Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All rights go to Stephanie Meyer.

~I may cry ruinin' my makeup, wash away all the things you've taken. And I don't care if I don't look pretty. Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking. Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking. Big girls cry when their heart is breaking ~

Sia: Big Girls Cry

Chapter 10: Secrets Revealed

Isabella

I wrenched my hand out of his grasp, glaring at him. "Why did you do that?" I spat, rubbing at my wrist.

"Do you realize how stupid that was?" he hissed back, not hesitating to get in my face. Instinctively, I threw up my shield, forcing him out of my personal space. "You may have just revealed the secret to the entire world." I rolled my eyes, pushing past him. "If it weren't for me, Aro would have you drained faster than you could call for your snobby little mate," he called at my back. I froze, anger rising inside of me. I spun, eyes alight in fury.

"What would you have me do? Just…sit here and let an innocent boy die at the hands of a deranged psychopath?" I shouted, throwing my hands out in exasperation. He smirked, shrugging as he leaned against the wall.

"You know," he drawled lazily. "You're pretty hot when you're angry. Passionate. I like it." He winked at me and gagged, flipping him the bird before storming off.

I heard him following me, not even trying to be silent like the other vampires around the castle. Xavier. My personal devil. Assigned to me for when Alec had to be off on "official business". My heart clenched at the thought of him, before I shook my head. Earlier, when Lucas called, I'd been lounging on my bed, with him reading 'Romeo and Juliet' to me in Italian. As soon as he heard that there was a vampire (or two) inside the city walls who'd hunted, he'd been off to inform Aro, leaving me once more with Xavier, the insolent, egotistical nuisance.

"That was completely uncalled for!" screeched a voice. I gritted my teeth, speeding up. This couldn't be good.

"Please, calm down. Honestly, it was an accident-"

"How is that an accident? How does one just…snap a straightener in half by accident?" she continued, voice rising with each word.

"I assure you, Miss, that it was not intentional on my part." He tried, continuing to attempt to console the hysterical girl.

"No! It's simply unacceptable! I would never imagine that a centuries old vampire would hurt me by destroying my appliances and-"

"Mandy," I sighed. She stopped, spinning. Her blue eyes widened as she rapidly closed the distance between us, grasping the front of my shirt.

"Bella! He snapped my straightener. Like, in half. Destroyed. What am I going to do now?" she wailed, jabbing a finger accusingly at Demetri. He grimaced, holding his hands up. I rolled my eyes.

"Mandy, I'm sure it was an accident. Around here, vampires don't need to really check themselves in regards to their strength. And besides, what else apart from your incessant whining would snapping your straightener achieve?" I raised a brow at her as she pouted, glaring at Demetri.

"But still…" she whined. I chuckled.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sure Demetri and Xavier would be more than happy to go out and replace it. Won't you boys?" I looked at Demetri and Xavier in turn. They looked at me, frowning slightly before nodding.

"Of course. Come, Xavier. Let us go replace the terribly smelly appliance." The two left in a whirl of black cloth and hypnotising scents. Mandy turned her eyes to me, raising them approvingly.

"Hm…how'd you do that?" she asked, hooking her arm through mine as we walked down the hall. I smirked, glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

"Oh…I've got a theory." She looked at me, before jabbing me in the ribs.

"So? What is it?" I yelped, rubbing my side, laughing.

"Not here." I tapped my ear and she nodded. Humming, we skipped into the communal area dedicated to those of us with a pulse. As usual, we found the boys tapping away on the Xbox. Angela glanced up, smiling and waving us over. She and Carrie were curled up on the couch, tear-eyed as they watched a movie on the laptop in front of them. Mandy bounded over to them.

"Watcha watching?" she asked, sliding in beside Carrie.

"The Notebook. Ryan Gosling is so…ahhh," sighed Carrie, dabbing at her green eyes with some tissue. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure he can't help us here so listen up." I perched on the arm of the sofa and turned to them, folding my arms in annoyance when no one paid any attention. "Hello?" Tyler glanced over at me for a second, nudging Ben in the process. They paused the game, clearing their throat.

"Oh come on!" shouted Mike, throwing his hands up in the air. Ben threw him a look and he twisted, smiling apologetically at me. "Sorry Bella. What's up?" I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"You guys remember Lucas, right?" They nodded. "Well, he called me last night." Angela sat up straighter.

"What? What did he say?"

"He was being chased. Victoria, by the sounds of it, and worse…Edward too." They all gasped.

"Why did they want him? What are they going to do?" asked Mandy, biting her lip in worry.

"She said that her James died because of me so Lucas is going to die because of me too." I glanced at Angela, but she just shook her head, coming over to wrap me in a hug.

"What are we going to do?" Ben looked around at us. I bit my lip.

"What can we do? I mean, they're vampires; a thousand times stronger, faster and indestructible than us," pointed out Carrie. I smirked, glancing at Tyler.

