(A/N: THANKS PANDA4488, and EMILEE, PRINCESSANGELBABE,LIGHTBABE, AUTOBOT-MechanicalOperations, YOUR REVIEWS REALLY MADE MY DAY! I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THIS!

Story isn't over but the secrets are. Or are they? Bwhahahah.

Oh and Charlie, in my version, is aware of what's going on.. Because it never sat well with me that he'd be such a good father to bella, and stick his own head so far up his ass that he had no clue about things for nearly the entire series. So yeah.. He knows about vamps and wolves.. He's not entirely comfortable with the existance of either, but he's less okay with the bad vampires. Because I wanted to fix this one thing that made no sense to me. No flames, please?


CHAPTER 09:

MUST HAVE A PULSE TO RIDE THIS RIDE

( a close call with Aro)

She saw the flash of pale skin, the glow of red eyes as the man stood towering over her, from the reflection of her car's tinted window as she went to unlock the door, another long shift at the station behind her. She had nothing on her mind currently but getting home, watching maybe the last ten minutes of the game with her dad and Billy, Embry, and eating.

Apparently, however, Aro had other thoughts on his mind. His hand trailed slowly over her jugular vein, feeling the pulse as his other hand trailed over the skin left bare by her top's slight riding up. "Get your god damn dead hands offa me." Courtney said as Aro laughed and pretended to pout, pretended to be hurt while muttering snippily, "She who sleeps with men who turns to dogs.. Is going to insult me?"

"Apparently, yes, Aro you arrogant fuck." Courtney said as she felt around for her mase, swearing when she came up empty. He held up the Mase can and asked with a humorless smirk, "Looking for this, per chance?"

She snatched it and then said calmly, "They're going to rip you apart you know.. Limb from limb and when they do.. I'll be the one dancing on the fire they burn you in. I hate the whole red eye lot of you."

"You're nothing but cattle to me.. You AND your kind as a whole.. When we've risen up, taken control.. You'll be begging for me to turn you. And I'll laugh.." Aro said quietly, his hands trailing slowly over her hair, tangling his fingers in it. She stomped his foot, fought free from his grip and jumped into her car, speeding out of the parking lot, tires squealing as she left the parking lot.

Turing up Ozzy Osbourne to get the sound of his voice out of her head proved to be futile, even when the volume on her stereo hit 25 and Crazy Train was nearly making the girls ears bleed. Then he stepped out in front of her car, making her blink and swerve, veer into a nearby ditch. She got out swearing, wooden stick in hand.

But he was gone and she stood there looking at her car sitting sideways in the ditch before calmly calling first Carlisle to let him know that Aro needed to be gone like, yesterday, and then her father to let him know she'd swerved to avoid hitting a deer and wound up in a ditch sideways but wasn't hurt, just a little freaked out.

About 10 minutes later, Billy Black's truck screeched to a halt next to her car on the opposite side of the road and her father's patrol car came in right behind it, Embry getting out of the passenger seat, walking over to her. She winced as she pulled her hand away from her forehead, came away with blood on her fingertips and said "Fuck..."

"What happened?" her father asked her in concern. She explained what she could to him, leaving out the Aro thing, she'd have to tell Embry that later when it was okay to do so.

Embry took one look at her and the anger surged as he said calmly into her ear, "He's toast."

"I'm okay, big guy.. Just scared the living hell out of me is all."

Charlie almost remarked about how odd it was that there were footprints but no deer tracks, but instead he said nothing.. He remembered Bella's agreement with him, the don't ask and don't tell thing and he knew from Billy that Embry and Jacob, the others on the reservation were shifters.. If this had anything to do with the almost daily reports he'd been getting about red eyed strangely dressed men, then he was more than content to stand back and let Embry and the pack do whatever they had to do.

But if HE saw this vampire first? He was going to kill the thing. He could tell that whatever the truth was about what'd happened tonight, it'd shaken Courtney up. He walked over to Billy and whispered, "Can your boys.. can they handle this? Because if you need ANY help, Billy.. You've just gotten it from me."

"I think they'll handle things. Aro better watch himself, from the looks of Embry there."

"It's not just Embry Aro better be worried about anymore. That wreck could have killed her."

The ride back to her father's house was silent, Embry holding a torn sleeve from his tshirt to her forehead until they got to the emergency room. He hugged her against him and let her squeeze the hell out of his hand as the stern faced ER doctor gave her 4 butterfly stitches. And the entire time, Embry was trying to pick which four limbs he'd rip from Aro's lifeless body when this all finally came to a head like Alice seemed to see that it would sooner or later.

Charlie waited until everyone was out of the room and shut the door then asked his daughter, "Tonight.. was it a red eyed man?"

"Dad.. You do not want me to answer that."

"I'm taking that as a yes.. Tomorrow, Coco.. You're getting up at 6. Dad's taking you to the shooting range."

"If shoving garlic up their ass and threatening them with a wooden stake doesn't work, dad.. You really think a bullet's gonna stop 'em?"

"No, but it'll damn sure slow them down. And then maybe certain wolves can do what they need to?" Charlie nodded as Courtney said quietly, "If he hurts Embry, dad.. I swear to God, there will be nowhere safe that red eyed arrogant son of a bitch can hide."

"I'm worried about his hurting you.. Bella seems to think the entire lot of them are.." he admitted as Courtney nodded silently. Embry walked back inside as he said "Punched a wall.. Feeling better now."

"Kid, this isn't your fault."

"I know, sir, but.."

Both males turned to her and said in the same time, "You.. are done working at the station until this whole thing is over."