"Thou Must Not Covet"

-Inspired By A Medley of Songs That Are Noted In Text-

Prequel to "Walking The Ghost"

Warning: Angst, and not for people who really like Bella. You've been warned. Characters are OOC.

"I'll do anything for you,
Kill anyone for you.
The morning will come
In the press of every kiss
With your head upon my chest
Where I will annoy you
With every waking breath
Until you decide to wake up."

-"Wake Up" by: Coheed & Cambria.

She's dying, must be. The burning, the pain.... the pain, the fire... it consumes her. Why did she say she wanted this? Is this what she bargained for? No. It hurts, she feels like she's being burned alive. The pain is everwhere, all over her body, and it takes all her concentration not to scream aloud.

Meanwhile, Edward watches her anxiously, hardly relishing the fact that she is in pain, that the end of this change never seems to come. He loves his wife, and as much as he wished to keep her human, a deal is a deal. She married him, he changed her. They'll be together... forever.

He has his hands busy keeping her cool as possible, one hand holding her limp one, the other pressed on her forehead like one might use a washcloth. It helps only a little; there's not much he can do to quell the horrors of the transformation, but he certainly tries. His family doesn't bother to remind him that it is futile work, but stays out of it. In fact, the only others in the room at the moment happen to be Alice and Carlisle; the rest have stayed away until it's over.

"Soon," his sister murmurs, and listening closely, Edward can detect Bella's ever-failing heartbeat, and exhales somewhat. Finally. Soon.

--

The pain is horrible, but it seems to ebb away second by second, much to the happiness of the one it is occurring to. Soon she shall be one of them. To live forever always seemed like a dream come true, for Bella is very afraid of dying. She is afraid of a lot of things, actually.

Afraid of dying. Afraid of being alone. Afraid of never amounting to anything. Afraid of being chained down by things or by persons, and even afraid of losing control. Control is something she's always desired, but an art she has only recently perfected. It's not the bold that have control, she has come to understand, it's the manipulators, the subtle ones, the ones you'd never suspect. The underlings, the innocents. They can have utter control if only they can keep up the pretense that they are not a threat.

Because who would suspect someone innocent... shy... quiet... obliging? Who wouldn't indulge those innocents occasionally, never realising that they are handing over control in bits and pieces, and that whatever control they give, they never get back? No one would, she answers inwardly.

And it is perfect.

Edward's never been able to read her mind, he was the only one that seemed remotely capable of finding Bella out for what she was, but he couldn't. Instead, he fell in love, became hopelessly devoted, and Bella... Bella got control. She got what she wanted. She would never have to be afraid of dying if she was immortal. One fear checked off the long list; she was doing very well for herself so far. There however was just one little problem.

Edward tried to chain her down, claiming it was for her safety. Her independence around him was limited, and Bella couldn't do much about it without showing her true colours. However, now that she'd got from him what she'd desired, she didn't have to be under his thumb anymore. She could just go on and check other things off the list, never mind what Edward wanted to her to do. He became a rather inconsequential pawn on her chessboard.

"Controlling my feelings for too long
Forcing our darkest souls to unfold
And forcing our darkest souls to unfold
Pushing us into self destruction
Pushing us into self destruction
And they make me
Make me dream your dreams
Trying to please you for too long
Trying to please you for too long"

-"Showbiz" by: Muse.

It was just a quiet day at home when Bella discovered her true power, her "extra talent" as one might call it. The Cullens had already dismissed the notion, as far as they were convinced, Bella's talent was control, but that of being able to refrain from human blood. Actually, Bella's power was a sort of control, only much more useful, and a pleasant thing for her to have.

You see, the boys in high school had always liked Bella. Like-liked her, as it was childishly put. She enjoyed the control it gave her, but she never pursued any of the high-schoolers for in the chessboard of life, they didn't even rate as pawns, and therefore were no use to her. So she didn't pursue them.

--

For a while Bella had believed her minimal bloodlust was her talent, and it had been disappointing post-change to find out she couldn't do something beyond, like her pseudo-siblings and husband could. She had been sure there had to be something more than that, so every day she watched for signs that it was indeed so, and up until that day, she failed in finding any hidden talent.

Then, on a lazy afternoon while most of the family was out hunting or pursuing various activities, Edward and Bella were left at home, alone. To pass the time, they might watch movies, or he might play a composition for her on the baby grand, but truth be told, Bella was bored. And upset. She had wanted to go out and do something else today, but Edward had insisted it was safer to stay home and not push her so far clean record. She was still a newborn, he reminded her. Accidents happened. Best to stay and keep the surrounding populace safe.

