A/N: Welcome to my new readers. Prereader, Erikasbuddy, and beta, OnePushyFox, did a fantastic job as usual. Since I usually forget, Stephenie Meyer owns everything except the way I've twisted her universe to my liking.

Chapter 14

Emmett POV

I watched Edward speed out the back door and it slammed shut behind him with a splintering crunch. Esme wasn't going to like that. He was just a big blur even to my acute vampire vision. Why he was in such a hurry to get out of Dodge, I didn't know. But I'm sure that he had his reasons. I was itching for a piece of the action myself, but I was supposed to stick with Charlie and Bella for the time being. I have a feeling my guard duty was going to be super boring.

Knocking lightly on the heavy door to Carlisle's study, I waited for permission to enter. Catching a glimpse of Bella undressed while she was being examined would be like seeing your own sister naked. And some images you don't want scorched into your brain for all of eternity.

"Come in," Carlisle responded quietly.

Charlie and Bella immediately turned to see who was imposing on their privacy, even though it was already invaded by Carlisle. But she needed to be checked over to make sure there weren't any lasting physical injuries from her abduction by new vampire Mike Newton. A trip to the local hospital was out of the question, especially with Bella being the only human involved in this whole mess.

"Hey, Bella," I said evenly and gave her a small sympathetic smile. I stood just inside the door, still feeling like I was intruding on a very private moment. The environment of this now multi-purpose room was heavy and serious. I could feel it pressing down on me while I waited for some kind of gesture.

She nodded from her perch on the edge of the large wooden desk, her expression somber while her legs dangled limply over the side. White strips of sterile gauze were wrapped around both of her wrists, with similar bandages on her exposed ankles. Every molecule of air was filled with an antiseptic odor. I was relieved that the stench of her blood couldn't be identified in the stale air of the room.

Charlie stood a few feet away from the desk, not wanting to leave her side, but not wanting to crowd her at the same time. His expression went way beyond serious. I'd say it was closer to homicidal than anything by the way he had one hand resting on the butt of his service revolver.

"Everything checks out. Physically you're just fine, except for the abrasions." Carlisle moved to remove the blood pressure cuff that was wrapped around her arm. She flinched as his hands approached her body, keeping her eyes closed tightly the entire time he unwound the cuff and slipped it down her arm.

"Can I have a word with you out in the hall, Doc?" Charlie asked my father.

"Sure," he said before placing the blood pressure monitoring equipment into a black leather bag. He turned to follow Charlie out of the room.

"Emmett, please keep an eye on her for me," Carlisle said in a voice so low that the humans in the room didn't hear a word. So I sat on my chair impassively performing my guard duty, but soaking in as much information about everything going on around me as I could. You can be sure I only looked dumb because of my size. But that certainly wasn't the case and I used it to my advantage many times over the years.

I'm not sure what happened to Bella in that rickety cabin, but she seemed a sliver of her former self. Her brown eyes usually sparkled, but were now dull and lifeless. She slumped off of the dark wooden desktop and walked a few feet before plopping herself on the chair closest to the desk. She kept her head down the entire time.

I kept a careful watch on her without staring too intently while I listened to Carlisle and Charlie's conversation out in the hallway. It's hard to not eavesdrop when you're a vampire since every smell and sound assaults your senses.

But I didn't need to have heightened senses to see that Charlie was very concerned for his daughter's mental well-being. And he quite rightly wanted to know what they should do next.

Shoot, I could have answered that one for him. We needed to make her feel loved and protected while simultaneously giving her all the space and time she needed to cope with this ordeal. You didn't need to be Dr. Phil to know that. How do you think I've gotten along with Rosie all of these years?

I can give her a sedative so she'll get the rest she needs tonight, Carlisle offered. Sometimes sleep is the best remedy.

For a human, I thought to myself. Although, Mike somehow had the power to make vampires sleep. Since Edward hadn't had the time to share his experience, I was left wondering what it was like to be unconscious after all of these years. There were moments where I yearned for the peace that a good night's sleep brought. Or to get away from Rosie when she was on one of her rampages.

