Hi daddy, I should be back soon. If I'm not, please don't look for me. I love you more than anyone. Love, Bells.
Bella had placed a pen down with shaking fingers beside the note on her freshly made bed. Her breath was rapid as the man beside her held a gun up to her head. The cold weapon was pressed against her temple as she looked up at him.
She looked one last time at her bed, and her teddy bear that her father gave her when she was born. There was a time when she slept in that bed peacefully, and none of this was going on.
Her last interaction with her father was her telling him that she was going to get some sleep. She wished she could have told him that she loved him before she left, but a hug goodnight was all she had to work with. He was safe and sound in his bed, and she felt comforted by that.
The man had a mask over his face, but Bella knew just who he was. It wasn't a shock to her that he was able to somehow sneak past the police cars and break into her house as her father slept.
"Don't make a sound or your father dies," the man had told her, his words muffled by the black cloth over his mouth.
Bella took a deep breath and tried to hold back her tears as he opened the door to her bedroom and held onto her arm roughly, the gun against her skull. She knew that her father was sleeping, but she prayed that he wouldn't wake up at all.
There was a hard and painful lump in her throat as the man brought her out through her side door and into the pitch black night.
They cut through her neighbour's backyard to a dark and isolated side street where his car was parked. The entire time, Bella could feel the harsh tip of the gun pressing into her skin.
The man had her practically hidden in his large jacket - she was pressed up against his body as the jacket was wrapped around her. She could feel his breathing and the warmth radiating off of him. She couldn't believe that a human being could cause so much anguish and distress.
He swung the back door open and shoved Bella inside before he looked both ways down the street. Bella stared up at him, but she didn't struggle, as much as she desperately wanted to. She allowed him to grab her wrists and tie them together with a wire, and she allowed him to shove a pillowcase over her head. He then threw her back with a strong amount of force onto the leather seat, where she whined a little as she heard him slam the door shut.
Her heart was racing as all she could see was the inside of the pillowcase. She jumped when the driver's side door opened and the car engine started.
"I know who you are," Bella said before closing her eyes. She wasn't as frightened as she expected herself to be, oddly enough.
Steven didn't answer, he just continued to pull roughly into the street, sending her slamming against the window. Bella swallowed hard and sniffled, pretending to cry.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, and she heard a throaty laughter spout from Steven as he drove.
"I absolutely am," Steven responded, and Bella could hear the joy threaded through his tone.
"I- I deserve to be killed," she answered, letting out a shaky breath. "I killed Rose."
Steven didn't answer for a few seconds, before he finally spoke up. "You do not call your mother by her name, that is disrespectful."
"I- I meant, I killed my Mommy," Bella said, leaning her head back against the seat.
"You wanted me to take you," Steven said, another bout of laughter following his words. "You made sure that side door was unlocked and you made sure I saw you. I know what you want."
He was absolutely correct.
Bella sniffled again. "I want you to kill me for what I d-did. You should kill me just as I killed her. In her house, and- and everything," she whispered, her eyes falling shut again. "I should suffer the way she did."
"Shut the fuck up," he spat, making Bella recoil in shock. "The next time you speak, I'll take your brothers as well," he said, and his words made Bella's heart jump.
Bella stayed silent, the heavy heat of her breath filling the inside of the pillowcase as she rested her head on the seat and closed her eyes. Her fingers were shaking as she moved her tied wrists beneath her body to stay warm.
After a long ride of pure silence, the car engine finally shut off, and Bella's heart dropped as she lifted her head off the seat in alarm. The driver's side door opened and slammed shut, and she expected the door beside her to open, but it didn't.
Confused, she tried to shake the pillowcase off of her head. Struggling, she brought her restricted hands up to her face and pulled the pillowcase up on her forehead until it fell off behind her.
She moved to the window where she stared up at Rose's house. She could hardly see it, but her breath still caught in her throat, as she remembered staring at it from the outside during their attempted escape.
Where was Steven? She stared out of the front windshield and watched Steven talk to the officers sitting in the car. Her heart raced when he pulled his gun out and shot them effortlessly.
