Chapter 13

James slapped me hard across my right cheek. I looked him in the eye and started laughing.

“Is that the best you can do, James? Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in you.” I slowly looked around the room, searching for anything I could use as a weapon. My gaze froze on a bouquet of blush roses sitting on the reception counter. I couldn't stop the shudder that ran down my spine. Next to the vase was a red silk scarf. James obviously had no intention of me letting me leave this building alive.

“Why so disappointed, Isabella?” James rubbed my right cheek with the back of his hand. I refused to flinch at his touch.

“You hit like a girl.” James's eyes bugged out and danced with anger.

“I promise the next blow you receive will knock you off your feet,” he seethed.

I had to keep James talking. I needed to give Edward enough time to figure out where I was. He was the key to my plan. Edward was always so sensible about everything. I knew the minute he realized I was not on my way to Forks he would call Detective Aro. If I bought them enough time, they would be able to find me. The campus wasn’t that large. I couldn’t believe my luck in forgetting my phone. That would make Edward learn that I wasn’t on my way to Forks quicker than I anticipated.

“James, why are you no longer calling me Sugar?” I cringed when I said his disgusting pet name for me.

“You were no longer worthy of being called something so sweet the minute you let that bastard defile you. You broke my heart, Isabella.” James actually had tears falling down his cheeks. “I loved you with my entire being. I wanted to marry you and have a family with you. I thought you were better than all the other whores.”

I slapped him hard with my right hand. “I don’t know what delusional world you live in, but I never would’ve married you. You disgust me. How could I love someone who murdered my mother?”

I attempted to slap him again using my left hand, but James caught my wrist before I made contact with his face. He snapped my wrist back and broke it. I screamed in pain.

“I don’t enjoy hurting you, but you have left me no choice. You are impure and are no longer a good choice for my wife. Of course, since you can’t be my wife, you will never be anyone’s wife.” I looked at him incredulously.

James threw me across the floor. My head slammed against the wall and started pounding. He was talking but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. The ringing in my ears drowned out his gravelly voice.

I saw him walk over to the reception counter and pick up the red scarf and something else I couldn’t quite see. I couldn’t let him get the scarf on me. I wouldn’t be able to fight him if I couldn’t see him. I needed to give Edward more time.

I noticed there were a few tools in the corner to my left. I crawled to the corner and searched through the tools. The only one I could use as a weapon was a flat head screwdriver. If I used enough force, I could stab him. That would definitely slow him down. I grabbed the screwdriver and slipped it up the right sleeve of my hoodie. I didn’t want him to see what was coming.

I slowly got to my feet and staggered toward James. He had a familiar wicked gleam in his eyes. It was the same thing I saw just before he started to strangle my mother.

“I’m through playing games with you, Isabella. I need to finish with you so I can find your precious Edward and dispose of him quickly. I think I’ll give Victoria a call when I’m done and arrange a little reunion with Tommy. I’ve dreamed of strangling the life out of him and Charlie for the past three years. I always thought you would get to watch them die just like you watched your mother die, but I can’t wait that long.”

James lunged for me and wrapped his hands around my throat and threw me against the wall. He was holding me against it and my toes barely reached the ground. I needed to attack before his choking became too much for me to handle. I was already getting light headed from the lack of oxygen. I slid the screwdriver into my right hand and thrust it into James side with as much force as I could handle. The tool actually punctured his skin and sank in about two inches deep.

James let out a monstrous yell and dropped me. I started coughing and gasping for air. James pulled the screwdriver out of his side and threw it across the floor. I was scrambling away from him as fast as I could on my hands and knees. I only got five feet away from him before he stomped on my left leg. I heard the snap and felt an excruciating pain. I wailed in agony. I’ve suffered broken bones before, but this was beyond any pain I had ever felt.

I was dragging my body away from James using my arms and left leg. I was getting nowhere. James once again wrapped his hands around my throat and pulled me off the ground.

