Content warnings: violence, drugging, mentions of a miscarriage Escape Plan


Rosalie's POV

March 21st, 2003

Cold.

It was the first sensation I felt as I came around to the world.

Sinking.

Even as I fought to open my eyes, it felt like something was tugging me back into the depths of unconsciousness.

Hard.

That was the second sensation I noticed. The hard, unyielding feeling against my back, like I was lying on the ground. I fought against the sinking black of unconsciousness to remember why I was on the ground and not in my bed.

Fingers.

It was a few moments before I felt them running through my hair, but when I did, any concern I'd felt flew out the window. It had been a long time since Alice had run her fingers through my hair like this, but the familiar feeling was more soothing than anything else could have been.

It was dark when I opened my eyes. So dark that for a moment I wondered if I'd really opened them. It felt…unnatural. Wrong. I couldn't see anything. Not even Alice above me, though I knew she had to be. I could feel my head in her lap, her fingers through my hair, but I couldn't see her. Or Bella.

My heart leapt into my throat and I tried lurching to my feet, but all I got was a weak flop of my arms, and when I tried calling for her, all I got was a gurgle out before the darkness tugged at me again.

"Easy, Rosie," Alice murmured, her fingers still running through my hair and her other hand on my shoulder, keeping me down. "It'll come back. It just takes time to see again."

"Why?" I croaked, my throat dry and cracked. "What happened?"

She shifted a little. "Victoria. She ambushed us, and then dragged us away to be locked in this dump."

My heart skipped into my throat. What? How?

Alice stiffened beneath me. "Jasper," she said through grinding teeth. "He betrayed us."

What. The. Fuck?

"You can't blame him, Alice." This time it was Bella's voice breaking through the darkness. I turned my head in her direction. "She has pages of our Grimoire, and she's been around a long time. It makes sense that she knows spells to compel men. Even vigilant ones like your Jasper."

"He is not mine."

It sounded like an argument they'd had many times while I was out. Bella sounded weary but gentle, reminding, while Alice just sounded murderous. And betrayed.

"How long have I been out? How long have we…"

been missing. I couldn't say it. Then it would sound more real than I could handle right now.

Bella didn't say anything. Eventually, Alice sighed. "I don't know. There's no way to tell how much time has passed since she hit us. All I know is it's been a few hours at least since I woke up, and Bella woke up only a short while before you did."

"And how long until…" I waved a hand at my face, at my no doubt sightless eyes.

"A few minutes." Bella snorted in derision and I tensed for a moment thinking it was directed at me, but relaxed as she continued, "It's why you should never mix anise with any part of a lemon. Sure it disguises the hemlock, but you risk permanently blinding and killing the target." She scoffed. "It's basic potion-making Mother taught us. We only survived because she clearly didn't use enough anise to fully activate the component in the lemon that causes the damage. Amateur!"

This last bit was yelled into the air, to wherever our captor was. Nothing came back and I relaxed a little more, realising we were alone. Victoria wouldn't have let that comment slide, so we were safe for a little bit at least. I didn't pay attention to the rest of Bella's one-sided rant—potion-making always had gone over my head—because the darkness had turned slightly grey. My vision was returning.

Slowly, the light filtered back in. The three of us were in a room no bigger than our bathroom back home, empty of everything but us and only a tiny window near the ceiling to let in just enough light to see our complete lack of options. Wonderful.

Above me, Alice smiled slightly down at me, and a few feet away, Bella smiled too, leaning against the far wall.

"Is it back?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

Bella sighed in relief. "Can you walk? Do you feel weak, dizzy, anything?" she asked.

I cautiously stood up and walked around a bit, flexing my arms and legs, testing my muscles. Other than a fading foggy feeling, I felt almost okay, I could feel the distinct lack of magic in my reserves which told me we had been here for at least eight hours. My reserves weren't dangerously low, but they would be if we didn't escape within the day. A witch without food would starve to death in four days, and the last thing we'd eaten was a light lunch who knew how many hours ago.

And I was unsure about the last time Bella had eaten. Add into the fact that we were drugged, which not only depleted our magic, but also likely shortened the amount of time we could go without eating, we needed to eat, and soon.

"We have to get out of here," Alice murmured, echoing my thoughts.

Bella nodded as she walked over to examine the door, humming in thought as she examined the locks and the hinges. Then she squinted

"Surely she isn't that stupid," she mumbled. She turned to us. "Have either of you got any hair pins? This room suppresses our magic, but I don't think the door is anything but locked."

Alice and I stared at her in shock. "There's no way Victoria wouldn't reinforce the door with magic," I said disbelievingly. "Just because we don't have our magic in here doesn't mean we're useless. Surely she doesn't think we're that easy."

"There's only one way to find out, and we can't afford to make any assumptions," Bella said firmly.

Alice and I quickly patted our hair to search for pins, with Alice releasing her bun. Between the two of us we produced thirty pins. Bella took ten and before she began Alice spoke up. "Wait, we should put our hair back up in tight crown braids, that way it won't snag on anything and can't be pulled. Then you can use any we have left."

I looked at Bella and sighed. "She has a point."

Bella nodded. "Right, to save time you do Alice's and I'll do yours. You're the fastest braider behind Alice, Rose, so by the time I finish yours, she should be done and braiding mine."

Without a moment's pause we all folded ourselves onto the floor and began.

Within ten minutes I had finished Alice's and she was up and moving the minute I secured it with seven of the remaining pins. Bella had also taken seven for my hair and Alice, being the best, only needed six.

After another five minutes we were all done and Bella instantly darted over to the door with the remaining pins. It practically fell open the second she applied pressure.

"Oh that bitch." Bella glared at the door. "How dare she think only a lock would hold us! Who does she think she is?"

I looped my arm through hers. "Let's head out and leave the door open as a giant fuck you. Then when our magic is back we can thank her properly." I tugged her through the doorway and peeked out into the empty hallway. "No need to stick around now. She'll get the message."