"But that doesn't make them any smarter."

"Straighten your back. Clench your fist. What was that? Stop. Stop!" I growled in frustration, wiping the sweat off of my brow. He stormed over to me, glowering. "What was that?" he spat. I glared at him.

"It was punch." He scoffed at me.

"That was not a punch. I've seen five year olds throw better right hooks than that." I put my hands on my hips, raising a brow at him.

"Yeah, well a five year old vampire is bound to have more on an eighteen year old human." He scowled at me.

"Straighten your back. Clench your fist. Then punch." I punched. "Now straighten your arm as well. You don't want to make it sloppy." I punched again. The muscles in my arm ached, screaming at me in protest. "Duck." I went sprawling, face stinging. My nose felt broken, and the blood that stained my face made my stomach roll in protest. I heard him sigh in annoyance from across the room before cold hands helped me to my feet. I smiled gratefully at Felix, wincing slightly as I put pressure on my right foot.

"That was uncalled for," I hissed. Caius simply smirked at me.

"Don't expect these lessons to be easy. The Volturi only accept the best of the best, and Aro is going to want you amongst the Elite Guard. Expect nothing short of impossible." I looked away, settling for scowling at the ground, dotted with my blood. "Felix, see to it that the human is properly attended to." My glare intensified. I flexed my shield, letting it push the fair haired King into the wall. I saw his astonished face before his perpetual glare descended again. I giggled. "Oops."

In my room, I collapsed on my bed. Felix hovered, seemingly unsure of what to do.

"What's up, Felix?" I asked, chuckling. He smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"I…uh…d'you need any help? Bandages? Gauze?" I groaned, sitting up.

"Yeah. Just grab me a first aid kit and I'll be able to fix…this." I motioned to my entire body eliciting a laugh from him.

"Sure, sure." He laughed on his way out. I sighed, trying to stretch.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to bleed out everywhere." I jumped, glaring at him.

"You know, Xavier, civilised people knock. You are familiar with knocking, right?" I glanced over at him, raising a brow. He scoffed.

"I am by no means civilised, Isabella. And I would not have you believe otherwise." He got closer as he spoke, until his cool breath was fanning my neck. I heard him inhale deeply, before his fingers brushed my collar bone. I shivered, before I slipped out from beneath him. Clearing my throat I grabbed my towel.

"I'm going to have a shower. Try not to peak, will you." I raised my brows before escaping to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Not that it would stop him if he got it into his impossibly thick-headed vampire skull to enter. Leaning against the counter, I placed a hand over my racing heart, wiling it to slow down. I have a mate. I'm supposed to be spoken for. If Alec ever found out about Xavier's persistence to….do whatever, I'm sure there'd be a bloodbath. I sighed. Boys should be the last thing from my mind right now, especially with Victoria and Edward on the loose.

The hot water stung against my bruised and battered skin. I watched the pink water swirl down the drain, willing all of the pain and worry to wash away with it. My mind wandered back to Lucas. Where was he now? Did she kill him? Did she turn him? Are there others? How many more innocent people are going to die because of my selfishness? How many more are going to have to suffer because I decided to fall in love with a vampire? A frustrated growl caught in my throat and turned into a sob, forcing its way harshly from my lips. Tears mixed with the water, and I felt my hands shaking.

Lucas' blue eyes flashed behind my eyes, his midnight hair reflecting the sun. Please, you must help me. I cried, curling up into a ball. They're demons and they're after me. My chest ached from the force of my cries. My head hurt, throat sore. My knuckles were raw from my intense training today, and I felt as if I had been run over by a lorry. I heard knocking on the door, but I paid it no attention. The water turned cold, but I didn't care. Victoria' words were echoing in my head, and I didn't have the will to dispel it.

It's because of you that your little friend here is going to die as well.

Forks

Charlie roared, furious. Growling, he grabbed the overnight bag he kept in his office and rushed outside, dialling as he went.

"Hello?"

"Sam, meet me at the airport. Bring Jared, Embry and Paul with you." His tone was clipped, stern. The Quileute frowned.

"What? What for?" he asked, voice deepening with concern. Charlie let out a breath, tires squealing as he left the parking lot.

"It's…complicated. I'll tell you when you get there." He rolled his eyes as he heard Sam growl.

"I can't just up and leave with no explanation, Charlie. We have lives and duties here."

"Well, Sam, last I checked it was your duty to protect the people of your tribe from vampires. Now stop arguing and get your ass down here. I wouldn't enlist your help if it wasn't entirely necessary." Without waiting for a response, he cut the call. Sighing, he dialled again, eyes hardening as he swerved out of the way of a jaywalker.

"Mr Jenkins here. How can I help you?"

"Jenks? It's Charles. I need you to track someone down for me. Several people, actually."

