Contest entry for the 'A Journey into the Dark & Twisted' Contest
Title: BLUE RIBBON
Prompts used: Group A pic 5, Group B pic 6
Pairing: Jacob/Renesmee
Rating: M
WordCount: 6,047
Summary: Entry for A Journey into the Dark and Twisted contest: Mysterious disappearances have plagued the Olympic Peninsula. To Ranger Weber, these hikers have vanished without a trace. Little does he know, the evidence is right under his nose…literally. Canon. AU
Disclaimer: Some violence, mutilation.
~BLUE RIBBON~
"Have you had enough, baby?" he asked, rubbing his wife's swollen belly with adoration.
Her bronze ringlets bobbed, synchronized with her nodding head.
"Okay, let me take care of this. You sit tight. Be right back." He kissed her blood red lips soundly before exiting the tiny cabin.
"Jake!"
"Yeah, Ness?"
"I love you."
"I love you too. Take it easy. I'll be right back."
Ducking his nearly seven foot tall frame to get through the door, Jacob tossed the carcass outside as if it weighed nothing. Scrubbing his hand over his face, he looked at the mess. Renesmee had gone through two today and was craving more and more each day.
Between the two of them, they could decimate entire herds of elk. It was tough to get Renesmee to pace herself as her tastes became more...refined. Human food still had limited appeal. Things changed almost daily with Ness' cravings. Jake could scarcely keep up with her demands, which grew as quickly as her belly.
They were in uncharted territory. Her being half-human, half-vampire, and him a shape shifter, and now they were going to be parents. They were filled with cautious optimism. Ness was twenty years old, though she'd stopped growing and aging some fifteen years prior. She claimed, over and over, that she was ready for this: marriage, motherhood, and living on their own. Jake wasn't so sure he would ever be prepared.
They had married soon after Ness turned eighteen, out of respect for her father, and to save her grandfather from shooting his best friend's son.
Over the years, the Coven Cullen, including Jacob and Renesmee, had lived all over the world, staying in one place for a few years at a time. Soon after their wedding, they set out on their own. The only place either of them wanted to go was back home to Washington.
The young couple lived on La Push until they discovered Ness was pregnant. Not wanting to run back to her parents, or be subjected to more of Carlisle's constant measurements and assessments, they had made a little homestead on a small clearing high in the mountains. Their home was hidden away, and far from any trails where humans might happen upon them.
Groaning as she raised herself to her feet, Renesmee waddled around their small living room and pondered their next steps. Her distended abdomen caused her to lose her balance more and more often now; she suspected she was nearing her time. The ache in her hips and back was more pronounced, and the pressure grew each day.
Her desire for blood—human blood—had become insatiable. With each kill, her belly grew more. My child needs it; she justified, each time Jacob returned with a wayward hiker. Elk, bear, goats, deer, mountain lions, even wolves did nothing to sate her thirst.
It was easy when the two of them were sustaining themselves off the indigenous animals of the Olympic Glacier. Now, her vampire half and her innate desire to provide for her child had become the dominant forces. Humanity fell by the wayside some months ago.
Massaging an ache in her lower back, Ness sighed. "Soon…soon it'll be over." Her child responded with a soft nudge. Times like these she wished her father were present. She remembered him communicating with her when she was snug in her mother's belly. He'd pluck thoughts from her mind and help her not to injure her mother. She couldn't help it; Bella was merely human at the time—her fate was inevitable. Ness knew she wouldn't have those same concerns. Her mortality hadn't come into question since she was just a few months old.
Jacob loped into the cabin with a bright smile on his face. "Did he kick?"
"How do you know it's a boy?"
"I just know Ness. And, I think there's more than one—"
"Don't you finish that sentence, Jacob Ephraim Black. I don't know what we'll do with two half-human, one quarter vampire, and one quarter…"she waved a hand over his tall, athletic frame, "…whatever you are."
Jacob stalked toward her as Ness tried to hide her smile. "Oh! I'm a whatever now, huh?" He reached out and grabbed his wife, holding her tightly against his chest. "You didn't say I was a whatever when we made these guys," he teased, rubbing her swollen belly with reverence.
"I love you, you know that, right?" she whispered before Jacob captured her lips and pressed so close that he felt his child nudge from its place between them.
Jumping in surprise, Jake yelped. "Whoa, did you feel that? Of course, you felt it. I mean—I felt that," he rambled as he dropped to his knees placing loud, open-mouthed kisses over where his child safely rested.