Blood splattered up onto his face, and the loud pops of the gun sent a shock through her body. She was hyperventilating as she squeezed her eyes shut and stared at the floor of the car. She heard his footsteps against the pavement just beside the vehicle, and suddenly, the back door swung open.
He was still wearing the mask as he grabbed her and pulled her by her legs out of the car.
"Stop! Let go of me!" she cried out instinctively while kicking her legs at him. "Did you kill them?" she asked, her voice cracking.
He reached over and grabbed a fistful of her hair in his fingers.
"Shut the fuck up," he whispered through gritted teeth. "Shut your mouth."
He grabbed her tied wrists and pulled her out of the car, before he started up the driveway of Rose's house.
When they reached the porch, Steven opened the door inside easily. Bella then noticed that he was carrying a lantern in his free hand as he practically threw her into the house. He then slammed the door shut and engulfed them in total darkness, aside from the small amount of light which radiated from the lantern.
He set it down on the counter, and Bella had goosebumps running through her body as she stared around at the familiar kitchen. This time, it was covered with caution tape. She stared at the spot where Sir was laying just a month before, and then where Cole was laying, right in front of the basement door.
She watched as Steven strolled over to the turntable that sat on the counter. Bella continued to look around the dark house as Steven sifted through a few records. He then put a song on, before he looked over at Bella.
He pulled his mask off and set it on the table, allowing Bella to see his terrifying features as the light beamed against his face. He had dark hair, and light eyes, but his skin was wrinkled and his eyebrows were furrowed in anger. Exactly what he looked like in all of the pictures plastered on every news station.
"You're being quite submissive," Steven said, before he stepped a bit closer to her.
"I, I told you," Bella answered, staring up at him. "I deserve what- what you're going to do to me."
Steven knelt down with a smile on his lips. She flinched as he reached over and pressed his fingers against the side of her cheek. He stroked them against her skin before he stood up.
"I will be right back," Steven said while standing up. "You know just what will happen if I come back and you aren't here."
Bella swallowed as she listened to his footsteps disappear down the hallway. She stared at the tiles which were still coated with dried blood. It was almost as if Sir and Cole were laying there still - she pictured their helpless bodies right in front of her and her heart raced in her chest.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she somehow broke through the ties that bound her wrists together. Her eyes were tearing as she sniffled and continued to pretend her wrists were tied, thankful that the lighting was too awful for him to notice.
She jumped when Steven suddenly grabbed onto her arm, a white article of clothing bunched in his other hand as he grabbed onto her tee shirt.
"You are going to wear the clothes your mother bought for you," Steven said as he used a knife to cut through her tee shirt.
Bella winced at the fact that he was undressing her. She had to continuously remind herself of why she was doing what she was doing. The feeling of his fingers on her skin had no choice but to be ignored.
"What a beautiful dress," Bella said to him once the white dress was pulled over her body. She swallowed and stared at Steven as she forced laughter. "My mother had the best taste."
"She did," Steven smiled, before he continued to watch Bella. "You remind me a lot of her."
"I do?" Bella whispered, and Steven nodded.
"Oh, how I'd love to capture you and sell you right now. Or maybe even keep you all to myself," his voice was raspy and his eyes were fixed on her. "You sure are a beauty. But you did something bad."
"I loved my- my mommy," Bella said softly, trying to stop her voice from shaking.
"I know she must have loved you kids. Although you clearly were very ungrateful. When I saw those pictures of her own son trying to make love to her... how sick," he said, and Bella had to, quite literally, bite her tongue to prevent herself from screaming that Rose was the one who assaulted Cole.
"It is sick," Bella choked out, her voice a mere whisper.
"And then that little prick ran away from her, how disrespectful could that be?" he asked. "But worst of all, you killed her. That poor woman. You killed that beautiful woman," Steven's eyes hardened as they glared at her.
Bella swallowed hard and stared at the floor. "If you loved her so much, why did you leave her?" Bella asked, and immediately regretted it.
"Time to get rid of you," Steven spat as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a short, but sharp knife out of it. "Where did you stab her? Right here?"
Bella was trembling as the frigid blade was pressed against her throat. She swallowed hard as she rolled her head back.
"Yes," she whispered while staring at the ceiling. "B-but, I feel like we should go down in the basement for this. I want to see my room, just one- one last time."
