A Lexus For Lex
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and to everyone who has put this story on alert. I appreciate you taking the time to not only read this, but to give me feedback as well. Please review again and continue to enjoy Family Ties. :)
I'm sorry this took so long to get out. It was a combo of writer's block and job drama. But it's here now and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Plus, it's like super long.
Thanks again, Mel Cooley!
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. If you don't recognize it, it's probably still not mine. Alex is mine. All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. Now on with the story!
Before:
"I have to get to work," I mumbled as I stood up. Emmett stood when I did. I looked around at everyone. On the one hand, I was grateful that they'd cared enough to try this, but on the other I felt completely humiliated and ashamed. At least, that's how I knew I would feel once Jasper was out of sight. He couldn't protect me from myself forever.
"Um… Thanks," I said hesitantly. And then I started back the way we came.
Now:
The Jeep was silent except for the hum of the engine and the bumps in the road. I wanted desperately to break the silence, but I was just too ashamed. I'd almost killed someone. I couldn't even imagine... What would I have done? Skipped town? I could see the headlines now: FORKS' NEWEST DEPUTY SOUGHT IN SLAY OF LOCAL TOWNSFOLK.
My face all over America's Most Wanted. Having to live in the woods and forage for berries. I couldn't do this. It was too risky. I would just have to stock up on lots of steak and deal with it. I'd done it for 23 years, I could do it for 60 or so more.
That was going to be a lot of steaks.
"If it makes you feel any better, Lex," Emmett spoke up from the driver's seat, "I made two mistakes. I just smelled them and snapped. It happens."
I sighed. "It doesn't make me feel better, Emmett," I said. Then added, "But thanks for trying."
"For a first time, you did wonderfully," Rosalie assured me. "You've spent your entire life repressing your craving for blood, it's only natural that you would go after what smells appetizing. You just have to teach yourself to think before you react, that's all."
"Yeah," I sighed. "Sure."
I felt differently, of course. But I didn't feel like getting into a debate. So I retreated back into silence and stared out the dark window, until the Jeep turned into the parking lot of the police station and Emmett put it into park.
"Thanks for the ride," I said.
Rosalie turned around in her seat as I reached for the door handle.
"We'll pick you up in the morning," she said, trying to hide a smirk. "Family meeting."
About my barbaric urge to eat people? I chanced a glance at Emmett. He wasn't bothering to hide his wide grin.
"See you then," I said, somewhat sullenly, and hopped out of the car.
I heard the Jeep pull away as I opened the front door of the police station. This was only my second time in the building. The first time was for my interview with Chief Swan. It was a small building, but more than large enough to accommodate the force of eight. Well, nine, now.
"Can I help you?"
I turned and looked at the receptionist seated at a large desk in the entryway, an older woman who almost reminded me of a grandmother, only surlier.
"Deputy Hale," I said with a smile, and stuck my hand out. "I start work tonight."
The old woman, Pearl Hindman according to the nameplate on her desk, eyed my hand warily, and then looked away as though it disgusted her.
Did I miss some blood? Or was she just a grouchy bitch?
"This way," she grumbled, standing up from the desk.
I slowly pulled my hand back and covertly glanced at it. Nope, clean. She was just a grouchy bitch.
She showed me to the utility closet that had been hastily converted into a locker room for me. I was the only female officer working here at the moment. A uniform was already laid out for me, along with a lockbox containing my new gun, and as soon as Pearl left I got ready to hit the street.
I stood in front of the small mirror tacked onto the wall by the door and straightened my badge on my jacket before stepping out into the hallway.
"You clean up nice."
I jumped and spun around. Leaning against the wall next to my makeshift locker room was Deputy Lucas. My savior, I thought sarcastically to myself with a smirk.
"Lucas, hey," I said.
"Please, call me Tommy," he said, pushing off of the wall and approaching me. "You ready for your first tour of duty in bad ass Forks?"
I snorted a laugh. "As ready as I'll ever be. I've heard my two years in East New York got nothing on this bitch."
He grinned, clearly having no idea where East New York is or what kind of rep came with it.
He started toward the door to the parking lot and waved me to follow. I smiled largely at Pearl on our way out, and was rewarded with a tight-lipped glare.
