Chapter 1

Moving to Forks

The night was falling slowly upon me. I could see the last bits of sunlight going over the horizon. Once again, I smiled to myself remembering how incredibly grateful I was to have Alice in my life. She was the sole reason for the tinted windows in my car that prevented any other driver from seeing my shimmering skin as I passed them on the highway.

The move wasn't as bad this time. The family was returning back to Washinton. I could say that I didn't miss the large forest area and the larger prey that roamed around in the nearby mountain region, but I would be lying. Pittsburgh was an interesting city, with its own appeal of many overcast days, but living so close to a big city created more problems than solutions. Hunting wasn't easy, for one, it required traveling away for some time before it was safe to finally fulfill my hunger. Of course, my sisters loved it though, more shopping opportunities than what they would have in the small towns where the family usually stayed.

Our house just outside Pittsburgh was our home for the last 8 years, but with our unaging appearances, as well as the weird looks people were starting to shoot at Carlisle at work, we knew it was time for yet another move. I was happy to take my Vanquish out of the garage and head across the country. I knew that my car would have to be hidden away for a while and that made this drive much more enjoyable. Esme was so eager to see me happy, that she didn't even hesitate to let me know she'd drive my Volvo, the less conspicuous car, herself.

The one part about traveling as a vampire that was non-negotiably better was that we didn't have to stop. My mind-reading and Alice's visions also allowed us to pass the highway troops' speed limits when needed. I marveled at the speed, even though Rose was secretly trying to pass me every chance she got. I saw her tailing me all the way from the border of Pennsylvania. That little game of ours was always fun, especially if she had Emmett in the car with her. His competitive thoughts and swears when I overtook them caused much laughter. However, this time she was driving alone and was way too determined to beat me.

We reached Washington before the sun could come up again, after nearly a day of driving, and yet I didn't feel the need to even stretch my legs. We were just passing Spokane when my phone rang again.

"How far away?" I spoke as soon as I answered.

"Three minutes, on your right." Alice's bell-like voice spoke on the other end.

"Thanks." I hung up and took my feet off the gas. In my rear-view mirror, I watched Rose's car following my lead.

We passed the patrol at turtle speed, but before I could even think about putting down a foot on my gas pedal again, I heard a rough sound coming from the nearby forest area. It must have come just beyond the thick tree line if I could hear it so well. I recognized it immediately for what it was, having been the person to deliver it so many years ago. There was no sound like that, the bones cracking in the same pattern. I studied human anatomy so many times, I could tell exactly which bones broke first.

With no second thought behind me, I turned to the gravel road close to the place the sound came from and stopped the car. I could hear Rose's wondering thoughts as she passed me. As I got out of the car, I didn't know what I was doing. All I knew was that someone just broke their neck and I…what was I going to do about it? I clearly just acted on instinct…

I got out of my car and ran to the place where I heard the sound. It was dark enough still for anyone to see my unnaturally fast movements. I got behind the tree line and saw the cause of the sound. A young man, with dark black hair, was lying on the forest floor, his head turned toward me. His piercing blue eyes looked in front of him with no thought behind them. I kneeled in front of him, reaching my hand to feel his pulse, even though I already knew he was dead. No heartbeat, no thoughts running through his mind…

"Edward?" Carlisle's voice sounded from behind me.

Alice called me when she saw you making a turn. He thought in his head. What happened here?

"I heard someone's bones being broken," I explained, not wanting to get into the conversation about how exactly I knew what breaking one's neck sounded like. Carlisle had, of course, forgiven me for my outburst of killings back in the day. That didn't mean, however, that I wanted to disappoint him by bringing it up.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Carlisle asked bemused and shaken. He crouched next to the man and carefully touched his neck in a few places with his handkerchief.

"No, and no thoughts around the area either."

"Strange," Carlisle added, quickly looking over the man's wrists and ankles.

"Hiking accident?" I asked.

"Not likely. How many people do you know who hike in that kind of clothes?" My father pointed at the dead man.

Truth be told, I didn't know anyone who hiked in leather jackets and jeans, his black simple shoes were clean as well.

"What then?" I asked perplexed.

"I don't know son." Carlisle shook his head.

I could hear his thoughts though. He definitely didn't think it could be an accident. Noone just breaks their necks in the middle of the forest. Carlisle couldn't believe it was a murder either, it would take a lot of strength for a human to break someone else's neck, not even mentioning that there was no living soul in this forest.

"I think it's best we call the authorities, who knows when someone will find him if we don't," Carlisle spoke out loud again, standing up next to me.

"Could it have been one of us?" I asked, not being able to let go.

"Vampires drink blood, son. This human is full of it still." Carlisle shook his head, turning me away from the scene and leading me back to the gravel road. "I think it's noble that you concern yourself with the way this man died, Edward, but there's nothing that we can do about it. This is just how human lives go sometimes."

"I know." I sighed, but couldn't help to stop thinking about the man in the woods. I didn't feel particularly concerned about his death, more so of the way that he died. My love for detective stories and mysteries took over me. I would surely be following whatever the police discover about his death.

I'll call the police from the car. You should start driving now if you want to have any chance at beating Rosalie to the house.

