Sorry it's been a while! Both myself and my beta reader the amazing Maddyson Ruby have been super busy over the last few weeks. Anyhoo I own diddly squat cept I suppose the few new characters that are starting to crop up. Stephenie meyer owns the rest!
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 3 - Ideas
As we approached, it seemed that nature had tried to claim the little cottage again. Weeds had appeared through every crack in the path to the front door while the flower beds were full of long dead flowers. Vines wound their way up the wall and had partially obscured the entrance. With as much effort as pushing open a set of curtain, Edward cleared the way and opened the door.
I breathed deeply again as we entered our little house. Dust lay thick on every surface, showing the years of disuse it had suffered while we had been away. I didn't care. It wasn't going to matter how many places we lived in over the next few centuries, to me, this was always going to be our real home.
I let Edward guide me to the shower which he switched on as hot as it could go before pulling me in with him. Gradually our clothes fell to the floor and he kissed me so tenderly, with so much love and adoration I was able to forget the last few hours and travel to a place of utter bliss and tranquillity in his arms.
"I love you so much," I choked, a lump forming in my throat. "Why does this have to happen to us? Why will the world not just let us be happy and get on with our lives?"
He wrapped his arms around me again, pulling every part of me to every part of him as much as he could manage. "Who knows love," he sang gently into my hair. "But what I do know is that however bad it decides to get, we will face everything together." He pulled back, caressing my cheek with his hand while staring into my heart.
I smiled faintly and reached up to place a slow, careful kiss on his beautiful lips. I couldn't resist and began to fall deeper and deeper into his touch. But a separate part of my mind held back, stopping the fall and dragging me back to reality. As I ended the kiss, I whispered, "It's been nearly an hour." We paused for a moment longer, our foreheads pressed together and breathing deeply.
"Bella?" he whispered. "Will you promise me something?"
"Mmm." I sounded back.
"Just promise that you will go hunting with me before we go back to Forks."
"Edward," I started, moving away to see his whole face. "I don't have the time to go hunting, I need to find out what's going on, why Charlie was killed and - and I need to find somewhere for him to lie." I could feel my grief welling up again as I recalled my promise to Sue.
"Bella." He began.
"No, I'm fine!" I could feel anger forming again and started to raise my voice. "Look, it's not like I'm going to break down and attack someone!"
"I'm not saying you would." Edward responded, his own voice soft against mine. "I just want to make sure you look after yourself, at least to the point that you have to while trying to protect and help everyone else."
He had me. I tried to find a counter argument but could only open and close my mouth in frustration while a soft growl escaped my lips.
"Love, please, just kill or something today and I will do everything in my power to help get to the bottom of what's going on." He began playing with my wet hair before stroking my cheek again. I felt all resistance fail at his touch. Surely this wasn't fair for him to have this much power over me.
"Fine we can go, but only after Alice and the others have told us what they've found." I relented.
"That's all I'm after." He leaned over and kissed the top of my head one more time and turned off the hot jets of water.
We stepped out of the shower and I began to dry myself with a soft, fluffy towel while walking through to the giant wardrobe adjoining our room. I switched on the light and inhaled to identify where my preferred clothing of denim and cotton were hiding. Generally only my less desirable clothing had been left here, the satin dresses and silk blouses but thankfully a shirt, a pair of stressed jeans and a chunky knit jumper was lurking in a set of draws at the back.
Within minutes we were ready and started to make our way back towards the main house. I pushed my body to its fastest limit while Edward was able to easily keep pace beside me. Without a pause I leapt over the river to land on the lawn and without breaking a stride I ran up the steps to the front door. Out of habit taught by Esme to protect the doors from our immortal strength I stopped to open it carefully and step into the house.
As I walked into the living room, Alice who was snuggled into the crook of Jasper's arm on the sofa abruptly stopped talking as I entered. In a single, graceful bound she was off the sofa and wrapping her petite arms around me. I automatically returned her hug but desperation to hear what they had found, if anything, was eating me from the inside.
"Bella, my sister, I am so sorry I couldn't see this." She whispered so that only I could hear. My anxiety began to fade as I took on her sense of guilt. I may not have Jasper's gift but I was so highly attuned to everyone in my family, empathy for each other was easy to feel.
