Charlie Swan: Vampire Hunter

5. Confrontation

 Nestled in the deep woods not even a mile from the Calawah river sat Carlisle Cullen's isolated three story manor. It was an ugly rectangular thing that perched on the side of the incline like a giant pretentious art piece. Expensive, overindulgent, and bizarre.

The outside was more glass than wall, but they'd tinted it black so I couldn't make out what was going on inside. All the worse, a thick fog hung low over the forest floor dyeing the world a murky grey that made it hard to peer through the trees at my surroundings. Not exactly the best weather for a battle...if it even came to that.

I sat in the police car with my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my palms were numbing. The gun at my right side dug into my hip but that was normal. It was the wooden stake I'd tucked into my waistband that caused the sharp pain in my side and the knot in my gut.

I put my hand on the door handle with every intention of getting out but I felt frozen in place. I took deep breaths, a nerve steadying technique I hadn't used since the academy. I didn't want to do this. I wanted to drive home and pretend I didn't know anything about the Cullens. But I had to. For Bella.

By the time I'd gathered my courage and gotten out of the car I could just make out the silhouette of a man walking down the front steps of the house. I put my hand close to my gun but a laugh cut through the thick haze and sent a chill through me.

"There's hardly any need for that," said a voice through the fog. "Hardly."

"Doctor Cullen."

"Chief Swan." His voice was calm but curious as he stopped in front of me, his posture in the defensive but his hands shoved lazily in the pockets of his tailored slacks. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"This isn't a social call," I tried to keep my voice steady and authoritative, but the way he stared at me unblinking almost crushed my resolve. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand and the sweat begin beading at my brow.

If this thing in front of me was a vampire, he must have been powerful. And if he was half as strong as the strength alluded from his mere presence, then Jenks had been right to be scared.

"Then what type of call is it Charlie?" His voice dipped a little, not weary or afraid but more daring.

"It's about you and your family."

"Oh?"

"You and your family moved here two years ago, correct?"

"Yes. From Alaska."

"I have reason to believe that information about you and your family is false."

He stared for a moment, probably contemplating just how much I knew. All the while my right hand itched in anticipation for the slightest sign he would attack.

"What are you saying exactly, Charlie?"

"I'm saying that the story you tell to the people around here is a lie."

His hands came out of his pockets. Empty. "What makes you say that?"

"I ran a background check on you and your family. There are no records of your children ever attending the middle schools that are on file at Forks High School. There's no record of any of the children being adopted anywhere in the country. Nor is there records of any of you being born in the time and place you say you were."

"And how did you come about this information?"

"Police business."

"Ah, we're under investigation by the Forks Police Department then?"