Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia, who beta this story.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Volturi

Aro was frowning as he listened to yet another report about a vampire in America that was calling a little too much attention to himself. Now he wouldn't have really cared if this was the first time that he heard about something like this, but seeing as it was the fifth, and they all seemed to be describing the same vampire, he was starting to get impatient. Nothing was too serious, there were no talks about mythical creatures rising up, or exhibits of superhuman strength, but it was only a matter of time before something like that happened. Aro had seen it time and time again: Vampires that took an extreme thrill in the hunt, continually trying to push the game further until they made a scene that the humans couldn't explain. No, it was time to try and put a stop to this.

Seeing as no crimes were actually broken yet, he had sent one of his contract trackers, Frank, out to give this vampire a warning that if he continued his ways much longer the Volturi would have to put a stop to him. It was more than a year later that Aro thought of this issue again, it's not that he had forgotten about this, but it just wasn't important enough to keep track of. However, he wanted to use this Frank again, but was having trouble reaching him. He asked Demetri to locate Frank and when he couldn't Aro knew the tracker had been killed. Realizing what Frank's last mission was, he asked Demetri to try and find where the vampire that had been causing all the trouble was, but again Demetri was unable to do that.

Not being sure if that was because Demetri didn't know who this vampire was or not, he decided to have Demetri track down the vampire in person. Not wanting to lose his precious and favorite tracker, he sent Felix with him. Aro wasn't too pleased about this situation, but he couldn't allow anyone under his command be killed without reacting forcefully to it.

Demetri and Felix left immediately going to the last known location of where this troublesome vampire was known to be. By questioning the vampires in Georgia, who were all very helpful after Felix explained to them who they were, they discovered that the vampire they were looking for was named James and he was traveling with two other vampires named Victoria and Laurent. Demetri tried again to sense James, now knowing who he was looking for, but nothing came to him. Grimacing, he continued to track the old fashioned way, almost happy about the opportunity to hone his skills again.

It took them about to a week to retrace the steps that Frank had made on his attempt to find James and to discover the final resting place of the tracker. There were a few vampires in New Mexico who had witnessed the nondescript vampire, James, the red-hair woman, Victoria, and the motorcycle riding, leather clad tracker, Frank, go off together. A few hours later there was smoke that could only be caused by another vampire being burned and James and Victoria had joined another male vampire before running out of town.

"You don't seem to be taking the news of Frank's untimely demise too hard," Felix pointed out as they continued to run west, towards their next clue. He was smiling though, now that they had discovered that Frank was indeed dead they would get to destroy all those involved in his death, and he was looking forward to fighting this James guy.

"He was a good tracker," Demetri said. "Probably the best after me..."

"Ah, I get it, you were worried that he might take your place," Felix chuckled and Demetri rolled his eyes.

"No one can take my place," he said firmly. "And is that really something you should be laughing at? You're the one that's more likely to be replaced seeing as you don't even have any powers."

"I would crush anyone that tries to take my place!" Felix snarled.

"Don't you mean you have crushed everyone that tried to take your place?" Demetri chuckled this time. "How many has it be so far... ten?"

"Fifteen," Felix said smugly. "I've killed a few when I was on missions like this that most of the guys don't know about... just upstart nobodies that think they have what it takes to beat me."

"Well, if we do find this James guy, I suppose I could allow you to kill him so you can increase your number," Demetri said, but he was frowning. He was sure that he should have sensed James by now after getting to know him over the past week of tracking him.

Things got even weirder than they already were when they got to Arizona, for the only thing they got from all of the vampires they came across was that James and his coven ran across this state and were being pursued by four other vampires that seemed to be gaining on them the farther north they got.

Finally when they reached Oregon they heard rumors of smoke coming from the mountains, again reporting that it could only have been caused by vampires. Questioning a little farther they discovered that the person they were tracking was never seen again and Demetri was sure he had been killed.

"Well that just sucks," Felix grumbled. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know," Demetri frowned. "We have discovered what Aro has wanted us to, but I don't really like that someone else got there before us."

"So you think we should find these other guys?" Felix asked, his smile plainly showing he was all for that idea.

"Yes, but I'll have to call Aro," Demetri said.

"Hm... I say we just go and try to find them," Felix said. "This is part of our mission..."

"No, it's not. We have discovered what has happened to James and he has been destroyed. I would like to know more about this, but Aro might not think this is important, and he will know it if we continue without his permission. I doubt he would be pleased."

"Fine, fine, call him," Felix grumbled. He knew that Demetri was right, but he was worried that Aro would tell them to come home before he was actually able to do anything.

