Chapter 9

Improvise

Emmett returned to Bella's house an hour later, bearing a cardboard box under one arm. Inside the box were the remains of Bella's beloved cat.

Emmett didn't know how he was going to tell her. It would be easier to lie, to say Beautiful must have been hit by a car, but hadn't he promised her the truth? I'm sorry, Bella, but your cat was apparently tortured to death by Edward's new girlfriend.

He had found the small, mangled body in Bella's mailbox at the end of the driveway, tied with a cheerful red bow. Lauren's scent was everywhere, as if she'd wanted to make sure that Emmett would know she had done this. So, it was a message, but what was the crazy bitch trying to convey? Or did she just want to do something that would cause Bella pain? Ultimately, whatever the reason, it didn't matter. She would pay for hurting Bella.

He went up the stairs to the back door balcony and hid the box behind Bella's wagon. He tapped on the door and waited. And waited. He frowned. Knocked louder.

A few moments later, he heard Bella coming to answer the door but something was seriously off. She was stumbling, crashing into everything in her meandering path. The bolt slid back and Bella stood there, swaying, a big, goofy grin on her face. "Emmett!" she said. She stepped forward to embrace him but tripped and fell into Emmett's arms.

"Jeeze, Bella, are you drunk?" Emmett asked. And then he caught the scent that lingered on her. Edward.

"I feel drunk, that is, if this is what being drunk feels like," Bella said, illogically. "I just woke up."

"Bella, what happened?" Emmett asked slowly. He scooped Bella up in his arms, making her squeal at the way the room spun, and carried her into the living room. He gently deposited her on the sofa and she flopped back with a sigh. There were a few droplets of blood staining the neckline of her dress.

"Edward came over," she said. "He was so sad and crying and I felt so bad for him. I think- I think I must have fainted." Her brow creased as she tried to remember.

Emmett closed his eyes. "Did he hurt you, Bella?"

"No, he was right. It didn't hurt after the first few seconds."

"He bit you?" Emmett had known from the moment he caught the scent where this was going but he still wanted it to not be true.

"I tried to tell him not to," Bella said. She saw the look on his face and became alarmed. "Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

"No, sweetie, I'm not mad at you, not at all." Emmett said, patting her hands. "Be right back." He stood and went into the kitchen where he leaned against door of the refrigerator for a moment, pain carving through him.

Drinking from another vampire's lover was the ultimate in betrayal in the vampire world. Blood exchanges among lovers were the height of intimacy (though Emmett didn't know this, Edward had never drank from Lauren, nor allowed her to bite him). A vampire would forgive their mate cheating more easily than they could forgive a blood exchange. Bella couldn't know this, of course, but Edward certainly did.

He pulled open the refrigerator and poured Bella a large glass of homemade apple juice. He brought it into the living room where Bella was dozing on the sofa. "Bella? Sweetheart, I need to you to sit up and drink this. All of it, okay?"

Bella sat up clumsily and took the glass of juice, sloshing some onto the bodice of her dress. "Emmett, you look upset. Is there something wrong with me?"

Emmett hesitated. "Edward took too much from you, but you'll be fine. Right as rain by tomorrow. You just need to drink lots of fluids and get some rest."

"Will I be a vampire now?" Bella asked in a small voice.

"Not unless you drank his blood in return."

"Did you find Beautiful?"

Emmett inwardly cringed. "Yeah, I did, honey. Can we talk about it in the morning?"

Bella seemed satisfied with that answer. She finished the glass of juice and gave a little burp. Despite everything, it made Emmett smile. It was such a cute little sound. Widening her eyes, Bella clapped a dainty hand over her mouth. "Oh, excuse me!"

Emmett set the glass on the coffee table and scooped her up. He took her into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed. She had already dozed off again. He looked down at her for a moment at the cast on her hand and her pale, pale skin. She'd been through far too much in these past few days. He kissed her forehead before turning and striding to the living room to collect his keys.

He paused to write a note, folded it and wrote her name on the outside and propped it up against her tea pot. If he came back, she wouldn't need it. If he didn't, perhaps it would give her some comfort.

