Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Laura... Happy birthday to you!
Chapter 28: Playing hide and seek is a dangerous game.
"In the hospital, they've said he left two hour ago and he was fine."
"I've spoken with Charlie and he said he saw him driving through the main road in Forks about an hour ago."
"Did he answer his cell phone yet?"
"No, he's still not answering it."
"Try again."
"I've called Linda, the nurse he sometimes takes home, and she said Carlisle drove her home and then headed this way."
"Where's Grandpa, Grandma?"
"He'll be here soon, honey. Why don't you go play with Jake?"
"Alice have you seen him yet?"
"No, I can't see him at all."
"Edward can you hear anything?"
"Nothing."
Where was Carlisle? Why couldn't Alice see his future? Was he 'dead'? I knew everyone was wondering that, and I didn't need Edward's power to know it. We were all wondering the same, and all we knew was... nothing.
Every human reacted in a different way when something bad happened. Some people went into a panic attack, others cried, others tried to find a solution and others… well, others started to freak out, panicked and cried. The Cullens' reactions were the same as any other human. It was weird to see them reacting like this, but Carlisle was the father figure they had.
Jasper, Embry and Quil were tracing in a map the possible places where Carlisle could be. Alice and Edward were using their gifts, trying to hear or see something that might give them a clue to where Carlisle could be. Esme, Rosalie and Emmett were making phone calls. Seth and Jake were playing with Renesmee trying to make the girl stop asking about his grandfather. And what was Bella doing? If your answer was freaking out, panicking, crying (or pretending to be crying) and pacing at vampire speed, then you got that right! When you thought that becoming a vampire would make this girl stop being so over-dramatic, she found a way to show you how wrong you were. Bella actually managed to make a vampire look stu-
Edward looked at me, making me stop that sentence.
I guess that when something bad is happening my way of reacting is by being sarcastic, Eddie. I lied, trying to cover my bitching towards Bella. Edward casted me another look. He heard what I just thought. Okay, what do you expect me to do when she's acting like that? For god's sake, she's a freaking vampire now!
Edward was about to reply to me, but the phone started ringing and everyone stopped doing what they were doing and turned their heads to the ringing phone. Again, I didn't need Eduardo's power to know everyone was hoping it was Carlisle calling them, telling he had a problem with the car or that he was going to be late because he was sucking some deer on his way home.
Edward answered the phone. "Hello?" Pause. "Just a moment." He passed me the phone. "It's your mother."
Way to go mom! What a way of ruining a moment here!
"Mom?"
"Leah, where are you? What's going on? Are you alright? Where's your brother? Is he with you?"
Remember what I said about the panic reactions people had, well, my mom was the Queen of them, and I could tell that she was pacing, crying and freaking out while talking to me on the phone.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Leah, please come home," she sobbed.
Suddenly someone took the phone from her. "Lee-Lee, come back home, please!"
"Sam? Sam, what's going on?"
"Leah, a woman and two men came to your house a while ago."
"So?"
"Lee-Leah, let me explain. They told your mom that they were friends of yours and needed to talk to you. She said they looked really anxious to see you. Paul and I were coming back from our patrols when we smelled a strange scent, we follow it and it took us to your house. When we got near to see if everything was okay, we noticed that the scent belonged to a tall brunette and two men, one blond and the other a huge guy. We got closer, to make sure they weren't bothering your mom, but they somehow noticed we were heading their way and suddenly they were gone. In a blink of an eye they weren't there any more. We went to see if your mom was okay and then phased to follow them but we lost their track. When we got back to your house Sue explained what they wanted, she said they were all very attractive, and something in their eyes warned her that they weren't human. When they asked for you, she answered you weren't there but they insisted to know where you were." He took a deep breath. "Leah, is there a possibility that your friends are werewolves? They didn't smell like leeches and by the way they left all I can think about is werewolves."
A woman and two men? A brunette, a blond hair guy and a huge man? No, they couldn't be here, could they? Could that be Cammie, Alex and Elliott? But what were they doing here? What was going on? Where they okay?
