Edward's Introduction: Chapter 2

Bella exited the cab that took her right to her father's house. It was twilight and the porch light was already lit. Charlie, anticipating her arrival, opened the door and met her out on the driveway.

"Bells!" his arms were open for a big, warm embrace.

"Hey Dad!" Bella ran into his arms. They hugged each other for a long while, before Bella pulled away. "You look great!"

"So do you. It's been so long."

"I know, I'm sorry. Ya know how work can be."

"Yeah, I do know. How's the agency? They actually let you get vacation? I hope they gave you a discount price since you work for their travel agency company."

"It's the same. Busy, busy of course!" she lied through her teeth. Sunset had enough money to buy Forks, alone.

"Are you hungry? Uh, I didn't cook anything." Charlie ran his hand through his brown hair, his other hand on his hip, slightly put off that there was nothing for Bella to eat.

"Please do not trouble yourself." Bella practically begged, she remembered how Charlie was not a great cook at all.

"I thought you'd say that. C'mon, it'll be my treat, Bells."

"No, Dad. It'll be my treat tonight. You can get tomorrow." Bella offered. Charlie just chuckled. "Let me just put my stuff down and change my clothes. I feel all yucky!"

"Okay."

Bella went inside her childhood home and quickly took the stairs by two. More old memories came back as she remembered always stumbling at the last step. She bounded over the last step with ease and she smiled to herself.

Some things change, for the better. Bella thought to herself.

She changed out of her over-baggy sweater and put on a deep blue long sleeve, V-neck sweater. Threw on a charm bracelet with a blue clear marble dangling from it. She looked at her appearance in the mirror, her hair was bent from the rubberband, but luckily it worked out as she pulled it out of her hair. It gave it a sexy look, hair disarraying into different directions. She smiled at herself and put some lipgloss on her lips.

"Jeans! Change your jeans, Bella, you silly woman." She threw clothes out from her bag into the bed and found some jeans that appeared cleaner than the ones she wore now. She practically buttoned her pants and ran down the stairs at the same time. Charlie waited for her in the living room, watching some highlights of a game on TV.

"I'm ready!" Bella shouted.

"Let's go." He stood up from the recliner chair, turned off the TV, and headed out the door. They made their way to the Red Chevy truck that Charlie kept for times he didn't use his cruiser.

"I can't believe you still have this truck. That's alright, I love this old antique."

"It always reminds me of you." Charlie said, a small grin on his face. Bella felt guilty that she was not able to visit her dad as often as they both wanted.

"Can I drive?" Bella said, like a small child with a big smile on her face.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Charlie handed her the keys.

They got into the truck and Bella started the ignition. The engine still sounded exactly the same, loud and ferocious.

"Wow, brings back memories." Bella reminisced. Charlie smiled at her.

They left and went toward the small town of Forks to Charlie's favorite restaurant, the Lodge.

* * *

The restaurant was not Bella's preference, but she still enjoyed herself with her father. They had talked about the gap of time they were not able to spend together. Charlie been busy with work, as always, also busy fishing for the times he didn't work. Incidentally, Bella has been busy with her "occupation". Bella has been able to travel, all for work, but still not exactly a vacation that Charlie thought it would be.

"That was fun." Charlie admitted.

"Yes, it was. We'll do it again tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

They arrived to the house, parking the truck in the driveway. After entering the house, the answering machine was full with messages, the red light blinking.

"I better listen to these messages. It might be work."

"Ok, I'll be upstairs unpacking."

Charlie picked up the phone and started to dial. His voice was calm at first, then irritated the next second. "Alright, I know, but Bella's home... Fine, I'll be in about 15 minutes." Charlie hung up the phone with disappointment in his face. He called up the stairs to Bella. "I have to go Bella. Work calls. Uh, I'm not sure what time I'll be home. So..."

"It's alright dad. I know how work can be. Especially in a dangerous town like Forks." Bella joked from the top of the stairs. It made Charlie chuckle.

"Ok then, I'm off. Good night, sweetheart."

Bella decided she would go out for a jog while Charlie went to work. It would keep her busy and she wanted to see the beautiful green forest she came to love. It wasn't beautiful when she first moved to Forks when she was 17, but it grew on her. It seemed she befriended Forks' forest instead of all the two-faced students at Forks high, spending her time there while reading one of her old books.

She changed into some old sweats and a gray sweater, pulled her hair back up to a tight ponytail and headed out the back door to enter the forest. She placed her cell phone in her pocket, just in case Charlie called, and jogged in place for a few seconds before moving forward.

The air was crisp, cool, fresh, it was dark but still lit by the light of the moon. Her breath quickened as the blood in her veins started to rush throughout her body. Sweat started to sprout from her forehead, some sleeking down in streams from her neck. Getting deeper into the forest, she hopped over branches and obstacles that would block her way. This was invigorating. A jog at night before bed would be a routine she planned to pick up while vacationing in Forks. It would help to keep her in shape, since she definitely would not be working.

Just as she was about to jump over a big branch that broke off a tree, the landscape dipped where she stepped down. She twisted her foot and she fumbled to the ground. Leaves and dirt covered her hair.

