Disclaimer - All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Thirty-Four: Somebody
Bella's leg bounced with nerves as they waited.
"Relax," Rose told her. "You're making Ethan nervous." The small boy was seated in Rose's lap, head against her shoulder as she rubbed his back.
"Sorry," Bella mumbled. "I just hate the fact that we're sat here doing nothing."
"You're not doing nothing," Edward comforted, coming over and sitting next to her. "You're keeping Ethan safe."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Technically that's why you and Emmett are here." She was under no illusion of her role in this. Rose and she had been tasked with looking after Ethan whilst Esme, Jake, Nessie, Jasper and Carlisle took on Chelsea. Edward and Emmett had stayed behind in case Chelsea got to the house.
Black's had been closed all day whilst preparations were made to lure Chelsea into the car park. The plans had taken most of the previous night to concoct. But they needed to be sure. They needed to make sure that Chelsea would fall for them. She was putting everyone in Forks in danger, especially Esme and Ethan. Maude's house was probably the safest place for Ethan right now but she had left this morning to go and visit her sister so that was out of the question.
"Do you have to sit so close?" Rose asked as Emmett came in from outside, sitting down on the couch close to her.
"I might need to protect your body at a moment's notice," he stated, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Rose let out a sound of what could only be described as pure dissatisfaction before shifting Ethan slightly and crossing her legs over one another, drawing Emmett's attention to her thighs. A wide smile appeared on his face and Bella was very glad she couldn't read vampire minds.
Emmett's attraction to Rose was… interesting. Rose had always received male attention but to her, it was always an annoyance. With Emmett though, she was different. Bella saw the way she blushed under his gaze and the way her breathing changed when he touched her. She'd was also privy to her thoughts so Bella knew that Rose was unsure of how to handle the attention. Rose felt an attraction to the huge man but she was scared. She'd never been in a relationship and she wasn't willing to just be another warm body in Emmett's bed.
"Do you think Nessie will be alright?" Bella asked, leaning into Edward. She liked her and so was naturally worried.
A small smirk appeared on his face. "You didn't see her training with Jasper, she's a complete natural."
"How long do you think they'll be?" she asked, her eyes going to the clock on the wall.
"Satyress' are brutal. She won't go down without a fight," Emmett said, making a sense of uneasiness settling in Bella's stomach.
Esme steadied her breathing. She counted to ten and then listened, straining her ears.
Silence.
And then footsteps. Loud, heavy stomps that could only belong to a single creature.
Esme ran.
She pumped her arms and pushed her legs until her body was screaming at her to slow down.
When she got to the parking lot of Black's she was breathless. She turned on her heel and waited. Seconds later, Chelsea skidded into view, her human form taken over by her animal one. She crouched low to the ground and snorted, her breath misting around her before disappearing into the night air.
"This ends tonight," Esme told her, nothing but determination running through her body. She didn't relish the thought of killing somebody; she never had like the violent nature that was foisted upon her when she was training. But this needed to be done. As long as Chelsea remained alive, both she and her son were in danger. If it was just her, it might be different. She could deal with moving constantly, always looking over her shoulder. But Ethan shouldn't have to deal with that. He wouldn't—she'd make sure of it.
Chelsea slunk further to the ground before she stopped, tilting her large head to the side as she listened. Esme knew what she could hear. The sound of swift footsteps, the trees rustling and the panting of a large wolf.
Moments later, Jake lopped into view next to her. He pulled his huge mouth back revealing an impressive set of teeth and growled low in his throat, his eyes fixed on the creature that had caused nothing but trouble since she arrived in Forks.
Jasper and Carlisle appeared behind Chelsea, boxing her in. Esme could sense the panic in her as she looked around, trying to work out what to do next.
She turned to Esme and let out a snarling cry, charging towards her, head down, horns ready to impale her. Esme wasted no time in moving forward. She ran at Chelsea, pulling her dagger from its sheath. Just when they were about to collide, Esme slid to the floor, her catsuit protecting her from the gravel as she slid under the large creature. Her sharp blade cut through the hairy flesh with ease and Chelsea gave a feral scream. She turned and swung her arms around, managing to catch Esme with one of her claws as she did, breaking through the material of her catsuit and leaving a gash on her arm.
Esme hissed as she felt warm blood trickle from the wound. It was fairly deep so she knew it would take a while to heal. But she couldn't focus on that now.
Jasper ran across the parking lot and grasped one of Chelsea's horns with one hand and pulled her down to the ground in a move to incapacitate her. Carlisle followed suit, using his weight on her other horn to lower her face. If she couldn't see, she couldn't attack.
