I was tempted to call in sick that first morning. Nothing was wrong with me but intuition tried to keep me welded under the covers. Whether that was police intuition or father's instinct, I'll never know. Either way sick days are hard to come by when you're Chief of Police.

                The quiet, early morning was damp and grey as usual, the coffee at the station was bad, and my daughter was...typical. I'd peeked in on her, of course, but the dawn had barely broken over the distant mountains by the time I'd walked out the door this morning and my teenager wasn't moving any faster than the sun that's for damn sure.

                The desk in my office was piled with a stack of menial paperwork that I'd almost rather set on fire than read through but, hey, police work isn't all car chases and DUI's. Walking to it, I moved aside some of it and willfully ignored the rest as I sat in the faux leather chair.

                  I'd barely pressed the mug of coffee to my lips before I heard someone calling for me. "Charlie," I looked up to see Waylon peeking into my office with the confidence of an old friend.

                 "What is it?"

                 "We just got report of another animal attack. Out in the woods. Found by a couple of hikers."

                 "Again?"

                "Yeah. Call just came in." He scratched his head. "This is the fourth one in two months."

                  I took a deep breath and tried to exhale the tightness gnawing at my gut. "Alright, but I want to check out this one personally."

                "Body's already moved to the coroner."

                 I nodded. "Just let me finish my coffee and I'll drive over to Port Angeles."

***************************************************************

                "Here's the body, Chief Swan." Doctor Kelly pulled back the sheets and I struggled to remain composed. The body had been generously sewn up but it was still blotched and bloated and... unnatural. A lot of the skin had been torn and ripped but from what I could make out it was a white male of unidentifiable age.

               "Third one this month," I said. "It might be time to issue an advisory warning to potential campers in the area. Can you tell what animal? Bear, canine, feline?"

               "About that," she hesitated, pulling out a clipboard and looking over her notes. "Usually when these things happen we can decipher what sort of animal attack it is, based on teeth and claw marks left on the cadaver."

              "Yeah, I know. What about it?"

             "Well..."

            "What is it?" She was avoiding looking me in my eyes, an awkward gesture that was child-like and uncomfortable.

            "Well, the lacerations and bite marks are consistent with only one animal that I know."

            "What kind of animal?"

            "Human."

              I must have looked at her like she'd just said the sky was falling because the next thing she said was, "I know this sounds bizarre, but look over here."

              I walked around the table to where she was standing, pointing at the man's left forearm. From elbow to wrist there seemed to be shallow red marks streaking in and out of larger gashes.

              "Are those made by fingernails?"

              "Looks like it." She pointed her gloved fingers toward his neck. "And here, just faintly it seems I can make out human molar prints."

              "What are the puncture wounds right on top of it?"

             "It looks almost like the puncture wounds from a snake bite, but they're too far apart and too curved.."

            The indentation left on the gnarled tissue that was probably his chest cavity looked oddly like the upper row of teeth on any ordinary human except for two bizarre puncture wounds that followed the crescent shaped row of molars.

              "Maybe he got into a fight right before he died," she said.

              Except that made no sense. He'd already been identified and I'd made the calls, this guy had been a camping and hiking enthusiast. He was also prone to camping alone. It wasn't likely he had a hiking buddy this time around, and what are the odds he'd meet someone out there in the middle of the woods?

              "A human couldn't have ripped him open like this," she said. "Not with just their hands."

             "I agree." She'd already cleaned him up a bit, but he was still partially in pieces. His flesh was torn and bruised at multiple sites along his arms and legs, but mostly on his neck and torso.

            Speaking of his neck, it had been almost completely ripped out. Exposed muscle, ligaments, and spinal column peeked out at me. Doctor Kelly had cleaned up any residual blood and fluids but there was still something disturbing about seeing the human body so mutilated.

            I was about to ask Doctor Kelly for a barf bag when my cell rang. "Swan," I said in greeting.

            "Hello this is Ms. Cope from Forks High School. Is this Charles Swan? Isabella Swan's father?"

           That caught my interest. "Yes it is. Is something wrong?"

           "Yes. Your daughter has been in a car accident on school grounds."

