A/N: Welcome to my newest story. I hope you like it. I don't generally have a fixed updating schedule, but my updates are never later than one week after the previous update (depending on the words of the chapter). This is an AU and some characters are slightly OOC. Thank you for reading.

X-X-X

Chapter 1- The fire coursing through my veins

Bella POV-

Fire…..

Intense fire coursed through my veins as a scream left my mouth involuntarily. I writhed in pain on the rough uneven forest ground, begging for help in a futile attempt to be saved from this torture.

I was burning. It was as if someone had lit me up on flames after wrapping me up in Polyester and was now watching the show sitting on the sidelines, enjoying my burning with an evil smirk on their face.

A loud scream left my mouth as I was once again forced to endure the burning that was currently aiming to destroy me. Every part of my body, every inch of my skin shouted in terror as I felt that my body parts were being lit on fire, and I lay awake unable to do a thing about it.

What had I done to deserve this? I couldn't recollect any incident as such that would make me eligible for this in life. Sure, I had lied at times and had even spoken rudely to others on the rare occasions, but I was sure that that didn't warrant this. I had never stolen a dime, or needless to say murdered a human, or animal for that matter. This was hell on earth, an unimaginable purgatory with no way leading to heaven and no way left to escape said purgatory.

I wanted a way out. I begged for a way out, to whoever who was out there and could listen to this begging of mine. Death would have been better than this- whatever I was going through right now.

I closed my eyes tighter as my hands lay on my side clasping on the short strands of grass that lay all around me in a useless attempt to mild the pain. Thoughts of a worried Charlie searching for his teenage daughter that disappeared on her first day back in Forks, and a heartbroken tensed Renee when she was made aware of this news filtered through my mind making it all the more worse than it already was, making a loud painful scream leave my mouth.

'Oh God' I lamented to myself. The thought of Charlie thinking and blaming himself for his daughter leaving him and disappearing, or running away, depending on whether they found my body, was enough to worsen my state of mind. He was a good father, slightly out of the whole parenting experience and the how to do- what to do, but then again Renee were no better. She was probably worse than even Charlie when it came to being a parent. Sure she loved me and cared for me, but unfortunately love didn't pay bills, or pay for the Ballet classes or art classes that I had to stop taking because we could not afford it any longer.

Don't get me wrong. I loved Renee, but somewhere deep down I was happy to get away from her. She had no idea of how to be a mother, or a responsible adult for that matter. She would spend her entire salary on a pair of shoes or a fancy, designer bag that she saw for a brief two minutes during her short walk back home from the elementary school where she worked as a teacher in the first few days of the month itself, ignoring the fact that we needed that money to pay for grocery and the other basic essentials. She was not doing this on purpose, though. It would just never cross her mind. When my maternal grandmother had been alive and had taken Renee and I in with her after Charlie's and Renee's divorce, she had been the one to look after me. She would often joke that Renee had taken after her father (my late grandfather), and he was an equal ditz like Renee. I had learnt a lot from my grandmother in those few short years that she had been alive, including how to cook entire meals at the age of eight or how to write a cheque and take notice of the deadline dates. She had known that after her, Renee and the house would indirectly become my responsibility- something that I had no choice but to accept. I loved my mother, so what if she was a little harebrained.

Charlie was different. He was an adult, and knew how to behave like one. He was responsible and knew how to manage his savings and earnings. He had also more or less lived alone for close to two decades of his life (he had moved out of his parent's house at eighteen and had only been married for a year and half when Renee had walked out on him, taking me with her). Sure, he could not cook or clean, but it was never expected of me to do all these chores. He was equally happy to eat at the diner or order Pizza every night for dinner, health be damned.

I had actually been looking forward to living with him. I wanted to experience that independence that I knew living with Charlie would provide me with. This had been my only chance to finally live a bit for myself, and now this had happened.

It was just not fair.

My complaint, though, came out in the form of incoherent garbles of bullshit.

The burning within me increased with every passing moment. Where the hell was I? And more importantly, what on earth was happening to me? Why was I in so much pain?

