Thank you everyone for the kind reviews, they really did give me the motivation to continue. Today's Chapter is early because I have a Family obligation tomorrow and may not be able to upload. My aim is every Sunday until it is completely written then I will change to twice a week.

Next weeks chapter may be Monday because I will be in Scotland meeting up with some Twi-fic Writer/readers and getting my books signed by some published Fic writers like Sophie Jackson, Helena Hunting, Alice Clayton and Christina Lauren.

Thank you to Sherry who as usual, is always there to support me and go through my writing. Any mistakes are my own.

I do not own Twilight or Dexter.

Chapter 2

Sitting at the bar I watched the people around me. Happy hour; it's one of those things I don't understand, people don't drink because they're happy, they drink so they don't feel anything at all. I guess I can't really complain. I have other vices which I'm sure they wouldn't understand either.

I look to my left and see my target sitting two barstools down, bottle in front of him.

The bartender approaches me, "I'll have what he's having." I tilt my head in my target's direction.

"Good choice my man." My target raises his drink.

The bartender places my drink down in front of me. Scotch. Not wholly unpleasant. "Celebrating?" I ask.

"Something like that." He raises his glass before emptying it in one swallow.

I knew why he was here. He was celebrating. Riley Biers, a notorious drug dealer from Florida, moved here two years ago. He was released without charge for the indirect murder of twenty-three people. There was insufficient evidence; nothing to link him to the tampered drugs.

I nod and lift my own glass, barely letting it touch my lips.

"What about you my man, you celebrating?" He slurs the words at me, swaying on his stool.

"I guess it depends on how you look at it." He stares at me and I try to think of an appropriate, generic answer. "My divorce was finalized today. She said I drank too much." I raise my glass again and offer him a smile. "Fuck her." He doesn't wait to see if I drink any, just pours himself another drink and throws it straight down.

"Yeah, fuck her, man."

"I guess it was a mistake." I slow my words, hoping to give the illusion that the alcohol was taking effect.

He laughs, "Everyone makes mistakes. Mine usually involve lawyers." His hand comes down on the bar in a quick concession, the bangs sounding through the room as his laugh grows in volume. I didn't get it… What was so funny?

He stands and stumbles past me, patting me on the back. "I'm out man. Great meeting you."

"You going to be okay getting home?" I feign concern.

"I'm good to drive. I always am." He laughs again and makes his way out.

Grabbing my glass I throw the contents into his empty one before placing the empty glass in my jacket pocket. No trace I was here. Thankfully, this dive bar doesn't have any security cameras.

Following Mr. Biers outside I watch as he enters his car and starts the engine, fishtailing out of the parking lot narrowly missing a parked car in his drunken stupor. No doubt heading home. Getting into my car, I wait for another car to leave before I start my engine and follow behind him, making sure I kept a considerable distance between us. It's not like I don't know where he's going.

When Emmett had given me his file a couple of days ago I figured it would be a few weeks before I would make my move. Fortunately for me, I will be able to apprehend him tonight. I guess it would be a waste to let this opportunity pass by. Two men in one week, the monster in me is positively giddy with the prospect. Emmett tended to be a little cautious when giving me my targets, after-all, if too many criminals went missing in a short period of time, someone was bound to notice. I sometimes had to wait months between kills, weeks if I was lucky.

Parking my car I look at the clock 11:45pm. I watch as he enters his apartment building, stumbling and staggering as he went. Wait until he passes out and make your move. With the amount of alcohol in his system he will be down for the count in a matter of minutes, then I can grab him and go. I look into the mirror and remove the blue contacts I was wearing. If anyone asks the bartender if Mr. Biers was seen talking to anyone; he would describe Biers companion as a tall man with blue eyes and dark, slicked back hair. I had used hair products to darken my naturally bronze hair.

I may have to leave him at the cabin for a few days to sober up. Drunk confessions are really not acceptable.

After waiting fifteen minutes I drive up and reverse my car so that my trunk is closer to his door. Putting on my surgical gloves, I exit my car and make my way to the door of his apartment, lucky for me, his apartment was on the ground floor. I look around relieved when I notice that the entire apartment block is dead. No security, that's good… for me.

I turned the door handle, unlocked, I guess not many people would be brave enough to break into an apartment belonging to a man with Riley's reputation. Leaving the door open, I step in and spot him immediately, sprawled on the sofa, snoring away like a lumberjack. Pulling the syringe from my pocket I approach him slowly, stopping in my tracks when he turns over on the small sofa. I stand there for a minute waiting for him to settle before continuing over to him. Standing over him, I take note of his appearance. He really was an unremarkable man, nothing much to look at, his designer clothes and gold jewelry screamed wealth, yet he lives in a rundown apartment building in the worst part of Seattle. Puzzling... I wonder just how many more people died to provide the cash for his lifestyle.

