THE GARAGE
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The page Bree was reading turned as her marble-like fingers pulled it to the other side of the book.
She was reading about different animals. Her eyes were occupied with reading the nutritions of foxes. She had not remembered that the cunning creatures were able to eat berries. It was fascinating. “Omnivores,” she mused silently.
A picture of the cute bushy-tailed red animal picking berries jumped to her mind. A short smile appeared in her expression before she let it fade, like it had never even existed.
The door to her room opened with a boom as she got ready to turn another fragile page over. Emmett’s head popped in. The man wore a mischievous grin. “I hope you're not. We are, to my knowledge, carnivores. It would be a shame if you started drinking the nectar from the flowers. That would be next level!”
Disgust plastered on the young teen's face as her gaze found the hulk-like vampire’s. She couldn't even think about attempting to drink the disgusting liquid coming from the plants. If animal blood tasted bad, the one coming from flowers must have been horrible. She almost gagged in disgust. She would never touch the insides of the green plants. It would surely make her traumatised. The thick transparent thing dripping from them—absolutely never would she try to put that into her mouth. And over her dead body, would she actually slurp it down to her stomach. She could get sick from it. Or could she?
Were vampires able to get stomach bugs? She hoped not. She would need to ask Carlisle about it after the man returned from his hunting trip. Surely he would know.
“So...would you want to come help me and Rose?” Emmett asked. He leaned against the frame of the door. It creaked ominously under his weight, warning that it could not take much more of his lean.
“I don't know.” The newborn sighed cautiously. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go ‘hang out’ with the two, as Emmett referred to it. The muscular vampire had pestered her for the last two days, forcing her to talk with him three times each day. It was annoying. She hoped she would be left alone to suffer and read her books in peace.
“C'mon bee. It will be fun. I pinky promise! We need your help with fixing up my Jeep. I accidentally drove straight into a tree while making out with Rosalie.” His lips turned to pout as he undoubtedly repeated his yesterday's little adventure in his brain.
The teen narrowed her eyes and shut her book gently. It dutifully complied with her command, letting itself be closed without a struggle. “I don’t know how to fix cars.” She wasn’t keen on being stuck in the same room with the most horniest Cullens. She swore she had seen them slip away multiple times this week, first not realising why they had done so. Soon, however, the reason had dawned on her. They were very into each other. The car incident had just proved her theory right.
And then there was also the fact that she had heard their alone time two times.
The other mated couples living in the residence didn’t seem as occupied with their mates. They did also disappear occasionally, but not nearly as often as the hulk-like vampire and the blond goddess.
“It doesn't matter. Rose won’t let us touch the Jeep anyway. She just needs a couple of extra hands to give her tools.” Emmett raised his shoulders nonchalantly. “And I’m too bored to let both of my hands be occupied so I need your help.”
“I guess I can come,” the young girl sighed. She stood up reluctantly. “But only if you leave me alone for the rest of the day.”
“Deal.”
Bree felt her muscles relax after the man’s promise. She hadn’t known her body had stiffened. It had tightened so subtly that she had not managed to notice it. Worry flickered in her brain before she stepped towards the muscular vampire. She let it move back of her mind as she reached the door.
The Cullen led her downstairs through the scary stairs. She climbed them down quickly, skipping the last three stairs with an enormous jump. She liked to think the movement had been huge but most likely, especially for a vampire, tiny. Nevertheless, she still felt proud of it. She had managed to jump all the way to the bottom from her place on the glass stairs. It was an achievement that the hellish transparent thing hadn’t tripped her in the air maliciously.
Her silent demeanour dragged behind the other vampire. Her eyes gazed around as they took a peek inside the huge garage. Its shelves were shaking with tools she couldn’t recognise, each looking more mysterious than the last. How many tools did people need to fix cars? Wouldn’t it be more proficient if someone made one super tool to fix all the problems with rusty vehicles? Or was the world too capitalistic for that?
The newborn ruminated in her thoughts until she spotted the blond goddess. She was lying under one of the multiple cars sitting in the garage.
“Finally,” Rosalie sighed. Her head popped beneath the red car she was working on.
Emmett’s face twisted in disappointment. “Babe? Why aren’t you working on my Jeep anymore? I thought you’d only concentrate on it.”
The blonde vampire pulled herself up from under the car. Her hands full of oil, she stood up and wiped her pale hands against a towel put on top of the red car. “I wanted to make sure my BMW was doing well. And besides, you were taking too long.”