I was sure of one thing, though. It was entirely his fault.

It was all Edward Cullen's fault.

He was trouble. I had known this from the first time I had seen him in the cafeteria this morning, but still I had trusted him enough to lead me here, and look what happen there.

The brief glimpse that I had got of him in biology had been enough for me to make my first impression of him. I had seen his kind before in Phoenix. The rude- bully kind. The ones who thought they were better than the others, and who expected everyone else to bow down before them. What other reason could he have to make faces of disgust at a girl who was already nervous at facing her first day in a new school? He had literally made me feel like crap by acting as if I smelt like a rotten pile of garbage. It was offending and immature to say the least. I had seen all kinds of people before (a big public school had given me a lot to research on,) but I had never come across someone as rude and immature as him. The way he had leaned towards the wall as if I was a disease he would catch if he came any closer, and the way he had pleaded for a change in the schedule in front of Mrs. Cope was enough to ferment this decision of mine. He was bad news, one I had made sure to keep away from.

I would have been happy to never see his face again, I knew it was unlikely for a school as small as Forks High, but still I could have tried, but then again when does fate give us the chance to follow on with our made decisions.

I had left the parking lot of the school in my rusty, adorable truck a few hours before. I had not had a very good first day, courtesy Edward Cullen, but at least it was over. That was something to be happy about, right? I had been making plans for the rest of the day and allocating the next few hours for some of my necessary daily chores and for a bit of reading, and even a short nap. Charlie had not insisted on me cooking for him, but now that I lived here and was in fact a decent cook, I had planned to cook dinner each night for him as a wordless thank you for letting me stay with him and giving me this freedom in my last almost two years before I became an adult. Also, there was the fact that his eating habits were completely unhealthy and enough to widen my eyes in shock. The least I could do for him and his declining health and protruding belly was to cook him something healthy…. anything healthy.

I had been on one of the lesser used and at this time almost empty roads when all of a sudden my truck had stopped. A loud splutter, followed by an even louder wail coming from deep within my truck and then nothing, absolutely nothing.

With a disappointed frown on my face I had jumped out of the driver's seat and had cursed my luck, having really nothing else to do. I knew nothing of the inner workings of a vehicle, and neither did I own a cell phone to call somebody. I had never felt the need to own one, my own stupidity that had now come to bite me in the ass. Renee had offered to buy me one when everyone in my year back home was getting theirs, but I had declined with a shrug of nonchalance. Neither did we have the excess money to waste, nor did I have any such friends who I 'needed' the cell phone to keep in constant touch with. I was pretty much a loner, and the house phone was enough for my two or three random calls in a week or two. And when it came to being responsible, I was even more responsible than Renee and was equally punctual when it came to traveling back from school to home. I had never truly felt the need to have a separate phone before, something that as I mentioned, had come to bite me in the ass.

I had sighed audibly. The topic of buying a cell phone had never really come up in the two days that I had lived with Charlie, and so needless to say, I had no way to contact him at the moment.

I had with a hopeful look on my face stared at the road I had been stuck at, hoping that a passing by car, or if luck was truly by my side, a police cruiser out on the rounds would see me standing here. The possibility of the latter was considerably not as high, but then again wasn't hoping in your favor everything?

Everyone at the station knew who I was. Charlie had a photo of mine at his desk, something that had heavily embarrassed me the first time I had been there. Even if they didn't know me by face, it was highly unlikely that they had not heard of my move here. Charlie, in his excitement, had literally shouted it off our roof. I am sure by now people living in Port Angeles knew that one Isabella Marie Swan was moving to Forks to live with her father.

I had rolled my eyes at the direction of my own thoughts, but seriously hoping for a police cruiser was probably for the best, or really at this point of time I would take any help provided.

The help that I had asked for did arrive around fifteen minutes later. Luckily it had not been raining at the moment and so I could stand by my truck without fearing for my soaking in, in the heavy downpour that was an everyday occurrence for this small little town of Forks.

