Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
"Mrs. Hashim, this book is ridiculous."
Bella rolled her eyes but remained slouched at her desk. This was Eric's idea of answering a teacher's question...
Mrs. Hashim raised an eyebrow and sighed. She probably had somebody like him every year. Hell, every class most likely...
"Very well Mr. Yorkie. Would you care to enlighten your classmates as to just why Crime and Punishment, one of the most important works of modern civilization, is...ridiculous?"
Eric leaned back in his chair and smiled what he probably thought was a winning grin.
"Because the dude, Raskolnikov, is nuts! He thinks he's superman so he goes on a murdering rampage? Just to prove that he's better than everyone else? Come on Mrs. H, even you have to agree that that's loopy."
"Oh I don't disagree with you Eric...completely anyway. Petrovich, the magistrate investigating the murders, himself more or less said that the criminal who committed those murders would either confess or go crazy. Guilt however is one of the main themes of the novel. Only the guilt-ridden have the potential for redemption through insanity or confession. So Raskolnikov is in fact, not crazy. If he were, he wouldn't have gone through that long journey...he wouldn't care at all."
Jessica spoke up. "But I don't understand. How can a person go from 'I'm better than everyone else' to 'let's kill some people to prove it'?"
Several heads nodded in agreement with the student's inquiry. Bella faced forward and willed herself not to move.
The teacher sighed. "All right, let's look at this from another angle. Something a little easier to swallow than 19th century Russian thinking..."
"Eric," she said as she walked stiffly to stand in front of him. "I hereby bestow upon you...the power of Death. Congratulations."
She handed him the pen in her hand. "Your scythe, highness," she smirked.
Eric grinned and waved the pen in the air. "Thanks, Mrs. H. But you know I just killed you, right?"
"You don't really need the scythe, Eric. All you have to do it is think it...and I'm dead. Anyone, anywhere...their life is snuffed out because you, lord of Death, wanted it to happen. How does that feel?"
"Pretty cool," he replied, unaffected.
"Now imagine that power as automatic as yawning or even breathing. It's that easy. How do you feel?"
"Still good," he said.
"Someone trips you in the hall and you react. Boom, he's dead. Another teacher gives you a bad grade. Boom, she's dead. Your mom yells at you because you forgot to make your bed. She's dead too. Still feeling good?"
Eric looks at her questioningly. "What does this have to do with Crime and Punishment."
"Raskolnikov murders two people. But the murders are a result of his belief that he is above it all. Even if he didn't really have super powers, he believed his mind was a superpower...and that made him unique...someone above and beyond all the lowly people around him. He increasingly cuts himself off from society...from his family, his friends, foolishly believing that he is of different stock than they. Because of that perceived difference, that perceived superiority, he kills Alyona Ivanovna and Lizaveta and he really does think he's doing the world a favor. But Raskolnikov is not a superman. Why? Because the guilt starts to eat away at him. The guilt lowers him to a human, and the novel argues that it's guilt more than any physical punishment that punishes criminals like him. That guilt can drive a person mad...but they have to be sane first. Sane and human. Only when a person like that goes insane or confesses out of guilt do we know for sure they had a conscience to begin with...that they are in fact capable of redemption and forgiveness."
The class sat in silence thinking over her words. Bella, who still had not moved since they started this conversation, gripped her pencil so hard it shattered, shattering the silence along with it. Everybody turned to look at her.
"Bella," the teacher called on her as she walked to the front of the room along her aisle. "Eric's just relinquished his power over death-sorry Eric. It's all yours now. What do you want to do?"
I want to burn something.
"T-try not to use it," Bella said.
Mrs. Hashim raised both eyebrows. "Come on, Bella! Be realistic here. You are the most powerful person in this room. A gift like that can't be coincidence. Why wield it if not to use it? And since you're the one with the power, it's only right that you get to decide our fate. If you think I'm wasting the air I breath, you should get rid of me. If you think Jessica or Eric or anybody doesn't deserve to live, you, like Raskolnikov, can fix it. Right?"
Don't look at her. Don't look at her. Don't look at her.
Like that'll help anymore, she thought bitterly. Still, avoiding eye contact was too ingrained a habit to break so easily, so she continued to glare at the blackboard. Maybe if she did that long enough, the images around her would finally change.
"Bella, it's rude not to look at the person speaking to you."
Please don't explode. Please don't explode.
Bella looked up. Her teacher, thankfully, did not collapse and die. Keeping her face perfectly neutral, Bella opened her mouth to speak.
The door burst opened and everyone turned to look at the intruder. It was Rosalie.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Hashim," she said. "Bella Swan is needed in the main office."
