Twilight belongs to the great Steph Meyer. I do, however, own a lot of pictures of Joe Manganiello, for he is my inspiration for Peter in this story, lovely beard and all. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Crimson Knight

Chapter 3

We stood there for a few moments pondering our new-found situation. Do we track the vampire scent we had come across, or do we go? These vampires had not caused us problems personally, nor were they hunting in our backyard. They could simply be passing through. This was the reason we decided to jump back into the truck and start heading toward Forks.

"Peter, I've never come across vampires this close to home before. It just seems 'off' walking away and not confronting them." Jasper hesitated before stating his true thoughts while we drove home.

"What are we supposed to do? Confront every vamp we come in contact with? We didn't actually come into contact with them; we just smelled that they had been near at some point feeding." This was fact. "We can't just swing back into action like the old days and kill everyone we see. My name is not Van Helsing. It's Whitlock for fucks sake, and I don't go around killing my kind without cause, at least not anymore. The cause has got to be there before I take action. They may be civil like us; we never know Jas." He agreed. We'd let the others know when we got in, and then we'd all keep an eye out for new vamps in the area.

A short while later we were back at the Cullen place. Alice must have seen something because they were all ready and waiting for us when we walked in the door firing questions at us left and right.

"How many were there?"

"Which way were they going?"

"What do we do?"

"If there was a chick, was she hot?" Fucking Emmett!

"We're not really sure; we smelled two tracks for sure, possibility of three. The breeze brought the scent in from the northwest, so we figure that's the direction they were going." We couldn't lie. We didn't actually see them, just smelled them, and the scents crossed, mixed, and muddled with each other. It was hard to tell them apart.

"Look." Jasper growled. "There is nothing to worry about unless they circle back and come this way. We have no reason to believe they will, and we have no reason to believe that they will be any kind of threat to us." My brother had his shit together for his family. We'd been thru this before, but they hadn't.

"He's right. Calm down. As long as you're aware of them, you're fine. Alice should see if they come back this way, or what they may decide to do. Just keep a close watch on each other, and if you feel that something is wrong, get back home."We had to keep them calm or they'd be insane with worry.

The days came and went as the Cullen's slowly got back to their normal routine. Jasper and I had put off our bike ride to keep the family calm. We'd decided that we would go the next week.

Edward was still on the edge of his own sanity, if you could call it that. Bella was due to visit with the Cullen's today. It was about eight a.m. I had just got done reading another one of Jasper's books.

I heard, "Yo asshole! You wanna come down here and play some 'Lollipop Chainsaw' with us on the PS3?" Emmett had been nagging Jasper all night to ask me; finally he did it himself.

"Is that the new one where the chick is all tits and hacking up Zombies?" I asked. That game seemed very educational. I mean in the sense that if more supernatural shit would happen, and the humans started turning into zombies, I'd wanna know how to kill 'em. I wouldn't want to suck that nasty zombie blood! But, of course, it's probably as accurate as those vampire movies are about us! Anyways, it's a fun thing to do.

"Yeah, I'll play a few rounds with you guys." I stated while coming down the stairs.

"It'll kill some time while the sun's out today."

"Alright! Alright! Alright!" Emmett immediately yelled.

This man is grown, and he still gets excited spending time with his 'boyz' as he calls us. Yeah, he even emphasized the 'Z' and sometimes stretched it out way too long.

"Edward should be back with Bella in a while." He stated happily while he set the game up for us to play.

"Well, this should be interesting." Sarcasm lacing every word out of my mouth, I was definitely wondering how Eddie boy was gonna act while bringing his little pet here with me still staying at the house.

"You don't need to act like such an asshole all the time, Peter." I looked over at Rosalie as she came into the room looking every bit the frigid bitch she is. If I didn't know any better, I would think this chick is constantly constipated.

"Whatever keeps you feeling all warm and toasty on the inside there, frost queen. I have my ways, and you obviously have yours. Being an asshole is what I do, and being a bitch is something you must pride yourself on because you do it so well."

I was nice and sweet with a smile on my face, but despite that fact, she instantly gave me the death stare and sat down on the couch that was close to the kitchen, did that damn hair flip, and crossed her legs. She propped a Jeggs catalogue up and began searching for her next custom upgrade on some auto or another.

