Die Tonight, Live Forever

Chapter 8: You Should Have Killed Me When You Had the Chance

(MULTIPLE POVs)

BPOV (Miss Bells)

"Yeah, that's it baby, just like that," his voice was a low grunt as I made my way from the stage, over to his table in every attempt to retrieve the $50 bill he always saved for the special girl of the night.

Mike Newton was such a waste of life. Spending $50 a night minimum at a strip club couldn't be good for one's budget, but what did I care? I wanted that money. Just three more tuition payments, and maybe I could stop doing private shows and just bartend. Maybe I could actually start dating men again. Maybe I would feel safe walking down the street at night if I wasn't a stripper anymore. I needed that $50, and the sad part was: I was willing to do just about anything to get it. I had nothing to lose.

Nothing's too excessive when you have nothing left.

As I slinked my body over the chair, still standing, I flipped my hair over my shoulder seductively and made doe eyes at Mike. He sat, leaning forward, licking his lips in anticipation. I smirked. I had him right in the palm of my hand. $50 only meant so much in strip club terms. It meant having at least enough money to pay the stage fee that was required to advertise yourself. All the good money was in the private dances and mileage that you put in behind closed doors, in the VIP rooms. I knew Mike Newton didn't have enough money to pay for a private show, at least at my rates, but I knew he was willing to pay what he had to get some attention from me. The desperate fool. I chuckled to myself.

"Bells, you look so hot tonight," he smirked in attempt to mirror my fake expression of lust. I smiled.

"Well, you know, all the well-paying men in this joint; I've gotta make them happy," I replied, eyeing the money that sat on the table. I leaned forward and placed a hand on his tan, scruffy face.

"You're not looking to bad yourself this evening, Mr. Newton." My fingers grazed his blonde locks. With an audible gulp, he slid the money toward me.

"Just trying to repay the favor from the weekend," he grinned, reminding me of the insane act I had committed by sleeping with him. I rolled my eyes in a subtle gesture as my hand made its way toward the $50 bill.

Then, a cold, gentle touch from behind startled me. The hand crept its way around the curve of my hips, and rested there for a too-short second in time. I sighed as the scent of leather and cologne filled my nostrils. Then, the voice that did unspeakable things to me came.

"Miss Bells."

Edward Cullen.

My heart raced. A jolt of lightning surged its way through me as I turned to meet his golden eyes, already in a daze. Time stopped as he allowed his hand to graze my cheek quickly, but meaningfully, and played with a lock of my hair. He smiled, and I thought for sure I would die right there, in front of God and everyone. I tried to smile back, though my face felt like it had been contorted in several directions. Every emotion he made me feel, I didn't know which to express first. His voice came in a whisper, soft and velvet, and his delicious breath fell on my face as he looked down to me.

"My compliments on the shoes…who knew they'd go so well with this little number," his hand fell to my hips once more, and played with the ruffled fabric of the blood-red slip that clung to my body. As he admired my figure, I blushed furiously. I nodded, attempting to compose myself, speechless.

"Thank you," I whispered back slowly. My arms were fighting every urge to play with his tussled bronze hair, which looked so elegantly disheveled; I imagined he'd spent hours in front of the mirror, concocting the look.

"There's time for that, later," he chuckled and touched the tip of my nose lightly, lovingly?

"Okay," I breathed.

"Later, then," his full lips twisted into a crooked smile as he inhaled deeply and turned away. He lithely reached a seat at a table with two other men, presumably his brothers, and then craned his neck to send a wicked smirk in Mike's general direction. My eyes remained glued on him as he exchanged glances with the muscular man sitting next to him.

My body longed for his touch again. My legs quivered as I turned back to take a seat next to Mike, trying to distract myself from Edward's presence.

Mike Newton was angered by the interruption that Edward's entrance had caused, as well as the newfound flush in my cheeks. That was most definitely a fact. As I eyed him, attempting to resume my trickery in order to get the $50 I so desperately wanted, he scoffed.