"Ness, I've been thinking." She stroked his cheek as he spoke. Having known Jacob her entire life, she could not fathom there being another man who could ever mean as much to her than he did; not her father, Grandpa Charlie, or Carlisle. Jacob was always hers from the moment she laid eyes on him as a newborn baby. She imagined their child would have that same effect on her.
Ness hoped that her baby had their father's eyes, black like a lake at midnight, reflecting the world with perfect clarity.
With her hand upon his cheek, Ness transferred all that she was thinking straight into her husband's mind.
Shaking his head, Jacob answered, "Naw, baby. I want him to be just like you: with your eyes that crazy hair, your button nose. That smirk … no, that's all Edward. He should have my smile."
"Yeah, your smile is perfect."
To punctuate his wife's statement, Jacob smiled broadly, making her laugh.
"Ooh, don't make me laugh," she groaned, clutching her belly. "You're gonna make me pee."
"Right," he said, schooling his face into a mask of seriousness, which made her laugh even more. "Anyway, I was thinking…wondering…if we should head down to the Rez. You look like you're about to burst … and Ness…" averting his eyes, he worried the back of his neck, "I don't think I can handle this alone. What if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing's going to go wrong. Stop worrying."
"Can't I call Leah or Seth? I'd feel so much better knowing there was some backup."
"We're fine, Jake."
"How do you know? Alice hasn't called saying she's seen anything…has she?" His features moved from panicked to placid and back again in a hairsbreadth.
Ness shook her head before moving to sit down, towing Jacob, who was shuffling across the floor on his knees. "A woman knows."
"Bullshit, Renesmee. Women have been dying during childbirth since the beginning of time. Look at your mother for Christ's sake!"
Renesmee Carlie Cullen-Black froze at her husband's words.
"Shit, I'm sorry, baby," Jacob pleaded, gathering his wife into his arms. "I'm just so scared. We don't know what's going to happen. How he's going to come out. I just can't lose you. Your family is scattered all over the world, and they don't even know about the baby.
"I don't understand why you don't want to tell them, Ness. We need the support. At least, at least we should call Charlie, maybe he—"
Renesmee's deep brown eyes turned cold and stern. "No, Grandpa Charlie can't be here, not yet."
Jacob flinched at the sudden harshness in his wife's tone and demeanor, but he knew he could never deny her. Whatever she desired, he would provide.
"He's been helping enough already. Once the baby's here, things will get back to normal. I promise." Her voice was soft and soothing…pleading. "Besides, if Mom was here, she'd ruin everything."
Ranger Weber and his team surveyed the mountainside for any trace of the lost hikers. Placing a flag to mark the area where the men had gone off trail, Isaac sighed heavily. This was a particularly treacherous place, heavy with sure-footed animals who were adept at traversing the steep, rocky crevasses. These hikers were suicidal fools for leaving the trail.
Spotting a large indentation in a small patch of snow, Isaac carefully inched forward.
This is huge, but not a bear. Besides, bears were settling in for the winter, he thought as he squatted to get a closer look at the lone paw print. Taking in his surroundings, Isaac crawled through a small opening in the rock and found himself in a roofless cave.
So many questions wracked his brain, chief among them: why had the hikers gone off trail in early winter? Moreover, how had they disappeared without a trace?
Well, not completely without a trace, there was this odd paw print. If he didn't know any better, Isaac would think it was a wolf…a really fucking, huge wolf.
Making his way back to the trail, the adept ranger spotted a single drop of red marring the soft green of low-lying vegetation. Gingerly, he snipped the leaf, careful not to spill the precious, crimson drop.
"Hey! Gimmie a baggie, I found something," he called to another ranger. After sliding the emerald leaf into a plastic bag, Isaac continued to search. His eyes were keen and quickly scanned the area, but found no other signs of the foolhardy hikers.
"You gonna radio down to County to test this?" Ranger Wyatt asked, handing his superior a walkie.
In a makeshift workshop butting up against the thick forest that rimmed his property, Charlie's hands were busy butchering his latest acquisition. He had become accustomed to the gore from many, many years of hunting and fishing, though he was grateful that he didn't have to deal with all the blood.
"How is she?"
"Good, huge," his companion said with a smile. "I think it'll be any day now."
