Turmoil [Emmett Cullen] (3)

[13- On the Hunt]

Jasper, Emmett and I were heading down to central Oregon on Friday. Emmett heard there were black bears and wouldn't stop talking about it. We made a bet on who could find the biggest bear. The winner got $1000 from the loser so I was very keen for this trip.

I was in my room programming when Edward knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" He came in. This reminded me of when we were in Ithaca but there was a stark contrast between that Edward and the current Edward. The past Edward was broken, now he was complete.

"Do you mind if I come with you to Oregon?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, of course. We're planning to leave Friday night. Is that ok?"

He nodded, "Thank you."

"Wait." He turned back to face me.

"I've been meaning to ask you something. Alice mentioned something about the Volturi showing interest in me. What did she mean?" I'd actually wanted to ask him about the Volturi a while ago but it was never the right time. Well I was never ready to hear the answer. But I couldn't bear to be stuck with my thoughts any longer. I needed to ask.

"You're familiar with Aro's powers, right?" I nodded nervously.

"Aro saw every thought that had ever come into my mind. When he saw you, his interest piqued."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What physical skill could Aro want that he doesn't already have with Jane or Alec?" I knew I was fast but my special skills paled in comparison to most of the guard.

"It's not about your speed. Aro's smart. The Volturi is ... traditional but the world is getting more and more technologically advanced. He likes the idea of having you keep them up to date."

"So what, I'm his personal tech support?"

Edward smiled, "In a crude way, yes." He then left.

I let the brevity of Edward's words sink in. Just as much as the weight was lifted off my shoulders, a new one was put on. Aro wanted me. Would he stop at nothing to make sure I joined him? I wasn't sure. But regardless, my mind came to the worst conclusion. If Aro read Edward's mind, he knew the bond Emmett and I shared. He also knew that I would never willingly join the guard. To get me to join, what would happen to Emmett, to my family?

On Friday night we assembled and ran south, past Mt. Rainier, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Hood to the Willamette National Forest. We went straight to the mountain peak, since there was an abundance of wildlife. Just before he headed into the heart of the forest, Edward's phone rang. This couldn't be good.

"Sorry, Edward. She tricked me and got away. Her future is gone," I heard Alice's rushed voice on the other end. Edward groaned and sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Should we come?" Emmett yelled but Edward was too far away.

Before anyone could do anything, Jasper's phone rang.

"I was out hunting and Bella drove down to La Push. I couldn't get back in time to stop her," Alice said frantically.

"Should we go to Forks for backup?" I asked.

"No, that won't be necessary. I think it will be fine."

"Just make sure Edward doesn't do anything stupid," Emmett added.

"I'll try." And the call ended.

"Never a dull moment," Jasper muttered and put the phone back in his pocket.

We continued into the forest and it didn't take very long to find prey. Emmett's method of wrestling the bear before draining it was now my preferred method. It was fun, but I wished they were stronger.

Over the course of two days, Emmett found two bears, I found three. Unfortunately, his were both significantly bigger than mine so I reluctantly forked over $1000.

Carlisle was waiting for us in the living room when we returned.

"Eleanor, are you busy at the moment?" He asked. I shook my head. Emmett smiled and settled down on the couch to watch a basketball game.

"I'm sure you're aware of the incident in Seattle." Yes, the Seattle situation. Over 20 were reported dead in Seattle within the last month. It was undoubtedly our kind; the unexplained disappearances that only occurred at night, lack of evidence. Everything about the situation pointed towards vampires.

"Jasper and I have been trying to assess the situation but I think we need your expertise."

"What can I do to help?"

"Perhaps it's better if I explain in my office."

I followed Carlisle and Jasper upstairs. I hadn't been in Carlisle's office in a while and it never ceased to intrigue me. It was like I was transported to a different era. Decorating the room were priceless relics from centuries I had no relation to.

On the coffee table, there was a large street map of Seattle.

"The red dots are the locations of disposed corpses." I cringed, there were over 30 dots. I saw the problem immediately; there was no pattern, no area were the dots were more densely clustered. It was completely erratic.

"How accurate are the dots?"

"Within 50 feet." So not very accurate. This would pose a greater challenge than I initially thought.

"Is there anything specific you want me to do?"

Jasper and Carlisle turned to face one another.

"We want to track down their hideout," Jasper answered, "Presumably they have one. Finding it would help us monitor the situation."

"Ok, I'll get to work."

I had several ideas to locate their lair. However, I quickly found why Carlisle and Jasper needed help. I first hacked into security cameras near the areas where the bodies were found but as expected, the footage was either too grainy, dark, or the frame rate wasn't high enough to see their movements. I then turned to using heat signatures. Since vampires natural were colder than humans, I thought I could track cold signatures in the city from a satellite. But the technology on the satellites wasn't able to precisely pinpoint their locations.

I heard Emmett come into our room.

"How's it going?" He asked,

I looked at him in exasperation.

He chuckled softly, "That good huh?"

"They're so smart. Never staying in the same place, always in the shadows. Do you know how hard it is to track something that doesn't leave a trace?" I rambled.

"Nope. But weren't you track Victoria and Edward?"

"Yeah but it's not the same. I know what they look like so it makes it easier.  Edward was using a phone so I could just ping the cell tower."

"I see. So what are you trying now?"

"I'm trying to make a software to triangulate their location and make predictions about where they are going next." The problem was there was a lot of them and predicting the moves of a group was much harder than an individual like Victoria.