"Leah, you still there," Sam interrupted my thoughts.
"I don't know what you are talking about Sam," I tried to answer as cool as possible, at the same time as I was trying to think of something different so Mind-Rapist (Yeah, I called you Mind-Rapist, Eddie!) didn't get the hotties' secret.
"Leah, don't try to fool me! They smelled different than humans do and they didn't smell like leeches either. The way they escaped… They weren't humans and they knew you, so you must know them too! If there's something you know about them, how to kill them, say it now. Leah, my pack is running looking for them, and once we find them, we'll need to destroy them."
"What?" I shouted losing my trying-to-be-cool attitude. "Sam, is there any creature that you don't have the need to kill before knowing?" That dude was obsessed on killing any thing that he didn't know about. He planned on killing Renesmee before even knowing what she was, before she was even born; not that we knew much about what she was now, Renesmee was still an enigma, a freak…
I was brought back to the phone call when Edward coughed angrily. This dude took every single thought too personal. I was going to add a freak like me, Edwardo.
Sam was still talking about his Alpha decision and his Alpha orders, and blah, blah, blah. He thought that everything was solved by killing the strange creature.
"Carlisle is here," Edward suddenly shouted. I hung up without even a goodbye to Sam and ran to the front door where Carlisle has just walked through. His beautiful face filled with worry. Esme walked towards him and hugged him while the rest greeted him with 'What happened?' and 'Are you okay?'
"She's disappeared just like that?" Edward asked.
Carlisle nodded. He might have shown Edward what happened.
What now?
"A girl is missing," he answered. "You were driving and you found her in the middle of the road?"
"Not exactly. I was driving home, and suddenly I saw someone lying on the floor next to the road. I stopped the car and approached them, and there she was, a beautiful young woman lying unconscious. She woke up a couple of minutes later. I asked her what happened and she said she was having a walk through the woods that she thought that she might have fallen, tripping with a rock and hitting her head, but the strange thing was that I didn't find any bruises on her." Carlisle frowned. "I tried to help her stand up on her feet and when our hands touched, her arm started shaking hard. It was like if she were afraid of me. I told her my name and that I was a doctor that she didn't need to be afraid of me because I only wanted to help her. She stopped shaking and tried to get up but fall again to the floor. She had a twisted ankle and couldn't stand up. I had my aid kit on the car, and there I had some bandages that I could use on her ankle," Carlisle explained with that smooth voice. "I was walking to the car but she stopped me holding my hand. She thanked me and told me she was sorry for not trusting before. I told her not to worry, and that I liked helping people. I walked to the car, took the bandages, and when I turned around she wasn't there anymore. She was gone. I run for about an hour trying to see if she was nearby, but she'd just disappeared and I couldn't find her." He sighed.
"Why didn't you follow her scent?" Quil asked in a duh voice.
"I did, Quil. I followed it for a couple of miles, but suddenly her scent disappeared too. I couldn't find it anywhere. It was all very strange."
"So, that crazy chic disappeared. Like puff! No scent, no idea where she can be." Rose made the puff noise moving her hands to make a better statement.
Carlisle nodded.
"There's a human in the forest whose scent disappeared. You know what that means, right?" Jake asked looking at us. "We need to run some patrols and see if we can find her."
"Jacob, I'd like to help you. After all, if we find her she will feel better if she sees a familiar face," Carlisle said.
"Okay, doc. You can join us if you want," Jake said.
"We'll help too," Jasper said, and Emmett nodded his head in agreement.
"Count me in," Rose added.
"And us," Edward and Alice said at the same time.
"We could ask Sam's pack to help us too," Embry suggested.
"Now, that you mentioned Sam, what did he want, Leah?"
Sam? Shit! Cammie, Elliott and Alex! What if he found them? No way! They were too good runners...
"He just wanted to convince me to join his pack again. That asshole…" I lied.
"Okay." He shrugged. "Let's go!"
