Birger Age. (1)

**Bella's POV**

"Do you want me to go back to the day before his memory was convoluted?" Clair asked me in a clipped tone.

I thought for a moment and decided not to. "No. I'm curious."

Clair sighed heavily. "About? Also I better get a pay raise."

I chuckled before my eyes became serious. "I want to know why Birger calls this man his best friend."

"Haah? What does it matter?" She asked me in an exasperated voice.

"Birger… says his words very carefully. He has had friends, before. But I've never heard him refer to anyone as a 'best' friend. If we see nothing when they both wake up, we can continue on." I shrugged.

She nodded and 'fast forwarded' the time to morning. Birger had gotten up before Chelsie had and walked into the kitchen. Raymond was already up as well and was clearly hung-over. He was sipping water from a cup.

"Sup, ray? Sleep good?" Birger asked with a snicker.

Raymond grunted painfully and gestured to his head.

"Hah! Don't worry. I'll get you some Tylenol." Birger opened a cabinet in the corner of the kitchen and tossed a bottle to him.

He caught it deftly and took 2 pills out before swallowing them both.

"Oh, yeah." Birger leaned over to Raymond and whispered. "She doesn't know, so don't talk about it. She's also supaphobic."

Raymond eyebrows rose.

So that's why he had felt guilty. Chelsie has a deep-seated fear of supernatural creatures! If we were correct in our assumptions about Chelsie being attacked by rogues, it would all make sense!

Raymond drank the rest of the water before turning to Birger. He whispered in a quiet tone.

"So… why are you so… chill?" He asked..

Birger scrunched his eyebrows. "Why am I so chill? I'll take that as a compliment. C'mon. We can take this conversation outside."

Birger walked to the door and held it open for Raymond to walk through. He sat down at a rocking chair that had been placed out side and gestures at the other chair that was on the other side of a small wooden table.

Birger pulled out a cigarillo and lit it. He sat there for a few moments in thought before turning to Raymond.

"I assume you're asking me why I feel so genuine?"

Raymond opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He tilted his head in for a few seconds before nodding briskly.

Birger grinned at that. "Well… it's complicated. Most people don't know this, but werewolves and vampires and every other supernatural creature have different thought processes. If you were to turn into a werewolf tomorrow, your thought process would change. A good example would be, Werewolves have a need to be dominant. They love to fight."

Raymond looked down for a moment and gestured for him to continue. "Well, I'm human. It's as simple as that. I'm not smarter than Einstein, I don't have a perfect memory, and I definitely don't make the right decisions. I'm just a dude that used to be someone. I'm washed up. Aside from being stronger and having better senses, I'm just a dude who can't die." Birger shrugged.

Raymond nodded. "Cool."

"'Cool,' huh?" Birger snickered. "What happened to 'badass?'"

Raymond grimaced. "Drunk."

"Yeah, you were! It was funny as hell, watching you get all excited about mythology!"

Raymond grunted.

Birger continued to speak as Raymond listened silently. Every once in a while he would say a few words or make gestures. I suppose I could see why Birger was so fond of him. They had good chemistry. Amazing, actually. I could also appreciate someone who listened more than he spoke, like Raymond.

I watched for a few moments longer before turning to Clair. "Okay, go back to the night before."

She nodded hesitantly and the image sped up to where we had left off, with Birger and Chelsie sitting at the table. Birger was scratching his beard in thought.

"Chel?" He said in a soft voice.

Chelsie hummed as she continued feeding Ford.

"Raymond has… some Sup friends… I think they are coming too."

She blanched for a moment before relaxing. "T-that's fine."

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬…

Birger thoughts echoed in the room.

"Chel… you don't…" he bit his lip. "I'm sorry, baby."

She laughed nervously. "It'll be fine~! I'm sure they're wonderful people!"

"They are. One of them is a wizard. He works at the SCO over in Texas."

"Oh, so he's human!" She said in a relieved tone. "I'll be fine, hun!"