"What's the matter, babe, is that guy being a bother? Want me to set him straight?" His voice took on an interesting new tone, one which I equated to a male peacock ruffling his feathers for attention. Mike Newton's feathers would never liken to Edward Cullen's. Ever. I shook my head and smiled, a lock of my brunette ponytail trailing its way down the side of my face as I redirected my attention to him, and off of Edward.

"It's nothing, really. He just…got me a gift, and I owe him something in return," I explained, "He's probably here to receive his thank you." Mike Newton huffed at my comment. I had revealed a bit too much.

"So, what, you have a thing for this guy?" he asked, jealousy and beer thick on his breath. I smiled and rose from my seat, pulled the ribbon from my ponytail. My hair cascaded down from my shoulders and I shook it out with more drama than was necessary. I lifted my foot to the seat of the chair and pointed to the shoes that Edward had purchased for me.

"I think these are an indication that he has a thing for me, in fact. And Mike, really, I'm a stripper. Do you really think that I'm allowed to have a thing for any guy?"

"Well, you had a thing for me, this weekend…" he whispered, checking his surroundings to make sure that Jessica was nowhere to be seen. His on-again, off-again relationship with her was fair at best, mainly because they both slept around so frequently, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilt for the time we had shared. I laughed.

"You thought that was some sort of thing I had for you? Ha, let's just say you're lucky that I was so trashed," I replied, having no real recollection of the events of that night. I blamed it on the split-personality theory that had been running through my mind recently. Maybe I needed a psychiatrist. I was obviously in no position to be assessing my own mental well-being, especially if I thought that I was not responsible for all of my actions. Constantly accusing myself of being someone else? Way too much for my own knowledge of psychiatric nursing to make a clear diagnosis.

"You're joking," he eyed my incredulously, "You loved every second of it."

"No, I'm not. Quite frankly, I'm glad that I can't remember it all, because what I do remember was that terrible. I should probably be fired for going home with you. Not to mention, Jessica would be…" His expression turned hostile as he cut me off.

"Okay, okay! Shut up, Bella, seriously. I don't need Jessica hearing about that. Go, go ahead and go whore it up and play with some other douche bag guy. I don't need you for a good time," his fingers quickly retrieved the $50 bill as he waved his other hand in the air at me. His expression would have frightened me, had I not been surrounded by several security guards. And Edward was here. I sighed, rolling my eyes. Fuck the money. Something about Edward being in close vicinity made me feel comfortable enough to express my true feelings about Mike.

"Fine! Maybe I will. It is my job, after all, and you're just a pig, anyway. Consider that night the best of your life, 'cause it will not happen again, I promise you," I spat at him, causing many patrons to send glances in our direction.

I blushed furiously as Mike threw me a sideways glance and straightened up in his seat, pretending to be the bigger person.

He obviously didn't want to cause a scene.

Just walk away, Bella.

And I did.

As I headed toward the bar, past the table where Edward and his brothers had planted themselves, I reassessed my situation. Mike Newton shouldn't bother me. I refused to let him. I was on top of the world tonight, the head honcho.

I watched as six golden eyes followed my ass intently and smiled. As I walked past the table, I was sure to turn quickly, gracefully, and make eye contact with Edward, winking as I blew him a kiss in the cutest, most theatrical way possible. He beamed back at me, and his big, muscular brother's chin dropped to the floor as I turned on the tips of my toes and headed to my place behind the bar, feeling extremely cocky.

Maybe this was going to be a good night. Plenty of hot men were in the club, and I was tonight's designated 'Floater.' Normally, men did the job I was doing tonight, making sure everything went according to plan, that the club's rules were followed, that the drinks kept flowing, and the guests were happy. But tonight, Roxy had put me in charge as a floor manager. I sighed as I played with the ruffles of my slip, which barely grazed my ass. I was proud of my club wear tonight; it was appropriate, and rang of authority, but was sexy and playful at the same time. As I stood behind the bar, I caught Edward's eyes gazing in my direction once more. I waved playfully to him and turned, bending at my hips to make sure that just enough of my g-string was exposed as I began to inventory the bar.