Bella released a big breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"We're in the middle of class, Ms. Hale," the teacher huffed, clearly irritated.
Rosalie shrugged. "I'm just the messenger," she said coolly. "But they told me to tell her to bring her stuff too."
Bella didn't bother waiting for the teacher to respond. In five seconds flat she had her things gathered and packed, and without a second glance at anyone in the class, walked out with her savior.
"Take everything," Rosalie pointed to her locker. "We're leaving."
"What about classes?" Bella asked but she did as Rosalie requested anyway.
"Alice will cover for us," Rosalie responded. "She'll find a way."
Together they walked quickly to Rosalie's bright red BMW and got in. Bella closed her eyes and counted from one to ten, grateful for not making a horrible mistake today. It had been a long time since she had to resort to one of her calming exercises, and she was pleasantly surprised that they still helped.
"How did you know?"
"Jasper could feel you freaking out," Rosalie said. "And I heard the discussion..."
Bella looked down, ashamed. A second later, she felt Rosalie's hand rest on top of her own.
"You are not a deranged criminal, Bella." Rosalie spoke urgently. "You have never acted superior to those around you. You would never kill just for fun. Every death...every death was an accident."
Except for one, Bella wanted to scream. That animal didn't just die by her hands. It experienced true terror. She tortured it without mercy before casually ending its life. From the moment she spotted it scurrying up that tree that animal had lost all its chances. Boom, dead.
And today...Bella would be lying if she thought Mrs. Hashim's words didn't affect her. How wonderful it would be...how easy to erase people like Jessica and Lauren from her life. It would only take a thought. A moment of clear decision and intention. Boom, dead.
Should she tell her? Rosalie wouldn't hate her but...she might look at her differently. Bella was strong, but not that strong. She couldn't stand the thought of making Rosalie uncomfortable or disappointing her.
No. I have to try harder.
"Where are we going?" She squeezed the cold hand in her lap and willed its temperature to cool the rest of her.
"Wherever you'd like," Rosalie smiled. "I thought you might like to go flying..."
Bella smiled back. "Thanks for rescuing me," she said softly.
Rosalie brought her hand to her lips and left a gentle kiss.
After dropping Bella off at home, Rosalie decided to take a leisurely stroll back to the house. Their afternoon off was an enjoyable one. Though flying made her queasy, she relented and let Bella zoom her around to her heart's content without complaining. Whatever was bothering her had given way to the lovely carefree laughter that was inevitable whenever the girl took to the sky. Though Rosalie's default facial expression was steely ambivalence, she could not help but subconsciously smile whenever Bella, like Emmett, graced her thoughts.
The smile left her face immediately when she sensed the presence of someone else.
Before he even got the chance to react after her change in thoughts, Rosalie snarled and leapt on top of Edward who was perched not far from Bella's shed.
"What. The. FUCK. Are you doing here?" She hissed.
"Just smelling the fresh air, same as you," he replied calmly.
"Bullshit," she said. Words couldn't describe how much she wanted to wipe that superior smirk off his face with her fists. Or better yet, the heel of her shoe.
"That's a bit over the top, isn't it?" Edward rolled his eyes at the thoughts he picked up.
Anyone else would cower before the venomous look on Rosalie's face, but from the very beginning Edward had always disregarded her temper and quietly ignored her. It grated on Rosalie more than anything at first...she was not one to be ignored, after all. She may not posses telepathy but she was good at reading people too. Edward had always thought of her as vain, spoiled, and inconsequential. She was all of those things on the surface-she had never bothered to hide it. But she was also so much more. It had not taken long for Esme to see it and the two of them forged a powerful friendship. Alice and Jasper too became close friends, as close to real siblings as Rosalie could ever hope. And as for Emmett and Bella...they didn't just see Rosalie's essence...they dove right into it and grabbed onto her heart so suddenly, so unexpectedly that she still reeled from the intensity of it all.
But Edward had never bothered to look beyond what he could easily see.
She gritted her teeth. "I'll ask you one more time, Edward. What are you doing here?"
Edward's eyes bore into hers. He had yet to move from his spot. "What are you doing, Rosalie?"
He didn't give her a chance to answer. "How long can you keep this up? Hmm? One night with her, one night with Emmett. How long before one of them starts to want more? Or worse, when you want one more than the other?"
Rosalie shook with agitation. "You don't understand," she whispered. "You've never understood."
"Yeah, yeah," he drawled. "I've never had a mate. I don't know what it's like...I've heard this all before. I'm no fool either, Rosalie. There are right things, and there are wrong things. And what you're doing...to yourself, to your husband, and to her is all wrong."