After organizing our running teams, I headed with mine to the north. My team was composed of Paul, Colin, Emmett and Bella. Yes, you heard that right. Bella decided to join us, leaving Renesmee with Esme. Sam's pack join us too, after losing the trace of the 3 'unknown creatures' they were following, and decided to help us find the missing girl in the forest, I decided to call 'the missing girl in the forest'.
So here I was running with my two favorite people: Paul and Bella…
It isn't that bad, Leah, Jake said.
I will never forgive you for forcing me to go with Paul and Bella, Jake.
Leah, please try to understand, every team needed a leader, you are my Beta, so I thought you could lead that group. I trust you that much, can't you see it?
Sure… I thought rolling my eyes. He just wanted to control Paul and after my encounter with him some hours ago, he thought I was able to avoid him causing problems because of the Cullens being so close to us. At least I didn't hear his thoughts, so he wasn't really annoying me, and by the way he was looking at me I think he was scared of me, but still I didn't like that kid.
And Bella? At least Bella isn't annoying you, Jake commented after hearing my thoughts.
No, Bella is not annoying me. She's annoying the world in general. Even Emmett that likes everyone is annoyed by her. Bella kept distracting us, telling she found the girl's scent with every strange smell she found. Jake, I think she should have stayed at home reading some freaking Jane Austen book, and stop making it so hard not to jump on her and rip her head off.
We ran, and ran, and ran a bit more, but nothing. There was no trace of the girl, not even her scent. The smell started on the road where Carlisle found her, then it went into the forest for some miles, and then in a clearing it disappeared. It was like if she was absorbed by the ground or something.
Jake told us to join them in the clearing near the Cullens where we were going to have a meeting and try to see what and where to look next. When we arrived Jasper's team (Rose, Brady, and Embry) and Jake's team (Edward, Jared, and Quil) where waiting there already. I hide behind a tree and phased back, changed into my clothes and walked towards Jake and Jasper who were planning about doing a second round of running patrols.
Sam's team (Alice, Seth, and Carlisle) suddenly appeared in the clearing.
"We didn't find any trace, any footprint, any scent, anything. What about you, Jake?" Sam asked. Yes, Jasper and I were team leaders too but Sam had to ignore the vamp and the bitch.
"We didn't find anything either, and same for Leah and Jasper. We think on going for another round, and even going to the Canadian border," Jake informed him.
"How is it possible that her scent disappeared and we can't find it again, Jake?" Again with the ignoring the bitch and the vamp…
"I don't know. It's like the ground absorbed her or something."
"Sorry about that," A female voice I knew too well said from behind me.
"That's the girl," Carlisle whispered.
I turned around to face no other than Camille who was smiling playfully.
I turned to the Cullens and Sam's pack to tell them not to attack her, that she was a friend, but it wasn't necessary, they were all gawking at her. It wasn't a surprise to see their reactions, Camille was very beautiful, and if she could make a cool-hearted leech like Caius fell in love with her, she could get any guy she wanted... vampire, werewolf or human, and in this case not even the imprinted guys or the married Cullen's men could take their eyes of her. Not even… Edward?
The faithful and Bella worshipper, Edward Cullen, is having dirty thoughts about another woman that is not Bella? I must inform her about your indecent thoughts. I joked. Edward looked at me shame in his eyes, like if he had cheated Bella or something. Relax Ed, I was just kidding.
I turned my attention back to Cam, and I asked her angrily, "So, you've been playing with us? You knew we were looking for you, but you decided to play hide and seek?"
"It was not my intention to play hide and seek, Lee, but I didn't want you to see me, yet. I needed to test something," she answered using an innocent voice.
"What do you want, Camille?" I asked trying to show her I was still angry with her. "Did you come and check if I was planning on attacking you? Planning with your enemies how to destroy you? You didn't trust me and you decided to come to check I'm not telling them all your secrets?"
