{… I tilted the foam cup up to my lips and took in a small sip of the warm coffee as the computer loaded. It had been a gift from Emily, much like my apartment and cell phone. The bitch was loaded.
I set the cup down and pulled up my email. A single message was sitting in the inbox; from Dr. Leere, my colleague from several years ago.
Dr. Stein, I hope this reaches you well. I'm not sure where to start, but you need to listen to this. They're gone; like, all of them! Vesper, Warren, Leo…they're just gone without a trace.
The police are ecstatic – albeit confused. No one new has set up in Chicago in their place, so it looks like you're the luckiest bastard who ever lived! Give me a call some time and we'll go out and celebrate.
-Gregory-
I flipped the lid on my laptop closed and put my head in my hands.
"What have I gotten myself into?" …}
-Chapter 5: After Party-
"I'm a leprechaun," Bella giggled out.
"I'm not actually here right now," I added.
"I have four eyes."
"My blood is pure gasoline."
"Oh my god," Maggie clutched her head in her hands and took a step back. "This is just impossible!"
"Trust me," I assured the petite lie-detecting vampire, "I know exactly how you feel."
After the non-battle, about half of the large group the Cullens had assembled left right away. Luckily, the Amazonians stuck around to speak with Renesmee – Zafrina took an instant liking to her – and I was able to siphon off a useful illusionary power. The Denali clan left as soon as they could, as they were still grieving for Irina's death – she was killed by Caius before our group arrived with Nahuel and Huilen.
The Irina incident – as I had taken to calling it – was really sort of a catch-22. What exactly was she supposed to think, seeing a supernaturally gifted child – pale as a vampire, no less – hanging around with a coven of vampires? If she would have withheld the information and – imagining Renesmee actually was an immortal child – Aro read her, she would be destroyed.
It was a dick move on Caius' part, though, having her destroyed for 'bearing false witness.' Her intentions weren't malicious; the situation was just fucking nuts.
I turned my head and eyed Jasper, who was standing near Bella but was watching me. I let out a small grin as I picked up on his thoughts. He was going over what I had done to the Volturi, then debating whether I was too much of a threat to be alone with Alice. Jasper picked up on my jolt of humor, though, and quickly diverted his line of thought. It was strange to a vampire, I'd imagine – almost a reverse of their instincts toward the Quileute shape shifters – in that I set off none of their basal fight-or-flight responses, and yet I was even more dangerous than any wolf.
I was jerked out of my internal monologue by Stephen's thoughts, which were directed at me. Vladimir and Stephan had been wanting to speak with me ever since the Volturi tucked tail and ran. In fact, they would have followed suit if I had not been there. I shot an apologetic smile at Bella and Maggie as I stood from my seat and headed outside in the direction of the Romanians.
Would it be possible to speak privately? Perhaps in the clearing? Vladimir questioned me as I closed in on their still forms by the tree line.
I turned my head slightly as I caught Edward's curious and wary thoughts. I'll be fine. I lifted my mental shield to reassure him.
"Lead the way," I gestured to the forest and the two vampires were off like a shot, obviously not used to moving at human speed. I smirked and took off after the two Dracula-wanna-bees. They were either well versed in how Alice's visions worked or had not prepared what they wanted to discuss with me fully, as I had received no visions to clue me in. I mentally checked my knife and padded my shield, feeling comforted in my defense.
I touched down in the barren white field and crossed my arms over my chest, inclining my head to give the two vampires the go-ahead to start speaking. Since I didn't want Alice peeking in on our conversation, I started to randomly decide to either go back to the Cullen mansion or head down to La Push. This would cause her visions of my future to shimmer in and out, and hopefully dissuade her from peeking.
"We are far enough away that the mind reader cannot hear us?" Stephan questioned.
I nodded, and also projected Bella's mental shield around the three of us just in case. "There's no guarantee Alice won't see, but I should be able to block most of our conversation out as well."
"You are quite the treasure, Emily Ambrose." Stephan said. "So powerful – enough to send the Italian scum running – and yet still a fragile human." He grinned at me.