Tonight would be a good night. I laughed to myself as I caught Edward's stare, which was cut off by the bright neon lights of the stage flashing as Tanali's dance began.

I loved that I was the only girl getting his attention.

I couldn't believe it as his attention turned to the stage when the DJ's voice boomed over the loud speakers and the crowd began to cheer.

"And now, for your viewing pleasure, the pole styling's of Tanali, gentlemen! Let's welcome her to the stage!"

I rolled my eyes, hoping that the 3 minute song would end quickly. Jealousy dared to disrupt my confident demeanor as Tanali gracefully threw her body against the pole and made bedroom eyes in Edward's direction. A beast, suddenly present inside of me, roared. I didn't care about their so-called history. She was history. She was a new stripper, and I was the seasoned veteran. Just because I wasn't dancing tonight didn't mean that she could steal my newly acquired regular, Edward Cullen. It pissed me off as she inched her way toward him at the end of the stage, and he casually slipped a ten dollar bill into her g-string, his hand lingering on her ass just a second too long for my liking. I turned away. I couldn't watch. The thought of Edward touching anyone else made me literally sick at this point. As a Floater, it was probably my duty to stop him from touching one of the girls, but as Miss Bells, the stripper he had purchased shoes for and had a 'morbid infatuation' with, I wanted to go to that stage and rip the eyes from Tanya's sockets. She had some nerve showing up here and acting like she owned the place, when he had made it so clear he was intending to receive my services tonight. I wanted to march up to the stage and show her who was boss around here. It seemed irrational, but something about her made me feel extremely threatened. I wasn't used to it.

"Well, would you look at that?" Jessica's sleazy voice came from her place behind me at the bar, "He must've given her something very…special…" she mumbled. My eyes drifted back towards them, and I was greeted by the vision of Tanya in Edward's lap, grinding her hips into his…something that was not allowed during a public dance. As strippers, it wasn't protocol to single out one man during your show. You were to choose a patron after you advertised yourself, not during your advertisement show. My blood boiled as Edward's eyelids became heavy and his jaw dropped as Tanali's lips grazed his collar bone. The other customers gasped in horror as I stood, fuming behind the counter of the bar. Jessica grasped my shoulder.

"You had better think of something, quick, Bells. Pretty soon all the guys are gonna be expecting that during all of shows…"

She was right, but I couldn't move just yet. If I did, I would surely wring the girl's neck in front of everyone.

I couldn't believe this irrational possession I felt over Edward. I felt like he belonged to me, already.

He was my target, my obsession, my stalker…my 'vampire.'

And he had the potential to be so much more.

My fingers gripped the side of the bar in restraint.

This was not happening. She was not going to take Edward from me.

Edward was mine.

EPOV

"You like that, you little human-stalking vampire, you?"

Her voice came in a low whisper that I was sure only I could hear.

Shit.

I couldn't help being aroused by her hips, which were slowly grinding their way into mine, and would surely force me to bend the metal frame of the chair beyond recognition if this didn't end soon.

"Tanya, you aren't allowed…" I grunted, trying with less than enough will to get her off of me.

Her lips traced my collar bone as I heard another button rip from my shirt. I sighed. I really liked this shirt.

The metallic aquamarine color of her dress clashed with the neon lights that hung from the ceiling as I let my head fall back in defeat.

She had me right where she wanted me.

I couldn't do anything.

Fuck, that feels so good.

Dude, Bella...looks so…pissed right now. Emmett's thoughts distracted me from my current project.

Then, I remembered. Bella.

The sight of her, staring in my direction, obviously disapprovingly, granted me all the will needed to forget about Tanya's slender figure, and her warm tongue sliding up my collar bone. I swiftly grabbed her jaw, fighting her strength with my own, and spoke slowly, holding her face inches away from mine. I smiled at her startled expression.

"What are you..." She was breathless.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but you're going to have to find another fuck toy. At least for the time being," I smirked, and found the will to push Tanya's half-naked body off of mine and straighten up in my chair.

