Vampire Flambe

After Angela, Jessica, and Charlie left, I went over to the Cullens' house to see Jasper and find out what he had learned from his explorations of the surrounding area.

"I checked everything within a 200 mile radius of Forks and didn't find any new scents, but it's still possible she has others in Portland or Spokane," Jasper informed me, as we sat together on the loveseat in the living room. "I'll have to check them tonight."

I nodded, disappointed he would be away again tonight, but understanding the need for it.

"How's Charlie?" Esme inquired politely. She and Edward were sitting on the couch, watching my interactions with Jasper.

"He went over early to help Sue with the arrangements for the funeral and the wake," I replied.

"Why didn't you go with him?" Edward asked condescendingly. "You didn't think he could use your help and support while dealing with the death of one of his closest friends?"

"I barely even knew the man," I defended. "I only met him a couple of times as a child and haven't seen him at all since I moved here last year. I don't know his wife or children either, though I know of them. I don't think it would be appropriate to attend the funeral and wake of a stranger, intruding on the grief of the family and friends left behind, when I couldn't relate to them at all. I'll be there for my dad tonight, when he gets home. He doesn't need or want me there. He didn't invite me or even tell me the details of where and when, so he obviously had absolutely no expectation of me attending."

Edward grimaced and opened his mouth, but was cut off by the phone ringing. Esme had been looking back and forth between us, as if watching a tennis match, and she hopped up eagerly, her face a mask of relief. "Oh! It's Rosalie!" she exclaimed, bringing the extension over and hitting the button for the speaker phone. Carlisle quickly joined the rest of us, racing down the stairs at his natural speed. "Hello?" Esme answered happily.

"Mom?! Mom! We were attacked!" Rosalie sobbed into the phone.

"What happened?!" Carlisle demanded at the same time Jasper soothingly stated, "Calm down, Rosie, and try to tell us what happened."

There was a shuffling sound and then Emmett came on the line. "Sorry, guys, she's hysterical," he apologized, slightly slurring his speech.

"Have you been drinking?!" Carlisle accused, shocked.

"Hell, yeah, Pops! We went to lunch at this little Mexican place with margaritas the size of fish bowls! It was awesome!" Emmett cheered. "I had all of mine and most of Rosie's, plus a couple of beers."

Carlisle scowled and growled, "What happened, Emmett? Are you hurt? What about Rose?"

"Uh, I don't know what happened, but we're both fine and dandy," Emmett answered, sounding confused. "No injuries or nothing. Rosie's just really freaked out about something."

"We were attacked by a vampire! He bit Emmett!" Rose shrieked, her voice carrying through the phone easily even though Emmett was still holding it up to his own face.

"What?! When did that happen?!" Emmett roared, his voice panicky. "Are you okay? Am I okay? How am I okay?"

"Who's driving?" Jasper asked, his quiet voice cutting through everyone else's, ringing with authority that demanded a response.

"Rose is," Emmett replied.

"Are you in immediate danger? Are you being pursued?" Jasper asked, as everyone else stopped talking, responding to his calm, commanding influence.

Emmett relayed the questions to Rose and after a few seconds of nothing but broken sobbing, Rose took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to ease herself out of panic mode. "No, I don't think we're being pursued."

"Okay, I want you to pull into a crowded parking lot, a grocery store or Wal-mart," Jasper instructed.

"OKay," she whimpered, trying to stay calm.

"Now, Emmett, what do you remember?" Jasper inquired.

"We had an awesome time at the restaurant and were heading back to the car. Rosie had us parked way at the back of the lot, near the woods, because she didn't want anybody parking too close to her baby and possibly scratching it. I was singing and leaning on Rosie, teasing and hamming it up for her. She was all embarrassed and blushing, even though there was nobody else out there to hear or see me. I opened the passenger side, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up from lying on the ground with Rosie crying hysterically and trying to lift me into the car all by herself," Emmett recounted. "Oh, and there was a terrible odor in the air too."

"Alright, I can hear y'all are parked now, so please give the phone to Rosie for me," Jasper guided.

"Okay, doke," Emmett agreed, handing the phone to his wife.

"Emmett was leaning on me and acting like a dufus because he was drunk and completely lacking even the common sense God gave a flea," Rose growled. We heard a smack resound through the phone, followed by a hiccuping sob. She took another deep breath, before continuing, "I helped him over to the passenger side, and he opened the door, when suddenly a guy appeared out of nowhere. He attacked Emmett, bit his neck, right there in front of me! Of course I knew he was a vampire, and he was killing my Emmett, draining him!"

All of us listened in horror, wondering how they got away.

"I knew fire was his only weakness, and I had hairspray in my purse, along with a lighter, so I flambeed his ass! He pulled away from Emmett and fell over on his back screaming and writhing, trying to put out the flames. I aimed for his face, hoping to ignite the venom from his eyes and mouth. It worked, and by the time the can was empty, his head was already ash and the rest of his body was well on its way. I went over to Em, expecting him to be bleeding out, but the injury had already disappeared, leaving just a thin scar. He was unconscious though, and I thought he was changing back into a vampire, but he woke up while I was trying to get him in the car, and he seems to be fine," Rose finished.