"With your gifts, you must know," Vladimir continued, "that they will come back for you and your talent."
"It crossed my mind," I cocked an eyebrow at the two creepers and waited for them to get to the point, though I had an idea where it was headed. I shifted my focus to La Push for a few seconds, then tuned back into what they were saying.
"We see more than most," Stephan said. "More than the Italians and more, still, than your…family. We know you understand what will become of you if you choose to continue on with the Cullens. They will annihilate you all."
"We also see…that you are different than your family," Vladimir continued his companion's thought seamlessly. "And not just because you are human and they are not. You have a bloodlust in you – a darkness. We believed it would be Carlisle and his coven that would bring an end to Aro's rule, but now we see it is you who holds the best chance at destroying them."
"Allow us to aid you," Stephan smirked evilly.
"Aro and his guard…" I started, but then shook my head. "They do need to be killed, and I would absolutely love to be the one to do it. But – I like the way the world is now. If the Volturi were to fall tomorrow, both the Human and Vampire race would suffer great loss. Without someone to police you, vampires would begin attacking humans without restriction."
"Surely you can understand that this would be the natural course," Vladimir spoke. They seemed to take turns, I noticed. "This was how it was in our time of rule. This is how it would be again."
"Times are different now," I countered. "Nuclear weapons and incendiary rounds didn't exist back during your rule. The Volturi got that one right – being incognito. If you're in with me, you'll need to leave your dreams of world domination behind."
Vladimir scowled while Stephan flat out growled at me. They made no move to respond, but their thoughts were rebelling against my ideals – they missed being thought of as gods and worshipped.
"I can't – won't – give you that," I continued. "But I can guarantee you Aro and Caius' positions in the supernatural world. I'm not one to sit on a thrown all day."
"This is…disappointing," Vladimir said after a moment. Both ancient vampires were balancing on the edge of a decision. They really, really wanted Aro dead; but at the same time, they longed for the titles and royalty that was stolen from them.
"I can see you're not ready to commit," I shrugged, but then narrowed my eyes. "I'll give you some time to think it through, but don't be idiots" I put a slight pressure – though enough to crush a human – upon their bodies using telekinesis and they sagged under the force. "Would you rather rule over your kind or be destroyed along with the Volturi?"
I released my hold on them and they gritted their teeth together. They knew I had them. Even if they could kill me right now, it would only be spitting into their own faces. Like they said, I was the best shot at finally stopping Aro since the Cullens. I gave them my phone number and flew off toward the mansion, not giving the Romanians a second glance.
The sunlight streaming into my window was what woke me up. I rolled over in bed and pulled my phone from the night stand. 7:12 AM Sunday. Holy shit, I slept for over thirty hours. I got up and stretched my limbs out, before shuffling into the bathroom.
My reflection still showed me with the too-deep dark circles under my eyes. I was still suffering from my month-long sleep-fast, but it seems my body got enough rest to function for a short while. I relieved my bladder and stepped into the shower to wake myself up and purge my skin of the grime that remained from our Amazon adventure. When I was finished with that, I dressed in my standard black shirt and cargo pants with tennis shoes – securing my knife and pocketing my phone and watch.
The sound and smell of bacon cooking as I descended the stairs actually made my mouth hurt – not to mention the gurgling my stomach was making. Jacob and Seth were already chowing down when I reached the kitchen, leaving Esme to slave over the stove. I did a mental check of the property and found that the last of the red-eyed vampires had left sometime during my quick nap.
"Hey, Emily!" Seth greeted me as I sat down at the table after grabbing a bottle of Mountain Dew. Jacob nodded in my direction but his mouth was too full to even begin to form words.
"Hope you didn't eat all the food," I eyed Jake's too-full plate as I unscrewed the cap of my soda.
"It's OK, dear," Esme smiled at me as she placed a plate full of bacon and eggs down in front of me. "I have plenty." I smiled at her before reaching across the table for the last remaining piece of toast.
I had only begun to eat when I heard the telltale fragmented thoughts of Charlie Swan moving into my range. I double-timed my efforts at cleaning my plate, eager to catch up with the man.
