LEGO HOUSE

two.          monster

▬▬ CHARLIE SAT IN HIS RECLINER, a beer in his hand and a basketball game on the tv. He let out a small sigh as he moved his eyes towards the stairs, wishing he'd see Cori make her way down but it had been a few days since she called and said she was visiting her mom. He longed for her all-too-cheery good morning or good night.

Cori let out a small sob as she watched him from where she sat perched on a tree branch. That was the hardest part of it all, he thought she was mad at him. She wasn't. She understood why she had been grounded, she knew she and Bella had scared him nearly to death. She knew that he was just worried, any parent would be.

Suddenly, a smell like no other filled the air, it was sweet, almost, and her throat burned as she looked around for the source. She sniffed the air, her eyes closed and when she could pinpoint just where the smell was coming from she took off into the forest, her feet barely even hitting the ground. Her stomach growled, yearning for just a simple taste. She slowed to a stop, peeking around a tree at a man that had a bloody cloth wrapped around his wrist.

He was alone. He had a small tent set up and even a small fire going. She sniffled again and every ounce on her body was filled with raw hunger – hunger like she had never felt before. And before she knew what she was doing, she was on him, her lips connected to his wrist, her teeth embedded in his flesh, as he screamed and tried to push her away. And in mere minutes, he had gone limp against the leaf covered ground and Cori hung over his body.

Blood stained her chin and her hands, but she didn't care as she brought her hand up and licked at her fingers.

Nothing had ever tasted so good. And the burning in her throat was gone.

"Damn it." Travis huffed as he came to a stop, his eyes wide as he took in the scene before him. The man was dead, drained of blood. And Cori sat next to the fire as she licked her fingers clean like she had just finished a donut and not a human being. "This is definitely not good."

"It most definitely was." Cori hummed, seeming to care nothing about the fact she had murdered a man in her blissful state. "So good." She mumbled, putting a finger into her mouth before pulling it out.

"Fuck." He muttered as he bent down in front of her. "Cori, honey, you just killed a man." He placed his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. "Let that sink in."

Her eyes searched his, like she was trying to comprehend what he was telling her... then it clicked. Away went the almost high like state she was in and a look of absolute horror contorted her features.

Her eyes dropped to the dead body that laid at her feet then to her hands, which she could tell were stained red just in the light from the fire. "What did I do?" She mumbled, her voice quiet and broken. "I didn't-"

"It's okay." He rubbed her back, swallowing hard as he held his breath, trying to ignore the smell of blood in the cool night air. "I'm gonna call Carlisle." She nodded as she leaned forward, her head on his shoulder, her hands gripping at the back of his T-shirt.

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▬▬ SHE COULDN'T SHOWER ENOUGH TIMES. She still felt gross even after scrubbing her skin eight times with a loofa. She sat on the floor, her back against the cabinets under the sink, her knees pulled up to her chest and her forehead against her knees. And one of Travis' t-shirts hanging off her small frame.

She didn't want to be a vampire.

She didn't want to be a monster

She wanted to be dead.

"Cori." The voice was clear as day, even through the closed door.

"Go away, Emmett." She muttered, not moving. Not even when he pushed the door open. "I don't wanna talk to you."

"I know, but-"

"You did this to me. You turned me into this – a monster."

"Cori-"

"Get out."

"Please, let me-"

"Go!"

"Emmett, leave her be." Esme put her hand on his shoulder and he sighed, his head hanging forward then he nodded before leaving. Esme pushed the door closed and started towards the young Swan before joining her on the floor. "I'm here if you want to talk. You don't have to, but I'm here."

Cori let out a needless breath, a choked sob erupting from her throat as she leaned over on the older woman, her head on her shoulder. Esme simply wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her closer to her, placing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"I'll always be here."

Emmett sat outside the door, his knees bent, his elbows pressed into his kneecaps and his head in his hands. His unbeating heart shattered as he listened to her broken sobs and he had never hated himself more.

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▬▬ TWO WEEKS LATER, Cori laid on the leaf covered ground, her arms under her head and her eyes closed. A small, barely there smile pulled at her lips when she heard a small bunny hopping across the leaves several years away and the sound of a bird flapping its wings above her. But she groaned a little when a loud clank, which was followed by a string of muttered cuss words, cut off all the sounds she found relaxing.

