Turmoil [Emmett Cullen] (3)

[18- Punch a Werewolf]

The next couple days were stressful. With no help from the Denalis, Carlisle tried to reach out to some of his other friends for help. The only problem was that these friends hadn't embraced technology like our family did, so it was basically impossible to reach out. It looked like we would be fighting alone.

Emmett was confident. Of course. Classic Emmett. It took way more than a battle to unsettle him. I wasn't so sure. There were seven of us and at least 20 newborns. The worst situation, the one Jasper was desperately trying to avoid, was if we each have to fend off a minimum of two at the same time.

For us to be as strong as possible, we needed to overfill our bodies with animal blood. Newborns were much stronger than us because their own human blood lingered in their tissues. If we over fed on animal blood, we could almost make up the difference.

To try and take our minds off the looming battle, Emmett and I worked on restoring and upgrading his Jeep. He started the project in Ithaca. It was an old model from the 70s, nothing like his current state of the art Jeep Wrangler.

It was a massive undertaking. Emmett completely rebuilt the engine but the body still needed a lot of work. Some parts were almost completely rusted though.

Emmett was our family's best mechanic. Part of it arose from necessity; how many mechanics in the small towns we lived in knew the inner mechanisms of a Mercedes or Lamborghini. If I needed to get my Lamborghini serviced, I would need to drive all the way to Seattle.

He had slowly started teaching me about cars. I loved when Emmett was passionate about something. I loved watching his eyes light up and the excited energy he exuded. Emmett's laugh and positivity were infectious.

The second reason I took it upon myself to learn new things was because I got bored so quickly. It happened when I was human as well. If I wasn't learning or doing something, I became restless and sometimes self destructive.

It's why I wanted to learn so many languages. In over a decade, I managed to master at least 30 distinct languages. I wanted to be challenged and as a vampire, it was more difficult to find activities to do.

Today's task was upgrading the shocks.
Emmett was holding up the front of the Jeep up off the ground while explaining to me how to replace the front wheel suspension.

"Do you see those bolts on the shock tower?"

"Yeah."

"You have to unfasten them. Clockwise. It's super important to—". We were interrupted by the sound of Edward's Volvo. I could see the masked fury on his face as he helped Bella get out of the car.

Bella was cradling her right hand, the swollen knuckles very evident as she stepped out of the car.

"Fall down again, Bella?" Emmett asked with a grin.

She replied with annoyance. "No, Emmett. I punched a werewolf in the face."

He looked at her in surprise and then burst out laughing. I couldn't help but let out a small grin.

"Jasper's going to win the bet," he said, sneering.

"What bet?" Bella stopped walking and stared at Emmett.

"Let's get you to Carlisle," Edward urged and shook his head slightly at Emmett, giving him a warning look.

"What bet?" she demanded. "Edward..."

"It's infantile. They like to bet."

"Emmett will tell me." Bella tried to pull away, but he gave in with a sigh.

"They're betting on how many times you...slip up in the first year."

"Oh. They have a bet about how many people I'll kill?"

"Yes. Emmett thinks your temper will turn the odds in Jasper's favor."

"Jasper's betting high?"

"It will make him feel better if you have a hard time adjusting. He's tired of being the weakest link."

"Sure. Of course it will," she said sarcastically. "I guess I could throw in a few extra homicides, if it makes Jasper happy. Why not?" Edward sighed and helped Bella inside.

Emmett and I finished the upgrade.

"Nice job! Do you think you could replace the shocks on the Lamborghini?" He asked.

"What happens if I do it wrong?"

"Worst outcome; the car is virtually impossible to steer and brake." My eyes widened.

"Ok, maybe not."

He let out a booming laugh, "Yeah. Maybe we can work up to that."

We went upstairs. Bella and Edward were on the couch, her hand in a brace.

"What's the damage?" I asked.

"One knuckle is broken, two are just bruised."

"I want to apologise about earlier. About the bet. We were just messing around but I see now that it's hurtful."

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes, "It's true isn't it? The blood lust, the killings."

Edward gave me a cautionary look.

"I can only speak from my experience. I found it difficult to control my emotions. The blood lust was harder at the beginning. There were a couple close calls." I remembered one of my first days at Dartmouth. At the time, I didn't even realise how close I got to breaking.

"Eleanor has always had better control," Emmett said, settling down on the couch next to me.

"After the transformation, I had a bit more trouble with the rules. Edward, do you remember Rochester and Albany?"

Edward sighed, "How could I forget?"

"I lost control. It didn't last half a second. Resisting never even crossed my mind. Bet you're glad you saved me."

"Some days less than others." Emmett laughed.

"Did your transformation hurt?" Bella asked.

"Edward never told you?"

She shook her head, "Only that he found you in Appalachia."

"I felt like I was being burnt alive. I had a little too much fun in my 20 human years so for me I wasn't surprised by the pain. But it was brutal."

Esme told me once that it was torture listening to him suffer through it. I knew the pain, I experienced it myself. To watch helplessly as Emmett howled in pain, it must of been excruciating. I was thankful it happened before my time.

"That's probably not the answer you're looking for. But I'm sure if he ever gets around to accepting the inevitable, you'll do fine." Edward's fist knocked Emmett off the couch.

I chuckled, "You kind of deserved that one."