Twilight

Chapter Four

It had been two days since any of the Cullens had last seen Danny. Edward sighed as he gazed, unblinking, out of the mahogany paneled window, watching the gray skies slowly fade into night. In the far distance, over the trees, he could just make out her house. Bella's burley red truck fit right in with the other broken, dull cars abandoned on the sides of the cul-de-sac. Sighing a deep sigh of longing, he imagined his girlfriend to be cooking for her uncle like the obedient, loyal niece she always proved herself to be.

Clearing his throat, he turned to continue purposelessly wandering the house, but that familiar thirst stealthily crept into the back of his throat, subtly reminding him of what he hadn't done for at least a month, now. He needed to hunt.

"Carlisle." He threw his soft voice down the elegantly molded staircase. "I'm going out for a little while."

"You should ask Jasper if he would like to go with you," came Carlisle's immediate reply. With nothing more than a nod, Edward agreed.

"I just went for a hunt last week," Jasper called from the dark recesses of the house after picking up on their conversation. "But Alice is thirsty. She'll come with you."

In mere seconds, Alice was by Edward's side.

"Ready?" she asked her coven brother with her ever-present grin. Edward nodded again, and without further hesitation, they left the house.

There was, for the most part, no conversation between the two vampires. They had all the time in the world to quench their hunger, so they walked like average humans along the beaten cement path. Because they were walking so slowly, by the time they reached the first of the cliffs, the sun had already set. Edward froze when he came across wild game dodging overgrown bushes, and beside him, Alice slowed her movements until she became a literal statue. Edward stalked the bear through the dark with his amber eyes, counting the seconds between them. Slowly and quietly, he crouched, tensing to spring, his fangs gleaming like pearls in the moonlight. Before he could jump, however, a cry bombarded his ears. His concentration faltered; the bear ran away, so instead Edward looked for the newcomer. Alice voiced his shock with a gasp when neither of them were able to see anything.

"Please!" a familiar voice begged, and Edward blinked when blue eyes suddenly appeared from behind a slender tree. "You have to help!"

"Danny?" Alice breathed.

Danny nodded, panting as if he was out of breath while Edward shuddered, unnerved by both Danny's sudden appearance from almost literally nowhere and the fact that his leg had miraculously healed. "How did you get here?" he queried, but Danny didn't answer.

It took a moment for the dark haired boy's tears to register within Edward's mind. "I don't—I don't know what to do."

Alice hesitantly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "About what?" she wondered.

"My…family. My friends," the boy offered, breathing heavily through his nose, a strange hint of despair lacing his too-calm voice. "They're gone." His voice cracked and raised an octave, but strangely remained at the same, low decibel. "Dead."

"Oh, Danny!" Alice let go of his shoulder to embrace Danny in a bone-crushing hug. "What happened?"

As he stumbled, trembling, away from her grasp, he shook his head. "I left them to die. When I found your house, they had already been…murdered." His unblinking, wide blue eyes suddenly focused on Edward and narrowed accusatorily. "I should have left you earlier. Maybe I could have saved them, if you hadn't held me back."

"It's the Volturi," Alice said monotonously to Edward, swiftly bypassing the confrontation, "isn't it?" Edward nodded wordlessly, but otherwise offered no support. "You should come home, with us," Alice said deploringly. "It will be safer for you."

Danny shook his head immediately. "No. I want to know what you guys know about that mafia you were talking about."

Alice and Edward shared a momentary sidelong glance. "It's not something we can readily discuss," Alice told the boy after a slight pause.

"Not even when someone dies?" Danny deadpanned bitterly.

"You're sure they're dead?" Alice replied. "You saw them?"

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I saw my dad. And one of my friends," he whispered. "There was a lot of blood—I'm sure Jazz, Sam, and my mom didn't stand much of a chance either. I—I called the police—"

"I don't understand why you don't want to come with us—I can explain everything later," Alice offered, glancing again at Edward, who had remained silent. "Once you've calmed down and had something to eat."

"I don't want to calm down or eat!" Danny nearly yelled. "What are you doing out here by yourselves, anyway?"

This was where Edward felt the need to step in. "We're walking."

"In the mountains?" Danny's crazed blue eyes darted between the two, filled with a confused mixture of terror, frustration, and anger.