I shrug, I don't have time to ponder the mind of a drug dealer. It's getting late and I would like to get my target to the cabin and home in time for my early morning shift at the hospital. Then, I will be having dinner tonight with my family. Fun times.

After injecting him with the syringe I look around his apartment; beer bottles littered every flat surface, there were no artwork or pictures on the walls, no knickknacks and nothing personal at all was here. The bedroom was basic, one bed and a small dresser in the corner which held two pairs of jeans and a couple of t-shirts. Every cupboard was empty except for one in the kitchen that held convenience food and snacks. Disgusting… How can someone put that stuff in their body? Overall his apartment was impersonal and unlived in, which led me to believe that this was a secondary apartment or maybe he didn't own a lot of personal items. Easy to pack up and leave should he need a quick getaway.

Picking up Mr. Biers I carry him to my car and place him in the trunk, slamming the lid down only for it to pop back up into my field of vision. Looking down I notice that his foot is in the way. That was going to be painful when he woke up.

"Sorry buddy." I chuckle, pushing his foot inside the trunk.

~E~

When I finally made it home, I decided to shower and change for my shift at the hospital. I could always catch up on sleep after the ridiculous meal at Emmett's tonight. I had three days off, which would also leave me plenty of time to deal with my little friend at the cabin. That was if I survived an evening meal with the she-witch, Rosalie. I hated her… She was rude, over-confident and had the biggest ego I had ever seen. She felt as if she was above everyone and us, lowly peasants, should bow down to her. Now normally this type of behavior would not bother me in the slightest. But when I was forced to repeatedly spend time in her presence it tended to get a little tedious, and I often imagined how it would feel to have her strapped to my table, her eyes wide with fear. I would place a picture of Emmett on the sideboard, after all, he was the one who often had to deal with her attitude. I would stand and watch as the life drained slowly from her body, the blood flowing from her mouth as I removed her vicious tongue.

I looked up into the mirror and almost didn't recognize myself. My green eyes were unusually bright and my smile wide, I almost looked normal. Happy… Unfortunately, killing Rosalie was not an option and the only way I would ever get to kill the harpy would be in my mind. We protect our family, it was something Carlisle had drilled into our heads from the moment he adopted us. Family was the reason Emmett helped me instead of arresting me, and family would be the reason that the world would have to tolerate Rosalie's presence for the foreseeable future.

I would carry those images in my mind for the rest of the day and probably while I ate dinner with her and the rest of my family. Maybe it would improve my mood and make me seem more human, it was worth a shot. So, with Rosalie's blood-covered corpse in my mind, I headed to the hospital for my shift.

Walking into the building I noticed the funny looks I received from the nurses I passed, I knew I looked fine, so I figured it had nothing to do with me and made my way to my office.

"Oh dear, I'm so happy." Mrs. Cope's squeal brought me out of my daydreams of Rosalie's torture. I had just reached the pleading part of the dream. 'Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry I'm such a heinous bitch'.

"What?" I take a step back and looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"You have a lady friend. I would know that look anywhere. That's the look of a man who has had a very satisfying night last night." Mrs. Cope's voice was excited and she seemed to bounce slightly in her chair.

Taking another step away from the mad woman I speak. "What are you talking about you crazy woman? What woman? My night was okay but nothing that happened left me remotely satisfied." I didn't kill anyone last night. Her smile dropped and she stilled in her seat.

"You're smiling. I thought you had a lady friend." Her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence, maybe because I was staring at her like the nut job she was. I was smiling, so that equals me having a lady friend. I really didn't understand some people's minds; no doubt this was somehow equated with sex.

"No… Just happy I guess." I shrugged hoping that my answer satisfied her and made my way slowly around her desk, making sure to keep the appropriate distance between me and the crazy woman whose eyes followed me with interest. "What?"

"Nothing Dr. Cullen." She continued to stare at me, like a cat watching a mouse, it was a little unnerving. And people find me strange! "Can I just say… You should smile more often. You look very handsome when you smile."

I nodded, acknowledging what I think was a compliment and walked slowly towards my office door, keeping her in my field of vision at all times. There was no telling when a crazy person would snap and the old lady looked ready to pounce. Once I was in my office and safe behind my closed door, I had to laugh at my reaction. Mrs. Cope was harmless, she has been with me from the beginning, well, the second week, and she had been a godsend.

I briefly had a young woman as my secretary when I first started. HR had found Sophie capable of the position, but unfortunately, I had to have her moved to another department within the week. She made me uncomfortable, always standing too close and trying to touch me, she also had the worst dress-sense I had ever seen. None of her clothes seemed to fit and she would constantly have half of her shirt unbuttoned. Thank God Mrs. Cope didn't dress like that. I had insisted that I would have a hand in picking my next secretary.

