Chapter Ten

Apology

October 2004, Forks, Washington

For the second time in less than a month we had the Chief of Police on our doorstep. Never before in over a hundred years had we attracted so much Police attention. Come to that, never before had Carlisle been on first name terms with the Chief of Police, but it wasn't that often that we found ourselves caught up in an ancient feud. It was turning out exactly as I had predicted it would. It was taking a little longer than I had imagined, but I knew it wouldn't be long before we were surrounded by wolves.

Of course, Alice had seen Charlie Swan coming so we were not unprepared; nevertheless, the chime of the doorbell still provoked a hiss from Rosalie.

"Relax Rose, he's only come to apologise." I wasn't able to read all of Charlie's thoughts, but I could tell from the abstract visions that he was feeling remorseful, and also a little bit scared. Yes, it was fair to say Charlie Swan was wary of us, even though Carlisle had been going out of his way to be polite and accommodating. Esme had even prepared sandwiches and flasks of coffee for the search parties, which had been extremely well received. But Charlie remained cautious, as indeed, any human should be.

Carlisle answered the door to Charlie and invited him in. Tonight, for the first time, Charlie accepted and edged over the threshold nervously until he was in full view of all of us. He glanced awkwardly around the room, assessing his position and then glanced back at the door. He was judging how quickly he could make an exit, if he needed to. I laughed inwardly at the scenario. Charlie may well be able to make an exit in three of four strides, but any one of us could easily beat him to it should we feel the need, but there was no threat, not really. Charlie may well have entered a house full of vampires but even Jasper wasn't uncontrollably hungry today. He had hunted last night.

"Take a seat Charlie," Carlisle urged while Esme cleared a pile of House Design magazines from the sofa next to where she had been sitting.

"Coffee?" she asked Charlie as she moved in the direction of the kitchen.

"Er, no thanks, I won't stay long." But he did accept the offer of a seat. He perched himself a little uncomfortably on the edge of the sofa that had just been cleared by Esme. "I just came to tell you that the young lad from the Reservation has been found. You asked me to let you know, well, I have just found out. I wanted to let you know in person."

"Oh wonderful," Esme exclaimed as she reclaimed her seat next to Charlie.

"Is he ok?" Carlisle asked. "No harm done?"

"Yes, he's fine. He just returned of his own accord earlier today, so I came over as soon as I found out."

"Well that's good news indeed, and thank you for your prompt attention Charlie."

"Um you're welcome," Charlie muttered.

Rosalie, being Rosalie, couldn't resist snorting, followed by "So, maybe we will be allowed to live in peace now?"

"Yes, indeed," Charlie replied, appearing a little unnerved by the tone of Rosalie's question. But Charlie wasn't the first outsider to have suffered Rosalie's sharp tongue, nor would he be the last.

"Fine, well ,all's well that ends well," Carlisle said as he looked around the room at each of us individually, lingering when he got to Rosalie to give her a disapproving look.

Charlie got up and added his agreement. "Yes, well, I will leave you folks in peace now. Thank you for your patience and your co-operation."

He was heading for the door when he turned suddenly and added, "Look, I am sorry about all this business. Um, it wasn't my idea to search your land. I probably shouldn't be saying this, but those people down at the Reservation, well they seem to have a bit of a grudge against you. I don't suppose you have any idea why?"

"No, sorry," Carlisle replied, knitting his eyebrows together and faking a look of surprise and concern. "I really can't imagine. We don't really know them." He glanced around the room again at all of us, presumably to warn any of us against speaking, or at least to be prepared if someone was likely to say anything. All of us were looking suitably perplexed. We were well rehearsed in these situations and always followed Carlisle's lead.

"What makes you think that?" Esme asked Charlie.

"Don't know really, just a feeling I get," Charlie replied. "Sorry, forget I mentioned it. It is obvious you don't know any more about it than I do. It's probably nothing. Thanks once again for your time. I really am going to leave you kind people in peace now." Charlie gave us one of his awkward half-smiles and he walked out into the night.

We listened to his cruiser driving off and then Carlisle said, "I wonder if they have noticed anything different about the young man yet? I bet the older ones have, and I don't suppose it will take long for them to make the connection."

"Well, I'm more concerned with how long before the other young ones follow," I added. "We are at a distinct disadvantage. We don't know how many there are."

"No," Carlisle confirmed. "And we have no way of finding out either. It would be foolish to venture onto their land, especially now."

Carlisle looked at Alice but she shook her head, dejectedly and muttered, "Sorry."

"Don't worry, it isn't your fault Alice," Carlisle continued. "Do any of you know if any of the kids at school have any bond with them? Edward, do you ever hear anything in their thoughts?"

"Ugh, I try not to listen to their thoughts," I retorted. "Their heads are full of useless clutter."

"Well, if you do hear anything, it would be useful to know, but, hopefully it will come to nothing, provided that we keep to our side of the bargain. By the next time one of them goes through the transformation, they will understand the reason for the disappearance and hopefully they won't alert the police."

