Bella couldn't stop crying as she looked away from Daniel's body. She couldn't handle seeing it. Tears flew down her cheeks while she thrashed around in the arms of the man holding her. She tried to let out a sob, but it was muffled against the man's calloused palm, which was wrapped harshly around her entire mouth.

She looked at Cole, tears blurring her vision, as he struggled to figure out what to do. His eyes were wide and his fingers were shaking as he held the gun out.

"Hand me the knife," the man holding Bella ordered.

The man standing over Daniel's body handed the knife over to him. It was still dripping with blood. Bella watched through her peripheral vision as the man wiped Daniel's blood off on the leg of his pants. She then closed her eyes as she felt the metal blade press up against her throat.

Rich was still next to the man holding her, pressing the gun up against her head.

"Give us the gun," the man ordered Cole.

Bella wanted desperately to tell him that they couldn't hurt her. They needed her alive, without a mark. She tried to distance herself from the knife, but as she pressed her head up against the man's chest, he pressed the knife further against her throat.

"Let her go," Cole said, his voice surprisingly steady. The man beside Daniel moved, and Cole quickly pointed the gun at him.

"You want to play games?" the man holding her taunted him. "I can kill this bitch if I want to. He wants her dead or alive."

Who wants her? She couldn't believe this was happening.

Cole swallowed hard as he took a step backwards. His eyes met Bella's before he slowly looked back down at the gun.

"Give us the gun," the man repeated.

Cole didn't move. His chest was heaving as he continued to look at the man holding Bella.

Suddenly, Bella felt a sharp pain against her neck. Instinctively, she coughed a few times to rid herself of it, but it was too strong. The shooting pain that ran throughout her throat made the edges of her vision turn white, and she realized that the man had cut her throat when the knife was pulled away and blood surrounded the edge.

She took a few quick breaths through her cries. Thankfully, he only cut the surface of her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Stop!" she heard Cole cry out, his voice hoarse and desperate.

"Every time I ask you to give me the gun, and you don't, I'll cut deeper. And if you shoot that gun, her head will come off. Be smart," the man's voice boomed from above her.

Bella slowly opened her eyes to find that Cole had dropped the gun down on the counter.

"Okay, okay. Please don't hurt her anymore," Cole begged, his eyes fixed on the man holding her. "Please."

"The kid's hiding in the bathroom, correct?" Rich said, a smile in his tone as he walked over to Cole and grabbed the gun from the counter next to him.

Cole backed away from him, his eyes flicking from Rich to the gun that was now in Rich's possession.

"No," Cole answered carefully. "He's not here."

"Get that bathroom door open," the man holding her ordered, ignoring Cole.

Bella screamed into the man's hand and tried to kick again, but she was growing weak as she felt blood continue to drip from the fresh wound in her neck. She could feel a stream of blood move from her neck into the collar of her shirt.

Rich tried to open the bathroom door, but Cole grabbed onto his shoulder from behind and pushed him down onto the ground. Immediately, the man who killed Daniel rushed over to Cole and slammed him up against the wall.

Everything was happening so fast. Bella's heart was racing as she sobbed into the man's palm. She wanted to tell Cole to just cooperate with the men, but she knew that to keep Elliot safe, he wouldn't.

Both of the men were practically on top of Cole, and Bella couldn't see what they were doing to him. Her breathing felt restricted as she heaved for air, only able to get air in through her nose. She felt like she was going to pass out. Each time she struggled, the man's grip on her only tightened.

Rich pulled Cole up by his shirt and slammed his back up against the wall. Cole's nose was bleeding as he swung at Rich, knocking Rich to the side. Bella noticed the other man was doubled over on the floor next to Rich.

"Control him already!" the man holding Bella said as he breathed with frustration.

The man on the floor stood up and pulled a knife out of Rich's back pocket. He quickly pressed the knife up against Cole's neck as Cole was pressed against the wall. Cole was gasping for air as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, blood streaming from his nose and down his lips and neck.

"How about a deal?" Rich said, his breath also heavy as he stared into Cole's eyes.

Cole stared back at him, wincing as he tried to distance his neck from the knife.

"You cooperate with us, we don't mess with the boy," Rich said through gritted teeth. "We need you and Isabella to get into the car. No screaming, no nothing. If you don't, we'll get that kid out of the bathroom and he'll be joining us. Your call."

