The Face of Beauty to Fall For

We turned onto the driveway of the house the Cullens (occasionally) called home. I looked around, seeing the thick cover of trees.

“Foresty much?” I asked, looking over at Edward.

“We like our seclusion.” He stated, driving up the long concrete drive.

I leaned back in my seat and put my feet up on the dash. “I still don’t understand why I have to come with you.” I grumbled.

He sighed. “Because, Alice had a vision of some unsavory characters coming around, and we don’t want you in danger.” He said, reaching over and pushing my feet down. “Keep your filthy shoes off the dash.”

I smirked and looked at him. “Princess Edwina doesn’t like a little dirt?” I teased.

He glared and came to a screeching halt, sending my face into the spot of the car my feet had once been occupying.

I instantly grabbed my face and glared at him through the tears in my eyes. “You fucker!” I said, getting out of the car and holding my nose, making sure it wasn’t bleeding.

“What happened to you, Travers?” Elizabeth asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Your asshole brother decided to slam on the breaks and he broke my nose.” I told her. Once I was satisfied with the lack of blood from my nose, I looked at Edward, glaring at him.

“Your nose isn’t broken.” He said simply.

I rolled my eyes and headed to the garage, or what I assumed was the garage because of Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper pushing my car into it. “Stay the fuck away from me Cullen. I mean it this time. I’ve had enough of your love me, hate me attitude.” I said, as I stormed off.

“Good job.” Elizabeth stated, falling in step with me as I rounded the corner.

“Thanks.” I said, gasping a little at the mechanic’s wet dream known as the Cullen’s garage.

“Like it?” Rosalie asked, smiling a little.

“It’s amazing.” I admitted, marveling over everything.

“What’s mine is yours.” She added.

I smiled. “Thanks.” I said, grabbing a few tools from the tool cabinet and set to work on my Charger.

“We’ll leave you to it, then.” Jasper said, walking out along with the others.

I barely heard them as I set to work, stopping only for a moment once they’d left to remove my charm bracelet so as not to get it snagged on anything.

[An Hour Later]
{Edward’s POV}

As hard as I had tried not to let Ember’s attitude get to me, I failed. As frustrating as she was, I couldn’t help but admire how fearless she seemed to be.

We all knew she was afraid of us, but she never let it show. Not for a second. I was fascinated by that.

And as I laid in my room, thinking about how different she was from Bella, I felt something in the house change. Someone new had entered.

Just as the first dulcite tones of the piano got to my ears, I was standing in the doorway of the living room. “Ember?” I questioned, seeing the shimmer of light reflecting off the charm bracelet as she played.

She said nothing as she played. A song that I hadn’t heard since before we’d left Forks.

I stopped my slow walk to the shining black instrument, a sudden realization dawning on me. And as I opened my mouth, only one word left it. “Bella?”

She looked up, her red eyes boring into mine. “Hello, Edward.” She said mockingly, standing and snapping the clasp of Ember’s bracelet. “This really is beautiful.” She stated, looking at each charm.

I took a second to gather myself before I spoke. “You’re dead.” I stated.

She walked over to me, a smile on her face. “Yes.” She admitted, reaching up to cup my cheek with her hand. “You worked so hard to try to avoid it, and here I am.”

My eyes drifted shut and I reached up to cover her petite hand. “I’m sorry.” I whispered.

“Get away from him.” Emmett’s voice commanded from behind me.

I turned to see Alice and Rosalie rush past and pull Bella from me. “Don’t!” I cried.

They stopped to look at me.

“Edward… She’s not like us,” Emmett continued. “She isn’t the Bella you knew.”

“I am. I’m still Bella.” She exclaimed, looking at me. “Edward?”

I looked down and picked up the broken bracelet at my feet, taking a moment. “Jasper.. Zachary… Go check on Ember.” I said, looking at Bella. If I could have cried, I would’ve. To see my beloved Bella as a monster like me.