“You little bitch. I was going to just strangle you and end this quick, but after that little stunt with the screw driver I’m going to take my time and enjoy making you feel pain.” James licked me from my collarbone to my left ear. He left a slimy saliva trail behind. His breath smelled like rancid meat. I fought the urge to vomit.

He threw me across the room again. This time my head slammed into the picture window next to the front doors. The glass shattered and ripped into my scalp, shoulders, and arms. I screamed in pain again. There was no fighting the need to vomit this time. The smell of my blood was overwhelming. I heaved the contents of my stomach on James’s shoes.

“I didn’t realize causing you this much pain could be so arousing,” James said. His voice was an octave lower. He ran his hands across the obvious bulge in his pants. I shuddered and started heaving again.

I silently begged for Edward to show up soon. I couldn’t stand the thought of James touching me at all. I would force him to kill me before I would let him take me forcefully. It wouldn’t take much to finish me off.

“You will never touch me you disgusting pig,” I spat.

James knelt in front of me and ran his hand from my cheeks, down my sides, and ending at my hands. He gripped my hands hard, shoved me to the ground, and slammed my hands to the ground above my head. I screamed again due to the tenderness of my broken wrist. The intense pain all over my body kept my stomach rolling with nausea.

“I love to hear you scream. I think I need to hear you scream while I have my wicked way with you, Isabella. Would you like that? Of course you would, you dirty little whore.” James ran his tongue from my left ear to my lips and leaned in to try and kiss me. His lips had barely made contact with mine when I pulled his bottom lip between my teeth and bit down as hard as I could. James yelled in pain and punched me in my stomach. I released his lip and gasped for air.

“You will pay for that, bitch.” James ripped my shirt open started running his hands all over my exposed upper body. The pain was becoming too much, and I was fighting consciousness.

This was it. I was going to die, and I was too weak to take James with me. I failed. James was going to kill Edward, Tommy, and Charlie. I could do nothing to stop it. I said a silent prayer, begging for God to keep them safe. James was about to rip my bra off when I heard the most angelic sound in the world: Edward’s voice.

“BELLA!” Edward yelled as he shoved James off me.

“Edward.” My reply was barely a whisper.

Edward was hitting James repeatedly in the face and ribs. James threw Edward off of him. Edward quickly sprang to his feet and lunged at James again. Edward caught James by the throat and threw him against the wall. He held him in place with his left hand and continued to throw punches in his side with his right hand. Edward kept punching the wound I already gave James with the screwdriver. His left hand tightened with every punch he made.

Edward did not speak. I only heard animalistic grunts and growls coming from him. James only wailed in pain with every punch. Edward wouldn’t give him a chance to catch his breath. I was afraid Edward would beat him to death. I couldn’t let him do that.

“Edward, he’s not worth it,” I pleaded.

I wasn’t sure if Edward heard me. He continued his assault on James without hesitation. “Please, Edward. Don’t stoop to his level.”

Edward paused his attack and glanced in my direction. The look in his eyes was terrifying. I saw absolute anger and hate. “Edward, please stop. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

Edward grabbed the red scarf that was hanging out of James’s pocket. James had the piano wire wrapped in the scarf. Edward quickly wrapped the scarf around James’s wrists, and then wrapped the piano wire over the scarf.

When he finished tying James up, Edward rushed to my side. He gently stroked my cheek.

“Bella, I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I should’ve never let him get this close to you.” Edward had tears falling down his cheeks.

“It’s not your fault, Edward. I’m the one who arranged this meeting with James. I just underestimated him,” I shrugged, wincing at the pain it caused. Edward kissed my cheek, the only spot on my face not caked in blood.

Not even two minutes later I heard sirens outside the building. Detective Aro came rushing into the lobby. “Mr. Cullen, is she alive?”