“You’re going to return to my Jeep now when I’m back, right?” The hulk-like vampire spoke, his face full of worry. He looked to be quite upset about his Jeep’s fate.
Bree didn’t get why the car worried him so much. Vampires were faster than the metal machines, so logically, there was no point in using them. They just slowed their kind down. And most importantly, the Jeep was only a car. It could be replaced easily with the enormous amount of wealth the Cullens seemed to harbour. Why bother fixing it when you could buy a new one? The Jeep in question looked too broken to be fixed. It’s front was completely ruined and flat, looking more like a metal square than a car.
Rosalie walked up to the man. “Yes, but I need to get a couple of tools first.” She turned to look at the teen standing in the garage’s doorway. Her face unreadable, she said, “Are you going to come in?”
The brown-haired girl’s gaze went to the woman, shifting then to Emmett. The mated couple stared at her, waiting for her to step inside the stuffed garage. Her eyes dropped to the concrete floor before her head nodded submissively.
She was unsure about stepping inside, but she just had to do it regardless of how reluctant she was to do the action. She had promised to help the two Cullens with the Jeep. Ultimately, it would be worth it in the end. She could spend time alone without getting interrupted when the torturous interaction would be over, like they had agreed. It couldn’t be too bad to stay in the garage for an hour or two. Hopefully, the time would go by fast.
She inspected Rosalie's face, trying to see if she seemed hostile. Her memories brought back the words the other vampire had said in the Cullens family meeting. If the newborn had had to choose one other person after Jasper, whom she didn’t trust at all, she would have chosen the blond goddess. She had proved she didn’t really care about Bree and was ready to see her get killed.
As Bree walked inside, the muscular man glanced quickly at his mate, his expression messaging something to her. The young teen darted her face around the garage, feeling a rising awkwardness inside of herself. She had no idea what he was attempting to communicate and, frankly, did not care. She wanted to do what she was asked to do and then go back to reading.
When the glancing between the two Cullens was done, Rosalie scoffed and walked to her. She seemed irritated for a blink of an eye before relaxing her features. She raised her head, eyeing the cautious girl. “Do you know any of the car tools by name? Or do I need to explain their names to you so you will be able to help?”
Under the judging stare of the woman, the newborn squirmed. “I- I don’t think so.”
“I guess I need to introduce them to you shortly then,” the blond goddess sighed more softly. Her hands found their way to her hips. “Listen closely. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
The minutes ticked by as the crimson-eyed vampire noted all the names of the hundreds of tools placed on the shelves. After the confusing introduction to them, she was put to stand next to them and give them one by one the ones Rosalie needed.
Emmett stood lazily next to her, occasionally helping her to hand the tools to his mate. His eyes studied the woman’s work, wonder sparkling in his gaze.
Clicks and clanks rang in the air as the blond vampire fixed the Jeep slowly. As the time wore on, the young girl turned more restless, her gaze not on the places it was supposed to focus on. She wished for the ‘hangout’ to soon be over. Her books had started to call for her from upstairs. She was able to feel their luring thin pages and enchanting scent hovering into her nose.
Her change in patience was noticed as Emmett rolled his eyes playfully. “Really? Bored already? Kid, we have only worked on my Jeep for an hour. I was betting you’d stay here longer.”
Bree’s eyes widened. Betted? What did the man mean by that? Had he made a bet about her? Her heart stung. Suddenly, she didn’t like the direction the day was going. She certainly did not want someone to bet on her. It was rude.
“Which means that I won,” Rosalie announced under the car. She came back up with a victorious pearly smile. “You shouldn’t have made a bet with me and known that the way the newborn is glued to her books, she would not stay away from them for multiple hours.”
“Shi-” Emmett opened his mouth to curse, but the sound of a motor cut it abruptly. The loud engine crackled like it was about to explode. The teen hadn’t heard such a loud motor before. It was almost fascinating how a car was able to make such vile sounds.
Her body stiffened as a heartbeat came to her awareness. It was delicious sounding, bringing sweet venom to her tongue. If she had been closer to it or more thirsty, she would have lost control and attacked it right on the spot, but her full belly from yesterday's hunt made her feel swollen. She didn’t want to make it worse.
“That stupid human! What have we told her about coming to our house!” Rosalie hissed furiously. She had jumped next to the delirious girl and taken hold of her when the younger vampire had imagined the tasty flavour of the arriving human’s blood. “Bree, stop breathing.”