I had spoken to Alice and she had advised me to pick someone who was older or male. The minute Mrs. Cope had walked into my office, I knew she was the one, she was professional and had been working as a secretary for forty years. We had a great working relationship, she kept to herself and completed all her tasks on time.

A couple of years ago, I had spoken to Carlisle because I had noticed that Mrs. Cope seemed to be more personal when talking to me; something I usually didn't like but for some reason, I didn't have a problem with Mrs. Cope's questions and it had unnerved me. Carlisle had explained that our relationship had become closer, almost like family, and that it was something that tended to happen when people spent a lot of time working together.

So now Mrs. Cope was family, I wasn't very good at family-time, even when I was a child I struggled. Carlisle would often take me fishing in the beginning so we could discuss my problems.

~E~

"Why are we here, pops? You don't like fishing and I don't like the mud." I look at my father as he cast his fishing line out into the water. He knew mud made me uncomfortable it was filled with germs.

He smiles at me, "I thought we could talk."

"What about?"

He turns his body slightly towards me. "About what we discussed the other day, in my office, the dead animals."

"I'm bad, aren't I?" I look to the water. "I'll stop pops, I promise."

"Ten years ago I would have had you committed, but now I know better." He leans over to kiss the top of my head. "You're not bad Edward."

"I am… I'm bad." Or crazy.

He grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. "No… You're good… You are, Edward… I know it and you know it and I know it because… because otherwise, you wouldn't care what me or your mom thought, you'd just do it. But we're not going to be here forever, so we have to get you sorted out."

"I'm sorry," I whisper. Why can't I be normal?

"Come here, son." He pulls me into his side, a move I'm not particularly fond of, I tend not to like unnecessary touching. "What do you remember from before? You know, before we took you in?"

"Nothing."

He pushes some of my hair away from my face. "Good, nobody should remember that, because what happened to you as a little boy shaped you."

"Will I ever remember?"

"I hope not. What happened to you was too strong, it was too much. It got into you too early, son, and it's going to stay there. Listen to me carefully now, it's going to make you want to kill and you won't be able to stop it."

"So, I'm going to do bad things forever?"

"Yes, and nothing can change that, but you can channel it. Control it. We can use it for good." He leans forward and kisses my forehead. "I'm going to teach you how to choose what and who you kill. Teach you how not to get caught." He looks into my eyes. "This will be our secret. Just between you and me? No one else can ever know. Not yet anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Edward. You are not going to be able to stop yourself from killing, but there are some people who deserve it. Some people who are bad and do bad things."

"Like me?"

"No son, not like you. You're special." He stands and offers me his hand. "You know I love you, don't you son?"

Taking his hand, I stand up, "Yeah pops, I know you love me."

I never questioned my family's love, they showed it every day and accepted the fact that I was incapable of loving them in return. Sure, I cared about them, but I knew what I felt for them wasn't love, it was respect and gratitude for everything they had done for me. Sometimes I felt guilty that I couldn't seem to feel for them what they felt for me. I envy Emmett and Alice's easy relationship with our parents and each other. Although, Carlisle and Esme accept my differences, I see the hope in Esme's eyes every time she tells me she loves me. I often think that maybe I should lie to make her feel better, but I couldn't do that to her.

~E~

I finished the rest of my shift and made my way to the nurse's station to drop-off some paperwork when I spotted her in the waiting room. Isabella Swan, she was an enigma and someone that puts me on edge. The last time I had seen her had been when I sutured her arm. I had found it hard to concentrate due to a strange electric current that seemed to come from her, and I couldn't stop looking into her eyes. Not because I thought they were attractive or unusual looking, but because they were dead, devoid of any kind of life. No spark. Sure, she seemed normal, she spoke to people and smiled when the occasion called for it, I had seen that when she spoke to one of the nurses but I could tell it was all an act. Every smile looked fake, like something she was forcing. Like me. Well, maybe not exactly like me.

Striding over to her I sat in the chair beside her, she hadn't noticed me yet, too busy watching her fingers pick at the edge of the chair.

"Isabella." She jumped around to face me, eyes wide. It startled me slightly. Strange little rabbit.

That's how she looked at me for a moment, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Her shoulders relaxed slightly and she smiled. Totally fake, but quite convincing. "Hi, Dr. Cullen."

"Have you injured yourself again?" I look at her not noticing any new injuries.

"No, but I caught my stitches on something and seem to have ripped some of them out." I look at her arm and frown when I notice the red skin. Slight infection.

