Chapter 11- Seattle Or Bust

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Back in my time, if you woke up one day with the thought of long distance traveling, you had a few decisions to make first. The most important decision would be, by what means you would be traveling? Train or car? If you happened to choose travel by car, you needed to prepare yourself as if you were going to be making an expedition to Timbuktu or the South Pole. Roads were piteously maintained. Road signs, few and far between. Road maps, laughably inadequate. Traveling anywhere beyond your "own backyard" was a gamble of sorts.

And that was where I found myself. Gambling with my own life.

I sat in Emmett's monster of a Jeep, silently musing at my current situation. Directly behind me sat Alice, thumbing through a fashion magazine, describing in explicit detail just where she planned to shop, what she would be buying, and in how many colors.

Jasper, sitting beside her, stared placidly out of his window while bobbing his head every now and then in relation to whenever Alice asked him a direct question. He was what could be described as a "yes-man".

My current state of anxiety no longer involved the disconcerting information that I was trapped in a car with possibly more than one former human blood sucker.

No, it was the alarming fact that vampires don't believe in speed limits.

Emmett sat relaxedly in the driver's seat, his foot pushing the accelerator nearly to the floorboard. The speedometer was clocking 150 mph. This is an improvement upon his earlier speed of 190 mph. And the only reason his speed slowed at all was for the fact that I had asked him to "slow down to a reasonable speed".

"But that's a snail's pace!" he complained.

"Maybe to you," I bitingly retorted, "but I come from a world where we drove 30 mph and thought that that was fast living, so, please for the love for all that is holy, slow down!" And to his credit, he did lessen his speed for me. Or it was because my face had gone from healthy white to seasick green.

When I was first informed of the distance we would be traveling, I had resigned myself to the belief that we would be confined in the car for several monotonous hours. Instead, we travelled nearly 145 miles in just over an hour, thanks to Emmett's lead foot.

During the drive to Seattle, my fellow passengers attempted to describe what I would soon be seeing. Buildings would look different, for instance. However, I can assure you that no amount of descriptions could do justice to what I saw as we entered the city limits.

For one thing, we travelled on an "Interstate", which is a road that connects hundreds of cities and towns together (a sort of car version of a railroad track, I presumed). Emmett complained bitterly as we neared the city because he was forced to slacken off his speed to a mere 75 mph due to traffic on the road.

Speaking of traffic, I had never seen so many cars all in one place! Most contained one lone occupant, hunched over the steering wheel, and usually doing a variety of tasks as they drove. One man alternated between taking bites of a doughnut and drinking from a white cup. I was most impressed by the woman who used her knee to steer as she applied her makeup.

And the buildings looked more than just "different". The tallest building in the world in 1918 was the Woolworth Building in New York with its 60 floors. Emmett laughed when I shared that statistic. Evidently, now, even Seattle could beat that with its Columbia Center, standing at 76 floors. Plus, instead of being built with the earthy hues of brick and similar construction techniques, these new skyscrapers were made from mirrored glass and steel- a development that I would never have anticipated.

We drove straight into the downtown. It seemed as if every time I blinked I saw something new, strange, or amazing. Shops were everywhere, displaying thousands of exciting new things that I had never dreamed of.

Without warning, a screech reminiscent of a Scottish banshee erupted in the small confines of the Jeep. "Stop the car!" Alice demanded eagerly. Emmett slammed on the brakes, causing my head to narrowly miss making contact with the dashboard.

Emmett was immediately on the defensive. "What! What is it?" he bellowed, his eyes hastily scanning our surroundings as if he anticipated a band of thieves were going to attack at any moment.

"There!" she whooped in delight, pointing her index finger towards a shopfront. "Nordstrom's having a sale!" Then, in almost the blinking of an eye, Alice yanked her door open and practically vanished inside of the store that proclaimed today as "Clearance Day", leaving three males sitting confusedly in the Jeep.

"Well," I heard Jasper say after a few silent moments. "We've lost Alice for the day."

"Is it normal for people today to jump out of vehicles without warning?" I asked curiously.