"I'm sorry, if you feel like I pushed you away, Leah. I don't see it that way… it was all we could do, and maybe you'll understand it one day…"
"Understand it? What the hell, Camille? Once you found out I befriended vampires, you called me a traitor! That's all I need to understand! You don't like vampires! You didn't even bother to listen to me when I tried to explain that they weren't bad, but you kept calling me a liar! What else do you want me to understand?"
"Great, take it all out. Now are you more relaxed?"
"Sarcasm isn't your thing, Cam."
"Being a bitch isn't your thing either, Lee."
Somehow that comment made me smile. If only she knew my past, my relationship with the pack when I first phased, the names my pack brothers called me: Bitch, Queen Bitch, Bitchy, B-girl, and Bitchilla.
"What are you doing here, Cam?"
"As I said before, I wanted to make sure what you said was true."
"And what's the verdict?"
"I'm impressed! Is not every day that you find a group of vampires so worried about a simple human girl. I thought the doctor wanted to make me his prey when I first saw him, but then I saw he was so worry to help me. My mind changed about you after that, but then I thought 'what about his family?' What if he is good but his coven isn't? I had to try, and you didn't disappoint me. Vampires joining shape-shifters to find the weak human girl lost in the woods, and not interesting in eating her, I would have felt flattered if I were a human… too bad I'm not!"
The La Push boys and the Cullens were shocked when Cam mentioned vampires and shape-shifters; of course, they didn't know she was a werewolf-fairy or fairy-werewolf.
I looked at Camille again, she had explained why she was here, but I still didn't understand why she bothered to come and check what I said was truth or not. She might have guessed what I was thinking because she immediately added, "I'm sorry I had to see it with my own eyes except by believing in what you told us the other day, Leah, but in these past days I couldn't trust anyone, not even my own family," she said looking to the floor.
She could trust her family? What happened?
As if hearing my thoughts Cam answered, "They are all behaving strangely. And Nick…"
"Nick…" I whispered.
"He isn't himself anymore. He's been acting secretly and his attitude is worst than when he went through his dark-side period. I think he's hiding something." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm not here to talk about my brother. The reason I'm here is for something much worse…"
"Why don't we go for a walk and we talk more privately?" I asked her.
"No, Lee. This concerns them too," she said pointing to the Cullens and the two packs, who didn't understand what was going on. "I've just came to tell you're all in danger."
"We're in danger of what?" Sam asked.
Cammie looked at him and then turned his eyes back to me, "I'm afraid they found us, Lee. They know we are here, and they are coming to destroy us, but not only us, also the coven they fear the most. The coven that could equal them in a fight and you shape-shifters, the creatures they don't understand and fear."
"Who are 'they'?" Jake intervened.
"The Volturi. They are coming here and I'm afraid this will be a huge war," Cam said.
"That's impossible! If they were to come here I'll see them. My gift is to see the future, so I'll know if they wanted to come," Alice said.
"Did you see me coming? Did you see the doctor's future today when he was with me?"
"No," Alice replied.
"I think that's because you are a werewolf… fairy," I said not sure what to call her. "She can't see the pack either."
"Exactly! That's the reason why you won't see them. The Volturi are coming, but they aren't coming alone. They are leaded by-"
"Me," a familiar voice said.
You'd got to be kidding me! This couldn't be happening!
Alice couldn't have never seen them coming, because the Volturi were leaded by a werewolf. A werewolf I knew…
Oh-oh! :O Any guesses on who the werewolf is?
IMPORTANT! If you enjoy participating in one-shot contests, my friend Le Crepuscule and I are hosting the 'Missing Moments Contest'. Your one-shots can be about anything missing on the Twilight saga books. The interaction between Sam and Emily when he mauled her to Carlisle changing one of the Cullens. When Quil imprinted on Claire to the life in Volterra (story of any Volturi). The contest started yesterday and it will be opened until Friday April 30, 2010 12:00 AM PST. To participate go here: http:/fanfiction-challenges(dot)blogspot(dot)com/ (Change the '(dot)' for full stops). Hope to see your one-shots there!
