Competition
The weeks slipped away, and the date of the competition was soon before them.
Emmett sulked.
Alice had told him, most unhappily, that there would be sunshine in the early afternoon. That he wouldn't be able to participate in the final part—climbing the castle.
He texted the rest of the group the morning of, alerting them to a case of possible food poisoning, making sure he had an alternate, in case he didn't feel well.
"No way!" he told Alice, when she said this might look fishy. "Not missing the first part—un-uh. No how. Besides, someone has to watch out for this one." He jerked his head in Bella's direction, who grinned good naturedly.
"Yep, can't possibly survive without you Emmett."
They were excited, and went through the relay, and the swimming portions in record time.
Giving him a hug just before the change room, Bella whispered in his ear, "at least have fun faking the food poisoning."
"Don't worry," he grinned widely, "I prepared this morning."
She'd wondered where most of the orange juice and milk had gone.
"Glad I'm missing that part!" she said, and hurried away to get changed. She could imagine, already, too well, just how convincing Emmett's imitation of food poisoning would be.
As always, the weather threatened in Seattle, and a large crowd had gathered by a large window bank just inside the student union building, safely away from rain and sun. Edward, Alice, and Rosalie waited to see the last leg of the competition there, while Emmett finished up his less pleasant performance in the bathroom. He planned on joining them when the climb started. Alice assured him he'd miss the sunlight with this timing.
They performed beautifully, even without Emmett, just shy of their best time, securing a solid second place in the running. Bella only faltered once on the way up, and they all clambered down together, excited hugs shared all around. Even Leo offered good wishes, setting aside his resentment over Jun.
Bella had put on a brave face, but she was exhausted. Her back still twinged once in a while. Nothing serious, but it was enough to make her cautious. Now she was trying to regulate her breathing, sinking into the deep shade on the periphery of the platform, leaning against one of the stouter trunks, legs fully jellied, as she tried to recoup her air.
She thought it was Edward at first, but the grip of the cold hands was all wrong.
Then she was flying, the intermittent dazzle of Jun's face making her blink with disbelief. It was only seconds for her to register it all, but they were far from the plaza now, heading north towards the waterfront.
"Jun, stop!" she said, twitching in his arms. "Put me down, please!"
"Soon," he said, "it isn't safe yet."
She didn't think it would be safe, now or then, but she knew the futility of her physical struggle, and made herself be still, trying to think about where he would take her. And why. And what she could do about it.
There was a thump as they landed in a sturdy boat, and he handed her a life jacket. "Put it on," he said tersely, turning over the engine. She was thrown back in her seat by the acceleration. "Now!" he barked.
She did, adjusting the unfamiliar straps, trying still to think. To be calm.
She watched him, throat working, as he swallowed, and swallowed.
His eyes were as bright as they'd been in January.
But he hadn't killed her then, and he hadn't yet now.
She had some hope.
So she eyed the water.
The roar of the engine, and the water together, didn't leave much space for talk, but she caught his look, and the loud "don't," when he saw where her gaze went. "You'll just be cold and wet for it."
She took in the shape of the land, now distant and fading, hoping that Alice would be looking.
Surely, Alice would be looking?
Please be looking, Alice, she thought, and mated her gaze to the fuzzy shoreline.
Another shape grew in the direction they travelled, and in time, Bella realized it was a boat. A much larger one. A yacht was too small a term.
It'd been anchored, somehow, but deeply. Far deeper than any normal anchor would be set. Of course, she thought, not needing to breathe left one certain liberties in setting a mooring so far from shore.
She spotted the buoy that marked the tether line, and watched as Jun tied the speedboat there. Then, without asking, he turned and picked her up, leaping with one graceful motion onto the deck of the larger vessel.
It was silent except for the wind.
"Jun," Bella started, trying to keep the shake from her voice. "Why are we here?"
He said nothing, his face working, unclipping the lifejacket form her, and then pulling her into a hug. "You OK?" he asked breathily.
"Can't breathe," she managed.
He released his arms. "Sorry," he murmured. "Are you? OK?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "You've just—why am I here Jun?"
He looked at her, taking a deep breath in, swallowing audibly. "Because I'm going to change you."
~ 0 ~
Alice's vision had snagged Edward's attention.
In it, he and Victoria were standing, clearly facing off near the university waterfront, in broad daylight. The clothing he wore was what he stood in, and beside Victoria, were four vampires, two of whom were Jasper and Emmett's carbon copies. The other two were young men, faces plucked from the pages of the missing. Their names were inconsequential now. Their allegiance moreso to Edward.
The image had stunned him, and then his physical eyes caught Bella's disappearance behind the tree. It was too far to hear the range of thoughts, but he recognized the span of the hand that'd taken her.
Alice and Emmett's grips held him.
"Slowly," Alice said, "there're too many people around."
They turned, as one, and slipped through the crowd, running when it thinned, and then flying when the trees met them.
Alice phoned Jasper, explaining as much as she could, trying to tell them where their destination lay.