"Alright let's get it on!" Emmett boomed with excitement.

"You're dead asshole!" Jasper teased him earning a look that simply said 'WTF? Really?' "Well, fuck, technically we're all dead, but you get my point!"

A couple hours and a very sore loosing Emmett later…

"I'm done with this shit!" I couldn't take it anymore; how someone could play this shit for hours on end was beyond even me. I like a zombie movie just as much as the next guy, but, damn, enough was enough.

"I'd rather watch a movie or something." I pleaded with them to stop with the insanity.

"Alright Peter. Its ok; we can stop now. But I wanna rematch later."

"Deal, before I head back home, I'll do a rematch with you."

The sound of tires meeting gravel graced our ears just as we were gathered in front of the DVD stand to pick out a movie to watch.

"It's Bella! She's finally here!" Emmett was really like a little kid. I had a hard time believing his real age at times. Don't get me wrong, you don't wanna mess with him and piss him off. Boy was strong, nothing much compared to Jasper and me, but still he could manage very well on his own.

I'd not ventured out to watch Bella this last week. I gave it a break, but as the car came closer to the house, I started to become excited myself. I didn't quite understand this feeling. It bothered me a bit, but then suddenly it down right pissed me off when I heard what Edward was saying to Bella about coming to the house today.

"Stay close to me love; I told you we should've stayed at your house today. It's not safe for you to be here right now." Suddenly all eyes were on me. By the look on Jaspers face, he knew I was pissed.

"Why do I have to stay so close to you? Is this other vampire mean? He…he isn't like you…and the others?" she sounded really concerned. Fuck, no, I'm not like him. I hadn't realized I was growling until I saw the ice queen's expression. Then I cut it off with a deep unneeded breath.

"You should know now, he has red eyes, love; it's not safe for you. C'mon I'll take you home instead."He pleaded.

"I don't want to go home Edward. I've already told Charlie that I was staying with you and Alice today. I was looking forward to seeing Emmett as well. Red eyes? What does that mean?" By this time, the car was parked and he got out and helped her out of the prissy, silver Volvo he drives around.

"Red eyes, Bella, the red indicates that he is a human drinker." She didn't respond to that statement. I was surprised by that, to say the least.

"Stay close to me; don't leave my side for a second." He said, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs. Emmett opened the door for them.

"Jelly Bells!"

"Hello, Emmett, how are you doing?"

As if on cue, Alice came prancing her little vampire self down the stairs and scooped Bella up into a hug. I saw Rosalie roll her eyes at their excitement of the human girl.

"Bella, I've missed you. How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing very well Alice. Thank you. How are you?"

Letting go of each other, she replied "I'm great actually."

I stayed back beside Jasper while the commotion was going on with the human greeting. Alice walked over to curl into Jasper's side, and that's when Bella noticed me standing there with them. Her brown eyes met my crimson ones and Edward froze in position.

"Bella, love, this is Jasper's brother Peter. He's been staying with us; he'll be here for awhile." I walked closer to introduce myself to her formally when veggie boy shifted Bella behind him and stiffened his now protective form. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped from me. Was he serious? Then he decided to open his mouth.

"Stay away from her Peter!" I couldn't help but take several steps closer just to taunt him further.

"Now why would I need to do that?"

As I asked the question, Bella stuck her head out from around Edward with a timid "Hi, Peter, it's nice to meet you." The wonderful light shade of blush that made an appearance on her skin made me smile a little bit.

"Hello, doll, it's nice to meet you too. I've heard so much about you from this family. You don't have anything to fear from me despite what Eddy here might have you believe. Edward doesn't like my red eyes, but I think they're sexy as hell." I said giving her a little wink earning a growl from little Eddie Cullen.

"Just keep your distance from her, Peter." He sneered at me. I had no idea when he grew balls. Very interesting.

"And you think you're man enough stop me, little boy?" I growled back stepping a little closer. Edward's growl became deeper and he grabbed Bella's hand tighter.

"OUCH! Edward you're hurting me."

"Why don't you guys just whip 'em out and see who's is bigger, ok! This is bullshit!" Rosalie muttered while slamming her magazine down and storming out of the room.

I felt a ping on the edges of my shield, and I knew from the feel of it that Jasper was trying to calm the room a bit.