Bella grumbled but followed anyway. Together, the three of us eased down the hallway, taking pains to not let any floorboards creak or knock anything over. For every silent, unnerving second we were alone, my nerves and relief battled for dominance. Relief because I was not interested in seeing Victoria or either of her bastard lap dogs, but also nerves because there was no way we'd been left alone with just one lock on our door. There was no way.

My grip must have tightened on Bella's arm because she reached over to pat my hand silently and met my eyes. I swallowed and nodded. We would get out of this. Together. I reached backwards and my resolve strengthened as Alice slipped her hand into mine.

Together.

The cabin itself wasn't large, but between the low visibility and our caution, progress was slow.

We didn't stop for a second as we inched further down the hallway, sparing only a glance for the few rooms to check if they contained enemies or escape routes. But they were all empty of everything. Windows included. I only knew it was night from the window in our locked room and the cracks in the walls, but none of them were wide enough to let us see where in the hades we were, let alone crawl through.

Suddenly Bella squeezed my hand hard, and I looked up from the floor. The door! It was just in front of us! Behind me, Alice inhaled sharply. And there was a window beside it, shining moonlight in and illuminating our way. The path to the door was clear and we didn't waste another second waiting. We ran for it and wrenched it open.

Oh the sweet taste of freedom.

The night was cold in my nostrils and it stung my eyes, but by the gods did I love it. Alice was the tree-nut in our family, but right then I would have hugged those trees just for the sight of them.

"This is way too easy," Bella murmured, her hand tightening over mine.

"Who said anything about it being easy?"

We spun around. At the edge of the hallway, just out of the doorway of one of the rooms I'd sworn we'd checked, James lounged against the wall. He had an easy smile and a gleam in his eyes that sent a shiver down my spine. With his arms across his chest, he nodded to the open door behind us. "Surely you didn't think we'd just let you walk on out?"

Bella shrugged. "No, we just thought you were too busy licking Victoria's feet like the lapdog you are."

James chuckled. "Don't let her hear you say that. Did you really think she would only have wards up around the room? She has the whole house encased in them! Go ahead, try and walk out the door—it'll be hilarious to see what her wards do to you."

I wanted to glance at Bella. What wards? There hadn't been anything but a simple lock on the door stopping us from getting out. But I didn't dare look. Not only could James kill us in an instant, but I didn't want to give it away if we still had a possible escape route. If we'd walked through the one supposedly around our room, any others should be just as easy.

I suddenly felt a hand grip mine squeezing and unsqueezing it in patterns, it took me a moment to realise it was morse code. On three, run for door. No wards. One…two… Bella shrugged. "Okay." …three.

At that moment my sisters and I made a break for the door, the sound of James's laughter echoing behind us right until the moment we cleared the door. Then silence.

My heart hammered in my chest as we raced across the gravel, the front door slamming behind us.

"Grass!" Bella shouted, and I knew what she meant instantly. There was a roar of fury from within the house and we heard rather than saw James rip the closed door off its hinges to race after us, but it was too late; as one we locked hands and dove for the ground. A hole immediately began to form and swallow us.

My heart hammered against my chest and I felt as if I were seeing things in slow motion, just as the ground swallowed us to our calves. I saw Bella out of the corner of my eye throw a malevolent blood-red spell behind us.

I heard James roar of pain just as it impacted and a shiver went down my spine at the nearness of the sound. As our heads were swallowed by the ground I realised that he had been a mere foot behind us. Had Bella not thrown that spell, we'd have died.

Travelling underground had the feeling of being pulled through water. We couldn't see, yet could. Surrounded by mother earth our senses expanded, we could feel where we were going, as the earth shifted to accommodate us. We felt as the stones, roots, and seeds caressed our skin as they cleared a path for us. We heard the thrumming of mother earth as she surrounded us. It was like no song ever heard before, yet distinctly familiar, as if the song had come from our souls.

Suddenly there was a warp in the song, letting me know one of my sisters was trying to say something. I closed my eyes and listened.

Stop, create cavern, need to scout. It was Bella.

A second later we jerked to a stop as the dirt and roots were completely pushed away from us into a small cave-like pocket.

I quickly looked around and saw that our pocket was being held up by roots which had formed a circular haven for us. There was just enough room for all three of us to sit comfortably, and for one of us to possibly lay down in a foetal position. The space was lit up in a soft glow, despite having no source—another positive of our magic.

"What do you mean scout?" Alice asked immediately, she was breathing slightly heavily and I couldn't tell if it was from the sprint, or maintaining the cavern we now sat in.

"Astral projection. It doesn't take up a lot of magic and no one but another witch would be able to see me," Bella breathed. I saw she was slightly breathless as well.

They were both dangerously low on magic.

I nodded and swallowed. "Okay…there should be enough room, just—calm your heart." Astral projection was what one would deem 'kids magic'—though for an older child, probably around twelve. It required one to go into a meditative trance and detach their soul from their body temporarily. It didn't harm the body as a body could still function without a soul, at least for a few hours before one would need to step in to assist.

Bella would have to force herself into the trance as we didn't have time to do it any other way. That would use up a bit more magic than astral projection usually called for. I just hoped that it was worth it. Bella crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knees as she closed her eyes, taking deep even breaths. Within a minute her body slumped forward as Alice and I caught her..

"Now we wait," I murmured, setting Bella back against the cavern wall.

Alice closed her eyes, and in the dim light, the shadows under her eyes stood out even more. I nudged her knee with mine. "We'll be home soon. Just hold on a little more."

She flashed me a bleary smile. "Aren't I supposed to be helping you through this?"

I rolled my eyes. "But I'm not the one who looks exhausted."

She flapped a hand. "I'm always exhausted. Being drugged and abducted is like a cherry on top of the already shitty pie."

But it wasn't just that. It was her magic too. She was keeping this cavern open while Bella projected and with every second that passed exhaustion set in more. Added to that was the fact that we hadn't properly eaten since before Bella had called with news of Victoria however long ago that was. My own stomach felt hollow and thin, so I knew Alice had to be even worse off. She'd barely touched her lunch the last time we'd eaten.

Witches could only survive four days without food, maybe five if they were at the peak of their abilities, but between the stress, drugs and our depleted magic, I'd say we'd be lucky to survive three.