"It's normal for Alice," he mildly replied.

Emmett resumed driving, but he now appeared to be slightly annoyed. "I knew I should have turned the child lock on before we left," he crossly remarked. "Now how are we going to know if it's safe to take Edward anywhere?"

Jasper smiled in return. "We'll make do for now. All we're going is to a couple of stores."

Emmett's irritability did not relent, despite Jasper's calm reassurances. "Yeah, sure we can 'make do', but she had the plans on where to go!"

A strange, precipitously serene feeling descended upon me. A moment earlier, I had been mildly concerned about Alice's behaviour. Now, my current feeling was comparable to having had an injection of morphine.

"Cut it out!" Emmett griped, glaring into the rearview mirror.

My mind raced with the possible reasons for Emmett's comment. Then, realization finally struck. "You can control emotions," I said, knowingly, as I turned in my seat to face Jasper.

He nodded his head, confirming my suspicion, apathetically. Seemingly unperturbed by my revelation, he spoke. "Actually, 'control' is too strong of a word to use to describe what I can do. A more accurate assessment would be that I can 'influence' and sense other individuals' emotions."

I pondered on this bit of information for a while, imagining all that you could potentially do with that kind of power. "Intrusive, isn't it? To know exactly how someone is feeling? Wouldn't you feel like a Peeping Tom?"

He merely shrugged his shoulders. "I can sense a person's emotions, yes, but I couldn't tell you the reasons for that emotion. I'm not a mind reader."

Ten minutes later, Emmett parked the Jeep in a parking space on a busy street filled with a variety of shops. "I guess we'll try this place first," he said, just before he parked.

Two of us exited the vehicle quickly while Emmett became overly protective of his precious Jeep. In spite of our assurances, he checked for unlocked doors, opened windows, and any other anomaly that could potentially doom is beloved automobile.

"Come on, Emmett," groaned Jasper, who stood nearby, watching Emmett calculating the distance between his Jeep and the other parked cars. "We don't have all day."

"Hey, I gotta do this first," replied Emmett, unfazed by Jasper's growing impatience. "If I don't bring back the Jeep in pristine condition, Rose will rip my head off! The last time I came to Seattle, some nincompoop scratched the back bumper, and she had to fix it. She told me if I bring the Jeep back like that again that she'd give it a new paint job."

"What color this time?" Jasper queried.

Emmett puffed out a breath before answering. "Lavender. With pink racing stripes."

I barked out a laugh, whereas Jasper just grinned.

Following Emmett's thorough inspection, we headed towards a shop that he assured me had an array of CDs from all genres. Upon entering the store, my eyes immediately became enamored with not only the tons of music available, but also its ambiance. The walls, though painted a neutral white, were interesting, to say the least. Records were attached like pictures throughout the space. And, where there were no records, some other sort of musical memorabilia stood in its place. Posters with strange names like The Beatles, Korn, The Bangles, and The Jackson 5 hung on the walls. Concert tickets from years gone by and a sequined white suit complete with cape also were displayed.

It was almost too much to take in.

"Where do we even start?" I asked no one in particular.

Emmett deliberated for a short time before his eyes sparkled with an idea. "We'll go ask the salesman to show us what we should be listening to."

The three of us strode up to a relatively plain counter- a salesman stood there with his back turned to us. "Excuse me," said Emmett in a louder voice. "But, could you help us?"

The salesman turned around rapidly- I tried valiantly to hide my shock at his appearance. The man stood about five foot ten with a slender, lanky build with little to no muscle. He was pale. His pallor not as white as a Jasper or Emmett's, but still quite pale in comparison to me. His shirt was a sheer black that displayed his chest's many tattoos. His hair was blacker than the night. Half of his head was shaved down to the scalp- the other half, long and straight like a woman's might be. His fingernails were painted a deep, shiny black. And, lastly, attached to his nostrils, was a large silver ring, similar to what a bull in Madrid might wear before being led to the arena.

