Bella POV

Monday's were always my least favorite day of the week. Everyone came back from school with an unusual amount of energy. Boys were rowdy and the girls were talkative. It made school even worse than it normally was. The plus to today was the fact that it was sunny outside. I missed the sun. It was the one thing Forks was lacking.

I glanced across the cafeteria. The Cullen's usual table was empty. After the trip to La Push I wasn't surprised. They wouldn't do well in the sun. I pulled out a notebook and continued jotting down notes.

Tomorrow I planned on driving to Port Angeles. There was a bookstore there that had a book with more information about the Quileute legends and the cold ones. Jacob had told me some of their legends but it felt like he was hiding something. Tomorrow I would figure out what that something was.

Charlie had already given approval for me to head to Port Angeles. He was worried about my truck making the trip but I promised I would call if something happened. While there he did ask that I head to the candy store in town and pick up some homemade fudge. With all the animal attacks going on the Deputies had to work overtime. Charlie wanted to do something nice for his employees.

By the time lunch was over I had my list for Port Angeles completed as well as a list of weird things I noticed about the Cullens. First on the list being when Edward saved me from the van.

"Bella, are you okay?" Angela asked pulling me from my thoughts.

I quickly closed my notebook. The last thing I needed was for Angela, or anyone, to see my notes regarding the Cullens. It would make me look like a stalker or something.

"Fine Angela, why?" I asked. I was confused. Why wouldn't I be okay?

"You didn't eat," she gestured toward the full plate of food in front of me.

"Oh." I didn't even realize I hadn't eaten. I was so busy. "I wasn't hungry"

"Are you sure?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I assured her. I quickly cleaned up my tray and belongings and headed to my next class.

By the end of the day I was exhausted. Angela kept staring at me, almost like she expected me to break. Whatever Angela thought was wrong with me she didn't tell the others. Other than the occasional glances from Mike and Eric our group of friends pretty much ignored me.

Instead of going straight home I decided to stop at the station and check on Charlie. I normally made dinner every night and was having trouble thinking of what to cook tonight. I was hoping to get some ideas from Charlie.

The station was mostly empty when I arrived. There were a couple cops wandering around and the receptionist. I walked up to the receptionist, Ms. Cobb. She was a nice lady. I had met her during one of my summers in Forks.

"Bella," she greeted with a smile.

"Ms. Cobb, is my dad around?" I asked. As much as I liked Ms. Cobb, she was very talkative and I didn't have time, or energy, for that.

"He is in his office," Ms. Cobb confirmed. "Go ahead."

I walked past her desk and went straight to Charlie's office. "Bella," he said surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I assured him. "I was heading home and couldn't think of what to cook for dinner. I was wondering if you had any ideas?"

Charlie tapped his chin. Food was a serious topic for him. It was amusing at times. "What about your famous blue cheese burgers and fries?" he suggested.

"Sure," I agreed. It had been a while since I made that. It sounded good. I figured I could make a chocolate cake to go with it.

Charlie reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He picked through it and pulled out multiple twenty-dollar bills. My eyes widened when I saw it was $100. "Use it to get what you need, keep the change and use it tomorrow when you go to Port Angeles."

"Dad," I protested. "This was way too much."

"Nonsense Bella," he said dismissing my protests. "Take the money."

"Thanks Dad," I said giving him a side hug. Neither one of us was good at emotions but every so often Charlie would do something like this and it was hard for me not to react.

"Anytime Bella," he said embarrassed.

I pulled away from him and tucked the money away. "Let me know if you will be home late," I told him before I left the police station.

I sighed as the sun disappeared behind clouds. It was nice while it lasted.

There wasn't much traffic as I drove to Ray's Grocery. The parking lot was practically empty which was nice. I wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible.

I grabbed a basket and rolled my way through the store. I mentally took inventory of what we had at home. We had the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Unfortunately, that was all, at least all that I could remember.

The dry ingredients were first on the list, along with a chocolate cake mix. I made my way to the meat and grabbed the ground beef. I wouldn't have time to make homemade fries so I went to the frozen food aisle and grabbed a bag of French fries. Last on my list was the blue cheese and so ice cream to go with the cake.

Satisfied I got everything I needed I went to the checkout. I wasn't watching where I was going and ran into the wall.

"Oomph," I groaned.

I looked up, expecting to see the wall I ran into. It wasn't a wall. It was a person, judging by the gold eyes and pale skin it was a Cullen.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked concerned.

I ran into her and she was concerned about me. This family was strange. "I'm fine." I assured her. "I'm sorry for bumping into you."

"It's no trouble dear. I'm Esme by the way. Esme Cullen," she introduced, offering her hand.

It was weird. Despite all my interactions with Jasper, Alice, Emmett and even Edward, they never once touched me. They were very careful about not touching me. I had always assumed they had a thing about touching people. After my trip to La Push I wasn't so sure.

"Bella Swan," I said shaking her hand. Her hand was like ice cubes. It wasn't normal, unless it was a condition of some kind.