Cole's breath was heavy as he turned his head over to look at Bella. Their eyes met, as Bella weakly blinked and whimpered into the man's hand.

"What are you going to do with her?" Cole asked, his voice faltering.

The other man touched Bella's wound, making her suck air through her teeth. Her wound stung as he swiped his finger against it, before he finally released her from his grasp.

She gasped for air, coughing as she doubled over and instinctively moved her fingers to her neck. Quickly, the man grabbed onto her face and forced her head to look at him. His fingers made their way around her neck tightly, but not enough to fully restrict her breathing.

Bella saw Cole jolt forward through her peripheral vision, but he was quickly restrained by the two men surrounding him.

She stared into the man's eyes, and they sparkled with an ominous glint. He was ecstatic, she could tell. All she could see was his eyes, but he was breathing heavily, and his warm breath hit her face through the fabric of his mask.

He slowly brought his blood-coated finger up to her lips as he then raked his eyes over her body.

"You've made a lot of enemies," the man said, his voice harsh as he brought his face closer to hers. "You've made Him real mad, Sweetheart. It's your fault that the bust happened and we know that."

Bella swallowed hard as she squinted her eyes at him.

"Both of you, sit on the bed and don't move. If you move or try anything, we'll grab the kid," the man said.

"He's not even here," Bella squeaked out as she tried to pry his fingers off of her neck.

The man continued to stare at her, before he slowly looked at the other men who were holding Cole. "I don't care what you have to do, get that fucking bathroom door open."

"Fine! Fine," Bella cried out, her entire body trembling as she continued to try to pull his fingers off her neck. "Let me go, I'll get on the bed. I won't do anything."

She looked over at Cole and saw him looking at her, his eyes filled with fear as one of the men continued to press the blade of a knife against his throat.

The man let go of her. She brought her gaze back to him to maintain eye contact with him, as she slowly backed up and sat down on the bed.

"Keep holding him down," the man ordered to the others while he stepped over Daniel's lifeless body. He walked to the black backpack that they had sat next to the door.

He sifted through it, and Bella's heart dropped when she saw him pull out thick ropes.

She closed her eyes as the man walked around her and tied her wrists back forcefully. The ropes dug into her skin as he tightened it.

He looked over at the other men with Cole. "Bring him over here, keep the knife on him," he said, and Bella noticed that they were keeping their voice down.

The two men roughly grabbed onto Cole's arms and walked him over to the bed, the knife not leaving his throat the entire time. They sat him down on the bed beside Bella, and Rich knelt in front of him.

"It feels great to finally win," Rich said, and Bella watched as he winked at Cole.

Bella stared down at her lap as she tried not to cry anymore. Her eyes were swollen and she didn't want to upset the men even more. She worried about Elliot, who was probably terrified, hiding in the bathroom. She didn't want them to take him.

One of the men worked to tie Cole's arms back. Bella saw the curly dark hair peeking out from beneath his ski mask. It was Kane - the one who had spared them when he saw them hiding in the bathtub. Her eyes widened as she quickly stared ahead.

"Can't you leave Cole alone?" Bella asked quietly, her eyes looking up at the man who was holding her before. "I'm the one who told the police. Not him, not Elliot. It was all me."

The man looked at Cole, before he looked back at Bella. "He knows too much. And he's not innocent, either. Now be quiet."

Bella felt discomfort as the man continued to stare into her eyes. She flinched away from him when he reached up to pull her hair behind her ears.

"Stop fucking touching her," Cole suddenly said, roughly, from beside her.

"Stop," Bella told Cole in a whisper through gritted teeth.

The man looked at Cole, before he suddenly pulled his fist back and slammed it into Cole's eye.

Cole sucked air through his teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut, his body curling.

Bella noticed Kane looking away from them, his eyes focused on the wall.

"Don't you ever get tired of getting the shit beaten out of you?" the man asked him. "Everyone says Rose is so horrible, meanwhile, you deserve everything you've gotten. I don't feel bad for you at all."

Cole looked down at the floor, his eye already beginning to swell up. "Really? You don't feel bad for me?" he mumbled sarcastically.

The man must have heard, as he looked over at Kane and ordered, "Get some duct tape for his big fucking mouth. Now."

Kane walked over to the backpack and pulled a black roll of duct tape out. He grabbed onto Cole's hair and lifted his head up to wrap it around Cole's mouth.

"Should we grab the boy anyway?" Rich asked as he stood up.

