Chapter Twelve.

Charlie

I was late leaving as usual but at least my headache had gone and to put me in a better mood Bella had rung to say she'd started packing in between running errands for and calming her mother down on a regular basis. It sounded like she was tired but hopefully it would all be over soon. I would be happier when she was back, unless that is this business was truly a vampire attack but there was nothing I could do yet, not without more information. Waiting as promised or threatened, I wasn't sure which, were Billy and Harry but they had been joined by Old Quil Ateara and Sam Uley, so this was a formal meeting not a quiet chat!

They followed me in and sat round the dining table while I got coffee for everyone and joined them waiting for someone to speak and unsurprisingly it was Old Quil who got the ball rolling.

"Chief Swan this is a very difficult time for us. Your father insisted we tell you nothing about what happened the day your grandfather died, he didn't want you involved in our problem and hoped we could deal with things without having to tell you anything but I fear that is not going to be the case."

So they were here to spill the beans, well I wasn't about to make it easy for them, I had a little of my fathers suspicions about them.

"Someone just spit it out in plain English because I don't have a clue what you're talking about. What has this got to do with my father? He's been dead for years."

"Your father was there the night his father died. He saw what happened and he blamed us for not saving Charles and his friends."

"What? How do you know this? He never spoke about it and he certainly never said anything about being there and witnessing it"

"Never the less he was and he did"

"And you all knew this? You knew but no one told me?"

"I know how you must feel Charlie but we were sworn to secrecy and we all hoped you would never have to know the truth but they've returned and now we have no choice."

"Who? Who has returned?"

"The Cold Ones."

By the time they left they had shown my father to have been correct, his journal entries and the letter he sent me all gelled precisely with the Quileute account although the wolves being too late to save my father wasn't brought up. I thought maybe this time if the vampires were back I might get more support from the tribe if I didn't antagonise them too early in the game. They'd been very open with me, Sam had even taken me outside and phased to his wolf form. Now that alone scared the crap out of me! How could I protect my town from such creatures when no one else had managed such a feat without the help of the wolf pack. The idea of deputizing giant shape shifting men didn't sit right somehow but it had been pointed out to me very firmly that without the help of the tribal guardians I stood no chance. I felt helpless, powerless, and deeply angry with my father for keeping this secret but there was something even more worrying and that had come as a bolt out of the blue.

"So Charlie you can see why we asked you to leave the tracker to us, he's a Cold One and he is moving this way. It's too close to our border to allow us to sleep comfortably."

"You'll kill him then? Or at least the wolves will?"

"Yes and the hunters will never know"

"Just answer me one thing, if the hunters were a quarter mile further away from your boundary would we still be having this conversation?"

Harry looked at Old Quil and then shook his head,

"No. The hunters deaths would be assumed the work of wolves or mountain lion."

I already knew the answer but I wanted to hear it spoken aloud.

"We would however still be having another related conversation."

"Related? How?"

"The man Bella was in the forest with, what do you know about him?"

"We already went through this, he's a friend of the Cullens and believe me, I am not going through the whole Cullens are bad news conversation again. What did you mean by related conversation? How is Bella going for a walk in the forest related? Unless of course her friend Garrett is a shape shifter too. Don't tell me, he might phase and hurt her?"

"Charlie, you've known me for years, have I ever lied to you?"

I looked at Billy curiously,

"Only the time you told me your dad knew we were borrowing his car to go to the dance in Port Angeles, does that count?"

He smiled but it was faint,

"No, it doesn't. Charlie I'm going to tell you something now but I have to ask your solemn promise that you wont repeat it to anyone."

"I don't like secrets Billy, they make me nervous."

"I know but its the only way I can get permission to tell you what I'm about to divulge"

He glanced at Quil who looked back at him steadily.

"OK then as long as it's not illegal I promise."

"The Cullens aren't shape shifters, they are Cold Ones, vampires."

I felt as if I'd been punched in the stomach and it took me a minute or two to recover from the shock.

"The Cullens are vampires? But Dr Cullen works at the clinic, he operates..."

Billy cut me off,

"That's as may be but the whole family are vampires."

"Then why haven't the tribe taken any action against them?"

"Many years ago when Carlisle Cullen first came to this area he made a treaty with the Quileute elders. As long as his family didn't hunt humans, bite a human, we would allow them to live here in peace and keep their secret and so far his family has kept their word, they hunt animals instead."

"Many years?"

"Yes, the Cold Ones are immortal Charlie. We have no idea how old any of them are but they are all far older than they appear."

"And Garrett? Their friend?"

"Yes he too is one."

"Bella was walking in the forest with a vampire? Why the hell didn't you warn me? Does he hunt animals too?"

Billy and Harry exchanged a look and it was Harry who spoke this time,

"No Charlie, he hunts humans although not here. I think he moves away to hunt but he does drink human blood and we think you should watch Bella very carefully when she visits next."

I laughed bitterly,

"Bella is coming to live in Forks so that's going to be difficult, they'll be at the same school."

"Is it wise to have Bella here knowing what you do Chief Swan?"

"I guess not Quil but I'm not going to keep my daughter away, I've waited too long for this. I'll keep her safe, you just keep those hikers from getting killed and I want to know which direction the vampire takes. If he threatens my town I want to know."

"We will continue to watch but for now there is no immediate danger. Once they've fed they will probably avoid the town altogether."

"They? I thought it was a single vampire?"

"Our young men only saw signs of one but there will be others around, one maybe two more."

"Well lets hope you're right, or that they take a route leading through the res then they can be your problem instead of mine."

"Why don't you tell the Cullens to move on Chief Swan?"

"Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you Harry? I could do your dirty work for you. The Cullens have a treaty with you, one you say they haven't broken and yet you still hate them. I'll tell you what, you want them gone then I suggest you tell them. You see I knew about your little secret even before you told me. My father kept a journal and he wrote me a letter telling me all about the wolves and the Cold Ones. If the wolves had been faster my grandfather wouldn't have died and he wouldn't have witnessed it. I also know that if anyone finds out I know about the vampires I'm putting my head in a noose so I think for now I'll wait and watch. Now if that's all I'm hungry and I'd like to grab a shower. Goodnight gentlemen."

I didn't regret anything I'd said to my "friends" All these years and not one of them gave me a clue that anything out of the ordinary was going on in Forks. They'd left me in ignorance and now I was being told the Quileutes were taking matters into their own hands if it threatened the tribe in any way, otherwise it was see what you can accomplish on your own without any supernatural help. All I could do was keep Bella away from the Cullens and ignorant of their true nature but I would speak to Dr Cullen. He was a doctor who had saved many lives at the clinic, human lives, and I thought I could talk to him without putting myself in danger. He had some reason for helping the people of Forks and not hunting in the area. I wanted to know what that reason was so I decided to visit him at the clinic.