The Dawning

by Twisted Twilight Tales

Some unexplained murders in Forks. Isabella was thrown into the whole mystery. Edward had to stop it before he loses the most important thing in his life.

"Twisted Twilight Tales" O/S Contest

Fairy Tale Chosen: Little Red Riding Hood

Title: The Dawning

Word Count: 4035 words

Rating: M

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Summary: Some unexplained murders in Forks. Isabella was thrown into the whole mystery. Edward had to stop it before he loses the most important thing in his life.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight. I just own the plot.

The sound of leaves crunching alerted me of her presence. I had been waiting for her. The dark and brooding forest of Forks was her usual route to her grandmother's house, which she would take every afternoon.

I had been doing this for as long as she had been in town and had been checking on her grandmother. For some unknown reason, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad would happen to her. I just wasn't sure when and where - that was why I had to follow her around like a creepy stalker.

I was peeking out from behind the big trunk of the tree that made a good cover for me. It was a reliable hiding place. The forest was full of oak trees that in lesser light condition made the whole forest eerie and scary. Some people were even scared to walk through here during the night because of the shadows that the trees gave.

I watched her take careful steps on the forest floor that was full of unknown organic materials and I was mesmerized. I could only assume she didn't know I was here every afternoon when she was. If she did, her father would have reprimanded me through Mike Newton. He was temporarily put in-charge of Forks Police Force because Charlie was battling a series of chemotherapies for his illness. Now, Mike fucking Newton thought he was the chief and was acting all high and mighty. Douche bag!

I saw Isabella holding the same basket she brought with her every afternoon. It looked too big and heavy for her to carry. It would either have the bread or cakes she bought from the local pastry inside it. Maybe her grandmother loved that shit since Isabella brought it to her almost everyday.

The red jacket that Isabella wore every day, looked worn out. But judging from the way she held it close to her, it served the purpose of keeping her warm on this chilly November afternoon. As she made her way towards the dirt path leading to her grandmother's house, I lit a cigarette and watched her become smaller and smaller as she moved away from me. I lingered for a couple of minutes until I was sure she was safely out of the woods. I sighed in relief, both from being undetected while I did my stalking and knowing that she was safe. I would never allow something bad to happen to her.

Now that I was sure she had crossed this almost deserted part of the woods, I could relax. She would take another and longer route back to their house tonight - that was what she usually did.

I retreated my steps to where I parked my old beaten-up Volvo. Flicking away the last of my cigarette, I slid inside the car and turned on the heater. As I drew comfort on the warm temperature inside the car, I couldn't help look back at my life and wonder if it would've been the same if the situation in this town was different. There had been numerous deaths in our little town the last 15 years. The deaths were so brutal and so grotesque that half of the population packed up and left, leaving a once booming town in a state of financial ruin. Over the stretch of several years, the murders decreased and the town was able to pick up the pieces. New businesses opened and new folks started to arrive. The town, however, wasn't the same as it used to be. The deaths were never solved, but there were myths or stories going around that wolves as big as bears were the ones that caused these murders. However, there was never any proof of these allegations. If the stories were true, what would possess these wolves to attack innocent people? There was even a case of a whole family, including an infant, being attacked. To a skeptic like me, it was hard to believe in tales such as the big bad wolf. And who was to say, it wasn't plain human cruelty and insanity that was the cause of all these murders?

The brutal killings in town were reduced, but they never completely went away. It only meant that the killers were lurking and were just waiting for something. Something that nobody in town knew anything about. Again, all of these were mere speculations. Eventually, the police stopped chasing every call that had anything to do with these murders. All information received via phone was considered as pranks.

I gunned the engine and made my way to the local deli to grab some dinner. There were several guys from the precinct here, but I just waved to say hello; not really interested in socializing with them. I drank one bottle of beer as I waited on my food. I was greeted by Emmett, a close friend of mine.

"Hey, man, " he said, as he patted me on my back. I turned to face him and saw that he was with his long-time girlfriend, Rosalie Hale.

"Hey, yourself," I responded and gave them a smile. I took another swig from the bottle.

"You having dinner alone? Wanna join us?" he asked. The grin plastered on his face showed off those stupid dimples.

I shook my head and pointed over my shoulder. "I ordered mine to go."

He nodded understandingly. "Ok, man. Next time." He had started moving forward when he stopped to face me again. "Don't forget Friday. Jasper's waiting to beat you. He said to bring enough cash because it'll be his turn to clean you out." I couldn't help give him a grin while I nodded before they made their way to a table.