I turned my attention to the door as Carlisle soundlessly entered, immediately followed by the shuffle of Charlie's muffled steps on the carpet. The worried expression on her father's face hadn't budged since she was first being looked over by Carlisle.

When she didn't react to their presence in the room, Charlie knelt down next to the chair she rested in. "Bells," he said and placed his hand on her knee. "Carlisle is going to give you something to help you rest."

He worriedly looked her over and paused, waiting for her response. Finally, she nodded and mouthed her silent agreement.

"Emmett," Carlisle said while he pulled clear liquid into a syringe from a stoppered bottle. "Could you help Bella up to bed?"

"Sure thing," I replied and stood up, just to be ready. Hey, I had no idea how much help a human needed after the medicine took effect. Things have changed drastically on the pharmaceutical front since I last needed anything to help me out.

"Which bedroom are you going to put her in?" Charlie asked.

This question finally prompted Bella to react. "Dad," she said in an emotionless monotone voice. "Edward's."

Doubt filled Charlie's face as he mulled over her response.

Sensing that he needed some prodding, I added my two cents. "Don't worry, Chief Swan. Edward isn't even here right now. She'll get plenty of rest. Esme will take care of her like Bella was her own daughter."

Charlie just snorted his reply and placed his hands on his hips defiantly. His police radio screeched to life from his pocket, startling both Bella and Charlie.

Chief Swan, we have a disturbance at the bowling alley. The dispatcher's voice clipped from the speaker attached to his uniform shirt with a plastic clip.

"Ten-four, I'll be right there," Charlie responded into the radio before he clipped it onto his pocket and turned his attention back to Bella.

Before anyone else could protest or interrupt, Carlisle wrapped the light brown tourniquet tightly around her bicep. Once the thin silver needle pierced her fragile skin, Bella winced and bit her lip. A few seconds after the clear liquid was slowly pushed into her veins, the tense expression on her face disappeared.

Pulling out the needle and removing the tourniquet in one smooth, quick motion, it only took a minute before Bella's body fully relaxed into the contours of the chair.

As I gently lifted her into my arms, Charlie dug his car keys out of his pocket.

"Dad," Bella said lethargically. "Don't leave without Emmett."

"He can meet me at the bowling alley. It's probably just a drunken fight at the Sunday Night leagues." He kissed Bella's forehead and walked out the door.

"Get her comfortable upstairs," Carlisle said. "Then you can catch up with Charlie."

"Okay," I answered as I turned sideways to carry Bella through the door without banging her head on the wooden frame.

"Emmett?" Bella said, her head lolling to the side slightly, like she didn't have total control of her movements.

"Yeah?" I started to climb the stairs at a normal human pace, not wanting to injure her further.

"Where's Edward?"

"I don't know. He went out the back door a while ago."

"I think he ran away because he's afraid to be with me," she said in a soft, low voice.

This declaration made me quirk an eyebrow, surprised that she was confiding something so personal to me. "What do you mean?"

"Alice is the world's biggest cock block." She snuggled her head into my chest, giggling to herself.

"Um, yeah. I don't know how to respond to that," I admitted. I decided to chalk her strange queries to the sedative coursing through her veins and polluting her mind. I continued our ascent to the upper level of the house.

"If you were Edward," she began, her voice muffled slightly by my shirt. "Would you be with me?"

I snorted, but when she looked up at me with sober, sad eyes, I composed myself and answered her with all of the seriousness this topic deserved. "That whole not doing it thing would have only lasted a few days if I were Edward."

"Oh," she said. "Even if I might be injured?"

I pushed open the door to Edward's bedroom with my foot and walked slowly forward, careful to turn Bella just right so she wasn't jostled too much as I placed her on the edge of the bed.

"Some things are just worth trying," I answered as I pulled the blanket aside so she could slip her legs under the covers. "And if I knew you were the one for me, I'd make sure you could be by my side forever."

"That's what I think too," she slurred, her eyes already closing as she leaned back into the pillow.

Just as I pulled the comforter up to her waist, Bella tried to sit up, a pout on her lips as she exhaled forcefully and leaned back on her elbows. "Emmett, fluff my pillow," she whimpered.