“Who is she?” Elizabeth questioned, walking into the room. She stopped beside me, turning to look at me.

I glanced at her, then back to Bella.

Her face lost is curious expression. The emotion quickly turned to that of sympathy. “Bella.” She stated, turning to her.

Bella smiled. “And you are?”

“I’m Elizabeth Alexandra Lautrec-Dubois. And you are a pain in this family’s collective ass.” She stated, her arms crossed angrily over her chest and I could see the restraint with which she held herself.

Bella laughed. “I’ve done nothing to any of you.”

I stopped Elizabeth from speaking again. “How did this happen, Bella?” I asked, war between bliss at Bella being alive and grief at the price she paid to keep her alive raging in my heart.

She pulled from Alice and Rosalie. “James. He was going to kill me, but he changed his mind and turned me.” She explained briefly. “He thought that it would be worse for you to see me like this.”

I said nothing. James was right, it killed me seeing her like this.

“But I escaped him. I came back to you.” She said, taking a step closer to me. “I love you, Edward.”

My jaw clenched as I caught his scent. “You lie!” I heard myself scream at her. “He’s still here!” I shouted, seeing a whirl of motion as Emmett went to protect Rosalie, Alice and Elizabeth grabbed Bella, and I ran to the garage. I stopped, seeing James holding Ember with Jasper and Zacky broken and bloodied in a corner.

“Let her go, James.” I said dangerously.

He grinned at me, his mouth still crimson with the blood of my brothers. “Now why would I do that?” He asked, his tone just as mocking as Bella’s had been. “What makes her any different than Bella? Call this one a casualty. I brought you Bella back, didn’t I?” His questions didn’t make me feel any better.

“What’s left of the Bella I loved is gone. You warped her to be like you. She’s not the girl I loved.” I growled, crouching slightly to spring at him.

“Do you love her,” he asked, “or do you love that she’s human?”

I refused to answer his questions, mainly because I wasn’t sure of the answer myself.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock. Answer quickly, Edward. She hasn’t got much time left.” He said, shifting his grip slightly to show he had her by the throat and she was turning blue. “I’d say about two more minutes and there won’t be any coming back for her.”

“Either way you’ll kill her.” I stated. “Let her go and we can handle this. You don’t need to kill others to get your revenge on me.”

“Oh, but I already have. This is on the request of a dear, dear friend.” He said, leaning back against the work table, Ember still in his grip. “You see, Bella wanted me to get rid of her oh, so obvious competition. If she’s not competition, I was to let her go. But since you refuse to answer…” He tightened his grip and Ember’s chest stopped moving.

I didn’t think. I simply remember that I saw Ember stop breathing and all I could think about was saving her life. I jumped at James, but never found him. All that I held in my hands was the still body of the second human I’d endangered.

I heard the sounds of struggle and looked over to see Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme fighting with him.

“Edward!” Carlisle called out to me, looking into Ember’s pale face as he dropped to a knee.

I glanced down at her. “She’s dead. She has no heartbeat.” I told him, suddenly in a rush of panic.

He took her from me and in a blur, he was gone.

I sat there motionless, staring at the place Ember had been, then at my hand and the imprint her bracelet had made into it. Even as the sounds of struggle stopped and shouts from my family reverberated in my head, I couldn’t look up. The crackle of flames as the bodies of James and Bella burned didn't even make me blink an eye. All I could think about was that I’d killed her. “I killed her.” I whispered.

“No. James killed her. I killed her. Not you.” Elizabeth said, helping Zacky to stand once he’d come to.

I finally glanced up at her. “No. I killed her. I loved her.”

Esme knelt down next to me, pulling me into a hug. “Shh, Edward. What happened to Bella wasn’t your fault.”

I shook my head. Why did no one understand? My Bella was gone. I felt no remorse over the shell of her that I had just seen. “Not Bella.” I said, my throat closing. “Ember.” I rested my forehead against Esme’s shoulder. “I killed Ember.”