The Man in the Long Black Coat, Chatper Seventeen

Edward froze. He looked Charlie in the eye and shook his head slowly, mouthing the words "not now." Explanations would have to come later.

His coat flowed outward in the light breeze, effectively hiding his hands from Aro and Jane, who remained behind him in Charlie’s front yard.

Charlie stood in the doorway gripping the shotgun, its barrel at a downward forty-five-degree angle.

Edward followed the barrel with his eyes and continued on, to Emmett, who’d moved to the porch steps. His shotgun wound had begun to close. A few more minutes and he'd be on his feet.

Everything was still for a moment. Peaceful. Edward knew it would not last.

He used the silence to scan Aro’s mind. As he suspected, the Volturi leader was planning to kill them all. There was no other choice, really. They’d seen too much, done too much damage for Aro to let it go. A tracker was dead, humans had learned the truth. He would lose all credibility in the vampire world if he did not act swiftly and harshly. The Volturi would crumble.

Edward closed his eyes and concentrated. He breathed in deeply and exhaled. The ritual, though unnecessary, helped him relax. The next few moments would determine his fate, and he would need to keep a level head.

Jane moved first. In the split second that Edward began to feel pain, he cocked the shotgun, still in Charlie's hands. He yanked it an inch toward him while pointing the barrel behind him. The movement caused Charlie's trigger finger to flinch. The gun fired. Jane shrieked and went down.

The world slowed down. The scent of the woods filled the air. Edward heard the rapid beating of Charlie’s heart, the swirl of the wind through the trees. His head pounded. He watched Charlie's eyes grow bigger as the chief finally began to react to the shotgun blast. His mouth opened. Wrinkles formed on his forehead and his shoulders tightened.

Edward pulled the shotgun away from Charlie and spun around, cocking and firing repeatedly until the gun fired no more. He let out a war cry as Aro tumbled into him. The two men became one, barreling into Charlie on their way over the edge of the porch. The shotgun went flying and they crashed through the railing, thudding to the ground.

Edward came up first. He put his hands around Aro's neck and squeezed with everything he had. He heard bones snap. Still he squeezed harder.

Aro smacked his forehead into Edward's nose, crushing it and temporarily blinding him. Edward released his grip and staggered back.

Aro jumped on him. He put his knee into Edward's gut, wrapped his big hands around Edward's throat. Edward tried to pull Aro's arms from him, but Aro was too strong. He kicked hard upward and was able to lock his feet around Aro's head from behind. He pulled down with his legs. Aro had to let go of Edward's neck to free himself.

The two men stood and squared off. Aro moved his head from side to side, adjusting his neck as the bones Edward had broken healed themselves. He looked at Edward and smiled.

"This is going to be fun," he said. Two shotgun wounds in his body had also begun to heal. Edward's aim had been good, but not good enough. "I have not had the pleasure of personally decapitating a vampire of your skill level in quite some."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

They both looked to see who was talking. Charlie stood on the porch with the shotgun in one hand, pointed at Aro. He cocked it and held it low.

"Don't, Charlie. This is my battle." Edward saw that Emmett was nearly healed. He motioned for the big vamp to join him. "You up for this?"

"Whatever you need."

They separated, moving apart so they flanked the Volturi leader. Aro crouched down, ready for battle.

Boom.

The right side of Aro's head exploded. Charlie re-cocked the gun.

"If anyone's gonna do any more killing on my property it's gonna be me."

Still Aro stood. There was a massive hole in his forehead just above his eye. But it had already begun to heal. Charlie fired again. The round struck Aro in the chest. His body jerked, but stayed standing.

Aro attacked. Wounded though he was, he was still a beast. He was on Edward in a heartbeat. They tumbled to the ground together and resumed their grappling.

But the shotgun had weakened Aro. Edward took advantage. He gathered up his strength and got behind Aro, wrapping his arms around his neck. He put one hand under Aro's chin and the other behind his neck. He yanked up, hard, again and again and again. The aged vampire's head would not come off. God damned vegetarian diet, he thought. It's weakened me.

Frenzied and desperate, Edward tossed Aro to the ground and stomped on his head. He heard nothing and he saw nothing except his enemy. Over and over he stomped. He purged the past and absolved himself of his sins in that stomping. He ceased thinking entirely. All he could do was destroy that which sought to destroy him until his steel-toed boots were slick with a black, viscous fluid.

"Dude! Edward! Stop. He's gone."

Edward snapped out of the coma-like state he was in. Emmett stood before him, his hands on Edward's shoulders.

Edward looked down at Aro, a pulpy black mess. He was thankful that Charlie listened to him and loaded the armor-piercing rounds. Aro's head was virtually gone. There was nothing left but bits of skull and black tissue; a gruesome puddle.

"I ain't never seen nothing like it." Charlie emerged from the shadows, cradling the gun. He shook his head and surveyed the scene. "Twenty years on the force. A stint in the war manning the fifty-cal. Eyeing prey though the scope, squeezing the trigger when it needed squeezing. Was in the Peace Corps in Somalia before that. Some of the most horrible trauma I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness, over there. I've seen my share of death and dismemberment, young man. But I've never --"

“I’m sorry, Charlie. I really am. But there’s no time for explanations.” Edward turned to Emmett. “Find Jane. I don’t see her body anywhere. I must have wounded her, or she’d be terrorizing us all right now. She will heal, and she will come after you.”

“What about you?”

“I've got to find Bella before the rest of the Volturi do.”

Edward ran to Bella’s pickup truck. He yanked the door open. Ripped wires from the steering column, twisted them together the way he’d been taught. The old beast roared to life. He slammed it in reverse and bounced over a curb on the way out.

In the rearview, Charlie stood in the middle of the road, the gun at his hip.

