Rosalie smiled slightly before her face took on a serious expression. "I lived in a different world than you, My human world was a much simpler place. It was nineteen thirty-three. I was eighteen, and I was beautiful. My life was perfect."

She stared out the window, I gently squeezed her hand and held back from telling her she was still beautiful, she knew it, but I was worried it might have something to do with the story.

"My parents were thoroughly middle class. My father had a stable job in a bank, something I realize now that he was smug about — he saw his prosperity as a reward for talent and hard work, rather than acknowledging the luck involved. I took it all for granted then; in my home, it was as if the Great Depression was only a troublesome rumor. Of course, I saw the poor people, the ones who weren't as lucky. My father left me with the impression that they'd brought their troubles on themselves. It was my mother's job to keep our house — and myself and my two younger brothers — in spotless order. It was clear that I was both her first priority and her favorite. I didn't fully understand at the time, but I was always vaguely aware that my parents weren't satisfied with what they had, even if it was so much more than most. They wanted more. They had social aspirations — social climbers, I suppose you could call them. My beauty was like a gift to them. They saw so much more potential in it than I did."

I held back a growl, how could someone use their daughter like that... that's the way it was before my people didn't feel that way, they were far more matriarchal probably why they didn't fit with the human society.

"They weren't satisfied, but I was. I was thrilled to be me, to be Rosalie Hale. Pleased that men's eyes watched me everywhere I went, from the year I turned twelve. Delighted that my girlfriends sighed with envy when they touched my hair. Happy that my mother was proud of me and that my father liked to buy me pretty dresses. I knew what I wanted out of life, and there didn't seem to be any way that I wouldn't get exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be loved, to be adored. I wanted to have a huge, flowery wedding, where everyone in town would watch me walk down the aisle on my father's arm and think I was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Admiration was like air to me. I was silly and shallow, but I was content." She smiled, amused at her own evaluation.

Little did she know I planned to give her everything she wanted, to be loved, adored and a beautiful wedding even if I have to go to the ends of the earth to find someone willing to marry us.

"My parents' influence had been such that I also wanted the material things of life. I wanted a big house with elegant furnishings that someone else would clean and a modern kitchen that someone else would cook in. As I said, shallow. Young and very shallow. And I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't get these things. There were a few things I wanted that were more meaningful. One thing in particular. My very close friend was a girl named Vera. She married young, just seventeen. She married a man my parents would never have considered for me — a carpenter. A year later she had a son, a beautiful little boy with dimples and curly black hair. It was the first time I'd ever felt truly jealous of anyone else in my entire life"

She looked at me with unfathomable eyes.

"It was a different time. I was the same age..." she paused before shaking her head a small smile on her lips "I was older than you, but I was ready for it all. I yearned for my own little baby. I wanted my own house and a husband who would kiss me when he got home from work — just like Vera. Only I had a very different kind of house in mind..."

I didn't have a hard time imagining the world she lived in, I was a lot like her. Wealthy family, I always had everything I could want, obviously it wasn't about my looks or clothes but when it came to what I enjoyed I always had open access to them. I wondered how difficult it must have been for her to see the world change so drastically but not her.

Rosalie sighed, and when she spoke again her voice was different, the wistfulness gone. "In Rochester, there was one royal family — the Kings, ironically enough. Royce King owned the bank my father worked at, and nearly every other really profitable business in town. That's how his son, Royce King the Second" — her mouth twisted around the name, it came out through her teeth — "saw me the first time. He was going to take over at the bank, and so he began overseeing the different positions. Two days later, my mother conveniently forgot to send my father's lunch to work with him. I remember being confused when she insisted that I wear my white organza and roll my hair up just to run over to the bank."

Rosalie laughed without humor. I could see where this was going, and I didn't like it one bit. "I didn't notice Royce watching me particularly. Everyone watched me. But that night the first of the roses came. Every night of our courtship, he sent a bouquet of roses to me. My room was always overflowing with them. It got to the point that I would smell like roses when I left the house."

I couldn't imagine her smelling like roses, they weren't good enough. "Royce was handsome, too. He had lighter hair than I did, and pale blue eyes. He said my eyes were like violets, and then those started showing up alongside the roses. My parents approved — that's putting it mildly. This was everything they'd dreamed of. And Royce seemed to be everything I'd dreamed of. The fairy tale prince, come to make me a princess. Everything I wanted, yet it was still no more than I expected. We were engaged before I'd known him for two months"

I furrowed my brows, two months seemed like a short time but if I could marry her today I probably would.

"We didn't spend a great deal of time alone with each other. Royce told me he had many responsibilities at work, and, when we were together, he liked people to look at us, to see me on his arm. I liked that, too. There were lots of parties, dancing, and pretty dresses. When you were a King, every door was open for you, every red carpet rolled out to greet you. It wasn't a long engagement. Plans went ahead for the most lavish wedding. It was going to be everything I'd ever wanted. I was completely happy. When I called at Vera's, I no longer felt jealous. I pictured my fair-haired children playing on the huge lawns of the Kings' estate, and I pitied her."

Rosalie broke off suddenly, clenching her teeth together. It pulled me out of her story, and I realized that the horror was not far off. There would be no happy ending, as she'd promised. I wondered if this was why she had so much more bitterness in her than the rest of them — because she'd been within reach of everything she'd wanted when her human life was cut short. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear the rest of the story, I had a feeling that I wouldn't be happy.