Every Friday night, we had our 'Poker night', and for the past several weeks I had been beating both Emmett and Jasper in this game. They were pissed and wanted to win back what they had lost. I was still confident of my 'winning streak' so this Friday wouldn't be a problem at all. I lit another cigarette and took a long drag. Having no family left in this town, I was supposed to be alone. Emmett and Jasper were like brothers to me. They were my family.

When I reached home, I was famished and quickly devoured the food. After dinner, I only had enough strength to prepare for bed. I couldn't get to sleep, but just laid down on my bed contemplating things in my life. Tired as I was, sleep wouldn't come. This was what my night was like. Thinking. Pondering. Musing.

I didn't know if I was obsessed with Isabella, but I was definitely feeling something for her that made me stalk her. Isabella Swan was the daughter of the chief. I had met her four years ago when she was just nineteen years old. I had just been hired as an addition to the police force back then, having just graduated from the academy. She was a freshman at UW, and had just come home for spring break. For some reason I was drawn to her. Though, I couldn't do anything about it because of the position his dad held.

As the years went by, she became more and more beautiful. Her beauty and kindness made her more appealing to me. Whenever she came home, I made a point out of bumping into her purposely. Though, I never made any move to show her how I felt, I was always available whenever she needed a hand. I never understood my pull to her, but I already abandoned the thought of ever understanding our connection. I suspected that she felt it too, but I was too chicken to confront her in the event she felt otherwise. It seemed that she had super powers and had cast a spell on me. I was powerless to resist her.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to plunge into the oblivion that sleep would provide. Eventually, my exhausted mind and body succumbed to its weakness and I drifted off to sleep.

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The following weeks went by pretty much in the same way. I watched Isabella stealthily while she took the route into the woods to her grandmother's house and I made sure she was unharmed.

I enjoyed watching her from afar; making sure everything was going smoothly for her. She was so near but yet so far. Her father was still recuperating from his treatments and I wondered how they were coping financially. I wanted to tell her about the job opening in Alice's shop, but didn't know how to mention it without sounding intrusive, so I postponed going to her with that specific information. I had to proceed with caution where she was concerned.

Between stalking her and my job, I was kept busy. The town buzzed with the coming holiday festivities and almost everybody was excited since this brought a lot of tourists to our town.

The peacefulness of Forks, however, was broken. Everyone's fear of the tranquility being temporary was confirmed. Another cold-blooded killing of a woodsman happened in the heart of the forest. The woodsman was unrecognizable because his body was brutally severed. The tattoo on his arm was the only marking that helped the police in identifying him.

I was scared. The murder happened only a few meters from the path Isabella always took, and it was too much of a coincidence not to be bothered by it. But I couldn't do anything about it without giving away I was stalking her. One thing I was sure of, I needed to increase my surveillance on her.

The town was also thrown into panic and the people took every precaution from closing shop early to buying guns. The town became eerily quiet when dusk came.

The whole of Forks was put on high alert. Every member of the police force was commanded to patrol a certain area, so I became increasingly busy. Aside from helping to find leads, I also needed to keep my eye on Isabella. We suspected the latest murder would have been another unresolved crime if it weren't for the witness that came forward when we least expected it. There was a little boy, who was playing near the area where the killing happened. It took a week for him to come forward because the child's mother was afraid they would be cursed in some way if they messed around with it. We were informed that the child caught a glimpse of the very big wolf. According to the child, it was almost the size of a bear with big diamond shinning eyes. It was so menacing that he peed on his pants, scared that he would be next. He hid in one of the trees, and waited until the wolf stopped its preying on the man. The child was adamant that his story was right, and during the course of the interrogation, he didn't give any inkling that he was lying. The boy's story had much of the same description of the animal that had been circulating around, which nobody had believed because of the incredulousness of it.

So the hunt for the big bad wolf started. We searched every cave and crevices of the forest, but we weren't successful. It was as if the animal simply vanished into thin air. Who really thought that it existed in the first place? If we hadn't had an eyewitness, it would have been another myth. Besides, even if the testimony of the boy was so far-fetched, we didn't have anything to go by so we stuck with his story.

Weeks went by and the search dwindled down. It was as if the hope of ever catching the beast had died. The fear was still very much existent and was growing everyday.