"Alice, don't be so silly." I muttered back. "I don't blame you for anything that's happened. When the wolves are involved in something it just puts us on a level playing field with everyone else in as far as knowing what the future holds is concerned." She tightened her hug before letting go, gratitude and relief on her face. "And if you try and take the blame for this one more time I am going to disown you as a sister!" I joked back, trying to find a smile that didn't feel like forming.
She giggled, "Now that I can see is never going to happen." Typical to Alice, her smile was back as she danced across the room to the table where all the paperwork had been left the last time I had seen it. "Guess we should get everyone together again now you two are back."
Within thirty seconds of her words, Esme and Carlisle had appeared from upstairs while Rosalie and Emmett walked through from the garage. I glanced about looking for Nessie.
"She went to sleep upstairs." Said Rosalie, "She's been up all night and needs to rest but I have a feeling she won't be happy if we go over this without her." She turned away at this point, firmly leaving the decision to wake my sleeping daughter to myself.
I spent about a second pondering both options and finally decided to wake her so that she could make her own decision. She very rarely had a tantrum but this was her grandpa who had been murdered. Nessie was technically only 10 years of age but she was certainly mature enough to have a right to know everything that we did. I uttered a small sigh and glanced at Edward who nodded once as I vanished from the room and darted up the stairs.
I knocked gently on the familiar door and stepped quietly inside. The giant wrought iron rose bed had stayed here since the day Edward had bought it. We had intended to get rid of it at some point after I was changed but with Nessie's arrival, it was useful to have somewhere for her to sleep in the family house.
She had collapsed on top of the sheets, fully dressed with her bronze curls fanning out behind her on the pillow. Groggily she opened her eyes as I came to sit beside her on the bed.
"Mom." she mumbled, her voice full of sleep. "Are you guys back already?"
"Yep, we just got in. I came up to see if you wanted to stay up here or come hear about what we found on the reservation." I gently smoothed her hair away from her face, smiling gently. Edward and Nessie were the most important people in my existence and I couldn't help but become calm and happy when I was around either of them.
"Uhh, yeah." She blinked her eyes furiously attempting to wake up. "Yeah, can I come and listen? Thanks Mum." She smiled and swung her legs over the edge of the bed before getting to her feet. Swaying slightly she suddenly slapped her face smartly with both hands. "Right. I'm awake!"
I was hardly convinced. The dark circles under her eyes were huge and she had to blink every few seconds to stay awake. Flashing me a grin that was the exact image of her fathers', she grabbed my hand and began to pull me down the stairs.
"Don't worry if you need to go back to sleep, we can tell you everything later." I told her as we got to the bottom of the stairs.
Stifling another yawn she waved impatiently at me and went through to sit at the table. I followed her and stood next to Edward, taking his hand upon instinct. Jasper was standing at the head of the table and once we were all ready he began to tell us their side of the investigations.
"We had a look through what Charlie had found over the last few weeks and I think the wolves are right; there is nothing to connect any of the victims." He gave a sigh. Military men were not pleased when it came to having little to report. Picking up a small stack of paper he proceeded to hand one to each of us. "I made a list of the twelve people who have gone missing, of which only Abigail has been found."
I glanced at the piece of paper that held twelve faces and basic information of the missing people. Jasper had since scrawled the word "FOUND - DECEASED" in red over Abigail's picture.
"However, Alice thought to cross reference when the victims disappeared with the records of the weather for that day. Each time it had been either raining or overcast at the time they were last seen."
"So are we looking for another vampire then?" Emmett looked around the room.
Jasper pulled a disgruntled expression. "Together with the evidence of a missing scent on the victims, it's looking like that."
"But if that was true, why would Abigail have been left as a human to die at the bottom of a lake?" I knew little of the ways of many individuals in our race but the majority drank the blood of humans, not murdered them. "It doesn't make sense."
