AN: Thanks to danielle72679, Solar571, kittycat1980 and team jazper for reviewing. This chapter is unbeta-ed so the mistakes are all mine.

That's right- the guy you've all been waiting for...

Edward

Forks… Why am I coming back here again? Oh, yeah- my "family" live here now. I call them a family, but we aren't related in the natural sense of the word. Our kind would refer to us as a coven. There are seven of us, including myself.

I've missed them in the time that we've been separated. It was my choice to leave, though. I just couldn't handle living with so many couples anymore. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for my super human hearing, or for the fact that I always knew what they were thinking at any given moment. They tried their best to include me, or to think about something other than their mate while I was around. My father always said that when the time came for me, I wouldn't mind so much. That sentiment didn't help me much at the time. I can't imagine finding my other half.

Don't get me wrong- it's not like I felt lonely or anything, but I could only take so much of their… activities. It's not like I had a house of my own to go to, or other family or friends to visit. Plus, my so called life before leaving was just completely monotonous. I felt like I needed the change, if only for a little while. At the time, my life consisted of school, hunting, music, and reading or studying. If it wasn't for my piano, I might have gone mad, if such a thing was possible. It was the one thing I looked forward to the most. I've missed my Steinway almost as much as my family.

I'm sure Alice would have seen me coming home by now. Who needs a phone when you can see the future? I wouldn't be surprised if she kept tabs on me over my time away. I never told her she couldn't. It's not like I want any of my family to worry about me, not that they needed to, but I know what Esme is like. She's my mother, for all intents and purposes.

I left my family approximately five hundred and thirty two days ago. I didn't have a specific destination in mind; I just knew I needed a break. I've travelled the world in my time away, something that I never really thought I wanted to do. The one place I intentionally stayed away from was Italy, however. I didn't want to have an encounter with the Volturi to deal with when I was by myself. I've known for a while now that they want Alice and me to join their ranks. I think I would prefer to die.

The Volturi are the oldest and most powerful of our kind. They enforce the one rule that we have to live by as part of our way of life. Carlisle stayed with them for a period of time after being changed. He had nowhere else to go. That was where he first thought about becoming a physician. The Volturi had the knowledge, and he had the time to study and practice. That was over two hundred years ago, before either myself or Esme came along.

It isn't strictly normal for our kind to stick together in such a large number. We're mainly nomads, going from place to place, trying to find our next meal as inconspicuously as possible. My family and I shy away from the norm as much as possible. I guess others would see that as a rejection of our way of life, but none of us asked for this… It's like being stuck in a perpetual nightmare. That's the only way I know how to describe it.

I'm a monster, plain and simple. I wouldn't wish this life on anyone. I wouldn't even call it a life… more of an existence, and not one that I particularly want to be a part of.

Carlisle always disliked it when I started to become pessimistic, but what is there to be optimistic about? We've had numerous discussions debating on what the point of our presence could be. I could never understand why such a thing as us existed in the first place. He always argued that we could do great things with our gift of time. That was one of the reasons I obtained a medical degree or two. I thought I could help the humans out like Carlisle does. I got that wrong though. The smell of blood would sometimes become too much for me. Plus, patients don't always trust a doctor that looks young enough to be their son.

So, up until five hundred and thirty two days ago, I was stuck in the endless cycle known as high school. I've been to college many times too, but the younger we start out in a place the longer we can stay there. When I get back to my family, I'll be returning to high school, and joining the junior year along with Alice and Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie are in their senior year. It would be weird if we were all the same age, don't you think?

I was changed at the age of seventeen by Carlisle. I was dying of the Spanish influenza when he first saw me in the hospital back in Chicago. He told me that my birth mother begged him to save me. Sometimes, I wish he hadn't. I was the first to join his family. I know he wanted the company. He had been alone for such a long time.

No one knows about Alice's human life, or at what age she was changed. We have all tried to help her to research it, but we don't have a lot to go on. We aren't even sure if Alice was her human name. She woke up alone with a premonition that included Jasper. Once she had found him, she had another vision that included my family. She led both herself and Jasper to us. I was on a hunting trip at the time. When I had returned, all of my belongings in my room had been removed and in their place were possessions belonging to the pair. I guess you could say I was a little angry at the time.

I've always admired Alice's strength. She didn't know what or who she was when she awoke, but she didn't let her thirst affect her. She's one of few who can say that they have never killed a human.

I wish I could say the same.