Demetri did call Aro and after telling him everything he had learned and expressing his wish to finish his investigation on this matter he waited for Aro's decision. Aro deliberated on this for a whole day before he decided that he would have Jane meet the other two for extra support, not knowing who these four vampires where that had tracked and killed James, and not liking that they had done the Volturi's job.

During the day and half time they were waiting for Jane to get there, Demetri thought of the best lead that they could follow. He sensed that one of the vampires that was part of James's coven was still alive. The male, Laurent, would probably be best place to start. Though he could have tracked the vampires that had attacked James, he thought it was probably best that they learned as much as they could about these vampires before they faced them.

When Jane got there, she didn't seem to think the precaution was necessary, but she accepted Demetri's decision and soon the three of them were running towards Alaska and were there by the end of the day. They were somewhat surprised to find their target was chatting happily with a few vampires that seemed to have golden eyes.

"Those are vampires, aren't they?" Felix asked frowning as they hung back to examine their target as they like to do in situations like this.

"Yeah, I've seen a vampire with golden eyes before," Demetri said. "It was in Volterra, he said that they were gold because he hunted animals instead of humans."

Felix snorted, "And you call them vampires..."

"It's a lifestyle choice I guess," Demetri shrugged. "I don't know why any of them would bother but if they choose to torture themselves it's up to them."

"It looks like the guy we've been tracking is trying to join them, his eyes are amber," Felix observed.

"Who cares about this?" Jane said impatiently. "I don't see any danger down there, we should question them."

"I'm all for that," Felix smirked, he could tell by Jane's tone just how she was planning on getting information out of him. "Should we go in fighting?"

Demetri sighed, seeing that he was going to be outnumbered in his decision and said, "Fine, but Felix, remember that we want him to talk so don't kill him."

"You got it," Felix chuckled.

Felix ran straight for his prey, who didn't even know what was happening until he was punched out of the chair that he was sitting on. The man named Laurent smashed into the wall before crumbling to the floor. Felix pounced on him before he could even get up, kicking him to make him stay down.

The strawberry blonde haired woman, however, was able to prepare herself and blocked the strike from Demetri. He just smiled, glad for the challenge but he didn't get to do anything before he heard a familiar voice.

"Stop, please!" the voice said and Demetri and Jane turned to look at him, though Felix didn't seem to notice and continuing holding Laurent by the neck and was squeezing it painfully.

"Eleazar?" Demetri said, smiling at his old friend. "Felix, stop."

"What?" Felix groaned, throwing down Laurent.

"What are you doing here, my friend?" Demetri asked grasping Eleazar's arm, and the other vampire did the same, though somewhat reluctantly.

"This is my home," Eleazar said. "And my f... coven."

"I see," Jane sighed, looking annoyed. Then she nodded her head towards Eleazar and added, "It's nice to see you again."

"And you," Eleazar nodded his head in return. They might never have been friends (for Eleazar hated seeing anyone suffer too much), but they had respected each other throughout the years they were in the Volturi together. "And what are you doing here, my friend?" he continued looking at Demetri. They on the other hand were often paired together, looking for vampires that might be useful to the Volturi, and had formed a friendship with one another.

"We were looking for him actually," Demetri said nodding his head towards Laurent.

"What is his crime?" Eleazar grimaced, knowing that it had to be something big if Demetri and Jane were there. And the new guy, Felix, didn't seem like a lightweight either, though Eleazar knew he had no extra powers.

"Eleazar!" said a dark haired woman, looking afraid, and stopped when she saw the three new vampires in the room, being able to recognize one as understanding dawned on her features.

"Carmen, it is nice to see you again," Demetri said slightly stiffly, for he knew she was the reason that his friend had left and apparently joined the animal eaters judging by their golden eyes.

"Demetri," Carmen said smiling uncomfortably at him as another blonde female and a sandy haired male came into the room.

"We were hunting when I caught your scent," Eleazar explained. "I was afraid of what might have happened so I came here as quickly as I could."

"That's understandable," Demetri smiled. "Our reputation definitely precedes us."

"It was probably for the best I was about to burn your friend," Jane sighed, looking bored and impatient.

"Irina," Eleazar said, "and this is Carmen, Tanya, Kate, Garret, and I assume you know Laurent," he added pointing at each of the others in turn.

"Yes," Demetri said smiling at the others and Felix rolled his eyes and Jane continued to look bored.

"You were going to tell me what Laurent had done," Eleazar sighed after everyone was introduced. He was serious again, standing slightly in front of Carmen as if he wasn't sure what was going to happen but he was going to make sure that she was safe.

"We suspect that he has done nothing wrong, but we do need to ask him a few questions," Demetri said.

"I see," Eleazar said uncomfortably. "And what are the questions about?"

"It involves a vampire named James," Demetri said.

