Chapter Eight: Confrontation

"We should go," Carlisle said as he stood up quickly.

"That'll only make us look guilty," Jasper protested.

"And what would you bloodsuckers be guilty of?" someone's voice came from behind the trees. I turned and saw that the voice belonged to Leah. Jacob was beside her. They were in their human forms, their clothing rumpled.

"Don't try anything stupid," Leah continued. "We can phase real quick if we need to."

"It's easier to talk this way," Jacob added. I gave him a smile, but he didn't return it. "And," he continued, "I didn't want your mind-reader to be able to read the whole Pack." Ouch; my smile disappeared.

"Of course you wouldn't want that," Jasper sneered.

Leah seemed to ignore the comment and looked to Carlisle instead. "Looks like someone broke the treaty," she said.

"We didn't do this," I said as I stared at Leah incredulously. She made an "as if" sound. "The smell of wolf is all over the body," I asserted, the anger rising in me.

"You're lying," Jacob said with a challenging stare. Jacob had said he wanted to believe me when we spoke last—only a few days ago. Now it seemed as if that desire was not longer there; he had made up his mind to not trust my family… or me.

"Interesting that you're here," Jacob continued.

"Alice saw this in a vision," Edward replied.

"Funny," Jacob said, though he wasn't amused. "That seems pretty darned convenient. Plus, I didn't think the psychic could see anything when we were around. Doesn't that mean it couldn't have been a wolf?"

"You could have been out of the area long enough for her to see," Jasper replied. "And it's pretty suspect that you're here too."

"It's our land," Jacob shot back.

"I'm sorry," Carlisle said, putting his hands forward to show surrender. "We shouldn't have crossed into your territory, but we wanted to stop this from happening." He gestured to the dead girl.

"Sure you did," Leah snorted. "I never did think mountain lions could be good enough for your kind."

"Our family is different," I protested.

"You're no different," Jacob said, looking as if he were directing the words at me. "Bloodsuckers are all the same."

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on how much Jacob's word hurt me. The situation was escalating. Jacob's arms were shaking. Jasper and Edward were rearing, and even Carlisle seemed to stand at the ready.

Then the light was on us. The white flooded the area around us, but we were still hidden behind the uprooted bush and the trees. "This is the FBI!" someone yelled. I recognized the voice—it was Agent Ramsey. "Come on out with your hands were I can see them!"

"What the hell is this?" Leah demanded under her breath from her place behind one of the trees.

"Must've stayed human too long," Jacob said through clenched teeth. "When I left Ramsey this morning, I had a feeling he was going to follow me."

"Please come on out Jacob!" The voice startled us all. It was Charlie's voice; Charlie was here with Ramsey.

We couldn't see them from where we hid, though the light filtered through the trees. "They have their guns drawn," Edward whispered, using their thoughts to give us eyes. "But we could easily move out of the way and get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan," Jacob agreed.

"We should go now," Carlisle said. "We can take our conversation to another area."

"Who's going to grab the stiff?" Leah asked resentfully. "It's such a waste Carlisle," she continued sarcastically. "We must have caught you in the middle of it, because there's an awful lot of blood left."

"Stop it!" I suddenly said. It was too loud. The humans advanced on us. Agent Ramsey and Charlie weren't alone; Ramsey had brought backup, naturally.

In that instant, we ran further into the woods. I heard the officers and agents cry out behind us when they found the dead girl behind the bush. Some of them continued to follow us, but we were faster. Soon, we were far enough away, though I could still hear their panting clearly.

I was just about to stop running when something stopped me instead. I tumbled backwards; which, for a vampire, was more like taking three steps backwards and keeping my balance almost perfectly. I felt Edward's hand on my arm to steady me; there seemed to be an urgency in his grip. I was confused; there wasn't really anything for him to be worried about—I had only bumped into a tree, though I don't know how I could have missed seeing it.

Finally, I looked up from the ground and in front of me. Edward's had remained on my arm—and now I understood why.

He was standing in front of me. It hadn't been a tree that I had slammed into; it was Demetri—the prized "hit man" of the Volturi guard. What was the Volturi doing here? I also noticed that Demetri was not alone. Next to him stood another vampire, five inches shorter than Demetri. His black hair hung to just above his chin in greasy clumps. He didn't appear as muscular as Demetri either.

Demetri noticed my scrutinizing look. "Don't underestimate my friend here," he said, gesturing to the vampire that stood beside him. "Trevor here is fast and deadly."

Trevor brought his gaze to me. His features were striking, and his were penetrating as they looked into mine. His eyes were the same deep red as other vampires who fed on humans, but they also seemed more intense as they appeared to flash.

"To what do we owe this pleasure of the Volturi's company?" Carlisle asked, breaking me from my reverie.

"I would appreciate if you don't play dumb with me," Demetri answered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Carlisle said evenly.

"I suppose it was long overdue," Demetri continued as if he didn't hear Carlisle. "A coven of pledged 'vegetarian' vampires—really Carlisle—how long could that last? How long before they go on a hunting spree?"

"We're not responsible for the human deaths," I protested.

"Really Bella," Demetri chided. He chuckled and returned his gaze to Carlisle. "We're here because the Volturi has decided that what you've done requires intervention."

"What?!" Jasper questioned loudly.

Demetri looked at us firmly. "You Cullens can't expect to run a rampage in a quiet town and not draw the attention of the Volturi."

"There's been a mistake," Carlisle told him. "We're not responsible for this."

"There has been a mistake, Carlisle," Demetri said. "It was when the Volturi allowed you to continue here. Your coven should have been destroyed a long time ago."

"Maybe it's been the Volturi doing this," Jacob finally spoke, as he had been silent this whole time.

"I'd stay out of this if I were you," Demetri told Jacob, then he turned back to Carlisle. "You can come quietly, and answer for what you've done, or you can make it hard on yourselves." The Volturi intended to kill us.

"Seems to me you're a little outnumbered," Jacob shot.

"Here's the thing," Demetri said coolly. "Bella's father, Charlie is out by his car near the road." He smiled ruefully. "Who do you think will reach him first? Trevor is the fastest there is. So are you going to come quietly?"

Before I could think things through rationally, I turned the way we came and tore through the woods. I was sure Trevor was following me; maybe he had already passed me. I had to be the first to get to Charlie.

I ran until a loud noise stopped me; it was a gunshot. I was near the road now. Who was shooting? Had Trevor reached Charlie before me? Then I heard another shot and the breaking of auto glass.

I noticed that Edward was beside me. "Someone's shooting at Charlie," he said.

"Where's Trevor?!" I demanded.

In that same instant, another voice I didn't recognize called out. "Come and get me!" the shooter yelled crazily. I didn't think it could be Trevor.

The shooter fired again. This time, I heard it hit something soft, like flesh. I heard Charlie call out as he dropped to the ground. "Charlie!" I yelled as I ran forward.