"We made a deal, the least we can do is honor it," Kane interjected, as he gestured to Bella and Cole. "They're cooperating now."

"All right, what happens when we leave and the boy calls the fuckin' cops?" Rich asked as he looked at Kane. "And He wanted all three of 'em, didn't he?" He looked over at the other man for clarification.

"He doesn't give a shit now, all He really wants is her," the other man nodded his head towards Bella. "We'll leave the kid, and book it out of here. He can call the cops all he wants, they won't find us. Anyway, it's broad daylight outside, grab the car and back it up right to the front door here."

Bella swallowed hard as she closed her eyes. She needed to keep them from putting duct tape around her mouth, but she was terrified. She didn't know what they were planning to do with them, but she at least hoped that whatever they did, they would keep Cole with her.

Kane left the room. Bella looked over at Cole, and he appeared defeated. His nose still had blood leaking from it, and the eye that had been punched was bloodshot. He looked at her, and then looked at the wound in her neck, before his eyes moved back to hers.

"I'm okay," Bella said to him in a whisper. Her voice broke as she started to cry, her throat tightening. She pressed her forehead against his shoulder as she continued to snivel. "I'm so sorry."

"Stop crying," Rich told her. "Don't make any noise."

Kane opened the motel door and gave the men a thumbs up. "No one's around, the car's pulled up."

Bella felt the other man grab onto her shoulder, before he lifted her up off the bed and walked her outside. She squinted her eyes to avoid the heavy sunlight as she looked around at the empty parking lot. There was a black SUV with the trunk open pulled right up to the door, so even if someone had been around, they wouldn't see them get in.

Bella got inside the large trunk. If she could just cooperate, and get Kane alone, she could get them to stop. She tried to look into Kane's eyes, but he wouldn't even look at her for a second.

She watched as they shoved Cole into the trunk beside her. He went to move upwards, but Rich pushed his shoulders back, and he fell back against the floor of the car, unable to stop himself with his arms tied.

Kane got into the trunk beside them, and Bella's shoulders deflated with relief. He had a gun in his grip.

"Stay down," Rich snapped at Bella and Cole before he lifted his arms up and closed the trunk.

Bella stared at the floor of the trunk. The material on the ground was covered with a hardened, black substance, which Bella could only assume was blood. She also spotted a balled up quilt in the corner.

She felt really weak and disoriented. She looked down and saw that there was blood coating her shirt, and she wondered if she was losing a lot of blood. She looked over to find Cole staring at the wound in her neck, his eyes wide.

She had an idea.

"C-can you hold the quilt up to my neck?" Bella whispered, blinking up at Kane. "I - I think I'm going to pass out."

Kane looked at her slowly before he reached down with one hand and shook out the quilt. Dust particles filled the trunk and sparkled in the sunlight as he set the gun down and wrapped the quilt around Bella's neck. He then fastened it into a knot in the back.

"Is that okay?" Kane asked her in a whisper.

Bella nodded, her eyes searching for the gun beside him, but he must have put it behind him.

Bella laid in front of Kane as she stared at him. "I know you're a good person," she whispered to him, tears filling her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Kane looked away from her, as he held the gun in his hand. "I need the money. My wife is sick."

Bella took a deep breath. "If - if you let us go, I'll help you get that money for her. I mean, think about it, what would she think if she knew this was how you were getting it?"

Kane rubbed his forehead over the fabric of the ski mask. "Stop talking," he told her sharply, his voice tight, "or I'll get one of the others to sit back here instead."

She looked over at Cole, who was laying on the floor, his eyes watching both Bella and Kane.

"Did you know we were kidnapped when we were kids?" she asked Kane, her voice quiet.

Kane nodded. "You're Rose's kids."

Bella inhaled shakily. "You - you know we're not actually her kids, right?"

Kane looked at her, his eyes filled with an emotion Bella couldn't read. "Yeah, I know that. We all know that."

"Then - then why?" Bella asked, a tear falling down her cheek. "Who wants us? Who are you bringing us to?"

Kane looked at her. "Steven's son."

Bella's eyes immediately widened, as she looked over at Cole. Cole looked back at her, his eyes also wide. Bella had no idea that Steven had a son.

"Please, please let us go, please, Kane," Bella said, as she continued to look up at him. "Please."

"How do you know my name?" Kane asked, his body stiffening as he grew nervous.