"Damnit."

She sat up, her eyebrow raised as she looked over at Rosalie, who hung over the front of her convertible, the hood open and the engine exposed. "What's wrong this time?"

"Blew a spark plug." The blonde muttered as she yanked and the damaged plug came loose.

"I told you that fourth trip to the mall was gonna bite you in the ass." Cori hummed, a teasing smirk pulling at her lips.

"It wasn't the trip to the mall, ya pain in the ass." She huffed, tossing the spark plug into the bucket by her feet.

"Oh, then it was the race you and Travis had. And you lost."

"How'd you even know about that?" The blonde asked, turning to look at the newborn, her eyebrows creased.

"Your husband keeps telling me things in hopes of getting on my good side."

"You have one of those?" Rosalie muttered, turning back to her car and Cori grabbed a rock before she threw it. It hit the blonde's shoulder and she turned to glare at the girl. "I rest my case."

Cori rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips. It was one of those rare moments when she felt almost normal. Well, except for the burning in her throat that never seemed to fully go away no matter how many deer she drained or how often she hunted.

"So what do you do all day now that you're not in school?" Cori asked as she pushed herself to her feet and made her way over towards Rosalie. "You can't just sit around here all day doing nothing." She leaned against the car only to have the blonde shove her off, she lost her balance, but caught herself. "Rude."

"Careful with the car." She huffed. "And I do this, I have a few other cars that I work on. Some regular clients, if you will."

"So you run a business?"

"Sort of."

"And what does Travis do? I can't see him playing video games all day or just standing here holding a flashlight for you."

"He does a few things, bounces from job to job. This week he's working with this construction crew to build a house. And he sometimes cuts down trees to sell the logs, he makes a cute lumberjack." She added the last part, almost like she was picturing it and Cori giggled – a sound they had gone weeks without. "It's good to see you smile again." She mused.

"If I'm not smiling, I'm either screaming or crying." She shrugged, letting out a small sigh. "Were you serious when you said it gets better?"

"Yes." She nodded, placing her hand on the girl's cheek. "It will get easier, it just takes time. And you can't hold onto that anger. It'll eat you alive."

"Rosie?" She mumbled and the blonde hummed, turning back to the car as her hand fell from the short vampire's cheek. "Will I ever feel like myself again?"

"I won't lie to you, even with time, I don't think you'll ever be exactly the same but you'll learn to be okay with who you are now. You'll become a different version of you." Cori simply nodded and Rosalie leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against the girl's forehead. "You'll be alright. I promise."

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▬▬ "I CAN DO THIS." Cori nodded, her red eyes bouncing from Carlisle to Esme. "Please."

"It's too soon." Carlisle shook his head, his tone firm.

"Oh, come on! I'll have Jasper and he can do the mind control thing." She waved her hand around her head.

"Mood control." The vampire in question piped in.

"Mood control, whatever." She huffed. "And if I feel the urge to rip someone's throat out, I'll leave. Please, I really want to go to school. I want to see my friends."

"She means Carter." Travis teased and Emmett took a needless breath as he leaned against the doorframe, his head hanging forward. It felt like a punch right in the gut every time the human boy was mentioned.

"Silence." She pointed her finger at Travis, but his smile didn't falter. "I hunted this morning with Rosie. I drank, like, seven deer and three squirrels. And I won't breathe."

"She'll be fine." Alice quipped, her smile bright. "I've seen it."

"See?" Cori pointed at the girl in hopes of that swaying Carlisle.

"It can't hurt to try." Esme offered, rubbing her husband's back. "On a trial basis, that is. The second anything almost happens, and I mean anything, you come back here."

"Absolutely." Cori nodded quickly.

Carlisle sighed, but a smile tugged at his lips. "Trial basis."

"Yes!" Cori cheered, bouncing on her toes. "Now, let's go. I wanna talk to Carter and Noah." She rushed out the door, much to the amusement of the others.

"She's in good hands." Alice assured Carlisle before she, too, was out the door, Jasper right behind her. And Emmett sighed as he pushed himself off the door frame.

"You ready?" He looked over at Travis.

"Yeah, let's go." He quickly kissed Rosalie then the two started for the door. "I love you."

"Love you, too. Be careful!" Rosalie called after them, like she always did.