"Come." I grab her hand and lead her to a cubicle. Turning to one of the nurses I tell her to bring me everything I need to clean and resuture Isabella's arm.

Once I reach the cubicle, I realized that I have had hold of Isabella's hand the whole way. Dropping it like it burned me, I told her to take a seat.

Snapping my gloves on I watch Nurse Denali enter the room and place the equipment out.

"Hasn't your shift finished Dr. Cullen?" Nurse Denali stepped closer to me as she spoke, so close I could feel the heat from her body. Did she have something in her eye? And I think she must bathe in cheap perfume. It's so strong it hurts my nostrils.

"Yes, I'm leaving once I have sutured Isabella's arm." Taking a step back from her I concentrate on preparing everything hoping she would leave. Pulling up my stool I get to work removing the stitches and cleaning the area.

"Was she your girlfriend?" Isabella's voice was soft with no inflection at all.

Looking up at her in disgust I speak, "Absolutely not." I am unable to stop the shiver that works through my body. "Tanya… Nurse Denali is a vile woman who seems to use her… shall we say charms?" Isabella nods. "She uses her charms on many of the doctors here. I really don't see the appeal to be honest." I shrug and get back to work but can't resist asking. "Do you wear perfume, Isabella?"

I can feel her looking at me. "No, Dr. Cullen." I nodded, I could have guessed that. She smells clean. No artificial scents at all. Quite pleasant.

Isabella is quiet throughout the rest of her treatment and my mind goes over everything Emmett said about needing to get laid. Tanya really wasn't an option but maybe Isabella would be of use. Looking up at her, I take note of her appearance. She was attractive. I guess some would say beautiful. She wore no makeup at all, something that appealed to me greatly. Her hair was long and fell in waves down the middle of her back, it almost touched her waist and looked to be a natural shade of brown. I notice she is just staring at the wall completely void of any expression. Finishing the last stitch I speak.

"Are you free tonight?" She turns towards me, a frown marring her lips.

"Free?"

"Yes, my brother has arranged a family dinner and he often tells me I need to date more." I shrug. "So, would you like to come to dinner with me?"

She shakes her head. "I have a boyfriend." Her voice was flat and matter-of-fact.

"Friends then. We could go as friends." Why was I so insistent on her joining me.

"I don't know."

"Listen Isabella, I don't have many friends. Okay, I don't have any friends, at all." I offer her what I hope looks like a genuine smile. "I think we could be friends. Don't you? And to be honest, I find family dinners to be exhausting and my brother's wife is a complete bitch."

Maybe having someone else there would make the evening go so much better. I don't know what it was, but I think Isabella would be the perfect friend for me. I don't feel uncomfortable in her company, and she doesn't feel the need to fill the silence with incessant chatter. Maybe I could be myself with her, it was worth a try and if it didn't work out I could always end the friendship. Tonight, I would show her my true self, not the table and blood self, but the cold, slightly OCD Edward that most people, including my family, struggled to deal with.

"When?" As she speaks, she pulls out her cell phone and sends a text.

"Now, I'm leaving straight from here."

Looking up, she traps me with her dead eyes. So intriguing. "Okay."

"Okay?" I'm shocked that she actually agreed. You did ask, you idiot.

"Yes, okay. I don't have any friends either and I have nothing planned." Her voice has no inflection at all so I don't know if she generally wants to join me or not, but I wasn't about to ruin my little experiment by dissuading her.

"Good. Now, I will apologize in advance for Rosalie's behavior. She isn't the nicest of people."

"It's probably nothing I haven't heard before." Normal people would be intrigued by a comment like that, but not me.

"Great. I'm all finished here." I stand up from my stool and help her up from the bed. I normally didn't like to touch people, especially strangers, but for some reason I didn't mind so much with Isabella, and the electricity that seemed to flow through her intrigued me.

~E~

As Isabella and I left the hospital and made our way to my car I thought about my family's reaction to me bringing someone along.

Alice and Esme would be happy and I could only hope they don't scare Isabella off with what would, no doubt, be an energetic and eager welcome.

Emmett and Jasper could care less, but Emmett would no doubt wonder how good Isabella's bedroom skills were. Obviously something I would be unable to answer.

Carlisle will be wary, newcomers were something that made him uncomfortable. Especially when they involved me directly.

Then there's Rosalie, who would no doubt bitch about the extra mouth to feed, even though we both know there is always plenty of food to spare. I hope she doesn't scare Isabella off with her bad attitude. Rosalie was nothing if not predictable.

Looking over at Isabella I found myself smiling a small smile at her, which she returned. Maybe this could work. Starting the car I set off to Emmett's; the small smile still in place. I had my first friend. My first friend that wasn't family. Tonight might get interesting.

Thank you in advance for any reviews. Have a Killer Day.