Alice strolled up to Bella and grabbed her hand bouncing up and down with excitement "Come on, Bella, I have something to show you." Bella looked to Edward as if asking for permission to leave his side. I mean come on, you've gotta be fuckin' kidding me!

"It'll be ok, Edward. I promise," Alice said.

"How do you know, Alice; you can't see him. How do you know?"

"I can see you, and I can see Bella. It's going to be ok, you know we've never had to question his control in the past...not now, either" Alice said with a smile earning a single nod from Edward.

Jasper slid to my side and whispered so that only I could hear, "What the fuck was that about Peter?"

I whispered back, "I'm not really sure what you're talking about J." I knew the smile on my face didn't convince him that anything I said was true.

"The way you looked at her. It's….." I interrupted him this time

"I'm not sure why you're acting all confused and shit...how was I looking at her?" I got a little loud this time. I noticed that Bella had gone up the stairs with Alice leaving Edward down here and a little frustrated, to say the least.

"She's MINE" He growled at me "You stay away from her! If you don't, you'll be sorry." Now who the hell does he think he is? I know he knows who I am, and what I can do to him.

"I told you, I've had enough of the junior high drama. Fuck it! I'm out!" I left the bullshit behind, and Jasper followed suit. Once we were out of ear shot, Jasper lit into me, face to face in total Major mode all the way, man.

"Are you gonna tell me what that was all about, or do I have to beat it out of you Captain?" Oh shit, he pulled the Captain card on me. This means he wants answers, and he wants them now. He hasn't pulled rank on me in decades.

"UGH!" I let out a roar so loud the birds left the area. "I don't fuckin' know anymore Jas! I need to eat. Do you wanna join me?"

"As long as it's not on Ed's little girl – yeah" What? No, he didn't just say that to me.

"Ya know, fuck you, too! You know me better than that shit...how long have you known me?" How could my own brother tell me something like that, especially after all we've been thru together? He knows damn well I wouldn't do that to him.

"Sorry bro—just trying to understand what got you all riled up in there." I know he does really care, but I had no idea what was wrong with me.

"I TOLD YOU. I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" I roared again this time alleviating some of the frustration on an old and rather large tree.

"I hate that little fucker." Chunks of the tree were missing with the second punch I delivered to it.

"Well, I think the feeling is mutual. You didn't have your shield down did you?"

"No. Why would I just take it down? I don't like that little shit in my head." I can't stand it when Eddie tries to pry into my mind. They're my thoughts; they're not anyone else's business.

"I think that's part of the problem. He's so used to knowing what everyone thinks that it frightens him when he can't hear someone." Jasper did have a point, but I didn't give a shit. Not my problem at all. "It will be really pissing him off not knowing what you're thinking about Bella."

"And what, I'm the devil reincarnated, and my every thought is twisted, dangerous or deceitful?"

"In his eyes, yes, you showed interest in his little pet. Edward loves to have control of everything. Look at the way he treats her; she can't even go to the bathroom without his permission." Jasper was right again. The way he acted toward her was just wrong.

"Why does she stand for that? Does she enjoy being a pet, a damn dog? How could you treat your mate like that? Could you treat Alice that way, Jas?" I've never had a mate; I've never seen a mated pair act that way toward each other, so this just blew my vampire mind about how he could do such a thing.

Jasper had told me before that their feelings didn't seem right, that they were off. But Bella? Why did I give a damn how or why someone treated her that way? It's not my business. I didn't understand. She's human; she's a snack pack. I gotta stop this now before I go insane if that's even possible for me to do.

"Thanks for the time, Jasper. Like I said before, man, I need to get someone to eat; it's been more than two weeks since I've fed. If she's going to be in the house, then I need to get someone to munch on." I usually just ate when I felt like it. But right now with all the extra bullshit and me being on edge like this, I needed to eat again, and I needed to do it now.

He let out a sigh, "Peter you go out, and I'll meet you back at the house in a few hours, alright. I'm going to snag a few morsels while I'm out here myself." I cringed.

"Yuck! I don't need to hear about you licking Bambi on her sweet spot; how you don't hack up fur balls when you do that is beyond me, man." He laughed. That was something I always liked to hear, Jasper laughing. It's such a drastic change from the past we share.