"There's usually only two deputies on the overnight," Tommy explained as we walked to a lone cruiser. "But until you learn the area there will be three of us. Joe already started patrol. It's usually real quiet, so we'll just show you around and get you acquainted with the area."
I nodded and got into the passenger seat of the cruiser. The car wasn't all that different from what I was used to in New York. Radio, computer, paperwork. It was all the same. Well, very similar, at least. I picked up a stack of forms and leafed through them. They asked for the same information, just in a different order than the forms I was used to. The computer ran a different software, but worked basically the same. Thank God the radio codes were universal.
When we were both settled and Tommy had guided me through all the necessary systems checks, he pulled out of the lot and began my tour of the sleepy little town.
3:55 in the morning found us parked in the lot of the Thriftway, "watching" the 101 for speeders. I say "watching" because Tommy was holding the radar gun, pointing toward his feet as he snored against the window.
I looked at the clock and sighed when it didn't magically jump ahead to eight o'clock. This was going to be a long career if every night went as slowly as this. At least in Brooklyn I had gunshots and crack dealers to keep me busy. Forks had none of those things. Even watching the sleazy motel across the street didn't yield anything interesting. Nobody sneaking out of a room and trying to hurry home to their wife or husband. Everything was dark and quiet.
It was unnatural.
My phone buzzed.
I looked at Tommy, who shifted slightly, but kept right on snoring. I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and looked at the screen. Scooter had texted me. My face lit up with a grin. We had been in the Police Academy together and ended up in the same precinct. Her name wasn't really Scooter, of course. But she rode a scooter to work everyday, and, fittingly, had a sticker of Scooter the Muppet stuck right on the front of it.
How's the new job? She had written.
Boring, I wrote back. But the kind of boring where you just know a psycho slasher is going to pop up and butcher the two sleeping cops.
I sent it, and suddenly had a flashback to Scream 4. I gripped my gun in its holster and quickly looked out the window. The parking lot was still deserted.
Then I remembered that I'm half vampire. What half vampire needs a gun? I could just drink all of the would-be killer's blood.
It wasn't long until my phone buzzed again.
Lololol! She answered.
Another buzz: LMAO!
I started to write another text back, but my phone buzzed once more with Hahahahaha! Just pop that mofo gangsta! Double tap, beeotch!
I gave it two more seconds and received another Aaaaahhhhh hahahahahaha! Lololololol! Hahahahahaha!
Now I figured it was safe to reply.
I didn't get that Sharp Shooter Medal for no reason, I typed out.
Nearly immediately her response came through:
Cha-ruuuu!
I smiled and shook my head. Oh, Scooter, with her crazy text lingo. I missed her.
How is Brooklyn? I typed, and hit send.
As I waited for her reply, I watched a red sports car fly past, doing at least 80 in the 35mph zone. I looked at Tommy, still soundly asleep. Oh well. I went back to my phone to read Scooter's reply, but a distant screech followed by a loud boom made my head snap up.
That car hit something.
"Tommy!" I shouted, grabbing his arm and shaking him awake.
"Huh? What? I'm up, I'm up! What happened? We get a call?"
"Car crash, that way!" I pointed to the right. "Go!"
"Aw, shit," he grumbled, putting the car in drive and hitting the gas. I flipped on the roof lights.
Three hours later, I clicked print on the last page of the report and stood from the desk to retrieve my paperwork from the communal printer. The driver had been severely intox. The hospital had tested his blood for alcohol content and it came back at .31 (FYI, Washtington's legal limit is .08. We were completely perplexed at how he'd managed to even get into the car, let alone drive the damn thing.), so he was placed under arrest. He'd find out when he eventually woke up within the next day or two, with the hangover to end all hangovers.
At least no one other than the driver had been hurt. Thank God for that.
I faxed what I needed to fax to who I needed to fax it to before placing the stack of papers into a file folder, and locking that up in my desk. Finally, time to go home.
Well, time for a family meeting at the Cullen's home, anyway. Then time to go home.
