Chapter 15

A good five minutes had passed and Charlie still hadn’t found the light. I couldn’t even hear him moving around. I jumped a little when I heard a muffled thud.

“Charlie, are you alright? Did you run into something?”

He didn’t answer. “Charlie, please talk to me. What’s going on?”

“Charlie can’t answer you right now,” Victoria whispered in my ear.

I felt a sharp blow to my head and then the world slipped away from me.

Chapter 15

I slowly woke from the worst sleep I’d ever had. My head was killing me, and my entire body was stiff. I opened my eyes and was met with complete darkness. I couldn’t figure out where I was, what had happened to me, or why my hands were tied behind my back.

The last thing I remembered clearly was washing dishes with Bella. I lay there thinking for a few minutes before everything finally came back to me. Charlie and I were in the cellar of the abandoned cabin looking for Tommy and Bayleigh. I was calling for Charlie in the dark before I was hit over the head.

I carefully sat up and winced when I felt the huge knot on the back of my head. What the hell had Victoria hit me with?

The pain was finally calming back down to a dull ache when the lights were flipped on. I closed my eyes against the painfully blinding light.

“Did I hit you too hard, Eddie?” Victoria cooed.

I opened my eyes to find Victoria hovering over me. I was sitting on the floor in the corner of the cellar. Tommy and Bayleigh were tied together and unconscious across the room. Charlie was in the corner opposite them tied up and unconscious as well. How the hell were we going to get out of this mess?

“Don’t call me Eddie,” I seethed.

“I really don’t think you’re in the position to make demands, Eddie,” Victoria spat.

“How did you know about this place?”

“James and I found this place shortly after Bella moved back to Forks. We were around the whole time she was here. She thought she was safe. I laughed watching her go through her pathetic life. I did enjoy the entertainment from that one girl at school torturing Bella. With a little guidance she could truly be an evil person. I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Victoria had a wicked look on her face when she talked about taking Amy under her wing. I shuddered at the thought.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding out the whole time?”

“Of course it is. It kept me conveniently close to the Swans and Bayleigh. It was easier keeping Bayleigh under control being so close to her. She never knew exactly where I was, just that I was within an hour of her at all times.” Victoria walked over to Bayleigh and gently stroked her hair.

“So, Bayleigh said you killed the Sinclairs at their house. The police never found the bodies or any evidence at the house. How did you pull that off?” Victoria seemed willing to talk, so I was going to take advantage of her loose tongue.

“James didn’t kill Drew’s family in front of her. He only tortured them. Once she thought someone was dead, we would move him or her out here. We were actually on our way back from transporting her last family member out here when the neighbor showed up. We saw the police car and kept driving by the house.”

“So, what happened to the Sinclairs?”

“They’re dead, of course,” Victoria chortled. “James was pissed when we got back to the cabin, and he went crazy. He had fun snapping their necks. He buried the bodies just outside of the cabin.” Victoria just gave me the last bit of information we were looking for. If we could find the bodies, then Victoria could be charged with accessory to murder. It was time for the bitch to go down.

I started laughing.

“What exactly do you find so funny, Eddie?”

“I find your stupidity extremely funny, Vickie.”

Victoria looked confused. “You and your friends are the ones tied up in the middle of the woods. I think you’re the stupid ones, not me.”

“Did you honestly think you were going to be able to do this without James?”

She was getting more pissed with every word I said. I could see her nostrils flare with every breath she took.

I shifted my position and was overcome by dizziness. I needed to bait her just a little longer before I was ready to stand up and take her on.

“I’m perfectly capable of disposing trash like you.”

I laughed. “You are truly delusional. You don’t have the skill or finesse to pull off murdering all of us in this room, my family, and the police who are currently looking for you.”

Victoria’s fists were in tight balls by her side. She stood up and slowly walked to my side. She gripped a handful of my hair and yanked my head back to look me in the eyes. The cold look of hatred I found there disturbed me. That was the moment I realized that not all of us were leaving this cellar alive. The only way to stop Victoria was to kill her.

“You will never doubt my ability to kill you, Edward. You and that little bitch of yours are responsible for killing James. That is motivation enough for me to enjoy killing you and her. Bella’s family and Bayleigh are just a bonus. Little miss bitch has made my life miserable since the first day James saw her.” Victoria was blinded by her jealousy of Bella. If I provoked her enough she might snap and get sloppy.

“You do know that James never loved you, right? I mean he was completely and totally obsessed with Bella. What man would be in love with one woman and be totally obsessed with someone else? How much did it hurt that he didn’t love you, but he loved a child? Bella was only eleven when his obsession started with her. That’s pretty damn sick if you ask me.”

Victoria’s eyes turned wild. “James was not in love with that bitch!” she yelled. “Something about her called to him. It was a game. He had to have her. He didn’t want to have sex with her. That would’ve been sick. Something about her fascinated him. He wanted to lock her away and never let anyone near her.”

“Believe what you will. I still say he was a sick bastard. How did it feel knowing that he slept with Renee every night and had sex with her after they moved in together?”

That obviously hit the wrong nerve. Victoria’s entire body grew stiff, and I saw rage in her eyes. “James was merely playing his part. He didn’t enjoy his time with Renee. He simply endured it.”

I laughed. “Believe what you will. Men don’t endure sex. He might not have had the emotional connection with Renee, but don’t ever fool yourself into thinking he didn’t enjoy himself. He had the best of everything at that time. You were waiting on the sidelines and giving it up to him every time you saw him while he was living with another woman. You know he was enjoying having sex with her and fantasizing about the child living just down the hall. I’m surprised he didn’t drag that situation out longer.”