Nodding, Charlie grabbed a paring knife and expertly sliced down the middle of the carcass, opening its soft belly. His partner held a bucket nearby so that Charlie could deposit the innards after he closely examined the organs.
"Look at this," he said with annoyance, holding up a rather unhealthy looking liver. "It's practically useless. There's no good tissue anywhere." The organ landed in the bucket with a heavy splat. Moving to the intestines, knowing that they make the best sausage casing, he frowned again. "What the hell were they eating?" With surgical precision, he cut off great lengths and tossed them into another bucket for later use.
"No sign of the hikers, but I did find a drop of what appears to be blood, and a possible animal print approximately one hundred yards off the trail. We're coming down and request an analysis of the sample."
The static-y voice of Isaac Weber crackled through Charlie's radio. No one questioned why the Chief of Police would want or need a radio interceptor at home, though recently he found himself using it much more often.
Glaring at his companion, Charlie shook his head. "You're getting sloppy, son."
"Fuck…" Jacob reached up to tug on his hair, but paused when he saw the gore on his hands, "…this has gotta be over soon. I…I can't keep doing this, not even for her."
"Look, I promised I'd help, so I'm helping." Charlie wedged his knife in the wooden block next to the stainless steel worktable. "I can stall forensics, but I trained that kid. Weber's not gonna stop. There's been too many already. And now these two…" pointing a finger at the body he was working on, and then the other wrapped in plastic in the corner, "…the disappearances are too close together. Ness has to slow down."
Nodding, Jacob worried his lip between his teeth. "I just wish we weren't up in that cabin by ourselves. I don't know if I can do this."
At the large utility sink, Charlie washed up before turning to Jacob. "That's my granddaughter, and I'll do anything for her. I'm doing what I know her parents would never consider. The baby needs the blood, just like you told me Bella did. I don't have access to blood banks, and Ness doesn't want Carlisle treating her like a science project, so this is our only option." Although his features never betrayed him, Chief Swan did not dispose of his granddaughter's prey without heaviness in his heart.
Ever since Renesmee showed up on his front step a few months ago begging for his help, he's been powerless to resist her. She always had a hold on him, but now that she was pregnant, it seemed that she became irresistible.
"Look, there's nothing we can do. I'll do what I can to keep the authorities off your trail, but I really think you guys should come back down here for the birth. I mean, I don't know what I'm doing…I'm no doctor, but I can help somehow. If something goes wrong, we can get help."
"She's never gonna go for that. She won't give birth in here." Jacob waved his arm around the dark space, which was illuminated only by a bare light bulb and a work lamp. "She's got this romantic notion, and there's no changing her mind."
Groaning in frustration, Charlie paced the small space while he slipped on a welder's helmet, heavy apron, and thick rubber gloves "I have half a mind to call her father. If they knew what was happening, they'd be able to sway her."
"Oh no, Charlie. She's determined to do this on our own. She's pissed enough that you're involved."
"What did you think was gonna happen when you all showed up on my doorstep? ' Oh Grandpa, I'm pregnant and I just killed a man, what do we do?'" Charlie said in a falsetto meant to imitate his granddaughter. "You know, it's one thing to find an elk or deer propped up beside my workshop, but a person…a human being, Jake? You all left me with no choice but to do what I've been doing for months now," he grumbled as he moved around the small space, gathering up the equipment he would need for his next task. "I don't understand why you didn't just drop them off a cliff when she was done with them…why'd you drag me into this?"
Jacob didn't have an answer because he didn't know. Ness insisted that she needed Charlie, that he'd know the best way to hide their indiscretions—her sudden bloodlust.
Cranking up a circular saw, Charlie guided it into the corpse's leg, separating the thigh from the hip and knee. Charlie repeated the action on the other limbs until he was left with a tidy pile of flesh and bone. "Put these in the fridge until I'm ready for them," he directed, pushing a pan of severed limbs toward Jacob. "Pass me the other meat."
Masterfully removing the flesh from bone with a boning knife, Charlie lined up the clean chunks and then placed them in a meat grinder, adding the venison that Jacob provided. Ribbons of dark red muscle twisted and swirled out with each rotation of the powerful crank. Jacob worked to mix them with seasonings as the ground up flesh fell into the large pan.
"I don't think I will ever get used to this…no matter how good it tastes," Jacob reluctantly admitted with a shiver racing up his spine as he spoke.
