Hello errybody. Welcome to my new story! This is something I started writing a million years ago. It was intended to be a one-shot but then the plot bunnies struck me while I reread it, so I'm expanding what I originally wrote. I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: There are many things that keep people awake at night. For Bella, it's her brother's angry pet vampire locked in the basement.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, situations, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended. Please do not repost this story elsewhere, even if you give me credit. Please do not plagiarize this story by changing the names and posting it elsewhere, even if you give me credit. Lawd. Be nice.

Part 1 - Bella

Chapter 1

My brother never claimed to be the smartest in the family, but he was a self-proclaimed badass. Most of his bravery came from being too ignorant to know when to back down. Sure, he'd never lost a bar fight. He was also no stranger to spending a night in the county jail. And though Emmett had made his fair share of poor decisions, this one took the cake.

"You can't be serious."

Emmett smacked a long metal bar against his palm. "Titanium alloy. Laced with silver."

"Let me get this straight." I pointed to the trailer behind his pickup truck, filled with more bars. "You're building a cage."

"Yep."

"To house a vampire."

Emmett nodded.

"Uh-huh. Okay. Em…" I refrained from asking how much he'd spent on this venture. Emmett was an adult. If he wanted to piss away his inheritance one ridiculous hobby after another, that was his choice. "I'm not even going to address the fact that you think vampires exist."

"They do."

My patience began to wear thin. "What is it, exactly, that you're going to do?"

"Well, Bella. I'm glad you asked." Emmett tossed the bar onto the ground before pulling two more from the trailer. "Once I get this cage built, I'm going to hunt down a vampire."

Metal clanged as he added another bar to the pile. It took everything I had to keep from jumping and covering my ears. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against his truck, trying to keep my cool.

"Then I'm going to put the vampire in the cage."

"Yeah? And then what?"

"Then I'll have a pet vampire. Obviously." He turned from me to unload the last of the bars. "Are you going to help me carry these in or what?"

"Where on Earth are you going to find a vampire?"

"In the woods," he said, as if it were obvious.

"Emmett," I said, my frustration turning to barely concealed rage. "I do not even know what to say right now. Everything you've said is so absurd. I've got nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Then grab the toolbox from the backseat and come downstairs." Emmett tossed three bars over his shoulder and started for the house.

"Mom and Dad are rolling over in their graves right now!"

"Whatever. Dad would build this right alongside me, and you know it."

When the front door slammed behind him, I turned and fled into the woods surrounding the house. At times like these, I couldn't handle being around Emmett. He would work on that cage all night. He wouldn't eat or sleep until it was complete. Not just complete. Perfect.

I walked until I reached a decrepit tree fort, hidden just from view of the house. It was worn from years of neglect. One of the tree's branches had cracked off during a storm a few summers ago, deeming the fort unsafe to use. It sat at a precarious incline, the door hanging open. I hoped it served as a warm, dry home to some sort of critter.

I hoisted myself onto the fallen branch and sat.

"A pet vampire. What the heck are you going to do with that?" I muttered.

I'd learned over the years that it was best to let Emmett be. Whenever he got an idea in his head, he obsessed over it in meticulous detail. He spent his time and his money bringing it to life, making it perfect. Once he did, it was thrown away and forgotten, and he went back to living his normal life until the next thing came along. He was like Dad in that aspect, but Dad's projects were at least logical and useful.

As I thought of him, I brushed my fingers across the locket around my neck.

Dad had built our little house in the woods when Emmett and I were small children. He added rooms onto it throughout the years, but before he did, he built us this tree fort so we had privacy and somewhere to escape. Dad was always building, either as a job or on the side. He even served as the town's unofficial handyman throughout the years.

But Dad hadn't been without his demons, and I worried about Emmett. He hadn't been the same since we lost our parents.

My only hope was his new project wouldn't last long.

I didn't see Emmett for the rest of the evening. In the morning when I left for class, I could still hear him pounding away in the basement. I dreaded returning home all day.

For the next three days, Emmett worked on building his cage. He ventured out of the basement when he needed to eat. If he came up to sleep, I didn't notice. I tried to stay out of his way as much as possible. It wasn't the first time he had a crazy idea that involved labor, and I'd humored him enough for one lifetime.

When I came home from class that night, Emmett burst through the front door, a giant grin stretching across his face.

"It's done! Come look."

He was excited as I followed him to the basement. It reminded me of Christmas morning when we were kids. Even then Emmett was more enthusiastic than me, often dragging me out of bed while it was still dark outside. Only now, when he turned on the light, instead of presents there was a large cage. I walked around it, feeling the cool metal with my hands. Emmett waited, a smile on his face.