As I changed back into my street clothes, I wondered what they wanted to talk about this time. And tried to come up with answers for every possible scenario. Jasper had mentioned having a family meeting when I asked about burying the deer carcass. But that almost felt like an excuse. Why couldn't they just have explained that to me then and there? There was something else. I didn't like surprises. It bothered me that I didn't know what was coming. The best that I could figure, it would be an earful of lecture and/or advice on how to not slaughter my neighbors. I had to figure out a way to break it to the Cullens that I wouldn't be "hunting" again anytime soon. I needed to word it just right so that I actually had a chance of being heard. They seemed... eager to introduce me to this lifestyle.
I snorted. Lifestyle. That was a word for it.
I locked up my locker and headed out to the front. Cantankerous Pearl was missing, and in her place sat a younger woman, maybe a few years older than I was, her straight red hair pulled back into a bun and a wide smile on her face.
"Have a nice day, deputy," she called after me.
Surprised, I half turned as I pushed the door open. "Thanks," I smiled back. "Same to you."
So not everyone was an asshole here. So far, just Pearl.
I stepped into the early morning sun gleaming onto the parking lot and immediately spotted the red BMW idling several spaces away from the entrance. I steeled myself, taking a deep breath and slowly blowing it out, then walked over to the car and opened the passenger door.
Rosalie smiled at me from the driver's seat as I sat down and buckled up.
"How was your first night?" she asked as she pulled out of the lot.
"First night, first collar," I said.
"Really?"
"DWI," I explained.
"Is that the downed telephone pole past the Thriftway?"
"One in the same," I confirmed. "Driver isn't too bad off. He got lucky."
Thinking about work, I suddenly remembered Scooter had been texting me. I pulled out my phone. Sure enough, she had answered me. About a dozen times over. I put the phone back in my pocket. I'd have to find out about her exploits in the ghetto later.
"So what's this meeting about?" I asked. "It must be more than just hiding dead animals. You don't need your entire family to explain that to me."
Rosalie made the turn off the road to the nearly hidden driveway of their house.
"We just realized that there's a lot that you don't know," she said casually. "Things that you probably should. Humans harbor a lot of misconceptions about vampires."
That triggered something in my brain. "Yeah, how is it you're outside? The sun is up!"
She smiled. "Misconception," she said.
Less than a minute of twists and turns later, the car came smoothly to a stop in front of the garage and Rosalie shut the car off. Trying to keep my nerves under control, I followed her up the front steps and into the house.
We stepped into the dining room to find everyone waiting for us, in pretty much the same seats as before. Rosalie took her seat at the end, leaving the only empty seat immediately on her left this time, leaving me to sit next to her. Alice sat on my left, and Jasper on the other side of her. Everyone else sat in the same seat that they had on my first visit.
"So, Alex," Carlisle began. "How did you find hunting last night?"
I immediately dropped my eyes to the table top. I didn't want to see the judgment in anyone's face. Part of me knew that no one was really judging me. But I couldn't help thinking that I had failed. And not just failed, but failed publicly. I wasn't used to not being good at something.
And don't you dare relay my internal musings to anybody, I thought as loudly as I could. I know you're listening. Just keep your mouth shut.
"Um..." I stalled. I hadn't really finished coming up with the wording for this yet. "I uh... I don't think it's really for me," I finally spit out.
"So just like that, you're giving up?"
My eyes shot up meet Edward's and I narrowed my gaze into a glare. He hadn't technically spoken my private thoughts, but he was trying to lead me to voicing them. Jerk.
"Yup," I said boldly. "Just like that."
Carlisle sighed. "I'm sorry it didn't go perfectly," he said. "But it will take time. And we are all here to help you."
"Yeah. Thanks," I said. "But I've gotten by this long, I'll be fine for another 60 or 70 years."
Everyone seemed to exchange looks with each other. The same look, as a matter of fact. The look that said, what is she talking about?
"What?" I asked.
Rosalie gently lifted my right hand from the chair's armrest and covered it with both of hers.
"From what we've learned about half-bloods so far," she explained, "Once you've aged to maturity, you stop."
This I knew. "Yeah, I figured that one out when I was eight," I said. "And I looked sixteen."
I felt my left hand now engulfed in coldness, and turned to see Alice now held it comfortingly.
"A few years ago, Jasper and I found another like you and Renesmee, in the Amazon," she told me. "He appeared to be about 17 or 18. But he had been born nearly 150 years before."
I stared at Alice.