"How long do you think we've been gone?" I murmured.

Alice didn't open her eyes. "The earth is cold so it must be close to dawn. Probably fourteen, fifteen hours since we were abducted."

So almost eighteen hours since I had a decent meal and even longer for Alice. Her face was pale and she seemed stiff, like she was trying not to move much. I have to help her.

I grabbed her hand, and when she didn't move beyond squeezing it, I pushed some of my magic into her. Beside me she jolted, trying to pull away. "Rose—"

But I didn't let go until there was colour to her cheeks again.

She snatched her hand back, finally having the energy to do so. "What the fuck was that? Why did you give me your magic?"

I slumped back against the cavern walls and closed my eyes. It was like someone had cut my strings. "It was just a bit. Now we're even."

"Why would you do that?" she snapped. "Now you're exhausted."

I gave her the same weary smile she'd given me earlier. "Because you're needed more right now. I can't do the same kind of nature magic you can and my astral projects are shitty on a good day." I shrugged. "I have enough to get home and for smaller basic things like picking locks and healing runes, but I gave the rest to you so you can get us out of here. You drank the least of the drugs so already you are better off than me and Bella."

She didn't say anything, just glared at me through furious tears. I gripped her hand and laughed lightly. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not sacrificing myself or anything. I've got more than enough to get home. I just gave the extra to you."

Alice lurched forward and wrapped her arms around me before I could react. Into my hair she muttered, "You crazy girl. Don't ever do that again. I am done with people sacrificing themselves for me."

It hit me then exactly what was running through her head. Bella. I gripped her back as hard as I could. "I will never sacrifice myself," I swore, letting my honestly bleed through. "I wouldn't do that to either of you. I swear it."

Suddenly Bella lurched upright, almost smacking her forehead against Alice and I. "It's safe. Time to go!" She squinted at us. "Why the tears?"

"Rosalie gave me all her magic," Alice tattle-taled.

"Not all of it! Just enough to keep her from passing out!"

Bella squeezed the bridge of her nose. "No more magic sharing." She held out a hand before I could argue. "And Alice, thank Rosalie for what she did. You could very well have passed out before we got back and that helps no one."

As Alice sighed her thanks to me begrudgingly, I sighed also. "Sorry, Bella. We didn't mean to make you a mum again."

A strange look passed over her face, but Bella was turning away before I could process it. "Time to go."

Alice tipped her head back to the ceiling of our impromptu cave, and suddenly we were rising. It wasn't long before our heads broke the surface again and I could taste the fresh air of pre-dawn.

A moment later we were fully resurfaced. "Let's go north, there's a cabin that way about a mile out, if we're lucky we can find some supplies, and maybe some food." Bella said.

Alice and I nodded as we all began running in the direction Bella indicated. Hopping over protruding roots and vines, we pushed ourselves as fast as we could. After a moment the forest seemed to sense our urgency and slowly our path cleared of the smaller obstacles. It was natural earth magic at work, but its connection to us was weaker than normal. Victoria must have put something in the potion that knocked us out that also interrupted and partially blocked our connection to nature.

A shiver went down my spine at the thought of something so vile running through my and my sisters' veins. When we were done with this situation we would need to undergo a serious cleansing ritual to get it out.

I panted as we continued to run. We weren't nearly as fast as we would normally be; exhaustion, hunger, and low magic levels impeded our speed. I was just about to suggest we go back underground for as long as possible when suddenly a blur came at us, hitting Bella in the side and throwing her into a tree. Horror struck and I watched as she twisted midair, deliberately taking the blow on her back.

For a moment I thought I saw a pale green light encasing her abdomen but I couldn't focus on that as the blur, who I now realised was James, had gripped Alice by the hair. He'd ripped her hair from its bun and hoisted her into the air with a snarl. "What did I say about escaping?"

Bella pushed herself to her feet, baring her teeth at him in a horrible grin. "To give it our best shot. It's not our fault you underestimated us."

With one hand still wrapped around Alice's hair, he used the other to point at Bella. "Stay right there or I tear your sister's head off."

I trembled but Bella just sneered, "You aren't suicidal. The treaty would rip you a new one."

He grinned like that was a challenge. "Then I'll have to settle for making her scream."

I clenched my trembling hands into fists and took a page out of Bella's book. Fuck if this asshole thought he was getting a reaction out of me. "You'll just kill us anyway so what's the point in going willingly?"

"I'd rather die taking your ass with me than back in that bitch's hellhole," Alice agreed with a snarl.

His lip curled and in blur, he slammed Alice against the nearest tree. She went limp.

I shrieked, starting forward, but Bella grabbed me by the elbow, holding me back. "Feel her pulse. She's still alive. Just knocked out."

And I could feel it, the steady pulse next to my heart telling me both my sisters were still entirely alive. But I didn't have a chance to swallow my relief as James pointed at us. "Now you two are going to come quietly or I'll hand you over to Laurent to play with you for a few days," he said, the last bit with a smile.

My confusion must have shown on my face because he laughed then, surprised. "You don't know? Aren't you witches supposed to be terrified of these hunters and you don't even know he's one of them?"

An icy chill ran down my spine. I had seen reports about what hunters did to witches. A hunter was a witch's worst nightmare. And to think one had been this close the whole time.

"Fine, but we carry her," Bella countered immediately.

James narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"We aren't walking ahead of you; how do we know you won't snap her neck while our backs are turned out of rage or something? If we carry our sister our hands our full, which means we can't cast any spells at your back so you can safely walk in front of us, and we can be assured you won't double cross us and suddenly decide it's better to babysit two witches rather than three."

She was manipulating him. Yes we were being recaptured, but it would be on our terms. Bella pointing out a few of his advantages over us would look like we were giving up, after all if we were going to try and escape again, why give him advice on how to keep us in line? But that was the point. He would underestimate us, think he'd broken our resistance, and when we next escaped he wouldn't be expecting it because in his eyes we had metaphorically shown all of our cards.

James seemed to think about it for a minute and then grinned. Then he tossed Alice at our feet.

