Charlie had never been a very good liar. Especially not about something he wasn't even sure he really believed. It was one of the reasons he made a good cop. Being a bad liar made it more obvious when other people lied. Lies made Charlie's mustache twitch, regardless of if it was his lie or someone else's. So he had Sam and Harry do his dirty work for him and lie to the men he had trained to be law abiding, honest Police Officers. Billy's black eye was already beginning to shine, so he stayed out on the back porch with Charlie.
Charlie had been just as surprised as Billy with the violence he had displayed earlier. To his best friend of over forty years, no less. Charlie was not a violent man unless he had to be, and he absolutely did not have to be that night. Billy understood. He couldn't fathom what he would do if he lost Rachel, Rebecca, or Jacob. The former two were far away at college, hopefully staying that way. Billy worried enough about Jacob inheriting the werewolf gene, he didn't need to worry about his daughters, also.
The story was simple, they had found her remains and signs that she had been partially devoured by a bear. The Quileute coroner would be in to take care of her remains, Charlie was a friend of the tribe and wished to have her cremated on the beach. To the Fork's coroner's relief, he didn't want to see that. It was why he moved to Forks from Port Angeles, less violent crimes. It was really just so they could cover up the fact there wasn't a body to bury. They asked that the Chief be given solitude and privacy at this time, the mood turned somber and the silence when his men were gone only further reminded Charlie that his Bella was never coming home. That was the only thing Billy had told him that night, that he actually believed.
He had gotten used to her running up and down the stairs, always in a hurry to go see her boyfriend and his family. Her vampire boyfriend and his vampire family, if Charlie believed Billy. How could he not believe his best friend of over forty years? Having dinner on the table when he got home from work, something that surprised him the first time she did it. Apparently she was used to cooking food for her or Renee, or they'd eat nothing but take out. He was just as bad, except there was no take out in Forks, just the local diner. He would miss her sitting on the floor and doing her homework on the coffee table, not giving a shit about the Mariners game, but still giving the appropriate 'yeah!' when they scored and 'boo' when they didn't.
By tomorrow the whole town would know, and Charlie could hardly stand the idea of all the fake condolences when all they really wanted was gossip on how his daughter died. It was the same after Renee left with Bella. False apologies, obvious questions about what happened. 'Here's a casserole, I'm so sorry for your loss,' while they peered around him into the house looking for anything they could gossip about. He loved small towns, but also despised some of the people in them. He couldn't do that with Bella, not when he didn't really know what happened to her. He had been told, but he didn't understand and didn't believe a word of it. Charlie was a 'see it to believe it,' kind of guy.
He wasn't that bad at using the computer at the station, but the Macbook Bella had was alien to him. After a bit of fiddling he managed to open the browser up and started searching for information on vampires, feeling a bit sheepish as he did so. He started to notice fairly quickly, however, that a lot of the links were already purple, visited. Was this a path Bella had been on herself, trying to discover what the Cullens were hiding? How had his daughter been so astute but the Chief of Police completely unaware there were vampires living in his very town? Going to school with his only daughter?
Eventually Charlie opened Bella's search history and from there followed her route through the internet. Reading link after link, from the Cold Ones, a legend he had heard often in his childhood around a Quiliete bonfire, to Nosferatu and Bram Stoker's Dracula. The main theme of blood drinking, curdled Charlie's in his veins. Was that what had happened to Bella? Sam said he could only guess, having arrived as she was already dying. Charlie's heart tightened in his chest, the idea that she had such a brutal death, that she was gone at all.
The bear attacks earlier that year, before Bella ran away to Phoenix… Did Bella even run away or was she running away from the Cullen boy? Charlie was getting a headache, and went downstairs to grab a beer before resuming his search on Bella's computer. It was getting late, and even though Charlie was growing weary, and his eyes started to droop with the emotional exhaustion of the day finally catching up with him, he persisted. Just a few more clicks. After this website. Just one more story.
This time he looked up missing persons in the surrounding area. Surely they hadn't been killing in their own home town? It would make sense if they went to Port Angeles or Seattle. Pieces were starting to come together for him, the more his tired mind began to think. They always pulled the kids out for outdoor activities, but none of the Cullens aside from the big one, Emmett and the blonde one, seemed like the sporty type. He wondered then, if it was a ruse for hunting in the nearby cities. Eventually the Chief had no choice but to succumb to sleep. He was up before dawn and it was nearing dawn again. As he fell asleep, watching the soft morning light bleeding out from behind his dark curtains, he wondered if he would ever know what happened to his daughter.