Jake launched himself from his spot and used his face to sweep her legs from underneath her, rendering Chelsea face down on the ground.
Esme stood, preparing to take the silver arrow from her quiver when, in a surprise move, Chelsea flung her entire body to the side, slamming straight into Jake and knocking him off balance. She then turned to Carlisle and Jasper, using her horns to warn them off as she got to her feet.
Jasper growled at her but Chelsea charged, body-slamming him through the night. Esme watched as he quite literally went flying across the night sky, his body thudding into a large tree before he landed on the floor.
Carlisle stepped up to Chelsea but he didn't fight her straight away. He waited for her to make the first move.
She swung her arms at him, her destructive claws getting within mere inches of him. He fought her off though and Esme saw her chance. She took a running jump and landed on Chelsea's back. She wrapped an arm around her thick neck and reached behind her for the arrow.
Just as she had managed to pluck it from her quiver, she felt herself falling backwards and over Chelsea's shoulder, she saw Carlisle's wide eyes.
Esme realised what was going on and let go of her grip and flung herself to the left. She landed on the floor with a thud. She was breathless and completed winded and she felt Carlisle pick her up gently and put her on her feet, one hand around her waist to steady her. The arrow had fallen to the ground and lay discarded in the dirt.
Chelsea quickly got up from the floor and let out a large snort—probably of annoyance as her plan to land on and subsequently squash Esme hadn't worked.
She turned on her heel, fully intent on fleeing but Esme knew she wouldn't get very far.
Nessie landed just feet away from Chelsea, causing her to stop in her tracks.
They'd decided to have Nessie wait in the trees just in case something like this happened.
It looks like it had been the right call.
Jasper pulled himself up from the floor and Jake stood off to the side, crouched low. Esme picked the arrow up from the ground before she and Carlisle walked up to where Chelsea was stood.
Esme reached a hand up to hold her ribs as a sharp pain cut through her.
"Please don't make this difficult," she said to the satryess.
Much to Esme's surprise, Chelsea changed back into her human form. She turned to her with pleading eyes.
"You don't have to do this."
Esme felt speechless. "You haven't given me a choice. You have followed me and my son through three states. You crashed into my living room—"
"I'll stop!"
"Why haven't you stopped before?"
In a very childish motion, Chelsea shrugged her shoulders. She took a few steps towards Esme and she tensed.
Chelsea held her hands up and stepped closer until Carlisle growled, his fangs glistening under the moonlight.
"That's close enough," he warned her.
Chelsea stopped in her tracks. "I can stop. I can go somewhere else. Just tell me where to find another valkyrie."
"No." Esme wouldn't do it. "They should be able to live in peace and not have to worry about your sacrifice bullshit." She didn't normally swear but she was fed up with this whole situation.
"I need to find my true love and he won't come to me unless I give him a sacrifice," Chelsea said, her words forced like she was struggling.
Behind her, Jasper snorted. "That doesn't sound like true love, darlin'."
Chelsea shook, her body physically reacting to his words.
"It is," she said defiantly. "I just need to give him what he wants."
"You're not going to get it from me," Esme told her. She could feel weariness starting to creep in. The wound on her arm was taking its toll and there was blood dripping into her palm and onto the ground. It had been a long nine months and she was ready for this to be over.
It was like something snapped inside Chelsea she jumped forward, changing mid-air into her animal form, her yellow eyes fixed on Esme.
Esme felt herself being twisted to the side, two cold hands on her waist as Carlisle twirled her out of the way of danger.
Chelsea landed on the floor with a thud, her hoofed feet leaving two imprints on the ground.
Carlisle and Jasper shot forward, grabbing her arms as they swung her around, trying to knock her off balance.
Jake charged towards her, his head low. Esme realised that he was going to bowl her over, get her on the floor so she would be an easier target, but Chelsea broke one of her arm's free from Jasper's grip and instead delivered a strike to Jake's chest, blood spraying out from the wound as he whimpered and backed away.
As long as Chelsea was moving around like this, Esme knew she couldn't shoot her with the arrow. She needed to get up close and personal.
She met Carlisle's eyes and jerked her head, hoping he would get the message.
His brow furrowed and then he realised what she wanted. He nodded and released her, her body spinning around until her eyes landed on Esme.
"Come on, Chelsea," Esme taunted. "Show me what you got."
Chelsea charged at Esme and she braced herself for the impact steadying her feet into the ground. She was hit with the full force of the satryess and Esme grunted as she was pushed backwards, her body slipping until she landed on the floor, Chelsea stood over her.
Once again, the arrow lay discarded on the ground.