He drove to his and Edward's apartment, a place which no longer seemed like home, and parked in the garage below. He put his car key up in the visor. Despite everything, despite the pain and betrayal, he still wanted Edward to have his car if this ended the way Emmett suspected it would.

He took the elevator upstairs. He could hear piano music as he emerged, Tristesse by Chopin, but it wasn't Edward playing. He hadn't replaced the piano he'd destroyed. Emmett slowly opened the door.

The living room was dark, pitch black, the shades pulled down over the glass walls so not even the ambient light of the moon seeped in. Emmett's vampire eyes didn't need much light to see. Edward sat on the sofa, smoking, an overflowing ashtray on the cushion beside him. "Took you long enough," Edward said.

"How could you, Edward?"

Edward didn't answer.

"You know that drinking from her is considered worse than if you'd fucked her."

"I've been a vampire longer than you have, Emmett. I don't need you to lecture me on vampire culture and its taboos."

"You took far too much. She could barely stay up on her feet. And then you left her alone."

Edward drew on his cigarette and the cherry threw an orange light over his features before fading. "I couldn't stop."

"Damn you," Emmett said softly. "You could have killed her."

"I wasn't that out of control. She'll be fine." Edward's voice was dismissive.

All of these years, he had made excuses for Edward's behavior, ignored his selfishness, his self-centered, casual cruelty toward others. Emmett was shaking with rage. "How could you do this, Edward? You had to know how it would make me feel. I'm your friend, Edward, your only friend. I stood by you when no one else would, and stayed your loyal friend through good times and bad. All this time ..."

Edward snorted. "Then you shouldn't be surprised."

Emmett stared at him.

Edward gave a mirthless bark of laughter. "You fool. You've watched me treat other people this way for centuries. Now you're surprised that I'm treating you in the same way? What, did you think you were special?"

"I suppose I did," Emmett said quietly.

"You simply never had anything I wanted."

Emmett closed his eyes. The words were like a blow. Anger warred with grief, both emotions building in him until he felt like he might explode.

"What you did to Bella was equivalent to rape, Edward."

A flash of anger crossed Edward's face, the first hint of emotion he'd shown since Emmett had arrived. "Bullshit! I did not rape her!"

"You penetrated her body without her permission and took something from her against her will. What else would you call it?"

"Stop with the Drama Queen shit, Emmett. I drank from her, end of story. Something that we vampires do to humans quite frequently. Did your last meal give his or her full, informed consent?"

"That's different."

Edward snorted. "Of course it is."

"You didn't do it for a meal, from a stranger who won't remember, or a bite-junkie in a club. You did it for your own pleasure. She knew what was going on and tried to get you to stop, and she remembers what you did to her even if she isn't aware of the full implications." Emmett's voice lowered. "You did it to hurt me."

"Not everything is about you, Emmett," Edward said, but he wouldn't meet Emmett's gaze. He put out one cigarette and immediately lit another.

"I thought I was your friend. You never cared for me at all, did you?"

"As much as I could," Edward replied. "Which, admittedly, isn't much."

"What about Bella? I thought you cared for her, so why would you do this? Once she is able to think about this clearly, she's not going to be happy about what you did. Christ, I'd have never dreamed I would have to protect her from you."

"Share her with me," Edward said suddenly. "I know I can make her love me, too. She's part-way there already. If we both agree to this, we can talk her into it."

They had shared women before, but Bella was different. Not only did Emmett know that she would never consent to a polyamorous arrangement, he knew he could never share her. The thought of her being touched by Edward was like a hot knife blade in his chest.

"No." Emmett said it flatly, no room for compromise, no room for discussion.

Edward's eyes glinted. "If you weren't in the picture, I could make her mine."

"Possibly. But you'd never make her happy."

Edward flinched.

"Besides, I doubt she'll forgive you for this, Edward."

"She might if you don't poison the well by being all, Oh, Bella, it's such a violation and Oh, Bella, he betrayed our trust." Edward's voice was high and mocking.

