A.N.; After reading Breaking Dawn, I was glad we had a happy ending and Edward and Bella lived happily ever after, but one thing I was not counting on was becoming attached to another character. Especially such a minor one. But, as the book progressed, I found myself absolutely ADORING Garrett. I'm not really sure why, but he and Kate were just so adorable to together! I wanted to write a quick oneshot, but my imagination would not let me do that. So, The Adventurer tells the story of Garrett, the revolutionary nomad, from when Rosalie and Emmett asked for his help to the end, when he left to live in Denali. Enjoy. (:
Garrett POV
I walked along the familiar streets of New York City. I haven't been back in quite a while, and the buildings were getting taller and shinier by the decade. I remembered the gun smoke-filled air during the war; the smog wasn't so much different.
The thing that bothered me most about my old hometown was the major overpopulation. The air was saturated with the smell of human blood, seeping into my clothing while I tasted it in the back of my throat. I was glad I had just hunted outside of The Bronx; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to control myself. I didn't want to feed again. Not so soon.
I started walking hurriedly to a less populated area, cursing my inability to catch a taxi instead, knowing the small enclosed space and circulating air of the air conditioner would be too much for me to handle. I sighed imperceptibly.
After a long walk with a few short runs when no one was looking, the progressively more rundown buildings—not to mention the rancid smell of neglected dumpsters—told me I was finally out of the metropolitan area.
A flickering neon sign said 'New York Bed and Breakfast' and 'Vacancy.' I looked towards the sky: dawn was coming. It looked like a rare sunny day, and I cursed my bad luck. Deciding spending the rest of the day in the ratty motel was at the very least better than stopping traffic throughout the biggest city in the USA, I walked into the Inn.
"Room for one day?" I asked, winking at the receptionist. Her heart fluttered.
"Y-yes, room 9," She handed me a key, before taking it back and blinking a few times. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, uh, money, 8 dollars a night."
I handed her a ten and walked to my room before she could work the register to give me the change.
The room was old, the wallpaper was peeling slightly from water damage. The humans had tried their best to conceal the signs: any other human would've been fooled, but my eyes could pick up the bumps and tears.
I jumped as lightly as I could onto the bed, and the thing almost gave anyway. I wrinkled my nose at the dust and dirt that puffed up from the mattress at the sudden motion.
I flipped through the channels on the TV, hoping to find something that would pique my interest, even for a little while, doubting I'd fid anything. I stopped on the news channel. The well-dressed reporter was reading out the list of fatalities from a still unsolved case in Seattle. I remembered two specialists debating about why the killings stopped so abruptly, and why the case was still unsolved to this day. I remembered, because it wasn't everyday that killings sounded so much like vampire hunts.
I sighed. Vampire hunts. What the vampire behind the mass killings did is completely unacceptable… but was what all vampires do any different?
No, it wasn't. We all killed needlessly, and didn't think anything of it. We needed sustenance, ad we got it. It was life.
Redemption was a strange thought for a vampire. So why was it on my mind so often?
I sighed and flipped the channel. From outside the room, I heard the receptionist from the front desk reasoning with someone outside, saying something like, "Company policy, sir, it's company… please don't—"
Then suddenly the door, already weak on its hinges, slammed open and fell to the ground with a hard thud, which was immediately followed by the frail scream of the woman. I got up from the bed, and saw the receptionist looking frightened to near unconsciousness and pointing to the door and to the culprit, to and fro.
"Oh… uh, you might want to get stronger doors, if they're gonna fall over just like that…" a nervous voice said. Nervous, and familiar. "Hey, Garrett! Long time no see!"
I stared shocked at the intruder's face. "…Emmett Cullen?"
"Glad to see you remember me." He laughed, as if I could've forgotten. He swiftly handed the still-in-shock receptionist a wad of bills and told her to get the door fixed and, better yet, replace all the doors in the entire building, to go back to her little office, and gave her a light push while leaning the door against the wall.
After I got over the initial shock, I shook Emmett's hand. "So, why are you breaking into innocent people's rooms?" I asked, smirking.
Before Emmett could answer, another familiar face came through the door. "Oh, God, Emmett," she looked at the door was an annoyed face, "Did you do this? Can't you control your strength, even a little bit?"
Emmett barked a laugh. "Sorry, Rose."
