Chapter 09. Divided

"The fuck?"

No sooner do I step foot into the main bar area of Brick & Mortar when a blur of black whizzes by my head. Like a ninja star, only much larger. It takes my breath away as it misses slicing off my ear by mere millimeters.

This is what happens when I let my defenses down.

I catch the next album that flies through the air, which is enough to put an abrupt end to the DJ's apparent temper tantrum. For the time being.

I was given the short version of what is bothering this third vampire, who apparently goes by the name Jasper, on the way over. I have to say, these beings seem to be quite juvenile in their reactions to the day-to-day boredom that is their lives.

How many of them are there, anyway?

He matches my glare for a moment, before tossing the next one onto the ground in front of him, and stomping it to death with his boot.

"You'll be cleaning up after yourself, I assume."

He doesn't respond.

I check the timepiece on my wrist. Less than an hour to opening.

I eye Emmett for some direction. He jerks his head in the direction of our counterpart, silently urging me to approach him. I don't want to. I'd much rather take the time I have before Isabella arrives to visit the vampire I have in the Styx. As it is, I cannot just yet.

The quicker this is over, the quicker I can take a trip.

A few hesitant strides toward Jasper, and surprisingly I feel… compassion for him. It's as though there are years and years of memories between us, both happy and, like this one, depressing.

But that's not the case.

As Jasper inspects, and then picks up another vinyl record, I gently take it from him and set it back down with the rest of his collection.

"Is this truly necessary?"

He huffs and shakes his head a bit. "Somethin's off."

I narrow my focus in on him but sense nothing. "What do you mean?"

This is when he throws his hands in the air, frustrated. "Well I don't know, Edward. If I knew, I wouldn't be so upset about it, now would I? But bein' as it is, I don't, so I am."

W...what is he talking about?

Seriously.

"Okay." I think for a moment. Minimally, I must get him to relax so I can get on with my original plan. Walking away and letting him demolish the bar before Isabella gets here would be irresponsible of me. It would also make a bad impression.

"What can I do to help you understand what's... off."

He waves a hand at the music laid out in front of him. "I can't pick shit today. ALICE is acting moody." He waves another hand. "And I don't know how the hell to get her back to normal." He shrugs and swings his arms once more. "I've been working on her all morning, but she's just not herself. And I feel like some cosmic bullshit is fuckin' with my musical inclinations, ya know what I mean?"

Not even the slightest.

I nod anyway. "Mmm Hmmm. And Alice is…?"

"Seriously?" he scowls and waves a hand at the turntable beside us. I'm still a bit baffled, though.

"Astonishing Lyrical Intelligence Combining Equipment?" he spouts out. It takes me a few moments to realize what he's done here.

"Wow," I say, because really, what else is there to say to a musically frustrated vampire?

"We named her two weeks ago when I got her, dude. What's the matter with you?"

"No, I mean, I just… forgot how absolutely fantastic that name was."

Did I pull that off?

Was I convincing enough?

Doubtful. He doesn't appear to notice though.

"Right? But now suddenly she's not working for me. No matter what kind of mixes I put together, it's not coming out right, and I don't know-"

"Jasper." I put an arm on his shoulder. It's mostly because I just really want him to stop talking about this machine as though she's his girlfriend.

"You control the emotions of this bar at any given moment. Every piece of music you play, the tone you play it in, the lights you play them under… it's all up to you."

His head hangs a bit as he thinks my words over.

I continue. "Now, ALICE maybe be the tool you use to see these things happen inside your mind, but-" I turn him toward me so he's looking at me now. "You are in control."

He nods in understanding.

"The people get a little rowdy, calm them down. If they aren't drinking enough, encourage excitement within them."

His expression changes and I feel he is finally coming out of the frustration he's been experiencing today. That's good because, aside from putting him out of his misery altogether, I am unsure of how to go forward with this conversation if he hadn't.

"Thanks Edward." He throws his arms around me in a tight hug that I was not expecting, nor wanting. I tense up a bit until I realize he's not letting go until I respond in a likewise fashion. So I wrap my arms around him and pat him on the back like a good vampire would.

It's awkward, and I don't know how to interpret the satisfaction I feel at this particular moment, but I'll deal with that later.

Off Jasper goes and I'm left standing here, bewildered by the ways of vampires and how my understanding of them has apparently been completely off for the past millennia. I don't know how long I'm fixed in this spot before I hear a slight snigger beside me.

Emmett.

"What?" I ask him, agitated with his never ending amusement with just about everything.

"You still got it, Ed." He shoves me in the shoulder. "Good job, buddy." Then he walks off to begin his evening of coercing humans into behaving.

I stay put for a while, watching additional employees enter, delivery people exit, and I let out a sigh of… what is this? Exhaustion? Contentment? A combination of both?

I witness Jasper, tinkering with his ALICE and almost laugh at how insane it is that he gives a single care about what the humans think of his music choices.

It's ridiculous.

Speaking of...

A chill runs down my spine and I become acutely aware that she's here.

Finally.

Isabella.

I scan the increasingly crowded area and notice a cluster of early birds arriving to claim their stool at the bar.