Birger nodded solemnly.

𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩…

Birger kneeled in front of her and placed his hand on her thigh. "There will be… a lot."

She gulped. "So… more than just a wizard?"

Birger nodded. "Raymond's brother… is a vampire. There will most likely be a lot of others there too…"

Chelsie's gaze hardened. "It'll be fine… I need to get over this, anyway! It'll be good to… hang out… with them. In a place that will be filled with happy people."

Birger gaze softened and he smiled. "That's my girl."

She huffed before standing up. "Okay, okay. I'll be fine. If it happens… I'll let you know. Enough serious talk! Let's go to sleep~!"

Birger chuckled and placed his hand on her lower back. She leaned into his chest as they walked with Ford to his room. Chelsie set Ford down into his cradle while Birger spun the little rocket ships that dangled above him. He giggled and reached his hand out to them, trying to grab them. Alas, they were too far away.

The two played with him for a little longer before he fell asleep.

Chelsie whispered to Birger. "C'mon, hun. You got work tomorrow."

"Yes, mother…" Birger mocked her.

She placed a hand over her mouth as she giggled. They both walked into the bedroom and fell asleep in each others arms.

I looked at Birger's sleeping face. He was mirroring the expression of the real Birger.

"Clair, skip past the night. Skim over his time at work and see if there's anything."

She nodded. Time moved forward at a fast pace before grinding to a halt when Birger stepped out of his car. My eyebrows rose.

He had a damn beautiful car! It was a wine colored '67 Malibu with blacked out windows. From the sound I heard before he shut it off, it was fucking powerful! And… probably illegal, too.

He walked in and greeted… Donna? Ah, so she worked here! So this is how they met, I suppose. From how he walked around the store, it seemed as though he was here quiet often. He quickly grabbed some hotdogs, buns, and condiments before walking back to Donna to ring them up. They spoke for a bit before Birger was cut off by a siren.

"Must be a hell of a fire, huh?" Donna said.

"Yeah…" Birger responded in a distracted tone.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? His thought echoed in the room. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶-

Clair grunted suddenly and I sent her a worried look.

"I'm okay…" she said. "He felt anxiety… and it was quite rough."

I nodded slowly. Surely… nothing, right? This isn't what happened.

I watched as Birger ran from the store, his food forgotten. Donna yelled at him to 'chill out' but her words fell on deaf ears. He ran back to his car and turned it on before pressing the gas to the floorboard. The front wheels came off the ground as he kept speeding up.

Chelsie grunted and fell to the floor. The image shifted for a moment before returning. I quickly ran to her. She was sweating and her eyes were wide.

"Oh… god… no…" she cried. "How could… he live… with such pai-"

She yelped and held her heart. She was feeling what Birger felt.

"Clair! Are you alright?! Turn it off!" I yelled at her.

"I c-can't! It's… fighting me!?" She said in a pained voice.

Birger ran to the house as people screamed at him. I saw the panicked look on his face and my heart broke for him. He was throwing rubble out of the way when… oh gods…

Moon Goddess, can you be so cruel?

Ford's… little hand… stuck out from the wooden board that had fallen.

He ran over and threw the board off of him. His eyes tightened in pain. Clair groaned again and I saw her eyes dull.

I turned to the sleeping Birger and saw him weeping. I ran to him and slapped him to wake him up, but… he remained motionless.

"He won't wake up… we… have to watch this…" Clair told me in a voice devoid of any emotion.

I bit my lip silently. I couldn't do anything? Clair was stuck in this… hell. And I couldn't wake Birger up. I tried to shake him, slap him, punch him, nothing worked.

My eyes tightened as I turned back to the image. He had gotten the rubble off of… them. It was Ford and Chelsie… Chelsie had tried to protect Ford!

Birger swept them up in his arms and ran out of the building. He was half-blackened with burnt skin. He looked like something out of a horror movie.

Clair moaned and fell to her side. She was sweating and panting. I could tell she was in pain.