"I think we will have to come to the idea of motives when we have more information." Carlisle said quietly, his golden eyes full of warning. Without realising my brow had furrowed, my shoulders tightened and fists were clenched. I took a deep breath, forcing my body to calm down. I glanced back to find his warm, fatherly smile was back. "This still doesn't explain how we found her footprint in the mud and the mark on the tree. As Bella has pointed out, she was still human and should have been incapable of leaving such a trail."
"Could there be another child, or small adult with the same size feet that had been changed and carried her to the lake?" Rosalie suggested with fear in her eyes. She was suggesting possibly the most terrifying option of an immortal child.
"No," Carlisle answered, shaking his head. "If that were true, no immortal child would have the discipline to carry her to the water and leave her there undrained. The pattern also wouldn't fit with an immortal child either. Although there could be an adult vampire controlling its desires. I suppose we can't eliminate that possibility. It could be a small adult. Do any of the missing people match that sort of a description?"
Jasper shook his head. "Nope. But another kid is missing, Ted Mullins from Forks about a month ago. He was one of the first."
"But if someone created an immortal child, won't the Volturi turn up?" We had had too many missed calls when the Volturi were involved and my voice still shook at the thought of them. Yes, the last time we had seen them, we had won but that was ten years ago and who knew what new talents Aro had since collected. "Could it even be them?"
"So far, this isn't the sort of thing the Volturi get involved with." Edward shook his head. "If the pattern was more typical of an immortal child or a set of newborns on the rampage, I'm sure they would be here by now. So far it's looking too human for them to investigate from Italy."
I glanced towards Alice and Carlisle, looking for further reassurance from the two who could see their decisions and knew them best.
"I don't watch the Volturi as much as I used to," Alice pulled a face of disgust as she remembered some of the decisions the ancient family had made over the years. "But if they had decided on anything that would bring them to Forks or even to the Olympic Peninsula, I would have seen it."
"Yes," Carlisle nodded, "I agree that this isn't the sort of thing Aro or anyone else I know in the Volturi would be interested in. Perhaps if it was closer to home but not this far away."
I let out the breath I had unknowingly been holding. Somewhere a knot of tension undid itself but this still left us with the problem of who was behind the disappearing humans.
Any further discussion was halted as we could hear loud footsteps outside the house followed by the rhythmical stamping on the steps as someone hurried towards us. One by one we relaxed as we recognised the pattern of steps taken by Jake every time he ran into the house.
His memory was never as good when it came to the door which was flung nearly off its hinges in his enthusiasm to find us. I saw Esme wince at the noise but was grateful that the poor door managed to remain on its hinges. He must have only just phased as he was pulling his shirt on over his head, no doubt from where he had collected his clothes from the night before. Nessie leapt to her feet and ran over to him, flinging her arms around him as he entered the room.
"Woah, hey Ness!" he exclaimed, regaining his balance and wrapping his arms around her. "I've not been gone that long!"
With a squeak she tried to leap away but found she was held in his grasp. Unfortunately for her, she had inherited my human ability to blush on demand and her face was suddenly bright red. "Oh, um, yeah I just didn't get a chance to say goodbye..." she muttered softly, looking at her hands that now fidgeted against his chest.
The smile that graced Jacob's face lit me up from the inside. This was quite possibly the first time Nessie had started to show the effects of their imprinting and we could all see the joy and relief evident on his face. He loosened his arms to let her dash back to the table where she began to study the identities of the missing people with more interested than necessary. Jacob laughed quietly and regarded her with incredible fondness, "Silly girl." He muttered under his breath.
Emmett loudly cleared his throat, throwing Jake a huge grin and a suggestive wink. If it wasn't my own daughter I may have been able to see the funny side but settled for one of my piercing glares in my brother's direction. Jacob instantly became embarrassed and scratched the back of his head.
"Umm, yeah, hi guys." He tried to smile but faltered slightly as his gaze came towards Edward and I. "Found anything?"
"A few things," nodded Carlisle as he glanced towards Jasper, asking him to inform Jacob of our discoveries.