"Why are you being so cruel?"

Edward smirked. "To make it easier on you."

Emmett nodded.

Edward stabbed out his cigarette. "Do what you came here to do."

Emmett lunged, crashing into Edward at full speed, taking the sofa over with them. Edward drew up his feet and kicked Emmett in the stomach, sending him flying across the room and smashing through the all into Edward's bedroom. He rolled to his feet and charged Edward again, who was waiting for him in a defensive crouch. Edward's foot caught his chest, sending him crashing into the glass shelves where the stereo was perched. It hit him in the head, painfully, as it fell, cracking to pieces when it landed and silencing Chopin.

Emmett rebounded and tackled Edward, slamming him down, and through, the coffee table. Fists, nails, teeth and feet, all moving faster than the human eye could see. Emmett thought they probably looked like one of those dust-cloud brawls in cartoons, with only flashes of flailing limbs appeared from the maw.

Emmett was bigger, stronger, heavier, but Edward was faster and had untold years of fighting experience. Emmett was pretty sure he wasn't going to walk away from this, but he'd had no choice.

A heavy blow in the center of his chest sent him flying backwards. His back hit the glass wall and he felt it shatter behind him. He had time to think, Oh fuck, this is going to hurt before a hand grabbed him and prevented him from falling twenty stories to the pavement below. Edward flung him across the room. Emmett landed on his back, skidding through the debris on the whipped through the apartment sending papers and tiny bits of debris whirling through the air. In a flash, Edward was sitting on his chest, his hands wrapped around Emmett's throat.

This is it, Emmett thought. He closed his eyes. Bella, I love you.

With a growl, Edward released him. He stood, walked through the gaping hole in wall which had once separated his bedroom from the living room and fished out the mysterious plain wooden box from his dresser. He tucked it under his arm and opened the front door, not bothering to close it and not looking back as he left.

Emmett painfully rose to his feet and surveyed the devastation. I guess we won't be getting our deposit back, he thought.

The more she thought about it, the more Lauren was convinced that Bella Swan needed to die. Once she was out of the way, her strange spell over Edward would be broken and Lauren would be able to get him back in her arms where he belonged. She smiled to herself. She hoped that bitch had found the little "present" she'd left. She laughed every time she imagined the look on Bella's face.

As luck would have it, Lauren found one of her old flings sitting at the bar in O Negative. Theirs had been a purely physical relationship and an amicable breakup when both of them decided the attraction had run its course. "Hey, Thomas!" she said.

"Tyler," he replied.

"Oh, yeah. Tyler. Gosh, sorry."

He waved it away. "No problem. Haven't seen you in a while, Lauren. Is this your new hang-out spot?"

"Well, one of them, anyway," Lauren said. They chatted for a bit about mutual friends, who was dating whom, who had joined the Queen's court and who was in trouble with the Volturi.

"I heard you were dating Edward Masen," Tyler said.

Lauren's teeth clenched. "Yeah."

"That guy's bad news, Laurie. He'll break your heart."

"He already has," Lauren admitted. "But I'll have him back soon. He can't stay away."

"I hate to leave but I've got to get going," Tyler said after a while. "I need to feed before I go to bed."

Lauren had an idea. Tyler was only two years old and his control was precarious. Perhaps he could take care of her problem. "You know, I found the most incredibly delicious blood the other day. There's this woman..."

Bella still felt a bit out-of-sorts when she woke. Her head ached and she felt powerfully thirsty. She slowly shuffled through the house to the kitchen to make a pot of tea.

"Oh, fuck, you do smell delicious," a man said.

Bella screamed and jumped, whirling to face the intruder. She was getting heartily sick of people just appearing in her house and wished that the old can't-come-in-without-an-invitation myth were true.

"Who- who are you?" she stammered.

"No one important," he said, locking his eyes onto hers. "Stay still. I won't hurt you."

"Get the fuck away from her!" Emmett roared. Bella heard his voice, but didn't see him until he had streaked across the kitchen and grabbed the stranger by the throat. "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my girlfriend's house?"

