Chapter 48

A man stood silently with a black hood hanging securely over his eyes, covering up most of his face. He handed two men a piece of paper with instructions written on it, who read the message and nodded. One was dressed similarly with his face hidden behind anonymity, the other's face was bared to the world.

He was handsome, tall and red eyed, with fair marble skin and a hair of short brown hair. He rarely smiled and the look suited him well. It completed his stern, squared off jaw and broad shouldered frame. For years he felt lost, though the new year had brought to him a new life where, thus far, he'd been successful. He finally felt alive again after years of being as dead as the human life he'd left behind long ago.

"How long before we go on the offensive?" he asked, revealing a strong Australian accent.

The man who handed him the paper turned it over and pointed to a date that was written there.

He nodded, "Alright then."

The man in the hood put a hand on his shoulder and gave a quick nod. He then abruptly left the scene, calling the other man in the hood with him.

The handsome, young man was left alone to review his task at hand. He understood the challenges that would surely be presented to him, and now that he had no partner for back up after the wolves had killed him, the pressures were far greater. Death was surely an option, though he was far beyond the point of having nothing to lose. However, he wished to continue to prove his worth through success in the missions he was given. It was a pack of wolves that had destroyed members of his small coven decades before, so getting vengeance on them was something he enjoyed. Now, he would continue his trade and make his way to do as he was asked, and that was to pick off the vampires who called wolves their friends one by one.

...

"That's what I saw," Alice told Carlisle, "I don't know his name, and I have no idea who the men in the hoods were, but he's planning on retaliating before the end of March."

"Is he acting alone?" Carlisle asked her.

"I'm not sure. There were two them who were given the instructions, but he was the only one to stay... where ever he is. And they used code words in the message. Whoever this is knows about my visions."

"Were the hooded men dressed like Volturi members?"

She shrugged, "I mean, yes. In a way. They had those cloaks on."

"Can you write down exactly what the message said?" he asked, "I mean identical, word for word. Sentence placement for sentence placement."

Alice nodded and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled down everything that was written on the paper, including the date on the back.

Carlisle read the date aloud on the back first, "End of 3rd, 19-30."

"Between the nineteenth and thirtieth of March," Alice said, "It's suppose to be code."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, "The man I saw asked for the date and the other man flipped it over and pointed to that message. Not a very good disguise, if you ask me, but I guess it's the thought that counts."

Carlisle snickered, then refocused. He studied the rest of the sentences carefully. "Is this exactly how it was written? Did you copy it exactly like you saw it?"

"Yes," Alice told him, trying to catch up to where his thoughts were leading him.

He thought for a moment and studied the somewhat encrypted message. He traced his fingers down the page. He moved his lips but didn't read the messages out loud. There was a heart written halfway down the page with the number one written in the center. Not far from it was the number three, accompanied by the phrase 'fourth or fifth' inside of parenthesis. High above it on the paper and to the left was the number two with the word third written in parenthesis.

Carlisle continued to study it and Alice watched him as the wheels turned in his head. "One, two, three," he said to himself, looking out the only window in his office.

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"You said in the date, the term "third" referred to the month of March."

"Yes," Alice said, "I'm pretty positive."

Carlisle pointed to the top of the page, "This one says 'third' next to the number two."

"So.. two-March. March second?" she asked.

"That doesn't coincide with the date on the back."

She thought for a moment and looked at the numbers, squinting her eyes. Carlisle stood up and made his way to one of the book shelves, removing a book entitled, The Seven Continents. He thumbed through the book until he found an up close picture of the United States. The page on the left revealed the western part of the country and the one on the right showed the eastern portion. The pages were both typical 8.5 by 11, as was Alice's paper.

"Let me see that," Carlisle told her. He placed it over the map on the page and pressed down on it so he could see where the lines were. The number one that was written inside the heart and the number three were both side by side, covering the state of Washington. The number two was place perfectly in Alaska.

Alice readjusted her position and looked at what Carlisle was showing her, "Look," he said, "These locations match up perfectly."

"I don't get it," Alice said.

"The number one, with the heart, that was the first attack. It was sort of around Valentine's Day. It happened here. There hasn't been a second or third attack yet. The second attack is written in Alaska. The number two is right in the middle of the state on the map and has the word 'third' written next to it, which you determined stands for March."

She pressed her eyebrows together, "How could this possibly have matched up to a map they used?"

"This is all standard sizing. The page of this book is eight and half by eleven, as is the paper. You created for me an exact replica of the original message, right?"

Alice nodded, "Yeah."

"The page in this book is pretty standard, give or take just a small margin. The second attack is going to be in Denali and the third would be on us. Alaska is their next target. Not here."

Alice stood looking bewildered at the puzzle he'd either cracked, or created in his own mind. She looked at him somewhat skeptically, thought couldn't help acknowledging the overwhelming coincidences to what he was showing her. It, did, in it's own round about way, make sense.

The two of them stared at the sheet for another couple of minutes. "What do you think?" Carlisle finally asked her.

She looked up at him, then nodded, "I think you may be right."