Victoria punched me in the mouth. I never expected that. I could see her slap me, but I never expected her to hit me with her fist. I’d obviously struck a nerve with this conversation.

“James loved me and no one else.” She hit me again.

“Keep living in your dream world. It seems to me that you were simply convenient. You helped him execute his sick games and offered him a release when needed.” I prayed she wouldn’t hit my jaw again. It was starting to ache.

“JAMES LOVED ME!” Victoria hit me in the jaw again and knocked me over. Once I was on the ground, she started kicking me in the ribs, yelling over and over again that James loved her.

Victoria was starting to grow weary from her continued assault on my ribs. This was my time to take control. My body ached with every little shift in position. I finally gathered the strength to move past the pain and threw my body at Victoria. My assault was powerful enough to knock her to the ground. She quickly recovered and grabbed an aluminum baseball bat she had against the wall. I’d just made it to my feet and was running for the stairs when I felt a blow to my back. She’d knocked me to the ground, and I slid across the floor and knocked my head into the stairs. My head started spinning again. Victoria continued to beat me with the bat. She’d only gotten a few hits in before I passed out.

When I finally woke, I winced as I tried to take a breath. My entire body was throbbing with pain. I felt like a truck had hit me. Victoria was across the room leaning over Bayleigh and Tommy. It looked like she was covering Tommy’s mouth with a cloth. What the hell was she up to?

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I was pretty sure it was Jasper or Emmett wondering where we were. I wasn’t sure how long we had been trapped in this cellar. I wanted to answer the phone so bad. I hoped Emmett would realize something wasn’t right when I didn’t answer. It would only be a matter of time before they would start retracing our steps and find the cabin. I prayed that Detective Aro would realize something wasn’t right and bring plenty of backup.

I shifted, trying to see if I could get my hands free, and accidentally kicked a rock that was on the floor.

“Nice to know I didn’t kill you, Eddie. I’m not done playing with you.” Victoria slowly walked toward me, and I shuddered at the thought of what she still had planned.

My wrists were raw from my efforts at getting free from the rope Victoria bound them with. My efforts weren’t in vain. The ropes were getting looser with every move I made. If I could stall her just a few more minutes, my hands would be free.

“How exactly do you plan on getting away with this? You do realize you have the Chief of Police tied up in the corner, don’t you?”

Victoria laughed. “Of course I know that. Silly, boy, we are in the middle of the forest. No one knows this cabin exists. No one will even think to come out here to look for all of you.”

I smirked at Victoria. “You think you’ve got all of this figured out, don’t you?” I laughed. “We found you here, why wouldn’t someone else?”

“You just got lucky.” Victoria cocked her head to the side and looked curiously at me. “Why are you squirming so much, Eddie? Are you that terrified of what I’m going to do to you?” The evil smile on her face grew.

I was relieved when the bindings finally fell slack, and I slipped my hands free. I played along with Victoria to draw her closer to me. I had the element of surprise on my side and intended to take advantage of it.

“Honestly, Vickie, you don’t scare me one bit. I feel sorry for you. You have nothing left. James is dead and never really loved you. You ruined your life for someone who just used you, and now you’re alone.” I looked her in the eye and shook my head in pity.

The look of pity I gave her pissed her off. “JAMES LOVED ME! NOT THAT LITTLE BITCH OF YOURS!” Victoria lunged for me, and I rolled out of the way. She slammed into the wall.

My body was still aching, but a rush of adrenaline gave me the strength to attack. Victoria staggered to her feet, and I tackled her back to the ground. She was throwing punches trying to land one on my jaw. She was still dazed from hitting the wall and couldn’t quite land a hit.

“E-ed-edward?” Charlie asked, groggily.

I refused to take my eyes off of Victoria. Her head snapped to the left to look at Charlie. He was shaking his head like he was trying to shake off the foggy feeling. Whatever she used to knock him out was keeping him lethargic.

I took advantage of Victoria’s distraction and flipped her onto her stomach and tied her arms behind her back with the rope she’d used on me. Once she was secure I hobbled over to Charlie.

“I’m right here, Charlie.” I untied him and made sure he wasn’t hurt. Other than a huge knot on his head he was fine. Victoria obviously used the bat on him too. Tommy and Bayleigh were still unconscious, and we untied them.

“What the hell happened, Edward? Last thing I remember was walking down the stairs.”

I filled Charlie in on what happened while we made sure Bayleigh was fine. My phone started ringing again. I was pretty sure Emmett and Jasper were going crazy by now.

I flipped the phone open without looking at the caller ID. “Hey.”

“Dude, what the fuck? You need to learn to answer your damn phone.”

“Sorry, Emmett. I was kinda tied up, literally.”

“Edward, what the hell is going on? I’ve been calling you for the last three hours. Where are you?”

“We found Victoria in a cabin about two miles north of Charlie’s house. We’ve got her tied up at the moment, but we need some help. Bayleigh and Tommy are still unconscious, and I’m hurting pretty bad at the moment.”

“No problem, man. We’re on our way.”

“Emmett, we’re in the cellar. Go to the back of the cabin and you’ll find a door. Go in that door and you’ll find another door across the room. That’s the door to the cellar.”

“See you in a few.”

I hung up the phone and fell to the ground. The adrenaline I was feeling earlier finally wore off. Victoria laughed as I landed.

“You’re such a pathetic piece of shit, Eddie.”

“You know what, Victoria; I’m tired of all this shit. This game is over. You lose. I refuse to give into your goading.”

Feeling relieved at having everyone safe and Victoria captured, I drifted off into the peaceful oblivion of unconsciousness.