**hey, sorry about the original upload! i didn't realize it came out all wonky, so i hope it doesn't heck up a second time! thanks to everyone that's been reading so far 3

"Chief, you've been called in." Maud was on my case the minute I stepped through the door.

Usually, I would have felt aggravation settle deep in my chest, but this was different. After yesterday's borderline obsession, all I could feel was cold dread.

"It's an attack that they're saying was similar to the one in Mason County," she informed me, her expression growing slightly gaunt. Perhaps it matched mine, though I was unaware.

She didn't need to say anymore. "Do me a favor and call Bells once school gets out, could you? I'm sure I'm going to be there a while," I said as kindly as I could before forcing myself not to race to the cruiser.

It was difficult not to draw a crowd when something as violent as a murder like this took place. When I arrived, I had to squirm my way through disturbingly eager spectators trying to catch the smallest glimpse of the crime scene. I flashed my badge to the officers keeping the area clear, and went under the yellow tape, and was met by a detective.

"We're waiting on Mason County's M.E. to compare the two attacks, but we're pretty sure it's the same animal," he told me.

I only got one good look at the two bodies before they were zipped up into body bags. There was hardly an inch of them not covered in red, and I forced myself to glance away. Not like the surrounding area was any less comfortable to look at, but at least it wasn't looking at anything that used to be alive.

"...This is messier than the mill," I thought aloud. "Whatever got 'em, it didn't leave as much blood around."

"We suspect the two victims must have struggled and fought. One of them, the male, was found with a pocket knife on their person."

I took strange relief in that; at least there might be some DNA that could come back from that. Then again, there was no telling what vampire DNA looked like. It made my relief fade away quickly, much to my dismay.

"We're going to be searching the city, this thing couldn't have gotten far. It's only been 4 hours." The detective glanced down at his wristwatch. "We'll pair you up with a team and split into sections. Obviously, don't cause any panic, but be honest."

I just nodded and took my orders without question. There was an odd guilt that I couldn't shake, but if I even so much as dared to tell them what I've been researching, they would have sent me home to get some rest, or something stupid like that.

For the next few hours, I spent my time interviewing local shopkeepers and keeping my eyes open for any person I thought looked anything like Carlisle, giving that he was one of the only references that I could count on one hand. The other few were his family. Pale, for one, black irises, handsome-

Shut up, I thought. People died this morning.

My descriptions didn't help me in the long run. Vampires were probably too good at hiding for me to spot them, and I tried not to let that get to me. I knew I tended to get too frustrated easily, and that wasn't helping the case. I just hated the fact that we kept asking people if they saw any sort of large animal when I knew that wasn't what killed those people.

As expected, nobody got anything worth following a trail. We'd been searching well into the night, after all the main stores closed. There were few others who brought up the idea that it could have been a person with some sort of strange weapons. I don't know why that gave me relief. The detective thanked me for lending a hand and said he'd keep me updated when he could.

I wasn't left satisfied with the day's work, but there wasn't much else I could do. When I left the station, I pulled my phone out. Part of me wondered if I should try calling Carlisle to let him know, but that was breaking protocol. My cruiser was parked a few blocks away, closer to the crime scene.

A block away, a strange chill crawled down my neck. I stopped and turned slowly, and noticed someone leaning against the corner of a building right out the perimeter of the light of a streetlamp. I couldn't catch the facial expression, but it unnerved me how still they were.

I was still on duty. Even worse, I had the most terrible feeling that this was the vampire. The hand closest to my gun twitched, but I kept myself calm. That was probably the only smart decision I made, though, since I started walking toward the suspected killer.

The figure turned the corner, and was already at the other end of the alley in record time. This was definitely the vampire, I was so sure. I stopped about five feet into the closed off alley, but I couldn't find anything to say. So they spoke up first.

"You're more observant than the others, aren't you?" It sounded like a man's voice, deep and biting back anger. "While everyone else was keeping their eyes out for a beast, your eyes kept vigilant to the people."

Shit, he was following me the whole time. I pulled my gun out.

He chuckled at the gesture. "That ain't gonna stop me, old man."

"You're not gonna keep this up for long," I decided to say, keeping my hands steady. It was dark enough that I could barely make out his form in the shadows, and I knew this was more of an unfair advantage against me.

Even so, I could just feel that he had an ugly, sinister grin plastered on his mouth. "Try and stop me, then."

My finger was on the trigger, but I knew it was a huge risk. Gunshots would just cause extra work for the officers here, and I didn't want to lead them around in circles. But before I could make my decision, I froze up completely.

"Charlie!"

I turned my gaze away for one second and the bastard was gone. But the last person I expected was running toward me: Carlisle.

"Are you alright? Where did he go?" He knew. Of course he knew, but how?

"How?" My thoughts slipped out my mouth, and I clicked the safety on my gun.

He looked genuinely worried, pressing his hands to my shoulders as he looked me over. His eyes were yellow again, then again, I hadn't seen him in a week. "Charlie, I know this isn't going to sound right, but you should get home. You're not safe anymore."

"He's a vampire, I know."

Carlisle's expression fell oddly blank, then his brow knotted up.

Before he could say anything else, I continued. "I could only assume you and the rest of your family are. Do you have some sort of weird sense that you can locate each other? How do we track him down?"