Rosalie seethed quietly. There was no point arguing with Edward. He listened to people's minds all day but he never listened to them speak. Especially Rosalie.
Edward frowned. "I listen, Rose. More than you ever have. And I watch too. Your girlfriend," he spat out the word, "is a ticking time bomb, or have you been too busy defiling each other to see it? She's got more control than before, I'll give her that. But have you looked at her, really looked at her lately? Especially after using her gifts with Carlisle? I don't think she's the saint she's led you all to believe. She's going to lose it. Somehow, sometime soon...she's going to lose it and draw the attention of the Volturi. Then what will you tell them, hmm? That your human trick on the side who happens to know all about Vampires and is capable of wiping us all out had a minor accident?! You think they'll forgive that?"
Rosalie was on top of him before he knew it. He hissed as her fist connected with his face, creating spider cracks all over his left cheek. Whatever restraint he normally felt about hitting a woman disappeared in his roar of anger. He swung at Rosalie's stomach but she dodged just in time and twisted his arm behind him. He growled in pain and rage but she did not let go. Instead she grunted and shoved him face first into the nearest tree. She managed to find his other arm and brought that behind him as well.
"You little fucker," she whispered. She twisted his hands even more behind him, just itching to pluck his fingers off one by one. "Is that what you were doing this summer? Took your sweet ass time getting back from Denali. Did you go to the Volturi?"
Edward struggled but Rosalie didn't budge. He laughed weakly. "If I did, don't you think they'd be here by now?"
"I don't believe you," she hissed. "What the hell has you so invested anyway? You don't want to be part of this, so leave. You're outnumbered. Heavily. And the more you bitch and moan, the more all of us can't stand you. She's my mate whether you like it or not! Why are you still fighting it?"
Edward shook with fury and something else. He managed to turn his head so Rosalie could see his eyes as he spoke, his voice getting louder with each word. "She's not. Your. Mate!"
With a roar he twisted free of her grip and landed a kick on her stomach. Rosalie snarled and lunged, bringing him down with her. Pitch black eyes met one another as they fought uncontrollably on the forest floor. Neither maintained the upper hand for long before the other skillfully escaped their grasp. Rosalie happened to be lying beneath him for a moment when she saw a hint of a smile on his face. Why, or what he was gleaning from her mind she did not know, but that smile carried such an ominous, poisonous taste that she felt it in her throat.
"Have you told her about the others?" He whispered. "How many affairs does that make?"
Rosalie never got the chance to retaliate, luckily for Edward, because the last ounce of control she possessed was gone and the next thing she would've done...the only thing she could've done next was separate his head from his body.
Alice and Jasper appeared like a freight train, knocking Edward off of her. Jasper quickly had him pinned while Alice tended to Rosalie, who was still deep in predator mode.
"Rosalie...Rosalie?...Come on Rosalie, come back."
Alice's soft voice slowly brought her back while Jasper hit her with wave after wave of calm.
It took several minutes for her and Edward to calm down and stand up again on their own.
"Have you both lost your minds?" Alice screeched. "What the hell are you going for, Edward? And you!" She rounded on Rosalie. "You were about to kill him!"
"He was asking for it," Rosalie mumbled and glared at him.
"I don't doubt that," Alice rolled her eyes. "But we do not solve our problems by killing each other! I can't believe I have to actually say this to you."
Rosalie glared at Edward again and showed her teeth. "Excuse me," she said to Alice and Jasper, nodded a thank you for their interference, and stormed away.
Alice turned to her former favorite brother. "Keep this up and you will get your death wish eventually. I know what you want to do. It's not going to work. Your morals be damned, Edward...Rosalie is Bella's mate. Rosalie does love the two of them the same way Jasper and I love each other."
"And your feelings aren't what you think they are," Jasper added. "She intrigues you, surprises you, makes you work harder to get to know her because you can't read her. But you don't love her...not in the way that counts."
Edward stood silently before them. They could see that he understood what they said. It was loud and clear in his eyes that the battle he wanted to fight was already lost.
Without another word he disappeared in the opposite direction from Rosalie's flight. Alice and Jasper sighed in relief and looked at one another.
"I think..." Alice bit her lip. "I think we should stay here tonight. In case he comes back."
She didn't need to elaborate. If Alice said he might come back, then Edward was definitely coming back. They would both hunker down here tonight to watch over their favorite human, who was sleeping peacefully in her shed completely unaware of what had transpired less than half a mile from where she lay.
Author's Note: Sorry this is a tad late. Every time I told my brain to plan out the events of this chapter it would stick out its tongue at me and jump ahead to future events. Stupid brain.
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