25

                                    

                                          
Bella woke up to a white ceiling above her. 
Immediately, she sat upwards, and her eyes darted around the room. It was a small, quaint room, with white walls, a wooden dresser pressed against the wall across from her, with a lamp sitting upon it. There was a rug on the wooden floor, in the shape of a pink flower, and a single stool stood on it.
The door was beside the dresser. It was cracked open, but not enough for her to see what was on the other side of it. On the wall to the left of Bella, there was a closed window, showing nothing but darkness and the reflection of the lit lamp on the dresser.
She looked down at herself and realized she was dressed in a white night-gown. She stared at the lacy trim at the end of the gown that just barely reached the middle of her thighs.
She was on a small bed. There was a white quilt covering it, and in each square were different floral designs in pastel coloring. 
Slowly, she turned her head to the right, and jumped when she found somebody sitting in a twin-sized bed, only about five feet away from hers.
The girl was staring down at a book, trying to avoid looking at Bella, but when Bella looked over at her, she dropped the book down to her legs and turned to look at her. 
She had dark brown skin, large brown eyes, and thick eyelashes above them. Her hair fell to her shoulders in loose, black curls. Her face was mature, so Bella guessed she was in her late teens, but she wasn't sure, as the girl was quite petite and thin.
Bella slowly reached up to touch her throat, remembering that it had been cut. Her fingertips touched a smooth piece of plastic. She moved her finger to the edge of the plastic to find a sticky adhesive surrounding it: a long bandage. 
She quickly moved off the bed and went to walk towards the door. It almost felt like something was controlling her. She felt entirely detached from herself.
She was halted to a stop when something tugged at her arm. When she looked down at her arm, she saw a thick piece of metal handcuffed around her wrist, with a chain attached to the metal headboard behind her.
"You have to be kidding me," she whispered to herself as she tried to yank her arm out of the metal grip, but to no avail.
She dropped to her knees beside the bed and dropped her head as she let out a groan of frustration. 
She thought about the last thing she remembered: Cole, screaming, crying, three gunshots, and the two men sprinting back to the car, without Cole. 
"Get a move on, Kane! Hurry!" Rich yelled out from over the seat after rushing back into the trunk next to Bella. 
Bella lifted her head over the seat to find Kane in the driver's seat, and the other man in the passenger seat.
She then turned back to the window of the trunk, where the dark woods sat before her. The treetops blew peacefully through the wind, and Bella felt like they were laughing at her.
"You just left him out there?" Bella whispered through gritted teeth. 
She looked at Rich, and noticed a blank look in his eyes. They were void of emotion. But she noticed his foot tapping vigorously against the floor of the trunk, as he looked over his shoulder out the window.
Bella heard the engine start, and the car sped off, out of the woods, and away from Cole.
"What'd you think, we'd bring him back to you?" Rich taunted. "You wouldn't wanna see him. Trust me, honey." 
As Bella shrieked and bellowed with any remaining energy she had left, and as she thrashed her legs towards Rich and spat the cruelest words she could find, Rich continued to stare at her, not even a sparkle in his eye.