Esme rolled out of the way of Chelsea's slashing claws and pulled herself to her feet, ducking out of the way once again. She saw movement and she knew that Carlisle had figured out what she was going.
Jasper and Nessie both made a move but Carlisle shook his head at them. Then realisation dawned on Jasper's face. He smirked at Esme. Nessie looked between them, back to Esme and Chelsea and then to the arrow on the ground. Her eyes went wide and she nodded.
Esme backed up as Chelsea stepped forward, her entire body in a defensive position.
"Have you ever thought your true love isn't coming because you don't deserve it?" Esme hoped her goading irritated Chelsea. "Maybe you're not good enough for him. Maybe you don't deserve to find your true love."
Chelsea let out a savage cry and before Esme knew it, she had lifted her from the ground, a large clawed hand around her throat. As she squeezed, something akin to a smile covered Chelsea's face. Esme felt her heart pound against her chest and she tried to remain calm. Panicking never helped a situation.
Black spots appeared in front of her vision and her head began to swim. Her lungs burned and she started to feel very hot. Her limbs got very heavy and her vision started to narrow to pinprick.
Before the darkness filled her vision entirely, Esme found herself in a heap on the floor, sucking in oxygen and filling up her lungs with the fresh night air.
She gasped and choked and her eyes watered, but Chelsea was no longer holding her.
She was on her knees on the floor, wide-eyed and frozen. Embedded in her chest was the silver arrow. Her body flopped forward until she was face down in the dirt.
Nessie was looking at Chelsea, her expression unreadable.
Esme looked at the young girl. "Thank you," she told her in a strained voice, her throat burning with the words.
Carlisle helped her to her feet and moments later, Jake appeared dressed in a pair of sweats.
"Can't say I'm going to miss her," he said, barely sparing a glance at her unmoving body.
Bella woke up to something smooth brushing across her bare shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled as she saw her handsome, green-eyed vampire boyfriend sat on the edge of the bed. Unfortunately, he was wearing clothes.
"I have to go soon—it's nearly dawn." She nodded sadly. She hated that he had to leave but her room, or the entire house for that matter, hadn't been light-proofed yet and so it wasn't safe for him. "But there's something I wanted to do first," he told her.
Edward leaned across the bed and kissed her, pressing his cold lips to hers as she wrapped her arms around him as best she could and attempted to pull him closer.
"No," he told her playfully. "I really have to go and I don't want to rush."
Bella pouted and he took her bottom lip in his mouth and sucked.
When she moaned he pulled back and winked at her.
"You're a tease," she told him.
He leaned forward and kissed Bella again, this time softly. "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispered.
He kissed her forehead and then sped out of the room.
Bella rested her head back on the pillow for a few minuted before she decided to be productive and get into the shower.
By the time she had gotten out and dressed for the day, Rose was wide awake and in the kitchen sipping at a cup of tea she had made herself.
"What are you doing up?" Bella asked. It was still early and the sun was just starting to peek through the tree line.
"Couldn't sleep," Rose mumbled tiredly.
"Nightmares?" Bella knew that Rose got them from time to time. Especially when she got stressed.
"Something like that."
"Want to talk about it?"
Rose's eyes went wide. "Absolutely not!" She placed her elbow on the table and then rested her chin in her hand. Her eyes began to glaze over and Bella figured they had finished their talk.
The rest of the morning was a quiet event—Rose and Bella sat in relative silence; Rose deep in her thoughts and Bella had her head buried in Romeo and Juliet.
After breakfast, Rose had a shower whilst Bella cleaned the kitchen before they headed to Black's (Bella hated coming home to dirty dishes).
Rose was still deep in thought by the time they got to work and Jake gave Bella a concerned look when she didn't speak to anyone and began to prepare things for the morning rush.
"Is she alright?" Jake asked as he unloaded the dishwasher.
"I think so," Bella replied, getting the cutlery ready to put on the tables.
The door opened and Jake and Bella gave each other a strange look when they heard baby babble coming from the entrance.
They left the kitchen and were stunned to find Esme stood in the middle of the bar, dressed for work, a diaper bag over one shoulder and Ethan perched on her other hip.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Jake asked. Last night when she had finally be reunited with her son, he had expressly told her she wasn't to come to work today.
"I'm fine," she told him. "All healed and ready to work."
Jake didn't look too convinced.
"I'm fine," she repeated. "And I could do with the money."
Jake shook his head. "Women—you're all stubborn." The smile on his face told them he didn't mean it negatively.
"Is it alright if Ethan stays today? I don't want him far from my side." She looked down at him and he looked back at her, giving her a gummy smile before she gently rubbed her nose on his. He giggled and grabbed a fistful of her shirt, burying his face in her chest.