The cage appeared to be high quality. Not that I was an expert. Emmett was a handyman, just like Dad, and once again he was wasting his talents.

"You could sell this. I don't know why anyone would need a cage this size, but I'm sure someone could use it."

"No way. This is for my vampire."

I sighed. He sounded so serious that part of me wanted to believe him.

"All right," I conceded. Some fights weren't worth having. "Come upstairs. I'll make you dinner."

The next day, Emmett once again charged out of the house when I got home. He yanked the book bag from my shoulder. He was smiling, and his eyes shone, but there was a frenzied craziness behind them. I knew this was coming. Hopefully it would end soon.

"I got him," he said.

"Who?"

As Emmett ran back to the house, my stomach sank. I followed. Dread built as he dropped my bag in the entryway and started down the stairs. I was afraid of what I would find down there. All I could think was that our parents' deaths were too much, and Emmett had finally lost his mind.

I halted at the bottom of the stairs, gasping when I saw a man sitting in the back corner of the cage.

"Emmett, what have you done?"

"It's the vampire, Bella!" He gestured to the cage, most likely exasperated that I didn't share his joy.

"He's just a man!" I started toward the cage, not exactly sure what to do. I had to apologize, to tell this stranger that my brother, while meaning well, wasn't exactly stable. The last thing I needed was for Emmett to be hospitalized. He was the only family I had. "Sir, I am so sorry—"

Two things happened at once: Emmett grabbed me by the shoulders and drew me back; the man leaped to the front corner closest to us. He strained as he reached for me through the bars, making a noise that could only be described as a snarl.

I winced as we hit the ground. Emmett's knee jammed into my side. "What the hell are you doing?" I yelled.

"What the hell does vampire mean to you?"

I pushed away from Emmett and sat back on my heels. The man pressed his body against the cage, his knuckles white as he gripped the bars on either side of his face. He focused his dark eyes on mine with an intensity so unsettling that I slid back another foot.

"Emmett, vampires don't exist." My voice sounded unconvincing, even to me. When he didn't respond, I pried my eyes away from the man in the cage to look at him. He was staring at the man, a scowl on his face.

"Don't you look at my sister," he said. It didn't seem like the man heard him. "Hey!" Emmett picked up an extra metal bar from the floor and slammed it against the cage. "Eyes over here, buddy!"

The man hissed as his head snapped toward Emmett, but he made no move to back away from the bars.

Emmett's sudden grip on my arm caused me to jump. "Let's go."

My eyes remained on the man as Emmett dragged me toward the stairs. I wasn't certain, but I swore the corner of his lip lifted into a smile, showing off a long, white fang.

"Promise me you won't go down there." We stood outside the house, Emmett with his keys in hand. I didn't want him to leave. I needed him to stay here and fix the mess he'd created, but he was scheduled to work at the hardware store. He'd had the job for almost eight months, which was a record. He couldn't afford to burn any more bridges. I'd have to deal with this myself.

"I won't."

"I'm serious, Bella. I don't know what kind of voodoo mind games he has, but I don't want you anywhere near him. I have half a mind to take you with me."

"I can't tag around the store all night. I have homework. I'm not flunking out of college because of your bad decisions." I sighed. "Emmett, what are you doing?"

"I told you. I want a pet vampire."

"Emmett," I said sharply. "I don't know what happened down there. I don't know what's going on, but listen to me." My parental tone was backfiring. Emmett looked away, appearing interested in something across the yard. I grabbed his face, turning it back toward me. "Listen to me," I repeated. "Vampires don't exist."

Emmett pulled away from my grip. He was becoming irritated. I knew I had to back off or he would shut down.

"Bella, I know I've said and done a lot of crazy things. I know. But I'm telling you, that thing downstairs is a vampire. I swear to you. You have to believe me. You believe me, right?"

I nodded, resigned. Diffusing this situation was beyond me. "Sure, Em. But…why do you have to keep him? Can't you just let him go?

Emmett groaned as he opened the door of his pickup and hopped inside. "I barely survived capturing him. If I let him go now, he'll kill me for sure."

A million questions swam through my mind: How did Emmett capture him? Why was he so certain the man was a vampire? Even if he were a vampire, and he wasn't, what made Emmett think his cage was strong enough to hold him?

"What are you going to feed him?" I asked, approaching logic from a different angle. If Emmett was hell bent on believing in vampires, maybe I could use that to my advantage.

"Feed him," Emmett said, as though it had never crossed his mind. "He's immortal. Why does he have to eat?"