The relief that accompanied her absence was indescribable. Her figure flew about a foot, and she stood too still for moment, batting her eyelashes at me. Her glare reached Bella, who was standing behind the bar, watching my every action with caution. She didn't seem very pleased. I couldn't tell if it was because Tanya had decided to break the rules during her very first shift at the club, or if it was because I was the person she had decided to go rogue on. A twinge of jealousy was clear on Bella's gorgeous, make-up shielded face as she stood, gripping the top of the bar like she would fall from the face of the earth if she let go. I looked to her quickly.

"Sorry," I mouthed, and her expression wavered into something between sadness and relief. Tanya's 'voice' broke my concentration on Bella.

It's because of her, isn't it? That little human slut. What does she have that I don't? Her thoughts were actually making cohesive sense for once, having nothing to do with how badly she wanted me or how horny she was. Maybe this situation would mature her. She stood, pouted, and stared at me, as if I could mentally communicate in both directions. I sat, and looked at her for a long moment. All of the beauty that had made me love her long ago somehow curdled in this instant. There was one absolute truth.

She was a monster. I was a monster. A match made in hell.

I hated myself for being a monster.

But how could I love someone who was so much like me in every way, if I absolutely hated myself? I had tried. I had failed miserably. The few moments, the few touches, the incomprehensibly amazing kisses I had shared with the human girl I had been obsessing over, led me to the conclusion that I was absolutely ruined, and I would never be capable of this kind of love, especially with someone who was like me. Especially not Tanya.

I was cold, Tanya was cold.

I had skin like stone, so did she.

But, Bella. Bella was soft, warm, and fragile.

Who wouldn't want something like that?

I had striven my whole life to find someone who was everything I am not. Not a monster, not a demon, not a vampire. As forbidden as it was, Bella was everything that I wasn't, and I loved her for that.

I simply shrugged at Tanya, and she immediately marched off into the back of the stage, her mind reeling with feelings, defeated by my apathy.

Bella remained still, a few feet away, her tiny fingers etching their way into the wood of the bar's table, still holding back in restraint. She relaxed a bit as my eyes met hers again.

Suddenly, Alice's vision from earlier seemed a bit off. Alice had foreseen Bella interrupting Tanya's stage act, but Bella hadn't moved an inch. It worried me. Alice's visions were never off, unless something changed drastically. What if Bella didn't care about Tanya being all over me? What if something worse was about to happen? I had to find my sister quickly. My eyes searched the neon-lit adult playground and roamed the various faces in the crowd. I couldn't find Alice anywhere. I was suddenly distracted by the thoughts running through Emmett's head.

"Holy. Shit. Bro. That's Bella, right?"

Emmett's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider.

Shit.

"Yes," I answered cautiously, waiting for his reply. Jasper laughed at some self-contained joke. I thanked god for my ability to read minds.

"Dude, now I see what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes and elbowed Jasper sharply in the ribs.

"If you value your life, you'll stop making him feel that way about my Bella, Jazz," I muttered. He ran a hand through his light hair and chuckled again.

"I'm sorry, it's just so much fun," he replied, more calm than usual. "I'm still pissed over your sorry attempt to kill Alice earlier…you should never do that again. Maybe this teaches you a lesson or two." Jasper's ability to control people's moods came in handy from time to time, but right now, he was using it simply to fuck with my sanity. He stopped his chuckling and made a double take. "Wait…your Bella?"

"Hey! That's not fucking fair! I'm sorry, Edward, I didn't know. You can't blame me for…"

"Just relax, and enjoy the show, gentlemen." I leaned back in my chair, still feeling a little on edge. I had to find Alice before it was too late. "By the way, thanks for all your help with Tanya, I appreciate it tremendously. You guys both suck," I noted, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It seemed like you were having a good time," Jasper remarked, chuckling to himself.

"Right. And you had nothing to do with that?"

"Well, maybe a little…" A sign reading 'guilty' might as well have been hanging on his forehead.

"Jasper, you bastard…"

***

APOV

"One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred?!?!?!" Rosalie's shrieks of happiness could be heard throughout the dressing room.