"Tyler Crowley," the man rasped through a constricted throat. "I'm sorry man. I had no idea she was claimed."

"How did you find Bella? Who sent you?" Emmet growled.

"Lauren. Lauren Mallory. She told me that there was this girl who had absolutely incredible blood and I had to try it for myself. Seriously, man, I meant no harm. I didn't know he was already someone's pet."

Emmett released him. "Get the fuck out of here and don't ever consider returning. And tell Lauren if she sends any more 'friends' over here, I'll be coming for her myself."

"Yeah, man, sure," Tyler said quickly, nodding eagerly. "Whatever you say." He darted out the door and Emmett slammed it behind him.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Yeah, he never touched me."

"How are you feeling?"

"Not well," Bella admitted.

"Sit," Emmett said. "I'll make you a pot of tea. You need to eat. How about I warm up some soup for you?"

That sounded wonderful. She watched Emmett take out one of the plastic containers of frozen homemade soup and empty it into a pan. Seeing it plop out of the container reminded her of cat food so she asked, "Emmett, did you find Beautiful?"

"Yes, Bella, I did." Emmett said quietly. He came over and crouched down in front of her. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but he's dead."

"What! No!"

"I'm so sorry," Emmett said, and took her into his arms. Bella stayed tucked against his chest for a few moments, absorbing comfort until her trembling had ceased, then tilted her head back up to look at him.

"What happened to him? Did he get hit by a car?"

Emmett wanted so badly to lie. He wanted to tell her that Beautiful had been struck and killed instantly, no pain. "Someone killed him, Bella."

Her brows drew together in confusion. "Why? Why would anyone want to kill my cat? What did they do? Poison? A trap?"

"No, honey. Someone captured him and ... They hurt him and then strangled him."

Bella burst into tears. "Why? I don't understand!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." It was all he could say. He brought her a tissue and she accepted it, dabbing at her nose. The tea pot was starting to whistle and Emmett released Bella to go make her a cup of tea, grateful that he had at least something small he could do for her.

"Are you sure?" Bella demanded, after a moment of silence in which she digested the news. "Are you sure it's Beautiful?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Can- Can I see him?"

Emmett sighed. "I ... wouldn't recommend it. It's probably better for you to remember him as he was."

Bella laid her head on her arms and sobbed. Emmett pulled a chair close to her side and sat there, rubbing her back until she quieted. Once she had calmed a bit, he got up to get her a bowl of the hot soup.

She wiped away her tears. "Do you know who did it? Could you, um, smell them?"

"Yes. It was Lauren, Edward's girlfriend."

Bella's mind raced. She wanted to call the police, but what was she going to say, My vampire boyfriend knows it was her because he can smell her and she sent another vampire to my house to eat me. She wanted to confront the woman, but Lauren apparently had a screw or two loose and Bella herself would probably end up getting hurt. She wanted so badly to do something to punish her for what she'd done, but she was powerless. And becoming very afraid.

Lauren looked for Tyler for the next two nights. He didn't show up at any of the popular hot spots, nor had he been home, according to his room mate. It wasn't until she happened to spot him from her car, walking down the sidewalk, that she finally found out whether or not he had drained that Bella bitch.

Hearing his story, Lauren tried not to let herself become frustrated. She had considered the idea that he might have been killed by that giant when she couldn't find him, so she was prepared for Tyler's failure. Not happy about it, sure, because it would have made her life a lot simpler, but she supposed if you wanted something done properly, you had to go to a professional.

One of the few useful pieces of advice her mother had ever given her was to make as many friends as possible and to avoid making enemies because you never knew when the talents of one of those people would come in handy. Lauren made a couple of phone calls and the next night, waited at the arranged meeting place.

It was the city park. Lauren sat on a swing and looked around at the empty playground. She herself had played here as a kid. Sad to say, really. She'd been born here in this shithole, had died in this shithole, and now she lived as a vampire in the very same shithole.