I hated the rain and I hated all this green, and yet I was stuck here in this rainy damn place. But like they say- Beggars can't be choosers. Anything was better than compromising my life and the last two years of adolescence by living with Renee and looking after her and Phil both, now that she was married. Phil was equally careless when it came to looking after the house or doing any sort of household chores. Sure he earned more than Renee and was financially stable, but I was not his daughter and he was not my father. He was not responsible for working towards my wishes and needs. He was polite to me, but we never spoke more than a few words and it had slowly started becoming awkward between us. Renee was stuck as the mediator and I could clearly see that she was frustrated by it, and so when the opportunity of living with Charlie presented itself, I quickly grabbed it with both hands.

"Hey, car troubles?" a voice had asked me as the owner of the car came to a stop where I stood by my truck.

I had rolled my eyes, cursing my luck. This was just perfect. The one guy I had planned to avoid was now whose mercy I stood at. I did not want to talk to him, forget taking his help, but now it didn't seem like I had much choice. I needed to reach home, and soon at that.

"Yeah…." I had trailed off with a shrug "It stopped suddenly." – which was strange because Charlie had just bought it for me yesterday and he had assured me that Jacob Black had made sure that it was in perfect working condition. It was strange that this incident had happen not even twenty four hours later.

Edward had had the audacity to scoff at my words "This truck is so old, unreliable and unsafe. What do you expect?"

I merely resisted the urge to show him the finger. Not everyone wants to or can afford to drive the recent model of a Volvo, Mr. Cullen! I was extremely happy with my old, unreliable, unsafe truck. Thank you very much.

"Do you have a cell phone on you?" I came straight to the point. His attitude of 'I am better than everyone' was truly pissing me off "I need to call Charlie."

It was simple. The faster I called Charlie and told him of where I was stuck the faster Edward would disappear out of my sight. It was a win-win for all. I knew from his expression and the way he had kept himself rigid that he did not like me much, and the feeling was mutual here.

He shook his head, looking truly apologetic "I am sorry. I don't carry one."

"Damn it." I whispered under my breath, thinking of other alternatives.

"If it is not much," I started, gathering my courage to say the words out. It wasn't pride, but I really did not want to take the help of someone who had previously treated me like garbage. It was just against my beliefs. I had been there- done that, and I was in no mood to repeat my mistakes. "Could you give me a ride home?"

He instantly nodded his head, his expression of pleasure a little disturbing.

Why was he so happy about this?

I quickly grabbed my belongings from the truck before walking towards the passenger seat of his car, when all of a sudden he stopped me by calling my name.

"Hey Bella, were you aware that there is a shortcut through the woods that directly leads to the Chief's home from here?"

"Really" I questioned in disbelief "Wait. How do you know where I live?"

Was he some crazy stalker? I tightened my grip over my jacket in response. This seemed like the beginning of a bad horror movie.

He gave out a short laugh "Bella, this is Forks. Everyone knows where the chief of Police lives."

Okay… yeah, that made sense.

I felt like a fool for questioning on that.

"Wait. Why do you call me Bella? Shouldn't you be calling me Isabella?"

He looked shocked and worried for a moment, before he regained his composure.

"A few boys were talking about you- that you prefer to be called Bella. It just stuck, I guess."

I gave him a short nod, not really believing his answer, but I had no choice but to accept it for now.

"So?" he raised his eyebrow at me in question, waiting for an answer.

I stared at him in complete confusion. How could I provide him with an answer when I wasn't even sure what the question was in the first place?

He sighed, his tone giving me the hint that he thought I was a complete dumbass.

"Can I tell you the way to your house by the shortcut through the woods? It is hardly a five minute walk."

I shook my head instantly "Can't you just drop me home in your car?"

He sighed at that "I am actually late for an appointment. Your house is nearly ten minutes away and I can't afford the extra twenty minutes that it could cost me. I don't mean to be rude, but…. can I just show you the way through the woods. It will be easier for the both of us. You will reach home in less than five minutes."

I was half tempted to tell him to leave. I could always wait here for another car to pass by. I was not stupid. I was not going to walk into the unknown woods…. and especially not with him. He had looked ready to murder me this morning.