"We would like to have some privacy," Jane added.

"Do you mind if I stay?" Eleazar asked and Demetri and Jane looked at one another.

"Fine, my friend, but you know that we must get answers," Demetri said after a slight indifferent nod by Jane. Eleazar sighed, but nodded his head.

He then turned to his family and said, "It would be best if you give us some privacy."

"But I..."

"Irina, please, trust me," Eleazar said and though Irina looked terrified she nodded her head. When the others were gone, Felix lifted the terrified looking Laurent and forcefully put him into a seat.

"Now first of all," Demetri said calmly, his eyes boring into Laurent's, "tell us what you know about a man named Frank!"

Laurent's look of confusion only lasted a minute before he was balled up in pain with Jane smirking down at him. "Stop please!" he cried, but Jane keep going for another few minutes.

"I advise you to answer their questions," Eleazar said grimacing, wishing he could have done more than this. "Jane will know when you are lying and there is nothing I can do to help you..."

"I don't know anyone named Frank," Laurent said shaking his head. "I swear."

"You were part of James's coven when he was killed by James," Demetri said softly. "Are you telling me that he didn't even tell you about him?"

"I'm not always with James... and he never mentions names," Laurent said.

"Frank rode a bike and always wore a leather jacket," Felix supplied.

Laurent's eyes flickered at that but he didn't say anything. Again he was hit my Jane's ability and again he begged her to stop.

"Please, my friend, tell them what you know," Eleazar said, hating to watch his friend getting tortured.

Jane sighed, she would have enjoyed this a lot more if Eleazar wasn't here. She would have just tortured this man until he was willing to beg for death and then she would have all the answers she needed from him.

"James mentioned that a tracker found him," Laurent said hastily, "tried to tell him that he should stop hunting the way he did, but James didn't like that. He decided to just kill the tracker..."

"That sounds like a reasonable plan," Felix chuckled. "Too bad the tracker was working for the Volturi. We don't really like our people getting killed and all."

Laurent gulped at that, "I had no idea, you have to believe me."

Jane shot an annoyed look at Eleazar; normally that would be the time that she would use her abilities again.

"Sorry," Eleazar said noticing the look, and she rolled her eyes.

"We do believe you. There were witnesses stating that you weren't with the other two during this time," Demetri sighed and Felix groaned, he too would normally have the pleasure of hitting this guy before they told him this.

Laurent let out a relieved breath.

"Now tell us about the vampires that chased you across part of the country," Demetri said.

Laurent's eyes widened, and looked at Eleazar, not sure what to say. Again, for his hesitation he got shocked by Jane, and she kept him in pain for far longer than the other time.

"Stop!" Eleazar cried out.

"Why did he look at you?" Jane asked, lifting the curse off of the bawling Laurent.

Eleazar sighed, looking thoughtful for a few seconds before he answered, "because I know who you are talking about and Laurent is afraid of what might happen if he told you this."

"Are they really that strong?" Felix asked, smiling.

"You misunderstood me," Eleazar said, not wanting to answer that question. "They are very good friends of mine. I don't want anything to happen to them."

"Who are they?" Jane asked.

"No," Demetri said before Eleazar could answer and Jane looked at him annoyed. "I want to hear what happened in the mountains first. Laurent, tell us what happened!"

"Very well, we can do this your way," Jane said, knowing that Demetri liked hearing things in order.

"Tell them," Eleazar said heavily. He didn't like where any of this was going, but there was nothing he could do. He knew that his friends had broken no rules and he hoped that by hearing this that the Volturi would realize that. Still, he was afraid of what was going to happen.

"James was about to tell us about the next hunt that he was planning on undertaking when Victoria sensed a danger that was coming after us..." Laurent started to say.

"Sensed danger?" Demetri repeated.

"As far as I can tell from what Laurent has told me about her, Victoria had a gift that allowed her to sense threatening situations that far surpassed that of any other vampire," Eleazar said.

"I see, carry on, Laurent," Demetri said.

"With Victoria's warning we started running away," Laurent said. "But whatever the danger was, it continued to follow us. James had just about enough of running by the end of the day and seeing as Victoria sensed the danger had lessened somewhat, they decided to stop and wait for whatever it was that was hunting us.

"It turned out to be a tall blonde vampire with hundreds of scars and a small woman with short spiky hair. Back in the thirties the woman had apparently been one of James's victims... she was the only one that had gotten away from him. James said that there was a vampire that was watching her that discovered that James was after her so he turned her in order to save her. James killed the other vampire for taking away his pray, but left the girl alone."

"He left a newborn vampire on its own!" Demetri scowled. "Doesn't he know how dangerous that is... how much damage she could have caused... she could have made a scene without anyone there to teach her our ways?"