I immediately bent to pick her up and was about to snarl at James when this odd look came over his face and he seemed to be almost in pain. "What the fuck…" he grunted, doubling over slightly. I looked at him in confusion and tensed. I knew we couldn't outrun him, but what on earth was going on? I glanced at Bella and saw a look on her face that sent shivers down my spine. She was staring at James, her face cold as ice. The look was so cold it was almost…demonic.

Suddenly as if it had never been there Bella's face relaxed into a wary and cautious expression. "That's not going to work, I know you're just trying to trick us into running so you have an excuse to harm our sister," she said coolly.

I stared at my sister; whatever was happening to James I was certain she was doing it, I just couldn't figure out what it was.

"I'm not acting," James growled. "Fuck, what the hell. I feel like my lunch is coming up." Then he glared at us and barked, "Walk! We're going back to the cottage. Blondie, you walk ahead with the small one, you, brunette, you walk beside me."

A small nod from Bella had me complying, whatever she was doing I knew she had to have a plan. I lifted Alice into my arms and forced myself not to look at how limp she was, how pale she looked, how— I shook my head. No. Focus. Bella has a plan. Focus on that.

As we walked I heard James begin to talk almost pleasantly to Bella, like he was trying to gain information from her. I inwardly smiled knowing it would never work, and if anything Bella would find a way to turn his ploy in our favour without his noticing.

"You must have used a significant amount of your magic to break through Victoria's wards," James mused.

I heard Bella sigh. "You already recaptured us, you don't need to taunt us with jokes," she said petulantly. Inwardly I smirked. I could see instantly where she was going with this.

"I'm not taunting you." James insisted. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn he was just a normal person having a polite conversation with my sister. You would never guess by this exchange that he was a sick murdering psychopath.

I knew Bella had to be giving him an incredulous look "Any witch worth her salt knows that any spell a family creates is less effective against those of the same bloodline. It's basic knowledge every witch learns practically before they can walk."

James stood silent and I knew he wouldn't be too happy with Victoria over this. Knowing this was just a setback made walking towards that damn cottage just slightly more bearable

~Scene~

Walking back into that cold room was harder than I'd expected. Particularly with my unconscious sister in my arms. I paused at the threshold, my heart in my throat, and I couldn't take another step. I couldn't walk back in. Then that would be admitting defeat. Admitting we'd failed. That we couldn't save ourselves. That we were going to die.

A hard hand slapped me on the back, between my shoulders, shoving me into the room. "Don't have all day, blondie. Get moving."

James was pissed. Bella's not so subtle hint that we shared blood with Victoria, and that he clearly hadn't known, had put him in a foul mood for the rest of the walk.

As soon as the door was closed behind us we heard the sound of heels clicking on the floor. "I see you finally got them back—how the fuck could you let them escape in the first place!" Victoria snarled.

"Me?" James growled. "You said your wards would fry them if they even tried to walk through them. I had to find out from one of them that they got through because you're all one big fucking family!"

"So, we're related, that shouldn't matter, and the wards worked well enough! It's your fault for being so fucking incompetent that you can't handle keeping an eye on three drugged teenage girls!" she shrieked

Bella smirked and pretended to give a start. "Vicky, did you actually use spells from our own Grimoire? I knew you would be stupid to use wards your branch of the family created but did you actually use the wards our branch created? You do realise that makes them practically useless against us?" she drawled.

There was a sharp thud of Victoria's hand smacking the stone wall of the cottage, clearly breaking it some. "Shut the fuck up! That doesn't matter!" she yelled, clearly agitated

I sat down, my back against the cold stone walls and pulled Alice tighter into my lap. She couldn't defend herself if Victoria stormed in here, and I wouldn't be much help either since I'd given her most of my magic earlier. So we'd have to rely on Bella to carry out her plan and defend us by herself.

Bella snorted. "Of course not. You just put three witches in a room with just a lock to hold them back, and then told their jailor they couldn't escape without being fried. But sure. Blame it James. Blame it on us. Blame it on everyone but yourself." Her mouth curled in disgust.

"Shut up! This is your fault, James, if you weren't so fucking incompetent they would have never escaped!" she insisted.

James's voice came out cold as steel. "Don't blame your messes on me. You're the one who wanted to keep them alive. If you don't want them to escape, you should pay better attention."

"That's why you were here, to pay attention! Maybe if you weren't so full of yourself and so intent on your usual cat and mouse game they wouldn't have escaped! You're just lucky they stopped travelling underground! If I hadn't ensured they didn't have enough energy to make it back to that town then this whole plan would have been fucked! If they escape, truly escape, we will never recapture them! Think about that while I go check in with Laurent. At least he knows how to do his fucking job!' she growled.

You could almost hear James's fury at that final comment. The front door slammed, shaking the entire cabin, and the world fell into a furious silence. I made eye contact with Bella who just grinned.

Mission accomplished, she mouthed.

We didn't know how long Victoria would be gone for, and there was no way we were pissing James off any more than he already was, so we stayed silent. Bella slid down the wall to sit beside me and shifted Alice's legs into her lap. I ran my fingers through Alice's hair and kept my other arm around her waist so she wouldn't slip down. Her head rested against my shoulder, and so I felt more than heard her groan as she woke a few moments later.

"Are you okay?" Bella murmured, patting her leg. "How do you feel?"

With another groan Alice pushed herself off my shoulder, but stayed sitting on my lap. "Like I was thrown about like a rag doll."

I winced and she caught sight of my face because she groaned again and said, "I am going to remove James's head and make him eat his own dick."

Apparently he was still standing outside the door because I heard a soft growl when she said that. Alice did too because she flipped him off behind the door and said, "Try me. See if I don't."

It was silent outside the door and Alice settled back against me, satisfied. "What happened?"

"James caught us and now we're back in this dump." Bella closed her eyes, tipping her head back against the stone.

"It could be worse." Alice grumbled in a half hearted attempt to be optimistic. Bella hummed and nodded absentmindedly as her hand dropped to her stomach, she had been doing that a lot since we woke up. Come to think of it, she had also been touching her stomach in the cafe as well.

"Bella…why do you keep rubbing your stomach?" I asked suddenly. "Are you feeling alright?"