But the fact of the matter was that no vehicle had passed by in the past forty minutes that I had been standing here. What was the guarantee that help would soon arrive? I risked a look at the time. It was getting late. I should have been home by now. Charlie would be really worried if he reached home before me.

"How do you know of this shortcut?" I finally asked him.

He shrugged "My brother, Jasper, likes to scour the area where we live. He told me of this shortcut. He probably knows every trail that exists in these woods."

I could hear the honesty that he was trying to portray from his tone, and so, despite my better judgment I decided to take him up on the offer.

I had to reach home soon and a little risk would not harm me, right?

He did not look like a serial killer. He was a doctor's son. He would probably just show me the way and leave.

"Tell me the way." I said finally.

He gave me a small creepy smile "Sure. Walk directly in from that tree there and then take a right…"

He blabbered about the route for close to five minutes. For a five minute walk these were surely a lot of instructions.

I stared at him with my eyes wide in confusion when he finally finished. I was tempted to ask him to repeat it all once again. I had not understood a word of what he had said, in the first attempt.

He sighed, shaking his head, making me feel like I was a burden fallen from the sky to torture him. His expression of frustration and pain too did mix with that thought, though.

"How about this- I just drop you home. It won't take me more than ten minutes to drop you and come back."

"But your appointment" I asked, giving him a suspicious look. Somehow it was hard for me to believe his excuse.

He shrugged "I am already late. I can manage another few minutes."

"So?" he asked again when I didn't reply for a good five minutes.

I did not trust him, not even a bit, but the temptation to reach home was more than enough to make my mind. I did not want to worry Charlie unnecessarily. This was my literally my second day back here.

"Fine" I mumbled out.

He once again gave me his creepy smile before getting out of the car. I put my bag on my shoulder as I walked towards where he was leading me.

'This is a trap' a part of my mind shouted at me, but I pushed it aside. I was probably just being paranoid. Edward Cullen may be rude and irritating, but that did not make him a murderer or anything worse. I shuddered at the images of him creatively murdering me that were swimming through my mind. I had always had a creative imagination.

"It will just take us a few minutes." He said as we entered the route of the woods. Charlie had always told me to stay away from these woods, and his warning was playing in my head on repeat.

I let Edward walk ahead of me as, obviously, he knew the route, and more importantly, the plethora of books and movies that I had seen always specified to never let the attacker out of your eyesight. It was safer this way.

We had hardly walked for a few minutes, the thick trees surrounding us, when he suddenly stopped and faced me.

"I am sorry, Bella. I am not a monster. It is just that your blood….. it is like the finest chocolate…. the juiciest fruit. I can't resist. I tried so hard." He groaned out in pain.

I don't understand. I could feel myself shivering. This was not good. I could feel that something bad was going to happen. I took a step back in fear.

Why the fuck had I agreed to come in here with him?

I was a cop's daughter, for fuck's sake.

"Edward," I whispered in shock.

"I am sorry, Bella. I wish I would not have had to do this. I wish I had more control."

I opened my mouth to stop him…. to plead…. to beg him to stop, but the words never got the chance to come out, because faster than I could even blink, he was standing next to me and his mouth was on my neck.

He opened his mouth and soon pointy teeth were slicing into my skin.

What was he? He was definitely not human.

I closed my eyes as I felt my life drain out of my body.

I had never expected to die like this. I had thought that I would live… to go to college, get married, see the world, probably have children… This was definitely not how it was supposed to end.

He fell to the ground taking me with him. I wanted to scream, but it felt like my voice had deserted me. I had no energy left in my body to even lift a hand and push him away. It would have been of no use, anyway. I could feel that he was stronger than me.

I felt myself lose consciousness, and a part of me registered that I was now alone. I didn't know where Edward had disappeared to. I didn't even want to know where he had disappeared to. He had killed me.

I just hoped that Charlie and Renee would get past this. I just hoped that Edward would pay for this, the probability of that though was unlikely.

No one knew that I had entered these woods, no one but Edward.

I soon felt something change within me, an electrical current passed through me, and then the burning started.