Lies and First Impressions

By: Odainath

Author's notes: So, I've just begun my Masters degree and while I am loving every second I thought I needed something to keep me sane in my fairly non-existent downtime. Hence, this fic was born. This will take a couple of chapters to get to the 'dark' stuff but remember, it's a romance as well.

I hope you enjoy.

Please review.

Summary: Bella Swan arrives at Alaska State University where she meets vampire Professor Edward Cullen and sparks fly. Shortly afterward, a series of young women are murdered. Police sheriff and werewolf Jacob Black suspects Edward immediately.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted … long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."

Earnest Hemingway.

Chapter 1

-o-

I sat cross-legged on my bed as I opened my laptop and logged into the university database. Jessica and I had arrived on-campus that morning and lectures were to start in two days. It seemed only sensible to do a bit of quick research into our subjects before we began.

Everything seemed relatively normal. A header for the subject. A quick introduction into the subject and what was expected in order to achieve well in the said subject.

'If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!', one Professor happily proclaimed.

Well, if that wasn't a cheerful thought…

I cringed at the mere idea of having to explain to Charlie that I was back in Forks after failing my first semester at university and endeavored to study hard and efficiently for my entire degree. I was completing four subjects that semester, perhaps one over the summer break so I'd only have to do three the semester after. Maybe get a job.

Providing everything went well, of course.

I closed my eyes for a moment, willing myself not to go into 'panic mode'. After taking a deep breath, I hit 'print' and listened as my very old and battered printer wheezed to life and that week's lecture notes began to fall into a neat pile. I'd look these over the next day, read that week's texts, go into that week with everything in order and all the needed knowledge burned into my brain.

It was only sensible.

Jessica poked her head around into my room, nodding towards the printer in the corner.

"Seriously, Swan?" she said with a grin. "Getting into it, already?"

Jessica and I had attended the same high school back in Forks. I admit, she could be annoying at times but it was refreshing to know someone, anyone in a foreign city. I shot her an apologetic grin and she rolled her eyes and shut the door between us. My printer sputtered to a stop and I crossed the room and gathered the still-warm papers together and placed them on my tiny desk next to the impressive pile of textbooks I'd recently acquired that afternoon.

They could wait until tomorrow.

Right now, I simply wanted to get to bed.

-o-

Two days later, I followed Jessica into the lecture theatre only to find her standing stock-still, transfixed by the two people standing at the bottom of the auditorium. My own eyes widened as I caught sight of the two but I pulled myself together and pushed her toward a row of seats, making her sit down. She was still staring at the two strangers, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

I blinked, sure I was imagining things.

It wasn't possible that these two… beings could be university lecturers.

The man glanced up and his onyx-black orbs met my own dull, brown mud-pile. He stood, leaning against the desk in the center, and his fists clenched by his sides. He was wearing a pair of dark suit pants and a navy shirt with the sleeves rolled to the crease of his elbows, a jacket flung on the desk to the side of the computer. His foot was tapping a steady beat against the ground, a dull 'thump' that echoed in the otherwise empty auditorium, a thump that was increasing in pace even as we sat there.

He was, to put bluntly, utterly beautiful. At least six-foot in height, with a physique that suggested impressive musculature beneath the expensive material. And his hair, good god his hair. It was a strange mix of colors; neither blonde, nor brown, nor red. Somehow, a combination of all three which made it appear almost… copper, even bronzed. It had the look of someone who ran their fingers through it constantly, in a state of a complete mess and disarray.

The woman beside him reached out and grabbed his forearm, gripping tightly as she raised herself onto the tips of her toes to hiss in his ear. She was equally stunning. Tiny in stature, barely five foot, though she also boasted an impressive figure beneath the knee-length, black dress she wore. The look of a woman who could give any gym monkey a run for their money. Black stockings and impressive heels completed the ensemble. She raised an eyebrow at the man as she lowered herself back down, squeezing his arm again as she tilted her head to the side, clearly asking a silent 'are you all right?'

The man nodded and glanced down at the ground as he bit his lip for a moment, before exhaling a deep breath. "So," he announced, confirming my hypothesis and running his hands through his hair before spreading them out wide, toward the class. "Welcome to the first day of college. My name is Edward Cullen and beside me is Doctor Alice Brandon."

He gestured to the woman next to him who gave a small smile and wave, before heading towards the door. She grabbed a coat and slipped it over her shoulders before disappearing outside.

"I will be your Unit Co-ordinator and Doctor Brandon will oversee your entire degree." He grinned again, though the look didn't quite reach his eyes. "Needless to say, you'll be seeing quite a bit of the two of us…"

Jessica leaned towards me to whisper conspiratorially in my ear. "I don't think anyone will be complaining about that…"

Author's notes: Please review.