"Of course, Mr Swan. Give me as many details as you can and I'll have the information ready for you within two days."

"Right. First of all, one Carlisle Cullen. Track him and everything you can find on him dating back to when he first used the internet to where they're taking a shit right now. I want everything." Charlie included the phone number he had for the doctor and email address.

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yes. Edward Cullen. Or Edward Masen. I want everything you can get on the both of them." Charlie heard the tapping of keys and smirked. He knew that Jenks was one of the few trustworthy people out there. "Oh and one more thing?"

"Yes, Mr Swan?"

"Please confirm Carlisle Cullen's whereabouts please."

"Of course. Give me a minute." Charlie sighed, leaning back in his seat as he eased to a stop. He cursed the red light, glaring at a lady who insisted on crossing the road despite it having gone red for pedestrians a full ten seconds ago. "He landed in Siena at one pm four days ago. But then he checked into a hotel in Colle di Valle d'Elsa ten minutes later." Charlie chuckled, shaking his head.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered to himself. "Say, Jenks, how long would it take to get to Volterra from there?"

"Eh, about…half an hour without traffic. But at this time of year, more like an hour and a bit."

"That's what I thought..." he muttered to himself. "Thanks Jenks. The transaction will be made in about an hour."

Pulling into Seattle airport parking lot, Charlie killed the engine, jumping out of the cruiser and locking up. A quick phone call ensured that the car would find a place in a nearby warehouse. With his overnight bag slung over his shoulder, Charlie waited.

"What's this about, Charlie?" demanded Billy an hour later. Charlie simply raised his brows, whistling lowly.

"You sure took your time, boys. Nice to see you too, Billy. Now, shall we? We have a flight to catch." He smiled sarcastically, turning to enter the terminal. He stopped when a hot hand fell on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, Chief. You still haven't explained what the hell is going on," rumbled Sam's deep timber. Charlie glanced at the hand, which was quickly retracted.

"Alright then. My daughter and every innocent human is in danger of being slaughtered in Volterra if we don't stop it from happening. Not only that, but after they are all wiped out, there is nothing to stop the threat from returning to the reservation to torment you and the other wolves." He threw them a tense smile. "How's that for urgency."

Sam blinked, frowning. He glanced over to Billy, who was staring at his best friend as if he'd grown a second head.

"How do you know?" he asked, voice croaking. Charlie shrugged.

"I know many things, Billy. Have done for a long time. Now are we going to save our people or not?"

"Wait a second, since when did people in another continent become 'our people'?" asked Jared incredulously. Charlie glowered, turning his thundery gaze to the hulking boy.

"So you're telling me that if hundreds of innocent people die, it isn't your problem because they are not somehow related to you? That if the blood of an entire city was on your hands you wouldn't care because it wasn't your neighbour?" Charlie's glare became ten times icier. "This is where your morality is tested." His gaze shifted to all of them. "All of you." Without another word, he marched inside the airport.

Sam made to follow, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Sam, please tell me we aren't going to endanger ourselves for people we don't even know." Sam looked at him.

"If we stuck to that logic, Paul, then we wouldn't have put a ban on the Cullen's feeding or turning anyone. Whether it is in our backyard or across the world, it's still wrong. How would you feel if you someone knew that our entire reservation was going to be slaughtered but did nothing because it wasn't their concern?" Met with silence, Sam continued in.

He shook his head. What have I gotten myself into now?

Charlie sighed, sinking into the seat. He'd gotten them all tickets in first class, allowing for some space and the leisure to talk about secretive business without being overheard. Sam watched the man, frowning at the subtle changes. His bicep seemed to bulge, larger than normal, and he seemed to have filled out his cop uniform a little more, muscles becoming more defined. The grey hairs that once speckled his hair had disappeared, turning instead into a deep brown and his shoulders were slightly broader. The lines that once defined his age seemed to have mysteriously vanished as well, making him appear more around twenty-nine instead of his actual thirty-eight.

Charlie smirked as the familiar hum of energy and power that had been repressed for nearly nineteen years flowed freely through his veins, as familiar to him as reading somebody their rights. He glanced over at Billy, who was also peering at him weirdly. He sighed.

"Go on. Ask." He took a sip of his whiskey, settling in.

"How do you know? Who told you? How long have you known?" The questions gushed out. Charlie chuckled.

"Well, I've always known, actually. You see, vampires are an ancient race, and as we know, everything has a predator, even that at the top of the food chain. My people are vampire's predators." He let that sink in.

"So…who, or what, are your people?" asked Paul.

"We're Hunters."

"What?" they asked in unison. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Wait, Hunters? As in, real vampire hunters?"

"Yep." He replied, popping the 'p'. Sam shook his head.

"Why have we never heard of you?"

"Because we are a reclusive folk. Don't like company much."

"So, you can know about us but we can't know about you?" Charlie shrugged.

