Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series.

Edward's Point of View

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I was stalking a mountain lion, waiting for it to move again. I hadn't hunted in three weeks, and that was as long as I could stand it before the thirst took over every one of my senses and burned my throat with unimaginable pain.

I had recently lost Victoria's trail, and I felt useless. I stayed locked up, hidden, until the thirst drove me out.

This had become my habit while I was not actively tracking. I found that whenever I was overcome with thirst, it dulled the pain slightly. The pain of losing Bella.

Bella.

Of course, the pain wasn't even close to gone, and the agony ripped through me at the thought of her name. I didn't know how much longer I could last before I went back to her.

No. I couldn't give into the weakness, the pain, and go back to her. I would never forgive myself. And of course, if she was happy, she would never forgive me.

And why would she? I had left her without a plausible explanation, told her I didn't love her. To ask for forgiveness wouldn't be allowable.

While I was lost in my thoughts, the lion had gotten away. The phone vibrated again. I have hated being around anyone since I left Forks, but upon Carlisle's request, I had kept a cell phone with me in case of emergencies.

But now somebody was dialing, hanging up, and then dialing again. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, so I pressed ignore and checked my voicemail.

It was Alice:

"Edward, please please please come home! This is important! We all need you here, NOW! We're in Forks. Don't worry, we haven't gone near Bella, but we all need to talk to you. We need your help with something. I'll elaborate when you get here. For now, HURRY!"

I growled and quickly found a bear and drained it. It would keep me sane, for now. Obviously, Alice and the rest of my family would know better than to drag me home for something trivial. It must be as important as she said. After I finished my meal, I quickly made reservations on the next flight to Washington, flew to Seattle, rented a car, and got to Forks within a day.

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A/N: Okay, it's short, but my first chapters of a fanfic usually are, and I wanted to end it here. Unlike my previous stories, I'll probably update fairly quickly on this one because I actually have the entire story planned out. It will be unlikely that I will get writer's block. I'll update as soon as possible, if anyone really likes it.