Ch 11: Gin and Mothballs

Bella.

Dad was exhausted when he came in last night. I don’t really like that he is working the long hours he does. It sounds like he is getting a nasty chest cold the way he was coughing. He really needed to slow down but I don’t think he knows how.

There is a funeral today for Mrs. Cope and he was driving escort for the procession. I was glad to see that old bat go. She was the music teacher at the high school for the last thirty years and she was a bitch. Earlier this week, she died when her house burned to the ground. Apparently, she had drank herself to a stupor and passed out while smoking, dropped her cigarette on the couch and set the house on fire.

Barely out of the shower, I grabbed my phone that was sounding off on my desk. Glancing at the screen and saw it was Alice. “Hey Ali,” I answered while sponging the water from my hair with a towel.

“Hey Bella, whatcha doin?” she chirped.

“Just got out of the shower, other than that, not much,” leaving my hair to dry the rest of the way on its own I hung the towels on the bathroom I started tugging the covers in place over my bed.

“Want to come over? I’m bored,” she whined.

I paused seeing Edward’s shirt on the floor where I tossed it undressing to shower. “Yeah, but I don’t want to do anything, I’m still tired,” I told her, walking over and picking up the shirt.

“Cool, I just want to hang out, nothing special,” she reassured me.

Telling her I’d be there in a bit, I hung up. I tossed my dirty panties across the room to my laundry basket and held the shirt in my hands up for inspection. It was a black Sex Pistols shirt, one of my favorite bands, I glanced at the Anarchy in the U.K. poster hanging on my wall. Balling the shirt up, I brought it to my face and buried my nose in it. I tingled between my legs at the scent of him. He was delicious, there was no denying it.

Tossing the shirt on the bed, I glanced out the bedroom window. It didn’t look like rain but It didn’t look like Forks would get any sun today either and there was a slight breeze. I settled on some comfy jeans and a long sleeved cotton shirt. Tying my sneakers, I grabbed Edward’s shirt. I knew I should take it back to him but it also flashed through my mind that it I wouldn’t mind having it around the next time I got off. With a goofy grin on my face, I squashed the idea as borderline creepy and went downstairs.

I tossed the shirt in the washer. I would take it back to him and try to thank him again. I started to tingle yet again, at the thought of seeing Edward. Quit being stupid, I told myself. He probably wants nothing to do with the girl who he first met when she was puking all over herself, drunk on her hands and knees in a hallway. I shouldn’t even take the shirt back. He would more than likely rather I kept it than show up on his doorstep.

There weren’t many dishes, just a few cups. Perks of ordering pizza for dinner and eating off paper plates, I mused. Grabbing fish fillets out of the freezer to thaw and turning the coffee pot off, I finished up my chores making sure to move Edward’s shirt to the dryer. I wasn’t sure what time to expect dad back, so I left him a note on the kitchen table.

When I got to Alice’s I found her sitting on the living room floor working on her science project for school. She looked up and smiled. “Thanks for coming over. Dad’s gone until Tuesday.” She didn’t have to tell me she was lonely. Alice doesn’t like to be alone.

That was a big difference between Alice and me. I didn’t mind being alone but she did. I spent a lot of time here when her dad traveled. I pulled my book from my backpack and curled up on the couch. Alice resumed working on her project.

An hour later, she stacked her books up and stuffed her papers into her binder. “Hungry?”

I nodded. I could eat something light. Not that I was hungry but I knew it would help my body recover faster if I gave it nourishment. Setting my book on the couch, I followed her to the kitchen. While she made sandwiches, I grabbed us some sodas from the fridge and settled on one of the kitchen stools.

“Thanks,” Alice popped the tab on the soda I slid in front of her.

“Welcome,” I bit into the turkey and tomato sandwich. “Mmmm this is good Ali,” I took another bite. We finished our lunch and dropped our plates in the sink. We didn’t do the dishes. Alice’s dad had a cleaning woman and I learned long ago that she didn’t like us doing the jobs she deemed as hers. She was odd but nice enough; when she was around she didn’t bother us.

“So tell me about Emmett’s neighbor? What does he look like? Is he cute? Are you going to see him again?” Back in the living room Alice bombed me with questions I blinked and laughed, typical Alice.

