Manohosse Igunning
Chapter One
Emmett couldn't bear to stand there and watch Bree perish, before she even got to mature as a vampire. She had surrendered; the Volturi had no right to treat her this way. And he knew what the Volturi had really wanted—for one or more of the Cullens to perish so that their coven could shrink.
Just before Felix made the killing stroke, Emmett said solemnly, "Don't harm her. Take me instead."
Jane looked at him steadily, to see whether or not he was really ready to make this sacrifice, or if this was an attempt at subterfuge. She forced Emmett to feel the imaginary pain through the gift she had attained upon becoming a vampire, and he bent done on the ground in agony. "He's sincere," she said to Felix.
The latter released Bree and went towards Emmett. The other Cullens hung back, except for Rosalie, who cried out for Emmett to cease his advance. But he paid her no heed. Carlisle and Esme had to restrain her so that she wouldn't attempt to stand between Felix and her beloved. Emmett turned around once to say, "Rosalie, I love you more than anyone ever could, but when I see a damsel in distress—be it you or a Newborn—I am obliged by my code of chivalry to rescue her. Bree doesn't deserve to die in this way. Thus, I offer myself. Farewell."
That was the last thing Emmett ever said. Felix wrapped his arms around his victim, and went in for the kill. The scream Emmett made from the pain was so terrible that it seemed to pierce Bella's soul. But it disappeared in a minute, and one of the Cullens was gone forever, never to return.
"Edward's, um…brother died."
I did not feel like talking about this with Charlie. Especially since he didn't understand about me wanting to marry Edward so shortly after graduating from high school. Though of course, if I could tell him why this union was urgent, maybe he'd be a little less critical of it.
"There'll be a funeral, right? And you can't have a wedding immediately following a funeral," Charlie said, matter-of-factly.
"Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, did. He married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, about two months after murdering his own brother."
As usual, Charlie picked up on the wrong word. "So there was murder involved?"
"No," I lied, quickly.
"When will the funeral be?"
"Don't know yet. Edward's really upset." This wasn't entirely true. Edward only cared about Emmett in a subtle way. If they had been real brothers, it might have been different, but their relationship only derived from being in the same coven.
Charlie appeared to be thrilled at this news. An upset person could not marry. Not until he got over it. Otherwise it would bode ill for the marriage. Anything that could forestall the wedding gave Charlie a ray of hope. Clearly he wished Jacob to be my future husband, the least of his reasons being that Jacob would wait until I had graduated from college to marry me. Of course, I still loved Jacob, but Edward was far more important. One's first love always is. This is why Catherine Earnshaw, later Catherine Linton, could only love Heathcliff—she loved him first, and they shared the same spirit. Noah and Allie in Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook are also true lovers; only Noah could understand when Allie needs companionship or wishes go be alone, and he does this without her having to tell him.
As I pondered over The Notebook, I also thought how thankful I was that vampires couldn't get Alzheimer's. When Edward bit me, I'd be disease-free, except for the disease of love. And this would be everlasting love, for Edward and I would never die. We'd be like Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie…No, not the latter. Emmett was gone forever. He had chosen to let Bree live, and the Volturi were more than happy to accept. I cringed when I remembered Jane's glee. Even though her powers had no effect on me, thinking of them creep me out, especially when I recall Edward sprawled on the floor at the Volturi home base in Italy…
Rosalie would never have a lover again. From what I knew about vampirism, a vampire only had one mate. If Victoria could've snapped up another male to love her, she would not have planned my demise and the Newborns who had perished in the recent battle would still be humans, with no Bree to surrender. Emmett'd be around, to comfort Rosalie, who wouldn't need comforting since her lover was all right. One action leads to another, which leads to another.
If Edward had been the one to offer himself, I would've jumped in front of a bus or cut my head off with a scalpel. Neither of these measures would work with Rosalie, obviously, since she was already dead. But I began to feel compassionate towards her, for I knew how she felt. Edward himself had nearly been killed by the Volturi, by his choice and with no one to save.
I had not told Charlie about the death of Emmett till a week after the event. It didn't seem like a thing to speak before. In fact, I might never have told him, but he kept prying, as though he had intuition. Or maybe Renee had told him, for I hadn't neglected to inform her through e-mail. Anyhow, he sort of badgered the information out of me. Another reason why I couldn't wait to move out of the house.
I wondered how I'd be able to explain Bree at the wedding. That is, if Carlisle permitted her to attend. For one thing, her instincts might not yet be toned down by August, when the Edward and I shall be getting hitched. She'll thirst for human blood; it could take years before she gets used to mine—that is, if I were not to become a vampire, which would be unbearable. But there were worse reasons to keep her away. Rosalie had got to the point of blaming everyone for Emmett's death, especially Bree and Alice. When we returned to the Cullen abode after that horrible night, Rosalie pounced on Alice and demanded her to explain why she didn't tell Emmett not to do what he did, for her power should've warned her that Emmett would have intentions to offer herself. It was no use Alice explaining that she couldn't foresee sudden decisions, and Emmett's choice to be killed instead of Bree must've been spontaneous. Rosalie would have none of it. She wrote a letter and stuck it in Alice's drawer, where she'd be sure to find it. This letter informed Alice that Rosalie would never speak to her again. Sometimes Rosalie acted the age she appeared she was when she died and became a vampire.
Rosalie didn't even look at Bree. Edward told me that she had thoughts sometimes to say to the girl, "Things would've been better if you had not surrendered," but choosing not to acknowledge the girl's existence seemed to be her obstinate way of dealing with Bree.
I sometimes wondered what Bree was like as a human, but the Cullens kept her and me far apart. They couldn't risk Bree getting the urge to bite me. Although I suspected Edward of making it impossible for me to even encounter her, to ask questions about what it felt like to be a new vampire. Sure, Carlisle and Edward and all the others had been new vampires at one time, but it was so long ago that they couldn't possibly relate to me. Besides, as humans change, wouldn't the experience of becoming a vampire change too? Like technology? I mean, there weren't any cell phones in the 1970's. Why shouldn't changing into a vampire in the early twenty-first century present a different experience than it did in 1918, when Edward was changed by Carlisle?
I put an early invitation in the mail for Jacob, the morning after telling Charlie about Emmett's death. I didn't expect him to come, for I know how badly he wants me. It pains me to think that once I marry Edward I'll never be able to encounter Jacob again. Werewolves and vampires are enemies to the end; they only help each other when both are in danger, as when Victoria created all those Newborns. I hope Jacob finds a girl of his own, who can give him the love I can't.