~ Edward ~
"... West Seattle High School has now closed, following another disappearance of a student, all of whom were last seen on school grounds. The surrounding area is under strict surveillance and parents are advised to keep their children at home for the time being.
"It's been reported that several audience members who traveled into the city for the recent Hornet's Nest concert have not yet returned home. The band has canceled all upcoming dates in the area.
"The bodies of Patrica James, a local store owner, and Roderick Berty, a schoolteacher from the nearby town of Forks, were recovered earlier today at separate locations, taking the total number of confirmed victims to seventeen. The Seattle Police Department has issued this statement:
"No two victims have been found together but the cause of death appears consistent. This is now believed to be the work of one or more serial murderers. We have increased block patrols and discourage anyone from traveling alone or after dark unless completely necessary. We urge everyone to stay vigilant and report any suspicious be -"
Carlisle muted the television but kept the channel playing. We all knew the story would repeat soon enough.
My family rarely took such interest in local news. The humdrum activities of human life were often trivial to us, even to Esme, who made the most effort out of all of us to fit in with society, and Carlisle, who did his best to preserve it. But here we were, all gathered 'round the screen for the 5 o'clock news. Taking an interest.
"It's getting worse," Esme plainly spoke what everyone - I knew for a fact - was thinking.
All around were somber expressions. No one wanted to speak for fear of making it real. Our anguish was not solely over the loss of human life but because each of us, deservedly or not, felt responsible. I, and only I deserved it.
Within hours of Alice's vision, Victoria had struck. A pair of hikers were dead (unconfirmed but certainly dead) and their disappearances fanned the growing flames of hysteria in Forks. What had started in Seattle was moving closer. It drew the attention of the media, the local law enforcement, and my family.
"You're certain Victoria is responsible?" Carlisle turned to Alice.
She shook her head slowly, gazing at the screen with a frown. "I can't be sure. She definitely only went as far as Seattle when we came back but... Whatever she's got planned, it involves the wolves; I can't see her, that must be why."
"The scale of the attacks isn't consistent with what a single vampire could do," Jasper observed.
"You're saying it's a group?" Esme - who had known more darkness in the human world than in ours - had to ask.
"I've seen this kind of behavior before. Uncoordinated, conspicuous slaughter. This is a coven of newborns."
"I had feared that," Carlisle admitted in a grave, quiet voice. "I'd hoped I was wrong."
"There must be a mature vampire behind this," Rosalie interjected. "A newborn wouldn't have the restraint to stop feeding."
"You're right."
Creating this many vampires all at once was unfathomably wrong and justly criminalized. A single newborn was hard enough to control, all but Emmett and Alice had seen that firsthand. Our enhanced abilities were at their most powerful, yes, but at the cost of a thirst more unslakable than we would ever again know. To see the world for the first time through such new, sharp eyes and wield the strength to tear it down. To pair the invincibility of youth with the indestructible nature of our bodies... They had no sense of self-preservation. They would feel no need to stop.
"It won't be long before the Volturi get involved," Rose feared, rightly so. We all did.
"Can you see them?" we kept asking Alice. It was unfair. My sister would close her eyes and focus on the paintings hanging in Carlisle's study. She would see flashes of them now in the present day or flashes of their victims. But she had never met them and that made it harder for her to pin them down, to seek out their decisions. She would tell us all she could tell; she did not sense their approach.
Suddenly, without choosing to picture her, I could see Victoria as clearly in my mind as if she were standing in front of me. She was running through the forest at top speed, a smear through a still life of green. I knew instinctively that what I envisioned was occurring right at this moment. She was running toward Forks.
There was only one way an image like that would enter my mind uninvited. I looked at Alice, and her expression confirmed it.
In an instant, I was halfway out the door.
"Edward, she's with them! She'll be fine!" Alice called after me either in her mind or out loud, I wasn't sure. It didn't matter.
I practically flew down our woodland driveway, pushing myself several feet through the air with each step. Soon enough, her thoughts were in range and getting louder. She was running directly toward me. It wasn't long before I caught a flash of red amidst the green.
Victoria charged right at me and I was more than happy to meet her head on. Blinded by determination, I lept. She acted on pure instinct rather than cognitive thought and at the last second removed herself from my reach. She drove all her momentum into a tree through a single kick, cracking the massive trunk and springing off in a new direction. I, on the other hand, went crashing face first into the ground. Rocks and fallen branches split apart as I came sliding to a halt. I recovered quickly. Back on my feet, I chased her thoughts through the woods. Her mind was a repetitive, almost cheerful sing-song. Run, run, run, as fast as you can... She was doing it to annoy me and blast it, it worked. I ran all the faster. The song faded as the gush of the river grew louder. As I reached the canyon, I dug my heels into the ground. I didn't want to stop here. I glared seething into the trees on the opposite bank. She was in their territory. I listened helplessly as her thoughts drifted out of range.
I was left stranded. I searched desperately for a trace of her. It was no use. I was on one side; she had fled to the other. Bella was there, and the law of the wolves kept me from her. I half screamed in frustration and ran futile paces up and down the edge of the cliff, waiting to hear screams.
Why did you have to go there? Why did you go where I can't follow?
I kept pacing. I was looking for a way across that I knew wouldn't be found. It was a realm I couldn't venture into and yet I needed to. Now.
Fuck it, I thought, ready to make the jump.
"Edward!"
My head whipped 'round at lightning speed to answer Alice's call. She was standing further up river on a jagged outcrop. Emmett and Jasper were with her, prepared as ever for a fight.
"This way!"
I followed them up river where the canyon narrowed. Distant thoughts came as whispers into my mind. The Quileutes. They were racing through their share of the forest and gaining on us. Soon we would all be in open territory.
A flash of silver went by with a furious snarl. A wolf, faster than any I'd seen, was giving chase to some phantom prey. Victoria's thoughts invaded my consciousness then with a touch of laughter. She actually found all this terribly amusing. I picked up the pace. She would not escape me again.
She led us north into the mountains past the beginnings of the river. We were all exposed now, vampires and werewolves, hunting a single adversary. The wolves were on our heels, all except this little grey one who sped ahead. I was bombarded by the shared noise of the pack, so much so it almost caused me to lose my footing. They did not appreciate our presence - mine and my siblings - but they were more concerned with the newcomer. At the time, that didn't register. Victoria wasn't new to them.
With the same unpredictable agility that had saved her from me, Victoria spun in the most peculiar way and the lead wolf took a blow to the ribs before the vampire disappeared. We all came to a juddering stop, confused. It had all happened too fast, even for us. Victoria was gone. I cursed.
The small grey wolf yelped with an involuntary shift of muscle and bone. It soon changed form and a frightened young girl was left kneeling in the dirt before us, long black hair falling across naked skin. From the confused and startled thoughts of the pack, I picked out that her name was Leah and she wasn't supposed to have phased.
Jasper, still a gentleman after all these years and despite all he'd gone through, moved closer and removed his coat to drape it around the girl. This aroused hateful snarls from the pack but he didn't step back. He knew better than any of us what she was feeling, and even I knew enough of her trauma.
In her mind, the images played out again and again. Her father, a man I knew to be a close friend of the Swans, was ripped apart in front of her by Victoria. The witch had smiled at her and that was the trigger. Pure, unadulterated rage had shuddered through her with such intensity it tore her skin open and rearranged the shape of her bones.
Her father was dead. That was the only part of this situation she understood.
