Seventeen

"Seventeen people. Just...gone." Sue whispered brokenly. In her hands, she held a crumpled piece of paper. It was from a newspaper article that Emmett had picked up during a run from Alaska. "You hadn't...you didn't notice anything?" She asked Carlisle softly, staring at the old vampire with tired eyes.

She was tired of the fighting, of the hate, of the danger. She gripped Seth's wrist lightly, and he gave her a knowing look. She was tired of the possibility that today, that tomorrow, that any day of the year could be the day her children were taken from her. That Seth and Leah could die. Not in the way normal, reckless young people died. In the way that the supernatural died.

Painfully, quietly off to the side. Where no one would notice, and no one would see. Where Sue would be sitting, waiting, hoping and praying that her children came home to her. Safe. She would be sitting and waiting for the howls to fill the forest, for Pack to break the trees. For her house to be full of the sounds of life, of family.

Sue was tired.

"We didn't stumble upon any of our kind; that is, none that we hadn't met before. A few vegetarians, but not any newborns. Whoever this group is, they're moving fast and covering up their tracks. If it is newborns..." Carlisle trailed off for a moment, letting his words sink into those around him, "Then their leader will be strong. Very strong. To hold that much control over a group of wild, mindless creatures..."

"The Canadian authorities are worried that it's getting too close to our borders." Charlie grumbled. He was standing closer to the wolves, back to the wall. Arms crossed. He was the picture of distrust, eyeing all of them - even Bella - with wary eyes. Still. He trusted Jake and Billy more than he'd ever trust Carlisle. More than he'd ever trust Bella, considering her decisions. "I was reading a report on it. They might stay in Canada, but they're worried about American citizens crossing borders."

"They're saying it's a vigilante. A group of rogue vigilantes." Bella sighed, hand stroking across her husbands lightly.

"That's one rumor. I've heard from a few places online that it's a cult. They choose scum as their sacrifices, rather than animals or 'decent human beings'." Collin's voice was vaguely mocking. He stood the closest to Charlie, slouched over in an attempt to make the human man feel taller.

Charlie had been the one to bail Collin out of jail, the summer before. He had phased human in a girls backyard, the family had called the cops and charged him with sexual harrassment. What they hadn't known, was that a vampire lurked on the other side of their house. They had only seen a naked teenage boy, running in front of their preteen daughters window.

Collin had been devestated, Brady had been amused, and Paul had had bite marks in his butt for a week afterwards, from where the vampire had chomped down to hold in its laughter.

"Draining the bodies completely of blood?" Charlie scoffed. His eyes met Carlisle's, unflinchingly, and he sneered. "Sounds like your kind, Cullen."

"And my kind, dad." Bella added, giving her father an irritated look.

"Yeah. Your kind." Charlie didn't sound impressed. "Could it be your type? Older vampires?"

"For this level of killing, it's unlikely that they're experienced. Seventeen may not seem like a lot, but it's not the number. It's the area. If they were newborns, they'd focus in on one town. Yet if they were experienced, they'd know not to leave the bodies so...public."

"They're bringing attention down on us, though." Jake stepped forward, over the invsibile line everyone had appeared to draw. He was on the Cullen side, now. "Not directly down on us, but someone's going to notice something. Bodies drained of blood, completely? They may be scum, but they're humans. We can't just protect the rez. If we let vamps run around eating people, we're not doing our job. No matter where they are. The light shines on them, and the people around here start piecing stuff together, we're screwed."

"Especially not if the media and police have already linked all the killings together. It'll only be a matter of time before all the killings here are shifted away from the wolves. It's been a few years, but...no one forgets that sort of horror." Bella pointed out.

Jacob nodded at her. "Exactly. And if it's in the news, what are the chances the Volturi won't see it? This is getting big. If we're coming to the conclusion of vampire..."

Everyone fell still. A new wave of panic settled over the group.

"You know they're going to stop in here. To 'check' on everyone. We didn't have to fight them before, but we can only imagine who else has joined their ranks since the last war. We're strong, but I don't want either of us having casualties." Jacob sounded resigned, yet determined. It was an...odd combination.

"So what do we do?" Leah spoke finally. She had been sitting silently between Paul and Sam, eyes focused on Jake, her alpha.

"We have to find this threat and take it out."

"We'll help." Carlisle added swiftly. "We can't have anyone else coming here." He thought of Renesmee, his granddaughter, and felt Edward stiffen beside him. "Alice, Esme, and Emmett will stay behind to protect the land."

"I'm leaving Quil, Jared and Sam here. Paul, I want you with me."

"When do we leave?" Paul asked, lips quirked into a smirk. He always loved a good fight.

"At dawn."

The meeting was adjourned.

ZZZ

"You know Grandmother, that really is a filthy habit." He said absently, a thin spinal column of a fish dangling from his mouth. He shifted it to scrape at his teeth, eyes dark and amused. "A filthy, filthy habit."

"Not all evil is easy to see, is it?" The female called Grandmother responded. "I mean, a human can be evil, can't it? A cat can be evil, right? I don't think everything is as cut and dry as black and white, but some things are just evil. And they have to die. Can I be blamed for this, brother?"

"No, Grandmother. I suppose not. Come, though. Mother saw what you did. She's calling for us."

"I hear her, brother. I hear her."