~Chapter 7~

Given the size of the city, it took Isabella almost 10 minutes to track down the place shown in the news report. When she arrived at the scene, she was careful to stay in the shadows and away from any video cameras, just to be safe. She circled the crime scene until she caught the tell tale scent of vampires. She frowned as she smelled it, because it wasn't just vampire she smelled, there was another scent. The second scent was hard to identify as it had already begun to fade. Isabella hung around the scene of the crime long enough to make sure whatever body they were dealing with, wasn't in any risk of turning.

Isabella frowned as she started to trace the combined smell, choosing to follow the vampire when the unknown stench and one of the vampire's split. Whoever it was did a lot of moving about, and Isabella had a tough time tracking him. It seemed there was no rhyme or reason to the movements. It really bothered her when his scent disappeared into an occupied building resembling an apartment complex, and she had to follow the trail inside, or check the perimeter to find where it continued. It was slow going and time consuming. Dawn came and passed as she continued her pursuit. Luckily it was a rainy day in Seattle, so Isabella was still able to move freely as people crowded the streets, though they irritated her since they diluted the scent she was following.

It was past 11 in the morning, and moving toward noon as Isabella continued to the edge of town, still following the scent. Isabella was idly wondering how her daughter's first day was going when suddenly the scent became much stronger. She put aside thoughts of her daughter's day as she followed the trail, when she suddenly began smelling the other heavier stench. Being able to smell it more clearly, Isabella was able to tell this one stunk of garbage, exhaust, oil, and dog.

The smells lead her right to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Isabella approached with caution, observing the outside of the warehouse for any signs of life. She could hear movement inside, but no one seemed to have noticed her presence. She decided on scaling the wall and sliding onto the roof. Isabella could hear the sound of growling and arguing inside the warehouse as she climbed. She cautiously looked down from one broken skylight into the interior.

Inside she saw six people, Two males and a female she could immediately identify as vampires, and two people who obviously were not; she could tell from their heartbeats. The sixth person was lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, obviously dead, and great chunks of him were missing as if he had been eaten.

"You can't just go running off!" One of the vampires was saying. He was pencil thin, with sandy blonde hair in an unattractive bowl cut, made worse by what seemed to be a giant cowlick on the edge of his forehead. The other two vampires were standing behind either shoulder supporting the man who was obviously, if nominally, their leader. The second male vampire was rather plain looking, his hair close cropped, and he seemed as if he had been overweight in life, because he definitely carried a significant paunch. The female was short with bleach blonde hair and a perpetual sneer on her face.

"Why not? We're not the ones who fucked up!" One of the large muscular men with a heartbeat practically snarled back in the vampire's face. Isabella watched the interaction with surprise. Normally any vampire worth his salt would have snapped any mortal in two at such insolence.

"We didn't either! One of the last group got sloppy and the damn Volturi took steps. We have to rebuild again or the bosses aren't going to be happy." the thin vampire stated.

"You've never even met your boss. Not since you were turned. Who cares whether your boss is going to be upset?" The burly one demanded.

The pencil thin vampire smirked, "Well, your big bad Alpha certainly cares, for one. I admit; we screwed up, so we have to rebuild a bit, it'll take a few weeks to build up our numbers again. By then the boss said we'll be ready to move. No more sneaking in the sh-"

The vampire broke off as the other large mortal, who hadn't said anything, suddenly snarled, and sniffed audibly at the air. "We're not alone!"

Isabella blinked in surprised as after a few moments one of the mortals looked up at her unerringly and then cursed herself for her sloppiness. She hadn't concealed her presence and they'd spotted her.

"We have company!" The mortal yelled and all five people looked up. Isabella wasted no time. She leapt downward from the rooftop, through the skylight, smashing into the male vampire who hadn't said anything yet. His head snapped off as though he were a statue.

Isabella stood on top of the headless body spinning to keep her back away from all of them. "Sorry to interrupt."

The thin vampire's eyes opened wide as he took her in, his voice erupting in a cry half in terror, half accusatory. "Volturi!"

The two mortals reacted to this news, backing up, and snarling. Isabella heard the snarls, and the sudden shredding of fabric, but she was already spinning to catch the outstretched arm of the female vampire as the blonde tried to leap at her. Isabella gave the arm a quick twist and a tug and effectively ripped it off at her shoulder, the girl to screaming in agony. Isabella completed her movement, hitting the screaming vampire in the side of the head with the side of her fist, knocking it completely from her shoulders, sending it rolling away.

As she turned she was hit in the back by a large weight, knocking her off balance as what seemed to be a snarling pile of fur tried to force her to the ground. Isabella rolled to the side, thrusting her legs back and kicking off the large snarling wolf. Isabella stared wide eyed at the two large snarling wolves were trying to circle her along with the lone remaining vampire.

"I wondered what stench was! God, someone needs to give you mutts a bath." Isabella smoothly ducked as one of the wolves darted forward to snap his jaw at her. She slammed her fist into the bottom of the wolf's jaw, knocking the wolf back and spinning it.

"Not as easy as trying to stomp unaware vampires is it, bitch?" The thin vampire demanded with an arrogant smile, only to have the arrogant smile disappear, when the wolves, as if in mutual agreement, turned and burst out the door of the warehouse in a full sprint. The vampire turned in shock, "Where are you goi-" The rest of the statement was cut off as Isabella grabbed him by his hair and slammed his face into the ground.

Isabella kept her foot on the back of the vampire's neck as she stretched her senses out, listening for any sign of an oncoming surprise attack. After waiting a full minute for any sounds of returning wolves, over the sounds of a futilely struggling vampire beneath her foot, she was satisfied they were gone. Isabella lifted the vampire from under her boot and slammed him into a wall. "Now, we're going to talk."

Five minutes later the thin vampire, was divested of both of his legs and his arms, and he still hadn't any information to offer Isabella hadn't heard before; beyond the fact they were supposed to be working with the wolves. The vampire had never even seen his creator or knew who was giving him instructions. He'd been captured, changed and then contacted via phone by a male with a deep voice. Isabella took the moment to rip the head off the last vampire, his screams of protests getting on her nerves. Taking another two minutes to set fire to the pieces of all three vampires, Isabella stopped and picked up the shredded pants remnants belonged to one of the wolves, before taking off out the doors in an attempt to follow their scent.

Isabella followed their scent for half a mile before it abruptly stopped. It took her a moment to figure out they must have escaped down a manhole. Isabella took one sniff of the manhole before figuring out trying to track them through the stench would be absolutely fruitless. She stood on the street for a few moments before she turned and set off back toward home, jeans still in hand.

"There's a major problem. After school, put on your work clothes. We have to take another trip down memory lane." Isabella sent to her daughter as she turned to head back home.