I parked outside of Ginerva's house at quarter past midnight. She wasn't waiting for me on her step like she usually was, which I found strange. She might have been using some sort of strategy to lure me into her house this time, but I put that thought aside. I was here because this was way too late for her usual antics, and now I had a grim reason to check on her.
At least I didn't have to knock, since she'd been watching me from the window. When I was on her top step, she opened the door for me and ushered me in quickly. Her panic was contagious, but I was able to keep my cool.
"You okay, Ginerva?" I asked her.
She paced her living room, hugging herself. "Chief, I really think I'm in trouble this time. I do! Someone's watching me!"
I wanted to tell her to try and calm herself, but that didn't seem like the right thing to say in the moment. "What makes you think that?"
"I-it happens at night, Chief. I can see eyes in the trees, sometimes one pair, sometimes three. They glow red in the shadows!" It was then I realized her skin seemed paler than usual. She wasn't wearing her classic makeup.
"And you're sure it's not animals?"
She shook her head quickly. "No! They're too big. And...and I saw a flash of something person-shaped when I shined my flashlight out there. Do you believe me?"
I left her answer hanging in the air at first. It wasn't wise to alarm her, but this time, I knew she was probably in the ballpark of being right. "Yeah, Ginerva. I do," I finally told her with a sigh. I didn't like agreeing with her.
She made a noise somewhere halfway between a sob and a sigh in relief. Fanning her face, she smiled and tried to keep herself together. "Chief, I-I really don't want to be alone. I don't know who else to turn to."
Damn it. Just when I thought she was genuinely scared, she attempted another ploy. "Listen, I can't stay around here with you all day. I know you got people who care about you, just call a friend and have them come over."
Her eyes grew puffy with tears, and she reached out for my hand. "You're strong, Charlie. You're brave, you can catch these creeps! Please?"
"I'll make sure that you have protection. You're gonna be just fine." I pulled my hand away and gave her a light pat on the shoulder. "We'll patrol the woods tonight to try and find your stalkers."
It seemed that I left her unsatisfied with my promises, considering she still begged me to stay. I left her in a semi-panicked state, but I radioed in for a surveillance car outside of her house for my own assurance. We were going to make sure our woods were clear, no matter what.
It was late, and I was aware everyone else would have wanted to be asleep right now. I would have, too, but I've never been more anxious in my life. The nomad was here. No doubt about that. I just wasn't sure if he was playing with his food at this point.
By the time my team arrived at the edge of the woods surrounding Ginerva's house, I tried to use the same structure as Port Angeles. "Alright, we've had a call-in about some sort of thing that's been going around local cities. At this point, look for a man or an animal, it could be anything at this point. You're all smart enough to know something or someone unfamiliar."
I felt more at ease finally being able to admit that the threat was an actual person. Or, at least, as person-like as I could get.
Everyone was searching until sunrise, but not even any tracks were found. We tried following a small handful of different paths where the others thought they saw something, but the nomad must have disappeared again. I made myself a small note; I was sure that he was only flexing how fast he can go from one place to the next.
Remembering how quickly Carlisle had traveled between Forks and Port Angeles, it made me nervous that I wouldn't be as helpful in taking him down as I hoped.
Because of how busy I was in the past 24 hours, I was allowed to go home and sleep. Bella had left some pancakes in the fridge for me for whenever I was to wake up again, leaving a little sticky note with my name and a smiley face on it.
I was thankful that I couldn't remember my dreams this time. All I could remember was the last few minutes, when I was running through the forest as fast as I could, closer to a lit house. There was a strange sound echoing behind me, a rhythmic tapping sound. That's when I opened my eyes.
The tapping continued, surprisingly, and once I rubbed my eyes until my vision sharpened, I watched as pebbles collided with my window. Befuddled, I rolled out of bed and opened it, staring down.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked Carlisle.
He smiled sadly back at me. "I know I gave you my number, but I forgot to ask for yours," he admitted. "Are you alright?"
I turned to check my clock. I couldn't believe I'd slept for twelve hours. "...Yeah. Did you find out anything new about...y'know?"
"Not as much as we'd hoped," Carlisle sighed. "I just came by to tell you we're having a family meeting. I thought it would be best if you came along."
"Give me a few minutes." I closed the window again to throw on the closest clothes I could find, brush my teeth, and meet Carlisle at my front door.
There was decent tree cover surrounding my house, but I'd noticed the sun was peeking through sunset clouds. "You sure it's safe for you to be out here?"
Carlisle nodded. "We should get going as soon as possible." He gestured to his Mercedes parked beside the curb.
I nodded and locked up the house before leaving. I couldn't find any words to say, so I just sat in the passenger's seat and watched as the town passed us by. This was the first time I even got close to the Cullens' house, and it made me strangely nervous. This was unlike me, but I had to remind myself that this was an unlikely situation.
As we started driving off the paved roads, I obsessively searched through the trees as much as I could. I knew in the back of my head that it was probably going to be impossible to find him waiting for us, but it didn't hurt to keep an eye out. I was looking so hard that I didn't realize just how long we'd been driving through the woods, how far this house was hidden back here. And when we finally arrived, I could see why. The house was bigger than I could have ever expected, bigger than any other house in Forks.
Esme was waiting by the door for us, a pretty vision in a business casual grey dress. When Carlisle and I got out of the car, she approached us and gave a small smile. She extended her hand to me, which threw me off-guard. I would have figured they'd be self-conscious about how cold their skin is, but since I already knew about their condition, it didn't really matter.
I shook her hand, nodding to her. "Thanks for inviting me over, Mrs. Cullen," I said calmly.
"Esme, please. Thanks for meeting with us, Chief."
"Charlie," I corrected her.
"The rest are waiting inside, let's join them," she offered, and opened the door for me and Carlisle.