          My heart caught for a moment. "Is she hurt?" Did I not put the snow chains on her tires right? I'll never forgive myself.

           "She hit her head, but otherwise she's unhurt. She and the other student are already on their way to the hospital."

          "Other student?"

         "Yes. It seems one of the other students hydroplaned across a sheet of ice in the parking lot and hit Bella's vehicle."

         "Oh," that eased the fear just a little. A car accident I could mentally process. "While she was in it?"

         "No, she was standing next to the truck when the other student's vehicle ran into it."

         "...I don't understand."

        "Another student seems to have pushed her out of the way. Someone named," she paused, presumably to check her notes. "Edward Cullen."

          The name Cullen sounded familiar but I was drawing a blank. "You said she's at the hospital now?"

         "Yes, sir." She paused again. "The vehicles were towed to the impound lot on orders of the officer who showed up."

         I didn't really care about the truck. "Yeah, fine. Is Bella at the hospital by herself right now?"

         "No. The other student Tyler Crowley was taken to the hospital too. And Edward went with them."

         "You didn't send an administrator to make sure she and the driver were okay?"

        "Well, it didn't seem that bad to be honest."

        "My daughter almost got hit by a car. Are you telling me you trusted the safety of her physical well-being to a teenager?"

        "Bella seemed fine. And Edward seems very mature for his age."

        I can't believe my taxes pay for this level of gross negligence. "Alright, I'm in Port Angeles right now but I'm on my way." The phone vibrated against my ear. I looked at the screen to see the number for Forks Hospital coming in. "Thank you." I hung up on the school and answered with the hospital. "Yeah."

        "Hello this is Forks Hospital. Am I speaking with Charles Swan?"

       "Yes. I'm already on the way. How bad was it?"

       "Not too bad. She merely got a bump on the head and a few scraps. Nothing loose or broken, but Doctor Cullen hasn't been around to see her just yet."

       Cullen? Oh that's right. The Doctor. "Concussion?"

      "You're going to have to ask Doctor Cullen about that."

       "Do you have the insurance information?"

       "Yes we got it from Isabella."

       "Okay, I'm on the way." Well at least she kept the insurance card on her like I told her to. I turned back to the coroner. "I'm sorry Doctor, I'm going to have go pick up my daughter."

      She nodded and re-covered the body. "I need to finish prepping the body to send to the mortuary anyway."

      "If you figure anything out about the animal that did this, please call me."

      She looked at me with a sort of somberness that betrayed her puzzlement. "You'll be the first to know."

      "Bella!" When I got to the hospital I found her sitting on a gurney in the Emergency room hallway.

      "I'm fine Charli—dad." She looked up at me, so small and fragile I thought my heart would break but I swallowed that emotion and instead let anger bubble freely over my anxiety. I was about ready to kill the kid that did this. "There's nothing wrong with me."

      I ignored her teenage bravado and instead turned to the nearest person I could find wearing scrubs. "Why is there a brace around her neck? I didn't think it was that bad!"

       "Sir, it's just a safety precaution. She should be okay."

       "Should be?" What the hell was that supposed to mean. Why couldn't these people do their jobs?

       "We're just waiting for one of the rooms to open up." As if he spoke it into existence a nurse came around the corner to tell him to go ahead and bring her stretcher into a newly available space. He rolled her gurney into the room next to some kid with a series of superficial cuts on his face.

      "Bella, I'm so sorry!" he said. "I thought I was going to kill you. I was going too fast and I hit the ice wrong."

       This must have been the kid that almost killed Bella. The kid that was very much short on my tolerance today.

     "Don't worry about it you missed me," she said. In spite of everything I was a little proud at how tough she was being.

     "How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone."

     "I'd like to know that too, Bella," I said.

     "Um, Edward pulled me away."

     Tyler looked confused. "Who?"

     The doors to the room flew open and in walked Doctor Cullen. I'd nearly forgotten the name in all of today's hectic activities but I could never forget that face. His skin was startlingly pale and taut, smiling only with closed lips. He had the face of model and the warmth of a crocodile. "I heard the chief's daughter was here." He nodded at me. "Charlie."

