DISCLAIMER: I own nothing

AUTHOR'S NOTE: a long chapter for you guys. There's some random B/E fluff but there's a lot of important stuff at the beginning and the end of the chapter.

-EPOV-

There are many benefits to having a sister who can see the future. She is always a step ahead of the stock market and she knows when you are going to be blood typing in Biology. Although the humans benefit from that one too. You don't want a vampire in your classroom when you're doing an assignment involving pricking your fingers. That's why I was ditching my class today.

I decided to use the time wisely and I was searching the parking lot for van in Alice's vision. The only problem was that I was not alone in my thoughts to ditch class, although the humans listening to music in their cars didn't have the same noble motivations. I would normally understand seeing as the teacher's monotonous voice was enough to put me to sleep. Their presence was rather frustrating today though, causing me to circle the parking lot at human speed. I had "heard" more than one human wonder if I was lost.

And then I was face to face with the vehicle I had been looking for, the one from Alice's vision; an old, medium sized, brown van. And sitting four spaces to the left of it, mocking me, was an old, medium sized, brown van. I would have to get out to the parking lot after school before everyone else did so that I could see who the owners were.

I became progressively irritated as I made my way to building five for my next class because right there, by a sick twist of fate, was one more brown van. Was there some new club I was unaware of?

After school the parking lot was going to be full of students, forcing me to maneuver at a human pace. There was no way I could surveillance all three vans. I would have to ask one of my siblings to assist me.

I quickly reserved an empty table in the corner of the lunchroom. I felt surprisingly anxious as I waited for Bella to come into view. I had not the slightest clue as to how Bella would react to my invitation. She hadn't seemed scared when we spoke yesterday but perhaps she was simply better at hiding it than the others.

It was a normal instinct to be frightened of us after all. Deep within their subconscious they realized we were the predators and they were the prey even if they don't fully comprehend it on a higher level.

I needed to keep constant watch over Bella, especially since we didn't have clue as to who the killer was yet. But if I was being completely truthful with myself I simply wanted to see her again. Those brief seconds of seeing her dead in Alice's mind had been the most excruciating of my existence. I wanted nothing more than to speak with her again. I had thought that after finally talking to her in Biology she would become less of a enigma to me but it had had the complete opposite effect. Se never reacted the way I expected and I was even more intrigued by her than usual.

Edward.

It was easy to distinguish my sister's familiar voice in the raucous crowd and I turned in the direction of my family seated around our normal table. Alice caught my eye.

Did you have any luck finding the van?

I looked to the left and then to the right as if searching for someone. Only my family would see this as my answer.

"There are four vans that match the one in your vision. We will have to find the owners." I whispered at vampire volume and I nodded infinitesimally, already seeing in my decision to ask her to help me survey today after school today.

I let all of the voices flood my mind once again, searching for the culprit. I knew it was a waste of effort. All of the voices blended together unless I was focused on one individual and if they weren't thinking of their plans at that exact moment I could be listening to them right now and not even realize it. At least after school today I would have narrowed it down to three suspects. It should be fairly easy to find the killer after "listening" to them after a short time.

A wrecking ball of mouth watering aroma notified me of Bella's arrival. My eyes swung to the entrance of the cafeteria. She looked as beautiful as ever but she seemed upset. Jessica Stanley was prattling on about something but I didn't have to be able to read Bella's mind to see she wasn't listening. She wore a vacant, almost dejected expression. I followed her gaze curious as to what could be upsetting her. She was watching my usual lunch table. What was this girl thinking? I didn't allow myself to hope that she was upset by my absence. I had missed Biology this morning. Perhaps she was looking for me?

"Edward Cullen is staring at you." Jessica giggled in Bella's ear. Her light hearted banter did not match the malicious current of her thoughts as a spew of jealous comments raced through her mind.

I rolled my eyes internally. She should count herself more than lucky that I did not find any interest in her.

Bella's eyes scanned the tables until they came to rest on mine. I smiled at the evident change in her mood. Perhaps she had been looking for me. That thought made me surprisingly happy. I motioned her to join me with one finger and her eyes widened.

"Maybe he has a question about what he missed in biology today." She mumbled to Jessica and Jessica shot her an incredulous look. I winked and Bella blushed a delicious red.

I chuckled at Jessica's scrambled thoughts.

Did he just…he couldn't have… he doesn't notice anyone! He just winked at her. Winked! Why her?

Bella hovered awkwardly behind the empty chair sitting across from me. I smiled reassuringly and motioned towards the chair.

"Why don't you sit with my today?"

She stood for a second longer, chewing on her bottom lip, before she hesitantly pulled the chair out and sat down.

She focused intently on the bottle of lemonade she had gotten.

"Why didn't you get any food?" I asked her. It had been an eternity since I had been human but I distinctly remember food being a necessity and I was instantly worried. Was she feeling okay?

She looked up at me and shrugged.

"I wasn't very hungry."

Her eyes flashed to the empty space on the table in front of me and I cursed myself. of course she would realize I hadn't gotten any food either.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked.

I smirked.

"No. I'm not hungry." I told her. I had gone hunting last night even though I was still full from my last hunting trip because I knew I was going to be seeing Bella again today.

