Hide (Mommy's House 3)

Epilogue

1992

Bella's eyes were glued onto the paused television screen. She sank back into the couch. Her heart raced, fingers drumming against her thigh, as she stared back into her own eyes.

The image on the television was stuck on her. She was sitting on a black stool, a muted tan background behind her. Her legs were crossed and her fingers were tangled together on her lap. She looked casual, ready to speak, calm and collected. But only she knew that her heart had been palpitating and bouncing around in her chest. Her hair had been curled into neat, brunette waves that fell to the middle of her ribs. Blush sat on the apples of her cheeks, perhaps a little too much. She remembered the makeup artist trying to apply mascara to her eyes, but she kept blinking and flinching, so the artist gave up.

ISABELLA BRYERS stretched at the bottom of the screen in white font. Beneath that, "survivor".

She didn't know why she'd said yes when producers asked her to be in the documentary about the kidnappings. They told her to talk about how she'd survived one of the largest abduction rings in America, how she'd outsmarted them all. But the focus, really, was on Rose: what did she do? What was it like to be abducted by a woman?

The hefty check didn't seem worth it to her anymore. Elliot and Cole clearly declined. Why hadn't she?

"Liv, I don't know why I did it," Bella said, pressing the phone to her ear as she wandered mindlessly into the kitchen of her apartment. "I bet Cole and Elliot laughed in their faces when they asked them."

"I doubt Elliot laughed in their faces. Cole's a different story," Liv said on the other line. There was a hint of humor in her tone. In response to Bella's continued silence, Liv cleared her throat. "You did it for a reason. Your story needs to be told by you: you experienced it. You lived through it. Otherwise, people will just speculate on their own, and you know what they'll say."

Bella remembered hearing about an unauthorized documentary that had spoken about Bella's "Stockholm Syndrome" towards Rose. And not only did she have it, they said that Cole and Elliot had it as well. She'd been horrified. She needed to make sure their story was told correctly.

Bella closed her eyes. "I wish that I had one of them here with me now."

Bella hadn't seen Elliot since the motel room. Hadn't heard from him either, though she kept his letter folded neatly in the top drawer of the dresser in her bedroom. She hated that her last memory of the boy was his large eyes darting around the room as Daniel banged aggressively on the motel door.

Elliot had to be around 17 years old. He was almost an adult man. She wondered if his hair stayed as light as it had been, she could see it starting to darken a bit the last time she saw him. She wondered if he grew taller, if he had a girlfriend, if he was planning to go to college. She'd probably never know.

And Cole, she hadn't seen him since she left Italy after staying with him for a month four years previously. Italy was incredible, surely the best time of her life. After she'd landed back home, she and Cole kept in close contact for a bit. Mainly through letters, occasionally phone calls, but they were expensive, so they kept them sparse.

This continued up until July 8th, 1991 - Bella remembered the exact date - they'd stopped talking after a phone call, when he'd mentioned he was engaged.

After he'd told her about his engagement, she didn't say anything. "What's wrong?" she had heard his voice, filled with concern, crackling on the other line. "Bella?"

Bella's heart had raced a mile a minute. She had to let him go. There was really no reason for them to keep talking to each other; he clearly didn't need her anymore, and she could easily pretend she didn't need him as well.