Businesses hadn't left the town, but the possibility of it was great. Some were already contemplating to close down shop, and it wasn't helping the situation that the whole town was in. The morale of the people was low.

It was during that time that I had the opportunity to visit an old friend of my father's. She was a wise old woman. Her name was Esme and she had just came home to Forks from a long hiatus.

When I came knocking on her door, I was expecting an age-old ragged woman. But the one standing in front of me, looked like she was just sixty years old, instead of the eighty I was sure of. I stepped inside her old house when she motioned for me to come in. I was nervous to talk about the killings to her. I didn't know if she would appreciate not only my intrusion of her time but also my imposition. I needed to ask about the murders, and she was the only one I was sure of that was here during the first bout of killings.

Contrary to my apprehension, she didn't appear to be angry when I asked her about the murders and the speculations surrounding it. Instead, she seemed rather determined to tell me what she knew, which to my dismay, wasn't much. However, she did mention that sightings of a number of wolves were made and it was believed they were the ones that caused the deaths. She also talked about a very strange happening - something about birds, ravens in particular, to have been seen dead and scattered near the murders. She found it odd that these birds were dead when they were supposed to be the one that followed the wolf as scavengers after their hunt.

There was something very interesting in what she said. It was after I said my goodbyes that I pondered upon it. The kid, who saw the murder in the woods had been quoted to have seen numerous ravens, yes 'wolf-birds', hovering nearby when that 'incident' happened. He assumed it was only a few meters away as he could see the birds flying above. It was approximately the same distance as where the attack of the wolf to the woodsman occurred. The mention of the birds piqued my interest. I went over the previous cases when I arrived back at the station. Some dead ravens had been seen in the area near the brutal killings. I knew that the birds were significant in a bizarre way; that I was sure. The mysterious deaths of the ravens at every crime scene might be pure coincidence, but something told me it wasn't. I had to find out about it, but for now I pushed it aside. People would think I was crazy if I pursued this. They were already having apprehension about the 'big bad wolf' thing. I didn't need to add another 'raven' theory on the whole myster when I myself wasn't sure about anything.

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I didn't expect my whole world to be shaken that afternoon. Nothing stood out to say that something bad - really bad - would happen. I started my day patrolling my assigned post, which went by without a glitch. I was getting ready to go home and change, so I could go check up on Isabella. Suddenly, I had this very funny feeling in my stomach. For an unknown reason, my skin broke into goose bumps and my heart beat erratically in my chest. Afraid that these bad feelings were associated somehow with Isabella, I hurriedly change into jeans and a shirt. Making sure I wouldn't forget to bring my gun.

Once I was settled in the usual position at the trunk of one of the biggest oak trees found in the forest, I lit a cigarette. I was puffing on my smoke faster than I usually did. I was apprehensive that I hadn't seen her yet. The bad feelings I had earlier were still with me and I couldn't shake it off.

Minutes later, Isabella made crunching sounds as she walked towards her grandmother's cottage. She was wearing that red coat and the basket of hers. I looked for any signs of danger and was relieved there was none. I was only able to sigh in relief when she had passed the deserted area of the woods. As I turned to leave, the back of my neck prickled. Goddammit! Not again. As I turned to see what caused my unease, I saw numerous birds from a short distance away clouding the sky. For a moment, the sheer number of ravens circling the sky mesmerized me. But realization suddenly hit me and I froze. I didn't know where it came from, but now, I knew that the 'wolf-birds' weren't following the wolves to grab leftovers from the hunt. They were the ones picking out the hunted. Dammit! I knew where the ravens were hovering now. It was the cottage - Isabella's grandmother's cottage. I was used to running, but I never ran like this before. I needed to get there as fast as I could. Isabella was already there. I couldn't allow them, whoever or whatever they were, to harm my Bella.

I could hear the raven's cracking sound and I knew they were calling for the wolves. It was as if they were telling the wolves they had found their next victims.

I ran like hell and my chest hurt like it was on fire, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to be too late, because it was Bella that could be their next victim. I wouldn't allow that.

As I was nearing the house, the number of birds circling above the cottage was staggering. They almost covered the sky; the ravens looked like one big giant dark cloud. I couldn't spare any seconds wondering about the goddamn birds when I knew Isabella and her grandmother were in danger. Just as I was a couple of feet away from their door, I heard a bone-chilling scream and I almost died. Shit, not Isabella. Please, God not my Bella!

I jumped the fence and ran up the steps of the front porch. My chest was burning, but I took several deep breaths before pushing the door of the cottage loudly.