.o.O.o.
Only when they were in the air and over the Atlantic ocean, did Jasper allow himself to relax a tiny bit. Now that the threat of being imprisoned by The Volturi was over, he could focus on what happened to Bella. He eyed the intricately carved wooden chest Aro had given him to put Edward's head in and sighed. It was incredibly impulsive of him, but once Aro had offered him something to put the 'unseemly object' in… He was kind of stuck keeping Edward's head. He was still debating if he would even give it to her, almost hoping Alice would help sway his decision one way or another. She was a bit too preoccupied with her own thoughts, and he tried his best not to dig into her emotions to see how she was doing. Everyone deserved time to process how they felt without him probing at them.
The majority of the Volturi jet's occupants were quiet. They all had the introspective privacy they had been lacking living with Edward for so long. No worries about someone being offended about what they thought. No one policing their unvoiced opinions or using their thoughts against them in an argument. It was an unusual experience to have as a member of the Cullen Coven. It would not be one for a member of the Whitlock Coven. Not that Edward's barely conscious head could do any mind reading, not with the level of unbearable unending pain he was in. It was satisfying, knowing he was in agony. Jasper didn't even have to feel it, Edward couldn't think about anything to have a feeling about, so he had none. It truly was a peaceful flight for the previous members of the Cullen Coven.
.o.O.o.
Montana was a beautiful state. Full of vibrant green forests, sprawling honey yellow prairies and deep blue crystal clear lakes. Peter was looking forward to seeing more of it, when he wasn't being smacked in the face by a branch he didn't notice on account of him dodging a previous one. Isabella was fast and it had been a few decades since Peter had pushed himself to his limits chasing a newborn. It was exhilarating, and even though he didn't need Jasper's gift to tell she was running from him scared, he couldn't help himself from enjoying the chase. Which probably contributed to her fear. He heard Charlotte behind him saying something, but it was getting lost in the wind whistling in his ears. It couldn't be that important, could it?
Peter was a delightful fool.
Peter almost stumbled over Isabella when the forest opened up to a large tree encased meadow. She had stopped at the edge of the woods, standing still as a statue. She had seen flowers before, hell, she had even seen her share of flower filled meadows in the middle of the forest, hidden away from all but her. But there was something about this flowery landscape that froze her in her tracks, mid chase. Peter stood just a few feet behind her, waiting to see what she would do, when Charlotte caught up to them. Neither one of them said anything, just watching the newborn admire her surroundings with her new eyes. Her chaotic newborn brain temporarily forgetting about the fear she felt strongly enough to take flight, and now focusing on the vibrancy of colors she had never known to exist.
There was something on the edges of Bella's memory, a previously visited flowery oasis floated on the outskirts of her mind. It didn't seem too important to Bella, so she didn't try to hang on to it. To remember that time from her life before color. Bella didn't want that life. She had a new life now. She didn't want to think about before, and how it made her chest feel tight. She knew the two vampires had stopped behind her and were giving her space. She felt bad at her initial reaction of running-the-fuck-away, but she hadn't even thought about what she had done until after she had done it. Bella couldn't help herself, something about the man screamed 'Danger' and 'Run-the-fuck-away'. It was one reason why she hesitated from turning around and confronting them. She was scared of him, but knew he was the reason why she was still alive. It was all so very confusing to Bella, to be grateful to someone you were terrified of.
"I'm sorry I ran away." Bella said softly, still looking out at the meadow full of wildflowers, past the trees, and to the snow capped mountain peaks in the distance. Out of all the things Peter had heard newborns say after running away from their sire, that was the strangest one. He hadn't expected anything close to an apology, and before he could ask what she was apologizing for, she continued. "I know you saved my life, and I was dying. I don't mean to be ungrateful." Bella must have taken Peter and Charlotte's silence as a sign of confusion.
"I know what you are, what I am now. I know about vampires."