"Please, Kane, please, we don't want to be hurt anymore. We've been through enough," Bella said, her eye contact not breaking. "I know you have it in you to do the right thing. We're not bad people, we're young. We've been tortured, Rose tortured us horribly - we don't deserve this. We deserve to live our lives and forget."

Kane's eyes glittered in tear-filled thought. Bella was breaking him.

"Please, your wife will get what she needs. The right way," Bella assured him. "I'll make sure of it. I'll work and make you that money myself. I won't tell anyone about you. You can be free from this, and you and your wife can be happy."

Kane's eyes were downcast, staring at the gun in his hands.

"You don't need to do this to get money," Bella told him, her voice cracking. "I promise you. W- what's your wife like?"

Kane didn't answer, he just pressed his head against the seat and stared up at the ceiling.

"Is she pretty?" she asked.

Kane nodded. "She's beautiful."

"What does she do? Does she work?" Bella asked him.

Kane sniffled. "Um, she - she's a preschool teacher. Or, she was, before she got sick."

"That's amazing," Bella let out a small laugh, trying to hide her racing heart. "I give her credit for that. That can't be easy."

Kane nodded, but kept his gaze away from her.

"She sounds incredible," she told him. "I'd love to meet her one day."

He continued to look down at the gun. "Please stop talking to me," he said with a shaky voice.

"How come?" Bella whispered, her voice soft. "I like talking to you. I like talking about your wife. What's her name?"

She saw the gun trembling in his grip.

"Alice," Kane spit out, before he started to lightly cry beneath his mask. She heard him exhale heavily, before he looked at her. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I'm sorry, I tried to get out of this but I can't."

"Kane, you can," Bella told him, her eyes looking into his. "We're still here. Cole and I, we're still alive and we can be okay. All you have to do is help us get out of this car. You can do it, just say we ran away, and there was nothing you could do."

"Please stop," Kane said, looking at her. "I can't do that. I need to, for my wife. Please understand, I'm sorry."

Bella exhaled, growing frustrated as tears filled her eyes. "Please, you don't have to do this."

"I need someone else to come back here," Kane called out to the other men from over the seat. "I - I don't feel good. Hurry."

"No, no, Kane," Bella pleaded, tears rushing down her face. "Stay here, please. I'll stop. I'll stop talking to you."

"I can't," Kane looked at her, before he looked at Cole. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Hours had passed of them laying in the trunk. The sky was dark, leaving not even a sliver of light in the trunk.

Bella was curled up against Cole, while Rich now sat in the back, watching them. They had pulled over to switch really quickly, holding the gun up to the two of them while they did so, destroying Bella's plan of running out of the trunk.

"Elliot will get us out of this," Bella whispered to Cole. "And I'm going to do everything I can, okay?"

Cole looked down at her tiredly and nodded, his breath heavy.

The car suddenly came to a stop, and Bella pulled herself up to look out the window. All she could see were trees around them.

Rich held the gun up to her. "Get down."

She immediately laid back down. "Where are we?"

"Shut up," Rich snapped.

The trunk door opened. The other man and Kane stared down at Cole and Bella, while Rich hopped out of the trunk and continued to point the gun at them. Bella looked behind them to see nothing but dark trees, and noticed a flashlight in Kane's hand.

"Rich, help me grab him," the other man requested, and they reached down to grab Cole.

"Wait - what are you doing?" Bella asked, her heart racing as she looked up at them. "Where are you taking him?"

Rich looked at her. "We're taking him out to the woods."

Her heart beat so quickly, she thought it was going to stop. "To - to do what?" her voice was extremely unsteady.

Rich continued to look at her, though she couldn't read the expression in his eyes, due to the darkness. "To kill him."

"What? No, no you can't," Bella begged, before she started to scream. "Please! Someone help us!" she screamed loudly, leaning forward to project her voice outside of the car.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, Sweetheart," the other man said. "Scream all you want."

Bella felt Cole tense up beside her, and she couldn't stop crying. She moved in front of him, practically laying on top of him, to try and prevent them from grabbing him. She heard him mumbling something to her, but she couldn't hear him over the duct tape that covered his mouth.

"Please, you don't want to do this. Please!" she screamed out. "Kane! Don't let them do this!"

"Shut up!" Rich snapped again, before he held his hand up and suddenly, she felt a harsh sting in her cheek. He'd slapped her.

She watched as Kane handed Rich the roll of duct tape.