Alice stiffened. "You must come with us, Danny. I'll explain everything to you—all in due time." She searched his boyish face, her expression and voice softening. "We won't hurt you."

Danny's shoulders slumped in defeat. Tears streamed soundlessly from his eyes as he looked into her face and melted into her open arms. Alice tensed when his arms closed around her, but rubbed his back soothingly. The boy was in dire want of affection, and she couldn't deny the motherly feelings she felt for him. He was still a child. A live, breathing, normal human child. At least, that was what she thought—there was no reason for her to think otherwise.

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Danny's fork trembled the entire way to his mouth. He sat on a kitchen chair, wrapped in a cashmere, silk lined blanket, staring wordlessly into the kitchen fireplace as he absent mindedly ate Rosalie's pasta. Both Rosalie and Jasper had put up a fight against accepting Danny into the household, but in the end, the coven couldn't deny that the boy held a strange lack of appeal. They decided after much deliberation that his blood smelled almost tainted in a way. Like food gone wrong in the kitchen. Jasper was almost repelled by the smell of his humanity and could barely stand to be in the same room.

"It hurts my stomach," Alice's mate told Edward and Carlisle as they sat, watching Danny eat from the living room. "I cannot stand his stench. It is as if someone burnt a perfectly good steak. I also can't feel a thing when he's around—it is almost like he sucks up all the emotion in the room for himself."

Edward nodded as he looked to Carslisle. "And I still can't hear anything from his mind."

"When I was extracting the venom from his body, I couldn't help but notice how absolutely vile his blood tasted. It was…tainted, as you say, Jasper. There certainly is something strange about him, isn't there?" Carlisle frowned. "What could the Volturi possibly want from him, though? How do they know about his abilities?"

Both younger vampires shook their heads. Edward was about to continue the conversation, but halted when Danny stood from the table and approached them from the kitchen.

"Is anyone going to tell me anything?" he asked shakily, ignoring Jasper's pained look.

Carlisle nodded. "Of course, Danny. Come." He gestured to one of the cushioned seats. "Sit with us." Danny hesitantly took a seat but didn't relax his tense posture. "We were just discussing the Volturi," Carlisle intoned. "We would like it very much if you were to stay with us until the threat of their attack has been sorted out."

"I just want to know why they would attack me," the dark haired boy said hoarsely. "What did we ever do to them?"

"I unfortunately am unable to answer that," the leader of the coven replied stoically. "But we can find out sooner if we are here with you to protect you. We know their ways—we can help."

"I don't—" Danny hesitated, staring at his shoes. "I don't want to put you in any trouble. I think it would be best if—"

"My dear boy," Carlisle sharply interrupted. "Of course you will not be of any trouble."

"It would be best," the half ghost continued as if he had not heard, "if I stayed with someone else. I have an uncle; you might know him." The boy looked around the huge, luxurious living room, as if implying that all wealthy people knew each other. "He'd let me stay with him."

"Who is your uncle?"

"Vlad Masters," Danny replied after a slight pause.

"I have heard of him," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "A bit of a business tycoon, is he not?" Without waiting for Danny to respond, he continued, "I still think it would be best if you stayed with us. You could be putting your uncle into grave danger, after all."

The boy was unable to refrain from snorting. "I think he'd be fine." At seeing three confused and expectant looks, he clarified, "He's got, uh, bodyguards, and all that. Let's just say he's pretty untouchable."

Carlisle tensed slightly. "The Volturi are known for being unstoppable. There is no escape for their targets. In any case, stay here for the night. You may call your uncle in the morning. It's too late now. Alice has set up a room for you upstairs."

The boy's posture shifted slightly and almost nervously, he asked, "Where's that girl, Bella?"

Edward frowned. "At her home. Why?"

Danny sullenly shrugged and stood. "No reason."

Soundlessly, he disappeared up the stairs, leaving the three vampires to talk amongst themselves. They all froze when they heard a knock on the door, staring at each other terror, hoping against all hope that the Volturi hadn't stopped by to pay their latest guest an early visit.

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't been on in a long time and I'm even more sorry that this is so short. Busy doing fun stuff. Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions, though! They're super inspiring. Maybe one day I'll have enough time to reply to them....