Bella's POV:

I opened my eyes and blinked them to get rid of the darkness but it didn't disappear. I felt warm and my whole body was aching. My hands and legs were not bound this time. I groaned and sat up on the ground.

Suddenly I remembered about Gabriel and looked around. It was too dark to see around, I didn't know where I was, but the hard floor underneath me seemed like a concrete floor.

"Gabriel, are you here? Gabriel!" I screamed.

Then I heard the painful groan from the corner of the wall. I got up and ran towards the voice.

"Gabriel," I called his name again to hear his voice.

"Bella, I am here," he said and I kneeled down trying to search him. My hand touched his leg and I moved closer to him. I touched his face and he caught my wrist.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm alright," I mumbled.

"You're hot," he said.

"What?" I said with a frown on my face.

"Your body feels warm. You have a fever," he explained and then touched my head.

"Well, I guess," I replied placing my head on his shoulder.

"Did you see who knocked me out?" he asked.

"One of the men who kidnapped us," I replied.

His body tensed and he clasped my hand in his.

"How did they find us?" he muttered.

"Maybe they were searching for us and knew the woods better than us," I mumbled.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," he said. When my name rolled out from his tongue I felt my body tingle. "You're in this mess because of me."

"Stop apologizing, please," I said squeezing his hand.

We heard the footsteps and sat up stood up straight. Gabriel pushed me behind him standing in front of me.

A door opened blinding us with the sudden light. We blinked our eyes to see the three men standing in front of us. The two men were the same from the forest dressed in black suits looking ugly as always. The third man was new I hadn't seen him before. They started talking to each other into a different language, I was unable to understand anything, but Gabriel's body was tensing with each word.

I decided to speak and take matters in my hand.

"Why have you kidnapped us?" I asked no one in particular.

All three heads snapped in my direction. I kept the firm gaze on them and stepped out from behind Gabriel.

"Let us leave, we haven't done anything. You both have been chasing us for two days or three, I don't even remember. We haven't eaten anything since the day you guys abducted us. We haven't even used a freaking bathroom for so many days and I need to pee!"

There was complete silence, a third unfamiliar looking man stepped out from the shadows. He had an elongated face, with a Roman nose, and sharp jaw. His sandy blonde hair sat on the top of his head in messy waves. His greenish eyes ran down on me in shock, taking me in from head to toe.

Gabriel covered me by his towering figure hiding me behind him.

"Is your bitch high?" The other man asked Gabriel coming out of the shadows.

I didn't know what came over me and I tried to jump at the man who called me "bitch".

"Let me show you how high bitch acts, you asshole!" I yelled.

Gabriel caught my waist on time and pulled me back on his chest. I struggled to get away from his grip.

"Bella, shut up," Gabriel hissed in my ear.

"I'm sick of this game. I'm just so SICK!" I shouted.

The man with the sandy blonde hair muttered something in other language and made those two men leave. He walked to the wall and switched on the lights.

"There is a washroom here. I'll send something for you guys to eat," he said making me froze.

Gabriel turned to the man but he left quickly after that.

"What was that?" I asked in confusion. I walked to the door and tried to push it open but it was locked. The room we were in looked like a basement, it had no windows and doors.

"I don't know... They were just discussing how to kill us and decompose our bodies. One of the men said something about waiting for the boss," Gabriel said referring to the conversation they were having in another language.

It must be Italian and he understood them.

"I can't believe this. If they want to kill us then they should just do it. I am almost dead anyway," I said in frustration.

"Why would you say that? Maybe somehow we will be able to escape from here."

He was trying to give me hope but I knew if somehow I would be able to go back to my life, my dad will strangle me with his bare hands.

"You don't know anything!" I snapped.

"Then tell me!" he yelled.

"My father will kill me; he will torture me to my death. I...I lied to him. He doesn't know that I went to the summer camp. He thinks that I am at my grandmother's house with my mom and my siblings," I said.

"He will forgive you, he is your father."

I laughed mockingly at his comment. "No, he will never forgive me for this. You don't know him. If somehow I will get out of this situation, there is no chance that I am going to survive. It's better to die from the hands of these criminals than my own father," I told him.

Gabriel turned pale; he was standing there at a complete loss of words.

"I can't believe this. He's a psychopath, just leave him," he said in disbelieve.

"He has total control over my life because I have nowhere to go!"

"How old are you?" He asked me.

"What does it has to do with this?" I asked him confused.

"Just tell me," He said in an exasperated tone.

"I'll be turning eighteen at the end of this month," I told him.

"Then you can move out, you still have hope," he said.

"No, I don't have hope. I need to graduate first; the graduation is three months away. Then there is my mom and my siblings," I told him.

"Then throw him in the prison and take legal actions against him. Stop covering up his crimes," He said harshly.