"Huh?"
"You're just about as immortal as any of us," Carlisle elaborated. "Albeit not quite as invincible."
"So, you're saying I'll never grow old?" I asked. It was a lot to wrap my mind around.
"As far as we can tell so far, no," Carlisle answered.
"Wow," I breathed.
There was silence for a moment and then Rosalie spoke up.
"Alex asked me on the way over how it was possible for me to be out during the day," she told the room.
I perked up. "Yeah. Shouldn't you burst into flames and collapse into a pile of dust or something?"
Emmett guffawed. The rest of the table snickered and chuckled. It was Carlisle who finally answered my question.
"Over the centuries, humans came up with various legends about our weaknesses, to make them feel protected, as if they could stand a fighting chance if they were to encounter a vampire," he explained. "We don't generally go out on a clear, sunny day, but it is for an entirely different reason. The sun is completely harmless to us, but our skin reacts in such a way as to single us out if someone were to see."
"How?" I asked.
He hesitated. "It's something better explained by seeing than with words," he said. "We also have no allergy to garlic or holy water or crosses. You could try to pierce our hearts with wooden stakes, but you'd do more damage to the wood. Our skin is nearly indestructible."
"Indestructible?" I repeated.
"Impenetrable," Carlisle said. "To anything except vampire venom. That's why the nurses had such trouble getting your IV in the other day. You're half vampire, so your skin is not as hard as ours, but definitely harder than a human's."
"Wait, then if you're all so invincible, how do you...die?" I asked. "You must have some kind of weakness."
"So far, the only thing known to kill us is another vampire," Carlisle explained. "We can't starve, we'll only go insane with thirst. We don't need to breathe so drowning or suffocation is out. We don't have any blood flow or cell regeneration, so disease and cancer don't effect us. Even after being ripped limb from limb, we can reattach ourselves and go on as though nothing happened. I don't believe the same goes for you and Renesmee. While you do heal rapidly, it could take much less extreme measures to end your lives."
Another thought had occurred to me while Carlisle was talking. Specifically when he'd mentioned blood flow. As the question ran through my mind, Edward laughed. I shot him a glare and then returned my attention to Carlisle.
"Ok, so if you have no blood flow, how do you get a boner?"
Bella gasped and covered Renesmee's ears. Emmett guffawed again. Louder. Rosalie covered her mouth while shaking with silent laughter. Alice giggled. Jasper and Esme looked like they'd be blushing, if they could.
"Sorry," I said awkwardly to Esme and Jasper. "But come on, I mean, you guys are all couples, obviously you're getting it on. And there had to be sex for me and Renesmee to be born, and both of our mothers were human when they were pregnant, so our fathers had to be the vampire, right? But then, if you don't have fluids, where do the little swimmers come from?"
Carlisle held up a hand to stop my rambling. "The best answer I can give you is that when we are changed, the change happens because of the introduction of venom into our system. This venom takes over normal bodily fluids, such as blood, saliva, and even semen."
"But how can venom fertilize an egg?"
"It's more like venomized sperm," Carlisle said. "It isn't just pure venom. You're right, of course. Venom by itself would not be able to accomplish such a feat."
I nodded. "Okay, that might be feasible," I conceded.
"Do you have any more questions?"
I shook my head. "Not right now," I said. "Maybe later."
Carlisle nodded acceptance and continued. "Along with being an immortal, comes certain rules and responsibilities," he said. "There is a group of vampires who enforce these rules."
"What, like Vamp Police?" I joked.
"In a way," Carlisle said. "They do administer justice to anyone deemed to have broken the rules."
"Okay, well what are the rules?"
"It comes down to one, really," he said. "To keep our existence a secret. They're called the Volturi."
At 'Volturi' I pictured molting vultures sitting on several thrones, squawking away at some unfortunate rule breaker, trembling on his knees before he was descended upon and pecked to death. Then I remembered vultures are scavengers.
"So is there vampire jail, too?" I snorted.
"No," Carlisle answered grimly. "The punishment for breaking this rule is most usually death."
I sobered quickly. "Oh." I glanced around at the eight other serious faces at the table. "Well that sucks. No pun intended. But wait- if vampires are so invincible, why do the Vultures care? It's not like humans could successfully lead a rebellion against you."
