Chapter 2
The expensive-looking fancy British car in the driveway of the old Lawson place – and the missing FOR SALE sign – surprised Bella as she turned into her driveway. Inside, Charlie sat on the couch, watching a football game.
"How was dinner at the Blacks?" he asked, turning down the volume.
"It was fine... did the Lawson place get sold?"
Charlie harrumphed. "'Spose so. Didn't get a look at the new owners yet."
"You mean you don't know?" Bella was amazed; as police chief, Charlie Swan knew everything that happened in Forks, usually before it happened. Charlie responded by turning the volume back up.
"Dad! God!" exclaimed Bella, and went outside. She didn't go all the way to the Lawson property line – she supposed she'd have to call it something else, as soon as she found out – but close enough to see all the shades were drawn. She sighed and went back inside, rummaging in the kitchen for something. "Shoulda stayed home and cooked," she muttered, and finally just grabbed today's paper.
"Going to say hi to the new neighbors," called Bella as she slammed the door.
Charlie yelped and almost immediately ran out beside her. "Now I can't have people thinking I'm not neighborly," he grumped. Bella smirked, held his hand in her free one as they walked two houses down and across the street, and rang the doorbell.
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The smell had been growing and growing before the doorbell rang. Edward stopped breathing so he could concentrate all of his being on not jumping up and draining the person.
Jasper jumped and cursed when bell rang. "Jesus H. Christ, thanks for the warning, telepath," he complained.
"Sorry," said Edward. "It's a neighbor, he smells really good; I don't want to kill anyone, you should get the door." Especially since the man's thoughts were muddled to the point that Edward suspected he was retarded; killing someone like that would not be easily covered up.
"Small town nosiness. Do you need to hide in the basement, or can you sit here and get our internet working?" Jasper asked, pointing to their laptops.
He took one tiny breath to say, "I think – I think I'll be ok, I just won't breathe," then turned his attention to the computers. Jasper grunted his assent, put in some brown colored contacts, and then opened the door.
A teenage girl with a newspaper and her father stood on the porch. "Hello," said the man. "I'm Charlie Swan, this here's my daughter Bella. You are?"
"Jasper Whitlock sir, that's Edward Masen over there."
"Hello," wheezed Edward. He was a bit in shock that there were two people there, but quickly reviewing the past few minutes, he realized he had in fact heard two heartbeats and sets of footsteps. He didn't inhale to verify, but he suspected the girl was the one who smelled oh-so-divine. And he couldn't hear her thoughts! Perhaps that meant her father wasn't retarded, but it was a genetic quirk.
Charlie Swan was the Forks police chief, and he privately thought that the two of them were queer. Edward tried not to chuckle.
"Nice to meet you," burbled the girl. "I thought you guys might like a copy of the paper, see what it's like here? Did you two just move in today?"
"That's right," said Jasper. He hadn't made a move to shake their hands, which was probably for the best. Jasper wasn't hungry, and in fact didn't seem to find Bella as delectable as Edward was, but no need to take chances. They only touched humans before killing them, as a matter of course. "We were living in Montreal for a while, but a relative of mine died and it just finally got around to finding my address last month. International customs and all that red tape BS."
"Well, you better behave," said Charlie, flashing his badge. "I'll see you boys around. Have a good evening."
"You too sir, g'night."
"Nice to meet you," said Bella, smiling at Jasper, and trying to catch a glance at Edward. He wasn't wearing contacts, so he avoided her eyes, and she gave up and left. Once the door was closed, Edward resumed breathing normally.
"Oh hellfire," he muttered. "It's her. She smells - O God - so good. And, would you believe, I can't see her mind at all."
Jasper perked up. "Not a bit?" His singer is undetectable to him?
"Ugh, a singer down the road, that's all I need." At least the internet was working.
"You gonna call on your sire at all?"
"Hmmm, yeah, probably at his office. Want to join me?"
Jasper shuddered. "I really ought to stay away from bleeding people."
"Don't you want to ask him about his diet?"
"Sure, but why not invite him over."
Edward nodded and pulled out his cell, punched in the number listed for Dr. Cullen.
"This is Carlisle," said the once-familiar voice.
"Hello there, it's Edward. Masen," he added unnecessarily.
"Edward? How – how did you – are you here?"
"Yes, I've moved to Forks. You should come by." He rattled off his address. "Just near the Swans."
"Well. I'm – flabbergasted, really. I'll be there in a bit."
Edward hung up the phone. "He'll be here in-"
"I heard." Jasper removed the contacts.
And indeed, it wasn't long at all before the doorbell rang again. "Come in!"
Carlisle entered. He looked the same as ever, naturally. Tall, blond and attractive. And his eyes were still golden. Jasper fixated on them. Is that what happens when you feed on animals? Edward looked at him and nodded. I'll be hornswaggled.
He embraced Edward and squeezed him. "It's been so long, Edward." He then looked over him. His eyes. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. "What have you been doing with yourself?"
"Jasper and I we work with the Volturi. Aro sends his best, he misses you dearly."
The Volturi? But... "Did - they send you here?"
Edward nodded. "We're establishing another outpost in Seattle. Well, here, really, but the address will be Seattle. We just finished setting one up in Montreal."
"So you – how long have you been working for them?"