"You think I am covering up his crimes. He destroyed my childhood; the memories of his torture still wake me up in nights. His controlling nature wiped out the joy of my teenage life. I know what he did and do is crazy. But you don't know how hard it is to escape from the clutches of your abuser when he is your family. You have no right to frown upon my choices," I shouted at him.

He looked down in guilt and rubbed his face. "I apologize, it came out wrong. I'm not judging you for your choices. I just want you to be safe when you go back."

He looked down at the ground in guilt. I calmed myself and sat down on the ground. He sat down beside me and opened his mouth but shut it back.

"I was young, barely four years old when he started punishing me for small mistakes. I was scared and I had no idea what he was doing was a crime. He told me he was disciplining me because I was a bad kid."

Gabriel clenched his hands in anger but he didn't say anything so I continued.

"One day, he came back home drunk and sat beside me on the couch. I was watching cartoons on TV in our living room. His presence scared me so I got up from the couch to hide in my room but he stopped me. He asked me to bring him a glass of water. I went to the kitchen to bring him a glass of water. Unfortunately, I took too much time because my short hands couldn't reach the bottle and I had to climb to the counter. When I came back he was angry, he had a lit cigarette in his mouth. He pulled it out from his mouth and pressed it on my right arm as a punishment. The pain was too much for me to tolerate so I screamed. My mom came out from her room and looked at my father in anger, she shouted at him to leave me but he slapped my mother. He told her not to disrespect him when he is teaching me a lesson."

Gabriel just sat there silently, absorbing everything; his leg was shaking in anger.

"My mother wanted to escape; she knew he will never give her divorce and let her leave. She planned a getaway; she didn't send me a school that day and packed small bags for us. I was waiting for her to come out of the room when I heard her crying. I went to her room and hugged her. She told me she was pregnant, I will be welcoming a brother or sister soon. She told me if we would leave we will have to stay in a shelter. But with the baby on the way it is going to be very difficult. My granddad was alive at that time; he was no better man than my father. She had no relatives and no friends who can help her, we were all alone. Mom asked me if we can stay a little longer and I agreed with her. I wanted to ease pressure from my mother's shoulder," I said. "My mom is not highly educated, she has no job experience, and she is really innocent. After that day, we never got the chance to leave."

"Does he still hurt you?" Gabriel asked. His question surprised me.

"After my brother and sister came into the world, he changed a bit. He doesn't torture me like before but he just slaps me sometimes and says hurtful things. I know his rules so I do my best to follow them...but I broke one of his rules and here I am," I said looking at the basement where a single yellow bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"I'll help you, don't worry. You're not here because you broke one of his stupid rules. You're here because of my irrationality," He said in anger.

"Stop shaking your leg, Gabriella," I teased him placing my hand on his lap.

"What did you just call me?" He asked confused.

"I called you Gabriella," I replied.

"And...why did you call me that?" He asked me with a frown on his face.

I cleaned the tear from under his eye which was about to fall. "To distract you. You've tears in your eyes stupid."

"I wish I could do something and take all the pain away that he had inflicted on your soul," He said kissing my hand.

I gulped feeling my heart gallop inside my chest. His gaze was pulling the strings of my heart that had been in clutter for so long. I felt those strings unfasten one by one ready to open the door that I have kept locked for years. I never thought that someday I would be able to trust a man.

Suddenly the door opened and an unknown man entered. Gabriel was on his feet trying to cover me.

"No funny business, my partner is standing there ready to put holes into your head," the man said making us look at the other man standing at the doorway with a gun in his hand.

He placed a tray on the floor and pushed it towards us. He tried to look at me but Gabriel blocked his view.

After they were gone locking us in the basement again, my eyes went to the other side of the wall.

"There is a door," I said.

"It's probably washroom," Gabriel said.

I walked to the door and opened. It was a very dirty washroom with a broken basin. There was no window to give us hope.

"It's dirty but I want to use it," I said.

"Okay," he said with shrug.

I went inside and closed the door. I did my business and washed my hands. I was glad that there was a hand wash there. I washed my face and looked at myself in the broken mirror.

My face looked paler than usual. I had blotches on my cheek and small scratches.

I went out to find Gabriel looking around for an escape. I sat down in front of the food and looked at the tray. There were sandwiches with egg and a water bottle. I eat it silently. Tears were falling down my face when Gabriel came out from the washroom.

He looked at me with worry. "What happened?"

"Nothing...I feel sick," I said closing my eyes.

I didn't know what happened to me but I lost my consciousness.

____________________________________

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you understand now why Bella acted so hostile towards Gabriel at the start.

Do you think they will be able to escape before someone gets hurt badly?

Thanks for reading.❤️

Please press a tiny ⭐️ below.