"I guess. Unfair, I know. You see, we came about when Cold Ones were created." Billy frowned.

"Cold Ones are vampires," he said slowly. His friend nodded.

"Yes, but they're not the only type of vampire out there. You see, originally, they were how they are portrayed in the media. Burn in the sun, stake through the heart, but not the garlic. That's preposterous." He scoffed. "But one day, a witch- yes they're real- fell in love with a vampire. Being connected to nature, and thus the sun, she spent most of her time outside during the day, meaning that she wasn't with the 'love of her life'." He gagged, rolling his eyes as he took another sip of whiskey.

"So? What does this have to do with anything?" Paul was getting restless; patience was never one of his strengths.

"So…she cast a spell. Made him invincible to the sunlight. Of course, that threw off the balance, which witches are all about. So the coven decided to humiliate him by making him sparkle. It was also a warning to the people of the village that he wasn't human like he appeared to be. Upon discovering this, he got angry and drained three quarters of the village. Their blood was laced with magic, which he then possessed. However, he wasn't able to perform spells like the witches could. Instead, his most useful and prominent trait as a human was amplified and turned into a gift.
The quarter of the village left, including the witch who had fallen in love with the vampire –and been taken as his mate- saw this and new instantly that they wouldn't be able to kill him. With this in mind, they got a human from the next village over and infused him with powerful magic, making him capable of killing the vampire."

Charlie paused. Jared shook his head.

"Wait a second. You're telling me that there's another breed of vampire, witches are real and they created a completely new race just so that they can hunt the newest breed of vampire?" He scoffed. "Something's not adding up." Charlie shrugged.

"Believe what you want, Jared, but it's the truth. After the Hunter was made, he did what was required of him. However, the vampire had already figured out that with the privilege of not burning in the sun, he had venom instead of blood, which was transferred to his incomplete kills, turning them. By the time he was killed, he'd already made more, who'd gone on the run and made more and so on and so forth. The Hunter settled down after the threat left his village, but his children possessed the gene too. With no vampires in the village to kill but the urge to do so burning inside of them, the Hunter family moved around, and the gene spread."

"So have you ever hunted any vampires?" asked Billy. At that, a slow smile spread across Charlie's face.

"Of course. The Swan bloodline is a direct descendant of the first ever Hunter. I had my first kill at ten, but when Renée got pregnant, I gave up the Hunter lifestyle. My powers were dormant up until three hours ago when Bella called, and I have a strong feeling that hers has awakened as well." Sam sat forward.

"What kind of abilities do you have?"

"Well, we all have the instinctive fight inside of us which is better than the average human. But then there's our heightened senses, like the fact that I know that Emily is having twins and Billy hasn't been keeping to his dietary requirements." He shot his friend a disapproving glance, before smirking at Sam. He sat, gaping at the man.

"But…but how did you know?" he spluttered. Paul stared at him, impressed. Nobody made Sam splutter. No one.

"Not only could I hear their heartbeats over the phone, but their scents are all over you." He smiled widely. "Congratulations." The alpha wolf sat back in his seat, head in his hands. He cleared his throat.

"Um…excuse me. I'm going to call Em." He hurried off to the bathroom, goofy smile on his face. Paul turned to Charlie, smiling.

"Tell me, oh wise one, will I get a sexy Italian lay on our little vacation?" he wriggled his brows, laughing. Charlie guffawed, shaking his head.

"Shut up, smart ass." He nursed his whiskey, turning his gaze to the window. His eyes turned sad, all the humour draining from his body. "I'm coming Bella."

Cullen's

"No, Emmett. We can't just go marching into the castle and demand to see Aro!" shouted Alice, infuriated. She tugged at her hair in frustration, growling when she couldn't see anything.

"Alice, love, calm down," sighed Esme. Jasper looked up, sending calming waves to everyone.

"I've got an idea, but none of y'all are going to like it." Everyone looked at him. He sighed.

"I think Rose was right about only certain people going in. everyone attending would make it look like a challenge to their laws, which is bad. If Alice, Kate and I offer our services for something like three decades, it should be enough. Not only would Aro know how serious about this we are, but he'll finally have some more useful members." He shrugged.

"No. Absolutely not," protested Emse instantly. Irina sighed.

"As hard as it is, Esme, it's the best shot we have." The maternal vampire shook her head, fighting back the sobs.

"No! We can…there must be a way other than splitting us up. Please, just think…" she shook her head repeatedly, clutching Carlisle's shirt in desperation. The doctor closed his eyes, grimacing at the pain he felt at seeing his mate so distressed.

"Love, I understand that its hard but please, it is the only way. Aro will accept nothing short of having an addition to his guard or our death. It is law." Eleazer frowned from his corner in the room. Just then, Carlisle's phone chirped. He glanced at it, frowning. He looked up at everyone. "We're being traced."