       "Doctor Cullen."

      "I've got this one here," he said to one of the nursing staff.

      "I'm so sorry, Bella." Tyler said again. I closed the curtain between them, more-so out of anger than privacy.

      "You know, it would have been a whole lot worse if Edward wasn't there," Bella was rambling to the doctor as he examined her. "He knocked me out of the way."

      "Edward?" I said to the doctor. "Your boy?"

       Bella got more excited. "Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, he got to me so fast. He was nowhere near me."

       "Sounds like you were very lucky," Doctor Cullen seemed mostly disinterested in the details. "Charlie," Looking at me he gestured for me to follow him out into the hall.

       "The X-rays look fine. There is no concussion, no fractures, and other than that, she's not hurt. Keep an eye on her though. If she has any pain, plain old Tylenol will do just fine. And bring her back if she experiences any dizziness or double vision."

       "That's it?" I asked in disbelief. Surely a near-death experience warranted more thorough treatment.

      He smiled tightly but remained firm. "It's always so different when it's your own child."

      He ran a hand through pale blonde hair. When he did so the reflection on his watch caught light and for a moment I could have sworn something shimmered near the crook of his neck. I didn't peg Doctor Cullen as a man who liked jewelry and for some reason I was caught spellbound trying to find the source of the twinkling.

       Doctor Cullen caught on to my fascination and cleared his throat in an awkward manner. "Charlie, I know it seemed dreadful but trust me Bella is going to be just fine. I looked over her labs meticulously. Aside from being a bit shaken she's not hurt."

      Somehow that made me feel better. "Thanks, Doc," I stuck my hand out to shake his hand. He looked at it for a moment before declining my hand. "Germaphobe?"

      "Something like that."

       "Sorry."

        "It's quite Alright." He walked off without hesitating. Hopefully to go work on his people skills.

        When I went to get Bella she was standing in a corner with the Cullen boy, rapt in hushed conversation. I interrupted them. "You ready, Bells?"

       "Yeah."

       I put an arm around her and lead her through the waiting room lobby, filled to capacity with Bella's little school chums, and steered her through the glass doors and out into the parking lot. "Let's go home."

       "Why can't I go back to school? I'm fine," she said as I opened the passenger side door of the police car.

     "You almost got hit by a van. You need rest and anyway the day's almost over. I'll even pamper you tonight. Whatever you want you can have. As long as it doesn't cost me my first born child."

      She sighed, exasperated. "I'm not a child," she muttered.

      "No, but you are my child. I'm your father."

      "I know that." She crossed her arms and slunk down into her seat.

      I started the car and pulled out of the lot. "And what were you and the Cullen kid talking about?"

      "...Nothing. He just wanted to make sure I was okay."

      "Mm Hmm." Just when I thought raising a teenager couldn't get anymore nerve-racking, now there's a boy in the picture. I wasn't sure how I was going to broach that topic with her so instead I let it slip and tried interrogating her. "So, what happened?"

      She sighed again. "I was in the parking lot, standing next to the Chevy when Tyler lost control of his van and almost hit me."

      I tried not to wince but it was hard to hear. "You said Edward pushed you out of the way."

      "Yeah! He was incredible." She seemed infatuated. Great. Just goddamn great.

       I thought of Edward Cullen. I saw his angular face framed in sloppy brown hair. I saw his skin--smooth and pale like his father's...adopted father. "He didn't look hurt." He barely even looked frazzled.

        "Yeah, well, he was super fast. He came out of nowhere." It was the most enthusiasm I'd heard in her voice in a long while.

         "A hero, huh? Like Spiderman."

         She scoffed. "Dad, really. Radioactive spiders?"

        "Stranger things have happened." I tried getting more out of her but with each question she seemed to get more agitated and less receptive.

        As we were nearing the house a call came over the radio. "Shit." I thought I could go home have a beer, and relax but it looked like the day wasn't over yet. I answered, "Swan."

       "Chief?"

       "Yeah, Weylon," I said as I pulled into our driveway. "What is it?"

       "They found another body."