"Well, I don't know. I must have skipped school the day we learned about vampires!" I said in defense. "What if he's not a vampire? What if he's some creepy guy who lives in the woods and you end up starving him to death? You'll go to jail for murder, and I'll be an accessory!"

"He's not," Emmett insisted. "He's a goddamned vampire. He's been taunting me for years, and now he's mine."

"Emmett…" Tears welled in my eyes. Emmett clenched his fists.

"Don't look at me like that, Bella," he warned. "I'm. Not. Crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy."

"You don't believe me."

"Just listen to yourself, Emmett. Look at what you've done! What am I supposed to think?"

"Fine." Emmett pulled his cell phone from his pocket and offered it to me. "You think that thing downstairs is human? Then call the cops. They'll charge me with kidnapping and you can be the hero."

I sighed. Right or wrong, I couldn't turn Emmett in. Despite his flaws and his questionable decisions, he believed he was doing the right thing. I wasn't sure how, but I would find some way to fix this without the authorities. Shaking my head, I pushed his phone away.

"Smart choice," he said. "'Cause that thing will kill us both."

Emmett wasted no time hopping in his truck and tearing out of the driveway. When his truck was out of sight, I retreated to the house.

The fresh air had helped clear my mind. That moment in the basement had been terrifying, but it had been clouded with surprise and fear. I wasn't sure what to do now, but I had to tread lightly. The man was obviously angry; he had every right to be. I just hoped I could smooth over this situation. And if I couldn't, maybe having the authorities involved wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Guilt struck me at the thought. Emmett and I always looked out for each other. He protected me with his strength. I protected him by cleaning up his messes—just like Mom had always done for Dad. I reached up to my neck, feeling for my locket as I usually did when I thought of our parents.

Emmett's warnings ran through my mind as I approached the basement door. I waited, listening for any noise below, but no sound came. It was curious that the man wasn't yelling for help. I briefly wondered if I'd imagined the whole thing, and maybe I should make sure I wasn't the one who was losing it.

My hand gripped the door handle, and I froze. There was something nagging in the back of my mind. Something about this situation was wrong. Sure, there was nothing right about a man locked up in a cage in the basement. But there was something more than that. Something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Stop being ridiculous, I thought to myself. In one smooth motion, I opened the door.

From where I stood, I could see the cage. The man stood in the corner, his back to me, his head slightly inclined. He was listening, waiting for me to make a move.

I watched.

Finally, he swiveled around and once again placed his hands on the bars as he stared up at me. It wasn't the same as earlier. The intensity was gone, replaced with curiosity. I was curious too. My feet found the first step, and then the second. Then Emmett's warning replayed in my head.

I stopped halfway down the steps and sat.

"Hi," I said timidly.

He didn't reply.

"I'm really sorry about my brother. He thinks you're a vampire. I'm sure you figured that out already. He means well. Honestly, he wouldn't hurt a fly. If I let you out, can we forget this whole thing happened?"

I remained seated on the stairs. My legs felt like Jell-O. I didn't think I could move if I tried.

The man stared at me with his cold, black eyes. He didn't speak.

"Do you understand me?" My throat tightened, causing my voice to rise. This was stupid. It was like my instincts were kicking in, and the subconscious part of my brain knew of a danger my mind had yet to recognize.

I forced myself onto shaky legs and approached the cage, careful to keep my distance. I didn't like the way the man pressed himself against the bars as I approached, as though he wanted to be closer to me.

This was not how I expected this encounter to go. I assumed there would be some sort of two-way conversation, even if it meant he yelled at me and threatened to call the cops. I didn't understand his silence.

"I don't suppose you saw where he put the key, did you?" Of course there wouldn't be a key nearby. Emmett probably had it on him. He didn't trust me with it. I felt guilty for breaking my promise.

Even if I had the key, I'm not sure I'd want to let the man out while I was here alone. Maybe if he'd displayed one normal reaction I'd feel differently, but he remained silent, staring at me. His grip tightened on the bars as I waited for him to respond. I couldn't tell if he didn't understand or if it were an act.

Suddenly, something Emmett said outside struck me.

"My brother said you've been taunting him for years. What did he mean?" I didn't know why I bothered asking. This was going nowhere. I took a deep breath and stared him directly in the eyes, feigning confidence. "You know, I have every intention of helping you, but you've got to give me something. You can't just stand there and stare at me. It's rude… and creepy."

One side of his lips curled up into a wry smile. The blood drained from my face. I felt my knees going weak. Without another word, I turned and ascended the stairs.

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