"We met up in the '30s; when I explained what I was doing to Demetri, he said they could use me. I got Jasper to work for them, after they eliminated a some newborn armies. He's an empath, feeling and projecting."
Jasper held his hand out to Carlisle. "Jasper Whitlock sir, of Texas and the Confederacy. Pleasure to meet you."
Carlisle shook his hand. "Likewise. Well. I'm glad Edward has such an agreeable companion. I suppose neither of you are mated?" The boys shook their heads. Too bad. I wonder if he would have liked Rosalie. An image of a beautiful blond vampire appeared in his head, but she was with her mate, a large bear of a fellow called Emmett.
"Don't try to set me up, Carlisle," he laughed. "I do just fine for myself." Then the image of three more beautiful blonde women appeared. The Denali sisters. They all had golden eyes too. "Denali National Park? Maybe after we get a little more established, Jasper and I can pay a call on the three sisters there."
"Women?" Jasper asked, grinning. "Sounds peachy."
"I would actually like to start hunting with you, Carlisle. I assume you won't have us killing in my normal manner here?"
"I would prefer it, but I suppose if you can keep to the – the monsters, I can't object too much," Carlisle said.
Edward shrugged. "I'll hunt with you as much as I can, I doubt there are that many evildoers in Forks. Jasper?"
"Same here. I only hunt with Edward anyhoo."
Carlisle smiled. "That's wonderful. Esme was so glad to hear news of you, Edward. And you'll enjoy meeting Rose and Emmett, I'm sure. All of you. I can't wait till we can all go hunting together. Tomorrow night?" They nodded, and Carlisle headed for the door. "So good to see you again," he says one more time before leaving.
"So that there's your sire," mused Jasper. "Got to say I like him better'n mine."
"Wouldn't Maria be a dam, not a sire?"
"Call'er what you wanna call'er, she was a right bitch." He spat for emphasis, and his thoughts went to that dark murky hateful lusty place that they went whenever he thought of her. The Volturi had killed her just before he joined them, but his emotions hadn't really settled. They never would if he couldn't forgive her, and he had trouble doing that with her gone. Edward didn't understand that at all, but he didn't bring it up this time.
"Anyway, it should be fun to hunt with Carlisle. It always used to be," Edward said to distract Jasper.
"How does that work, anyway? Animals aren't stupid like humans, they hate us."
"That's part of the challenge," grinned Edward. "I mean, we can always outrun them, but tracking them for hours really is more fun. And their thoughts won't bother us when we drink."
"That part will be nice," admitted Jasper. "Wish we were doing it tonight. What should we do tonight?"
"I haven't scented any vampire traces at all besides Carlisle and his three covenmates, but we should be sure. Do a perimeter. I'll go north, you go south?"
Jasper nodded. "How far?"
He pictured Washington. "Um, you go to the border, or close, and I'll go to Vancouver and back."
"May as well get started now." And he was off.
Edward went straight north, all the way to Vancouver. Of course there were vampires there, but that was ok. Canada really didn't count, so he came back via the San Juan Islands, then back and forth over the Olympic Peninsula. It was so sparse, definitely surperior for the needs of a "vegetarian" like Carlisle, but the I-5 corridor would be good for them and the other Volturi. There had been no vampires from Seattle to Forks, so he didn't worry. Instead he more or less ran back and forth from 101 to I-5 north, with swims in-between.
Finally he was nearing Forks again, when an odd smell caught his attention. Near the beach. Like a dog, but like wet nasty dog, the way they smelled like when he'd been human, not like now. Disgusting. Not human.
Werewolf?
Impossible. There were no werewolves in North America. And almost none in Eurasia.
Still...
He called Carlisle. "I realize this is going to sound like a stupid question, but are there – werewolves in Forks?"
"I wouldn't call them werewolves, Edward. More like shape-shifters."
He stopped running for the first time in seven hours. Stopped dead cold. "Are you fucking serious, Carlisle?"
"Er, yes. The local Indians have a birthright that allows them to shift into wolf form. I met them shortly after you left, and -"
"Carlisle!" he barked. "Why the hell didn't you mention this?"
"Well, we didn't really chat that long, Edward. But since you asked, I met them in the 30s and signed a treaty with the tribal elders that we would stay out of their lands and not bite any humans, and they in return wouldn't fight against us."
Edward sighed. "That isn't exactly going to work for the Volturi."
"I didn't think any had survived since then," said Carlisle.
"Either they did, or these are new ones. That has to be what I scented." Noting where he was, it was indeed tribal lands. "Shit. Caius will not be happy about this. Tell me everything you know."
So he did: the wolves were fast and strong enough to kill vampires, at least when they worked as a pack. They also healed with extraordinary rapidity, and retained some of these powers even in their human forms.
"Caius isn't going to like this," groaned Edward as he hung up.
When Jasper came back, he agreed. Caius is gonna make us kill them all. "How many you reckon there are?"
Edward thought. "It's hard to tell. That nasty wet-dog smell -gah. Hard to distinguish distinct ones. But at least two. Maybe four."
"That really oughtta be a piece a cake, then. As long as we don't fight fair. Two against one."
"They work as a pack! We're gonna need help, Jazz."
"Yer a telepath and I can calm them so they don't want to fight. Piece of cake," he repeated.
Edward sighed. "I'll make the call."