It was quiet for a moment, while everyone processed what she'd said.

"I think y'all had better come to Forks, at least for the time being," Jasper decided. "It sounds like he must've been a newborn to panic from the flames that way. An older vampire wouldn't have stayed still long enough for you to fry him. He'd have taken you out with a single blow, then rolled in the dirt to put out the flames on his clothes, and would've walked away undamaged except for his clothes."

"The fire wouldn't have hurt him?" I wondered, surprised.

Jasper shook his head. "Not if he acted quickly. Vampire skin is even less flammable than human skin. If a human's clothes catch on fire, they can do a 'stop, drop, and roll' to put out the fire before it burns them. The same is true for vampires. If they do get the equivalent of a first or second degree burn from the fire before it's put out, it'll heal rapidly. It's only if venom is present to act as an accelerant that the fire gets hot enough to burn our flesh to ash. That's why vampires are ripped up first, to cause the venom to flow freely. Venom is extremely flammable and causes the flames to reach temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees almost instantly. So fire is only truly dangerous for us if we're injured, or if our eyes or mouth are open and are hit with the flames directly."

"Wow, so Rosalie did exactly the right thing," I realized. "Way to go, Rosalie! I'm so glad you and Em are okay."

"Who's . . .? Oh! Thanks, Bella," Rose accepted, her tone much nicer than I had ever heard directed toward me before.

"Bells!" Emmett cheered. "How're you doing? I can't wait to see you again!"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, Em. I don't know if you heard already, but Edward burned all the goodbye notes from the family instead of giving them to me, so I wasn't ignoring any of you on purpose. I would've loved to keep in touch, but Edward lied to me, telling me you guys were leaving because he was tired of pretending to care about me and that I wasn't good enough for him," I informed them, ignoring the way Edward was glaring at me.

"What?!" they both shouted at the same time.

"How dare he? That bastard!" Rose hissed.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Em growled. "I'm gonna beat him to a bloody pulp!"

Edward looked terrified. "I said I was sorry!" he wailed. "She already said she forgave me, but she's still punishing me!"

"How is she punishing you?" Rose asked, her voice filled with interest.

"Telling you guys, for one," Edward complained. "And she says she doesn't want me anymore. She said terrible, hurtful things to me."

"You mean, she turned your own words back on you, the terrible, hurtful things you said to her when you broke up with her and left her in the woods to die," Jasper clarified.

"You left her in the woods to die?" Em roared.

"I didn't think she would try to follow me! We were just inside the treeline, still within sight of her house!" Edward protested.

"Yet you left a note on the counter in my handwriting informing my dad I went for a walk in the woods," I countered. "So you did know I tried to follow you and would get lost, yet you didn't stick around to see if I made it out okay. I only survived because the Alpha of the Quileute pack traced my scent."

"I didn't think you'd go so far," Edward admitted, hanging his head.

"The pack?" Rose asked. "I thought they had all died!"

"The presence of vampires triggered the current generation," I explained. "It's a good thing too, because Victoria has been coming after me for a while now, so they're the only reason I'm still alive. They killed Laurent already, interrupting him right when he was about to bite me."

"Damn, girl, you really are a danger magnet, aren't you?" Emmett whistled. "You shouldn't have sent us away! We could've protected you!"

"I didn't send you away, Em. I didn't ask for space. That was all part of Edward's lies," I immediately clarified.

"I had to!" Edward yelled before anyone else could respond. "It wasn't safe for us to be around her! It wasn't safe for me to be around her! I had to leave before I killed her, one way or another. I had to change fate."

I snorted. "Well, you certainly succeeded in doing that."

"How are you feeling, Emmett? Any burning at all?" Carlisle suddenly asked, bringing us all back to the original reason for the call.

"Nope, I'm fine. I feel great actually," Em declared.

"Hmmm," Carlisle hummed, his visage troubled.

"He must've sucked the venom out while he was drinking, like I did to Bella," Edward suggested.

I saw Carlisle and Jasper exchanged a look.

"I agree with Jasper," Carlisle announced. "I think you need to come here with us. Being attacked by a newborn in broad daylight suggests Victoria may have sent him to track you after all. I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily, but Alice had a vision of Victoria seeking an audience with Aro in Volterra. If she succeeds, we're all going to be in very deep trouble."

"What?! Oh, no! Oh, no! This is bad!" Rose freaked, starting to hyperventilate. "We're all humans who know the secret! He'll hunt us down and kill us all!"

"Well, shit! How come nobody thought of this possibility before we took the witch up on her offer?" Emmett complained.

"I did, but nobody listened," Jasper muttered, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Everyone appeared chagrined, and I heard a soft apology from the phone.

"So why don't you just take out the red-headed bitch and all her little friends, Jasper?" Em challenged. "You're supposed to be some kind of Major Badass, right? It should be child's play for you!"

"Emmett, language!" Esme scolded.

Jasper sighed, admitting, "Normally, you'd be right, Emmett, but Vicki has the gift of evasion. She's able to stay out of range of my gift and stays one step ahead of the wolves too. I've called Peter and Char to come help me."

"Petey's coming? Hot dog! We'll be on the next plane," Emmett cheered excitedly.