"It's Volturi, and not humans alone, no," Carlisle agreed. "But there are those vampires who still remember their human existence and want to retain it enough to not want to slay innocents. And while they may not be able to harm us, humans are capable of making life difficult for us, if they are determined to do so. In the end, if humans were to rise up against vampires, there are some of us who would side with them, be it out of principle or spite."
"And don't forget," Rosalie added in, "You and Renesmee are only half vampire. You're not quite invincible. And could most definitely be held as collateral to force vampires into doing what the humans want."
I snorted. "If they can catch us," I said under my breath. Renesmee caught my eye and grinned. She knew I was right. I usually am.
"Does anyone have anything else they wish to add?" Carlisle asked the table.
I raised my hand timidly. "I thought of another question."
Carlisle nodded for me to continue.
"How old are you all?" I asked.
"Do you mean physically or chronologically?" Carlisle asked in return.
What the hell does that mean? I thought to myself. It's a simple question. How old are you?
Then I remembered Edward, and decided to just go for it.
"How long have you been al-" I cut myself off. That was the wrong wording. They weren't exactly alive. "Um, I mean, de-" Nope. They weren't dead either. "Un-" No, undead seemed rude. I huffed a frustrated sigh and shook my head. I could see Edward stifling chuckles. "How long have you all been... Around?"
"Well, you know that I was born in 1915, making me 97," Rosalie piped up.
"Technically I'm the same age," Emmett said. "I was born in Tennessee, but I was turned two years after Rose was."
"I'm 24," Bella said.
"I just turned 5 in September," Renesmee said with a wide grin. "I'm the baby of the family." Bella smiled and squeezed her tightly.
"I'm 111," Edward said.
"I'm the same age as Edward," Alice spoke up from beside me.
"168," Jasper said.
"116," Esme said.
"And I," Carlisle said, "am somewhere around 370. I was born in London in the 1640's, I believe, but dates back then were not closely paid attention to."
My jaw fell open. One hundred eleven. One hundred sixteen. One hundred sixty-eight? THREE HUNDRED EFFING SEVENTY!
I couldn't even think about it. Three hundred freaking seventy years old. A cold finger touched the underside of my chin and lifted my jaw closed. I turned to Alice, who smiled in return.
"I have a question," Emmett spoke up, raising a hand. "How do you go through your whole life not knowing you're half vampire?"
I stared at Emmett for a long moment, judging the validity of his question. When he returned my stare with equal seriousness, I decided it was worth answering. Simply.
I offered half a shrug and said, "I didn't know. I mean, I knew I was different, but I just thought I was... Different. You know? I had no reason to think that I was a bloodthirsty vampire."
Emmett raised an eyebrow at that last sentence.
"I mean, the bloodthirsty part I knew, obviously," I backpedaled. "But, the vampire part... Urgh! You know what I mean!" I resisted the urge to stomp my foot.
Several titters echoed around the table until Rosalie suddenly stood up, an excited smile gracing her lips.
"Alexandra," she began, speaking very formally. "While we consider ourselves a family, none of us are biologically related, in the common sense of the word. With the exception of Nessie, of course. For the vast majority of us, we have no family left. Except for you. That being the case, I don't know that you could comprehend how important that is. So we decided we would like to show you our appreciation and formally welcome you to the family." Here she paused for a moment and glanced at Emmett, before looking back at me, somewhat bashfully. Then added, "If you accept, of course."
I was at a loss for words. They'd already accepted me so readily, as though it were a given I'd become a part of their family (or coven or clan or whichever makes you happy), without a second thought. At least, not that I knew of. And now my Great Aunt Rosalie just stands up and delivers this heartwarming speech in this room full of people I barely know... What am I supposed to say to that?
"Uhhm..." I was stalling. As I looked from face to face, the answer was obvious, painfully so. For reasons I couldn't fathom, they had already accepted me, and here I was debating to accept them or not? I suddenly felt like a douche for hesitating at all.
I forced a big, happy grin onto my face and said, "Of course, Aunt Rosalie. Why wouldn't I?"
Rosalie's face erupted suddenly into a glowing beam of happiness, her bright teeth glinting and sparkling, and her arms flung open and came crashing closed around me. I heard various gasps and sighs of happiness from around the table.
