Have a Little Faith
Chapter Three: The Strangers
A/N: I didn't mention this before, but the setting of this story is the April after the end of Breaking Dawn.
It was an overcast day, which was not unusual in the least. It was quiet in the woody area next to Charlie Swan's small, compact house. Though he was oblivious to it, two vampires had just passed through that area, exiting at the opposite edge. It had been but three and a half hours ago that the Volturi's tracker, Demetri, had come for Addison, who had arrived four and a half hours earlier than him, while Charlie was deep in sleep, lost to his own dreams, and ignorant to their threatening presence.
It was nearly noon, and Bella, Edward, their daughter, and Jacob were about to arrive for lunch at Charlie's home with him, Sue, Seth, and Leah. Sue was already there, in the kitchen cooking as Charlie assisted in anyway he could out of kindness rather then skill while Leah and Seth set the table. Soon enough, Edward's silver Volvo pulled up outside the house. Edward, Bella, Jake, and Renesmee got out of the car, laughing at something Jake had said. Bella helped Renesmee out, holding her little hand. Just as they were about to walk up to the house, they stiffened, catching the old scent of the vampires that had been through here.
"I'll be inside in a moment," Edward said, making his way over to the invisible trails beside Bella's father's house.
"I'm coming with you," Jake said, following after him as Bella and Nessie made their way up to the small house.
Bella knocked, watching Edward and Jake follow the trails into the woods. Charlie answered the door with a grin. He reached out to hug his only daughter and his adorable granddaughter.
"Edward and Jake will join us in just a moment," Bella said in answer to her father's questioning look. He nodded, and stood aside so that Bella and Nessie could make their way into the small house that smelled strongly and disgustingly of werewolf.
Edward and Jake followed the old trails through the woods. Sniffing, Edward broke off to follow the older of the two scents. Jake followed the newer of the two to stand at precisely the same exact position Demetri had stood at just hours before. They were silent, as they worked.
"The older scent I don't recognize," Edward said finally, breaking off a branch to take home to see if anyone, particularly Carlisle, the oldest of the Cullen family and their leader, found it familiar. "But the fresher of the two, I know."
"Me, too, but I can't place it exactly…" Jake said, following the trail into further through the woods. "Can you?"
"Oh, yes," Edward said, voice tight.
"And?"
"Demetri," Edward said simply and with a sort of disgusted edge as he pulled out his small silver phone.
"Demetri? The bloodsucker tracker?" Jake asked, and Edward nodded curtly. Edward spoke in a low, fast voice on the phone. While Edward spoke, Jacob followed the trails as they joined. He could almost see the two walking together, forming a bond, as they made their way through the woods, and to the edge where they had lingered under the safe cover of the overcast day. Eventually, Jake could tell, they had come to an agreement and sped off through the town, avoiding detection until now.
Jacob sighed, and followed the trail back into the woods as the raindrops began to fall from the sky.
***
"I didn't see that," Alice said, shocked at hearing the news Edward delivered to them after he, Bella, Jake, and Renesmee had returned. "I saw Aro sending Demetri to track down the girl, but I didn't see him sending him here."
"So it was just a coincidence?" Emmett said in disbelief.
"I think so…" Alice said slowly, thinking carefully. "I saw Aro send him to look for the Addison girl… he wanted to offer her a position in the Volturi Guard-"
Everyone in the room scowled involuntarily.
"-So I guess she wound up here somehow, and then Demetri followed her here while the rest of them headed back to Italy."
"I still don't understand why the ancients turned up there, too, if they didn't know about this Addison." Rosalie said, restarting a previous conversation the family had had some weeks ago.
"I still think that they thought we would be there. Adriano is an old friend of Carlisle's, after all." Said Edward. He glanced absently out the window for any signs of Esme or Carlisle returning earlier then expected from their hunting trip to deal with this new dilemma.
"Maybe… Addison wound up here by accident while she was running." Jasper suggested.
"Wouldn't Alice have seen that?" Bella asked, Nessie sitting on her lap.
"Not if she never made a conscious decision to come here." Alice said.
"So we're supposed to believe that she wound up here by random chance?" Bella said, with her eyebrow arched in skepticism.