She winced, then sighed. "Just worried, I guess."

"About…?"

She shrugged, nonchalant. "Being pregnant and at the whims of two psychos."

"You're pregnant?!" Alice and I yelped in unison.

Bella blushed and then sighed. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that, i'm tired, and overwhelmed, but yes, I am."

"And you've been letting us let you use your magic up?" I demanded, appalled, thinking about all the magic Bella had used since we'd been kidnapped.

I could feel the blood rushing from my face. In my head I could see her being tossed against the tree in our escape, being slapped around by James and Victoria. I hadn't seen it, but I could even imagine her falling as the drugs had hit her system. What if she'd fallen forward? Onto her belly?

All this time and she'd been fighting and defending us like she wasn't now carrying another life. Another life to defend and protect. Like she had with us all her life.

Oh gods. She's pregnant. Bella's pregnant. My mouth went dry. And I let her take the brunt of their anger. Again.

All my life I'd been letting Bella take the heat of every confrontation, of every hint of danger, and now she was pregnant and I'd still done it.

Bella sighed, looking like she could read my thoughts. "You didn't know."

"That's not an excuse," Alice croaked. "You're pregnant."

Someone shuffled outside the door and my head snapped up. Oh gods. James. He—

"It doesn't change anything." Bella patted Alice's leg.

"Like hades it doesn't!" I sat up straight. "You're pregnant, Bella. That changes everything. We're all running on empty here, but you're living for two now! You can't go around throwing yourself into danger like you used to anymore!"

"No more magic!" Alice said, pointing at Bella. "Who knows how low you are now. If you use any more you could seriously hurt yourself and your baby."

"What baby?" Victoria's voice came from outside the door.

"Certainly not yours." James snarled clearly still angry.

Victoria snarled and there was a crashing sound before the door flew open, snapping hard against the stone. And dislodging the lock slightly. With its new angle I realised that it wouldn't lock properly and my eyes lit up. When we eventually made our escape, we wouldn't need to unlock the door with pins again.

"Which of you is pregnant?" she snarled. "Which bitch is breeding?"

"I am." Alice said immediately.

"No I am." Bella countered, using the exact same tone Alice had.

"No, I'm the one who's pregnant." I said, mimicking them.

"No, I'm spartacus." Alice said with a grin.

"No, I'm spartacus." Bella and I said in unison.

Then glancing at each other we turned to Victoria as one. "I'm the one who's pregnant," we all chorused in the exact same innocent tone.

Behind her, James crossed his arms. "Bella is. And you just ruined that door," he said before walking away.

Bella crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "So Vicky, where's the hubby— Oh, right, oops. Forgot about that part of my curse. Guess 2.0 over there is a good replacement huh? But where's that little lad of yours? Did he run away from your disease infested body?" Bella shot. Then winked at us, I instantly knew what her plan was. We had used this same tactic against many girls at our old school back in Phoenix.

Victoria snarled and took a menacing step towards Bella.

"Oh, did my sister strike a nerve?" I scoffed. "Probably for the best— you don't have a great track record with keeping your spouses alive—"

Victoria whirled around to face me, Alice and I had slowly placed ourselves in different corners of the room.

"Shut up!" she shrieked

"Why? You never shut up." Alice snarked. "In fact your husband and son would probably still be alive today if you had just kept your mouth shut." Alice rolled her eyes, no doubt referring to the bonding rituals to keep loved ones alive as long as witches lived.

Victoria whirled on Alice and had made it halfway to her before Bella took over

"Vicky, I'm fairly certain you're a paedophile," she said innocently, tipped her head to the side. "You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with three underage girls."

Victoria snarled once again changing targets. I could see we were slowly driving her towards snapping, which was just what we wanted. If we drove her over the edge James would have to restrain her. She obviously needed or wanted us alive for some plan, or else she would have killed us after she had kidnapped us.

"Is your replacement gone to talk to the other mastermind?" I asked, digging the knife of insults in deeper. "Makes sense that you'd need help, you were a shitty mother and you're a shittier witch, Looks like you're destined to always play second fiddle to a man, but that's ok, you're used to being the arm candy, the sidekick, the trophy wife. Why'd you dye your hair? Too many blonde jokes? Makes sense seeing as you must've been the inspiration for so many of them."

Once again her directions changed as she zoned in on me.

"I almost pity you," Alice called. "I always knew you had no honour, but I at least assumed you had some dignity. Obviously I was wrong—did it take very long for them to train you properly?"

This time when Victoria whirled on her it was sloppily done

"It must burn knowing you don't have the balls to do anything to us yourself, but that's fine, you can just bat your eyelashes and let the intelligent men do everything for you," Bella taunted.

Finally we were rewarded with a crazed look in Victorias eyes as she crouched to pounce, only to be stopped by James—who had just returned— jerking her out of her crouching position

"Calm the fuck down! They're goading you!" he growled.

She tore her arm from his grip. "Get off me," she snarled. "I know what I'm doing."

"No you fucking don't." He stepped in front of her, blocking us from her sight. "If this were anyone else you'd see what they were trying to do. Hell, if it was anyone else you would have killed them already. Instead you have me playing prison warden while you and Laurent are out playing with the Cullens. They're messing with your head and you're going to screw up if you don't Calm. The. Fuck. Down."

Victoria's lip curled and she stepped away from him, away from us. "I have been waiting centuries to get them back for what they did to me. I'm not going to change things now because you're getting impatient."

"I'm not impatient," James said tightly. "I just don't want the Cullens and those damn wolves catching us before we can have our fun." He took a measured breath and slowly let it out, calming himself. "You want revenge. I know you do. And after everything they did to you, you've earned it. So let's start." He stepped closer and Victoria let him lift her chin. "Witches live for hundreds of years. That means you have hundreds of years to pay them back. Why wait? Why give them even half a chance to get away with what they did to you."

Then his mouth curved into a horrid smile that made my skin crawl. "Their first screams will last with you forever. Let me show you."

"Not yet." She wrenched herself from his grip. "You don't understand! I have a plan! You don't listen, you never listen! Is Laurent the only one who can follow simple instructions!?"