"Definitely creepy." He muttered as he looked from one face to the next of the victims on the piece of paper in his hands. His body gave an involuntary shudder as he looked up and said, "I managed to talk to the whole pack, a group at a time as they refused for everyone to be off patrols at once and they all feel that every patch of the reservation and Forks has been searched for these people." He waved the paper before us. "And it took a bit of negotiating but I have managed to get Paul to agree that we're all allowed to come and go as we please over any territory as long as we let them know who is going to be down there and when." The look on his face was decisively smug at his announcement. "I figured you would all want to look around as much as possible and would feel easier about it without a wolf or two breathing down your neck. Though there are a few that I'm not completely convinced about so be careful when in Quilute."
"Thanks Jake." I smiled softly. I could see that the relationship between us and the pack had been strained but with any luck, Jake was going to be the one who could pull the two sides together.
He responded with a smile of his own as he went to sit beside Nessie whose blush had only just begun to fade.
The grandfather clock in Carlisle's office began to peal to mark the hour. I glanced at my own watch and found that the day was passing quickly. "Edward, we need to run and get a car from the airport if we're going to be with Sue for 6."
He nodded. "Yes, but you promised that we would go hunting first. I can't stand to see you suffer." He trailed his finger down my cheek, dazzling me as he always did to get his way. The quietest of growls was all I could utter to voice my annoyance at his skill. A smile lit up his face and he kissed the top of my head.
"Fine, we'll be back in less than an hour I guess. Mr know-it-all is making me hunt." I couldn't help but sulk.
"You will feel better when you've had a drink." Esme smiled warmly at me and I had no choice but to agree.
"Hang on a minute." Nessie sharp voice cut through the room. "What if we're going about this the wrong way." She turned her face to me full of excitement.
"How do you mean?" inquired Roaslie, an expertly sculpted eyebrow raised in question.
"Well, rather than look for something human that connects the victims," she nearly tripped over her words she was so keen to share her idea. "What if there is something superhuman that brings all these people together."
"Are you thinking there are other creatures other than vampires, werewolves, hybrids and shape shifters running about the world?" Jacob couldn't help but keep the doubt out of his voice, however strongly he felt for her.
"No, stupid." She gave him a withering look, clearly over her previous embarrassment. "What if each of these people had a particular scent than linked them all together, a similar flavour or something."
Surprise was on the face of each member of our family as we considered her point. I couldn't help but ponder than it had been her, the half-human, half-vampire who had come to this conclusion.
"But the pack would have detected if there was a similarity in the scents." Jacob argued back, clearly trying to gain an upper hand in the debate.
"Yeah, but vampires can smell differently to wolves so if it's a vampire that's doing all of this, wouldn't it make sense for there to be a link to a vampire's nose?" She scoffed. "Its like when Mom was human, she smelled great to all vampires but she smelt even better to Dad." Nessie turned her brown eyes to us.
"She has a pretty good point." Edward chuckled, giving my hand a squeeze. "It could be something to look into tonight as we don't seem to have found anything else."
"So what, are we just going to the houses of all the victims?" Rose asked. "How are we explaining to the families that we need to waltz on in and have a sniff to see if there's a link?"
"Nope," sighed Jasper from the other side of the room. "I think the easiest thing is to sneak into each victim's house and take an item of clothing. That way we can bring the scent back for everyone to check."
"I'm not comfortable with this," Carlisle began slowly. "But I think you're right and that this will be the easiest way for us to accomplish the most."
"Wonderful." Rosalie whispered under her breath. She was being unusually grumpy this evening. I caught the glance that she and Emmett shared for a split second. I would try and see if we could visit all the houses without requiring either of their help tonight.
"So who's going where?" I looked about expectantly. Edward was keeping his gaze fixed firmly on my face, reminding me of my promise to leave soon and hunt but we had another lead to follow and I was going to stay here as long as possible.
"Let's sort that when you're back from seeing Sue." Suggested Alice, her small face bright and positive. "We can't do anything until the middle of the night so you should probably get something to drink, preferably before Edward carries out his most recent plan."
If Emmett's eyebrows could have vanished into his hair any faster they would have shot off his face. Even Jasper and Rosalie seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face. I spun around to glare at my husband who was already wearing his smile that had the ability to melt my immortal heart. Resisting the familiar urge to fall into his embrace I arched a questioning eyebrow. I never saw it coming. He moved so fast I was instantly in his arms and we were flying out of the house and into the woods, Alice's giggles following behind.