I took off out of there and headed out to find my meal. I'm pretty fast at finding a good candidate for dinner, but today I already had some picked out. I quickly reached the Port Angeles city limits. Now, to find the other scum bags that helped Lonnie corner Bella. They'd both make a nice meal today.

Sticking to the shadows of the city, I quickly came across the scent of the bastards who were gonna meet Lonnie in hell. I made myself known to the larger of the two men walking down the alley way towards a beat up piece of shit truck.

"What's up fucknut?" I growled out to him. Fear instantly hit my senses. Oh, I feed off that shit really well. Fear is a delicacy that I really enjoy, so making my meals fear me was something I didn't do too often unless they deserved to fear death.

"W..wh…who are yyyouu?" He managed to get out before I grabbed him by the neck. "I'm the son of a bitch who took out Lonnie." His face fell and he pissed himself just as Lonnie had. "And I'm also the son of a bitch who's gonna send you to meet him in hell. Bella wants me to let you know that pay back's a bitch." He tried to squirm and twist himself free of my grasp, but it was useless.

"Wh…who's Bella?" He muttered under my tight grip.

"Bella is the young woman you and your little buddies terrorized here a few weeks ago. You remember, beautiful brunette all alone. You thought you could get away with it didn't you? But little did you know, you fucked with something that wasn't yours!" What was I going on about? She's not mine either. I just couldn't let it go that they did this to her.

I'd already had enough of his pitiful existence, I jerked his head to the right, and I sank my teeth into the soft skin of his neck. The warm flow of sweet and tangy blood filled my mouth, and I swallowed it down quickly savoring every last drop.

His blood ran out all too quickly, and it was time to track the other motherfucker down. His time was up as well. I immediately disposed of his body and headed toward the shadows again.

I took to the roof tops with speed, and I found my target very quickly. He was in the bar just off the pier with a group of guys who looked to be up to no good as well. It looked as though dinner might be provided in Port Angeles for the duration of my stay in Washington. That makes it easy prey for me. I sat and watched the group and waited for the opportune time to get to him. I made quick work of draining and ditching him as well.

Finally sated physically and somewhat mentally, I started to head back toward Forks when I heard his voice.

"Now, that was very impressive, if I do say so myself." It was just above a whisper, but I knew it was directed at me. Who the fuck it was I didn't know. I thinned my shield a bit to get a better smell on who might be addressing me. It was a familiar scent, three familiar scents to be exact. What the fuckin' fuck! How the hell did I not smell them before? I'm a stealthy motherfucker; I've never been snuck up on before. How fuck did this shit happen?

I started toward the forest edge when I heard them approaching. I readied myself, something I've always done since I was re-born into this life. I strengthened my shield once again leaving it just above the surface of my skin.

One thing, when on your own, you never leave your back unprotected, even with a shield as strong as mine. I backed up toward a large oak tree as the trio made their way into the forest. A tall and lean blonde male was flanked by another dark haired male and a female with the reddest hair I'd ever seen, almost as if it were on fire.

Having just fed, I knew that if it came down to protecting myself that it wouldn't be a problem. Vampires are always at their peak strength on fresh blood. Taking on newborns alone was one thing, but the possibility of taking on three older vampires not knowing if they have gifts or training meant that I was in for a treat.

This is one of those times I wished Jasper was with me. My fight or flight instinct was aching to be let loose. Fight won the argument.

I'd been sort of a nomad for decades, and I'd never come across this many other nomads that I didn't already know. I had to have the upper hand, for I needed information.

"What are your names, and what is your business here?" I spoke to all three not knowing who the leader was or even if they had a leader. The blonde male in the middle spoke first.

"I am James" he stated placing a hand upon his chest. "And this is Victoria and Laurent."James finished his introduction by motioning to the female and male at each of his sides.

A/N I know, I know. Cliff hangers are brutal at times. Please let me know what you think. Leave a review; they make me all kinds of happy. When I'm happy, Peter talks to me, when Peter talks to me, chapters grow and form many sentences. Some of Peter's words are not "family oriented" nor are they considered "wholesome" but Peter is well…..Peter!

Is Peter gonna kick some nomad vampire ass? We'll see….he may surprise us all.

Thank you to my wonderful gals. Juliangelus & noncanon4me

Thanks for all you do!