His face turned cold and his hand dropped from her face. "Laurent is your pet. I'm not. If you don't do something soon, I will."

"You won't! I forbid it! They are mine! You keep your hands off them or I will make you regret it! Vengeance is mine! All mine! You can't have any of it!" she yelled insanely.

He leaned in until his face was in hers. "If you want them so badly, prove it. All you've done so far is lock them in a room."

"You're trying to trick me! You're trying to take my revenge away! I won't let you!" She refused stubbornly. Even I could see she was being obtuse.

He pulled away, lip curling even further. "They're the ones who've tricked you." He turned and headed for the door. "I'm going hunting. Come find me when you're making sense again."

Victoria hurried after him, quickly overtaking him. "You will only hunt around the cottage! I'm going to check in with Laurent!" she yelled, slamming the front door, damaging it, likely worse than she had ours.

With the door to our 'cage' still wide open, we had a clear view of the simmering anger and disbelief on James's face as he was once again left alone to guard us.

When he eventually turned to slam our door shut again, we stared at him in disbelief. "Trouble in paradise?" Bella asked.

He sent her a flat glare. "Eventually I will run out of patience, even of my mate's obsession with you three," he growled. "When that happens, I will make your screams last for centuries for how you ruined her."

With that, he slammed the door hard and we were once again locked in.

~Scene~

As we sat trying to think of a way out of this Bella suddenly sat up straight and gestured for us to plug our ears. We had already figured out we could talk privately by mouthing words to each other and James would be none the wiser

Use a little magic to put filters on your ears, I'm going to try something insane, and no, it won't endanger my baby or myself. Bella mouthed, directing the last part to me.

Alice and I nodded, doing as she asked.

Alice, say aloud that you're tired and ask me to sing you to sleep. She mouthed again.

Alice's eyes lit up as she realised just as I did what Bella's plan was. It was so insane it just might work!

"Bella, I'm tired, sing me to sleep?" Alice asked. Trying to make her voice sound lethargic. Song magic wasn't harmful to pregnant witches. It was a simpler magic and if it worked could buy us the time we needed.

"Of course, sweetling Close your eyes." Bella patted her knee and began to sing.

"Hush, my rose, Still, and look at the Moon tonight

Do you see the shadows there?

This world is full of twisty frights

And spooks who love to scare"

Outside the door was silent, but that was a good thing. Unless you knew it was happening, it was hard to tell you were being put to sleep. But singing a slumber song to a vampire, a creature who never slept was uncharted waters. Would James feel himself getting tired? Would he bust down that door and shut us up? Was he even there anymore? Or had he stormed off after Victoria's last rant?

But the door remained closed, and everything was silent. So Bella kept singing.

"Hush, my rose

Still, and watch as they fly away

With the moonlight on their wings…"

Bella winked at us.

"...One step ahead

While they're tucked in bed

You'll find secrets dark and secrets deep."

As Bella sang a small noise caught my attention and I froze. No way. No fucking way. Was James… snoring?!

"There is magic inside of you… Hush."

He was! The fucking psychopath holding us hostage was snoring.

"Okay, he's asleep, I have no idea how long he'll stay that way so let's figure out a way to get out of here." Bella said.

I frowned. "You really shouldn't be practising magic while you're—"

Then, like a lightbulb went off, I remembered that terrifying look on Bella's face as James had doubled over in pain, or nausea, or whatever it was. My heart stopped.

"Blood magic," I whispered and Bella froze. "That was what you did earlier. To James. How can you…? I thought it made you…infertile? If you're pregnant, how can you use blood magic?"

Bella glanced down at her stomach, her eyes wide with horror like she hadn't considered that. And I could see in her eyes she was wondering the same thing I was—what if her baby was already dead?

Looking panicked she closed her eyes, a pucker appearing between her brow as she seemed to concentrate on something before slumping in apparent relief and rubbing her stomach. "They're okay, I can feel my baby's life force. It's fine. I–I don't know how it survived that. And I swear I didn't mean to use blood magic, it just…happened." She whispered quietly with a look of worry on her face. I understood her concern, if her magic instinctively reached for blood magic, then she could put the baby in danger without meaning too. It wouldn't be a conscious choice, just pure instinct. And that was unacceptable.

I reached for her hand. "Just promise me you'll let us do the big stuff to get out of here?" I squeezed her hand until she looked in my eyes. "Kids magic if you have to—but we have no idea what the strain of your magic will do to your kid."

Her gaze dropped back to her belly, despite not showing anything yet. "I don't want to hurt him or her, but I also can't let you girls get hurt." The look she gave us as she looked back up broke my heart.

I gripped her hand in both of mine. "Let us protect you for once, Bella. Let us do for once what you've done for us every day of our lives. Please."

A tremor ran through Bella's hands and she squeezed her eyes shut. She shook her head and swallowed thickly.

"Bella—" Alice started, but I shook my head sharply. I didn't know what it was, but Bella wanted to say something.

She had to. She needed to get this off her chest. Whatever it was. I met Alice's eye who rested her head back on my shoulder and placed her hand over mine on Bella's. She didn't say anything more, just squeezed our hands.

We sat in silence for a long time before Bella sucked in a shuddering breath and whispered. "I don't know how." She looked over at the door, avoiding our eyes. "I broke it, but I don't— I don't know how."

Alice and I shared another glance, as confused as each other. "Broke what?"

"The curse." Bella swallowed. "That Mother put on me."

Time stood still.

"...What?"

Sucking in another shuddering breath, Bella explained…everything. Every horrid thing. How Mother had chained her life to our happiness so she would always put us first. How she'd never had any choice, how she'd sacrificed everything for us because our mother had cursed her to. How it wasn't until Angela—a human—had come into her life and pointed it out that she was able to break the damn thing. How breaking it had sent her to the hospital. How, even now, it lingered.

"You never had a choice," I whispered. "Not one."

"And we never knew." Alice stared at the wall sightlessly. "Even when people pointed it out, we got mad instead of doing something to change it." She pressed a hand to her mouth like she was about to throw up. "We thought it was normal."