"Sure thing, but I'm not so sure you should ever drink or do drugs. You're too needy," I said jokingly while I crammed the feathers into the middle of the pillow. And I wasn't gentle about it either.

As I pushed the misshapen form back into place under her head, a scrap of red, lacy material caught my eye on the mattress. "Little missy, what's this?" I teased as I dangled what looked like half of a bra a couple of feet in front of her face.

Bella lazily opened one eye and slowly turned beet red. "You dust with that." She slammed her eyelid shut and rolled over so I couldn't see her embarassed face anymore.

"I believe someone's getting a bit more action than they think they are," I said before closing the door, leaving her to rest while I laughed to myself. "Dust rag, my ass."

EPOV

I felt a bit remorseful for leaving Bella with my family after everything that happened, but I didn't have much choice. I simply could not be there with a proverbial red flag evidenced in my eyes, seeing the concern in their faces. There was no way anyone would understand the current nature of my relationship with my beloved.

So I left her in the loving and capable hands of her father and Carlisle. They would make sure that she was safe and sound for the time being. And I could hear from Esme's thoughts that she wanted to smother her with a mother's love until Bella was better.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I debated whether or not I should answer the call. One look at the cracked screen and I knew that I had to get a new phone. I was surprised it functioned after I had batted it off the bed in the heat of the moment. "What do you want, Alice?" I growled into the phone.

"Don't be gruff with me. And I know that you're planning on taking Mike out by yourself."

"So?" It wasn't eloquent, but it really summed up my opinion on the matter. I wasn't content to wait around to react. I was sick of be reactive and had decided to be proactive for a change.

"It's a bad idea. He's not alone and you don't know who made him a vampire yet."

I walked calmly towards town while I continued to speak into the cracked headset. "And you do?"

"After you left the mountain with Bella, Mike arrived with everyone else right behind him. It didn't take long for Victoria and Laurent to show up and claim Mike as their progeny."

"They're still in the area?" I couldn't believe what my sister was relating to me. Killing her mate wasn't enough to scare them away? "What were they thinking, turning a human?"

I heard the scuffing of furniture on a hard surface through the phone. "We're having a family meeting to figure this all out. Maybe you should come back since Emmett had to leave with Charlie?"

I pointedly ignored her suggestion. "How's Bella?"

"Carlisle gave her something to help her sleep. She won't wake up for several hours."

Muffled voices came through the line while everyone gathered together. "And where did Charlie go?"

"There's some kind of altercation at the bowling alley, so he went to break it up. I don't see any problems."

I hit end and pocketed the phone. If I was going home, I definitely needed to hunt before I showed up with red eyes that broadcasted my indiscretions. Otherwise, I might as well stay away.

Emmett POV

The red and blue lights of the squad car pulsed into the woods and the din of many people talking at once filled the air. I slowed to a normal human pace as I stepped out of the tree line to cross the highway. While I waited in the darkness for traffic to clear, I could just make out the siren of an ambulance approaching in the distance from the east.

As I moved towards one of the few sources of recreation for the human inhabitants of this fine town of Forks, the tang of fresh human blood permeated the air around the long brick building. I was immediately drawn to the tempting aroma like a moth to a flame. Rounding the corner into the asphalt parking lot, I arrived just in time to see Charlie kneeling on some guy's back, slapping a pair of handcuffs on his wrists while he read him his rights. I so wanted to do that part of the job. Or maybe be the one holding him down with my knee. Maybe I should be a cop for real?

Once the man was hauled off of the ground and unceremoniously dumped onto his feet, the source of the blood soaking the air called to me like a neon sign advertising "All You Can Eat" at a buffet. With a large trail of crimson cascading from his nose to his faded grey t-shirt with three howling wolves silk screened onto the front, it was obvious that he had definitely seen better days and just plain ran out of luck. And judging from the mullet he sported along with his well-worn grey sweatpants and hi-top sneakers, this dude's better days must have been the eighties. Some people just couldn't let go.