I breathe out in quiet delight. Although my plans to visit a certain vampire were disrupted today, and I was forced to spend an entire car ride listening to Emmett yammer on about Jasper and the fuss he was making, and then proceed to calm the increasingly outrageous emotions of that vampire…

She's here.

"Hello." I'm next to her within seconds. Like a bee to honey. When she sees me, she smiles.

The sun.

My cheek warms as I remember her lips against it earlier, and I want more of that pleasure immediately upon her first words.

"Hi. I know I'm early…"

I slowly peek behind her. "Are you, babysitting handbags this evening? Hounds, perhaps?"

She giggles and it quickens the blood rushing through my veins. "No, I didn't invite anyone along. I did mention where I was going tonight and my roommate said she might swing by, so..."

I pay no attention to what she's speaking about. I'm distracted that, once again, she's back to dressing in baggy jeans and long sleeved hoodies.

I pull at her sleeve. "Why do you dress like this when you come here?" It's in the low eighties outside, even at nighttime.

"Because, it's freezing in here." She pushes her hands into her hoodie's pockets and hunches her shoulders. "You all keep the temps so low my bones ache."

I hadn't noticed to be honest. Now that I do, I wonder if she's sensitive to temperatures or something of the like because I'm wholly comfortable, myself. Warm, I might even say, as the space between us grows smaller and smaller.

"I'm sure I can have someone turn the thermostat up for you if you'd like," I tell her as more people begin to pile into the bar.

She shakes her head. "I'm fine. I'll warm up in a little while once I start moving around."

Her voice is quiet. Apprehensive, perhaps. Something feels different between us this evening.

The dynamic has changed since our lunch meeting.

Since the kiss she placed against my cheek.

Isabella seems slightly more at ease with me than before, if I'm not mistaken, based on the intimacy of our proximity and the fact that she doesn't move away. As I contemplate just exactly how this may have happened, she looks up at me as though she's debating telling me something.

"Isabella?"

"Edward, it's not easy for me to trust people." She purses her lips a bit before continuing. "Especially people I hear so many rumors about…"

"I told you before, I-"

"I know," she interrupts me. "That's what I'm getting at. See, I think… I mean… I feel like people have you all wrong. I think maybe…"

An overgrown, obnoxious individual bumps into me as he passes by with a group of patrons. He knocks me straight into Isabella, who is now so close that our bodies are pressed against each, causing an eruption of emotions to run through me.

I've never been one to have many feelings at all running through me at any given time. It's a bit overwhelming to have so many arising at once, to be honest. And I suspect Isabella somehow planted them all there with the chill she sends down my spine, her smile, her giggles… her lips.

"You really are quite cold, aren't you?" I ask, as our hands touch. Her fingers are like icicles against mine. Despite the rapidly growing discord growing around us, I hear nothing, feel nothing, but the sound of Isabella's heartbeat against me.

"Yeah." She laughs nervously. Crimson is rising to her cheeks despite the chill she says she feels.

There is a desire inside me that surpasses the one I felt earlier. I find myself gently cupping her face in my hands, searching for an answer as to why she is able to do this to me. There is none.

"I can't explain it, Isabella, but it appears I'm unable to refrain from wanting you in a way I don't fully understand."

I lean in a bit but hesitate, unsure of what's to come next. I'm frightened, almost, which is unnerving to say the least.

"And I can't explain why it's becoming more and more difficult to try and discourage you from it," she confesses. Her voice is unsure. Her eyes, though, not so much.

There is a mere infinitesimal moment that passes where I question whether I should be doing this, here, so publicly. Then I realize I no longer care. I simply want to feel her lips against mine. The consequences of doing so are irrelevant. The pull of her kiss is like a magnet; slowly, painstakingly calling me whenever she is close.

Currently, that call is screaming inside my mind.

Without giving much thought as to whether I even know what I'm doing, I begin to lower my mouth to hers.

She doesn't pull away from me. Doesn't flinch. She simply holds my stare and waits as I follow through on impulses I've had since the moment we met.

As my lips meet hers and my eyes close, a current of desire I hadn't thought existed before surges to the forefront of my existence.

A crushing wave of need rolls throughout my soul.

A warmth I cannot define.

An ache that doesn't quite hurt but isn't pleasant either.

And the want. The want for this creature I've crossed paths with is overwhelming.

And then, very suddenly and unexpectedly, those wants change.

I don't know what happens to me. One moment, I'm pulling at the fabric of her shirt for better access to any other part of her. The next I'm taking in her scent and wanting to sink my teeth into her soft, tempting flesh.

The thought spooks me and I'm taken aback immediately. My entire body tenses and she, of course, notices.

"What's wrong?" she asks me, breathless and eager to continue.

I'm not sure I won't hurt her now.

I force my breathing to slow.

"I'm…"

"Edward?"

And that name. That fucking name.

It's him, I realize. He's willing me to the brink of blood lust.

How? How is he doing this? He sent a simple idea, and I nearly followed through on it.

I stare down at Isabella, fighting against something I cannot begin to disclose to her. Yet there she is, waiting for an answer that I don't have.

PSA: Not much of a PSA this week but... much love & thanks for reading. Until next time...