V. Fragrance of Death

"Whoa! How'd you do that?!" Seth demanded, his chin practically buried in my shoulder as my thumbs maneuvered over the buttons.

On the DS screen, Yoshi used the green turtle shell I'd unlocked to surf smoothly through the lava.

"What? Like it's hard?" I smirked, acquiring golden coins and silver stars in quick succession.

Seth pouted. "I would've figured it out eventually."

"I'm sure," I said, collecting the final gold star and finishing up the Lethal Lava Land level. "There you go."

"Thanks, Leah!" Seth grinned, snatching the DS back into his grubby little hands.

I rolled my eyes. "You're welcome," I said, just as a series of quick knocks resounded through the house.

"Leah, could you get that?" mom shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah," I called back, jumping up from the couch and ambling over to the front hall.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to find Quil on the other side.

Sure, after he'd extended the proverbial olive branch, I'd been friendlier with the guys at school, despite Jacob's waspish attitude. But not so much so that I'd expected for any of them to drop by on a Sunday afternoon.

Before I could get a word in edgewise, Quil hurried to say, "Leah, please don't kill me, but I may have done something stupid…"

"That certainly doesn't surprise me," I snorted, leaning against the doorframe and eyeing his expression of guilt with curiosity. "Well? What did you fuck up this time?"

"Promise you won't hurt me?" he grimaced.

"I don't think so," I scoffed. "Quit being chicken shit and just tell me."

"So, um, remember how you told us that my cousin is dating that Cullen kid, Edward?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What about it?"

"Well, it turns out that Jacob's dad was not aware of that…until I mentioned it within earshot," he confessed, unable to look me in the eyes.

I straightened up. "What do you mean he wasn't aware?"

Quil shrugged. "Uh, I guess Isabella's dad kept referring to him as 'Edwin' or something? Anyway, Billy forced me to explain everything and then he went all postal. He's going to head over to Forks soon and I guess confront her? It's insane! I knew the elders were superstitious, but what the hell!"

"You idiot," I scowled. "You should've known better."

Unfortunately, I was the bigger idiot for making them aware of it in the first place. Fucking hell, Isabella's gonna be pissed.

"Mom, I'm gonna head out for a bit," I called, and shut the door behind me before she could argue.

"Come on, Scrappy-Doo," I said, gripping Quil's forearm like a vice and dragging him behind me. "We're going to fix this before Isabella kills us both."


Once I'd bullied Quil into giving me the keys to his grandpa's car, I arrived at Isabella's place in record time.

Fortunately, Billy's car was nowhere in sight.

After slamming my fist against the front door a couple of times, Isabella answered the door and I was immediately struck with the sharp scent of sugar and bleach.

Worse than Billy confronting Isabella, is him confronting actual fucking vampires.

I quickly shoved past her, ignoring her protests as I searched the front hall, and then the living room, finding both empty.

Inside the kitchen I was hit with a warm, brothy scent and the lingering smell of freshly chopped veggies. It was also empty, so unless Cullen was hiding upstairs, it appeared he was long gone.

"Smells good in here," I called, but when I turned back around, my nostrils burned once more with the cloying incense of decay. "Let me rephrase that," I said flatly as Isabella returned to the stove. "The food smells good. You? Not so much. What? Is bleach the new Chergui?"

She shot me a horrified look. "No. That's you being able to smell the scent of vampire."

"Oh, shit," I said, the realization hitting me like a freight train. Was that not normal? Was I going to transform into a big, furry monster?! "Is it happening?! Am I starting to smell like a dog?!"

Isabella pointed to her nose. "Human nose, remember?"

I lifted the collar of my shirt and sniffed it, but all I got was a whiff of the flowery fabric softener we used for our laundry.

"But there's no need to get hysterical, Leah," she added, stirring a ladle inside the big pot. "It's just a sign that you need to leave as soon as you're able."

"Not a chance," I retorted, my thoughts immediately snapping to Seth. I leaned back against the counter beside the stove, arms crossed. "As inconvenient as this is, I can't just leave Seth on his own to deal with all this bullshit." Not when there was a damn vampire coven living down our street.

"Leah―"

"Anyway," I cut her off, recalling the real reason I'd sped over. "You're lucky I got here when I did. I have bad news, and I want you to know now―it was definitely not my fault."

"Leah, I think what I have to say is more important―"

"Okay, it might have been slightly my fault. But how was I supposed to know Quil would spill the beans to Billy?!"

"Hold up―Quil did what now?" she demanded, shooting me an aggrieved look.

"So, it turns out that this whole time Billy was under the impression that you were dating some kid named Edwin. Unfortunately, Quil dissuaded him of this, and revealed that it's actually Edward Cullen―you know, the vampire―who's been wooing you. And now, he's on his way here with Charlie."

"Fuck!" Isabella hissed, dropping the ladle with a small splash. "What am I going to do? What am I going to say?!"

I grimaced, unable to offer her an easy solution that could ward off Billy. The only conceivable idea I'd come up with so far was to use myself as a meat shield.

I took her place beside the stove, stirring the soup in her stead, frowning when I saw just how thick the broth was. "Swan, what the fuck? Where are the noodles? Is this rice?!"

