Chapter Twenty Two

Carlisle

We drove as far as we could in Emmett's truck but the roads were becoming impassable so we were forced to continue on foot for a great deal of the way. The rain made it difficult to see the road let alone the gap in the crash barrier where Garrett's car had gone over the edge. It was Rose who found it eventually and called for us to join her.

"It would have been much simpler if Alice were here. She could have told us what was going on and where the Chiefs daughter is. Instead she's off having fun and we're soaked to the skin looking for a human and a vampire I don't even like"

"Rosalie please. It took a lot for Chief Swan to ask for our help and he has made his stance quite clear, he will allow us to continue living here with no problems and I think finding his daughter will only help to cement our relationship."

Rosalie tossed her head dismissively and started down the bank, unwilling to simply jump as the bottom was now liquid mud.

At the bottom we checked the car and saw faint blood stains on the upholstery,

"Well that's reassuring, the girl is bleeding. We might as well go home now and wait for Garrett to turn up with a plausible story for draining her"

"We are not turning back yet Rose. There's nothing here to suggest Garrett attacked Bella Swan."

"Well I didn't expect him to leave her bloodless body laying out here. He could hide it anywhere, by the time the cops get round to finding it no one will be able to tell cause of death, the emergency services will be snowed under for days after the storm blows itself out."

"Well I'm willing to give Garrett the benefit of the doubt Rose"

She looked exasperated at Emmett,

"Well what a surprise! Em you really should think about this. Could you resist drinking a humans blood if you could see and smell it?"

Emmett grimaced then shook his head,

"I guess not Rosie but maybe Garrett can"

"He hunts humans Em, they are his food source so why would he not kill her?"

"I don't know. Maybe because he likes her."

Rosalie growled in frustration then cast around with us to find any tracks to give us a clue which way to go. It was almost impossible to see anything in the driving rain and mud but then Emmett called us over and pointed to a patch of slightly less liquid ground and looked at me,

"You think that was him? There's only one set of prints I can find"

Rose looked up into the trees,

"Maybe he put her body up there for safe keeping"

Em and I both ignored her as we followed the direction of the tracks which were soon lost to more mud and I just hoped we were going in the right direction.

"Hey Carlisle, there's another track here"

"One here too"

We checked the multiple prints,

"There are three distinct prints here and they're all too big for Bella so three adults, possibly men. Garrett would account for one but that means someone is either following him or he's following them and either way I don't like it. Come on"

The others followed me and we moved faster now, the feeling in my stomach getting stronger, something was very wrong and I knew Bella and Garrett were in trouble but I didn't know what kind. Suddenly I halted putting a hand up to stop the others. I could hear something, an altercation up ahead, fighting, but not all the sounds were human in origin. Had a hungry bear or lion decided to try its luck with a vampire? It seemed unlikely but that's exactly what it sounded like and as we crept closer I could see through the driving rain two figures on the ground, young naked humans and they weren't moving. Guardians? Was it possible they had come across Garrett and ambushed him? If so he had killed them but they weren't going to make any more sounds so where did the sound I'd heard come from. Peering ahead I saw two figures struggling on the hillside opposite, one man one wolf. A wolf? Could it be that Quileutes were out here? That didn't make any sense but I didn't know of any other wolf guardians for hundreds of miles.

"Emmett go right. Rose check they're dead then follow Em, I'll go left"

We split up and Em and I ran as fast as we could but we were too late, the wolf went hurtling across open space to land hard on the rocks at the far side of the clearing. So our other figure was a vampire too but not Garrett, he was taller and his hair was much lighter.

Emmett approached a little too fast and he too went flying but luckily the wolf who had preceded him was gone. Seeing us arrive might have given it second thoughts. I turned back as Rose ran for her mate calling his name. The stranger was disappearing into a cave entrance I hadn't noticed before and a second later another naked body came flying out to fall to the ground below. This was a young woman and she was still alive from the rising and falling of her chest so I shouted for Rose to keep a watch on her, see if she were injured. I hadn't known the females phased too, I'd never heard of it before. Still that was a puzzle for later, for now I needed to know if the stranger were friend or foe so I followed him up to the cave and stepped cautiously inside to see Garrett slumped against the rocky wall, his head hanging loosely and a lot of venom pooling around him.

The stranger turned to look at me,

"Carlisle Cullen? I think your friend needs your help. The wolves got him pretty good."

"Who are you?"

"Jasper Whitlock but the introductions will have to wait. He was trying to protect a human girl. Why were the wolves looking for a human?"

"I have no idea, where is she?"

He put a hand on the rock fall in front of him,

"Garrett caused this to trap her safely inside but now you're here she's safe enough so if you don't mind I'll get her out"

He started throwing rocks behind him as I carried Garrett outside to see his injuries better in the weak daylight.

Emmett was rotating his shoulder as he climbed back up,

"The wolf's gone and I didn't think it was a good idea to chase him, we don't know if he has friends waiting near by. Who was that up there?"

"He said his name is Jasper and he's digging Bella out. I just hope she wasn't injured when the walls caved in. It was a last ditch effort by Garrett to keep her from the wolves."

"But she's human, they wouldn't have hurt her."

"Well he seemed to think differently Emmett. See if you can find the missing pieces of his flesh and we'll patch him up."

"He's lost a lot of venom. You want me to try finding a deer or something?"

"No, he's not used to animal blood, I don't think it will help much. He needs to hunt but that's impossible as things stand, we're miles from any humans especially in this weather. Let's get him fused and then decide on a strategy."

He nodded as Rosalie came up behind us dragging the unconscious guardian girl behind her,

"Two dead, one broken neck, one snapped spine. Quick and efficient. Who's our mystery man? He can certainly take care of business"

"Jasper Whitlock that's all I know. Help Emmett with Garrett and keep a sharp eye on that girl. We're going to want to talk to her when she comes round. I'll go help Jasper free Bella."

"So she is alive then? I guess I owe you an apology Garrett. I really didn't think you'd be able to resist the scent of blood"

Garrett raised his head wearily,

"Rose you have no idea..."