Brains
Hours later, I knew what happened to Forks. After the vampires left, the town was in chaos. At least a hundred families had lost their children, and my body was never even found. The citizens of Forks all suspected one another of killing their family, and no one was trusted. Charlie, being the chief of police, tried to make peace, but then they all turned on him. After they burned his house down (with him still inside of it, I realized once I found his skeleton), they no longer had a common enemy.
Then more vampires came. There were two males and one female, all of them in their early twenties when they were changed.
These new vampires, not being vegetarian, killed everyone in the town, after getting permission from the Volturi, of course. Apparently the "royal family" no longer cared for this crazed town, and let them have free rein.
So everyone within a 40 mile radius was most likely dead.
Now, the vampires who slayed the small town of Forks stayed in a rather large and secluded white house for about a week after killing everybody. The female had long red hair, which reminded anybody who saw it of flames, and one of the males was tall and dark-haired, while the other male was slighter than the first, with light brown hair. They all had a sort of cat-like gait, and seemed constantly on the edge of shifting into a crouch.
They were also still living in their borrowed mansion.
The second that I smelled the vampires scent, I froze. I realized that it was too strong to be anything but fresh, so I ran back to the children. I barked at them to hold on to me, and as they were rushing into their "positions," I looked around Forks, one more time.
Of course, I promptly heard a call of, "James, I think I heard something over here!"
Before we could escape, I caught a glimpse of the caller. It was Victoria, and she looked bewildered, staring right at me. Before I wasting any more time, I thought of that hotel that I had stayed at with Alice and Jasper the first time that I ran into these very vampires.
Luckily we arrived in a dark alleyway next to this hotel, instead of right in front of the receptionist's desk, which might have been a problem. I walked into the hotel, with the children following behind, when I realized that I had absolutely no money with me.
"Damn it!" I muttered, under my breath.
Elsie looked up at me with a scolding look, like I was a child caught stealing a cookie, before she asked, "Something wrong?"
"Is there any chance that any of you know where I could get some money?" I replied, gauging their responses.
Elsie gave me a look that said, "Do I have to do everything around here?" while Dice and Anna hid their snickers. Michael started digging into his pocket, bringing out some loose change, and Erica and Tommy were distracted by other children their age, who were asking their mothers for various treats that they saw in shop windows.
All of them pulled together to help, but Michael proved to be the most helpful. He had 50 dollars saved up, only Michael knows where he got it, but it still wasn't enough. At one point I decided to try my luck and go back to Forks, to search the remains of my house for my savings, and I left the children in the care of a library.
At Forks, I searched through the ashes that were once my home, looking for a single sliver of glass. I found the jar containing my collage funds, and counted 1,985. Not much to get me into collage, but more than enough to buy 7 children and myself a nice hotel room. I was just about to teleport back my charges, when I heard a howl.
I had forgotten about the werewolves.
A single russet-colored werewolf screeched to a half in front of my ruined house, looking at me with a glare. If looks could kill, I thought, not sure whether to laugh or run at the reunion of my old friend.
Jacob just sat there, staring me down, so I decided to make conversation.
"Hello, Jake," I said in a friendly voice. "Are you okay? How's the rest of the pack?"
My natural enemy and best friend seemed surprised that I knew his name. As soon as recognition dawned on his face, I was no longer staring at a large mass of fur, but instead being hugged by cold arms. I was immediately suspicious. How long have Jake's arms been anything but 200 degrees? Great, more acting.
"Bella!" Jacob said, ecstatic. "You smell."
"Glad to see you, too," I countered, with a laugh. "How have you been? Is the pack still okay?"
"Of course, you dolt," he said, pulling away from me to show me his triumphant smile. "No stupid bloodsucker is going to defeat our pack. We chased them out of town a long time ago."
"But I smelled them," I said, suddenly cautious.
"Well of course you smelled them, you're a vampire after all," Jacob said, with an air of exasperations, hiding his true, and newfound, insecurity. "They did kill just about everyone, and were running all around the place." He started to slowly back up.
"And how did you know that I was here, then?" I demanded, wanting to know the answer to this riddle.
"I smelled you, of course," 'Jacob' said, he had finally reached the spot where the wall on my house once was.
"Over the sent of the vampires? Who are still here, by the way."
"Good job, Bella," Jacob suddenly said, in a voice other than his own. "You seem to have gotten a bit smarter."
"I still don't know who you are," I said, deciding not to feign innocence. It's probably Laurent, if I'm correct in guessing who they are. I don't know what the other's gifts are, but this is the work of a shape-shifter. That voice just now wasn't a female's, and I remember Edward telling me about James' "mind of a hunter."
"Oh, yes," Laurent said, slowly shifting back into his own form. "Well, maybe I'll keep you in suspense. Where's the fun in telling you who I am, right from the top?"
"There's no need for that, Laurent," I said, taking away his source of amusement, just to spite him.
"Fun sucker," Victoria cut in, from behind me. I jumped, out of surprise. I was expecting her to come, I just thought that I'd be able to hear her.
"So what really happened to the pack?" I directed at Laurent, anxious for news of my friends.
"They left yesterday," James replied, showing up next to Victoria. "After everyone was dead, they gave up the fight."
"So what happened to your sweetheart?" Victoria asked, a mocking sneer distorting her features.
"I don't know," I replied bluntly. After seeing her wicked smile, I was tempted to add 'I left him at Voltera,' but I fought it, and won. Why should she need to know where I had once stayed?
Then Laurent said, "What happened to those kids that you had? Did you drink them? If so, you should've saved some for us."
"I didn't drink them!" I threw back at him, with a snarl. I was becoming good friends with the children.
"Ah, so are you a 'vegetarian,' just like your beloved Cullens?" James asked, his laughter in his eyes. "We should be able to find them easily enough."
In a split second, he and Victoria were gone, while Laurent grabbed me, to keep me from chasing after them. I would've teleported there, but I would've been forced to take Laurent along with me. Instead I fought him, all to no avail.
EPOV
After Aro and Marcus' fight over leadership of the Volturi (which Aro won, who then burned up pieces of Marcus at a bonfire that we were all told to watch), I realized that Bella had left. I ran to Alice, who told me (without my asking), that she had gone back to America, and who she would run into.
I had left Volturi that day, and when my plane landed in Seattle at 2:00 in the morning, I rented a car and drove, at 120 mph, in the direction of Forks. I crossed her sent near Port Angeles, and changed course.
I kept walking through deserted streets until I found a library.
After I climbed through the window (the door was looked), I almost ran into a small child. She looked to be about 12, with shoulder-length black hair, and purple eyes. She smiled up at me.
"Hello," she said. "You must be Edward. My name is Sarah."
I didn't bother with asking Sarah how she about my name, but instead about Bella's.
"Yes, she's the one who helped us," she told me.
After she had led me to a row of shelves where she had apparently been staying, and she quietly told me the other children's names, there was a knock on the library door.
And that's the end of this series. Heh heh. Just kidding.
Oh, how I loath cliff-hangers.