"Jacob?" Ness' voice crackled through his high-range walkie. "Jake…Oww, oww. Jake, come back!"
Wide-eyed, they both stared at the walkie-talkie that was now in Jacob's hand. Neither man breathed. Could this be the moment they've been waiting for? Would they finally see an end to the macabre secret they've been keeping?
Jake dropped the walkie and barely made it through the door before his flesh exploded with fur. He was on four legs and racing through the forest at an unprecedented speed. Mentally scanning for the minds of Seth or Quil, Jake was relieved to be alone with his thoughts as he raced back to Renesmee.
"Ness, baby. Jake is on his way."
"Grandpa? The baby's coming. Oh God!" Charlie could do nothing but listen helplessly as his granddaughter moaned in pain for several long minutes. Her hisses and wails shook him to his core. Biting his cheek to keep from crying out, Charlie calmed when he heard a soft mewling on the other end of the line. "Oh…oh my."
"Nessie, what's happened? Are you okay?"
His questions were answered with sniffling and sobbing. "Grandpa…I did it! It's a …"
"What, Ness? Has Jake made it back? I'm going out of my mind here!" Charlie was met with another round of groans and grunts, followed by a more boisterous cry. "Renesmee! What's happening?"
Jacob burst into their cabin and found his wife on the floor of their small shower stall. Her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat. Her hair looked so much darker now that it was drenched from the exertion of childbirth. She lay in a pool of blood and gore, but she was smiling. She had done this alone, yet she glowed with happiness.
"Jacob," she sighed upon seeing her husband standing naked in the bathroom doorway after phasing back to his human form. "Look." She moved to uncover the bundle she held close to her chest. Pulling back the towel to expose her breasts, she teased him, "You were right, but you were wrong too."
It took him barely a step to reach his family. Falling to his knees, Jacob released a relieved cry at seeing the two faces suckling greedily at Renesmee's breasts. "Girls," he choked out. "Twin girls?"
Renesmee nodded happily. "Meet your daughters, Jake," she encouraged as he gathered his family into his arms. Their tears mingled as he held his girls tight. He never thought he could feel more love and adoration for Renesmee, but this moment surpassed all others.
"I'm so proud of you, baby."
"Will somebody tell me what is going on?" Charlie's disembodied voice commanded, startling the babies. Their cries echoed through the tiny bathroom. "I'm a great-grandpa? Shit," his voice cracked as the news set in.
Jacob picked up the walkie and spoke. "Yeah. Two girls, Charlie, and they're gorgeous, just like their mother."
"Well, preliminary analysis says that it's definitely human blood. We won't get the full results to run through the database for a match for a few days. They're moving as fast as they can. The longer those guys are out there, the closer to death they get."
Ranger Weber nodded at his assistant, who had a penchant for stating the obvious. Winter was fast approaching, and based upon the clothing of the lone hiker who reported his friends lost; those others were probably nearly frozen to death already at that altitude.
"Poor, stupid bastards," he grumbled under his breath.
After settling Renesmee into bed with their newborn daughters; Jacob went to clean up the mess in the bathroom. A dark purple mass lay congealing on the shower floor; the life-sustaining placenta was enormous. It had to be in order to nourish his daughters...daughters.
Gathering the mess in his arms, he walked outside to a secluded spot some miles higher in the mountainside to destroy the organ-like remains of their recent ordeal. Unceremoniously tossing the surprisingly heavy bundle onto a rock, Jacob prepared a fire. Once the flames burned bright, he unwrapped his parcel and tore off a chunk, tossing it into the fire to test the burn rate, hoping that the vampire part of Renesmee would prevail here, and his task would soon be over.
The smell of rotting flowers and flesh swirled up from the plumes of smoke which now were more purple than gray. Jacob nodded; that's just what he hoped would happen. Not wanting to snuff out his small fire by tossing what remained of the easily, fifteen-pound placenta onto the flames, he tore of another piece, and then another. All the while, he sent up prayers of gratitude that Ness did not meet the same fate that her mother had in this same situation. He was blessed, that's for sure.
Stop, a strong voice directed in Jacob's mind. He looked down at the fleshy mass in his hand to see a soft, cherubic face.
"What the…"
"Don't burn me, Daddy."