Bella hated that he insisted, even more than the fact that she didn't find any amusement in the day's activities.

To her, it was a loss of control. And that was completely unacceptable.

Edward was testing her patience, whether he knew it or not.

And since she had what she wanted --- immortality --- why pretend to enjoy his coddling still?

It was in this frame of mind that Bella's power slowly seeped out, encasing her husband in a haze of love and devotion that he had not had even prior to this happening. It was overwhelming, these feelings she sent him, putting him into an almost trance-like state. Bella didn't even notice anything was wrong until he had gotten up from the piano bench and sat beside her on the sofa, where he then proceeded to declare his utter adoration, which at the time, seemed a bit off-colour. So she noticed then that something happened.

He was passing control to her for no apparent reason.

No longer coddling.

This realization made Bella smile. She had done that. And more importantly, she finally had a useful talent. Very useful indeed. She found that she didn't have to concentrate very hard to use it, but that even so, the talent had a range, for when Edward got too far away from her, she could notice a change in his demeanour. No longer dreamy looking, when out of range Edward was himself, stiff posture, arrogant chin in the air. So she'd have to stay close for it to work.

With this note, Bella began to plan out an offensive. What for? Why to snag an enemy soldier, of course!

Doing so would be the ultimate control....

"I saw a face that spelled danger
A friendly smile, a worried look
I mistook for a stranger

Eating away at me, it won't let go
Suspicion is following, everywhere I go
He walks before me, he's someone that I don't know
Suspicion
Suspicion
Where were you yesterday?
Where will you be tomorrow?"

-"Suspicion" by: Asia.

More than life itself, Carlisle Cullen loved his family, so he had only been happy when his son had married, bringing a new daughter into their folds for one thing, and also for her making his son, his first companion, so incredibly happy. Edward had been a different person after he'd met Bella, their love had brought him out of his loneliness, shown them the Edward that had always been hidden away in that brooding skeleton somewhere.

So he had been happy then.

Now, he was happy, but there was an edge, an edge of suspicion.

There was something not entirely right with his newest daughter, and while he felt bad about suspecting anything of her, Carlisle was sure he was onto something. He liked to think himself good at spotting the subtle things about someone, as you invariably had to be good at to make a decent doctor. Skin tone, body language, speech patterns... all these things and more were tiny, almost inconsequential traits, but they could tell you if a person was sick, or in this special case, if they were up to something.

And he was very sure about this.

You see, one afternoon the routine had gone as follows: He had gone to work to finish up a shift for Dr. Neiman at the hospital, who had to rush off to his own family for an emergency, Alice, Edward, and Emmett were off hunting, and the other four were at home, pursuing various activities to pass the time.

When Carlisle had inevitably come home, the three that were hunting hadn't returned, and upon entering the living room, Carlisle had thought he'd seen something that was rather peculiar. Two of his "children" were in the living room together, and sitting very close together, indeed it was strange because thus far, Bella and Jasper had relatively avoided each other, not intentionally, just they spent their time elsewhere. But they were touching, veritably engrossed in the other, as they hadn't seemed to notice him in the room until he paused mid-step.

Bella had been the one, turning her head to meet his curiousity-filled gaze with an innocent look, seemingly saying, What you're seeing is only normal, Father. Don't let it go to your head, lest you paint me unattractively there.

And innocent the look had been, but he knew what he saw, and his intuition was on high alert. Something wasn't right. But he said nothing about the hand on the knee, successfully pushing the suspicion to the back of his mind for a while.

A while had been a week.

It was then that he had another such occurrence. Again, most of the family had been out, but those two were spending time together again, and instead of her hand being on her brother's knee, it had unabashedly been brushing across his groin, ghosting over the faint bulge there. Needless to say, even if they had been romantically linked in the past, it wouldn't have been something Carlisle would've wanted to see, their intimacy out on display. He had never been the voyeur.

That time she cocked her head to the side and smirked at him, this time saying, Father, you're being silly. You should've known this would happen. I always thought you smarter than this silence, this refusal to say anything about what we're doing. You must have an opinion on it... hmm? Won't you tell me what you think?

Quite honestly, it was terrifying. His suspicion was correct. So now it was just his son's part in it he couldn't comprehend. Jasper had always loved his wife, and never even shown more than a familial interest in Edward's Bella. So why the... philandering? No, it didn't make any sense at all. So when one door was closed, another opened, as the old metaphor went. One suspicion down, and a question created for him to muse on.