The line of vampires was ready for them, just as she'd seen.
Edward, whose thoughts were full of her machinations now, called her a name he'd never used before.
"You're outnumbered, Edward. Be polite," she cooed back, laughing. It was musical, and bubbled over the water, audible to the human ears nearby. "And we wouldn't want to draw any attention now, would we?"
She'd chosen her location well. Far enough away from any human line of sight, but close enough that their fight would need to be quiet. She was stalling for time.
Then she showed him exactly why she was, and his eyes widened in horror.
~ 0 ~
"Change me?" Bella said, swallowing herself.
"Come inside," Jun said, trying to gently press her forward with his arm, but making her eyes water with the force of it.
Inside, Bella blinked. They stood in the equivalent of a floating house. A living room spread before them, a fully equipped kitchen to one side, and doors on the other, presumably to other rooms.
"Why don't you go have a shower?" Jun suggested, "You're cold." He pointed to one of the doors.
Her mind was spinning. He wanted to change her. He could barely look at her without venom pooling in his mouth.
She was dead if he tried.
Taking a shower seemed like a sensible way to to delay this insanity.
Looking at the windows, she studied the skyline, trying to make their shape clear in her mind.
Please be looking Alice, she thought. Please.
Then she let her eyes trail over the space, hoping for something she could use to contact them. There was nothing, and even if there was, she couldn't think how she'd use it, without him noticing.
"Just there, Bella," Jun said again, pointing to a room. He chuckled. "Promise not to look."
She avoided having her eyes rest on him. It was too startling. Instead, she nodded, slipping into the room, closing the door behind her, letting the shake in her hands have its way with her, travelling up her arms, and becoming a muffled sound in her throat.
He must know, she thought, how terrified she was. She couldn't make it stop. When his tap came at the door, she startled. "You'll feel better after a shower," his voice called.
It couldn't hurt to have a shower.
She took her time, and when the water became lukewarm, turned it off, towelling herself off just as slowly. Finding a hair dryer, she used it on her hair, and then went looking for any sort of product that could extend her time in the bathroom.
When she opened the door the bathroom, her clothes were gone.
In their place was a large robe. The kind you found in hotels, or spas. It made her nervous, looking at it, but she put it on. Her clothing had been a barrier of sorts. And now it was gone.
"Your stuff's in the wash," Jun said, when she came out, making her jump a bit. "Sorry."
She nodded, wondering what was next.
Being bit. Likely. Then dying when he lost all control.
She didn't approach him.
He was fishing around in the fridge. "You want something to drink?" he called. Then he swore, as a wet dripping reached her ears. "Sorry, no orange soda. Wait, you like cola, right?"
The surreality of waiting for death, while being offered a soda made her laugh.
She wasn't sure if this was wise.
He poked his head out from behind the galley wall, smiling at the sound.
"That sounds more like you."
The laugh died abruptly on her lips, as his red eyes crinkled with his grin.
"Cola OK?" he asked, waving a can in front of her.
"Sure."
He gestured to the table by the window, and Bella moved to it slowly, like a mouse, hoping to avoid the predatory gaze or reach of some housecat.
His eyes followed her movements, and he swallowed twice before she reached her seat.
Predatory.
Sitting down opposite her, he pushed the can across the table. "You want a glass with that?"
"No thanks," Bella said, opening it without bloodying herself. Her fingers shook.
Jun got up again, and she started.
"Just getting some food," he murmured, a hand on her shoulder.
The physical gesture did nothing to reassure her. She twitched under it.
When he returned, it was with a bag of chips, which he also pushed towards her.
She realized that he was trying to make her feel at ease.
"Thank you," she said, opening the bag, and taking a bite of one of the chips. And then another, swallowing her drink.
"You're welcome. I'd go slow on that, if I were you," he said, eyeing the bag. "Not the best, for after a big workout."
"Guess not," Bella agreed, wondering what they'd have been eating if he wasn't what he was. It made her eyes water, knowing what she'd done.
"Hey," he said, "it's OK. I know you're scared. I'm going to make this as easy as I can. We'll...we'll go slow."
This last statement made her shake her head. "Don't think that's going to help, Jun."
"Sure it will," he said, eyebrows squishing together.
Her disbelief rode out on a forced breath out, "not much you can slow down about a bite. Not that I'd want to."
Jun swallowed again. From anxiety or bloodlust, she couldn't tell.
"I'm not talking about that part, Bella."
It was her turn to make furrows in her forehead. "Then what are you talking about? Being bitten is kinda it."
"It's not," he said, and almost to himself, he murmured, "I thought they'd have told you."
"Told me what?"
~ 0 ~
I know! Victoria cackled in her mind. And he believes it, oh so sincerely! Then she laughed aloud.
Edward's face was as good as theatre to her.
Their stalemate persisted, Edward's and Alice's gifts stymying an advance by the other line, twitching hands on either side, showing him that Victoria's control over these newborns was tenuous.
