefully moved around the first floor using the light from my flashlight to navigate, before checking the upstairs and then coming back down to find the door that led to the basement. I knew there was a basement because small rectangular windows lined the foundation of the house, not something done when there is just a crawl space beneath.

From my earpiece, I could her Carlisle's smooth, calm voice. "Talk to me, Bella. We have good feed, but I want to know how you're doing."

I swallowed, only realizing how hard I was breathing when it was interrupted by the quiet of the motion. "I'm okay, Carlisle. I noticed there was a basement, I'm trying to find the door that leads to it now."

I finally found the doorway in the kitchen. I groaned at the stale, musty scent that rose from the inky black below. Rickety wooden steps disappeared into the darkness beyond the small illumination my flashlight provided.

"I'm going down."

"Copy that," Carlisle replied.

I slowly descended into the dark, bare concrete basement walls constructed of cinderblock and nothing more. The thought occurred to me that I hadn't seen the shag carpeting and kicked myself, realizing that we must have had it all wrong.

I walked the room again before cursing into the earpiece. "Shit! There's nothing here, Carlisle. Damn it, we got it wrong. I'm coming out…split the crews up and start knocking doors of all the other residences who had the flooring. It's our last chance."

Carlisle's voice, crackled a bit as he responded, our signal being interrupted by something as I made my way back toward the stairs, tripping over something on my way.

"Actually, Bella, we just got a call that Rose was found alive at the Conservatory. Caulfield must have realized we were getting close and took off to play another day. I've sent two teams to go get her and document the scene. I'm heading out now. Edward is staying behind with Uley and Stephens to take you there too."

I nodded, looking down at what had tripped me, not able to make it out in the dark. "Copy…you go ahead. Tell them I'll be right there."

There was no reply. I bent down to examine what had tripped me, my heart pounding when I realized it was the edge of a trap door concealed under the large pieces of ceramic tile flooring. I leaned down closer and tried to grip the small ridge.

"Are you guys seeing this? I want to check it out."

Silence.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

"Edward?"

I stood up to go up the stairs and get the guys, but as I reached the bottom of the staircase, the door leading down slammed shut seconds before a cloth filled hand covered my nose and mouth. I thrashed and fought, but felt my body growing heavy seconds before the little bit of the light in the room disappeared and I no longer heard or felt anything.

I woke up in a bright room, a strange texture under my prone body. My heart froze mid beat when I opened my eyes to see a sea of tan shag carpeting under me. The smell of sweat and urine made me gag as I tried to move my hands to sit up, but they were tied behind me. I struggled to try to stand, but found myself bound too tightly; all I could do was sit on my knees.

I perched myself up and looked around the windowless room that was nothing but white cinder block walls and a sea of tan carpet. One door bisected the wall before me and in it stood a smirking James Caulfield, facial deformities replaced with smooth lines. He still didn't look like a replica of his brother, but it was now easy to tell that they were related.

I was shed of all my clothing except for my underwear. I thanked God for small favors and prayed that the team would find my signal soon. My hope only lasted a few seconds before I remembered the radio silence right before I was taken. Caulfield was blocking my signal. They had no clue where I was.

I coughed before finding a weak voice. "Where are we?"

He laughed, his cocky jubilation over his triumph radiating from him in waves. "Why, my house, my dear. I was so disappointed when you almost missed the trap door, but you didn't fail me in the end. You almost let the cat out of the bag, though, and that would have ruined the whole surprise."

I swallowed, taking a deep breath of the putrid air. "Rose?"

He scoffed as he moved across the room to adjust something on the far wall. "I do not see what enamored my brother so with her. I do have to admit that she was a fighter though…and quite intelligent, but not as intelligent as you, my Belladonna." He smiled as he ran a finger down my cheek. "You and I are going to have so much fun! Time for phase one…you have two hours to find a way out of your restraints. If you succeed, you get a reward. If you don't, you've failed me and I'll have to place you with the other lovely flowers…so don't fail me, Nightshade. Pleasant scurrying."

With that, he closed the door, the bright lights in the ceiling extinguishing soon after, dropping me into total darkness. I struggled to catch my breath, fighting that nagging sense of claustrophobia before self preservation kicked in. I had two hours and I needed to make the best of them!