“Yes, sir. She’s in pretty bad shape. She’s gonna need an ambulance. I tied James up in the north corner.” Edward refused to take his eyes off of me the entire time he was speaking.

Detective Aro and two uniformed officers walked to James. “Nice job tying him up, Mr. Cullen. He’s out cold. What did you do to him?” The officers had removed the piano wire and scarf and cuffed James’s hands in front of his body.

“I hit him a few times,” Edward said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Looks like you pack quite a punch.” Detective Aro chuckled.

“Edward, I’m tired. Can I go to sleep now?” I asked, yawning.

“Not yet, love. The ambulance should be here in a minute. The EMTs will let you know when you can sleep.” He kissed my forehead.

The officers kept an eye on James waiting for the EMTs to arrive and clear him for transport. I glanced at him and froze in terror. The officers were too busy talking and didn’t notice him sit up. James had grabbed one of the officer’s guns from the holster and had it pointed at the officer’s head.

“NO!” I yelled.

Detective Aro swung around with his gun drawn. He didn’t hesitate when he saw James with the gun. He pulled the trigger and shot James once in the chest and once in the head. I screamed and closed my eyes tightly.

The EMTs arrived as after Detective Aro shot his gun. One went to check on James and the other started assessing my injuries.

“We need to call up the coroner for a pick up. This guy didn’t make it,” the EMT said, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna need your help over here. Miss, my name is Dan. My partner’s name is Matt. Can you tell me what hurts because right now it looks like everything should be hurting,” he chuckled.

“I know that my left wrist and right leg are broken. I was thrown into the window and my head and shoulders were cut up pretty bad. Other than that, I have no clue. Everything hurts right now, even my hair.” I winced when I attempted to laugh.

Matt and Dan quickly and secured my wrist and leg in a splint. Once my broken bones were secure they loaded me into the ambulance. Edward rode with me to the hospital. Dan sat in the back and worked on cleaning my cuts from the glass.

I was surprised to see Carlisle waiting in the ambulance bay when the doors were opened.

“I called Dad before we left. I wanted to be sure you were taken care of properly. I know he’s a heart surgeon, but he has a lot of pull in this hospital. He practically ran out the door when I told him what happened. He insisted on supervising your treatment.”

Matt and Dan gave Carlisle and the attending a run-down of my injuries as they wheeled me into the ER. Edward was beside me, holding my hand.

“Ms. Swan, it seems like you are lucky to be alive,” the attending said. “Most of the cuts from the broken window are not too deep. Stitches will not be required. I will seal them up with dermal adhesive where necessary.” The attending worked quickly and had my cuts sealed within five minutes.

They wheeled me up to radiology to x-ray my wrist and leg. Edward only left my side when the x-ray technician forced him out of the room. Edward claimed he wasn’t worried about the radiation, but the tech refused to let him stay.

We sat in the ER for what felt like hours waiting for the attending to set my broken bones. During that time, Detective Aro showed up to get my full statement. He was shocked I was able to handle all of the abuse from James.

“Ms. Swan, you can rest easy tonight. James did not survive the gunshots and will not bother you again.”

“Detective, James mentioned a woman named Victoria. He said she had been keeping an eye on my father and brother in Forks. Can you please look into that? I won’t rest easy until I’m positive my entire family is safe.” I was terrified this Victoria would try to hurt my Charlie or Tommy.

“No problem, Ms. Swan. I think we are finally done here. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or concerns.” Detective Aro shook my good hand and left me with his card.

My left wrist was broken as well as my right fibula. The attending quickly set my broken bones and created my casts. I chose navy colored gauze to finish the casts. They wanted to hold me overnight for observation.

“Ms. Swan, you have quite a large crowd in the waiting room dying to see you. Would you like me to direct them to the room you will be in for the night?” the receptionist from the ER asked.

“Yes, please.” She nodded and made her way back into the waiting area.

I had just found a comfortable position in the bed when Tommy came running into my room.