"Babe, we already knew that. That's why we were there, for you." Charlotte tried to reassure Isabella, but she was reluctant to get closer. Newborns were wildly unpredictable, even ones who seemed to be having a lucid moment.
"We just arrived a bit too late, that's all." Peter added. Of course, this only confused Bella more, she had no idea how vampires knew she existed, at least none that weren't vegetarians like the Cullens. She remembered them talking about one in Alaska…
"Are you from the Denali coven?" Bella asked as she turned around to face her saviors and captors for the first time. She was surprised at how vibrantly red the male's eyes were, but less shocked at them being red to begin with. "Oh, maybe not then." She answered her own question, suddenly apprehensive that these weren't friends of the Cullens. Every nerve ending in her body was tensing, telling her to flee. She took a hesitant step backwards.
"We're the Whitlock Coven. I'm Peter and this is my mate, Charlotte." Bella took a moment to really look at them, they both had small crescent shaped scars along their arms, though Charlotte had far less than Peter. Bella looked at her own wrist, the scar from James had healed during her transformation. Wondering if she had a new one on her neck. Charlotte put something in Peter's hand and he realized it was a sweater. To cover his scars, he realized. He put it on, a little ashamed that he didn't think about his scars being a problem. He mostly just didn't think of them. If his scars were a problem and he was her sire, he wondered how she would react to Jasper. He was only in one of the Vampire Wars, and he got out after forty years. Jasper was there for damn near a hundred and survived two wars.
"I'm Bella." She didn't bother with a last name. Partially because she truly wanted to let Bella Swan die, and because she didn't want anything leading back to Charlie. It was dangerous enough, him living in a town vampires had a home in. Perhaps she would be a Whitlock now too?
"How…" She started and immediately stopped, not really sure how to ask the questions rolling through her mind. "I mean," she tried again before gesturing wildly around her with her hands.
"It's a long story." Peter said, having a sudden urge to get back to the house. The Major was coming, he assumed. Something about it made him want to leave Charlotte and Bella behind. "There's a delivery coming to the house I have to sign for. You gals alright out here?" It was more of a question to Charlotte, if she felt comfortable babysitting a newborn alone. He didn't think they'd have any problems, but he didn't know they wouldn't have any problems.
"You sure, Pete?" She knew nothing about controlling vampires, but she had seen it done enough that she had the general idea. Though she doubted The Major would appreciate his mate's legs being ripped off to keep her from running away. There was obviously another way, maybe talking would work.
"Yeah, we are damn well in the middle of nowhere. She can run around a bit if she wants."
"Can I hunt animals?" Bella asked, not sure what kind of diet she was going to adopt as a vampire. She wanted to at least try not to kill any humans.
"You can eat whatever you want. Even human food, though you may regret it." Peter told her, he had on occasion, eaten human food and regretted it later when he started throwing it up. Vampires couldn't digest anything but blood. That was just another trigger for a human memory for Bella.
"Emmett ate a happy meal once. Rosalie said he couldn't have the toy unless he ate all the food." Peter and Charlotte spent next to no time with the Cullen Coven, but Peter could picture the jolly giant Emmett doing something like that just to amuse those around him.
"Does he know he can just buy a toy if he asks?" Charlotte asked and Bella shrugged because she didn't even know that herself. She could have gotten that Hello Kitty tea pot afterall.
"I don't think that was the point, honey." Peter said. He completely understood why Emmett had eaten it. Sometimes it was nice to eat human food, especially stuff like Happy Meals, food that wasn't around when he was human. Ice cream was a particular favorite of Peters, it came back up easily.
"I want to try, unless animals really are as terrible as Emmett told me they were."
"Charlotte will show you the ropes." Peter said before sprinting away at vampire speed back to the house, leaving Charlotte in charge of the baby vamp.
"Are you thirsty?" Charlotte asked, she wasn't big on hunting humans either, but animals were the worst replacement. She tried it when Jasper told them he found a home with vegetarian vampires, animal blood drinkers. In Charlotte's humble opinion, it tasted like dirt. She even tried carnivores, just to see if there was a difference. There was not.
"I don't know about thirsty. I feel like I have cotton mouth and my throat itches like the time I had strep throat." Charlotte had no idea what strep throat even was, but that sounded like it to her.