"Nice to meet you Bella," Esme said with a smile. She was oblivious to my inner monologue. "Well I should be going. I promised to bake some cookies for my husband's patients, something to brighten their day. Say hello to your father for me."

"I will," I promised.

We parted ways, going to two different checkout lines. I quickly paid my total, just under $50 and left the store. There was no sign of Esme anywhere so I assumed she was already gone.

As soon as I got home I got to work. I made the patties and set them aside for the time being. I wouldn't cook them until Charlie was almost home.

I cleaned up my messed and got started on the cake. I preferred cooking to baking but I had no trouble preparing the cake. Once the cake was in the oven I cleaned up the kitchen again.

While the cake was baking I worked on homework. I didn't have a whole lot to do, just some math problems and an outline for my essay on Of Mice and Men. I paused only to pull the cake out.

The phone rang, pulling me away from the headache that was trig. "Hello," I answered.

"Bella," Charlie said. "I'm leaving the station now."

I nodded even though he can't see me. "See you when you get home."

I hung up the phone and cleaned up my homework, creating a neat pile on the edge of the table.

I heated the oven got the pan out for the burger. I made six patties and planned on cooking them all so there would be leftovers for Charlie.

"Bella," Charlie called walking into the house. "Kitchen," I called back.

"Smells good," Charlie commented walking into the kitchen.

"Thanks Dad."

"Need any help?" Charlie asked, just as the oven beeped signaling that the fries were done.

"Can you grab that?" I was currently toasting some buns for the burgers and wasn't able to get the fries. Charlie quickly shut off the oven and pulled the fries out. "Sprinkle some salt on them."

Ten minutes later dinner was ready. While I did some last-minute preparations, Charlie went to change and lock his gun up.

"This is great Bells," Charlie said in between mouthfuls of food.

"Thanks Dad," I said, embarrassed at the praise. "Dad." Charlie looked up. "Would it be okay if I got a job?"

"A job?" Charlie repeated dropping a fry on his plate. "Why?"

I shrugged. "It would be nice to make some money. You know, save up for college."

Charlie looked thoughtful. "Yeah that would be fine." He picked the fry up and waved it at me. "But school comes first."

After dinner Charlie offered to clean the kitchen. I carried my school work upstairs and finished my homework.

School was moving too slow for my liking. I was in a hurry to leave. The sooner I got to Port Angeles, the better. As soon as the bell rang I was out of the classroom. I could hear Mike and Angela trying to get my attention. I felt bad for ignoring them but I was in a hurry.

By the time I got to Port Angeles it was close to four in the afternoon. Although it was a slow drive my truck did fairly well.

I parked next to the bookstore and made my way inside. The bookstore was empty, for a Tuesday night that was to be expected.

The door chimed as I walked inside. "Welcome," an older, Native man greeted. I wondered if he was from La Push. "Do you need help finding anything?"

"No thanks," I told him.

I wandered through the many rows of books. Despite being a relatively small bookstore there was a large variety of books. I sighed in relief when I found what I was looking for.

It was a book on Quileute legends, although there was only one legend I cared about. I flipped through the book. I wanted to make sure it had what I needed before I bought it. Sure enough chapter four was about the Cold Ones.

I spent a little more time in the bookstore in case there was something else that would catch my eye. After a while I gave up and headed to the register, book in hand. The shopkeeper's eyes widened slightly at the sight of it. So he was Quileute then. I was probably the first pale face interested in Quileute legends.

"Your total is $21.73," he informed me. He looked like he wanted to say something about the book but for whatever reason didn't.

By the time I left the bookstore it was starting to get dark. I wasn't worried. I would grab the chocolate for Charlie, grab some dinner and then head home.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan for this part of my trip that well. I turned into an alleyway, hoping to cut through and find the store. My heart pounded in my chest when I four guys, hanging out in the alley. All of them looked to be college aged, with their beers in hand.

"Hey boys, look at this," one of the guys called.

I turned around. I was just going to drive around instead of walking. It was safer that way. I should have done it in the first place.

To my horror, there were two more guys behind me. "Where are you going sweetheart?" He reached out and stroked my cheek.

"Don't touch me," I said spitting on him. I needed to buy myself some time to get away.

Spitting on him only angered him. He threw me down on the ground. My hands slid on the gravel and I could feel the sting of a cut. I had fallen so many times that the feelings were familiar.

The other man reached over and smacked me across the face. I spit out the blood, my blood on the floor. He lifted his hand, like he was going to hit me again. I closed my eyes and waited for the blow but it never came.

I slowly opened my eyes. I heard some screams but couldn't pinpoint where they were coming from. In front of me were two of the guys, both were dead, blood flowing from wounds on their necks.

I turned in the direction of the other men. It was the same as the two in front of me. All dead. That wasn't what caught my attention.

Standing in front of those men was Edward. He no longer had his gold eyes. Instead they were crimson red and matched the blood dripping from his chin. He crouched down and stalked toward me.

In that moment, I knew I was about to die.