It had been a long night. I wasn't in the mood to talk about money.

"Alice! I made $400! I'm gonna be able to buy that dress I wanted without dipping into Emmett's funds. Oh, I'm so excited!" She smiled, tossing her long platinum tresses behind her back and fanning herself with her collection of ones and fives. I pursed my lips and nodded, attempting a smile.

"That's great, Rose."

She had never been very perceptive, so I couldn't blame Rosalie for not noticing my agitation. I had to go see Edward. There was something off about tonight, but I couldn't see anything right now. At least, not as far as the future went. The sight that ravaged my eyes right now was a very angry Tanya, who sat, combing her fingers heatedly through her hair, muttering to herself about Edward, Bella, and the murder spree she was about to go on if she didn't get her way.

Sometimes, I thought that perhaps Tanya had made her transformation into a vampire when she had PMS during her human life. Since our bodies never changed, she acted as though she had perpetual premenstrual syndrome for all of eternity. It explained a lot, at least, in my head.

"Tanya," I whispered, distracting her for a moment.

"What?!" she shouted, a bit rudely. I pouted at her.

"Just calm down. Everything will work out," I promised her, not actually stating that things would turn in her favor. She glared at me.

"Don't act so innocent, Alice. You know, you're the reason that he's so infatuated with her in the first place. And you're the reason why she's going to be dead soon. You should probably go kiss this Bella good bye, because it's the last time you'll see her alive. I'm going to kill her. Be sure of that. Why don't you try seeing the future now," Tanya suggested, her bitterness palpable in the air. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

The future presented itself now in a rather odd fashion; the same vision popped up into my head again. Bella in the bathroom stall, Edward trying not to kill her, except now it skipped to a scene of Bella running, scared, out of the bathroom stall. She turned to Edward and made her feelings very clear.

"Stay the fuck away from me, you freak." Her voice was cold as stone as she made her exit, and I watched as Edward's eyes seemed to shatter into a thousand pieces.

Worse than death, worse than blood…was Edward's feeling of rejection in this moment.

He stood before me and sobbed tearlessly, completely vulnerable in this moment.

Then, the vision ended, Tanya's plotting and wicked laughter breaking my concentration.

I had to stop this from happening.

BPOV

After Edward had pushed Tanya off of him in a rather rude fashion, my night began to run very smoothly. I made rounds, making sure customers were happy, refilling drinks, always making sure the DJ was okay, doing things that were pretty manager-esque, rather than stripper-esque. I felt rather comfortable. This was a job I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. If only we all could be immortal and stay the same, year after year. If I could keep my looks and figure for the rest of my life, I could definitely see myself remaining a stripper until the end of time. This night had gone on so well after the incident with Tanya and Edward had happened, that I was finally building up the courage to invite Edward to a VIP room for a little thank you gesture I had been preparing mentally all night long. I decided to go approach him, as he sat with his brothers, smiling and laughing.

Of course, that was until Alice rushed out of the dressing room, toward me, yelling at me to run for my life.

I laughed initially, because I was fairly certain she was messing with me. She stopped dead in her tracks, so graceful in her stripper heels, and looked me in the eye, her eyes shining with gold, just like her brother's. I sighed for a moment.

"What's wrong Wonderland?" I asked, confused. She looked genuinely frightened.

"Bells, if you don't get out of here now, there's going to be a problem…"

"What sort of problem?" I asked, confused. Nothing had gone so terribly wrong in this place that I had considered it a problem.

"Don't ask me how I know, but," she sighed and shook her head, as if she didn't want to really tell me. "Your father is coming into the club with some friends. He'll be here in 2 minutes. You have to get out of here."

"Are you serious right now, or are you just fucking with me?"

"No, I'm dead serious, leave. Now. I'll tell Roxy for you myself." Alice's pixie cut was flying all around her face, making her words more dramatic than necessary.

Then, Tanya was flying out of the dressing room door like a bat out of hell.

Something in my brain clicked immediately.