“We didn’t really talk Ali, I was kind of too fucked up. He was nice enough to keep an eye on me but it isn’t like we stayed up playing scrabble.” There was no way in hell I was going to tell her he undressed me. “I’m going to take him his shirt back next weekend if that counts as seeing him again.”

Alice jumped up excited. “I knew it! I knew he was cute!” She clapped her hands together.

Rolling my eyes, I looked at her and grinned. Yeah, she noticed I skipped over that part. “He’s fucking amazing hot.”

My statement sent Alice bouncing her leg and squealing. “Oh. My. God.” She paused dramatically. “Bella. He is the one I just know it. You admitted you needed a boyfriend and then he shows up! It’s a sign! I just know it!”

I was laughing loudly now at Alice’s display of enthusiasm. “I never told you I knew I needed a boyfriend,” I spit out still laughing. Sobering, I added, “I’m sure he isn’t interested considering how we met. What guy wants a chick he found laying in a pool of puke?”

“WHAT?” Alice shrieked coming to a halt. “You threw up?”

I groaned. Ugh! I hadn’t meant for her to find out about that. “Yeah, I was throwing up when he found me,” I said looking at my lap. I really didn’t want to revisit the events of Friday night.

“That’s why you came back with his shirt on,” she surmised.

“Yep’ I’m pretty sure he wasn’t happy about having to baby sit me all night.” I couldn’t keep the disappointment from creeping in my voice. I’m sure it showed on my face, too.

Alice sat thoughtfully for a minute. It wasn’t long before she had whatever crazy plan she was concocting figured out.

“Okay, so we are going back to Emmett’s and you can go return his shirt. I will have Emmett call him and we can set up a friends night out. I can invite Jasper and Edward can be your date!” Alice clapped her hands again flashing me a wicked grin. She could be so devious.

“I don’t think so Ali. Just let me handle this. I’m going to take him his shirt and we will see how it goes, okay?” Alice looked really bummed out. Suddenly I was hit with a case of nerves. How am I going to handle this? I shook my head. Id figure it out later, I had all week to think about what I was going to say.

A date with Edward would be awesome, I think. I meant what I said when I said he was a nice guy. If he wasn’t he would have just left me in the hallway. But guys that fuck hot either have some major character defect or a girlfriend. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I got even more anxious. Shit! What if he has a girlfriend?

My face dropped and I felt a sinking feeling in my chest.

“Bella! What’s wrong?” Alice noticed my change in demeanor.

“He probably has a girlfriend,” I muttered.

“No guy in his right mind would bring a drunk stranger back to his apartment if he had a girlfriend worth a damn. I don’t know why he didn’t bring you to Emmett’s in the first place which means he must have liked something he saw.” Her eyes were twinkling again.

As much as I wanted to believe her, I knew I wasn’t lucky like that. If it was really like she said, then according to her own words, he wasn’t in his right mind. My good mood began to dissipate and I didn’t want to be stuck in a funk all day so I switched subjects to Jasper. It was easy to distract Alice, at least in the short term.

For the next hour, Alice filled me with information on everything Jasper. His dad owns a construction business and his mom has a small daycare in her home. In the summer, Jasper helps his dad and during school year he helps his mom with the kids when he gets home. He’s an only child and was born and raised in Texas which explains the southern drawl. Moving to Forks when he was ten, his mom home schooled him until high school.

Jasper was always so calm and seemed so centered. He would be good for Alice. Maybe settle her down a bit. She didn’t break the law very often but she was always scheming. I had to wonder what she would be like in twenty years. I could see her robbing a bank at gunpoint to get money to donate to a children’s hospital. She was bat crazy like that and it bothered me to think of what kind of trouble she could find herself in if she weren’t careful.

Alice made it clear a few years ago, she had no intention of going to college. With her upbringing, I wasn’t surprised. Alice had always had everything handed to her, her father made no effort to hide how wealthy he was although he wasn’t the type to rub it in anyone’s face. Greg was a good man and a good dad.