"Garrett!" Rosalie Cullen noticed me, "I'm so glad we were able to find you."
"Nice to see you again as well, Rosalie. Beautiful as ever." I kissed her hand.
"Thanks," she laughed.
The room's atmosphere immediately changed after that, Emmett and Rosalie looked at each other nervously.
"Why the visit?" I pressed.
"Well," Rosalie began, "we—Carlisle, Edward all of us—kind of need your help."
I smirked. "You know I'm up for anything."
"You might was to get to know the details, though…" she wasn't convinced I'd be willing, apparently. "It's pretty dangerous."
"Even better. I've been bored lately."
"The Volturi are involved." Emmett said flatly.
I felt my eyebrows move to the top of my head. "The Volturi? What did you guys get yourselves into?" I asked, sincerely curious.
"Not us," Rosalie mumbled, more to herself that the rest of us, "If Edward and Bella weren't so damn rash…"
"How the hell are we supposed to convince him, Rose?" Emmett jabbed a finger in my direction.
"Hey, no talking about me as if I'm not here," I joked, and from the looks on their faces, it was a futile attempt. "You guys are honestly worried about this, huh?"
Emmett nodded while Rosalie looked at me was an exasperated, 'duh,' expression.
Emmett sighed. "Garrett, do you know about… the Immortal Children?"
My eyes widened with understanding. Before I realized what I was doing, I'd rose lightening fast from my chair and felt the daggers in my eyes. "If you honestly believe I would help you with that," I spat, "Then you're wrong, because you deserve to—"
"Oh, calm down," Rosalie glared at me with the same amount of contempt. "It's not what you think."
"What is it then?" I asked angrily.
They turned towards each other with the nervous expression again.
"Sit down first, Garrett," Rosalie commanded firmly, but I could read the insecurity in her eyes, as if my reaction had been exactly what they had suspected, and it wasn't something they wanted to see.
"You remember Edward, right?" Rosalie asked.
"What kind of question is that?" I asked, irritated. Vampires don't forget.
"Yeah, well," Emmett said, "He recently… took a mate."
"And they thought it'd be nice to have a child?" I snarled.
"Stop jumping to conclusions!" Rosalie growled before Emmett could reply. "Her name is Bella, and she's human."
That threw me off. A human mate? Was that even possible? And Edward—Edward, of all the Cullens… he always seemed like the most rational of the bunch, after his father. The anger was momentarily forgotten.
"…What does this have to do with the Immortal Children?"
"That's the thing:" Emmett explained. "It doesn't. We're trying to make the Volturi see that."
I was confused. "I don't understand."
"Bella and Edward conceived." Rosalie said with an almost worshipping tone. "They had a baby."
My eyes, already wide with surprise, grew impossibly wider. "…What, is that the girl's power or…?"
"No, she was human when… she gave birth."
I felt light headed, a first. "And you're sure that it's Edward's child," I asked shrewdly.
"Yes."
"Not possible. They couldn't possibly—" And then it occurred to me. No, it wasn't possible. I ground my teeth. "I'll believe it when I see it."
Emmett suddenly grinned. "That's all we're asking of you."
"…huh?"
"Garrett," Rosalie said in a soothing tone, "the child—they named her Renesmee— isn't an immortal child. She learns and she grows older. I know we can't convince you, but…"
"This is where you come in." Emmett cut in. "We can't convince you, but she can."
"Fine," I retorted, not convinced. "Where is this Renesmee, then?"
"She's back in Washington."
"And you expect me to go over there just to convince me that the child isn't dangerous? What is this, a campaign?"
"We're hoping you'll be convinced enough to tell the Volturi."
I gaped. "The Volturi. What, you want me to witness for you?"
They nodded.
"You guys are crazy. I'm not going to Italy on a death mission."
"You don't have to. The Volturi are coming here."
"…You guys sure have yourselves a fine mess."
Rosalie's face was pained. "Please, Garrett," She pleaded, the first time I've ever seen her do anything she considered degrading, "Go to Forks. Just… listen for a while. If you don't want to stay, fine, we won't think any less of you.
"I'm not getting myself killed."
"You don't have to! If you just come, it would be enough."
My lips stretched out into a thin line.
"What's wrong, Garrett," Emmett changed his tone to a mocking one. "Afraid?"
I growled and chucked the Bible on the side table at him.
"You guys are lucky I've got nothing better to do."
