LEGO HOUSE

six.          drama queen

▬▬ CORI LOOKED UP AT HIM, surprised he chose this moment for his love confession, especially with the audience they had. She had wanted to hear those words from him, but that was before. Before she found out the truth, before he left, before she moved on.

Before she was dead.

"No." She shook her head, her voice soft. "You don't get to do this to me."

"Cori-"

"No!" She jumped towards him, knocking him off balance and pinning him to the ground. "You ruined everything! You don't get to use that as your excuse!" He flipped them over, pinning her hands above her head as he watched the anger swirl behind her contacts.

"Calm down."

"Get the hell off of me!" She pulled her leg up between them and kicked him backwards, sending him across the yard and into the thick forest behind the house.

"Damn." Jared mumbled, impressed, getting a disapproving look from Sam, before the alpha checked their surroundings to make sure no one saw. Cori jumped to her feet and started towards the older vampire as he pushed himself up but Paul wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back into his chest.

"Let me go!" She shouted and he grunted as she threw her elbow back and his rib cracked but he didn't let go.

"Calm down, Munchkin." He gritted out as he struggled to keep his hold on her, the broken bone healing.

"Let go, I don't wanna hurt you." She muttered, pulling at his arms but she tried her hardest not to hurt him. Her nails dug into his arm, leaving behind bleeding crescent moons that healed in minutes. He sucked in a breath, his eyes squeezed closed, but he never once loosened his hold on her.

"Take a breath." He told her and she struggled for a few more seconds before she stopped and leaned back against him, taking a breath. "Better?"

"No." She shook her head, her eyes closed, and Emmett just watched them. He hated seeing her so angry, so miserable. And he hated even more that he was the reason. But at least she was alive... sort of. "I don't want this." She croaked, her voice rough, as she let her head hang forward. "I don't-" Her voice cracked and she swallowed a broken sob.

Paul looked up at Emmett and he could see the guilt in his eyes, he could see just how awful he felt for putting the girl through all of this. "I know, Munchkin." He tightened his arms around her, pulling her into his chest — her back still against him — and she leaned her head back against his shoulder. She smelt different, still like herself, like strawberries but there was something else... she smelt the faintest bit like... death.

"I-I'm sorry." Emmett mumbled before making his way to the jeep, then he was just gone.

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▬▬ CORI WAS PERCHED ON a tree branch, her back against the tree and her legs out in front of her, with her eyes turned up towards the sky. She wished the clouds would clear out so she could see the stars, but she knew that was wishful thinking. She let out a small sigh, getting tired of seeing dark gray clouds.

It had been a few hours since the pack left and she didn't exactly want to go back to the Cullen house, not with Emmett there. She couldn't believe he had told her he loved her, like that would fix everything. And deep down, she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

She was angry and that pretty much outweighed any other emotion she felt... well maybe not the ever-present hunger. She didn't want those three words to affect her, and as much as she told herself they didn't, they did.

Her head was spinning. It was making her dizzy.

She leaned her head back against the tree, letting out a needless breath as she closed her eyes. But before she could relax, her phone rang. She let out a huff as she pulled it out of the pocket of her hoodie, she groaned a little when Edward's name flashed across the screen.

"You're not supposed to have my number. And how the hell do I have yours?"

"Where are you?"

"Mars."

"Cori, I'm serious." He huffed and she rolled her eyes.

"You eternal stick in the-"

"Get to the house. There was another vampire at Charlie's place."

That had her sitting up so fast she nearly lost her balance but she locked her legs around the branch to stabilize herself.

"Is my dad okay?"

"He's fine." She let out a relieved breath. "Emmett and Jasper are heading over there to track the scent. Get here now."

"Pushy." She muttered then she hung up and stuffed her phone into her pocket before she jumped down, her Doc Martens hitting the dirt then she was sprinting through the trees towards the Cullen house. Cori made her way through the door and into the living room and everyone turned to face her, all with slightly confused looks as the rather repulsive smell of the wolves wafted through the room. "What?" She looked around, her eyes settling on Bella, who shrugged. "So, who am I killing?"

