A few notes from the author:

I don't own Twilight or any of Stephanie Meyers' characters, but I do own this plot.

I did research, so the medical information is accurate.

Read, enjoy, and tell me what you think! I won't use my time to finish this story if no one reads, so please reply if you like it, or if you don't. This way I will know to put up chapter 2 or not. I have a complex and compelling idea, with twists, turns and medical maladies. Let me know how you like it!

Chapter I

The heavy grey cloud that had been ominously floating over Forks finally burst, expelling its contents in sheets of early spring rain. Dr. Carlisle Cullen naturally flicked on his wind shield wipers, being used to the constant rate of precipitation in Forks. He headed home on the narrow road that led to the Cullen Mansion, swaying his head peacefully to the melody of the Italian opera music that seemed constant in his car. The soothing music provided a relief from his busy day.

He had been working double time for two weeks, coming in early and staying late. One of the head doctors with whom he worked had been called away for business in Seattle. It wouldn't have mattered much, but Dr.Cullen did two jobs, he was the head diagnostician and pathologists at the hospital. He worked with the living, and with the dead. Ironically, it was the same with his life. His expertise was highly praised at the hospital, and he often did work all around the region.

When he finally arrived home, he saw Bella's familiar truck parked outside.

"Bella." He sighed. Graduation was approaching, and college would follow that. Carlisle had argued with Edward just the night before about what would be done with her. However, Edward refused to talk about the subject that remained so controversial. Carlisle only wanted the best for both of them; he didn't want to see anyone hurt.

Upon entering his home, he became Carlisle, instead of Dr. Cullen, a relief from his long day. With opera music slightly buzzing in his head, he walked upstairs and placed his brief case on his desk. Suddenly, he felt Esme's arms around his waist. He turned around, happy to see her. Her smile faded slightly. "Your eyes look dark." She said in a concerned tone. "You should have come with us at the beginning of the week."

"There were a lot of problems at the hospital." He said with a smile. He held Esme's hand. "Don't worry I don't have to work this weekend."

She smiled in relief. "Why, did they throw you out for working too much?" She joked.

"Well….actually, yes, they told me to take a break." He smirked. The shrill ring of his cell phone pierced the air. Instantly, he flipped it open. "Dr. Cullen." He said in his professional voice. Sensing it was for work, Esme looked at her husband sternly.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly." Carlisle hung up with a perplexed look on his face.

"Why do they want you back? Did something happen?"

"They need me to do an autopsy."

Esme raised her eyebrows. "An autopsy? What happened?"

Carlisle ran his hand through his blond hair. "They say a girl was found dead a few hours ago, usually an autopsy is unnecessary, but they don't know why she died. I'd like to take a look; just to be sure everything is fine."

Esme nodded without question and kissed her husband as he gathered his briefcase.

Once he arrived at the hospital, he headed to the basement. The pathology department was beneath the eyes of the living. Settled beneath the floors of the hospital was an entire department dedicated to study and analysis. He stepped out of the elevator and headed down a short hallway, past the lab and analysis room. He came to the last door, the autopsy room. It was a square room with a wide door, fit for a gurney to slide effortlessly through. The floor was white with large square tiles, and it was filled with the aroma of disinfectant. Shiny metal cabinets lined the perimeter of the room, and bright overhead lights illuminated the white and shining atmosphere.

He was greeted by two other people. The coroner and Carlisle's assistant.

"The body was retrieved approximately two hours ago. It was found in the woods, a hiker, I assume. It's a deceased Joanna Cartlette." The coroner said as Carlisle put on sanitary attire over his clothes.

"What was time of death?" Carlisle asked.

"By the looks of the body, I'd say about twenty hours." The coroner replied. "She must have died over night."

"That's odd." Carlisle said as he knitted his brow in a perplexed manner.

"What is it doctor?" The coroner asked.

"Why would she be hiking at night?"

"Camping maybe? The police are investigating it anyways, its standard."

Carlisle nodded as he removed the clean white sheet that covered the body on the steel table in the center of the room. His eyes widened slightly as he examined the girl who was now pale with death. There were two puncture wounds in the left side of her neck, and her light blond hair was tinted red from dry blood. "She was wounded in the left jugular vein; she lost a large quantity of blood in a short period of time." Carlisle said, as his assistant scribbled down his words.

"We found a snake at the scene, if that's any help. It was dead, when we found it. Our guess is that she killed it.

"I would assume she was a victim of a snake bite, judging from the wounds in her neck and the evidence you've found. Some snakes bite where they know they can kill their predator, the jugular vein is a good place to strike. Of course, she would have to already be on the ground, or have been attacked by a very long snake. My guess is that she bent down for some reason and disturbed a snake in its resting place. The snake bites her, and the venom goes almost directly to her heart. If the snake wasn't venomous, she would have bled to death. My opinion on how she died is irrelevant though. I'm only responsible for finding out why she died internally."

"True, but your idea seems to make sense." The coroner said in agreement.

"Do you have the snake with you?" Carlisle asked. "We should use it to analyze the bite, and find out if it's venomous."

"We already handed it over to some of your people." The coroner replied. Carlisle's assistant nodded in agreement.

