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Emmett and Jasper jumped into the Jeep and drove nearly an hour and a half into a town with a sports bar. They were looking for a night away from the normal routine in Forks. Tonight they were seeking a little adventure, some gambling, and a couple rounds of pool.
The evening began as they normally do. Despite their best efforts, it was clear to the local crowd that Emmett and Jasper were different. Some of the locals were uncomfortable with their sudden appearance and went out of their way to avoid them or simply look the other way as they walked by. Others, however, became aggressive in their uneasiness.
Emmett walked up to a group of local guys and girls playing pool and asked if he and Jasper could join in during the next round. One of the guys, who looked about twenty-five years old, sullenly looked down and shyly responded "Sorry guys, but uh… we're playing a best out of five." The others joined in by nodding in agreement. "yeah, um, we'll probably be a while; so you may want to ask one of the other tables" added one of the other guys nervously. Jasper sensed the strong emotions from the group. His natural instinct was to mess with them a little, but the night was still early so he decided to just move on.
At the next table Emmett walked up to a really big local guy in a flannel button up shirt with cut-off sleeves. He had just made a really hard bank shot when Emmett said "Hey Man, Nice shot. Mind if we join in?" The big guy stood straight up and stared Emmett down for a second. He seemed to be sizing the two of them up. Emmett could sense the initial fear, but could also tell that he and his buddies were experiencing alcohol induced bravery. "This is a cash table." Remarked the big guy finally. "Great, so we'll be playing for bets!" Exclaimed Jasper. "Alright then, count us in boys." Said Emmett gleefully as he threw down a large roll of cash.
Emmett and Jasper played the big guy, John, and his buddy, Jimmy in a best of three series of pool. Emmett and Jasper made sure to play just well enough to win the first game. During the second game they made sure to make just enough mistakes at the beginning of the game that a bunch of really impressive shots at the end wouldn't be enough to overcome the deficit and their comeback would fall short. Now with the series tied up at one and one they knew the two guys would get arrogant up the stakes.
"So ladies, what do you say we double the bet?" Said John grinning as he racked up the final round. "Well, I don't know Emmett. Should we take their bet? They seem to have the momentum and all." Remarked Jasper. "You've got a point Jasper." Said Emmett in feigned agreement. "Oh, come on now. Put your purses down and nut-up." Jimmy and John were now getting louder and louder and starting to draw a crowd. Emmett could feel their overconfidence peaking and nodded to Jasper. Jasper, right on cue, piped up "Well, since you put it that way… let's triple it!" The entire bar had now become interested in the game that was about to begin. Emmett and Jasper were now getting the adventure they had been seeking. Unfortunately, the two locals were way past drunk and their trash talking started getting more and more belligerent. The game was also very close, because as it turns out; both groups had been holding back during the first two games.
At last Jasper had a chance to win the game. The cue ball was pinned in the corner and the eight ball was behind Jimmy and John's three ball. Jasper concentrated on the shot as hard as he could despite all of the noise in the room. He was also having a hard time because of all the negative emotions he was picking up from the locals. Nobody wanted him and Emmett to win. Jimmy and John were in the middle of another relentless round of heckling when Jasper reared back and nailed the cue ball. He smacked it just where the ball touched the felt on the table. It popped up over the three ball and collided with the eight ball, knocking it into the corner pocket. It was a shot that Jasper had made many other times in his long life, but this time it felt even better because the guys he and Emmett had been playing were so obnoxious.
"You cheating sons of bitches!" Yelled john as he picked up the two large wads of cash from the edge of the pool table. "What! You have got to be kidding me!" Yelled Jasper. "Yeah, that shot was fair and square. I've seen him make shots like that a million times." Upon hearing this, John got up into Emmett's face and said "And that proves my point. You're both a couple of pool sharks and a couple of cheats." Jasper could sense Emmett's rage coming to a dangerous boil. If he didn't intervene, Emmett was capable of unspeakable things. "Calm down Emmett, control yourself!" He tried to influence Emmett's emotions and calm him down, but his rage was so strong. John quickly shoved both wads of cash into his pockets and then mockingly said "Yeah Emily, calm down. Now get your asses out of here and go back to wherever you came from!" This was all that Emmett could stand. His primal desire was more than he could bear. All he could imagine was killing everyone in the room and feeding on them. With that he reached out and grabbed John and Jimmy by the front collars of their shirts and pulled them right up to himself. Jasper's efforts to control Emmett's emotions must have helped because instead of snapping their necks, he put his face right up against theirs and said "Consider yourselves warned. I am fully capable of sucking you two dry!"
Suddenly the entire bar fell silent. "Whoa, hey, uh yeah…. Okay." Said John as he pulled back from Emmett and dusted himself off. Jimmy then pulled back as well and said "Yeah, um… you know what. Perhaps this was all just a big misunderstanding." John then pulled both wads of cash from is pockets and sheepishly offered them to Emmett. "Here you go, this is all yours. You won it fair and square and we're sorry for the trash talking. If we had known, we wouldn't have acted that way." "What are you implying?" Asked Jasper. "Dude, we're sorry. We don't want any trouble from your type." "Our type?" snipped Emmett. Then someone else from the crowd said "Hey, you're more than welcome to stay and play here, but there are bars for your type near here I'm sure." With that remark, Jasper looked at Emmett and whispered angrily "Idiot! You got carried away and gave us up." Emmett looked around the crowd and then pointed to one of the women staring at him and asked forcefully, "You, you mean you know about us. What we are?" The lady nodded affirmatively. Emmett asked another person the same thing. "Yeah. Sure. It was pretty obvious when y'all walked in." "Obvious?" asked Emmett. Then one of the patrons pointed to Jasper and said "Well it was pretty obvious with him, but you were actually a surprise, if that helps." Emmett then turned to Jasper and asked if he felt anything from the crowd. "It's hard to tell. They seem sincere, but they aren't scared. They are nervous, uneasy, but not fearful." A lady in the crowd yelled out "How sweet. He's asking about his feelings." The crowd then erupted into a big "Aww."
"Cut it out! Give us a second to think." Yelled Emmett as he ran his fingers through his own hair to think. "What should we do? They know about us." Jasper just looked around at the crowd bewildered. Jimmy then stepped even further back and said "Hey, you know its all okay. Just be what y'all are."
"Perhaps we should just leave, Emmett." "We can't! They seem to all know about us." He said under his breath. Another person from the crowd said "You know; it's no big deal. We may be a small town and all, but I'm sure it's not all that uncommon." "Yeah, we don't even know who you are, so your secret is obviously safe with us."
Jasper looked at Emmett and signaled that they should just get out as fast as possible. With that, they both headed out the front door and jumped into their Jeep. As the door to the bar shut they could hear the crowd yelling and cheering. "Good Luck!", "Be safe" and Jasper was almost certain that he heard one of the voices yell "Don't get AIDS!"
What an odd thing to yell to a couple of vampires - he thought to himself.
The End
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