Yay! I was on time with an update :D Anybody else happy about this?
Casey POV
I woke up the next morning sadly, alone. Every Tuesday Jake had patrol starting early in the morning so I was left to wake up by myself. I hated waking up without his warmth. I got up and stretched pulling on one of Jake's shirts and a pair of spandex underneath before heading out to the kitchen to make something for myself. I grabbed an apple and sat down looking through the paper. Normal stuff, kid got an award, old man reached the age of 100, a cat was missing, I would have to give Emmett shit about it. He was the only one in that family with a sense of humor.
I turned the page; there was a small article, almost like they were trying to hide it, about the killings in Seattle. They were getting worse, three people were found dead last night and five more were missing. Why wasn't Imperial acting? Or the Volturi for that matter? And why was there such a large number of them? This was getting bad quickly.
I had planned on going to school today, it was the last day before finals but I needed to talk with Carlisle. I needed to know what the Cullens were planning to do about this, if anything. I went back into Jacob's room to get dressed pulling on a simple v-neck shirt and jeans and walked out to the car. I pulled out my cell and called Jamie hoping that I wasn't waking her up at all.
There was barely a ring before she answered, "'lo."
"Have you heard about the killings in Seattle?" I asked hoping that she would say they were already moving a group in to get rid of the vamps.
"Well, duh! There's what? Forty or so dead right now?"
Not what I was looking for. "And you guys are doing nothing?"
"We can't," she paused a moment and I could hear some sort of crunching sound.
"Seriously? I can hear you chewing," I said disgusted. Jam had always been a bit crude.
"That's what you get for interrupting my lunch."
"Where are you guys right now?"
"Latitude 3.95°, Longitude 146.26°."
"Smart ass," I muttered.
"That's how you like me," she quipped.
"Sure it is. So why are you guys doing jack shit?"
"The Godfather's orders."
Great, my father decided to let tons of people die because he's too lazy to sign a fucking paper.
"He says it's only a serial killer," she added.
Or maybe he's just an idiot. "Is he insane?"
"Quite possibly."
"Great. Has anyone tried knocking some sense into his head?"
"They're all afraid of him. He's banned people from mentioning anything about the Carlyle's and Selene."
"And you don't listen to that do you?"
"No duh, I'm a rebel."
A supporter was more like it. Jamie's family still were on the look out for any descendant of the Carlyles. They worshipped Selene everyday, I was sure they still probably did it even now, all of her family was incredibly stubborn and they hated my father too. They would worship the Goddess just to spite him if they didn't already believe in her.
"Well thanks Jam."
"No probs. Call more often, K? Everybody misses ya," she said with a more gentle voice.
"Are you going soft on me?" I joked.
"Hell no! I'll tell everybody you said hey."
"Please and thank you. Bye Jam."
"Later," she said her mouth obviously full of food again.
I hung up and pulled into the Cullen's driveway. Surprisingly Edward's car was there. Looks like I wasn't the only one who had decided to skip.
"Hello family," I said just walking through the door.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Edward hissed.
"She doesn't need to, she's family," Carlisle said getting up and giving me and icy hug. He headed back to the couch and sat down with me following.
"I'm guessing you guys are worried about Seattle too," I said.
Carlisle nodded, "Is the City going to do anything?"
"No, for some reason my father is convinced that it's a serial killer."
"That's what the paper is saying," Bella said.
I nodded, "I wish it was only a serial killer. We need to take care of it though."
Carlisle shook his head. "We've never involved ourselves in this kind of thing before I don't think we should do it now. It's not for us to deal with, that's the Volturi's job"
"Let's not have them come," I said. "For one, it's a larger chance of them figuring out who I am and once they know, Jeala will know and then they'll probably want Bella changed right then."
"And all those poor people," Esme murmured. "They shouldn't have to die like that."
"I know," Carlisle sighed.
A thought that wasn't mine flickered through my mind and both Edward and I stared at Jasper.
"I never even thought about that," Edward said.
Jasper's thought had me frozen. It was a terrifying idea. It explained the vampires in Seattle though.
Everyone was looking at Edward in confusion or annoyance at being left out of the loop.
"You should explain," Edward said to Jasper. "Why and who would do this?" he mumbled pacing around the room.
"What is he going on about?" Alice asked.
Jasper was just as frozen as I was, he obviously was uncomfortable with all the attention on him.
"Bella should know my story and Casey –"
"I already know," I interrupted. "I saw it in your mind." I closed my eyes. Of everyone in the room, Jasper would understand what it felt like to be used as a pawn to kill people, just like everyone in the City was used.
I tuned out the rest of Jasper's story, my mind filled with memories of home and how the entire City was used for an invisible war on vampires, terrorists and other dangerous people. How we had lost so many good people who willingly had given their lives for the ideal of a world of full of peace.
"So the vampires in Seattle are…" Bella stopped not wanting to finish the sentence.
