Chapter 27

Alec

"Hey Seth," I said, walking out the door, "what's up?"

"Dude," Seth replied, "how are you? Long time no see."

"Yeah," I responded, "I had my first day of school today, and Alice took us shopping yesterday."

"Ouch," Seth replied with a grin, "I have been told those are the absolute worst."

"They are," I agreed. "Who told you that?" I asked, curiously.

"Bella to Jake, and I was just in the room," he answered.

"People always forget when you are still in the room, huh?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it's crazy, right?" he laughed as he responded, "I'm like forgotten guy. Wait, never mind. Edward seems to remember me. But you know he has an unfair advantage, hearing my thoughts and stuff. Don't you think so?"

"Um…I guess," I replied. "Before you phase, just tell me what you know about the vampire that you and the pack smelt."

"Just that it was not one of the Cullens, or you, or Lexi. Jake thinks it might be the mate of vampire that you and Lexi killed."

"Maybe," I said. "I will definitely able to tell as soon as I have its scent."

Seth nodded, "Yeah, that's what Jake and Sam thought."

"We should hurry," I suggested, "we don't want to take the chance of it being a new vampire and it killing people."

Seth nodded again and stopped. "Wait here." I nodded, and knew he was going to phase. I turned around to give him even more privacy. I stayed that way until I heard a growl. I turned and the wolf Seth jerked his head in the direction we were going. We ran in silence for five miles or so. Seth led me to a secluded area of the forest, but relatively close to a large population of people.

"This is it?" I asked. Seth nodded his wolf head. I sighed. It was times like these in which I could communicate with animals or read minds like Edward could. But I would never tell him that, of course.

I stood in the middle of the clearing and closed my eyes, concentrating on the different smells around me. The most poignant was Seth.

"Um…Seth?" I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. "No offense dude, but you really stink. Do you think you could possibly, I don't know, wander back there or something?" I waved my hand vaguely back towards the direction from which we had come. "I am really sorry to ask that Seth. But I'll call your name as soon as I find the strongest scent."

Seth gazed at me, and nodded his head. Then he turned and ran off, back in the direction in which the two of us had come from. I once again closed my eyes and allowed all of the scents in the nearby forest to fill my nose. I smelt vampire. Bingo! I sniffed again. It was not one I knew. Damn! And it was fresh. Like, really fresh. Double Damn! Why does this keep happening to me? What is it about the town of Forks that attracts vampire problems? Why? Why? Why?

I could have stood there all day, asking "Why?" over and over again, and cursing everything that I could, but I remembered I was doing this job with Seth.

"Yo Seth!" I called out in a loud voice. "Get your fat furry butt back here now! We have a problem." Barely a minute later Seth was staring expectantly in his wolf form.

"Seth," I began, "I got the scent, it went that way." I pointed North. "And that was the good news. The bad news is that I do not recognize the scent of the vampire. And do you want to hear the really bad news?" Seth continued to stare at me. I really wished I knew what he was thinking. "The really bad news is that the scent is fresh. Fresh as in maybe an hour or so ago it was back here. It has been here before, I can tell from previous traces of the scent. I can also see the one that you and your packs found. That one is from yesterday. It has been back a few times since then. It comes this way quite often."

Seth's body immediately tensed, and he was on high alert. He looked at me again. I myself growled in frustration. I could not interpret the looks and facial expression the wolf was giving me.

"Seth," I said, "I am really hoping that you want to go after it as well, because I cannot tell what you are thinking." Seth shook his head up and down, indicating a yes. Thank god. I turned and this time I was leading Seth to where the vampire hopefully was. I was also assuming that Seth was in constant contact with his pack, and I voice my assumption. He nodded at me.

"That's good," I replied, "if I die, you can tell Lexi, and then she will bring me back and kill me again." A bark-like sound came from Seth's throat; I think it was laughter. We continued for a mile when I abruptly stopped.

"Shhh..." I whispered to Seth who also halted obediently. I sniffed the air and listened. The vampire was close. Way to close for comfort, I might add. I heard it running. However, it was not running away from us as I had expected; the noise it made as it ran became louder and louder—it was running towards us. Oh crap!

