March 2007
Carlisle
The sun colored the eastern horizon a flaming pink when Dr. Carlisle Cullen rushed into the hospital building, leaving his bag and coat behind in the car. He would come out to collect them later. Right now, he needed to prevent the staff, patients and attendants in his ER from being mauled down by a confused and over-sized wolf.
The sharp smell of disinfectant was a welcoming familiarity, the musty odour of a soon to phase Quileute boy was not.
"I'll take a look at this one, Ashley," Carlisle said, smoothly taking the clipboard out of the hand of the nurse. Neither the overworked nurse nor the sleepy doctor posted in the ER complained. Carlisle walked up till the mother and the young son. He saw the boy wrinkle his nose and Carlisle stood at a reasonable distance, hoping to alleviate some of the boy's troubles.
"So, Rick, what seems to be the problem here?" He asked, a cool professional smile on his face.
Rick grimaced, but his mother was quick to jump in.
"Rick's been running a fever for the past ten days. I gave him Tylenol but it didn't help and the reservation people weren't very helpful," she said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.
Stupid cult, Carlisle heard her mutter under her breath and raised an eyebrow. He glanced over the boy's papers in his hand. It said his father was deceased, died in a car crash three years ago when the boy was nine. Obviously the young woman who married into the tribe without any knowledge of the power of its gene did not look favorably upon the group of boys roaming around the reservation shirtless, with a new kid joining in every week.
Perhaps if the father would have been alive, he could have sat her down and explained everything. But he wasn't, and it was left to Carlisle to placate the mother and send her and her son out the door before the child phased in the ER itself. He certainly looked like he was about, affronted by his mother's public affection and worry.
"Okay," Carlisle addressed both. "It seems to be a flu that's going around. I will give an injection for now and medications to continue later."
The woman nodded and he quickly instructed the nurse to type up the prescription. Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief when the tremors in the boy's hands reduced and he was able to reassure both the mother and the son that it would be okay.
He pulled out his phone as the two walked out, luckily with the ER intact, and scrolled down to Jacob Black's number. Someone from the packs needed to keep an eye on the boy and make sure he didn't hurt himself or his mother. Carlisle was certain the boy would turn by the end of the day.
As much as he hated being in this position due to nature of his kind, he was glad to be out of the small room and in the open air. The distasteful smell of the shapeshifters frequently overwhelmed his nose, even though with Jacob's constant presence around their house, he was getting used to it.
He waved a hello to Charlie as the police chief drove up to the hospital with a young boy in the back. A broken arm, with a few scratches.
The doctor in the ER would be able to handle the small RTA case so Carlisle did not worry too much. Instead, he gave Jacob the name and address of the boy, explaining the situation as he walked back to the parking lot to retrieve his bag and coat from the car.
The mother and her son were just leaving the spot beside his and the air hung heavy with the odour. Perhaps that was why the second smell was masked or perhaps it was the fact that he was distracted by the conversation he was having, he neither smelled, nor heard nor saw the stranger take his place behind him.
Carlisle stiffened the moment the scent hit him.
He had met many of their kind. Most nomads dropped by while passing through the area. None had so blatantly shown up outside the hospital.
By the time he could say anything, Jacob had already hung up the call. Carlisle pulled out his belongings and shut the car door before he turned around, slowly, aware of the two police cruisers, hospital staff and a few other humans lingering around near the entrance with full view of the parking lot.
"Hello," he let out carefully, taking in the vampire standing before him. He was tall, perhaps even more so than Emmett, and huge, towering over Carlisle by a good few inches. His skin was pale, like the rest of them, his eyes a dark red. The man bared his teeth, letting out a low snarl.
Carlisle felt his innards tighten. There was no friendliness or curiosity to this man's demeanor. He was no passerby.
"Carlisle Cullen?" The man spat out the question.
His large form was already drawing attention, two of the policemen looking at them. All remaining eyes snapped in their direction when Carlisle nodded and with a loud boom, found himself a foot off the ground, his back slammed against the frame of his car…or what remained of it.
The man hurled a string of what could only be profanities, loud and vulgar, in a language that Carlisle did not know.
"You killed him," he yelled out, his face inches away from Carlisle. Carlisle's hand went to his neck, over the other vampire's as he tried to pry off the strong grip. He was not choking, but he did not enjoy the ever increasing pressure either. "You killed my mate."
Multiple footsteps rushed in their direction and Carlisle heard one of the officers radioing backup.
"Witnesses," Carlisle managed to gasp out and through the rage contorted face, the man turned back to look at the humans running towards them.
"You will die Carlisle Cullen," the man snarled before throwing Carlisle down on the ground and sprinting away at a steady pace just as the first human reached them.
"Dr. Cullen, are you okay?" an officer asked him, and frantic hands helped him up.
"Get a gurney!" someone yelled out and Carlisle looked around himself.
"That won't be necessary, I'm okay," he reassured the orderly who had called for a gurney. He took the unnecessary support his coworkers offered to stand up straight and looked towards his car.
The passenger side of the car was totaled, the frame and the door both caved in and the windshield and the window were shattered. Carlisle leaned against his colleague a little more heavily.
A dangling piece of glass fell down from the windshield onto the dashboard. The airbag burst out, with an impact that would have been more injurious than the initial accident itself.
Carlisle sighed silently and added a limp to his walk.
The crowd helped him up till the entrance of the ER before he gently soothed their worries. He clapped the ER doctor on the shoulder when the latter insisted on Carlisle at least getting an X-Ray done to ensure he was all right.