"Let's get some fresh blood in you, and after I can try to answer some of your questions." Charlotte said kindly. She knew how disorienting this life was, but she couldn't imagine the situation Bella was in. Mainly, because she didn't know the situation she was in. She just knew she was Jasper's mate, but wasn't sure if she even knew that. She hadn't mentioned him once since waking to this life. The last they had heard from Jasper was the postcard with his forwarding address.
"Alright, let's go fuck up Bambi's mom." Charlotte had never seen Bambi, so Bella filled her in while they wandered around the forest listening for something for Bella to hunt. Charlotte was not amused, though she was sure Peter would have been. She had a good feeling about this new member of their coven.
.o.O.o.
Finally arriving back in the United States, the Volturi jet landed them in Glacier Park International, a few hundred miles from the hunting cabin Peter and Charlotte had taken Bella to in Montana. The plan was to run there as it would only take a few hours, but driving would take all day. The chest with Edward's head in it proved a bit of an annoyance. It was almost too unwieldy to carry the whole way, but he didn't fancy holding the damn thing with his bare hands either.
Alice finally posed the question that had been on everyone's mind. "You're not really going to give her his head, are you?" She had seen him go back and forth on whether or not it would be a good idea, and the various ways he thought to present it to her. If he wanted her help on this, he was going to be sadly disappointed. This was one future set of events Alice was keeping to herself. She however, would be absolutely horrified to receive a head from her mate.
"Why, what have you seen?" Jasper asked, and the rest of the Cullens listened intently. None of them had heard of such a thing. They had no idea about vampire customs, but this one was considered a bit archaic by present day vampires.
"Nothing I'm going to share with you." Alice smiled at Jasper, no malice in her words. Once again, Alice's visions were her own again, as was her choice to share them.
"You should totally do it, bro. I would have given her Royce's head on a silver platter, if my Rosie hadn't got to him first." Rosalie rolled her eyes. Thinking about it, she probably would have enjoyed that. Not as much as she enjoyed getting the job done herself, but she would have absolutely appreciated the gesture.
"What even possessed you to have such an idea, Jasper?" Rosalie asked, she was usually able to get an idea of where Jasper was going with his strange ideas. This one completely gobsmacked her.
"Aro wasn't lying when he said y'all were ignorant as fuck." Jasper said bluntly. "I'll be honest, it hasn't been popular in our lifetimes. It was out of fashion by the time Carlisle was changed."
"Then how the hell do you know about it?" Emmett asked. "It's not like there's a vampire encyclopedia for you to flip through."
"I've met a few vampires older than the Volturi Kings." Was all Jasper said on the matter, leaving more questions than answers. "Fuck it, I'll bring it in the box." Jasper finally decided, though he was still unsure about giving it to her. She loved the idiot, afterall. Human emotions were always strong in newborns, it took time for their emotional signature to stabilize.
Setting off into the wilderness, they had the same thoughts in their minds. What would Bella be like as a vampire? Would she still be clumsy? Would her hair color change, as Rosalie's did, from a dark blonde to a light blonde. What kind of diet would she choose? Would she even want to be with her boyfriend's murderer, even though it's assumed he's the one who murdered her?
Would she even want to be a vampire without Edward?
Jasper was excited, but filled with trepidation. He had spent so long assuming he didn't deserve the eternal happiness of a vampiric life with a mate by his side. He had to have some punishment for his near century of unapologetic bloodshed. It couldn't be this easy. Not that the last few days were easy for any of them. There was still the mystery of what exactly Edward had done to Bella. Aro had been reluctant to say anything, only giving him a number and telling him to call him if he needed more clarification than what he could get from Peter and Bella, once she awoke. Jasper had been worried it was a ploy of some kind, to stay in contact. Aro's emotions were sincere. He thought it would be best heard from his own people, then tainted with the malice from Edward's memories.
Major Whitlock tried to push himself a little faster, anxious at the idea his mate had been left alone during such a vulnerable time. He trusted Peter, but missing out on such a pivotal moment, not being able to be the one to change her himself after she had been attacked for a second time… It was pretty emasculating. One consolation The Major had was that he created Peter, so Peter's venom was his venom. It was just another step removed from his own, and the sire bond would wear off soon enough. Just a few hours, a few hundred miles, was all that stood between him and his future.