"I could never tell where she was headed," Alice pointed out, pondering the possibility of Jasper's suggestion. "She never had a fixed location in mind."
"That's just too much of a coincidence," said Bella, shaking her head.
"Why?"
"She wound up in Forks, of all the places in the world, by utter random chance?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Emmett said, agreeing.
"It's possible, Bella. She started running northwest, and, maybe, she just never thought to change her course."
"Yes, but-"
At that moment, they all looked up in unison. In the distance, they could see Carlisle and Esme approaching them very quickly. Soon enough, the two had entered the door. Immediately, Edward explained the entire situation in a rush, and offered a branch to Carlisle.
"Do you recognize it?"
Carlisle sniffed, and nodded. "I only met Addison once, but I can be sure that this was definitely her."
"So what are we going to do about this?" Jacob asked, speaking up at last. Everyone watched Carlisle and his thoughtful expression carefully, waiting for his answer that was sure to be wise.
Carlisle shrugged. "Nothing," he said simply, "This is not our concern; it's the Volturi's. It would be our best option to not get involved in it."
***
Demetri and Addison were running. Their feet moved quickly alongside the highway, too fast to be seen by the passing cars that appeared to be racing backwards in comparison to their speed. They found their way off the exit and into a nearby city. The darkness was interrupted by the city's numerous lights that glowed from signs, shops, and streetlights. The pair of vampires slowed, and began to walk. After exchanging a glance, they separated. Addison moved quickly forward to alley; the less time they spent hunting, the sooner they could get to the Volterra. They were many, many miles away from Forks, Washington by now, though Addison was still ignorant and disinterested in where she had spent hours in trees, hiding and wondering whether her decision had been the best one possible.
She came to a stop, and closed her eyes. An instinct overtook her as she listened to traffic and far away footsteps. Smells filled her nostrils, and she welcomed them. The unpleasant odor of a nearby dumpster was revolting but she could also smell the scents of humans: couples in the restaurant a block away, and three people, approaching her…
"Hey, darling!" A drunken voice shouted stupidly from where Addison stood, rigid and motionless. His scent filled her, and a burning sensation began in the back of her throat…
"Not wise, you bein' ousside all by ya' self, thisslate…" Another voice called, so drunk his words were barely coherent. Another one laughed. Their scents were tainted heavily with another scent, alcohol, but it didn't matter. She could smell the blood that flushed their cheeks. The fire's pain mounted in Addison's throat, begging to be put out.
Finally, Addison began to move. Swiftly and gracefully, she ducked into the alleyway between two vacant buildings that had once been the home to successful businesses, but after that early success had ebbed, they had gone out of business and moved on to something new. Addison's ploy for better cover worked. They followed her, and their footsteps made echoes only Addison could here.
"Where ya' goin' so soon, baby?"
"Ya' juss makin' our job easier!" One said, laughing loudly. Addison smirked. Their arrogance amused her greatly; they had no clue what she was about to do…
Addison slipped into the shadows as the men approached her. It was time now. Their heartbeats rang loudly in her ears. The pumping blood, the call of it, the taste of it… her desire to attack was overwhelming, bearing down on her and threatening to crush her. Finally, she gave into the instinct. At that same moment, they suddenly stopped walking, and they became heavily disoriented as she attacked the first one, his friends were alarmed by his shocked yell that broke off almost instantly. However, they couldn't leave. Their eyes wouldn't work properly, and their feet refused to carry them out. Addison finished with the first one, and then she attacked the second. After that, she drank every last drop of the third man's blood…
She ripped up the concrete as if she were plucking blades of grass. She threw the men in, fixed the concrete back over their bodies, and placed the dumpster over top. She straightened to admire her own handy work. Then she turned, swiftly and quietly towards the end of the alley, her eyes renewed to their full color. She met Demetri down the street, and they exchanged a smile. Then, the two made their way down the street and broke into a run, resuming their course as if no event had taken place. As if no one had lost their lives to sustain them and to allow them to keep moving.
Above, the moon shrunk behind the veil of the clouds, as if in mourning for the people who had lost their lives to these creatures that prowled the night. Of the three, the moon would be the only one who cared.
A/N: Thank you for all your reviews, and encouragement. Next up I'll be writing about the last of the journey to Volterra; right up until their arrival. Thanks for reading!