Bella shook her head. "You didn't know. I didn't know. I thought it was just what we did. After everything we'd been through, it…made sense."

"Don't you dare." Alice scrambled up from my lap and stumbled a few steps away before doubling over. "Don't make excuses for us. Gods, I am so sick of people saying it's alright because 'I didn't know'. What difference does that make?"

"I never said it was alright," Bella whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek. An agonised sound slipped from Alice's lungs as another joined the first tear. Bella pulled her hand out from under mine. "It fucking hurts." She swallowed again and looked away. "But there's nothing we can do about that now." She sucked in another breath, steadier this time. "We're running out of time. We need a plan to get out of here."

She stood up, and I followed, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Okay," I murmured. "But we're having this conversation later. When everything's done, we need to tell each other everything. No more secrets."

"Agreed." Alice and Bella said in unison.

And before either of them could move further away, I pulled Bella into a tight hug. Bella froze and Alice quickly joined us. I gripped the back of Bella's shirt and held her tight. Yes we were trapped in a shitty situation, but I wouldn't do a damn thing before I did this. Bella had gone through a fucking shitshow because of our mother, and she'd gone through it alone. But never again. Never fucking again.

"If we ever get a chance," I murmured into Bella's hair. "I'm bringing that bitch back from the dead to kill her for what she did to you."

Alice gripped us both tighter. "What kind of monster puts a curse on her own child?" She shook her head. "If I see her again I'll make her eat her own fucking tongue."

Bella shook between us and we held her tighter until she'd calmed. She pulled back after a moment, wiping her eyes. "Let's finish this later," she said with a shaky smile. "Right now we need to think of an escape plan."

"Later," I agreed, before straightening. "We need to come up with something before James wakes up or Victoria comes back."

His snores still filled the small cabin, and a small part of me worried that if Victoria came back early, we'd all be toast.

"But how are we going to get out of here? We're all running low and Bella won't be able to do anything outside of kids magic without possibly harming her little one," Alice said, clearly frustrated.

Bella froze, thinking hard. "Alice, you are a genius! That's how we're going to get out of here! Kids magic!" she exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow. "We can't keep putting James to sleep, as entertaining as that would be."

"No, no. We can make light messengers!"

I frowned. "You mean those creatures of lights we used to make as kids and send messages to each— Oh." I could see where she was going with this. "And we send them to someone with a homing beacon or something in them so it leads them right back to us!"

"Yes! We can send them to the Cullens, and the wolves! Edward knows what they are, I showed one to him on our date, and I shaped it into a swan. If we sent one to him he'd know it was from us, we should also send one to the wolves, I showed Paul one for fun." Bella said.

"We have to send one to Dad, he won't know what it means but maybe he'll understand that we're still alive?" Alice said uncertainty.

I nodded, my mind racing with our plan. "So we send one out to each of our boys, Dad and Bella's wolves. Your friend Angela too?"

"Yes, she hasn't seen them but she should know instinctively it was from me, as my platonic soulmate something in her would recognise my magic. So my two are going to Angela and Edward. Alice, you are obviously sending to Dad and your Jasper; Rose, you send to Emmett and the wolves."

"Okay. Easy." Hope was starting to rise in my chest and jitter through my veins. "And then we'll have an army beating down the front door to get us out of here." I grinned. "Then let's go."

Alice nodded, sitting back down against the wall. "And if the Cullens don't follow the swans, we can track them ourselves to know which way to go when we get out."

I frowned. "Why wouldn't they come?"

"I think they'll follow them, but there's no guarantee. As far as backup plans go that's the best we can hope for." Bella said, then looked at Alice. "He'll come, Alice," she insisted, plopping back down beside her. "He didn't betray us. He still loves you."

"I-I want to believe that but—"

"No buts, he. Loves. You. keep that in mind," Bella said firmly

I sat down, crossing my legs in front of my sisters. "They'll come. Jasper would lick your feet, Alice, if you asked him to, Edward adores Bella, and Emmett is probably tearing off heads searching for me now." I grinned at the thought. "And Bella's wolves adore her. Not to mention Dad's probably got the entire town out hunting for us. They'll come."

"We need a way for them to be certain the swans came from us. I just had a thought that they might think it was Victoria leading them into a trap. As crazy as it sounds I think we should send our protection pendants with three of the swans," Bella said firmly

"Not a chance." I pointed at her. "You are not taking that pendant off. We'll send ours, but that pendant is protecting both of you so it is not coming off your neck."

"It doesn't do jack shit against a full physical attack especially at low power, or did you miss me being thrown into a tree?" Bella asked sarcastically.

"Oh I remember it. And I remember seeing a green flash around your stomach when you did." I wasn't budging on this. "I haven't a fucking clue what caused it but you're not taking it off in case that was it."

Bella looked down. "That wasn't my pendant, that was me, I used a warding spell." she admitted.

"Sweet Circe," Alice muttered, dropping her head into her hands.

"Just please keep it on, Bella. Please? Every little bit will help."

"Think about this rationally Rosie, we need the wolves, the Cullens, and Charlie to know for certain that we sent the Swans. That's three separate bodies, and the wolves hate the Cullens, there is no way in hades they are sharing information. There's no other way to do it."

"You said it yourself—Angela will know instinctively because of your bond, and Edward will know because you've already shown him. He doesn't need to see your pendant too."

"I showed him the swan, but I never told him that the colour can't be mimicked by other witches. Jasper is a strategist, none of them would know that violet is the unique colour of our magic for sure for all they know Vicky could make a purple swan and send it to them. Unless a witch was there to explain to them what a beacon is they wouldn't be able to identify our family sigil either," she insisted

I leaned back, breathing deeply. Damn Bella and her obstinacy. She wasn't going to budge. So I'd have to do something different to protect her. "Fine. But if you get hurt because you weren't wearing it I get the right to say 'I told you so' for the rest of our lives."

Bella nodded. "Deal, I don't know how long James is going to be asleep" she said, taking off her pendant as Alice and I did. "So let's make the swans and send them off." she said.

We could still hear James's snoring outside the room.