"Of course," Jake told her, touching her arm gently before heading back into the kitchen.
"How are you feeling?" Bella asked as she came around the bar and set the diaper bag down, pulling out what looked like a miniature backpack.
"I'm absolutely fine," Esme repeated. "Can you hold Ethan for a minute?"
Bella willingly took him and smiled as he grinned up at her, his eyes shining and his hands grabbing at her hair. Her thoughts turned to the conversation she had had with Edward about children, And even now, holding Ethan, she still felt the same.
She watched as Esme attached the backpack to herself before Bella realised that it was, in fact, a baby carrier. She secured it to the front of her body and Bella handed Ethan back to her. Esme placed a kiss on the top of his head and placed him into the carrier with his back against her chest.
"He likes to see what's going on," Esme explained with a smile on her face, lightly bouncing him before she pulled out a small set of keys from the diaper bag and handed them to him.
"Come on then, little man, let's get to work." Ethan babbled as Esme spoke quietly to him and Bella felt herself smiling. He was completely adorable.
It was just after lunchtime when things finally started to calm down and everyone got a few minutes to sit down and eat lunch. Rose, Esme and Bella sat in a booth together whilst Ethan was placed in a highchair at the end of the table. He was enjoying some mashed up banana that Esme had prepared for him; although he was getting more of it down his bib than in his mouth.
"Is there anyone around here that is normal?" Rose asked. "I mean Jake has super-fast healing, vampires have special blood and now there's you!"
Thanks to Esme's biology as a valkyrie, she too benefited from advanced healing. It was nowhere near as good as Jake's or as effective as vampire blood but by this morning she only had a nasty scar across the top of her from where Chelsea had clawed at her. Even the bruises that she had left on her neck were non-existent. Her ribs were slightly tender but she'd had worse.
"Carlisle did offer me his blood but I said no. I didn't want to deal with the side effects." A deep blush covered her face.
"What side effects?" Rose asked with a mouthful of food, her eyes wide as she stared at Esme.
"The dreams you can get." Ah yes. Bella had had a few of them herself.
"What about them?" Rose asked, swallowing.
"Well, vampires can experience the dreams with you; like they're daydreaming."
Once the words had left Esme's mouth, Rose choked on the mouthful she was eating, drawing the attention of everyone in the bar. Even Ethan stopped squashing his banana with his fist and looked at her.
"Please tell me you're kidding?" she asked once Bella had thumped her on the back a few times.
Esme shook her head, her eyes darting to Bella's as she tried to work out what she had said that was so wrong.
Rose fell back against the booth, her eyes wide before she quickly climbed over Bella, mumbling excuses about having to make a phone call. Esme and Bella stared after her as she rushed across the room and into the back. They heard Jake's protests as he was pushed out of his own office and his door was promptly shut in his face with a loud bang.
Rose couldn't believe what Esme had just told her; she doubted she was lying but a small part of her hoped she wasn't telling the truth. If she was, Rose was in deep trouble.
When she'd closed her eyes last night to sleep, her mind had been haunted by dreams of Emmett.
He'd come to the house in the middle of the night, barging through the door. He'd stripped off, removing the black jacket that he seemed to love wearing before pulling his tight white t-shirt from his body. Rose's mouth had gone dry at the sight and she'd lost the ability to speak. Emmett had told her he was attracted to her and he knew she felt the same… so he was going to do something about it.
He's kissed her senseless, his large arms wrapping around her small frame as he crushed his cold lips to hers. Rose didn't even try to resist.
She'd opened her mouth and let his tongue delve in, her body arching up as she pressed her now aching breasts into his hard chest. Emmett let out a growl as he felt her hard nipples press against him through her thing pyjama top and his hands reached down and cupped her ass.
Eventually, Rose had to pull her mouth away as her lungs began to burn.
Emmett gave her a cocky smirk. "Bedroom?"
Rose turned and grabbed his hand, leading him through the front hallway and into her cosy room. As soon as she had shut the bedroom door behind her, Emmett was on her again, spinning her and pushing her back into the door, his hands wrapping around her waist as he slanted his mouth down onto hers once more.
Rose moaned as after a few seconds he pulled his mouth away and began to kiss down the slender column of her neck. She grabbed his hair as his fingers left her waist and began to push her thin top up her body. She gasped as his fingers sent a chill up her spine and made her dizzy with pleasure.
Emmett pulled his lips from her neck and tugged her top over her body, his eyes zeroing in on her exposed breasts. In a bold move, Rose leaned up and grasped the back of his neck, pulling his head down until it was level with one of her nipples.