"Cori." Bella scolded and the younger girl shrugged.

"Better than me ripping your boyfriend's head off."

Esme let her eyes fall closed as she shook her head a little. "You're not killing anyone." She sighed, opening her eyes once again as she looked up at the youngest.

"Fine." She huffed, learning against the wall, she filled her cheeks with air then let out a slow breath as she rested her head against the wall, getting a low chuckle from Travis.

"Who is it?" Carlisle asked, looking from Cori to Edward, who stood across the living room. "Someone we know?"

"This stranger. I didn't recognize his scent." Edward told him as the front door opened and closed.

"A nomad passing through?" Esme questioned, but not even she sounded sure about it.

"A passerby wouldn't have left their father alive." Rosalie reasoned, her golden eyes briefly meeting Cori's red ones just as Jasper and Emmett entered the room.

"The scent disappeared about five miles south of their house." Jasper drawled, his eyes moving from Edward to Cori – he could feel the anger bubbling inside of her, but there was something else, something small... something like confusion. And he took note of the fact that she refused to look in Emmett's direction.

"Someone's orchestrating this." Carlisle stated, though they didn't have much to go on, it was the best possible explanation.

"Victoria?" Bella questioned from her place next to Alice on the couch.

"I'm gonna kill her." Cori gritted out, her hands gripping tightly at her biceps as she clenched her teeth. But she let out a small breath as a wave of calm washed over her and her crimson eyes quickly found Jasper's topaz irises. "Thanks." She muttered and he simply nodded his head.

"I would've seen her decide." Alice shook her head as Travis crossed the room and stopped next to Cori. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side, she smiled a little as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Volturi?" Cori suggested. "Definitely got the creep vibe from them."

"I don't think it's the Volturi either." Alice looked up at the youngest Swan. "I've been watching Aro's decisions, too."

"Who the hell did you guys piss off then?" Cori huffed.

"Us?" Travis raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her.

"I wasn't a part of any of this until a month ago."

"Fair." He conceded. "But we don't know who it is."

"So we keep looking." Emmett added, his eyes never once leaving Cori and it was bothering him that she wouldn't look his way. And it bothered him that his brother had his arm around her.

"We'll also take shifts guarding Bella at her house." Carlisle stated, looking down at the human.

Rosalie looked up, her eyebrow slightly raised. "Another protection detail?"

"Rosalie." The oldest vampire scolded slightly.

"No, she's right." Bella interjected. "You can't protect me, watch my dad and search for the intruder."

"And for Victoria." Rosalie added.

"Dibs." Cori raised her hand slightly, getting an amused laugh from Travis. "I wanna kill her."

Bella shook her head, but otherwise ignored her sister's comment. "You can't do all of that and keep yourselves fed."

"I'm not leaving you here defenseless." Edward told her and Cori rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you starve. I'm not gonna let my sister starve." She argued.

"And she won't be defenseless, Psycho." Cori told him, clearly annoyed with him. "I can start staying at home again – and before you start, I can handle it." She looked over at Carlisle. "Besides, there's also the wolves."

"They're not-"

Cori cut Edward off with a simple look. "They are good people. And even though they hate you guys, there's no way in hell any of them would allow a random ass vampire to hurt any human in this town. Besides, Jake has a thing for her and he'll totally agree."

Bella groaned, pushing her hand through her hair. "Cori."

"What? It's true and everyone in this room knows it."

"Very true." Travis nodded.

"Oh, stop glaring, Drama Queen, she chose you." She huffed, waving him off as she turned to leave, stepping out from under Travis' arm.

"Cori?" Esme stopped her and she let out a small sigh as she turned back around. "Are you okay?" The young vampire's eyes briefly flickered to Emmett before they settled on Esme once again.

"Yeah." She smiled. "I'm fine."

But they all knew she was lying.