“B, what the hell were you thinking?” He threw his arms around me and refused to let me go.

“Tommy, I was thinking that I didn’t want James to get to you or Charlie, so I took matters into my own hands. It’s worth some cuts and a few broken bones to know that you are safe.” I squeezed him a little tighter.

“That was a stupid thing to do, sis,” he scolded.

“You know me, queen of stupid,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I promise. The nightmare is finally over, so I shouldn’t have to run head first into another stupid situation.” Tears were starting to roll down my cheeks.

Charlie, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett all crowded into my room. They all looked relieved, but the girls all had red, puffy eyes.

Charlie sat on the edge of my bed and grabbed my right hand between both of his. “Hey, kiddo. I thought I lost you tonight. Why didn’t you tell me what was happening? I would’ve made sure James would never hurt you. I would’ve hunted him down and taken care of this.”

“Char- uh, Dad, this was my fight to finish. He wanted me all along. He only used Mom as a way to get to me. This wouldn’t have truly ended until I confronted him.” Charlie had a horrified look on his face.

“I should’ve been there to protect you, Bells. I’m your father. I should’ve caught the son of a bitch three years ago. I’m so sorry I didn’t and you had to live through this nightmare.” A few tears started trickling down his cheeks.

“Dad, please don’t. It’s over. Can we please drop it and move on? I don’t want him to continue to torture us from the grave.”

“Fine. Just remember, I intend to keep a better eye on you from now on. Edward is going to call me once a week and let me know what is happening with you.” Charlie pulled me into a gentle hug and then walked to the corner.

“Bella, don’t ever do anything like that again. I swear I will drag you shopping and spend an ungodly amount of money on you if you do.” Alice had her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot as she spoke.

“I promise. You have nothing to worry about, unless some other psycho decides to stalk me and my family,” I teased.

Alice’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Bella, that’s not even funny. Under no circumstances whatsoever are you to do anything this stupid and reckless ever again.”

“I promise.” Alice bounced to my bed and gave me a quick hug.

Esme was the next to join me on my bed. She sat next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt worse. Alice filled me in on everything about that James guy. I can’t believe you faced him alone. Why would you do something like that, dear?”

“Mom, he was killing innocent people, threatening Charlie and Tommy, and he was determined to kill Edward. It’s bad enough four people lost their lives because of me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to Edward. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to him.” I was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Calm down, dear. It’s over, and no one is going to hurt Edward. You are such a brave girl. Our family is so undeserving of your love and devotion. I couldn’t ask for a better person to love my son.”

I visited with my family and friends until the nurses kicked everyone out. Edward was the only one allowed to stay with me. I refused to let him go. I wouldn’t be able to handle the inevitable nightmares that awaited me without him here.

Edward crawled in the tiny hospital bed next to me and wrapped me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head and tightened his arms around me.

“Bella, please do not ever scare me like that again. I panicked when you weren’t in your class. I completely lost it when I found you and James was on top of you with his hands and mouth all over your body. I wanted to kill him. Hell, I almost did.”

“Shh, Edward, please don’t think about it. I’m so glad you showed up when you did. Your voice was the most wonderful sound I could’ve ever heard.” I sighed and tried to hide my yawn.

“You need to sleep, love.”

“I love you, Edward. More than life itself.” I raised my head and placed a kiss on his jaw.

“You are my life. I love you and would die to keep you safe. Please get some sleep.” Edward laid his head on mine and hummed my song.

James was finally dead, and I could relax for the first time in three years. He wouldn’t be lurking around any corners or killing anyone again. My life seemed to finally be going right. My dad and brother were safe and happy. I had wonderful friends who put up with all my little quirks. The best part of my life was the wonderful man holding me. Edward was willing to die for me. I couldn’t believe he loved me that much. I revisited that wonderful dream of my possible future with Edward. It actually felt real this time. With James gone, I could afford to hope and dream of a long and happy life with my one true love.