I walked inside slowly and my heart started beating wildly when I heard another scream coming from the bedroom. Before I was able to get there, Isabella came running out of the room. Her red coat was shredded into pieces. She was frantic; her eyes were wide, scared and she was sobbing uncontrollably. She ran stumbling towards the living room. She was halfway there, when I saw a movement from the bedroom. I turned to check what it was and I gasped in shock. There it was, the wolf. It was not big; it was goddamn huge! It was like nothing I had ever seen before nor imagined. I heard Isabella shout as she scrambled to stand up. She looked around the room before clutching the nearest chair in her hand. She gripped it tightly, as if it could save her from the menacing animal. I knew and she knew it didn't stand a chance.

"Stay the fuck away!" she shouted sobbing. "You killed my grandma!" She was slowly taking steps backwards as the wolf made its way forward towards her. Neither was alerted of my presence in the room. It was like they were having some sort of private party and only the two of them were invited.

"You big ugly wolf! Big fucking eyes!" she shouted and the wolf gave a howl as if it was insulted. "You even have some huge teeth there, you sonofabitch!" she sneered. "I'm going to cut those fucking big ears, chop them into pieces when I have the chance!" I never heard Isabella curse before and I was stunned.

My panting was heavy, but the wolf didn't seem to notice, it only had eyes for her. It pounced and Isabella toppled backwards, just as I screamed in panic. Good thing the chair was in front of her, even though it did little to shield her. She was on the floor now and was trying to stand up. The chair was no longer an obstacle to the wolf. There was nothing shielding her.

I yelled obscenities to distract the wolf but it turned to me just for a moment and ignored me again. I saw the wolf eye her, before baring its sharp teeth and went after her. She turned around and raised her arms, ready to shield herself from the big claws of the animal, as if her small arms were a match to the big and sharp-clawed paws of the wolf. My heart was beating so fast, I was afraid it would burst out of my chest at any second now. I raised my hand and aimed the gun. Firing the shot just in time for the wolf to whimper away, but not die. Seeing that I was the threat more than Isabella, the big bad wolf with the big eyes turned its attention to me, and charged. Even with its injuries, it was so goddamn fast that I staggered backwards from the shock.

As I fell, the gun flew a couple of meters away and I was left defenseless. Instinct took over and I surveyed the area for a weapon. My eyes landed on an axe near the sofa and I scrambled to my knees to get it, just as the wolf charged towards me again. I swung the axe, without knowing if I would hit the wolf. Luck was on my side and the sharp blade of the axe met the thick skin of the animal. It growled a gruesome howl, leaving my skin crawling. Seeing my chance, I went near the injured body of the big animal and raised the heavy axe again. I hit the defenseless wolf many times, making sure it wouldn't have the chance to escape and terrorize the townsfolk in the future.

I was heaving from exhaustion and from the fear within me. My face and body were covered in wolf's blood. I raised the axe again, but I was unable to do any more damage to the severed body because I felt a small hand touching me. It was soothing, so I slowly lowered the axe and released it, making a loud 'clanking' noise when it hit the floor. I turned around and saw Isabella looking at me with relief and sorrow in her eyes.

"Please stop," she whispered, her eyes were begging me. It was as if she was afraid I wouldn't stop beating the animal. I closed my eyes, suddenly ashamed of my brutal killing of the wolf, even though I should be proud that I was able to save her. I was also sure that my appearance really looked appalling and I was mortified to know what she was thinking of me right now. I couldn't help but regret that I didn't stop when I was sure that the wolf was dead. Instead I had to mutilate it with the axe.

My eyes were closed so tightly that I could see different colors dancing in front of me. Suddenly, a cold hand cradled my cheek and I sighed in relief. It was only when she did that I felt that every thing would be okay. I opened my eyes and saw her smile.

I returned her a small smile, wishing I could read her mind. But I guessed I didn't need to because she was showing me. She reached for my hand and clasped hers with mine.

She pulled me out of the cottage and we made our way together. We walked slowly when I heard her soft whisper. "Thank you."

I turned to face her, needing to see if I heard correct. Her smile was confirmation and I knew everything would be okay in my world because she smiled.

I could hear the low throaty rattle of the ravens above, but I chose to ignore them. Their sound was becoming increasingly louder, but I muted them out and concentrated on my sweet Bella. She was safe now and I knew I was too. That was all that mattered.