"No, no, please," Bella cried out, shaking her head to prevent them from putting it over her mouth. "Let me say bye first, p-please," she pleaded. "Please!"

"Fine," the other man said, gesturing towards Cole. "Say it. Say goodbye."

Bella couldn't stop crying, before she looked over at Cole. She couldn't see much in the dark, so Kane moved the flashlight over to Cole. His eyes were glittering, and tears streamed down his face as he looked at her. His body racked with sobs that couldn't come out, so they only released as muffled whimpers into the duct tape.

She sobbed heavily, so quickly that she couldn't breathe, and she started to feel lightheaded. "Cole, I love you s- s- so much," she couldn't catch her breath.

His light eyes looked back at her, squinting in the light of the flashlight as he continued to mumble something into the thick layers of tape over his lips.

"Please, can you take it off his mouth?" Bella screamed out, her voice breaking as she looked over at Kane.

The other man ripped the tape off his mouth, and Cole gasped for air, his chest heaving as he looked at the men, before his eyes moved back to Bella.

"Cole, I love you, I'm so sorry," Bella cried out, and Cole leaned closer to her.

His nose touched hers as he looked into her eyes. Both of them were crying, and Bella couldn't believe this was real. She didn't want to believe it was real, she hoped it was just a horrible nightmare but, like everything else in her life - it wasn't.

"Get out of there," Cole whispered to her, his voice raspy and his accent thick as he stared into her eyes. "Wherever they take you - just focus on getting away. Fight so hard. Please."

"This can't be happening," Bella cried out, and Cole shushed her.

"Promise me you'll fight as hard as you can," he said through a tight breath. "Please. For me."

"I - I promise," Bella said to him, her heart pounding against her ribcage. "I promise. For you."

"I love you," Cole told her, trying to catch his breath. "I'll be okay. Don't worry about me." He forced a smile, but it was weak, and filled with pain. He was trying to be strong for her even through his intense fear. "Okay?"

"Cole, I can't do this. I really can't lose you," Bella said, before she quickly pressed her lips against his. He kissed her back, and all she could taste were tears.

When Cole pulled away, with a broken voice, he said, "I'm sorry things couldn't be different for us."

"Me too," Bella sobbed. "Oh, my God. Please," Bella looked towards the men, but they stood emotionless, watching the two of them. "Kane, do something! Please!"

Kane stood there silently.

Bella couldn't take it anymore. "You guys are horrible people! Absolutely horrible! I hope you feel the way I do soon, Kane! I hope you fucking feel this pain! I hope your wife dies a miserable fucking death and you have to watch her!" she screamed at Kane. "You'll get what's coming. All of you will!"

She didn't care how awful she sounded. She was in so much pain, the worst she'd ever felt, by far.

"All right, that's enough," the other man concluded. He and Rich grabbed roughly onto Cole's bent arms, and Bella jolted forward instinctively. She tried to free her arms from the rope, but she didn't have the strength.

"Stop! Stop!" she screamed out, hyperventilating as the men struggled to pull him out of the car.

"You got the gun?" the other man asked through Bella's screaming.

Bella watched as Rich nodded and held the gun up.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Bella told Cole as they pulled him out. "I love you so much, I love you, Cole, I love you. I'll always love you."

"Ti amo, Bella," Cole said as they finally pulled him out by his arms. She heard Cole groan as he fell to the dirt floor of the road beneath them.

Rich slammed the door to the trunk shut, and Bella watched through the window as they lifted Cole back up off the ground and disappeared into the woods with him. Kane walked back over to the driver's side of the car and got in.

"No!" Bella screamed at the top of her lungs. She slammed her body around the walls of the car, hitting it against the backseat, then throwing her shoulders against the door of the trunk in an attempt to open it. "Please! Stop! Someone help us! Please!"

After several minutes of screaming, crying, and vomiting onto the floor of the trunk, she found herself laying beside the vomit, staring up at the ceiling.

As she lay there weakly, she thought about how miserable Cole's life was and how he never even had a chance to ever feel better. It was all her fault. If she never met Daniel, this wouldn't have happened.

In that moment, she felt genuinely happy that Daniel was gone, and she didn't care how sick that sounded. But quickly, she reminded herself yet again, that she would never see Cole again.

She'd never see him again. She'd never see him again. She'd never see him again.

She jumped when she heard three gunshots in the distance.