Jacob's mouth fell open at the mind that was invading his own. He tore away the mess of gore to reveal a tiny baby who was much smaller than the girls. This infant was just as big as his hand. His son. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" Jake cried as he cleaned the infant and warmed him against his bare chest, sitting closer to the fire. The child clung to his father tightly; its tiny fingers gripping Jacob's chest hairs like a baby ape would its mother.
Three, Jake pondered as he assessed his son. I have three children. Looking over the boy, he was astounded at the child's intellect and ability. Not even an hour old, and he was communicating telepathically. Jake laughed to himself, Why should I be surprised? Look at his mother and what the wolves can do. He lifted the baby up to kiss his head, palms, and belly. Stopping at the boy's feet, Jacob saw that the limbs were underdeveloped, limp, and lifeless. They were nothing more than brittle twigs. Tears sprang to his eyes at the thought that he wouldn't be able to run with his son.
"No, Daddy. I can run…If you carry me."
"Shit," Jacob whispered, stunned at the wisdom of his newborn son. "Let's get you home to your mama. I bet you're hungry."
Winter melted away and the children grew quickly, much like their mother had. At three months, the triplets were approximately the size of an average five-year-old.
Their first born, Marie, had become her father's splitting image: dark skin and hair, she even inherited Jacob's shifting trait that she quickly learned to control. Her parents thought her talent remarkable, though they had become a bit frustrated that the girl spent much of her time in the form of a beautiful russet-colored wolf cub.
Jacob and Renesmee weren't entirely disheartened by their first born's preferred form because the girl usually had her baby brother clinging to her fur, carrying him wherever she went. The two were inseparable.
Sarah was a perfect blend of her parents: soft, peachy skin with thick, almost black hair that formed bouncy spirals like her mother's. Her eyes were darker than Renesmee's, being so brown her irises seemed almost onyx.
With a shock of thick, wild, auburn hair, pale skin that ran cooler than most, and piercing eyes whose color seemed to change with his mood. JJ was a mysterious little boy who looked and behaved very much like his maternal grandfather. Rarely speaking, much like his mother throughout her early days, JJ had little use for words. His mind connected with his pack: his father and sisters, therefore, he had no need to verbalize. If he needed his mother, he sent one of the others. Sarah was always eager to be Jacob Junior's mouthpiece.
"Mama? JJ wants to know who this is." Sarah held a picture of the Cullens from Renesmee and Jacob's wedding day, and pointed to Alice.
"That's your Aunt Alice, baby." Renesmee scooped her son from the floor and pressed her palm against his cool cheek, sharing with him her memories of Alice.
Marie and Sarah saw all what their mother showed JJ, and gasped when they learned that Alice could see the future. Then Renesmee's memories were suddenly silenced from their shared minds.
"How do we get them to come back?" JJ asked his sisters while he feigned cozy contentment in his mother's embrace.
Sarah nuzzled into Marie's fur, sometimes wishing her sister were more of a sister than a pet. "I don't know, JJ. Why are we even up here, hidden away from everybody? We only get to see Pop-Pop. I heard Daddy thinking about them, and wanting to go back to some place called the Rez."
"We all heard, stupid. I want to go there."
"Don't call me stupid, JJ. You're not the boss of me," Marie snapped back while Sarah's mind remained silent.
"Wanna bet?"
He focused his thoughts on his eldest sister, imposing his will upon her. The boy was remarkably talented. "Marie, I'm hungry. Go get Daddy." With that order, Marie trotted off in search of their father, who was out patrolling the area around their mountainside home.
"Papa? Papa can you hear me?"
Jacob turned to face his first born. The sight of her father in his wolf form was always awe-inspiring. "What's up, buttercup? Does your mother know you're out here?" Marie shook her head, the long fur swaying with each movement.
"JJ says he's hungry," she informed her father. Jacob's brow knitted before he broke out into a wide smile.
"Your brother spoke?" His mind was a mix of wonder and glee, but sank when Marie shook her head again.
"I'll bring him a couple of rabbits, will that do?"
Marie paused and thought hard. Images of JJ's mouth pursed around a hairless limb flooded her brain. Her father saw it as well. "No…" they sighed and raced down the mountainside. Diverting from their usual route, they came upon a small campsite and a lone camper just rousing from a deep sleep.
One pass of Jacob's massive paw against the man's head rendered him unconscious. Jacob phased and carried the man home while Marie ransacked the camp and covered their tracks.