Carlisle looked again at Alice who appeared to be having one of her visions. Her eyes were darting from left to right rapidly and she had a look of concern on her face, the same expression I had seen thousands of times before. "What is it Alice? Can you see something now?"

"Yes…..and no. Oh this is so frustrating!"

All eyes turned to her as she had another mini tantrum yet again about the holes in her visions. But then she spoke, almost in a whisper, "Someone is coming, someone connected in some way to the wolves...and Edward. I can't see any detail, probably because those stinking mutts are obscuring it."

I tried to pick out the images in Alice's head, but there was nothing particularly clear; blurred images of a dark haired girl and then more dark shapes, then some fighting, but it was unclear who was fighting. I couldn't make any of it out. It was all so disjointed and random.

"Is that it?" Rosalie asked, exasperated.

Carlisle shot Rosalie another disapproving glance. "It's a start, at least. Thank you Alice, keep trying."

"It's gone now, sorry. It was just a fleeting glimpse of someone, a girl I think. No, sorry, I can't be sure. I sense danger somehow too, associated with this girl. I got a glimpse of the Volturi, I think? Yes, I'm sure it was. Cloaked figures, dark and threatening." Alice was looking totally confused, and a little exasperated now.

"The Volturi?" Carlisle asked, in disbelief.

Alice nodded. "Yes, I believe so, although I don't understand, and now it is gone."

"What the..." Carlisle didn't finish his sentence. I don't think any of us had the faintest idea what the Volturi could have to do with our current situation, unless of course, the wolves were about to expose us.

Alice looked at me now and I read her silent words. Edward, do you remember? I had a vision once before, back in Alaska, that connected us to approaching danger? What if this girl is dangerous? What if she is the danger?

"Is she one of them?" I asked, thoughtfully, remembering that the girl had long dark hair. Her face had been unclear.

"A wolf, you mean? Well that would certainly explain why I couldn't get a clear picture of her," Alice replied. She was desperately trying to recall the image, but to no avail.

"Well, she wouldn't be a wolf, the genes only seem to affect the males, but she could certainly be one of the tribe, a sister, or a girlfriend," Carlisle added.

"I'm really sorry, I can't see anything now, it is gone, I really don't know, but she did have dark hair, so yes, it's a possibility," Alice confirmed.

"Thank you Alice," Carlisle said. "Well, we have to be on our guard. Certainly things are about to get interesting for us. Do we need to move on, or shall we stay and ride it out?"

Rosalie groaned and hissed "Typical. Just because Edward gets himself in trouble with some Native girl..." and she got up to leave the room.

"Rosalie," Carlisle said sternly. "Come and sit down please. We are going to put it to a vote. Edward has done nothing. It is no-one's fault that this has happened. If you remember Rosalie, Edward didn't want to come here in the first place so there is no point in blaming him.

"Fine," she hissed, glowering at me and taking her seat again.

But Alice's mind was conjuring up new images now, "Wait, there's more..."

I could see the much clearer images in her mind now, no longer hazy and confused as the last ones had been. This time the girl was definitely red-haired, a vibrant red, long flowing locks and a beautiful heart-shaped face with dark red eyes. This girl was a vampire. She was looking for something and was angry because she couldn't find it. Then more images of the cloaked figures of the Volturi appeared before the visions disappeared again.

I shook my head briefly at Alice, a signal for her to say nothing to the others. It was all a little meaningless and out of context. I didn't want the rest of them to be unduly worried. What could this red-haired vampire have to do with Forks and our current predicament? I would wait. Alice's visions were so random it might be something way off in the future.

Alice shook her head and lied to the others, "No, it was nothing."

Rosalie let out another exasperated growl and Alice shot me a quizzical glance. I hope you know what you are doing, Edward.

I gave one quick nod which none of the others noticed. They were all looking at Carlisle now as he had stood up and walked to the centre of the room so he could face us all.

"Right," Carlisle began. "Who is for staying?"

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie raised their hands immediately. Jasper looked hesitant and lowered his hand slightly; he was having doubts because he could feel Alice's tension. I expected Alice might tell him later what she had seen. For now she was shaking her head as he looked towards her for some guidance. His hand fell to his side. Esme then raised hers slowly, apologetically looking at me. I am sorry Edward, I have just got this place looking the way I want it. I am sure things will turn out ok. They always do. Whatever it is that Alice has seen, we will get through it, together. Please don't be angry with me for wanting to stay.

How could I? It was impossible to be angry with Esme. I gave her a reassuring smile. I glanced at Rosalie who was still pouting, but then her scowl turned to smugness as Carlisle made his intentions clear. I could have saved her the agony. I already knew which was he was voting.

"Ok, well with my vote, that is a majority, so we will stay," Carlisle confirmed. "I am sure we can deal with whatever it is that is coming."