"Hello," he said, absently as is eyes slowly turned their attention to us. "Welcome to Woody's Music Shop. How may I hel..." he muttered as his voice drifted off to nothing. His eyes had widened during his introductory speech as his gaze froze on Emmett.

"Hi!" replied Emmett with a grin, not seeming to have noticed the salesman's sudden distress. "Edward here wants to know what albums he should have at home right now. He wants to broaden his musical tastes."

The salesman stood stock still, clearly too shocked to move. I don't believe the poor fellow could even blink. His mouth had popped open, as well, revealing metal "vampire fang" canines.

A feeling, like a tranquil breeze, flowed through the room.

Jasper.

Fifteen seconds later, the salesman finally put forth the effort to blink. With his lids blinking rapidly in succession, as if he had just awoken from an afternoon nap, he managed to speak. "Oh... What sort of music are you interested in?" he asked me.

I wondered how I could tell the man that I wanted to know what I should be listening to so I wouldn't look like some time traveling freak from 1918...

"I'm interested in them all," I answered, honestly. "I want music that should be vital to anyone who wants to really understand why music sounds the way it does today."

The man nodded his head once. He kept his eyes trained solely upon my face as he spoke. "Mainstream or independent?"

I didn't understand his question, but I went with it anyway. "Both," I stated with confidence.

The man made his way around the counter, motioning with his finger for me to follow. Behind me, I heard Emmett say, "You go on ahead, Edward. Jasper and I will be over there browsing around."

My new companion and I began a slow procession through the store as we compiled a stack of CDs that he assured me were critical for my education. I saw names like Muddy Waters, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Foo Fighters, Prince, The Cure, Jimmy Hendrix, Linkin Park, Janis Joplin, Audioslave, Tupac Shakur, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam.

During our perusal of the store, I discovered that he, despite outward appearances, was a kind and decent sort of fellow. I knew that my lack of knowledge on music was worthy of mocking, but he remained both patient and understanding with me. Though, I could still sense that he feared Emmett and Jasper by how often his eyes would scan the room for their figures.

Twenty minutes later, we had assembled a stack of roughly thirty CDs that we dumped on the store's counter. He began the process of ringing them up, on a computerized cash register, no less. Emmett and Jasper appeared silently beside me once the salesman had almost completed his task.

"That'll be $493.79, please," he said, pleasantly, once finished.

My heart almost did a back flip. I knew it would be pricy, but almost five hundred dollars. Outrageous!

I felt a stone hand encircle my forearm. "Whoa there, Edward!" Jasper whispered into my ear. "What's the problem?"

I tried to give the salesman a polite smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace. "Excuse me for just one moment," I said to him as I stepped across the room, indicating to Jasper and Emmett to follow.

Once we stood safely away from the salesman's ears, I grabbed my hair with both hands and tried to steady my breathing. "OK," I heard Emmett begin quietly, "now tell us, what's going on?"

I couldn't believe that these two sentient beings could not come to some sort of conclusion on their own. "Hmm... Well, let's see... I guess it's the fact that this establishment is effectively committing highway robbery!" I hissed.

Emmett laughed incredulously for a moment. "Are you kidding? That's practically nothing!" Then, he looked at me, (my face set in a deep scowl, no doubt) and he laughed harder.

Thankfully, Jasper maintained his usual calm demeanor. "There's been a bit of a price inflation since 1918," he revealed.

"I can see that," I growled. "But, five hundred dollars? I could buy a car for that much!" I complained. In my time you could buy a record for a dollar. Prices had clearly went on an upward tick.

To his credit, Emmett tried to extinguish his amusement. "Not anymore, bud," he said, with just a hint of a smile. "You gotta lay down about twenty thousand to get a basic car now. A good quality one would be tens of thousands more."

Dear god. What has become of this world?

Jasper tried to speak reassuringly. "It's really not so bad. You'll get used to it, trust me." I suspected that Jasper was using his talent on me once again since I was no longer almost hyperventilating.

"Fine," I muttered, resignedly. "I'll get rid of some of them." Maybe knock the price down to a more reasonable one...

"Why would you do that?" asked Emmett, looking at me like I had just grown a second head.