Are you sure you aren't hungry Eddie? Emmett laughed in his mind and I shot him a look over Bella's head.

He was grinning angelically and Alice was giggling.

"You weren't in class today." Bella stated, drawing my attention away from my ease dropping siblings with vampiric hearing.

I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.

"sometimes ditching class is healthy."

It was partially true. When you're a vampire in a class full of bleeding humans it is healthier to ditch… for your peers.

Bella raised an eyebrow and looked down at her hands. Why couldn't she simply voice her thoughts aloud? It was pure agony not knowing what she was thinking.

After a few torturous moments I couldn't take it any longer.

"What are thinking about?" I asked as she looked up, seeming surprised in the frustration evident in my voice.

It looked as if she was debating whether she wanted to tell me or not. I decided to try something; it worked on all the other humans. But Bella never reacted like everyone else.

I leaned toward her, bracing my hands on the table, and widened my eyes slightly. I looked up at her from under my eyelashes.

"Please tell me Bella." I begged in the low, sultry, voice I reserved for not scaring the humans.

Bella's heart rate picked up speed and her breathing hitched.

"You don't seem like the type to ditch." She breathed and a victorious smile broke out across my face.

Edward Anthony Cullen!

Alice chided me silently.

You should be ashamed of yourself! You are going to give poor Bella a coronary.

I sat back in my seat a safe distance away so Bella wouldn't be frightened.

"What type of person do I seem like to you?" I asked, smirking.

Emmett laughed out loud this time, at just above vampire volume.

Are you flirting?! Emmett taunted me in a disbelieving tone.

I shot another look at my usual table while plotting vengeance on my favorite brother. Alice giggled.

"You may want to consider your jeep before torturing Edward with your thoughts." Alice warned Emmett quietly and he cursed under his breath.

I smirked.

Bella's heart faltered and I looked back to her, a little worried. Was it helpful for her heart to do that?

She was watching me intently with a mystified look. She blushed and looked down at her hands.

"The type?" She cleared her throat. "Forget I said anything…nothing… I don't know. Sorry." She mumbled incoherently.

I frowned. I would give anything to hear her thoughts.

Thoughts of Bella swirled in my mind for the rest of the day, causing me to walk around in a haze. And with my highly developed vampire brain that was not an easy task.

The final bell rang and it was as if a bomb had erupted in my mind, clearing it of every thought but one; in a mater of minutes I could be face to face with the person who was planning on killing Bella.

I poured every ounce of strength I possessed into walking a human speed across the parking lot. There were three vans. One of them belonged to the murderer.

I drove the Volvo to a newly vacant parking place where I could clearly see two of the vans through the rearview mirror. Thankfully at least two of the offending vehicles were parked in close proximity to each other. I knew Alice had seen my decision to keep an eye on these two and would be watching the other van for me.

I put on a CD, trying desperately to calm myself but Clair de Lune was not enough to distract my thoughts. My vision turned red and I had to remind myself to loosen my grip on the steering wheel before it turned to dust and crumbled in my hands as I thought of anyone trying to intentionally harm my Bella. I was torn between hoping the culprit would be thinking of their malicious plans as I sat here waiting and hoping they would wait to reveal themselves to me until I was in a controlled environment, surrounded by my family with any luck. On one hand I wanted nothing more than to rid the earth of the sadistic waste of skin. On the other hand I knew that if I were to see the killer now I would do something that would no doubt expose my family.

I saw movement by one of the vans and my eyes were intently trailed on the rearview mirror in a fifty-sixth of a second. I heard her before I received a clear view of her person.

I just had to trip at that exact moment. Geez! I'm so clumsy. At least I didn't fall on him but in front of him was bad enough.

The girl's thoughts were self conscious and shown with embarrassment. I finally managed a clear shot of her face, her short black hair in a pony tail. I recognized her as Chantel, the girl that sat just behind Bella and I in biology. Her "voice" was sweet and shy and I had never detected any malice in her thoughts so I mentally crossed her off of my suspect list.

My head reflexively shot to the right as I caught Bella's name repeatedly appearing in someone's inner monolog. My nostrils flared and I ground my teeth together but not because had found the murderer.

Bella looked so hot today. I'm totally going to have to ask her to the dance. We're going to have so much fun!

Tyler's overly confident thoughts assaulted me and a growl rumbled in my chest before I tuned him out as he began to "rate" her appearance.

Revolted I turned my attention to the vans. Chantel was driving away, her thoughts turned to the assignments she had to complete tonight.

Tyler Crowley stopped in front of the drivers side door of the remaining van, fishing his keys out of his pocket. Tyler was the owner of the other van? Rage pulsed through me and my hand was already gripping the handle before logic settled in. just because he had been thinking of Bella does not necessarily mean he was the killer. I hadn't detected any fiendish undertones. Besides, if he was planning on taking her to the dance why would he be planning to dispose of her?

The rational side of my brain was arguing Tyler's innocence while another, more tribal part, wanted to go hit him simply because I did not like him. Something that seemed fairly recent.

But if the person planning to murder my Bella didn't own either of these vehicles…

I swung out of the parking spot, fishtailing around the corner, as I realized as soon as I saw Alice I would know who it was.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope everyone likes it so far. It's getting a little more exciting, yeah? Please review if you read it. Thanks!