When I stepped into the house, I was greeted by one of the other ladies, she was skinnier than Bella, which put me off slightly. I almost wanted to ask if she was alright, but I was distracted with the cup of coffee she held out for me. "Oh, thank you," I said quietly.
"You looked tired, so I hope this helps," she told me, her smile unusually bright.
It was when it clicked in my head that this must have been Alice. I tried the coffee, and was immediately taken back by how good it was.
The rest of the family was rallied into the living room, and I quickly grew uncomfortable with all the eyes on me. Everyone except Edward seemed to be studying me, but he just seemed disinterested. The blond guy had an odd gaze to him, and I had the feeling he saw me more as food. I did my best to ignore it.
"So, it's as I mentioned earlier. There's at least one nomad that's been hunting around the Olympic forest. Charlie has been tracking his path to the best of his ability, but unfortunately, innocent lives had been lost in the process. The humans have taken notice, though they haven't caught on to what has been causing the murders. At least..." Carlisle glanced in my direction. "...most of the humans."
"If you're going to do your own search, you're going to have to keep out of the eye of the force. We can't risk getting civilians getting involved in this, you understand," I added. "It should be easy enough, though. With as much forest as we have, you'll have good cover."
"So we can take our own sections and keep an eye out," the football-player-looking guy spoke up.
"And you said you'll be okay during the daytime?" I asked Carlisle to double-check.
He nodded.
"There's one more thing that might be able to help." Esme shifted her weight from one foot to the other and crossed her arms. "Charlie, you're friends with Billy Black."
Carlisle gave a small shake of his head. "Esme-"
"He deserves to know. If any vampire crosses into their territory, it might backfire on us," she said more firmly to Carlisle, then turned back to me. "At least let him know what's going on, please?"
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." I looked around the room. "You guys have a...a pact, or contract or something. Right?" I thought back to how worried Billy's face was when I even mentioned the thought of vampires around him. All I could hope for now was that he wouldn't be angry for how involved I am with this whole thing.
Esme nodded, though her concern didn't lessen any.
I quietly sipped my coffee again. "I'll keep the patrol tight around the town while you can take the woods. There should be enough separation so that nobody turns you into suspects."
"Like you did?" Edward asked, staring out the window.
I looked back at him, resisting the urge to frown. True, I was very unsure about the whole family, and it was only recently that my opinion changed. Maybe a sliver of doubt lingered, and I wasn't sure what to say first. What I was suspicious of was how he knew about my past thoughts. I don't even think I told Carlisle about them.
"The chief is on our side, and we are on his," Carlisle answered in my stead. "Charlie, when can you meet with Billy?"
"Tomorrow," I answered, noticing the sun was only getting lower in the sky. I hadn't seen my daughter since yesterday morning, and all I wanted to do was check and make sure she was alright.
"We should be able to keep 'em from getting into the town if we have the dogs on our side," the football guy spoke up again.
"Emmett." Carlisle put on his fatherly voice. "Be polite."
The comment rubbed me the wrong way as well, but I shrugged it off. "So we start as soon as possible. I'll keep in contact with Carlisle to stay as updated as I can, you let me know if-" I paused and backtracked the whole conversation in my head. "Wait. Carlisle said at least one. You think there might be more?"
Carlisle sighed softly. "It's just a possibility. Half the time, nomads travel in twos or threes."
"And you just happened to mention this now?" I asked all too quickly.
"Whether the number, ours are still greater. It won't be that difficult," Emmett assured me.
I took a deep breath and finished the coffee. I made a mental note to search through recent missing persons files, and that made dread settle in my stomach. It was a bad mix with the caffeine. "I think I'm going to get started as quick as I can. Could I get a ride back?" I regret not driving myself now.
Carlisle nodded. "We have ourselves a plan," he said confidently. It was a positive thing, at least.
"Thanks again for this meeting. We're not gonna let anyone else die at the hands of this nomad." It made me feel better assuming there was only one, though I tried my hardest to keep my mind open.
Carlisle took me back out to the car to drive me home. Once again, there wasn't much talk, not when there was so much to think about.
By the time I was home, I was more than relieved to see Bella's truck in the driveway. When I opened the front door, I heard her rush to the top of the stairs to see me.
"Where were you?" she asked, "You didn't eat breakfast."
I slid my jacket off first, boots next. "Doing some work outside of work," I made up on the spot, "There's...an animal going around. Just making sure it didn't cross through our neck of the woods."
She descended the stairs fully, stopping three feet away from me. She picked at a loose string on her sleeve, her gaze cast to the floor. "Well...I can make dinner, if you want. I didn't eat either yet."
"You weren't waiting for me, were you?" I asked, smiling sadly. Taking her lack of response as an answer, I sighed and stroked her soft hair. "Bells...thanks."
"Go sit. I saw that you wrote down some sort of game on the calendar, I think it's starting soon." She pulled up her hair and opened the fridge to see what she could cook.
I watched her scurry around for another minute before settling down on the couch. Despite finally having a moment to breathe, my focus was scattered, and it ruined the game for me. I continued to watch, regardless, to keep Bella calm. The last thing I needed was for her to start worrying and sticking her nose into danger. Still, I think she noticed how quiet I was.
When she set the table, she kept glancing in my direction. "You know what I've noticed?" she spoke up. "The Cullens. They're not at school when it's not cloudy. Ever."
I shrugged, splitting my baked potato with my fork. "I know they go on a lot of trips, and I think I overheard their father mention that they have a skin condition. It's not really something worth being worried about, honey."
I could tell she was frustrated, maybe because she thought I didn't believe her.
"Just...try to stay out of trouble. Not that the Cullens are trouble, but I can't have you wandering around right now. Always have a friend with you when you're outside, okay?" I asked her.
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sure, Charlie."