Chapter 10

William and Maddy sat together on their couch together upon Rosalie's quick entry and exit. She had scolded William, but he wasn't sure why.

"No one said Caleb was grounded to our house," he had told her as she began to yell at him for allowing Caleb to leave.

Rosalie hadn't said much else aside from, "Just stay here in case he comes back." She then had left abruptly with Delilah.

"There's something up with that location," William suspected, as his arm draped lazily around Maddy's shoulders. She leaned up against him and didn't say much as they looked through the television that still played the Mariners game.

"I didn't know Caleb was going out there," she told him. "If I knew he was heading back down to the beach, I wouldn't have let him go."

William took in a deep breath through his nose and looked around, slightly confused. "What is that?" he asked.

Maddy seemed to pick up on what he was sensing just a second after him. "It smells like a gas station."

"Gasoline," William said, a hint of panic in his voice.

The front door flung open a moment later, and the two of the hopped up off the couch defensively. William nearly hissed and his jaw clenched as he crouched lowly in front of Maddy.

Caleb burst into the living room, and their tense postures immediately died down and changed into a more relaxed position. Confusion, however, clung heavily to their expressions.

"Caleb..." Maddy said, almost in an accusatory tone. "What happened? Everyone's out looking for you."

"What?" he asked, slightly agitated. "Why?"

"Because you went off Alice's radar again," William explained, "Are you alright man?" He glanced down at Caleb's tattered, dirty and wet clothing. "You smell like gasoline. We didn't even catch your scent because of it."

Caleb looked down at his clothes, and attempted to wipe some dirt from his face, only smudging it in more across his cheek as he did so, causing him to appear even more disheveled.

Maddy walked over to him and put a hand on the side of his face, and the moved it to his shoulder. "What happened?" she asked gently.

He looked at her with hard eyes, then closed them for a moment and almost appeared as if he was catching his breath. "Where's Delilah?" he asked.

"She's out with my mom," William said, "Looking for you."

Caleb pulled out his cracked I-phone and attempted to turn it on with no success. He cursed once, and whipped it hard into one of the couch cushions.

William and Madison followed the path of the phone, then exchanged a glance and refocused on Caleb.

"What happened Caleb?" Maddy asked him a second time.

He huffed a few times, then sat down on the couch. "Someone... attacked me."

William looked skeptical, "What do you mean someone?"

"Someone," he repeated with less patience, "I don't know who it was."

"Another one of us?"

Caleb looked up at him, "No William, a human... yes it was one of our kind."

"Did you catch his scent?" Maddy asked him.

He shook his head, "Didn't have one."

"He didn't have one?" she went on with more confusion.

"No."

"Caleb," William said, shaking his head, "What did he look like?"

"I couldn't see him. I couldn't smell him. He blindsided me and threw me into the side of this little old shack of a building by the beach. He poured gasoline all over me, and all over the place, then threw a match toward the other side so it started to spread. He was standing on my arms so I couldn't get up."

"Who was it?" Maddy pleaded.

"I don't know," Caleb said again, standing up from his position. He shook his head in frustration and turned his back on them. "The guy was wearing a hood. It was dark. I couldn't see him."

"Could the gasoline have blocked out his scent?" William asked him, "It pretty much did when you walked in."

"I can smell him now though," Maddy argued, shaking her head.

"He didn't have a scent," Caleb told the again with certainty, "He didn't have one before he even started pouring the gas on me."

The three of the stood in silence for a moment before Maddy pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Delilah. I'll tell her that you're here. Will, call your mom."

"They're together," he said, removing his phone from his pocket, "I'll call Carlisle."

"No," Caleb said quickly.

"Caleb, they're out looking for you," Maddy said more harshly, "Your parents and Alice went out searching for you. Stop being so defiant."

His face hardened, but he nodded. "I'll call them."

"We have to tell them the truth," she added.

"No," he said, shaking his head, as William tossed him his phone.

"Caleb, there was someone who attempted to murder you tonight," she said. "This is getting out of control."

"No one tried to murder me Maddy," he said, squinting his eyes as he spoke.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't think he was fully capable of doing that? He had me pinned down and had a drum of gasoline and a lit match. He let me go."

"But-" she was about to continue.

"But nothing," he said, "I'm not telling them."

"How do you know this is related to what happened?" William asked him, "This could be the Volturi."

"Yeah, it's just a big coincidence that this happened in the same location one week after that happened with us," Caleb said, then corrected himself, "With me."

"How would this be related to that?" he argued, "That was a human being that was accidentally killed. Not an immortal, or he wouldn't have died to begin with."

"It has to be the Volturi," Maddy said.

"It's not the Volturi," Caleb said, "Come on..."

"How do you know?" she practically yelled at him.

"Because there is no way that happened at the same spot," he repeated. "Exactly one week later."

Maddy's expression suddenly changed, and she grabbed onto Caleb's forearm.

"What?" he asked her.

"No scent?" she asked aloud. Her eyes traveled the length of one of the floorboards, then she looked up to meet his eyes. "Are you sure it was a guy?"

He looked at her and shrugged, not sure what she was getting at. "I really couldn't say. I don't know."

William had his hands on his hips and had decrease the distance between he and Maddy to just a couple of inches.

"There's only one person that I know of that doesn't have a scent," she said, feeling slightly guilty for even suggesting it.

Caleb and William looked at each other, and William turned to Maddy. "You don't think..." he started.

The guilty feeling never left her eyes, but she had to speak the words. "I think we should talk to Luciana."