Jasper, her mate, was the youngest general of the Confederation army that were fighting in the South at that time. He has a long history of dealing with those of our kind. I believe he trained them to fight and gain territories in his early life. He has the scars to prove it. His gift of knowing and influencing the emotions of others no doubt helped with that. He finds it difficult being around humans and I can't say I blame him. Until he met Alice, he didn't know there was another way to be. He's still adjusting to it now, all these years later, but his will power improves every day.

Rosalie's human life is a sad story to hear, although she would give you hell for showing her any pity for it. She was engaged to her town's most eligible bachelor, a man named Royce King. She met her end when she was brutally beaten, raped, and left for dead in the gutter of a street by Royce and a gang of his friends. Carlisle smelled the blood when returning from a night shift at the local hospital. He brought her back to our home and changed her there and then. It was my opinion at the time that he should have let her die. If you asked her that question now, she would tell you that that was what she wanted, to die. Carlisle believed he was doing me a favour. He had Esme by that point and I still had no one. His thoughts at the time revealed that he wanted Rosalie to be my mate. Suffice to say it didn't happen for us. She didn't want it to either, but she was put out by my immediate rejection of her. I don't think she was used to hearing the word no. She has struggled the most with this way of life. It was made easier for her when she found Emmett, however she still wishes to be human to this day. It's a shame that that isn't possible.

Emmett is the most loyal brother a guy could have. His personality is the complete opposite of Rosalie's. He has provided our family with constant entertainment over the years. He's a smart guy but he can come out with the stupidest things sometimes. He was the last member of our family to be changed. Rosalie found him whilst hunting in a nearby forest. He had been attacked by a bear and was bleeding to death. She saw something in him that she couldn't let go, so ran home with him in her arms. She begged Carlisle to change him as she wasn't strong enough to do it herself.

That's how I got my brothers and sisters. We always tell people that Carlisle and Esme adopted us as they're unable to have their own children. As soon as I detect a thought coming from someone that implies they believe differently, our family moves and begins somewhere else so as to escape suspicion. Our kind only has one rule, and that is to keep our existence a secret. Those that don't are punished by the Volturi, which usually means death. There's only one way that I know of to kill our kind, and that is to rip them apart and burn the pieces.

Edward! I can't wait to see you!

I can hear Alice's thoughts now that I'm a mile away from the house. The happy tone in which she thinks them brings a smile to my face. I can't wait to see her either. She must have had a vision of me getting closer.

It doesn't take me long to reach the building we call a home. Through the glass, I see my family together in the living room. As I enter the door, I drop my back pack containing a few belongings and join them. Immediately I'm assaulted by their welcoming thoughts and hugs from an exuberant Alice and an emotional Esme. Carlisle shakes my hand before also pulling me into a hug.

It's been too long, son.

"Sorry, Carlisle," I reply as I return his hug with the same amount of vigour.

We spend the next hour or so catching up with one another. It's been too long since my last phone call, I see that now. Esme would never say it out loud, but I can hear that she thinks the same. During the hour, I can't help but feel that something is being kept from me by my brothers and sisters. I let it slide for the time being but I'll ask about it at a later time.

"I've contacted the school, notifying them of your return. They're expecting you on Monday so you have the rest of the week to relax," says Carlisle.

"Thanks."

That's in six days' time. What should I do until then?

The school were told that I would be going to a boarding school in my time away for more gifted individuals. That was a lie of course, but they needed a good explanation for my disappearance at the time. I didn't give them a lot of notice.

"I suggest you spend some time catching up on the school work you've missed, not that you really need to, but at least you'll be up to date with the syllabus," says Esme.

She's right, we have photographic memories, plus I've been through school a ridiculous number of times now. It would give me something to do for an hour at least.

"Ed man, I'm starved. Want to join me on a hunt?" asks Emmett.

I've been waiting for your return, thought we could have a little competition to make things more interesting.

I accept his invitation to go hunting and to turn it into some sort of competition between us. As I do, I notice Alice staring at Emmett intensely for a half a second. Before I can start to figure out what that was about, her internal monologue begins to plan out her weekend. I can see that she wants to go shopping. She hasn't changed a bit.

"Oh," she begins. "It will be sunny for the next couple of days, just so you know."

"Thanks for the warning," I reply.

It looks like I'll be stuck inside until Thursday at least. I had better make the most of my hunt with Emmett.

AN: So now you sort of know where Edward has been, and he's going back to school! We may have some Bella and Edward interaction in the next chapter :)

Until next time...

Oh, reviews make me write faster :) Thanks!