"Fantastic.." Bella frustratingly slapped the ground with her hands.

She tried to stand up, only to feel a pain shoot up her left leg. Was it broken? She hoped not. She put some weight on it as she tried to walk again and the pain was still strong. She limped all the way home. It took almost an hour, but she eventually arrived home.

Thankful that it was her left leg that was injured, or she wouldn't have been able to drive the truck. She grabbed the keys to the truck and headed to the hospital. Uncaring how straight her parking was, the truck took up two parking spaces in the lot, then she hobbled her way to the emergency room entrance. A nurse saw her limping her way to the desk and ordered for a wheelchair for Bella. She had filled out some paperwork and sat to wait for her turn.

"Isabella Swan?" a nurse called from the back. "The doctor will see you now." The nurse pushed her through the big double doors and into a private examination room. She placed herself on the bed and the nurse took all her vital signs. Just as the nurse finished her duty, Dr. Carlisle Cullen walked in. Bella's eyes widened at the young pale but beautiful doctor.

Wow. Bella thought to herself.

"Hello Miss Swan. I am Dr. Cullen....What happened?" Carlisle did his usual greeting and asked the chief question of why she was at the hospital.

"Hello. Well, I was taking a midnight jog and twisted my left ankle. I jumped over a branch in the way and landed in a hole, I think." Bella explained.

"Alright. Is it painful?" Carlisle asked.

"I can tolerate pain, but I'm here on vacation visiting my father, and I don't want to be limping the whole time I'm here."

"Let's have a look. May I?" Carlisle asked before placing his hand on her ankle.

"Please."

Carlisle lifted her sweatpant leg to reveal a slightly swollen ankle. He prodded a little with his fingers, squeezing just a little to cause Bella to jump slightly.

"Sorry. I'll order some X-rays to be taken, just in case."

"Thank you Dr. Cullen."

"Just sit tight, someone will come in, in just a minute."

Bella waited patiently until a nurse came in with another wheelchair. They made their way to the X-ray room, Bella's foot lifted by one of the wheelchair stirrups. A strand of hair was falling into her face, which irritated her to no end, and she undid the rubberband restraint. She shook her hair to straighten out and moved the stray hair out of the way.

Down the hallway, was Dr. Cullen's private office. Sitting in Carlisle's office was Edward, Carlisle's youngest son, in human years. He had been flipping through a book about medicine when an unexpected event had disturbed his life. The door to the office was opened and the sway of Bella's hair had sent her scent flowing into the office. Edward was about to flip to the next page when he froze completely still. Bella's scent that flowed into the small room, which had struck Edward like a wrecking ball, causing him to drop the book and forcing him to grab onto the arms of the chair to stabilize himself.

Edward, his eyes pitch black from not feeding in 2 weeks, stopped breathing at that moment. The

painful ache in the back of his throat flooded his thoughts of wanting to hunt down the person who owned the delicious blood.

Where is that coming from?

Edward thought to himself. The scent was overwhelmingly intoxicating, alluring. He needed to know now where the scent was coming from.

No, Edward! Stay where you are. It's too much for you to handle....Wait, I can handle it....It's a life Edward. An innocent life. Don't be ridiculous....The scent is so delicious though. Mmm...

His thoughts fought with each other, contemplating if he should investigate where the scent was coming from. The monster inside got the better of him and he stood swiftly to find where it came from. Standing at the doorway of his father's office, he looked left and right, searching for the culprit. Bella was just about to pass the door with the nurse still pushing her on the wheelchair. She just finished pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail, then noticed Edward standing at the doorway.

His face was extraordinarily beautiful...and pale. Bella noticed how his eyes were an odd dark color. She couldn't help but stare at the beautiful man. When she caught Edward eyeing her with disdain, she dropped her gaze to her lap. Her face started to blush a dark pink color. She swallowed hard and kept her eyes at her lap.

Edward heard the rushing of her blood within her body as she blushed. His hands gripped the door jamb and made slight imprints of his nails into the wood. Bella and the nurse turned the corner and disappeared from Edward's sight, but the scent was still brutally strong.

"Edward, there you are." Carlisle took a look at his son's face of pain and questions formed in his thoughts.

What's wrong Edward?

"Who is that Carlisle?"

"Who?" Carlisle spoke aloud now.

"The woman in the wheelchair. That just passed."

"I believe that is Sheriff Swan's daughter, Isabella."

"I...need to go. I need to leave." Edward's face looked severely pained.

"What happened?!" Carlisle was worried now, for sure.

"Her scent. It's too..." Edward didn't even need to finish his sentence.

Finally, it donned on Carlisle that Edward was trying to compose himself with so many witnesses present. He also noticed that Edward was still as stone and was not breathing at all. Carlisle swiftly walked into his office and grabbed for his keys, tossed it at Edward. Edward caught it with ease.

"Here. Take my car."

"Thank you, Carlisle." Edward headed into the opposite direction that Bella's scent was lingering. He found the nearest exit and practically flew to Carlisle's car.