Chapter Eighteen
Bella
I'd tried finding a weapon or a tool I could use on the door or thick plastic window but the room was clear of anything. Just the bucket, the mattress, and the bottles and packets of food. Stopping to take a drink I wished Victoria had provided some pain killers too but I guess I should be thankful I wasn't dead or dehydrated by now. As I turned the bottle top between my fingers, holding it tight to help with the pain as I opened my mouth just wide enough to trickle the liquid in, I realised it had a serrated edge. The metal was hard so it might work on the plastic window, scoring through it. A forlorn hope but it was all I had, that and a certain knowledge that Jasper would be looking for me. I knew he wouldn't stop until he found me alive or dead.
I went to the window and put the bottle top against the already scratched plastic and pressing hard turned it round and round. If the teeth ground off in seconds I'd know it was a lost cause but after three minutes the teeth, although wearing down, were still scratching the plastic. When the first bottle top wore out I undid another and kept at it. My ribs started to ache and my jaw flared with pain every time I swallowed but I kept at it. Better be in pain than dead ,and I had no idea how long Victoria would leave me here alone. Seeing movement in the warehouse I stopped and slid down to the floor but I didn't hear anything so I got up and peered out, it was a pigeon pecking at the cracked cement floor so ignoring it I carried on until my fingers cramped so badly I couldn't hold a top any longer. There was a round score in the plastic but I had no idea how thick the window was so I went to the mattress to rest for a short while, curling up and hugging my ribs trying to decide what hurt most, my jaw, my ribs, or my arm.
Peter.
I hit a streak of good luck almost straight away, my friend Seb who was a whiz with computers tracked Edward to Idaho and then on to a town just outside Philly. He was obviously following a trail of some kind and I could only hope it was one that Victoria had set for him which would lead to Bella. I hadn't said much to The Major but it occurred to me that Victoria might already have killed Bella and be leading Edward to her body or her grave. I knew he wouldn't stop looking until he found her, I just hoped it wouldn't be her lifeless body. If Bella were his mate as he thought then her death would mean the end for him too and that just wasn't an acceptable outcome as far as I was concerned. He'd waited too long to find her to lose her before they even made a start.
Ringing his cell I told him what I'd found out ,which fit with the direction they had traced Bella so far. Time being of the essence he sent Char on ahead to the town to see if she could pick up the trail while he followed it along. We couldn't afford the time to find we'd been mistaken and that they'd turned off before the town. I agreed to see if I could find Edward Cullen in the town and shadow him if I did. He would have the key to finding Bella handed to him by a vengeful Victoria. I wondered what she'd do knowing Bella wasn't Edwards mate but I guessed she'd still kill her and probably him too given the opportunity.
Bella
I must have dozed off because it was dark when I woke up,and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. I drank some more warm flat soda and went back to the window feeling for the score I had made earlier. Surprisingly it was deeper than I had thought, giving me a little hope that I might get through although what good it would do me I wasn't sure. I'd never have enough time to cut a hole big enough to crawl through but I felt I was doing something at least. After a few more bottle tops and a few hours I felt the circle of plastic give and then come loose. The hole was just big enough to put a finger through but it was a start. I wriggled my finger through cutting it on the sharp plastic edge made by the serrated top and pulled but nothing happened, not that I'd expected to be that lucky. Then I tried pushing and I felt the plastic give a little and a spider web of cracks spread out from the hole.
The plastic had become brittle and the hole I'd made had weakened it. I pushed harder and the spider web grew until it reached the bottom corner. Taking one of the still full bottles I hit the corner and the cracks grew wider but the noise echoed through the empty warehouse and roosting pigeons flew around making noisy protests at their interrupted sleep. Hoping that Victoria was nowhere near I hit the plastic again and a diamond-shaped piece dropped to the floor with a dull noise. I waited listening hard but there were no footsteps or other noises so I hit the plastic again and this time a huge section from the bottom corner to the center flew out hitting the floor with a crash.
Not waiting to see if I had alerted Victoria I scrambled through the hole which was almost big enough but took the skin off my hands and cut into my shoulder as I forced my way out. I hadn't factored in the landing, as soon as my bad arm hit the floor, supposedly bracing me as I fell, it gave and I hit the floor with my head and ribs. Stars appeared before my eyes and I had difficulty breathing as the partially healed ribs protested the new outrage. I gave myself a few seconds to wallow in self-pity then picked myself painfully up and staggered towards the open portion of wall, climbing unsteadily over the collapsed wall to the outside.
The night air was cold and it was pitch black outside so I leaned against the rubble trying to make out my surroundings. It looked as if I were in a depot of some kind with several buildings in different stages of decay. In the distance to my right was a glow, maybe a street light as it didn't flicker so I headed that way slowly, tripping over debris scattered around that I couldn't see in the dark. Eventually I bumped into a chain link fence which rattled noisily, beyond it was an alley way and at the end of this the street light I had seen in the distance. I looked up and by the faint light I could see the fence was high and topped with razor wire so I couldn't get out that way. Deciding my best course of action was to follow the fence and try to find a break or a gate I headed right again, back into the darkness.