Back when she was a kid, she'd been fat and unpopular, poor and very lonely. She'd steeped in her own resentment, hating her mother for the shabby, dirty house in which they lived and or not being able to afford the trendy clothes that the other girls wore, and an acidic hatred and envy of those girls. More than anything, she wanted to be rich and pretty and popular. She wanted people to be jealous of her for a change.

Most of the weight had come off when she hit her teenage years. She'd never be a pixie, but her figure now was womanly rather than dumpy. At thirteen, she'd discovered that boys would buy her things if she put out, and even more things if she strung them along for a little while before giving it up. The other girls called her a slut, but now it was they who were envious when the boys they were dating dropped them in favor of Lauren.

As she grew older and more experienced, Lauren started moving up the social ladder, catching guys who were wealthier. As a result, she'd never had to hold down a job because there was always some guy willing to support her and pay her bills for a while. And the bills were pretty big. A girl had to play the part, after all, and looking good cost money.

About five years ago, she'd started dating a rather strange guy named Mike. She hadn't figured out that he was a vampire until she went over to his place one evening and found him sucking the blood out of another girl. Lauren had weighed her options and decided to forego a hissy-fit in exchange for asking to be changed herself. They'd had to apply for permission- Mike wasn't brave enough to defy the Volturi- but it was granted after a perfunctory investigation. (Perfunctory, yes, but Lauren was worried the entire time that they would discover that she'd killed her mother and would reject her application. Either her "perfect crime" had stayed perfect or the Volturi didn't care.)

She'd seen the movies. Vampires were rich and suave. Well, suave she might be, but she was still running into problems with cash flow. Being a vampire didn't automatically make a person rich. It took lifetimes to build up the fortunes some of these guys had, and frankly, Lauren had never saved a penny and had no idea how to invest.

If she could just get Edward back, all her problems would be over. Okay, he was a little on the crazy side, but Lauren figured she could manage him.

"Lauren Mallory?"

Lauren looked around. A tiny Asian woman stood there, incredibly lovely and fragile-looking, like a porcelain doll. Not at all like she'd envisioned a "hitman" (or was that "hitwoman"?) would look like.

"Are you Irina?" Lauren asked.

The conversation was very short: Bella Swan was to die within the next three days and Lauren would pay Irina $50,000. She was going to have to sell her jewelry to pay for it, something Lauren deeply regretted, because you never got full value when pawning something, but it was the only way she could come up with the funds. And anyway, once Bella was gone, he'd buy Lauren more jewels.

She wished she could kill Bella herself. Nothing would give her more pleasure than draining that bitch dry, but she wanted to have an alibi. She intended to spend the next three nights being very visible in the clubs, trying to track down Edward. No one had seen him in the last few days and Lauren was starting to get a little worried.

It was such a feeling of relief to finally have this situation resolved. Within three days, Bella would be dead and Edward would be free. Sure, he might grieve for a little while, but he'd get over it and Lauren would be there, waiting. After all, they were immortal. They had nothing but time.

Bella woke up screaming in the middle of the night. Emmett was at her side immediately, pulling her into an embrace. He'd been reading, propped up in the bed beside her while she slept. "Shh, honey. You're safe. Everything is okay." He repeated variations on this theme until her heartbeat had slowed to a normal pace. "Nightmare, honey?"

She nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Bella hesitated, then shook her head.

Emmett laid her back down and crawled into the bed beside her, folding her tiny body against the massive strength of his. "Bella, I think we should talk about this. You're having nightmares every time you fall asleep, and I think I know what you're dreaming about."

Bella didn't answer. She hid her face in his chest.

"Sweetheart, have you ever thought ... well ... thought about talking this over with someone?"

"A therapist?"

"Yes, just someone who can help-"

"I am NOT going to see a therapist," Bella hissed. "I had enough of that bullshit when I was a teenager."

"Bella, your mom took you to people she thought could change you. I'm talking about seeing someone who wants to help make you happy with who you are."

Bella gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah, that's what they all say, but pretty soon it's Well, Bella, maybe you could change this or Bella, let's work on getting you acclimated to this thing you hate."