He cut into the body very delicately, looking for signs that would fit the common snake theory. However, he had second thoughts about it, it seemed odd. There had never been any snake bite fatalities in Forks, but it wasn't farfetched. She was hiking in the woods at night. Other, more complex and peculiar ideas circulated in his head. Reptiles were not the only creatures that hunted at night.

The autopsy commenced after five hours. All the standard procedures were complete, and a final decision was made. The cause of death had been determined as loss of blood due to a snake bite accident. Nothing else seemed to be wrong. Samples of her blood around the wound and from inside her veins would be sent for venom analysis, among other things.

Before the body was packaged up and sent to the morgue, Carlisle noticed a look in her on her ghostly face. It seemed almost frightened, filled with terror that she knew she wouldn't make it. Carlisle felt empathy for her. She hadn't expected her life to end so soon.

He spent a few minutes talking with the others, about securing the details once the biochemical results came back. Everything was to be tested, just for standard reasons, but the evidence seemed pretty clear. Thus the long night finally ended.

On his way home he pondered about the accident. He knew it was an odd situation. Could it have been the work of a vampire? All of the evidence would logically prove to show it was, but this would be too preposterous to prove legally. Not to mention the work was done in a sloppy manner. No vampire would just leave the evidence, especially in a place so easily accessed such as a hiking trail.

"If it had been a vampire, Alice would have seen it. She usually predicts situations that are similar to this." Carlisle thought to himself. An image of Victoria flashed across his mind. Yet, if it had been her, Alice surely would have received a premonition.

"Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I don't think this possibility should be overlooked. Vampires are not responsible for every calamity that happens in Forks, although it may seem that way. Yet, I can't avoid the idea entirely." He continued to think. Carlisle analyzed his theories and silently argued with himself until he reached home. He knew it was his job to protect the innocent citizens of Forks from the strange and unnatural forces that seemed to reside here. He then cleared his mind. He decided not to bring up the circumstance until he knew for sure.

"I'll make my final decisions when the venom tests come back, if there is no snake venom…then there will be a problem." He thought as he exited his vehicle. Carlisle then decided to inquire if Alice had any recent predictions that would lead him in the right direction. Besides that, he would say, or think nothing about it. It was unnecessary to alarm everybody else because he had a single theory, yet it was nearly impossible to keep a secret in the Cullen household.

The Cullen house was well lit, even in the late hours of the night. Carlisle slipped inside and went in search of Alice. He found her sitting on the couch with her legs crossed watching a Lifetime movie on television. She tended to have odd taste in films.

"Could I interrupt you for a moment?" Carlisle asked softly, trying not to disturb her too much. He appeared calm and smooth as usual.

"Yea sure." She said turning off her dramatic b-movie.

"Oh, you don't have to do that it will only take a second." Carlisle said.

"It's fine I've already seen that one anyway. What's up?"

"I wanted to ask if you have had any premonitions lately."

Alice's bright face darkened. "I had one yesterday, I should have told you…….but I thought there was a mistake." A look of concern filled her eyes.

"Did it by any chance deal with the fatality of a local girl?" He asked as his hands tightened around the back of the couch.

"Yes." Alice said in a frightfully sad tone. "I think I know who did it, but I'm still not sure, it doesn't seem right."

"You can tell me, it's very important that you do. If this was a murder…."

He stopped as Alice pursed her lips in concern. "It's not a murder if a vampire did it, humans are our natural prey." She objected.

"Then it was a vampire?" He asked, surprised by her defensive and apprehensive tone. A thought suddenly dawned upon him. "Was it one of us?" He thought. "No, it couldn't have been… could it?" His long pause told Alice what he was thinking about.

"This time my vision was hazy, different than usual." She closed her eyes and bent her petit figure forward. "I saw the girl, on the ground. I was surprised because I knew her. I saw Jasper standing there; then I lost the vision." She stopped, looking to the ground. Carlisle began to pace the back and fourth, running his hand through his hair. "Jasper?" He thought. His silence once again seemed to bother her. "There was nothing I could do stop him, I see things after someone makes up their mind about what they are going to do…." Her voice trailed off into a whisper.

"You said you saw it yesterday, did you talk to him?" Carlisle asked gently, not wanting to upset her, she appeared distraught.

"No, I couldn't find him." She replied.

"Edward must know then." Carlisle said. "It must have been on your mind."

Alice nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, I was unsure, and I still am. Edward and I, we tried to find him…"

"Don't worry." He said. "I'll talk to him when he's ready."

"This vision I had, it was different than all the others. I didn't see it in the same way, it was unclear. I don't want to blame him, but I feel like I have no choice." She said standing up.

"What about the others? Do they know about this?"

"No. Not even Esme, I didn't want to tell her, I knew she'd be devastated."

"And Bella?"

"No, she doesn't know either."

"Alright. Let's keep it that way for now." Carlisle said, feeling slightly guilty for wanting to conceal a secret from the other members of his family.

He headed up to his office where he sat down and turned on his computer. The same thoughts about Jasper filled his head. If he had been so compelled to kill a human, he should have done it in a larger town. Jasper was smarter than that. "What came over him, to cause him to make such a vapid decision? Perhaps it was spontaneous, but why?" Carlisle thought as he pulled up his e-mail. "Perhaps I'm over thinking it." Carlisle let out a sigh as he pondered. A short message from work reminded him of something that had slipped his mind. Tomorrow his new intern would be starting.