"Alice did not cause any trouble, I assure you," Eleazar said.

Demetri nodded his head and then motioned Laurent to continue speaking.

"Well, the scarred guy..."

"Jasper," Eleazar pointed out and Demetri rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Jasper, was Alice's mate, and he did not like what James had put her through when she was human," Laurent said. "So he, Alice and two other males, Edward and Emmett, came with him to hunt down James..."

"Why did they only start to track down James now? It had been over seventy years?" Jane asked shrewdly.

"Alice didn't have any memory of her human life after being transformed," Eleazar informed them.

"Then..." Demetri started to say, more confused than ever.

"She said she had a vision of the vampire that was the reason she had changed," Laurent said and Eleazar frowned, he didn't really want the other to know about Alice's visions.

"Vision?" Jane questioned.

"She can see the future," Eleazar supplied.

"That must be handy," Felix chuckled.

"Continue, Laurent," Demetri ordered.

"There isn't much left to say," Laurent said. "After Jasper had fought James, Edward had come to fight Victoria and Emmett fought with me. Jasper and Edward won their fights and killed the other two."

"And how did you survive when the other didn't?" Jane questioned.

"He wasn't involved in Alice's transformation," Eleazar said. "The others do not like to destroy life if they can help it and seeing as Laurent had given himself up, they didn't kill him."

"But they brought you here," Jane said, she was finding this whole thing to be a little odd.

"Yes, I was a little curious about them and their yellow eyes," Laurent said. "But... well let's just say I didn't want to be anywhere near Jasper. He was a Southerner before and..."

"We get it," Felix said looking at Laurent with disgust. This man was a weakling and a coward in his eyes. "So you came here and conformed to their ways it looks like..."

"I hadn't planned on it," Laurent said, and then his face lightened up automatically, "but I found a reason to want to try this lifestyle. It wasn't easy for me to comply, though. It has taken me over a year to learn the control that I need, but yes, I think I've gotten better..."

"Stop already," Jane growled, just about ready to cause him pain again.

"So, Eleazar, who are these guys that hunted the others?" Demetri asked.

"They are more vampires like myself, that have chosen to hunt animals instead of humans," Eleazar said and all three of the Volturi's looked at him with frowns, shaking their heads at his choice. "They are a part of Carlisle's coven..."

"Carlisle," Demetri said, recognizing the name.

"Who's that?" Felix said.

"The vampire I told you about earlier today," Demetri said. "Aro liked him because Carlisle was almost as curious about things as himself. But seeing as they didn't share the same dietary plans, Carlisle went to America to find more people like himself."

"Whatever," Felix said, bored with the explanation.

"There are two more women a part of their..." Eleazar started to say.

"Seven vampires all together... that's another big coven," Jane frowned.

"It's part of the diet... it makes it easier for us to get along," Eleazar shrugged. "As far as I know they only hunted this guy down because of what he did to Alice. Carlisle doesn't believe in violence, or harming other sentient beings."

"Then why would he allow them to hunt this guy in the first place?" Felix asked.

"I don't think anyone could have stopped Jasper from going after James," Laurent said with a shudder, remembering the look in Jasper's eyes that day.

"And the others wouldn't let him fight alone," Eleazar said. "Keeping one another safe is important to us."

"I see," Demetri nodded his head. "Well, thanks for your help my friend."

"You're welcome," Eleazar frowned.

"You realize that we're going to have to talk with them too," Demetri replied to Eleazar's look. "It is our duty to get the full truth of this situation and we need to talk to them in order to do that. I assure you that we are not going to do anything to them, but we have to question them at the very least."

"I understand," Eleazar tried to keep himself from groaning.

"I think this goes without saying, but if I have to chase them around the country, I will be very upset," Jane said looking pointedly at Eleazar, who nodded his head.

"It really was good to see you again," Demetri smiled as the other two started running away. "I wish it was under better circumstances though."

"So do I," Eleazar said and soon Demetri was gone again.

"Do you think he will warn them that we are coming?" Felix asked as soon as Demetri had joined them.

"It doesn't matter if what he said was true about that girl being able to see the future," Jane said.

"And yes, I do think he will warn them," Demetri sighed, who hoped for his friend's sake that the others didn't try to run. Jane would not be forgiving about that.

"Do you buy the story that we just heard?" Jane then questioned. "It seemed a little fishy to me."

"Yeah, I felt the same way," Demetri said, "but I feel as if they were telling the truth as they knew it."

"Whatever," Jane rolled her eyes, obviously not under the same opinion. "Just point us to the others and let's get out of here."

"Okay," Demetri said, concentrating on the scarred Southerner that had killed James.