He donated every year to the after school clubs and the local charities. He never gave a whole bunch of money to one place, instead he seemed to divide it through the town. Every year, the sports team who need it the most, would get new uniforms and equipment. The animal shelter was sent a nice check and so did the people at the senior center who took hot meals to the people who needed them and couldn’t get out. Last year, he and Alice picked me up and we went to Port Angeles and handed out sleeping bags at Christmas time to the homeless. He never let us out of the car; we merely passed them through the window. The reaction from the people we gave them too made Alice and I cry on each other all the way home. Life can be so cruel and unfair.

Greg never tried to take credit for what he did. When the senior center wanted to present him with an award at their Christmas party last year, he refused to go to the party until they agreed to not bring attention to his contributions. I don’t know why he never remarried. All I can think is when Alice’s mom died his heart broke for all eternity.

I didn’t know her mom. It happened before they moved here. Alice keeps a framed picture of her in her desk upstairs in her room. The whole thing was quite tragic really.

The day before Alice’s 13th birthday her mom had flown in to Spokane where they lived. The car she had left in the long term parking garage had a flat tire when she arrived. It was mid November and there was several inches of snow on the ground, her flight was one of the last fights to land for several days as Washington was about to get slammed with a blizzard.

Checking the latest weather updates, she called Greg to tell him she wasn’t going to wait for roadside assistance to meet her. She decided to pay for a cab before the snow started falling too hard to get home. After she told Greg her plans, she got on the phone with Alice and told her how much she had loved and missed her. She was so excited that her princess was turning into a teenager. She told Alice she had a special present for her and that she would see her soon. Alice was the last person to talk to her mom before she died, except for the cab driver of course.

Alice only told me her story once. I was one of the few who knew what happened to her mom. Greg had moved him and his daughter to Forks to get away from the sad looks and sympathetic stares.

By the time Greg figured out something was wrong, the snow was coming down heavy. They only lived half an hour out of town but with the bad road conditions he gave his beloved extra time to arrive. When they didn’t show up and he couldn’t reach her on the phone he had called the authorities. Unfortunately, due to the heavy snowfall they were busy and it was several hours before they were able to respond to his call. By then the roads were almost impassable.

Chills ran down my arms, I always got chills when I thought about Alice’s mom. I glanced at Alice who was texting someone, Jasper I assume.

The way Alice told it, her dad went crazy. He was up all night yelling and screaming in the phone, trying to get someone to help him. It was the only time in Alice’s life her dad shut her out. She was completely invisible to him in his rage. She had cried herself to sleep on the couch watching her dad lose his mind in front of her. It was the only time she had seen her father scream and cry like that. She said she was woken several times by the sound of glass breaking or wood splintering. He had completely lost his mind that night.

In the early morning hours the temperatures dropped making it too cold to snow. The soft white flakes turned into one of the worst ice storms Spokane had seen in some years. The taxi had hit a frozen spot in the road and struck a tree early in the evening. The driver had died on impact or shortly thereafter. I don’t know which. Alice’s mom had a broken arm and scrapes and cuts but that wasn’t what killed her. She had frozen to death in the brutal sub zero temperatures. When search and rescue found Alice’s mother, she was huddled with the cab driver in the front seat trying to get any warmth from his lifeless body she could. In her hand was a silver chain and on it a diamond pendant in the shape of an A.

I looked to Alice who was flipping through channels on the TV. I couldn’t see the pendant that fell below her neckline but the silver chain was in place. I had never seen her without it. Why bad things happen to good people Ill never know and it rips my heart out when I see good people hurting who shouldn’t be.

The rest of the afternoon we watched the lamest reality shows Alice could find. I did laugh pretty hard when one particularly mouthy bitch got knocked on her ass and her ridiculously large boob came out of her shit. I was almost in tears. Alice was too, watching me.

I got home early enough to call dad and see if he was going to be home for dinner. I was relieved to find out he was on his way home already. He needed to rest to shake that cold. I pulled what I needed from the fridge and cupboards, starting dinner. Dad loved to fish. When I was younger he used to take me along. It’s not really my thing now I am older. I think he always wanted a boy but he loved me just the same.


Victoria.


I watched from corner as the old bat poured her self another one. She smelled like mothballs and gin. I couldn’t wait to get out of here. This whole house was saturated in her stank.