In short order we had six swans. And quickly attached our pendants to three of them before fixing all of them with beacons and setting them free through the bars on our windows. We watched them soar into the rapidly lightening sky and I prayed that they would hurry.

A few moments later, the snoring stopped and I closed my eyes in relief. We'd made it, just in time. Now we just had to hold out long enough for the swans to do their work.

~Scene~

The warmth of the midday sun was heating my back as it bled through the wooden walls when I felt the tug of the swans returning. My sisters sat up straighter as they felt it too.

'It's time', Bella mouthed and my stomach twisted at the thought of enacting the plan we'd come up with.

Yes we needed something to get James in here and nothing would work better than this, but even pretending like Bella was having a miscarriage felt like we were begging the gods to make it happen.

Bella squeezed our hands. There was a grave look on her face like she was thinking the same thing I was.

'It'll be okay,' I mouthed back, conveying a confidence I did not feel. 'Your baby will be okay. We'll all get out of here one hundred percent okay.'

She nodded, and we got to work.

We had each taken a pin out of our hair and broken it in preparation for this. We huddled together and Bella mouthed a countdown. As she hit one, we all sliced into the tips of our fingers in unison before pressing them to Bella's pants, letting the blood soak and spread for a second.

"Ugh!" Bella groaned, clutching her stomach in mock pain.

"Bella! You're bleeding!" I shouted, pretending to panic. "Oh gods! What's happening!"

There was a shuffling outside the door.

"My baby," Bella whimpered, sounding truly pitiful.

Alice ran for the door, banging on it and shouting. "Hey! You have to help her!"

"Why should I help? What do I care if she loses the brat?" James sniffed, just outside the door.

"Are you stupid? She could get an infection and die! You think Victoria is going to care how my sister dies if it happens on your watch?!" Alice growled before hurrying back over to where Bella and I couched.

Bella hunched over and pretended to groan in pain, clutching her stomach.

There was silence for a moment before James came through the door looking annoyed. "What the fuck do you expect me to do?" he huffed. "I'm not a nursemaid."

"Just come over here and support her back, we're going to have to use the rest of our magic to help the baby pass out of her," I snapped.

"Nooooo," Bella moaned, and I admired her ability to act under the circumstances. "My baby. I can't lose it."

He scowled, looking at the blood 'spreading' along her inner thighs. "Just make her lie down. I don't need to hold her hand while you do."

"She needs to be sitting with her knees up for it to work properly. The baby's barely the size of a poppy seed, so it's not like she's giving birth now," I snapped again. "And we all need our hands to perform the spell. So help us, or tell Victoria you watched her die. Your choice."

James snarled softly in annoyance again but came closer and crouched down in front of us. He grabbed Bella by the neck and narrowed his eyes.

"Come on Bella," Alice cooed sweetly, gently. You need to say the words too, as one."

Bella shook her head, even as the three of us gathered our magic silently. "No," she sobbed. "Not my baby. I can't."

Alice and I grabbed her hands and each others', hiding the cuts so James wouldn't see and realise the ruse. We squeezed Bella's hands. "We have to do this, Bella. We don't have a choice. Please."

The tears slid down her cheeks, and if I didn't know this was all acting, I'd have sobbed at the heartbreak on Bella's face. This might have all been an act, but even pretending this hit too close to home for Bella.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay."

"One, two." I squeezed my sisters' hands. "Three"

"OBSTUPEFACIO!" we shouted, suddenly turning our palms inward to James who wasn't paying us attention.

Small balls of light burst from our palms and slammed into him, knocking him on his ass. His eyes glazed over and his grip loosened from Bella's neck, letting her go.

We didn't wait a second. We tore out of the room and into the corridor. It was only child's magic, used in hide and seek to make last minute getaways—we had no idea how long it would last, whether we could even make it out of the cabin again before he broke free of it. It would be—

I stumbled, my knees almost giving out as a wave of exhaustion crashed through me. I was almost out. That last burst of magic had been almost everything I had. But I was okay with that. I had used up most of my magic while we waited for the swans. Casting every protection spell on Bella I could think of. I couldn't draw runes without her noticing, so instead I used everything I'd ever been taught about keeping someone safe. I'd mouthed every spell, and when Bella had asked what I was doing, I'd pretended I was praying.

Alice, I knew, would be fine. I'd already given her as much of my magic as I'd been able to give, and I knew she could handle herself, but Bella had less magic than I did right now. And I knew her. I knew my sister would give the rest of herself, give everything she had to keep us safe, and I was never going to let that happen again.

I knew it was reckless to leave myself so drained, but I had to protect her. I had to keep Bella safe.

She had done everything for us, and I had spent every second of my existence thinking it was okay. Thinking her sacrifice was normal. Only to find out it had been because our mother had placed a curse on her before she'd died. A curse to ensure Bella's first thought was always of us, always keeping us safe, happy, protected. And to never, not once, think of herself.

She said she'd broken free of it, but she had spent twenty-three years under that curse. What kind of lingering effects would it have? Was it still dictating her thinking? Was it still telling Bella to put us first? Would she ever really be free of it? Or was it going to taint every second of her life from this point on?

Either way, I was going to spend the rest of my life making it up to Bella and putting her first.

Alice threw my arm over her shoulders and lifted me up, dragging me with her. Bella was ahead of us, already tugging at the jammed door when I caught sight of them. The Grimoire pages Victoria had stolen. To think she'd just left them lying about…

I stumbled towards them, pulling out of Alice's grip before I even realised what I was doing.

"Rose—"

"That bitch doesn't deserve them," I growled, snatching them up.

Alice looped her arm around my waist again and pulled me towards Bella. She still struggled with that damn door—the one Victoria had ruined in her temper tantrum—and that was when he struck.

James grabbed her by the neck and threw her across the room. She broke through one of the support beams holding the cabin up, and crashed into a standing mirror in the corner. She dropped to the floor and didn't move.

"Bella!" Alice and I screamed, our hearts in our throats.

Blood pooled beneath Bella and I stumbled towards her, but James swung around to us, snarling in grotesque fury.

At that moment the door flew off its hinges and Edward burst into the room.