"Seth—"I turned but could not issue the warning in time. A female vampire had come charging out of the woods and with a flying tackle, grabbed the giant wolf Seth and tumbled down the hill with him. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," I muttered to myself over and over again as I raced down the hill after them. Unfortunately, Seth was already in trouble. I smelt his disgusting blood all over the clearing at the bottom of the hill. There was a large amount of Seth's blood on a boulder that rested at the bottom of the hill, and I cursed loudly. And the thought in the back of my head was "again with the freaking boulders?" But I promptly forgot about my hate of rocks and other sharp and painful objects when something came flying at my head. I ducked and turned as I watched a massive tree smash into the side of the hill, hitting it with such force that it splintered everywhere.

I needed to help Seth, or the whole town of Forks would never forgive me. Seth was bleeding from the head, his fur matted with his own blood. He moved with noticeably slower reflexes, and did not seem too sure of his movements. I had to help now before he was mortally wounded. The vampire attacked Seth, trying to make him weaker. Seth flung the vampire with all his might and she hit the boulder already wet with Seth's blood. In this case, I was really happy that it hurt her. She got on the top of the rock, and bared her fangs. She leaped at Seth. She never got to bite him.

If Seth or one of the members of his pack is bitten by a vampire with venom, they will immediately die. There was no way in hell I was going to let Seth die. I leaped into the air with a roar of absolute anger and grabbed the vampire mid-spring. I grabbed her by the arm and swung her with all my might into a nearby tree. Her momentum carried her into another tree, and both of them fell on top of her.

"Seth," I was next to him in a flash, "stay with me, ok? Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, DO NOT fall asleep. And make sure that—" I did not get to finish warning Seth as the vampire came out from under the trees and flung me into the side of the hill. I left an Alec-sized impression there. I was out of my me-shaped hole and back to fighting her, but not before I heard a painful howl. I got to her in time to rip her away from Seth, whose forearm now looked grotesquely out of place. She was struggling against my grip, but her activity soon ceased. I let go of her. She could not move. She could not talk. She could not see. She could not feel. She had lost control of her senses, courtesy of me.

I was back in control. It was like being back with the Volturi. The accused standing before you, unable to move. All the time in the world to "debate" the judgment. The amazing sensation of power you feel as you realize that you have the power to end an existence. I gazed contemptuously at the frozen vampire. She was about five feet, five inches, with long blonde hair, no freckles, and fair skin. What made me smile was the look of utter helplessness on her face. I smirked at the frozen figure and turned to look at Seth. He kept opening and closing his eyes.

"I hope to god you told your pack where you are," I told him. He gazed at me with unfocused eyes.

"Listen to me Seth," I spoke firmly and clearly. "You need help. You probably have a very serious concussion, you have lost a lot of blood, and you have a broken arm. Tell your pack to notify Carlisle, and then get their furry butts to your side now. You need serious medical attention. Do you understand me?" Seth sort of nodded, and he blinked a lot.

"Damn it," I swore. "Seth." He tried focusing on me, but it did no good. "Place your head down and do not move it. I am getting some wood to make a fire in order to burn this bitch. Whatever you do, you better not dare close your eyes," I told him sternly. I quickly got up and, using my vampire speed, rapidly gathered wood for the fire. I checked on Seth, he was breathing funny, and he was still fighting to keep his eyes open. Where was his pack?

I got a fire roaring and went over to my motionless victim. Wordlessly I ripped her to pieces, starting with the head. That went into the fire first, followed by the right and left arms, that legs, and then the chest, which I also split to shreds before allowing it to burn. I sat next to Seth, watch the fire burn until his pack arrive.

"Finally," I said as the came running down the hill. "What kept you? He's in serious trouble."

One of the wolves gave me a look and went into the woods. A minute later Jacob Black emerged from the trees.

"Alec," he stated, I will explain later. Right now—"

"Help Seth," I commanded, point to where the wolf was sprawled on the ground, clearly in pain.

One wolf growled at me. "We are," Jacob replied. He went over and knelt next to the blood covered wolf.

"Seth," Jake began, speaking softly, "Seth, you need to phase. We can't help you if you don't phase. Both my pack and Sam's is here you little idiot. You are causing us so much trouble, so you better do this one little thing for us, man." The wolf on the ground looked up at Jacob, the pain evident in his eyes.

"Seth," Jake continued, his voice a little shaky now, "if I do not get back to La Push with you in one piece, Leah will have my head. Please Seth," Jacob pleaded. I was staring at Jacob Black, whom I knew as a fearless pack leader from the confrontation years ago, in shock. He was crying. He had a tear trickling down his face and his eyes were wet. Seth clearly meant a lot to him. With a howl of pain, Seth phased back into a sixteen year old boy, broken and bloodied, laying on the ground.