My boss was a good man. I had worked for him for several centuries and he never turned on me. Time and time again I had seen our kind turn on each other. Vampires are ruthless by nature.

A wicked smile played across my lips as I stepped from the shadows. The hag jumped unsteadily when she saw me appear from the darkness. I watched as the glass fell from her hand in slow motion and fell to the floor. I stalked toward her slowly, calculated. Her eyes were large saucers and bugged from beneath her thick glasses.

“Who… who are you? What do... do you want?” the old woman was barely able to speak, her fear making her stutter. The closer I got the more her skin paled. I knew she could see the blood thirst in my eyes. I knew she was terrified. She reeked of fear which only excited me further. She attempted to step back ward as I advanced seeming to forget the table behind her where she was just pouring her booze.

“Awww. Stupid, weak human, did you forget there was a table behind you? You almost knocked the bottle over,” I cooed. She was frozen in place staring at my eyes. I could see the reflection of my blood lust in her thick glasses. My eyes always turned the most vibrant red before a kill. I’ve been complimented on them many times.

Working with my boss had its drawbacks. He required that most of my meals were of animal and not human. The only time I was allowed to feed naturally was when I traveled as his courier to the Volturi or if I were on a job like this. Even then there were restrictions; no suffering and no mess.

The stupid woman was too frozen in fear to try to run away. I laughed which only scared her more. I could hear her heart which was pounding so fast it sounded like it was going to explode.

“That’s right Grandma, it’s your time. It will only hurt for a moment. I promise.” I licked my lips and could taste the venom pooling around my tongue.

I heard her take what would be her last breath. She had intended to scream but I couldn’t have that. Clamping my hand over her mouth and nose before she could utter a sound, I sunk my teeth in to her neck. She didn’t have any fight to her, not that it would have done her any good. She attempted to push me off her once to no avail. As the blood left her body she slumped in my arms, twitching occasionally, which was normal.

I snarled, drinking greedily from the large vein. Her blood was dirty with alcohol and tobacco and it was sour. A few minutes later, I tossed her drained, limp body on the couch. I moved the largest of the broken pieces of her long since forgotten glass of booze and set them around the floor in front of the couch where I tossed her. Grabbing the gallon of gin, I drizzled it over her pale wrinkled flesh making sure it splashed along the couch and hard wood floor. I moved her filthy ashtray and cigarettes in front of her on the coffee table and flicked the lighter.

I wasn’t sent to take care of humans very often and I can’t say this was the most pleasant of experiences. Her blood was foul and the moth ball odor was repulsive. Doing a quick check to make sure the scene had been set I touched the flame to a gin soaked throw pillow and tossed it back on the couch.

Fire didn’t bother me like it did some. It would take one hell of a fight to get me down. If I had to, I could give my boss a run for his money, but he gave me no reason to.

I pulled the disposable cell out of my pocket and dialed.

“Yes?” the familiar voice answered.

I smiled. If he weren’t hopelessly in love with another woman I would have definitely attempted to become his mate. I liked his wife though. She always left business up to her husband so our encounters were always on a social basis. She was a kind, generous woman, always gracious and happy to see me when I would visit. If she were any less, I would have attempted to steal her mate away from her, but as it is, they were meant to be.

Someday, I hoped to find a mate who would love me like that.

“It’s done. I’ll call you in a few days when we move to phase two.”

“Very good, I’ll talk to you soon, Victoria.” The boss never liked to talk on the phone much. He was smart and I trusted him, perhaps more than I should.

I glanced over my shoulder through the window of the stinking, old house. Flames licked at the curtains inside the living room window. Priding myself in another job well done, I turned my back and ended the conversation.

“In a few days,” I repeated. “Have a good weekend, Carlisle.”


_____



AN:

I was hoping to get this published yesterday but lots of little things came up. I’m a bit under the weather and my son needed extra homework help not to mention my dear neighbor lost her husband a few days ago and I have been trying to be supportive in her time of need.

Next update planned 3-4 days. Have a family trip planned this weekend and will be working on getting a twitter account set up so be sure to check for that after Monday I will post the info with the next update and on my blog profile.

Loving the reviews! Keep them coming!!

Have a great weekend my friends!!