
James, a tracker vampire with incredible hunting instincts, is instantly intrigued by Edward's protectiveness of a human, which incites him to hunt Bella for sport.

Edward and Bella's relationship is soon put in jeopardy when three nomadic vampiresâJames, Victoria, and Laurentâarrive in Forks. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, are their informally adopted children. His wife is Esme, the family's matriarch.

Carlisle Cullen, the family patriarch, is a doctor working at the hospital in Forks. The pair fall in love, and Edward introduces Bella to his vampire family. He eventually confirms this, but says he and the other Cullens only consume animal blood. He subsequently refuses to explain his actions to Bella, and warns her against befriending him.Īfter much research, Bella concludes that Edward is seemingly human, but has mysterious powers resembling those of a vampire. Edward saves her by instantaneously covering a distance of over thirty feet, and putting himself between Bella and the van, stopping it with only his hand, and making a conspicuous dent on the van. A few days later, Bella is nearly struck by a van in the school parking lot. After a week of absence from school, Edward returns to school and begins socializing with Bella normally. Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in biology class on her first day of school, but he seems to be repulsed by her.

At her new high school, Bella makes several new friends, but she is also intrigued by the mysterious and aloof Cullen siblings. Her mother, Renée, is remarried to a minor league baseball player, and they travel often to attend games. Bella Swan, a seventeen-year-old outcast, moves to Forks, a small town located by Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, to live with her father, Charlie, who is the police chief of town.