I stared at him in disbelief. Could he really not understand at all? "To lower the price, of course. I'm not going to bankrupt Carlisle for a few music discs!"

Then, the unexpected happened. Emmett and Jasper turned to one another with blank faces, stared at one another for a long moment, then, almost simultaneously, they erupted into pure, unadulterated laughter. Jasper doubled himself over, holding his stomach area, while Emmett pointed in my direction, chuckling all the while.

I glanced towards the sales counter and saw that the salesman was back to cowering, due to, no doubt, my companions' bizarre behavior.

"Bankrupt Carlisle?" Emmett cried in merriment. "Oh, man! I think that's the funniest thing I have ever heard!"

I crossed my arms defensively. "Would you two please calm yourselves down and tell me what's so funny?" I demanded.

"Sorry," said Jasper, attempting to settle himself back to normal. "But, what you said, that is almost impossible. And in your case, you wouldn't be using his money anyway." He dug into his front pocket, removing a brown leather wallet. "You see, Alice has helped direct our finances on the Stock Market for several decades, and the money multiplied faster than rabbits. If Carlisle had the inclination, he could probably put a dent into the National Debt." He smiled at my shocked face. "The same could be said of you, too. Carlisle liquefied most of your parents' property, and put most of the money on the Stock Market. The money has grown to such an extent that you could buy this shop with your pocket change if you wanted."

I could feel the blood draining from my face. "How much are we talking here?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Jasper's lips puckered a bit. "Well... It changes with the Market, but it's safe to say that it's somewhere in the ballpark of $700 million."

Suddenly, words didn't seem to make sense anymore.

I must have begun staring off into space, because I felt Jasper's fingers clutching my shirt, shaking me as delicately as he could without harming me. "Edward!" I heard him whisper excitedly. "Earth to Edward! Are you all right?"

I nodded my head gingerly, unsure if I was being truthful.

"Did you... Did you say 'millions', Jasper?" I questioned urgently.

"Yes," he answered simply. He reached into his wallet, pulling out two hard, flat cards. "I need to give you these," he said as he handed them over.

The first card said "Washington Driver's License" and had my face on the left hand side. My name, "Masen, Edward A." was printed in large black letters. My height and weight were given, which, surprisingly enough, were both accurate. Written also, directly below my name, was a birth date which read June 20, 1987. One eyebrow of mine rose up in question.

"What?" muttered Jasper in restrained amusement. "Would you rather I had put in 1901 as your year of birth?"

I couldn't help but smirk a bit at that. "Touché," I replied. I studied the next card in my hand. It had a succession of random numbers with my name embossed upon its shiny, black surface. "So, what exactly is this?" I asked curiously.

Emmett's right hand began rubbing furiously at his face. Apparently this is one way he displayed frustration. "I don't believe this. Are telling me you've never heard of a credit card?"

"Excuse me, Emmett, for not knowing what a credit card is. I was too busy falling through time to catch all the latest developments!" I growled, but still managed to contain it into a whisper.

"Geez, Edward, I didn't mean anything by it," he said, exasperated. "Just think of it as a substitute to cash. You wouldn't want to be carting around a thousand bucks, would you? No, you wouldn't. So, instead, you charge the credit card and pay the bill later. Makes life easier."

I mulled over the new information, thankful that it was relatively easy to understand. I thanked Emmett for answering my question without giving me a hard time.

Emmett acknowledged my gratitude, then said, "Go ahead and pay so we can get outta here. That guy is creeping me out. He keeps staring at me."

I snorted a laugh. "You're the one scaring the poor fellow."

He scrunched his brows together. "Yeah, I get that I look like an intimidating dude, but I was nice to him. I smiled!"

Jasper gazed reflectively back towards the salesman. "You would think that a man sporting metal 'vampire fangs' would be at least a little comfortable with us."

"I wonder why Edward doesn't mind?" pondered Emmett.

I couldn't help but to wonder right along with him.

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A/N- The Seattle trip wraps up next chapter. How much crap will Alice have bought? *snort!*

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