Chapter 4: Sound the Alarm

"Alice, what do you mean, you 'can't find him'?" I asked. I was starting to get really worried. Only a small part of my mind was listening to Alice. Most of it was running through all the places that Charlie could possibly be. At work of course, or fishing if he had the morning off. Not home, I had already gone by there.

"... and when I went inside I could tell he hadn't been there all night. I didn't smell any unfamiliar scents in his house, vampire or otherwise, so that's a good sign at least." Alice finished, voice a little higher and faster than normal.

"Did anyone go by to see if he was at work?" I asked. Maybe he spent the night with Sue and went straight to work from there.

"Uh, no, not yet anyway. I wanted to make sure he wasn't with any of the pack before I sounded the alarm" Alice answered, looking a bit sheepish.

"Well, I'll go by the station, maybe he's there. No reason to freak out." Yet. And even though I had said it, it was still hard not to let my mind wander through all the horrible things that could possibly happen. I was getting anxious thinking about it before I felt Jasper's calm entrap me. It helped clear my mind and allowed me to focus.

"So, who's coming with me?" I asked.

Jacob climbed into the back seat of the Ferrari, while Edward got into the passenger side. I knew that running would be faster but I didn't think that a wolf and two vampires going in excess of a hundred miles an hour on foot would go down well with the officers of Forks PD. I floored it, going as fast as I could down 101, thinking how convenient it would be to get pulled over, then I could just ask whichever officer it was if they'd seen Charlie. I had to admit it though, cars were more fun for me now that I didn't have to worry about getting smeared on the highway.

It only took a few minutes to make it to the station at the speed I was going, and sure enough there was my dad's cruiser, parked in the parking lot. Relief washed through me, until I caught an unusual scent. It wasn't altogether vampire but it wasn't entirely human. The only thing I had to compare it to was Renesmee, and yet it wasn't Renesmee's scent at all. It immediately made me wary and had it been possible my hands would have been slick with sweat gripping the steering wheel. As it was, I relaxed my grip so that I didn't break my car.

"Whoa..." Jacob said, "you smell that Bells?" The question was obviously rhetorical but it broke my reverie. I shifted around so I could see him from my peripheral. I had backed into a parking space facing the station and Charlie's cruiser. Edward stiffened, whether from the scent or something Jacob thought, I wasn't sure. I pushed my shield away so Edward would know the direction of my thoughts.

"You're right," Edward said, "It isn't human, and it's not vampire either." He put his hand on the door handle, "I'm going to go look around. Why don't you and Jacob go inside and see if you can find out more." With a doubtful look on his face he added, "For all we know, Charlie might be here." He might, I could tell that he had been here recently. His scent lingered, but just barely because there had been the familiar layer of mist hanging in the air all morning. I could smell the unfamiliar scent more strongly but Charlie's was mixed in there. That fact only made me more nervous though.

And so even though I very seriously doubted that I would find Charlie here, I still went inside with Jacob to ask when he had been here last. Hoping that any information would help. The woman at the front desk looked at me, shocked. I knew it was because I looked so different from the last time she'd seen me. At least my eyes were topaz instead of bright red, I was sure that would shock her even more. She told me that my dad had come in early this morning and then left immediately after with someone. She didn't know the person. It looked like a female but she never got out of the car so she couldn't say for sure. She also didn't know what kind of car it was, only that it had looked new and was black, or maybe dark blue.

Jacob left Edward and I to drive home by ourselves, while he phased to let the other wolves know what was up. I tried to remain positive, hoping that maybe one of the other wolves knew something we didn't. The drive home was quiet though, while Edward and I brooded over Charlie. Who could he have left with? For that matter, who would he have left with that wasn't a known member of this community? Surely if it had been someone from town, or any of the surrounding areas, the receptionist would have known them. This is a small enough town that the police here know pretty much everybody.

I didn't recognize the scent and it hadn't been inside the station. I wondered if it could all just be a misunderstanding, that seemed like too much to hope for though. Edward absent-mindedly nodded his head as I thought this.

So you don't think this is just a misunderstanding either? I asked him silently. I already knew the answer, I just wanted, or hoped, maybe a little naïvely, that he would disagree and say that it probably was. But, I didn't need false reassurances and Edward was too honest to give them to me.

"No, not with that scent. If it weren't for that scent... Maybe. It just seems, too familiar, and yet I know I've never smelled that particular scent before. We will get to the bottom of this though, that I can assure you."

And of that I was sure, too. I just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

Earlier that day:

"Are you Charlie Swan?" The beautiful girl asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Can I help you with something?

"I need you to come with me, it's urgent. Please, it's about your daughter, Bella."

"Bella? What's wrong with Bella?" And who are you?"

"Please, Charlie, there's no time. I'm a friend of the Cullen's. I'll explain everything on the way, just get in, hurry!"

A/N: As you may already know (but just in case you don't) I am not Stephenie Meyer, and therefore do not own the characters, or the Twilight Saga. However, these thoughts are my own. Please R&R.

Thanks, Gabbi