"Yes, it's rice!" she snapped. "That's how I make my chicken soup."

I stared at the white flecks gathered inside of the ladle and wrinkled my nose. "Why the fuck would you want to eat soggy rice―"

I took a tentative sip. It was warm and soft and seasoned just right.

I blinked. "Shit. Never mind. That's delicious."

Isabella glared at me. "As much as I appreciate your approval, that's not really my current dilemma."

I set the ladle against the towel sitting on the counter and turned to her. "Duh. Why do you think I'm here?" I reminded her. "If I stick to your side, then there's no way Billy can say anything without endangering any secrets. Which is complete bullshit, considering I'm going to be a fucking werewolf in a year. But yeah, I'll help you out. No need to thank me."

To my surprise, the anger abruptly drained from Isabella, leaving her with a tired, forlorn expression. "I'm grateful, Leah. Really, I am," she assured me, sounding oddly apprehensive. "But there is something more important we need to discuss."

I arched an eyebrow in disbelief. I couldn't imagine what was more important than fending off Billy's interrogation (Rachel hadn't inherited her doggedness from her mother after all,) but I relented, "Fine, out with it."

But she remained silent, appearing so wretchedly stricken, it spurned a sick feeling in my belly, my mind awashed with flashbacks of when she'd first revealed the truth about Sam.

Outside, I heard the voices of Chief Swan and Billy Black greeting each other.

"It's too late," I said with relief, unsure if I even wanted to hear what she had to say. "They're here. We can talk later."

"What are you on about―"

The house key swiveled inside the lock with a snap and the door was pushed open, bringing with it the smell of fresh rain.

"Isabella?" Chief Swan called.

"In the kitchen!" Isabella said, wiping away her bleak expression and twisting her lips into an even smile.

Her dad paused once he reached the kitchen entrance and caught sight of me, Billy and Jacob at his side. "Oh, hello Leah."

"Hiya, chief," I said, offering him a lazy salute.

"Sorry, you wouldn't mind if Leah stayed over for dinner?" Isabella asked.

Billy looked to me with an expression of discontent.

I rolled my eyes.

"As long as you don't mind feeding Billy and Jacob as well," the chief smiled, oblivious to the underlying tension.

Isabella's smile tightened. "Plenty to go around. Hello, Billy. Hi, Jacob."

Billy swept his eyes to Isabella, finally removing his withering gaze from my direction. "Good evening, Isabella."

She acknowledged him with a barely there nod and then suggested, "Why don't you all go ahead and watch the game? Dinner will be ready in a bit."

"You're the best," her dad grinned, and disappeared, Billy along with him.

Jacob looked like he wanted to eat me alive. "Did Quil tell you I was coming? It was bad enough I had to fend him off!"

You and me both.

"Get real, Jakey. Isabella's taken," I reminded him with a sneer. "You don't stand a chance."

I turned to face Isabella, hoping he'd skulk off and leave us be. "Everything is going as planned," I whispered. "We can postpone our other conversation for later. Hopefully, they don't linger."

"You're not being as quiet as you think you are," Jacob hissed, suddenly appearing on Isabella's other side, intruding in our circle.

It appeared I wasn't the only one exhibiting enhanced senses. They'd manifested slow enough that I hadn't given it much heed. Not until Isabella rightly pointed out that I could detect vampires like some sort of supernatural sniffer dog. Listening for Billy's arrival likely wasn't so normal either.

"Or maybe you just have the ears of an attention-starved dog," I scoffed.

Contrary to Isabella's advice, I imagined there was little chance I still had to back out of this damn mess.

"None of that in my kitchen," Isabella suddenly snapped, before Jacob could retort. "Jacob, how are you?"

"Oh, um, I'm alright," he said, appearing a little startled by her direct attention, and quickly mellowing out. "I just snagged a couple new parts for the car I'm building, so progress is steady."

"That's awesome, congrats," Isabella smiled as she moved to crouch beside one of the lower cabinets. "Hey Jacob, could you grab me the loaf of bread? It's sitting on top of the microwave."

"Yeah, sure thing!" he agreed, eager to please.

I rolled my eyes.

"Leah, grab me the minced garlic from the fridge please?" she asked me next, as she dug for a pan inside the cabinet.

"You're kidding me," I said flatly.

She shot me a look. "You're the one who wanted to help."

"Not with the cooking," I scoffed. I would rather have a free-for-all with Jacob, than become one of her little helpers alongside him.

"It's cool, Isabella, I can grab it!" Jacob called, already opening the fridge like the little kiss ass he was.

"Idiot, you probably don't even know which one the minced garlic is," I snorted.

"I can read," he snapped.

I smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure you can read about as well as you can hide your unrequited crush. Which is to say, not very well at all."

"Leah, not helping!" Isabella cut in sharply, standing back up and pointing a heavy pan in my direction, the threat clear in her eyes.

I grimaced, ignoring Jacob's snickers somewhere behind me. "Sorry, mom."


A/N: Guys, I think I prefer writing original chapters. Rewriting chapters is kind of a drag x)

Anyway, I'm going to try my best to catch this up with the original story. But I'm like really far behind :( Someone send help please! (Reviews are good too though! :D)

In Reference to A Body of Water and Bones: Chapter 30.