"You have a stupid plan, don't you?" Steven asked, and Bella looked at him. "You won't get away with it. I'm not an idiot, you little bitch."
Bella laughed, smiling as she shook her head. "You have me here alone. You have me now. What could I possibly have planned? I'm only a little girl."
Steven pulled the knife away from her skin and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her up to her feet. He then grabbed the lantern and the light followed them to the basement door. She didn't want to see the basement again.
He opened the door and Bella felt the cold air rush to nip at her flesh. He pulled her down the basement stairs, and she tried desperately to maintain balance while stepping down each stair. He practically ran down each of them with her as he then went to the main room that the three of them were held in, and he pulled the door open.
She was thankful that she could barely see as he tossed her into the room.
But she could smell the familiar, coppery scent of blood, she could smell the cheap paint that covered the walls, she could smell the dusty toys that were piled in the corner. She could see herself whipping Cole, and she could see herself huddling in the corner with a terrified Elliot.
She pushed those thoughts aside as she focused on Steven and the knife in his hand.
"Don't you want to have some fun first?" Bella asked him, before she narrowed her eyes towards him.
He knelt down beside her, the knife still in his hands. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know," she said, her voice a whisper. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Steven laughed as he placed the knife on the floor beside him and moved closer to her.
"I wanted you to take me so bad," Bella told him, her eyes large and blinking up at him. "I saw you all over the news. Wow, you are so handsome. My Mommy sure was a lucky woman."
She could see Steven's cheeks flush from the light of the lantern as he smiled at her.
"You are such a beautiful girl, Bella. It's a shame that you think you can outsmart me. I wasn't fucking born yesterday," he said, reaching to grab the knife off the floor but Bella now held it in her grip.
Steven chuckled, shaking his head as he clicked his tongue against his teeth.
"Don't be so brave, beautiful girl," Steven whispered, just before he lunged at Bella.
As quickly as she could, she plunged the knife into the side of his body.
Her eyes widened and her breath knocked from her lungs as she stared at him, and watched him look down at the knife that was lodged into his skin. He reached down to touch the wound, pulling his fingers up to show the dark blood coating them, before his facial expression shifted from shock to pure anger. He grabbed onto Bella and wrapped his fingers through her hair.
Why was he still able to move? Bella expected him to fall over and die - she needed a way to pull the knife out of his side.
Bella cried out in pain as he cracked her forehead against the ground twice. Her eyes were filled with hot tears that rushed down her cheeks as he then slammed his fist into her lip. Her vision went fully black, before the dark stars dissolved to show Steven's face hovering over her.
She tried to kick where the knife was, but he moved to the side and dodged her aim, slamming his fist into her nose this time. The pain was so harsh, it radiated throughout her entire skull and made her head pound.
Her voice cracked as she screamed as loudly as possible, kicking at his shoulders and his face. His arms pinned her legs down as she watched him in fear.
Rose and this sick man put her, Cole and Elliot through way too much torment for her to give up, as much as she desperately wanted to. She was in so much pain and she felt so lifeless, her limbs were as heavy as lead.
But through the chaos, she reached over to grab the knife out of his side, and when she pulled it out with all her might, his blood began spilling out of his wound.
Then, she plunged the knife into his neck as hard as she could, screaming the entire time as she stabbed him over and over and over again.
All she could think about was Cole, Elliot, Sir, James and Liv, her father, and the two girls that suffered at the hands of Emilio. She was doing this for them.
Rose still haunted Bella's dreams every single night. Rose's face, as Bella plunged the knife into her neck, matched Steven's as he was granted the same fate.
Rose never deserved to be called Mommy.
"Rose isn't my mother! She was never our- our fucking mother!" Bella screamed out, each word ear piercing as she continued to shove the knife into him.
She had never cursed before in her life, but blood was coating her body and she was on top of this man, she couldn't stop screaming and swearing and crying. She couldn't stop herself, and seeing his body lifeless and dead as anything didn't satisfy her enough.
The sound of people outside the door made her stop and pull herself off of him as she slowly turned to look at whoever was opening the door to the basement.
When her eyes landed on James and Liv, she fell completely frozen.