Emmett got to his knees on the floor and looked at Rose through his dark lashes, smirking at her once more. He dropped his lips to her bud and sucked, swirling his tongue around the tight peak.
She couldn't take her eyes off him as he suckled at her breast, the feeling travelling straight to her core.
After a few pulls on her nipple, Emmett pulled his mouth away and turned his face upwards to look at Rose. His blue eyes stared intently into her violet ones. He opened his mouth and an audible click was heard as his fangs dropped, the white tips barely visible in the low light of the bedroom.
Rose's heart sped up as she understood his silent question. She didn't answer verbally but instead used her body to show him the answer. She bent her head and pressed a kiss to his lips, marvelling how something so cold could heat her up in ways she never imagined. Once she pulled back, she guided Emmett back to her breast and leaned her head against the door, closing her eyes as her fingers made random patterns in his hair.
Emmett placed a small kiss over her nipple before he opened his mouth and let his fangs slice through the soft tissue above and below the turgid peak.
Rose let out a moan as she came back to reality and sat bolt upright in her bed, her heart pounding, a thin layer of sweat covering her and her underwear uncomfortably wet.
She sat down on the couch in Jake's office and put her head in her hands. Emmett was going to lord this over her for the rest of her natural life—and then probably tell everyone else about it for the rest of his immortal life.
She could always lie and claim that it was the vampire blood causing the dreams but she knew that it wasn't the only reason—there was an attraction between the two of them, that much was clear but Rose would never do anything about it. He seemed too volatile, too unpredictable and she didn't think it would work. And she knew that if she let him, he could break her heart.
Later than evening, Nessie walked in for her shift along with Emmett and Edward. Rose internally cringed and went behind the bar, hoping to keep some distance between them.
She watched as Bella embraced Edward and he kissed her, pure love crossing over his features.
"What's going on, Rosie?" Emmett asked as he sidled up to the bar. "Daydreaming?" One corner of his mouth quirked upwards as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She hated being called that. He'd called her it in New Orleans and she'd snapped at him. She was sure he was doing it now just to annoy her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to ignore the way Emmett blatantly ogled her cleavage.
"We need to talk," he confessed. "Seems you've been having dreams about me."
"Uh, no. Not dreams—just a single one. And you gave me your blood so there." Rose hoped she was convincing but by the way that Emmett was looking at her, she highly doubted it.
"You shouldn't lie, Rosie; it could get you in trouble. I'd hate to have to spank you." His eyes turned dark and Rose blinked rapidly, desperately trying to get rid of the image of his hand coming down on her bare ass.
If Rose had been paying attention to anyone other than Emmett, she would have seen Bella glance at her from across the bar.
"You're an actual ass, do you know that?" Rose said as Emmett laughed, the booming sound carrying across the bar. She felt herself blush at the sound.
Unfortunately, it just spurred Emmett on. "I love it when you blush for me." She rolled her eyes. "And I know I'm going to love it when you moan for me too."
Rose was stunned into silence for a few seconds before she found her voice. "You're a pig."
He just laughed again.
After he had finished embarrassing her, he turned his attention to Edward and Bella. "I'm glad he found her. She's exactly what he needs."
Rose watched as Edward wrapped his arms around Bella and her cousin quite literally sank into him, leaning back against his chest as she turned to look at him and gift him with a wide smile.
"She deserves to be happy," Rose admitted in a quiet voice. Emmett looked at her.
"I'm not just happy for them though," Emmett said, causing Rose to turn towards him to see what he meant. "With them together, it means I can spend more time with you."
Rose scoffed and turned away from Emmett as heat flared through her body. She didn't want him to see the effect he had on her.
"You can try and hide, deny, whatever it is you're doing," he began. "But remember, you've had my blood, I feel everything you feel, Rosie."
Silently she cursed him. But when she turned around, he was gone and she couldn't help the sense of disappointment she felt.
Maybe it would be nice to have somebody.
Well, there it is. Out of the Coffin is officially complete. I've recently made the difficult decision to step back from Fanfiction. I'm struggling with the lack of reviews I'm getting to be honest. I know it's narcissistic of me and I shouldn't need other people to validate me, but I do. It's so heart-breaking to spend hours working on something to only get a handful of reviews and even then, that's if I'm lucky.
There was going to be a sequel. There was going to be about eight parts to this series but right now, I am feeling so rejected and alone that it's just not going to happen.
I hope that I'll feel differently in a few weeks but I need time away.
This fic has a special place in my heart and I am so humbled and thrilled to have been able to share it with you. Thank you for all the support I've received.
I want to say how sorry I am as I feel like I've let you down.
Stay safe everyone.