BELLA COULDN'T move. She stood there, absolutely frozen as Cole's finger rested on the trigger. Her gaze was trained on Cole, whose eyes seemed drained of vibrancy and absolutely dead - it made her wonder what Mommy did to him.
"I know that you won't shoot me," Mommy stated matter-of-factly, her composure entirely relaxed.
Cole tightened his grip around the gun. "H-how do you know I won't?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.
Her tiny eyes rested on the gun pointed at her, and her leathery lips slid back into a playful smile.
"Because you're scared of guns," Mommy matched the tone of Cole's voice as she suddenly slid her arm around Bella's waist.
Bella tensed and Cole's eyes flickered to Mommy's arm before he trained them back on the tall, lanky and terrifying sadist in front of him.
"You think I don't know?" Mommy continued, tilting her head to the side.
Cole adjusted the gun in his fingers, sweat dripping down his flushed face as he squinted his eyes shut. "Stop it," he said, his voice trembling.
"You think I don't know that you and your pathetic Wop parents were unwanted in your town? Those neighbourhood kids would torment you. I know how you got that hideous scar on your face."
Cole's eyes glistened, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip as Mommy provoked him. "H-how do you know that?"
"...Those gunshots that would be fired at your house constantly..." Mommy continued. "The way your mother was treated whenever she walked past a group of men... the endless trouble your poor father faced, unable to speak any English..."
"Please stop," Cole begged, tears sliding down his sunken cheeks as his life continued to disintegrate.
Bella wondered what went though Mommy's mind, and she also wondered if Mommy knew this much about her life. Clearly, Mommy wasn't actually delusional to the point where she genuinely believed they were her children. But she did know everything about Cole, as if he was her child.
This woman was capable of way more than Bella could ever imagine.
Mommy's grin was horrifying, taunting, and it only grew wider as she knew her next few words would surely finish him.
"...Or how about the bullet that hit your little brother while you were supposed to be watching him?"
He broke.
"Cole..." Bella whispered, barely able to see past the tears in her eyes.
His heart shattered right before her as he slowly lowered the gun.
"Fuck you!" he cried out, his voice rocky and unsteady.
Mommy reached out and ripped the gun feverishly from his grip, but Cole allowed her to take it from him.
"I'm sorry, Bella," Cole said, his fingers trembling as he reached out to her. "I'm s-sorry that I c-couldn't do it."
Bella's eyes were wide as she watched him shake. He was weakened, absolutely deteriorated and Mommy ended him.
She couldn't even blame him.
With the gun now pointed at him, Mommy narrowed her beady eyes and before Bella knew it, Cole fell to the ground with a loud and pleading scream.
Bella's heart dropped and everything was surreal. The way he fell in slow-motion, his loud cry for help and Mommy's emotionless gaze... it felt unreal. Bella's heart was pounding in her throat as jumped to run over to Cole, the ringing in her ears blocking out his cries, but Mommy grabbed her waist tightly and held Bella flush against her bony body.
Cole held his leg, his head thrown back in absolute agony as he tried to hold back his screams, but he hid his pain for too long. He screamed, and bled, and his face was growing paler by the second.
"Cole!" Bella screeched when she could finally use her voice again. "Cole, please!" her voice could barely be heard.
Bella couldn't lose both Elliot and Cole.
She did everything she could to pry herself from Mommy's grip but she was trembling, her motor skills were surely off from pure shock and Mommy used that to her advantage.
"Please!" Bella cried out, her voice breaking. "That's my brother, please!"
"Help me bring him to the basement," Mommy said, releasing Bella.
Bella fell to the hard tile, her head jolting back against the ground. Her vision was dizzy as she moved herself towards Cole, who was struggling. His palms were behind him, pressed against the floor, his head was back and the large wound on his leg gushed blood.
"You're okay," Bella said, wrapping her arms sloppily around him as she moved her fingers to his jaw and forced him to look her in the eyes.
"It hurts," Cole gargled through his heavy breaths as his crimson-covered hands clutched his leg. "I'm going to die, Bella," he said through heavy breaths, while Mommy silently watched just a few feet away. "Just let me die. Get out of here."
"Listen to me!" Bella screamed, holding his face with both of her hands. "You are not going to die," she whispered hastily. "Stick with me, I don't know what she wants but I am going to make sure you don't die."
"Grab his torso and I will grab his legs," Mommy ordered suddenly, kneeling down to grab his legs.
He didn't struggle as Mommy collected his lower half in her arms, and Bella obeyed as she reached under his arms. They lifted him up and Mommy walked backwards towards the basement.
Cole's head rested against Bella's ribcage as he breathed in pure agony, bleeding out rapidly onto the ground. Bella could barely hold him up as her trembling hands were almost forcing her to drop him.
When they reached the basement, Mommy walked into the room on the right side, the one Bella knew as the "torture room". The room was empty, dark and cold, but Bella could see a shadowed object in the center of the area.
When Mommy flipped a lamp on, Bella noticed that it was a stained mattress.
Mommy tossed him on the mattress, and Bella knelt beside him and kissed his sweaty forehead gently. His eyes were drooping shut and his flesh was incredibly pale.
Mommy turned away and seemed to be looking through a small bag Bella failed to notice on the ground. While Mommy did so, Bella quickly used all of her might to rip a piece of her dress.
Cole's whimpers masked the sound of the fabric tearing, so Bella quickly reached to wrap the thick fabric tight around his wound before Mommy turned around.
Cole stared at the ceiling, swallowing hard as he winced and whined shakily under his breath.
"You're going to be okay," Bella whispered softly into his ear, trying to tame her frantic voice. "We-we'll get out of here. We'll- we're going to find Elliot. Everything will be normal again, o-okay?"
Cole's eyes closed, and Bella nudged his shoulder.
"Tell me okay, Cole, please," she pleaded, her voice shaking as he opened his eyes again.
"Okay," he agreed quietly, and Bella knew he didn't believe her words. She didn't even believe them.
Bella's eyes scoured his shirtless torso before she noticed fresh bruises appearing around his neck and along his throat. She then noticed forming contusions around his hipbones and abdomen.
"What'd she do to you in that room?" Bella asked in a whisper, hardly expecting him to answer it as her vision filled with stinging tears.
Cole's eyes rolled back as he shook his head weakly in response. She knew that's all she would get out of him.
Mommy was suddenly standing over him again, and Bella stared up at her in fear.
"W-what... what are you going to do to him?" Bella asked, staring up at Mommy from the ground.
Mommy turned around, her body just a mere silhouette as she knelt down. She handed Bella the small pocketknife that Cole first had on him.
"I am sorry, my son," Mommy whispered, her voice dark. "We have to finish you. Me and my daughter, together."
"W-what?" Bella replied, her eyes frantically darting around the room for an escape.
"Have your fun," Mommy ordered, pulling a whip out of her bag in the process. Bella hoped that she wouldn't get whipped, but at the same time, she didn't want to hurt Cole.
He was dying, there was no doubt about that. Bella had to act fast, before she ended up just like him.
Bella could picture her father's reaction if she didn't return to him alive - he would surely go into depression. The thought alone drove her to tears, and she knew that it was either her or Cole.
The whip sat in Mommy's grip, taunting her as she tightened her clammy grip around the silver blade in her palm.
Bella stared deeply into Cole's broken eyes, her heart sinking into her stomach at the look of helplessness in his stare.
She took a deep breath and pressed her bloody fingers to her lips, before she slowly brought them to his cold, sweaty cheek.
"I'm sorry, Cole," Bella whispered, her breath hot on his ear. "But I'm going to have to kill you."