Edward felt sorry for the old guy. His world had been torn apart in the space of a few weeks, the only family he had left was missing, and now he’d helped one vampire murder another in the quiet of his front yard.

He was doomed.

As Edward sped away, he saw Charlie walk back to the yard. He bent over Aro’s corpse. A moment later, flames rose. Black smoke filled the sky. He saw Charlie flip the Zippo into the air and stuff it into his pocket.

He had really done it. Good lord he’d done it. He had killed a three-thousand-year-old vampire, the leader of the world’s vampires. If he thought his life was fucked before, he was dead wrong. He knew there was no way he’d ever get out of this. This was the absolute definition of fucked if there ever was one.

But Bella. She was all that mattered now. If she was with the Cullens, as he suspected, they were in trouble, too. Caius and Marcus, the other two leaders of the Volturi Council, would send reinforcements when they didn’t hear back from Aro soon. They would get their best tracker. They would almost certainly kill Charlie and Emmett, and for that, Edward felt sorrow. He had grown to like both men.

But he wouldn’t rest until he knew Bella was safe, even if it meant others had to die.

He made his way around Seattle on the state highways and picked up Interstate 90 an hour east of town. From there, it was a straight shot into Montana, and then a jag south through Idaho before heading over the Grand Tetons. It would take fifteen hours at the speed limit. He figured he could do it in twelve if the old truck didn’t break down.

The drive gave him time to think, to plan, to ponder what he was doing.

Did he really believe he could change things? That he could change himself?

Everything he’d seen thus far backed up what he’d always believed. Manifest destiny was a dream. A scam. Society’s way of mollifying the masses. It was no different than religion, in his mind. Each gave hope to the hopeless. Hope was for fools. A hundred years of sorrow had taught him that.

But a life without hope was also a life without fear. Edward had always been fearless. He knew he had to return to that state of mind if he was to survive beyond the next few days.

He was reminded of the words of Voltaire, the eighteenth century French philosopher. They had often brought him comfort in times of trouble.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

Life had dealt him a shitty hand. No one could dispute that. But only he could decide what to do with it. He was through following the rules, whether it be the Volturi's or the Cullens' or those the world around him tried to impose. Look where the rules had gotten him.

No more.

From this day on, he would return to being the man he was meant to be.

He pulled up near the main entrance to one of the half-dozen ski resorts outside Jackson Hole. During the summer, they catered to mountain bikers and other adventure enthusiasts. Edward shook his head at the thought of people who risked their lives for the thrill of it. If only they knew what they were risking.

He'd remembered Alice saying the Cullens would go to Jackson Hole next. There was no other explanation for Bella’s sudden disappearance. Either she had run – and he would have smelled her if she’d been nearby – or Alice saw what was happening and the Cullens came to her rescue before the commotion started. He wasn't sure why they didn't stay to help, but there must be an explanation. They wouldn't leave Emmett behind without a reason.

He shut the truck down and closed his eyes. It was nearly midnight. The few bars that were still open seemed quiet, the early-week lull after the constant party that each weekend brought.

He scanned the area as best he could, trying to find Alice, Carlisle, any of the Cullens. They were his only potential connection to Bella.

He picked up nothing, save for the few internal ramblings of the stragglers still at the bars.

He put the pickup back into gear and pulled away. The Cullens were probably at a cabin further from the center of town. Too far away for him to get a reading. He'd have to drive slowly by each set of cabins, hoping for the best.

As he neared the mountain road, he spotted a car in his rear-view. It approached quickly. He stepped on the gas, hoping to find a side road to turn into before the car got too close.

But it was too fast. The headlights got larger, then disappeared altogether as the car rode right up to his bumper. He was about to slam on the brakes so he could take care of the driver permanently, whoever it was, when red and blue lights flashed from atop the vehicle.  

This would be easy. In normal times, he didn't like killing cops. It brought too much attention. But now was not a normal time. Besides, he was hungry.

The officer approached his door, and Edward rolled down the window. He steeled himself for what was to come.

"I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to find you here, Edward."

"Charlie?"

Edward pulled his hands from the steering wheel and rested them in his lap. He shook his head slowly and offered the barest hint of a smile.

"How the hell did you know to come to the middle of Wyoming?"

"Find my iPhone. Seems Bella got a new phone a few weeks back,” Charlie said, smiling. “She has a terrible habit of leaving it laying around the house where anyone might mess with it. Always uses the same password for everything, too: Her mother's birthday."

He showed Edward his phone's screen. It showed a blue icon over a map of the area with the words “Bella’s iPhone” in black. By the looks of it, Bella's phone, and likely Bella herself, was just a few miles up the road.

"You're a good man, Charlie Swan," Edward said. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"You and I ain't through talking," Charlie replied. He fixed his gaze on Edward. "You understand? I got you for three murders back home. And you still owe me an explanation for whatever the hell it was happened in my front yard."

He stopped and shook his head. “Frankly, though, I’m not sure I’d believe anything you told me at this point, outside of maybe aliens or psychedelic drugs."

"You help me get Bella to safety, Charlie,” Edward said, laughing, “and I'll tell you anything you want to know. The truth. All of it. That's a promise from me to you."

"Good to know." Charlie nodded.

"I’ll follow you," Edward said, looking back at the police car.

"Hope you can keep up." Charlie climbed into the driver’s seat and spun the wheels as he maneuvered the Crown Vic around the pickup.

Edward shifted the truck into gear and settled in behind the police car, content to let Charlie take the lead. For now.

-30-

A/N Alls I gots to say about that is whoa.

As usual, the wonderful MazzyStarla made this chapter better than it would have been. I promise you that. The other parts are my fault.

Wondering what the hell is up with Charlie? Stick around. He’ll be talking soon. ...