Ryan thought it was wrong of me to associate with the Chief – and Bella didn't approve – but it was quite honestly one of my favorite things to do since Charlie saw Jake phase. The man in question had good instincts, being a cop, and was never completely at ease around me. In fact, from what I could feel of his emotions, he was even more wary of me than he was the vampires in the family. A serial killer hanging out with a police chief – it was much too dramatic to pass up.
"And she's back from hibernation!" Emmet boomed as he and Rosalie entered the kitchen. Rosalie scrunched her nose at the smell of human food mixed with wolf-stench, but smirked at her husband's joke. "Was it a rough winter, Ambrose?"
"Oh, you know," I sighed dramatically, taking a swig of my soda and dumping my now-empty plate in the sink. "Fighting off the Volturi single-handedly like a boss, it takes it out of you." Emmet grinned.
"Psh," Emmet waved his hand dismissively. "We could have taken them. Anyway, the Chief is going to be here any second and the newlyweds are still at their cabin – as long as they haven't trampled it yet." He wagged his eyebrows and laughed.
"Looking to make him uncomfortable before Bella gets back and kicks your ass?" I questioned. "Isn't Renesmee with them?"
"She's out hunting with Ryan, Alice, and Jasper." Rosalie answered, tugging on Emmet's arm to move him into the living room.
I followed the two of them into the living room and sat down in one of the many chairs. The TV was on and I watched a bit of it – the weather channel – before glancing in the direction of the front door as the Chief knocked. Esme flitted to the door and opened it slowly, a legitimate smile on her face already.
"Charlie, what a wonderful surprise! Come in." She moved out of the way for him to enter. "I'm afraid Bella and Edward are still at their house. They'll be back soon, I'm sure."
"Oh, that's OK. I'm in no rush; just decided to stop by before heading out to the rez," Charlie and Esme moved into the living room and the former eyed me suspiciously before sitting down near Emmet and Rosalie – incidentally the furthest away from me. "I'll be fine to wait as long as it's no trouble."
"No trouble," I shrugged at him before Esme could reassure him.
"Emily," Charlie nodded at me.
Charlie was no idiot – he'd have to be pretty intelligent to be the Chief of Police. He knew Jacob – as well as Seth and Leah – transformed into wolves. He knew Bella hand changed physically into whatever the Cullens were. He knew the child Bella and Edward adopted grew quickly and looked remarkably like his daughter. So it's safe to say he knew something was off or special about me as well, he just couldn't figure out where I fit in.
"Could I get you anything? Coffee?" Esme broke the awkwardness that was beginning to build.
"I could go for some coffee, thank you," Charlie grunted out and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. His hands never relaxed their grip on the armrests, though. Esme went into the kitchen to brew up a cup of coffee.
"So, catch any mass murderers lately?" I innocently asked. Emmet couldn't hold in his laugh, but at least it wasn't the booming one I'd learned to associate with him.
"No…it's been pretty quiet," Charlie answered, looking mildly suspicious, but mostly just confused.
"That's good," I replied, doing a mental pat on the back for bringing back the awkward silence.
Esme brought in the Chief's coffee at the same time Bella and Edward walked in. Charlie smiled at his daughter, but she was busy giving me the evil eye for messing with her father. I gave her an exaggerated shrug of the shoulders and stuck my bottom lip out, playing perfectly innocent. Edward sighed, but his thoughts betrayed him – he was mentally smirking at Charlie and my back and forth.
End notes: I've uploaded a new story, Symbiosis. It's a meta-fanfiction - meaning the main character is aware of the Twilight books while being in the Twilight books (or in this case, after them). Only one chapter is up so far, but if you're into that sort of thing you should totes read it.
To the amazing reviewers of this story (zero), I will continue on as I have been: uploading a chapter a week, then rocking myself to sleep after absolutely nobody reviews them. Don't even bother trying to review this chapter just to make me feel better - I've already called you on it, and proceeding will only bring more misery and suffering.
Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. That's what lolcats are for.