A small crowd of about twenty people had gathered outside of the double glass doors of the bowling alley's entrance, all holding their drinks of choice while they watched two grown men beat each other to a bloody pulp across the pot hole scarred parking lot. Now that Charlie had subdued one of the brutes, everyone that was watching the beat down quickly lost interest.

The crowd quickly dispersed, revealing another broken and bloodied man knocked out cold on the hard ground. An ambulance was definitely needed, gauging from the unnatural angle his right arm was bent against the pavement. Bright purple bruises were blossoming across both of his eyes too.

"She started it," the handcuffed man screamed through the open door of the cruiser as Charlie pushed him inside. "It was that bitch red head's fault! Go arrest her for being a tease."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Charlie chided and slammed the car door in the guy's face just as I appeared at his side.

"Oh, great. You're here," Charlie grumbled when he noticed me. "This was just some regular folks having a disagreement in my town. No need for your kind of help."

But I knew better based on the lingering scent of other vampires on the wind. And I'm sure this stink meant trouble, since I recognized each scent from our earlier encounter on the mountain.

"But I promised Bella I would stick around. You know, just in case."

Charlie defiantly placed his hands on his hips, an unhappy smirk occupying his face. "I've got this covered, go make yourself useful elsewhere."

I turned and walked towards the double glass doors, figuring I'd at least get a look at how the locals spend their weekend nights. Loud cracking noises assaulted me as soon as I opened the door. The sound of the bowling balls hitting the pins reminded me too much of vampire body parts being torn from their owner. After pausing a second, I straightened myself to my full height and marched inside like I owned the place.

A few men briefly looked up from their drinks at the bar before returning their eyes to the game showing on the flat screens high on the wood paneled walls. Victoria's scent overwhelmed me as I approached the back of the bar area.

Her fiery hair shown like an ignited flame in a darkened booth, secluded in a corner behind the vacant pool table. She flirted shamelessly with a twenty-something year old guy wearing a Yankees hat backwards. As I watched her pawing at his arm, sweet talking the poor sap, I decided to interrupt.

"Hey, You. Yankees douchebag," I called while I approached the table. "Get your hands off of my girl."

"Fuck you, buddy." He turned to face me, his aggressive expression falling as he took in my gigantic frame. He sunk back into the red vinyl seat, using Victoria as a shield between us.

She threw a wilting glance my way before defiantly clamping down on the guy's leg. "Beat it, Emmett." She had him cornered to the inside of the booth and there was no way for him to escape.

The helpless dude tried to pry her fingers from his leg, but gave up quickly. "I didn't know she was taken, guy" he stammered.

"I think we need to talk outside, Vicky." We stared at each other silently for a minute, neither one of us willing going to budge.

The first one to move was the Yankees guy, who slowly slid out of her icy grasp and underneath the table. While Victoria and I continued our stare down, he crawled out from underneath the tabletop and quickly scurried away. I bet he didn't even know that I just saved his life.

"Why don't you make this easy and just step outside for a second? No need to cause a scene in here." When she didn't move, I reached down to grab her arm and she batted it away before I could get a firm hold. Luckily, the loud clanking noise resulting from our contact fit right in with the environment.

I hid my smile behind my hand when I heard someone at the bar loudly exclaim, "Now that sounded like a strike!"

Victoria, however, snickered at the comment. But she quickly righted her expression to one of serious business. "What do you want?" she spat.

Does this chick seriously have no common sense? I guess I had to be direct, just to cover my bases and my ass if she wasn't playing a game. I squeezed myself down into the vinyl seat across from her. "We want you, Mike, and Laurent to leave Forks." I bit my tongue to keep the duh from escaping my mouth as I stared hard into her eyes.

"And why would we do that? Forks is so nice this time of year. Michael and I are thinking of settling down here permanently. It is his hometown, you know." A demonic, forced smile spread across face with her lips curling at the edges, showing a bit too much tooth to look in the least bit sane.

"You know that isn't a good idea," I said, continuing our staring contest. Vampires don't have to blink so we could stay like this forever. There was no way I was going to let her win, but I didn't want to attract any more attention either. "Especially considering that your so called boyfriend has eyes for my sister."

