A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns these characters, not me.
You know the drill: read and review, please!
I left the office as fast as I could. The anticipation was building in me, along with a different emotion that I couldn't exactly pinpoint. It nagged at me until I pushed it back in my mind and I began to focus on the upcoming investigation. I knew I wanted to set up some cameras, still and live, to capture anything interesting. I most definitely wanted a tour, preferably a personal one, by Edward when I arrived. I wanted to interview everyone who had been in the house or had experienced anything.
I was so deep in my thoughts, that I nearly missed the tiny exit sign to Forks. The ride to the tiny town was scenic, to say the least. I followed the directions that Angela had printed out for me and soon enough, I saw the house coming up. I pulled into the driveway, noticing two other vehicles were already there. I only grabbed what I thought was important: a pen, a pad of paper, digital camera and a voice recorder. I would come back out and grab some of my other gear once I got situated.
I walked up the concrete sidewalk to the front door and knocked. I looked around to see what I was up against and felt a cold breeze flow against my back. I shivered and looked to my left, at a window. The curtain behind it moved slightly and I could've sworn I heard laughter floating in the air. I quickly jotted down what I had experienced in my notebook and put it back in my bag. The door opened immediately and I couldn't have been more shocked at what I saw. I was greeted by a tall, lanky blonde man. My jaw dropped in awe. He was gorgeous. He smiled, seeing my reaction.
"I get that a lot. I'm Jasper Whitlock. You must be Bella Swan. Alice told me that you'd be coming soon." Jasper said, extending his hand out to me. I took it and quickly shook my head. I grinned at him.
"That I am. Is Alice around?" I peeked around him. I heard a female's voice getting louder and then saw a woman in the hallway.
"You're early! Welcome! Jas, you could've at least invited her in. Come in, come in. I'm Alice. I'm so glad you're actually here." It surprised me when I saw how…tiny she was. Not that it made any difference to me, it was completely different than what I had imagined her to be like. I instantly felt comfortable around her. She held onto my arm and lead me to what I thought to be the living room. Another couple was sitting on the couch, heads close together. The man on the couch nearly took up the entire thing, but the blonde woman didn't seem to mind. Alice cleared her throat and the two looked up. Again, my jaw dropped at the sight. The blonde woman was absolutely stunning, I felt oddly out of place in my jeans and flannel shirt. She didn't seem to notice when she came over to me and introduced herself.
"Rosalie Cullen. I'm Edward's sister-in-law. Nice to meet you. I've read all of your books. They're fascinating." She was a fan of mine? I smiled and shook her hand.
"Then you'll be happy to know that I just sent my newest book to my publisher. If you'd give me your address later, I'll make sure to give it to her and get you the first book, hot off the press." Rosalie's eyes lit up and she laughed.
"Awesome. Hear that Em? Hot off the press!" The large man smiled and stood up. I underestimated how huge he was. He towered over Jasper and the muscles on his arms were as wide as Alice. Instead of shaking my hand, he engulfed me in hug.
"Finally! You don't look like the ghost busting person I had envisioned. Where's your ghost gun and jumpsuit?" He let go of me and I stared up at him.
"It's all in my car. I had to use it a little earlier when I was battling the Michelin Man and floating aliens." He laughed, catching my reference to the Ghostbusters movie.
"I'm Emmett Cullen. Edward is my little brother." I glanced around the room and put a finger on my lips.
"And where is this elusive Edward Cullen that I'm supposed to help?" Alice cleared her throat again and placed a hand on my arm. She gently pushed me down into a chair and stood in front of me.
"Okay, here's the thing. Edward doesn't know that you're actually coming to help him. I…well, we, kind of joined forces to convince you to come here. Edward is completely in the dark." She bit her lip nervously. I let out a long breath and ran my fingers through my hair.
"Interesting. This is definitely a first,"
"Oh, please don't be offended or anything. I promise this will be completely worth while. Don't leave, Bella," Alice pleaded.
"Who said anything about me leaving? Alice, what your brother is living in is like a ghost playground," I repeated what I said earlier to Angela and smiled encouragingly at them.
"This has enough material for my next book. I would like to get to know you all a little better and also would like to interview you. I guess I could call you my impromptu investigative team." A door slammed somewhere in the house and I jumped, startled. Alice sighed and shook her head.
"Happens all the time, don't worry." We all stiffened when we heard footsteps.
"That too." Emmett added and stood protectively in front of Rosalie, who instinctively reached for his hand. I searched my bag for my recorder, not wanting to miss a thing. I turned it on and whispered into it.
"Bella Swan at the Cullen residence. Just experienced a door slam and footsteps. See notes for what occurred earlier before being let into house." Jasper and Alice both looked down at me when I said that. The footsteps grew louder and louder and then…
"Who the hell is that and why are all of you in my house?" A man growled at the entrance to the living room. The room seemed to relax slightly and Alice was the first to speak up.
"Hi, Edward. This is Bella Swan. She researches the paranormal. I emailed her yesterday and asked her to come out here. She can help," I stood up awkwardly and got my first glimpse of Edward Cullen. He had odd colored hair; not quite brown, but not quite red. It was almost bronze-like. He was almost as tall as Jasper, but more built. The features of his face seemed to be chiseled from stone. There were big purple rings under his eyes. His eyes…I gasped loudly. I recognized those eyes. Images of a large black mass swirled in my head. This was the man from my nightmare.