"Would you believe me if I told you I knew someone who wasn't like that?"

Bella looked up at his face and then ducked back into her hiding place. How far they had come that his arms were now where she went to hide and not something she felt the need to hide from.

"I believe that you believe it," Bella said, her voice muffled. "Were you ever in therapy?"

"No, but Edward was."

"Wow, that's a ringing endorsement if I ever heard one."

Emmett laughed. "Okay, you got me there. But I really think Dr. Carlisle could help you. Do you think you'd talk to him if I set it up?"

"I don't want to go into some shrink's gloomy office and spill my guts for the thousandth time. I don't want any zombie pills. I don't want any 'assignments'."

Emmett thought for a moment. "What about talking to him over the phone? Could you do that? Bella, honey, you were violently attacked, first by some rapist pieces of shit, saw your boyfriend turn into a mythical creature, then were attacked again by a man you thought of as a friend and your cat killed by his crazy girlfriend. That's enough to make most people go nuts, and here you are, handling it like a trooper. I'm so proud of you. But I think you'd feel better if you could get some of your emotions off your chest. You know you keep things bottled up and pushing things aside is not the best way to deal with problems."

"I know, Emmett." She looked down and twisted a bit of blanket back and forth. "I've had a lot to deal with in the last couple of weeks and I'm still trying to process it all. I'm not suppressing my feelings. I'm still sorting out how I feel about some of the things that have happened."

Emmett nodded. "Fair enough. But I still want you to think about my doctor friend, okay?"

"Okay, I'll think about it." Bella said. She leaned in to kiss Emmett, and as happened frequently, couldn't stop with just one. He rolled over on top of her, kissing his way down her body. Bella groaned as his hands slid slowly up her thighs under her nightgown. His thumbs slid under her panties at the hips and he tugged them down. Emmett stared at the treasure he had unveiled. He knew Bella probably wouldn't be comfortable with oral sex yet but he couldn't resist planting a soft kiss on her labia. Bella jolted upright to a semi-sitting position and Emmett used the opportunity to strip off her nightgown. Her hands went to the hem of his t-shirt and whipped it over his head, smoothing her hands over his pecs. He pulled off his jeans and underwear, settling over her, his cool flesh yearning to touch her soft, warm skin. He bent and sucked a nipple into his mouth while his hands re-explored her body. Bella's hands slid down to his back and her nails dug into his flesh, urging him on.

Emmett let her go for a moment and sat up to retrieve his pants, fishing a condom out of his pocket. Bella put her hand over his. "You don't need that," she said. His eyes blazed with excitement and he grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

He would never be able to describe the sensation of sliding into her with nothing between them. He froze, trying to commit the feeling to memory and realized that this was what perfect bliss felt like. He rolled over onto his back, putting Bella on top and groaned when the position brought him even deeper within her.

Bella froze. "Emmett, I don't know what to do," she confessed, looking embarrassed.

"Like this," he said softly. He used his hands to guide her hips until she caught the rhythm. "Do whatever feels good, sweetheart, and I guarantee it will feel good for me, too."

She experimented a little with different types of movements, finding one which made her eyes fly open in ecstasy. It was the most erotic thing he'd ever seen, watching her come apart on top of him. The tremors were still quaking in her body when she whispered, "Emmett, I want you to bite me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to know what it's like when you can do the mind-meld thing."

He looked down into her face, her big, soft eyes so sweet and trusting. After what Edward had done to her, she ought to be very reluctant to be bitten again, but she was putting her trust, her very life, into his hands. He felt honored beyond words.

He captured her mind and when he bit, she let out a scream of rapture that triggered his own, and oh God, the taste of her ... the pleasure was indescribable, sending them both into release again and again, trapped in a cycle of bliss.

He tore his mouth away before he'd taken very much- less than a pint, he estimated- and lapped at the wound gently, sealing it. Bella gave him an exhausted, intensely satisfied smile and they curled into each other's arms for sleep.