Usual disclaimers apply, I'm an amateur, playing in the world created by SM.

The next morning, the clouds hung low over Forks, pressing the sky down onto the town like a thick blanket, making everything feel claustrophobic. The rain had stopped, but the air was still damp, and the world outside Bella's window was saturated with moisture, the trees glistening with beads of water that dripped slowly to the ground. The oppressive quiet lingered, just as it had the day before, wrapping around her with an unsettling sense of isolation.

She dressed quickly, trying to push away the lingering sense of unease that had haunted her since she'd woken from those strange, dark dreams. As she walked into Forks High, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The students moved about the campus, some laughing and chatting in small groups, but Bella felt detached, as if she were moving through a world that wasn't quite her own. Every now and then, she caught someone glancing at her, their expressions fleeting and unreadable before they turned away. It was as though the entire town shared a secret she was just beginning to sense.

Her first few classes passed in a blur of awkward introductions and new faces, but it wasn't until biology that the suffocating tension began to truly set in. She entered the classroom, the heavy scent of damp paper and stale air filling her lungs as she scanned the room for an empty seat. The chairs were mostly filled, but one stood out—an empty space next to a boy she hadn't noticed before. He sat in the far corner of the room, his face turned toward the window, pale as the overcast sky outside.

His presence was magnetic, though not in the usual way. There was something about him that made Bella's skin prickle, like a static charge in the air. As she walked toward the seat beside him, he finally turned his head, and for the first time, their eyes met.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Edward Cullen's eyes were unlike any she had ever seen. They weren't the friendly, golden brown she might have expected. No, they were a deep, unsettling amber—almost too dark, too intense, like molten gold barely contained behind a mask of cold indifference. But there was something else in his gaze, something far more dangerous. His eyes didn't just look at her—they bore into her, as if he were trying to see beneath her skin, into her thoughts, her soul.

She froze for a moment, her heart hammering in her chest. There was no awkward tension between them, no innocent curiosity. Instead, his stare was suffocating, predatory, like a wolf watching a wounded deer. Bella felt a sudden, irrational fear spike through her, as though she were being hunted.

Quickly, she sat down, her hands trembling slightly as she fumbled with her biology book. Get a grip, she scolded herself silently, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety tightening in her chest. But Edward's gaze remained fixed on her, unblinking, his presence overwhelming in its intensity. The air between them seemed to thicken, charged with something dark and dangerous.

The teacher began to drone on about the day's lesson, but Bella barely heard a word. Her entire body was hyper-aware of Edward beside her, the way he seemed to hold himself unnaturally still, as if he were coiled tightly, ready to spring. She could feel the weight of his stare even when she wasn't looking at him, as though his attention alone could press her down into her seat, keep her there, trapped.

At one point, she dared to glance sideways at him, and what she saw made her heart stutter. Edward's jaw was clenched tight, his hands gripping the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles had turned white. His eyes—those burning, hungry eyes—were locked on her with an intensity that made her stomach churn. There was something almost… painful in his expression, as though being so close to her was some kind of unbearable torment. And yet, there was a glimmer of something else—something darker—beneath that pain. Hunger. Raw, dangerous hunger.

Bella's throat went dry. She quickly looked away, her pulse pounding in her ears.

The class dragged on, but Bella was barely aware of the time passing. Every second felt stretched, distorted by the weight of Edward's presence. She tried to focus on the lesson, to act normal, but her mind kept racing back to him, to the way his eyes seemed to follow her every move, even the subtle rise and fall of her breath.

At one point, she could have sworn she heard him breathe in deeply, as though inhaling her scent. The sound was so soft, so controlled, that she might have imagined it—but when she glanced over again, his expression had darkened, his eyes even more intense, his lips pressed into a thin line.

The bell rang, sharp and jarring, breaking the suffocating tension in the room. Bella scrambled to gather her things, eager to escape the overwhelming sensation of being cornered, but Edward moved with a speed that startled her, slipping out of the classroom before she had even fully stood. His departure was so sudden, so swift, that it left her blinking in confusion, as though he had simply vanished into thin air.

She stood there for a moment, her hands trembling as she clutched her books. The room was emptying around her, students filing out in groups, but Bella felt utterly alone. The air in the classroom seemed lighter without him there, but the memory of his gaze lingered, cold and suffocating.

As she left the room, she couldn't shake the feeling of his eyes still on her, even though he was nowhere to be seen. That same primal fear that had seized her in the forest last night returned, stronger now. It wasn't just a dream. Something about Edward Cullen was dangerous—something she couldn't explain but could feel deep in her bones.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, but her thoughts kept circling back to that moment in biology. Edward's presence had left a mark, an invisible weight pressing down on her chest, a knot of fear she couldn't untangle.

By the time she got home, the unease had settled into a quiet dread. She told herself it was nothing, that she was being ridiculous. Maybe Edward was just strange, or maybe she had misread his expression. But deep down, she knew there was something more to it, something lurking beneath the surface.

That night, Bella lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to shake the feeling of his eyes on her. The wind rattled the window again, the soft whispering sound brushing against her thoughts. She closed her eyes, willing sleep to come, but every time she drifted close, she saw his face, those piercing eyes filled with a hunger that frightened her more than she cared to admit.

As she finally fell into an uneasy sleep, her dreams returned, darker than before. The same dark figures stood in the forest, their eyes glowing with the same dangerous hunger that she had seen in Edward's. They waited, patient and still, watching her with that same suffocating intensity, as though she were something to be consumed.

And for the first time, Bella felt the terrifying certainty that she was being hunted.