"Can we show her now?" Emmett practically squealed from just behind Rosalie. "Please? Please, please, please, please?"
Rosalie dropped her arms and turned to give Emmett a look that I couldn't see from my current angle. Alice shot up from her seat next to me, grinning like a crazy person.
"You're going to love this!" she exclaimed, taking my hand and pulling me away toward the kitchen. Rosalie caught my other hand and followed on my heels.
"Excuse me, Alice, but I am the biological aunt here," she said.
"She's a Cullen now, too," Alice answered as they dragged me through the kitchen.
"Excuse me," I butted in, "but she is right here, thank you very much."
"Girls," I heard Esme's motherly tone from behind me. "This gift is equally from all of us. No one is hogging the glory."
"Gift?" I asked. "What gift?"
We'd stopped in front of the door to the garage and Alice once again wore a gleaming grin across her face. I looked around to the rest of the Cullen's who had followed our path through the kitchen, and now all wore similar expressions of excitement mixed with anticipation.
"Oh, just a little something from everyone," Carlisle answered. "We know you value your independence."
I raised a curious eyebrow and turned back to Alice and Rosalie, who were silently vying for dibs on the doorknob. I sighed. At this rate I'd never get this over with. Gritting my teeth, I shoved my hand in between their bickering ones, most likely sustaining a few bruises that would barely show before they started to heal, and grasped the doorknob, turning it and pushing the door open before either could object.
I took one step into the garage and suddenly Emmett was in front of me, taking my hand and pulling me past the black Mercedes, the yellow Porshe, a silver Volvo and the Aston Martin, to a blue vehicle I hadn't seen before. He stopped and dropped my hand, and with a goofy grin, half bowed and held his hands out, presenting the car to me.
"I hope the color is all right," Rosalie said from close behind me. "I noticed you had a lot of blue in your house."
I stared, dumbfounded, at the Lexus in front of me. "This... is for me?"
Rosalie's hand appeared in front of me, holding a key. She clicked a button and the car beeped, before she handed it to me.
"From the family," she said. "Every Cullen travels in style."
"Except me," Renesmee muttered.
"Renesmee," I heard Bella scold, to which Renesmee sighed.
"I know, I know," she grumbled. "Only eleven more years."
I turned and looked at the group behind me.
"This is so generous of you, but I can't accept this," I said.
"Why not?" Rosalie asked, at the same time Nessie said, "I'll take it!"
I smirked at Renesmee, and then turned serious again.
"It's too much," I said, turning back to gape at the car. "It's a Lexus."
"A 2013 Lexus ISF turbo, to be exact," Emmett said. "Zero to sixty in 4.6 seconds factory, but Rose is a genius. You'll get up there in about half that."
I shook my head as I stared at the electric blue car.
"At least take it for a test drive," Rose said.
I sighed. "All right," I said. "I'll take your extremely generous token of love and acceptance for a drive."
"Whoo!" Emmett screamed out.
I laughed and got into the car, waiting only two seconds for Rose and Emmett to close their doors. The garage door opened, and we were speeding down the winding driveway toward the highway.
As always, please leave a review, even if you hated it, but especially if you loved it! I won't hold you hostage, but reviews help me to know if you are enjoying the drabble that oozes from my brain, and encourage me to write faster. Just in case, you know, you happen to be waiting with baited breath for the next chapter.
TinyButDangerous: Thank you for the review and welcome to the show! I hope you liked this chapter as well!
Voldemort: Wow, a compliment from the Dark Lord himself. I'm flattered. Can I get one of those awkward Malfoy hugs? ;)
For everyone else who is reading but didn't review, thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you are also enjoying the ride.
I'm not proud of this chapter. I found it rather boring. One reason it took so long. But, you know. Exposition. Ugh. What did you think? Seth will be back next chapter. Maybe just a bit more fluff and then some drama. Surprises are on the way! Stick with me!
You may friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or e-mail me anytime. Just search for Renee Goetz, or check my profile for links and/or my e-mail address. For non-fan fiction reading, I also have a blog of short stories that you are welcome to check out: rengoe84 (dot) blogspot (dot) com
Read on!
Ren