"Mother fucker!" Isaac Weber was in no mood for this. His eyes scanned what remained of the campsite and spied a few muddy footprints. This guy wasn't some stoner who was looking for a new high. He was somebody, somebody important. Sure, conservationists and nature filmmakers were sometimes victims of their passion: falling into volcanoes, being mauled by the animals they loved so much, avalanches, rock slides; whatever piqued their interest so highly most likely could kill them, and quite handily. Richard Overton had not been on the mountain but a day before whatever blew through here showed up. His cameras were still in their cases.
Weber's men trampled through the scene, ruining his evidence. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Ranger Weber snarled at his deputies, just as one of the rookies wrecked a bare, human footprint that was heading away from the camp. It's too cool for him to go off in the wood barefoot to do his business. Something's not right.
Isaac pulled out his cell phone, seeking the advice of his mentor.
Charlie's boning knife clicked soundly on the magnetic plate above his workstation; he then wiped his hands on his heavy, cotton apron before answering his phone. "Swan."
"I'm glad I caught you, Chief. We've had another disappearance. Rick has vanished from his campsite."
Charlie already knew the fate of his friendly acquaintance. With a grunt, he opened the large kiln, shoveling some of the ash around to make room for the next load. Then, he hung ropes of sausage high in the oven, near the chimney, away from direct heat.
"You there, Chief?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Just hanging some sausages," he answered, stoking the fire before sliding a wooden, four by two foot box directly into the flames and saying a silent prayer for Rick. If he were to be honest, he prayed for himself too. It had been months without a corpse showing up on his back door. Was Ness pregnant again?
He had to draw a line somewhere. This couldn't go on without them being found out.
Isaac chuckled to himself, wondering what Charlie expected to do with all that meat he had stockpiled. Sure, it was delicious, wild game was a delicacy, if done correctly. Charlie certainly had the magic touch there. Just the idea of the sausages Charlie was curing had Isaac's mouth watering, stomach rumbling, and his mind off of unpleasant affairs.
"Aww, man. You're making me so hungry."
Glad for the opportunity to unload some of his rations, Charlie offered to deliver a crate to the County Sherriff's Office, the headquarters for the missing person's investigation, before reminding Isaac of his purpose for calling. "I'll keep my ears open in town. You keep me posted if you hear anything."
He turned to face his family who stood pressed tightly together in the door of his workshop.
"Don't be angry, Pop-Pop," Sarah said charming her great-grandfather with her hypnotic eyes.
"I'm not mad, angel," Charlie said, stroking her cheek. "I'm concerned, that's all."
Renesmee stepped forward, with JJ strapped to her chest, and embraced her grandfather, nearly squeezing all the air from his lungs. "Thank you, Grandpa."
He chucked Ness' chin before turning his attentions to his great-grandson. Charlie's eyes grew sad and worried over the frail boy in front of him.
"He's stronger than you think" flashed through Charlie's mind, the voice was definitely not his own. Marie weaved herself through Charlie's legs in a move that was comforting to both of them.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Charlie blew out a long breath from his nose. "I don't know why I've kept all this...meat...I've run out of space."
Renesmee opened a chest freezer and peeked inside. It was close to bursting. Her human consciousness gasped at the sight. I'm a monster. Then, she licked her lips, remembering the salty-sweet tang when her teeth broke through her meal's flesh, and the thick ambrosia of the blood as it spilled down her throat.
She wished she could have assisted Charlie in the butchering as she fingered one of the many knives that adorned the wall. She imagined the ruby drops running down the steel blades, her tongue eager to catch each drop.
JJ mewled and grunted from his position in Ness' baby carrier, snapping his mother from her fantasies. He was hungry again. The children had lost interest in their mother's milk almost immediately. The girls were content to take down small mammals. They'd ban together to fell larger animals, as it seemed JJ had a larger yet grew at a much slower rate than his sisters.
Jacob retrieved his son from his wife and cuddled him close. He was suddenly struck with an idea.
"Charlie, why don't you sell some of this to the Diner? Everybody on the county force has tasted this it. They'd be thrilled to have your unique blend on the menu."
"Are you out of your mind, son?" Charlie looked at Jacob as if were crazy. It was one thing to serve up this abominable meal to a handful of folks he only saw a couple of times a year…but the Diner? He'd been in Forks his whole life. He would be turning his lifelong friends into cannibals.