Victoria quirked an auburn eyebrow before breaking eye contact. She glanced around the bar room as if she was looking for someone. Or the nearest exit.

"I wonder where your little boyfriend is right now. You'd think he would want to spend all of his time by your side." I knew that I shouldn't provoke her since she looked pretty flighty, but I couldn't help myself. I liked poking the sleeping bear.

"He's taking care of something for me right now." She began to drum her fingers on the scared wooden table top. "Anything else? I'd like to get back to the menu, if you don't mind."

"Don't do your dirty business in our territory, or else you'll have to answer to us."

"Oh, really?" She sighed heavily and looked completely bored.

"I'm sure you remember what we did to your mate. Or do you need a reminder?" I waited for her response but her lips remained tightly closed. "Or maybe the Volturi would like to know about your reckless and brazen feeding?" I stood up so I could leave on a strong note. I needed to get back to Charlie, who was hopefully waiting outside for me.

"There's no need to be that extreme," she said through clenched teeth before plastering on another fake smile. "I'm sure the Volturi would love to know that you have a human pet that knows all about our kind."

I growled down at her, clenching my fists to keep from tearing her apart in front of all the locals. "I wouldn't go there if I were you. Now get the hell out of town." I turned my back on the ruthless bitch and left in search of Bella's father.

EPOV

Sensing whispers of thoughts from a familiar person's voice, I purposely slowed to a crawl on my trip back home. I had figured that I would catch a quick bite closer to home, enough to transform my eyes back to the amber of a vegetarian.

Suddenly, Mike Newton jumped down from a tree and landed about twenty feet in front of me. We stood motionlessly, both of us waiting for the other to react. I hoped his inexperience not only wouldn't clue him into the nature of my eye color change, but would also cause him to attack first. It only took one experience with his strange ability for me to keep a distance from his hands. Plus I had the upper hand to anticipate his every move since I could read every thought he had.

"Imagine meeting you here, like this," Mike spoke first. "I didn't think you would leave Bella's side after you stole her away from me earlier."

"She isn't your possession, Michael," I answered evenly. "I was just taking back what was rightfully mine."

He took a few cautious steps towards me, dead leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. "She's not a thing, you can't own her."

I held my ground and waited for him to continue. I wasn't going to argue semantics with this moron when I have more pressing things to do with my time.

"No response?" He stretched a hand out in front of him, taking five more steps towards me. "Okay, I guess you don't want to go there. But why don't we discuss the fact that your eyes are exactly like mine?"

I inwardly cringed because he had caught me off guard by noticing this fact at the last second. So I decided to lie. "All vampires have eyes like this."

"Now, you may think that I was just a stupid human, Eddie. But I think people would notice if your entire family had red eyes." He started to pace back and forth horizontally to my position. "I think it has something to do with your family's diet."

Now it was my turn to fidget uncomfortably, so I crushed the remains of my semi-functional cell phone in my pocket. "What are you getting at? I have somewhere to be."

"What would Bella think if she knew her beloved Edward has been drinking from humans on the side?" He approached closer still, smiling nervously with his threat. He was really concentrating on my response and kept his mind blank.

"It's not what you think. Now get the hell out of my way." I knew it was dangerous to move closer to him, but I wasn't going to let that show.

As I brushed past him and continued on my way, he called after me. "She deserves to know that you aren't who you say you are."

"Whatever, asshole," I said under my breath. I let my temper get the best of me and flipped him off as I increased the distance between us. I've been around Emmett way too long.

"I bet I get a taste of her before you do, Cullen," Mike said to my back.

I made it about thirty feet past him when his thoughts flooded my brain. They were so strong that I saw exactly what he pictured in his mind.

Mike slowly undressed Bella before burying himself inside of her. Bella moaned in pleasure before offering Mike her neck. He drank deep before pulling away with Bella screaming in pain. And finally Bella, awakening as an immortal.

I stopped in my tracks, determined to keep this future from happening. "You sick son of a bitch!" I snapped as I lunged for Mike.