Charlie Swan: Vampire Hunter

12

Not messing with the Cullens turned out to be deceptively difficult. I was itching to learn more about vampires and the strange new world that was taking shape around me, but I needed to give them time. I had killed Carlisle's wife, and the other's adoptive mother.

 If after two months I went there and poked around a bit they were still mad, I'd leave them alone for good. Until then, I would carry out live as usual. That meant going to work. I'd forgotten about work the past day or two, not even calling in sick. There would be hell to pay for that, if only in my standing as impeccably perfect and incessantly early police chief. My reputation was well and truly ruined. 

I trudged into the building an hour later, hands in pockets and head down. I hoped I would be able to sneak in without attracting too much attention, as if that had ever worked. 

Millicent was waiting for me right inside the door. I groaned inwardly and tried to push past her. She stopped me with a withering glance. I finally looked her in the eyes and waited. She would say whatever she needed to say when she was ready. 

"Where have you been? Everyone is worried sick about you! Running off doing god knows what and Xan even said he thought he saw you at the hospital the day before you stopped coming to work. The hospital! You were at the hospital and then didn't come to work for three days. What were we supposed to think? Half of us thought you'd died and the other half thought you were gone for good. Next time you go on an impromptu mission away for home CALL IN SICK!" 

The last three words were screamed at me. I winced and nodded. Moving to step past her again.  She set her jaw and moved in front of me. 

"I'm not done with you yet Charlie Swan." 

---- 

I thought my head hurt before coming into work, but the lecture I'd received from Millicent was truly legendary. I'd gotten and given lectures before, but this was the loudest and lasted the longest of any I'd ever witnessed. She'd raged for what seemed like hours, and when she noticed that I'd retreated into myself, she smacked me across the head and said she'd finish later. I made a mental note to call in sick the next time anything happened. 

The stack of papers waiting for me was bigger then I'd ever seen it, and I'd seen it pretty damn big. I threw my coat over the couch and slumped gratefully into the office chair. I was lucky in that my desk faced away from the rest of the precinct. I'd thought it a strange choice when I first assumed the title of chief and moved into the office, but hadn't bothered to rearrange it. As time wore on, I'd come to understand that the desk placement was to eliminate distractions more than another practicality. Now it allowed me to keep out of sight, and a short respite from the worried glances and questions of the other cops. 

Work turned out to be infuriatingly mundane in comparison to the past few days. There were no vampires or werewolves, no sword fights or anything happening at all really. I got through about half of the paper work, and took the rest home. I needed to do it, but I didn't need to do it under the intense scrutiny of Millicent and her lackeys. 

Days wore on in this fashion, nothing happening and nowhere to go. Nothing to do except go to work and come home. I'd never thought of my life as boring, but now that I'd had a tase of adventure I saw that it was about as mundane as it gets. No wife or children living with me to make days interesting. Nothing except training for fights that may never come and working a job that no longer brought me joy. Until that very job brought me vampires.