Shaking his head emphatically, Charlie tried to reject Jacob's idea. "No. No. I'm gonna start dumping this crap into the ocean and forest."
JJ clung to his father at Charlie's harsh tone. The boy's eyes had been a hazel color when they first arrived and were now darkening as he watched his great-grandfather. Always perceptive, Charlie swore he saw the boy's irises fade to a deep red, and then black with each heartbeat. JJ reached for his Pop-Pop; Charlie tucked the boy softly against him. A mixture of pity and awe swirled in the older man.
"You'll attract carnivores, Grandpa. If more people were injured through a surge in animal attacks, it would draw more attention to our quiet corner of the world. It's a wonder a bear or mountain lion hasn't torn through this place already," Renesmee stated matter-of-factly as she slipped a dress over Marie's now human head.
Charlie knew she was right. "Okay...you've twisted my arm. I'll talk to Steph on my way to see Weber." He gave JJ one last squeeze before passing him back to his father. "Feed the kids. Clean up after yourselves. I'll be back soon."
For all his years of training, nothing could have prepared him for the frenzy of activity that overran the county police headquarters. He'd been retired six months and had yet to return to this building, although he did visit the Forks PD station a couple of times a week - old habits die hard.
"Chief!" Isaac Weber loped up to his mentor and pulled him into an awkward embrace. "You're a lifesaver, man," he said cheerfully as he pulled the styrofoam cooler from the older man's arms. "I've been up on that mountain for eighteen or twenty hours at a time for months on end. I need some real food." Isaac passed the parcel to a nearby deputy.
Charlie looked around at the once sparsely postered walls that were now covered with triangulations and red circles pinpointing new search areas. Above the maps and charts were enlarged photographs of the missing...there were eight in all. They had been playing Russian roulette with five bullets instead of one; it's a miracle they hadn't been caught yet. Another incident might alert the Feds, if they hadn't already horned in on Weber's investigation.
He scrubbed a hand over his mustache, tugging on the coarse hairs. Here he was, bringing evidence directly into the command center. Cocky, stupid fool. How did I get in so deep?
A large hand on his shoulder startled Charlie out of his musings. "You all right, Chief?" Isaac Weber assessed the man with concerned eyes. He had heard about retirees practically going insane with boredom. "You keeping busy? Not wasting your days away, wishing you could come back to work, are you?" Ranger Weber wondered aloud.
"Nah...I've got plenty to occupy my time." Like hiding the evidence of my grandkids' murdering spree. Charlie held back a derisive snort. All of this was such bullshit, yet he felt like he had no control over himself. If Ness called, he'd come running. That pull was even stronger since the triplets were born. Only now, away from his family, did his head begin to clear, and he saw what he had become...what they all had become.
Stumbling backwards, Charlie turned and headed for the door as his stomach lurched. "I'll catch you guys later. I gotta…" He stumbled out the door, gasping for air. Fumbling with his keys, he finally turned over the engine and peeled out the parking lot.
The closer he got to town, the steadier his emotions became. The memory of his near panic attack at the county sheriff's office dissolved with each rotation of his tires. By the time he pulled up outside the Diner, Charlie Swan was back to his old self.
The bell clanged to announce his arrival. Faces of his lifelong friends greeted him warmly as he passed to reach Steph, who was just coming from the kitchen.
"Hey, doll, got a minute?"
"Only if you're ready to give up your recipes, Swan. I know we could win the blue ribbon at the fair this year." She wiggled past him with her arms loaded with plates of burgers, pot roasts, and steaks.
Charlie followed her around as she served up lunches. "Actually, that's exactly why I'm here."
Steph almost dropped Jennings' turkey club platter when she spun around to face her old friend, wide-eyed and slack jawed. Charlie caught the plate and slid it onto the table with a nod at Jennings.
"You're shitting me, Swan."
"Nah, I've got more than I can eat. It's all vacuum-sealed and in my deep freezer. There's enough seasoned ground meat and sausages to last me a lifetime. It's yours. If you want it."
Steph threw herself into Charlie's arms, nearly knocking him off his feet. "You're serious?" She pulled away and grabbed the man by his hand, towing him to her "Wall of Fame" and points to an empty frame. "That right there…"she beamed with pride, "...is where that blue ribbon is going to go. I've been waiting for just the right combination, Charlie."
Steph gripped Charlie's arm and rests her head on his shoulder. "With your recipe, we can't lose."
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