"Let. Me. Down." I growled through gritted teeth, hitting his shoulder with every word. In a most gentlemanly like fashion he gradually slowed until he was still and lowered me to my feet. "What was that for? We hadn't finished sorting out tonight." I spun around heading back for the house.
Typically he was too fast for me and was already blocking my path. Wrapping his slender fingers around my wrists he held my hands still to his chest. "Because what Alice said was true and we can sort it out later. And she agrees that you need to hunt."
"I can look after myself." I tried to break free. Why did it seem my family were trying to keep me away.
"Bella. We love you and even though you may not see it right now you are extremely thirsty. If there is something sinister going on, do you honestly think we are going to let you run around when you are at your weakest all because you were too stubborn to listen to reason?" his voice was like velvet coated in love. And his words were true. A small part of my mind had noticed I was slightly slower than normal, that my hearing and sight weren't quite as good as they should be and that this was all down to thirst. I stopped struggling to break free and leaned into his chest. Letting out a deep sigh I pulled away to look into his face. He hadn't hunted since I had so would also be affected. But not as much. Stupid older vampire. I was never arguing out of this so better get on with it.
"Fine," I huffed. "Let's go." The second my wrists were free I turned and began to run towards our usual hunting grounds. It had been a while since the area had to sustain a hunting population of vampires and I couldn't help the venom pooling in my mouth as I finally allowed myself to think of pulsing arteries and gushing blood.
Edward kept pace beside me on as we wove through the trees. Together, we paused at an unspoken spot and I could feel his eyes upon me as I allowed my senses to spread out around us, searching for prey. I couldn't help but feel that he would continue to watch until he saw me bite my prey's neck before he would go in search of his own nourishment. Dropping the mental shield that encased my mind I allowed him to share my own sensations. I had a scent. There was a mountain lion about two miles to the east, sleeping in the midday sun in a rocky outcrop.
I was off before my mind had processed the sensory information and the lion was dead in my teeth in less than a minute. I couldn't help the growl of contentment that welled up from my throat as the hot blood coursed down. Edward had followed at a distance and I could hear his chuckle from the other side of the clearing. He was still aware of my thoughts and knew exactly how much I was enjoying my kill and how annoyed I was with the grudging admittance that he was right. A flicker of movement through the trees and he was after his own prey.
I finished the lion in my own time and straighten up to think. The burn was still there but the knife edge had been dulled. I wanted to run back to the house but not only would I never leave Edward mid hunt but the logic had come through that if I was to hunt more now, the longer I would be able to go before I was forced back into the forest.
Decision made I expanded my senses again until I found a small pack of coyotes. My aversion to canine prey due to having a wolf shapshifter as my best friend had been discarded when he had been insulted I could think this way and group him with a much smaller, simpler being. I was death on the wind. After drinking three of the young animals dry the burn was easily muted and I could already feel the strength returning to my body. Even my mind felt sharper and more aware. Out of instinct I began to search for Edward and wasn't surprised to find him perched in a tree not 50 metres away. The last coyote fell from my lips I leapt into the air, spinning as I did so to land on the branch beside him.
"Happy now?" I arched one eyebrow.
"More than you know." He smiled, placing a tender kiss on my lips. He'd also found a lion. Desire for my mate stirred in the pit of my stomach and we wobbled precariously on the tree limb as I made my wishes known. In all of ten years, last night had been the first we hadn't had time together to be husband and wife. The need to feel his hands over my skin was swiftly becoming an inferno but an annoying, sensible, human part of my mind lingered and held my concerns for Charlie and the missing people at the front of my mind.
Without words and incredible reluctance we separated, our breath mingling as we stayed close. After a gentle hug, Edward offered me his hand and together we leapt back to the ground. We hit the forest floor running and headed back towards the house and reality.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my latest offering to this story and I would be rather touched if you could find the time to leave a little review of how you think its all going. Ill admit not too much happens here but its all relevant! Love to all who review and very, very sad puppy dog eyes to all who don't! Xx