I nodded to Carlisle and got into the car, prepared to floor my gas pedal as soon as I was back on the highway. Unfortunately for me, Rose got the upper hand during my fifteen-minute break in the woods and when I pulled into the driveway, I could already see her smug figure sitting on top of her trunk.

"Fine." I groaned at my loss. "But nothing pink…or sparkly, please."

"Like I would do that to a car as beautiful as yours." She huffed and rolled her eyes, sliding down from her trunk. "I still get the first choice of a room anyway."

And just like that, she turned around and headed to our new house. A large one at that, bigger than any of the ones we owned so far. Modern design, with huge panel windows in the back. The white outer walls were mixed with wooden panels, more for decor than their supporting structure entailed.

I took my two bags out of the trunk and followed Rose inside. The ground floor was massive, most of the area was open space, the living room had a few white couches already lined across from the large TV and slowly turned into the dining area, conjoined with a kitchen that no one would be using. Two doors were on the other side, I knew from Esme's thoughts, that those would be turned into Jasper's office and a storage closet. The room closest to the right had no door, just an arched ceiling to symbolize a different space. The puff chairs and a soft carpet could only mean that was going to be Emmett's prize for not breaking more than 50 things in our previous house. His game room.

I trailed inside and followed the staircase up. The second floor had another big living area, with a fake fireplace, my piano, and a small couch. The only door on that side led to a smaller room with bookshelf walls and a large wooden desk toward the end of it. Carlisle's study, I presumed.

The two doors on the other side of the floor were unoccupied still, and by Rosalie's thoughts, I could tell she wasn't interested in them. I climbed the stairs to the third floor and found another living space, a little bigger than the rest, with more bookshelves lined on the walls and a long wooden table in the middle. I smiled to myself, Jasper and I insisted on having a library room of our own after Carlisle kicked us out of his study 30 or so years ago.

Yes, that will do. I heard Rosalie's thought coming from the room nearby and I walked past it.

I didn't truly understand what the big deal was…A room was a room, and everyone in the family knew I didn't care at all where my private place was. Still, Rose insisted whoever got to our destination first, gets the dibs on the room they like most. It would make much more sense if I wasn't her only competition.

I heard a car rumbling outside then and with an absolutely unnecessary noise, Emmett emerging from his jeep. That guy was almost always acting like a buffoon. Though, I couldn't judge him. We grew up in completely different times and societies.

"Emmett, I found a room, on the third floor," Rose called.

I heard his thoughts as soon as she spoke the last words and rolled my eyes.

"Can you please abstain for an hour?" I asked. "Just till everyone comes here and I can leave the house?"

"No chance, bro." Emmett laughed.

Trying to tune out the thoughts and noises coming from the room just one door down from me was nearly impossible, so I settled on the only other thing that needed to be done. I went outside and parked all three cars in a large garage, knowing full well, that my siblings and I would be driving in my Volvo around the small town of Forks.

Jasper and Alice came in as I finished putting the cover on Rose's BMW. Alice hopped off the motorcycle while Jasper was still parking it in the garage.

"Where's…" His question trailed off as he heard another set of noises coming from inside the house. "...Nevermind."

"Carlisle and Esme will be here in less than 4 minutes!" Alice pointed out louder than she needed to. "I propose a family hunting party!" She added a little quieter but more enthusiastic.

She got her way, that one. I still had no idea, even after almost six decades of living under the same roof with the little devil, how she always managed to get whatever she wanted.

We spent the weekend helping Esme unpack and decorate the new house. There was always something that she didn't quite like in any of our homes that she was prepared to demolish, design, and rebuild. This time it was the back porch and the little cottage that we found on the territory.

"Why do we even need to rebuild it? We can just tear it down." Emmett plumped his fists and grinned mischievously.

"We need it in case I want to banish you and Rose for noise complaints." Esme chuckled.

Noise complaints were a rule in our family that I cherished most. Four decades ago it became nearly impossible to live in a house with such…passionate couple going at it 24/7, so when it became absolutely unbearable, a unanimous vote from the rest of the family would mean the couple either needed to move out for a week or do something else that would make the family comfortable. The noise complaints were always against Rose and Emmett, even though the rule itself wasn't specifically about them.

"Is everyone ready for tomorrow?" Carlisle spoke up cheerfully.

"Another first day of school, yay." Rose snorted sarcastically. "Can't wait to learn more about English literature and history, Dad!"

Esme laughed, shaking her head and poking at Carlisle. "I told you, no matter how excited you sound, it won't enthusiast them."

"And yet I still try." He sighed. "Either way. You all know our story. I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be careful and conspicuous. Forks is gloomy enough for us to go back to our sunny day equals camping trips bit."

With that, everyone was dismissed and I retreated into the library room and opened my computer. After a quick scan of the local Spokane news, as well as the area, I still failed to see any information about the mysterious guy from the forest. Not even an obituary mentioned anyone the same age as the man we found. Were police covering it up or did they simply have no idea either about what happened to that man?

I knew for certain I would keep checking to see if anything came up.

I'm back! I have so many stories in the works but I have no clue how to finish any of them lol. Please review, I'll be updating this one at least once a week, that's a promise;)