It wasn't my father who was coming for me, it was Tanya. Her eyes were black and fierce as she ran, faster than any human being I had seen, toward me. I waited for her hands to make their way around my throat.

As she lunged for me, I felt two strong arms whisk me off my feet, clap under my legs, and cradle me, running at the speed of light through the dressing room doors, past Alice and Tanya, past the exit doors, out to the alley way.

Once the initial dizziness passed, I caught my breath and opened my eyes.

Edward stood, no breath filling his lungs from the running, but simply staring at me, a sorrowful expression on his face as he held me close to his chest, still cradling me in his arms. The sudden silence of our surroundings was deafening, but the roar of thunder from the late summer's storm startled me as I gathered my thoughts.

"Umm…what the fuck was that?" I asked, struggling to get him to put me down. The rain was pouring down, forcing the watered silk of my slip to stick to his body like glue. His arms were like steel as I tried again to remove myself from his grasp. Then, his voice, slow and steady, came with intensity through the sound of the storm.

"Do you trust me, Bella?" Lightning flashed, framing the silhouette of his messy hair, causing the gold of his eyes to sparkle.

"Uhhh…sure."

"Yes, or no, Bella." His eyes burned. I felt my heart pick up its pace as I gazed up at him.

"Yes," I whispered, "What's the problem?"

"I would tell you, but you'll just laugh at me, because it's obviously hilarious." Sarcasm coated his words, and his eyes continually shifted toward the exit doors.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked. Obviously, something was bothering him. "And why was Tanya coming after me?"

"That's…a long story."

"Yeah, well, you know what else is a long story? You forgetting to tell me that you obviously have a girlfriend."

His face couldn't have been anymore disgusted.

"Tanya is not my girlfriend. Neither is anyone else, for that matter. And she was trying to attack you, because she's jealous."

"Of what, exactly?" I asked incredulously as I attempted to warm up in his arms. It was an impossible task.

"The fact that I…" His dialogue ended as he looked towards the exit door.

"We have to get out of here."

And then, he sped down the street, but not fast enough for me to miss the sight of Tanya throwing herself through the door, followed by Alice jumping on top of her with more height, speed and grace than a normal human would possess.

Something was definitely wrong with these people. I was sure they were superheroes. As I glanced over Edward's shoulder, feeling like a child in his arms while he ran, I closed my eyes. Nausea started to ensue as the rain hit me like shards of glass in the face.

I felt bile rising in my throat. I had never been one to have motion sickness, but I began looking for a target to aim at as Edward continued to run further down the street.

"Are you okay?" Edward's eyes looked down on me, and I felt him slow in his pace down the road. I moved my arm further up his chest in an attempt to at least vomit over his shoulder as he slowed further.

Suddenly, I felt the sharpest pain I had ever felt in my entire life, searing into my collar bone, and a blood-curdling scream rose from within me, piercing my eardrums. My eyes shut as the smell of blood filled my nostrils, and Edward came to a dead stop on the sidewalk, throwing my equilibrium into a tailspin.

The offending metal of the street sign, which had sliced deeply into the flesh between my neck and shoulder as Edward had run past it carelessly, shook in the breeze, less than a foot away.

"Edward…" I breathed, applying pressure to the wound with my opposite hand. "I…I have…a laceration…" The medical side of me panicked. With the amount of blood that was flowing, I knew I only had minutes until my body went into shock and I was unconscious. I didn't know if Edward knew what to do if that happened.

The blackness threatened to take me as he set me on the ground gently, his eyes blackening yet again. His eyes stared unwaveringly at my fresh wound, and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. He looked…ravenous.

As the blood flowed, I looked up at him.

"It's too deep. I need to go to the hospital…"

"No. Fuck the hospital," his voice broke, low, in a breathless manner as he kneeled down to me, eyeing my collar bone like he was a starved man laying eyes on food for the first time in centuries.

Fear rose from within me, and I suddenly realized that what I thought was role-playing was actually real.

He was a vampire. And I was going to be the meal for the starving man inside of him.