Birger screamed at them to save his wife and child, but… they couldn't. They were both… they'd already passed.

A being had stood in front of Birger. It was a skeleton that wore a simple black hoodie and black jeans.

Birger looked up at him and his eyes cried out in pain.

Then, the image disappeared.

Clair inhaled sharply and stood up. She stumbled to the balcony and threw up. I ran to her and held her hair away from her face as she retched.

"It… was horrible…" she said through bated breaths. "I can't compare anything too it! Fuck, Bell! He is fucked!"

I frowned at her silently. It was… that bad? Birger…

He groaned and leaned up on my bed. "Fuuck… I've never been hung over before… this is what it's like?"

He was sticky with sweat. He had a dream as we looked into his memories. He relived what had happened and he's trying to act normal?

"Oh, hey, Bella. Who's that?" He grinned at me. "Is she alright? You want me to ge-"

"BIRGER!" I screamed at him.

He jumped and tilted his head. "Y-yeah? You scared me, man!"

"Birger…" I said weakly. "It's okay to cry…"

"What are you talking about, B? I was just drunk last night~." He waved his hand in front of his face like he was swatting a fly away.

"Birger… we saw. We saw what happened. She felt what it did to you!" I shouted at him weakly.

His smile faded and he stared at me blankly. I shivered. I've never seen him like this before!

"You… had no right." He stepped towards me. "Did you think I was hiding it? Why, because I felt like shit?"

I mind-linked Nathaniel. 'GET DONNA TO MY ROOM, NOW!'

'E-eh? 𝘚-𝘴𝘪́!' He mind-linked back.

He grabbed my neck and squeezed it for a moment, cutting off my air. I clawed at his arm. I was a hybrid and he was stronger than me?! Why wouldn't his arm move?! He'd always been weaker than me when we arm-wrestled!

"I'm trying to forget, Bella. I'm losing my fucking mind. Slowly. They say insane people don't question wether their insane or not. That, if you question your sanity, you're sane." His grip tightened. "I don't question my sanity, because I know I'm crazy."

He turned to Clair. He held me up in the air as he walked to the balcony. He grabbed Clair by her throat and held us both up.

"You want to see? You want to know how I'm feeling?" His eye flashed red. It blinded my vision for a moment. "Here."

It felt like gravity had increased. The pressure on my body was unbearable! I was being crushed! I shut my eyes tightly from fear. I heard an exhale and my eyes opened in confusion.

I was staring down at my hands? I was leaning on a sink. No… not my hands… they were Birger's?

What was this? I was looking through Birger's eyes!

I- he looked up and the mirror, his gaze resting on his chin. He looked down quickly. My arms- 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 tensed around the sink until the ceramic cracked.

"Fuck…" he cursed under his breath.

What is going on? When is this? Was it a memory?

He walked out of the bathroom and walked into a restaurant. He walked over and he turned to someone. He smiled and I felt my jaws tense. It was… 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 to smile. Like I was lifting up weights with the corners of my mouth.

"Hey, Svan! Sorry about that." Birger spoke in a light tone. "Had to go pretty bad."

He turned to the man, Svan… I did not see a man. I saw… what looked to be a human body, with a deers head. The head looked to be decomposing. What. The fuck..?

"It is fine, shí ak'is." The thing 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥.

Birger grinned. I felt like throwing up. He sat down and watched as… Svan… ate his burger. He looked around for a moment and my vision vanished for a moment before returning suddenly. He was looking at a human who was half-dead. He blinked and it the human was back to normal.

Everywhere he looked, things just… weren't right. Humans were decomposing, falling apart, half dead… some weren't even human at all. What was this?

Everything stopped suddenly as Clair and I fell to the ground panting for breath. I shuddered from the images I'd seen.

I looked at Birger and held my breath but… he was on the ground? There was a man that I didn't know there, as well.

"Birger… I warned you, dear friend." The man said quietly, as though he was speaking his though aloud.