Before he was the compassionate doctor and father of the Cullen family, Carlisle Cullen was a young man searching for truth in a world ruled by fear and superstition. Raised by a strict vampire hunter, Carlisle spent his human life believing monsters were evil-until he became one himself. After his transformation, he struggles against his own nature, refusing to become the creature he was taught to hate. His journey takes him from isolation and despair to encounters with Alistair and the powerful Volturi, where he discovers the dark world of immortals and the life he does not want to live. Leaving them behind, Carlisle begins the centuries-long journey of choosing mercy over instinct, eventually finding his purpose as a doctor and dedicating his eternal life to saving the very humans he once feared he would destroy.