"They're an army," I whispered.
"I thought it was only similar not the same. There's no motive, no history of an army there, no vendetta. And there's no coven that has a claim on Seattle," Jasper explained. "But it is the same. There is an army of newborn vampires in Seattle. Less than twenty, but more than ten. They're completely untrained, allowed to roam freely. It'll get much worse, the Volturi should step in. It's surprising that they haven't already."
"What do we do?" Carlisle asked.
"We don't want the Volturi involved for several reasons," Jasper glanced towards Bella then towards me. "We need to get rid of the newborns, quickly." Jasper's face was hard. "I'll teach all of you how. It can't be in the city at all. They'll expose themselves and get all of us killed. Maybe we can lure them out."
"We might not have to." The way Edward said it made him sound like he was depressed. He looked at me asking for me to tell everyone for him.
"You guys are the only vampires around here," I said. "You're the only threat."
Carlisle gasped, Esme covered her mouth with her hands and everyone else was perfectly still.
"I would have seen it if they were coming after us," Alice insisted, and then paused
"What are you remembering?" Edward asked.
"Flickers of what's going on, nothing concrete. It's like someone is constantly changing their mind so that I can't get a good view."
"Someone knows how your visions work and they're using it to their advantage," I said.
"But who knows other than the people in this room?" Alice whispered.
"Aro knows," Edward growled.
"I would see if they were coming though. . . ."
"They're 'royalty,' they won't get their hands dirty," I supplied.
Carlisle was still shocked. "But there's no reason for the Volturi —"
"He had the fleeting thought of just getting rid of us, we're the largest coven next to theirs that they've ever come across," Edward disagreed.
Carlisle shook his head, "They would never break the rules that they made, it would only encourage others to break the rules and they would lose the control they've worked so hard to have."
"They'll clean it up," Edward said in a grim voice. "No one will ever know."
"Carlisle is right. The Volturi never break rules," I said remembering all of the records my family kept of our interactions with the Volturi.
"It's also much too sloppy. This person has no idea what they're doing. This is their first time doing it. The Volturi aren't involved yet, but they will be," Jasper said.
They all stared at each other, frozen with stress.
"Then let's go," Emmett yelled. "Let's kick some newborn ass!"
Everyone looked around at each other silently agreeing with Emmett.
"You'll need to teach us," Carlisle finally said. "Teach us how to destroy them."
This was killing Carlisle, there was a reason that he worked as a doctor even as a vampire. He hated people suffering in general and he hated violence even more.
It bugged me that we didn't know who was doing this and why but when we went after them, we would figure everything out.
"We'll need help," Jasper said looking towards me. "Do you think the wolves would be willing?"
"I'm sure they will especially if we'll be having the battle close to town. I'll bring it to Sam and Jake." A lump caught in my throat. "Speaking of Jake, I need to talk to you Carlisle."
He nodded and turned towards his office. Once we were inside, he closed the doors giving a semblance of privacy.
"I'm guessing you want to know more about the Bonding?"
I nodded. In this moment I felt so sad, my chest was tight, my eyes burned. This should be my mom telling me about what I would go through, and what I would do.
Carlisle's eyes softened, "You know she would give anything to be there with you."
I nodded my head again trying to gain my composure.
"The Bonding is fairly simple, an exchange of blood is basically all that is necessary. It sounds really boring but according to the people going through it, it's one of the most incredible experiences of their lives. Then of course, after that, there's the joining of the bodies in a more private setting," he smirked.
Fight the blush. Fight the blush. Fight the blush. Damn, there's the blush.
Carlisle laughed, "So when are you thinking of having it?"
"The 19th," I mumbled still hating the fact that I had blushed.
"Only two weeks away?"
"Better get it done," I paused, the words stuck in my throat. "Before I have to go back."
Carlisle nodded, sadness in his eyes.
I got up and headed to the door.
"You'll have to reveal yourself sooner or later," he said.
"I know."
"They should just turn me now," Bella pouted. "I could help."
"Yeah, cause a newborn against other newborns would just be so helpful," sarcasm was dripping from my voice. "It would really turn the tide."
Bella blushed and slouched down in her seat looking embarrassed.
I sighed, why did I have to be such a bitch sometimes. "Sorry, it's just not a good idea. It would actually be easier to protect you if you're human. You wouldn't try and kill everyone."
"Would I actually do that? Would I be super bloodthirsty?"
"Possibly, I've seen some newborns that destroy anything in their path and I really mean anything."
"Great."
"You got a lot of people looking out for you though," I smiled over at her.
"But what if I did something to you?"
"Remember, I can't be changed? I can heal myself, too. They wolves are made to fight vampires. Edward and his family have all had to deal with newborns before so I'm sure that you'll be fine." I really hoped that we all would be.
So the Bonding is coming soon! Let me know what you thought.