"I'm fine, I'll just sit down in my office for a little while and be right back to work," he said with a smile. The young doctor did not know what to say. Imposing his authority over the second senior most surgeon in the hospital wasn't exactly the best course of action for him. So he nodded and Carlisle walked the rest of the way to his office with a deliberate slowness.
The moment he closed the door behind him, however, he straightened up and in a flash was at the window.
His eyes scanned the entire area around the hospital before he closed them and listened in.
You sure he is alright?
What the hell was all that about?
Who did Cullen kill?
Did you look at the car? How is he still walking?
Carlisle pushed past his coworkers gossips, turning his attention further out. He heard no footsteps, no growls. Nothing to indicate this strange vampire was still in the immediate vicinity. He knew the few miles radius that his hearing provided would give him barely ten seconds of heads up before the man came back again.
He opened his eyes when a loud knock sounded on the door and without waiting for his reply, Charlie pushed the door open.
The frantic chief of police had certainly been informed of the commotion in the parking lot.
"Carlisle," he rushed to his side. "Are you okay? Who was that man? What did he want?"
"Yes I am alright," Carlisle repeated the answer that was almost well-practiced by now. "As for your other two questions, I don't know I'm afraid."
Carlisle tried to think back to the past, to put a name to the scent. His crystal clear memory served him well, yet was not of much use. All he could glean was that in his over three and a half centuries on this planet he had not come across this particular vampire before. It was not a scent he had ever smelled before. The face or the voice did not ring a bell either.
All he had to go on were his words. You killed him.
Killed who?
As much as Carlisle hated it, he knew him, and his family, had killed quite a few people in the past few years. Perhaps this vampire's mate was one of the newborns in the army? James? Laurent? Victoria? But no. James was mated to Victoria, so this vampire was not talking about him. And Laurent had shown an interest in Irina. Was it possible for a vampire to have two mates? Was it perhaps someone who had an unrequited affection for James?
His guesses were getting more far-fetched, so he circled back.
It had to be a newborn.
Or perhaps someone older…Carlisle had stood with the Volturi in a few executions during his time in Italy. But he had never participated in any of them.
Him.
The Volturi had killed six male vampires in his attendance.
But the executions would create an angst against the Volturi. So, why did this man seek him out specifically? Why go to such extent?
"Don't worry Dr. Cullen." Charlie's voice brought him out of his reverie. "I'll have a team scouting the area nearby. And two of my men will stay back…keep an eye on things here and accompany you home when you are ready to leave.
"No!" Carlisle's negation was loud and abrupt, and Charlie looked at him perplexed.
He thought of the unsuspecting Forks PD officers actively seeking out a vampire prowling the streets of their town. Of running into this strange man when it would be just two human policemen with Carlisle, instead of a conspicuous number of witnesses. He knew exactly what fate would await them and Carlisle could not bring that onto anyone.
But he needed a plausible reason to say no.
"I think I remember him now," Carlisle looked up at the police chief. "His…partner was one of my patients, when I was doing my residency. We unfortunately couldn't save him. This man was distraught then, and had been rather angry at the attending who worked the case, accusing him of negligence. I believe he is still distressed."
Charlie did not believe a word he said. Carlisle could tell that just by looking at the man's face.
But he humored him.
"Regardless, Cullen," he insisted. "The man is obviously dangerous. I mean, if I believe the witnesses, he threw you around like a rag doll. He needs to be brought in, and at least counseled if nothing else. Also, there is the issue of your safety. He very openly threatened to murder you. And Bella and Rnesmee…they are still at your place!"
"Charlie," Carlisle spoke, his voice soft but firm. "This man…he harmed nothing other than me or my personal belongings. I do not wish to press any charges."
Carlisle willed Charlie to understand, to drop the issue. The latter looked to the ceiling, with a heavy sigh and then pointed out the window, towards the damaged car. "You know insurance won't cover that unless you at least have a police report."
"It's okay," Carlisle smiled at the waning patience in the human before him. "Rosalie is home from college. She might want to have a crack at this. She is really into cars and is studying in the field. I am sure she will be able to repair it."
The moment the last sentence left his mouth, thick black smoke started coming coming out of the hood of his car. Charlie squinted out the window at the car too. Carlisle could smell faint traces of gasoline in the air.
"I am sure she will be able to salvage something out of it," he amended with a wry smile.
With a resounding explosion that sent shock waves all the way up to his office, his car burst into flames. Alarms went off on all the cars in the parking lot and Carlisle was glad the only vehicle parked in his vicinity had long since driven off.
"Or maybe not," he finally gave in, turning to the man beside him. "My point is, don't go after him."
Charlie huffed. He looked at Carlisle, for a long moment before shaking his head.
"Will Bella and Renesmee be safe?" Charlie asked, his eyes begging Carlisle to cut the bullshit.
When Carlisle answered, he was sincere, "They are both safer than anyone else in town. All my kids are in the house with them." And because Charlie could not fully comprehend the strength that the presence of half a dozen vampires entailed, he added for the poor man's benefit, "And Jacob, Seth and Leah are there too…you know…with their abilities."
Charlie let out a low groan. Need to know, he muttered to himself.
"And if I may…" Carlisle said quietly, prompting Charlie to look back up. "I think you should visit your friends down at the reservation."
Charlie nodded and Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief.
He had no idea who was this vampire and why he was coming after him. But it eased his mind to know that his family would not have to split up to ensure Charlie's safety. Charlie's knowledge, no matter how limited, and acceptance, regarding the presence of supernatural elements in the world had made it easier to keep him safe.
Now all Carlisle had to think about was how to get back to his family without getting murdered the moment he stepped out of the hospital.
A/N:
Another sort of short-ish story, just a few chapters long. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think!