"No, this is out of your hands now. I appreciate the work you've done so far that got us close to him," Carlisle tried to smile, but there was too much worry in his features to put me at ease.

My eyes widened. "Hell no. I'm finishing this if I can. Does he know where your family is?"

By the lack of his verbal answer, I took that as a yes.

My mind immediately went to Bella. Now she was in danger. "That's where he's going next, isn't it? Come on." Grabbing him by the elbow, I just about dragged him to my cruiser. If there was a chance that Carlisle could help catch him, it was a risk I was willing to take.

He was surprisingly quiet and compliant, sitting in the passenger's seat. "Alice," he said after I started the engine.

"What?" I just started driving down to the closest main street.

"One of my daughters. She has the ability to see possibilities of the near future," he explained further. "We should probably just drive back to Forks at this point."

I blinked. "...Then how did you get here in the first place?"

"I ran."

"You...ran from Forks to Port Angeles." I had to keep in mind his advanced strength and senses, and begrudgingly accepted the answer. "So what are we gonna do about this guy? Do you even know who he is?"

He shook his head. "He's a nomad, they're supposed to be more discreet. It seems this one has a penchant for danger, unfortunately."

"Great." My teeth gritted together anxiously.

There was a pause, then Carlisle stared at me. "How did you find out?"

"It's, uh, kind of my job to figure things out," I muttered.

"Yes, but what were the clues?" I could have sworn he leaned closer. Please, not while I'm driving. Don't distract me.

"Your wife...I think that was the first. Or maybe it was your unnatural eyes." I spared a quick glance at him, despite how dark it was in the car. "Your eyes switch from yellow to black."

"There's a diner coming up. Let's stop there," Carlisle pointed to an upcoming light.

I wanted to ask why, but I just complied and pulled into the parking lot. "What, you hungry?"

"No, but I'm willing to buy you a coffee." His smile returned. Alright, fine, he was allowed to distract me now. It probably was good for the nervous knots in my stomach, anyway.

We sat down at the counter, since I assumed we weren't going to be here for long. Carlisle seemed like he had a lot on his mind, though. He's the one who ordered a coffee for me, just getting water for himself.

"So." I folded my arms on the counter surface.

He gazed at me softly. "So."

"Spill."

"How much has your friend Mr. Black told you?" he asked first.

That was a valid question, though I could feel my face heat slightly. Carlisle knew I was talking about him. "He pretty much said the same thing that Esme told me. It's best to stay away from you, I don't know what I'm getting into. The vague stuff." I kept out the whole cold ones thing, seeing that it wasn't that important.

"How much do you want to know?"

A mug was set in front of me, and the waitress poured the coffee. "I don't even know where to start." I knew I should have started with how to stop the nomad, but there was so much more to think about than that. "How long do your kind usually live for?"

"As far as I know, until we get killed." Carlisle shrugged, and shut up when he was given his glass of water.

"Have you always known that you can subsist off of animals?" I asked after the waitress was far away enough.

He shook his head, then looked down at the glass. "For a while, I fed on humans myself. I never liked it, though, so I had to go through a pretty rigorous process of making myself crave animal blood more."

I poured a small amount of sugar into my coffee and stirred it idly. "How many, uh, nomads do you usually run into on a regular basis?"

He smiled at me, though it was a sort of smile that silently asked me what the hell I was talking about. "It's not a common thing, Charlie. You can say we've claimed the Olympic forest as our hunting grounds, so they should know to steer clear of it."

I sipped pensively, and he copied me. "I guess blood isn't the only thing you can drink?" I asked, until I realized the level of his water hadn't actually gotten any lower. "...Oh."

His expression turned apologetic. "I make a lot of donations to the ASPCA, I hope you know."

"Deer are pesty, anyway," I said, hoping that calmed his mind a little. Still, the more I thought about it, the more my mind echoed the screams from my nightmares.

Carlisle could have seen that I was growing uncomfortable, but before he could open his mouth, I could hear my radio go off.

"Chief, this is Officer Bishop. Do you copy?"

"For fuck's sake..." I muttered to myself, and downed the rest of my coffee before stepping outside to answer. "Chief Swan, I copy. Over." I looked back to see Carlisle placing money on the table before following me out, and I pressed a finger to my lips.

"We've got a 10-16 on King Richards Way. You were specifically requested."

Goddammit, Ginerva. "Carlisle, I'm gonna drop you off at home, then I-"

"I understand, Chief." He stepped back toward the cruiser.

"10-4, Bishop." I looked at my phone for the time. "ETA 0-hundred 15. Over." Hopping quickly back into the cruiser, I left the parking lot as hastily as I could without causing a scene, and continued my way back to Forks.

The rest of the trip was quiet. Carlisle had enough good sense not to dig into my job, despite both of us being well aware of the possible hazards.

I was afraid he might want to ask, though, for those exact reasons. "There's a woman who keeps calling me for minor disturbances. Usually I keep catching her trying to keep wildlife as pets. It shouldn't be...that guy."

"Alright." Carlisle reached over and invited himself to a blank sheet of paper from my notepad, and wrote his number down for me. "Just in case. You can drop me off at the next light." He left the paper in the cup holder.

"You sure?" I asked. I almost didn't want him to go.

"It'll be quicker for you. I appreciate the ride." When the cruiser stopped, he got out, and I watched him walk away until the light turned green.

I really wished he hadn't left.