Even when the next incident of sorts occurred, Carlisle still didn't have any more insight into Jasper's role in things.

That third time had started off tense enough. With his newly-proven suspicions still in tact, Carlisle had been a little uneasy about being alone in the house with Bella for a weekend. She must have planned this, was his thought, as she just happened to suggest he go hunting a few days earlier, and she had done hers two days ago, so that neither of them needed any sustenance come Friday, leaving that pursuit to the other six in their family. Yes, he had thought then, she must have plotted this. But to what end?

It became apparent almost as soon as the family had left the house. Bella meant to trick him, as she had undoubtedly done already with Jasper. She stalked him in that house, sashaying about with the preternatural grace of their kind, and each time she made the rounds, walking through the living room, out, back down the hallway and into the living room --- it made a loop --- she lost another piece of clothing, and he could feel a sort of artificial fixation, finding himself thinking silly thoughts about how shiny and soft her hair was, and how much he'd like to kiss her. Nonsense, obviously.

So he did what any sensible man would do. He bolted and ran out of the house, fearing his sanity. And yet, when he had gotten far enough away, he no longer thought those unreal thoughts about Bella. He went back to normal, you might say. Feeling relief, he stayed away for a long time before venturing back to the house, and even so, he ran straight for his study when he did approach home. It was the only one room that was entirely his, and so he considered it his safe-zone.

Wrong. On his desk was a note, and with three little words, he felt his dead blood run cold.

You're next, Father.

"You take only seconds to draw me in
So be mine and your innocence I will consume
Dark shines
Bringing me down
Making my heart feel sore
Because it's good

Because it's good."

-"Dark Shines" by: Muse.

Seducing Jasper had been a fun project in her mind, it had only proved that she was mistress over her talent, and over the delicate art of control. Truthfully, she had hardly done anything with the poor sap, only satisfying him with mouth and hand from time to time. She was waiting for someone to realize what was going on before she broke out the big guns and slept with him completely.

When that happened, it would be a big fucking production for her. Maximum impact. She was going to lay him down and have her way with him, and let the chips fall where they may --- she was hoping for some truly astronomical reactions. Bella thrived on the very thought of Alice and Edward's certain outrage, because if she could affect them that much, she surely had control over them, however slight that may be. Slight she'd take.

Poor fool had no idea she was gunning for him, or that she had the power and means to enchant him so. He would've never gone for her originally, and Bella knew that all too well, so in order to keep the ruse up, she practically glued herself to his side so that the distance restriction never applied. Only one weekend --- when she'd began making her ploys with the patriarch of their little family --- had she let him go away from her willingly. It hadn't bothered her because it was only a weekend; she'd just start again when he returned.

All in all she somewhat rued that she could only focus her power on one at a time. More would've been so convenient, because then she wouldn't had to have sent Jasper off. But she did what was necessary. And if Carlisle wasn't so annoyingly smart --- a sly fox of a man --- she would've had him by now. But the man was smart, and had surely figured out her limitations by now, and quite possibly her scheme. He just didn't say anything, and that was stupid of him.

Meanwhile, she focused in on Jasper, and while her power bonded him to her anyway, Bella enjoyed acting the coy, innocent girl anyway --- it was much more fun, and acting like that made her feel more sinister, seeing as how she was on the inside. It's how she'd acted before her change, and so she saw no valid reason to stop now. Certainly it was enjoyable, messing with Carlisle's head, especially leaving him a note that eloquently laid out his fate in only a few words.

Because he was next if she had a shot. There was no reason for her not to go for him. It would be a power trip. And Bella got off on power, so this was the clear next step.

So now all she had to do was get to the fun part with Jasper, and then the real fun-and-games could begin....

"She's watching me awkwardly from a distance.
Should I care?
Is there something more I should have known?
I know that I wonder.
I don't need to wonder."

-"Follow And Feel" by: Saosin.

Bella knew the minute Alice found out. But of course, being how she was --- Bella hardly cared. If anything, it made her success more gratifying. It seemed that by winning over one person, she had gained control over three. And that was truly inspiring!

-So, thoughts? Hate it? Love it? You know the deal --- encourage me and the sequel shall be written. This was the prequel, in case you missed it. So this is occurring prior to "Walking The Ghost." You get to see a little of Bella's err... character and motivation, as well as how the affair began and why she started it in the first place. I'm sure you have an opinion about it all. For instance, Bella messing with Carlisle? How creepy, huh?

-Review!