He loves her, she thought at him. So much, he's willing to try to change her. He's been practising! She cackled internally, showing him the futile efforts Jun had thought successes. And what he went through—Lordy!—I've never seen the like of it. And it only made him want her more. Be willing to do anything to make this happen. He has NO idea what my game plan was. Oh, the fun my boys had. And then me.
She showed him what had happened.
Then she showed him what she thought was happening with Jun and Bella.
Edward roared, and spurred beyond all control, leapt forward to meet her answering jump, mid-air.
~ 0 ~
"How a vampire is made," Jun said. "They haven't told you."
Bella was breathing too fast again, the reality of this before her.
"Jun, I don't want to be changed," she pushed out.
She truly didn't. Not by him. Not now.
"But you do," he said. "Why else would you be with them, Bella. Be with him?" These last words made his face contort. It pained him, clearly, to say it
She avoided the confrontation his words invited.
"I don't want to, Jun. Please accept that."
"I don't believe you, Bella. She played me the recordings."
"Recordings?" Her voice hitched up.
"She bugged your room, your house, other places," he said. "You've wanted this for a long time."
Jasper had been right, she realized. It had been her.
"Jun," she said slowly, her voice trembling with the many emotions wanting play there. "I don't want to be changed. Not now."
"It's what, a few months ahead of schedule?"
She stared.
"Yeah," he said, "i know all about that plan. You have to. I get that you don't want to, Bella, but you're dead if you don't."
She wanted to shake her head against this, but couldn't.
"And they would have changed you already, if they wanted you."
She looked up at him. "They will." How she wanted to have no doubt about this, to not feel the wiggle of a wormy questioning wedge its way between her faith and skepticism.
"They won't," he said, more fiercely. "And that's why I'm here. Why Victoria wanted to change you."
She sputtered out the last bit of her drink. "You think she wants to help me? Jun, she wants me dead. Edward killed her mate. This is revenge, pure and simple."
"Edward stopped her mate from changing you, Bella."
There was such conviction in his voice, it stopped the next words in her throat.
"You asked," he said, seeing her mouth close again, "what it takes to be changed. He'd started that with you, Bella. Victoria told me about it."
"He tortured me, Jun, because he was a sick, sadistic, bastard!"
"Yeah," he said softly, "I get out how it could feel that way."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The bite, Bella. It's the...catalyst. But the body, needs to be...primed."
"And you think that's what that was?" Her eyebrows had flown up to her hairline, and she was half standing in angry disbelief.
"I know that's what it was, Bella. She," he sighed. "Your ex's brothers," and he snorted here, "he sent them to do his dirty work."
Her face folded inwards. No. He'd promised. Told her he had nothing to do—
"What do you mean, his dirty work?"
"Why do you think I went missing?"
"Victoria—"
"Saved me, Bella. She changed me after they'd left me to die. Slowly, I'll add. Made it look like a bad car accident." He waited for her to sit again. "She saved me because of her own past—because of her sister. They met a coven, much like you did, who took them under their wing, and promised to change them. Then they killed her sister, and it was only by pure luck that James found her in time, and saved her by changing her. I don't want the same for you, Bella. I'll change you."
He believed Victoria's story. Without doubt. Bella knew there was no way she could dissuade him. Not on the timeline she had available to her. Arguing would only entrench his beliefs further.
"So when Victoria came after me last spring—"
"It was to change you, Bella."
She nodded, pretending to accept this, and grasping at any knowledge she might use to worm her way out of this fate, asked, "so, how do you plan on changing me?"
"I'm going to break your radius—a bone in your arm. It should be the least painful."
Her heart began pounding.
"After I numb the area, and give you some pain medication."
Then her head began to spin.
His hand found hers. He made sure he had her eyes before he said the next words. "I'm sorry about...before. I'll be very careful when we make love, when I bite you."
~ 0 ~
Jasper's arrival had turned the tide for the Cullens.
Victoria's head, so full of the special tortures she'd set in motion for Edward, had not anticipated the full advantage of all the Cullen's gifts together, and her curls bounced along with her skull as it landed on the beach.
"Alice!" Edward roared. "Where is she?"
"On a boat," she said, showing him where.
"WHERE?"
"I need something to draw with," she said, flustered hands shaking.
Rose ran off and came back with paper and pen, Jasper and Emmett busy gathering body parts into a boat nearby.
Watching the lines unfold, he nodded, "I know where." They'd followed the coastline when they first went to draw James away from Bella.
Leaving Emmett and Rose to dispose of the bodies, he flew into the water, Jasper and Alice close behind. He just hoped they were in time.
A/N 2018-07-20 - It's one thing when you plot out a story, and then write it. It's another thing entirely to see other people's views on it. Very curious to hear what your reactions are on this one (aside from wanting to kill me for leaving you dangling on this cliff - next chapter is in the works).
And, finally, there are over three hundred people following this story...I'm just going to take a moment and say wow, and thank you. Really appreciate hearing from so many of you.
~ Erin
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