"I was at Vera's that night," Rosalie whispered. Her face was smooth as marble, and as hard. "Her little Henry really was adorable, all smiles and dimples" she looked at me her finger poking the spot where my dimples showed "— he was just sitting up on his own. Vera walked me to the door as I was leaving, her baby in her arms and her husband at her side, his arm around her waist. He kissed her on the cheek when he thought I wasn't looking. That bothered me. When Royce kissed me, it wasn't quite the same — not so sweet somehow... I shoved that thought aside. Royce was my prince. Someday, I would be queen."

Her face got paler, and I knew this is where things go bad. "It was dark in the streets, the lamps already on. I hadn't realized how late it was." She continued to whisper almost inaudibly, no one but myself would be able to hear her. "It was cold, too. Very cold for late April. The wedding was only a week away, and I was worrying about the weather as I hurried home — I can remember that clearly. I remember every detail about that night. I clung to it so hard...in the beginning. I thought of nothing else. And so, I remember this, when so many pleasant memories have faded away completely..."

My heart clinched at this, she remembered the worst moment of her life, she was forced to remember this.

She sighed, and began whispering again. "Yes, I was worrying about the weather... I didn't want to have to move the wedding indoors... I was a few streets from my house when I heard them. A cluster of men under a broken streetlamp, laughing too loud. Drunk. I wished I'd called my father to escort me home, but the way was so short, it seemed silly. And then he called my name. "'Rose!' he yelled, and the others laughed stupidly. I hadn't realized the drunks were so well dressed. It was Royce and some of his friends, sons of other rich men."

A flash of my trip to Port Angeles came across my memory... I remember how terrified I was how I went into shock.

"'Here's my Rose!' Royce shouted, laughing with them, sounding just as stupid. 'You're late. We're cold, you've kept us waiting so long.' I'd never seen him drink before. A toast, now and then, at a party. He'd told me he didn't like champagne. I hadn't realized that he preferred something much stronger. He had a new friend — the friend of a friend, come up from Atlanta. 'What did I tell you, John,' Royce crowed, grabbing my arm, and pulling me closer. 'Isn't she lovelier than all your Georgia peaches?'"

I knew what was coming, but I couldn't stop here. I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes as disgust rose up.

"The man named John was dark-haired and suntanned. He looked me over like I was a horse he was buying. 'It's hard to tell,' he drawled slowly. 'She's all covered up.' They laughed, Royce like the rest. Suddenly, Royce ripped my jacket from my shoulders — it was a gift from him — popping the brass buttons off. They scattered all over the street. 'Show him what you look like, Rose!' He laughed again and then he tore my hat out of my hair. The pins wrenched my hair from the roots, and I cried out in pain. They seemed to enjoy that — the sound of my pain..."

I couldn't help the rumble that left my chest, my hands clenched, and jaw tightened. I was drawn out of it when I felt Rosalie's hand along my jaw.

"I won't make you listen to the rest," she said quietly. "They left me in the street, still laughing as they stumbled away. They thought I was dead. They were teasing Royce that he would have to find a new bride. He laughed and said he'd have to learn some patience first. I waited in the road to die. It was cold, though there was so much pain that I was surprised it bothered me. It started to snow, and I wondered why I wasn't dying. I was impatient for death to come, to end the pain. It was taking so long... Carlisle found me then. He'd smelled the blood, and come to investigate. I remember being vaguely irritated as he worked over me, trying to save my life. I'd never liked Dr. Cullen or his wife and her brother — as Edward pretended to be then. It had upset me that they were all more beautiful than I was, especially that the men were. But they didn't mingle in society, so I'd only seen them once or twice. I thought I'd died when he pulled me from the ground and ran with me — because of the speed — it felt like I was flying. I remembered being horrified that the pain didn't stop..."

I played with her fingers trying to ease some of the tension. To bring her some sort of happiness.

"Then I was in a bright room, and it was warm. I was slipping away, and I was grateful as the pain began to dull. But suddenly something sharp was cutting me, my throat, my wrists, my ankles. I screamed in shock, thinking he'd brought me there to hurt me more. Then fire started burning through me, and I didn't care about anything else. I begged him to kill me. When Esme and Edward returned home, I begged them to kill me, too. Carlisle sat with me. He held my hand and said that he was so sorry, promising that it would end. He told me everything, and sometimes I listened. He told me what he was, what I was becoming. I didn't believe him. He apologized each time I screamed. Edward wasn't happy. I remember hearing them discuss me. I stopped screaming sometimes. It did no good to scream."

She was past the difficult part, but she hadn't gotten to anything happy yet.

"'What were you thinking, Carlisle?' Edward said. 'Rosalie Hale?'" Rosalie imitated Edward's irritated tone to perfection. "I didn't like the way he said my name, like there was something wrong with me. It pleased me that they seemed to know that Royce was guilty. I didn't realize that it was almost over — that I was getting stronger and that was why I was able to concentrate on what they were saying. The pain was beginning to fade from my fingertips. 'What are we going to do with her?' Edward said disgustedly — or that's how it sounded to me, at least. Carlisle sighed. 'That's up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way.' I'd believed enough of what he'd told me that his words terrified me. I knew that my life was ended, and there was no going back for me. I couldn't stand the thought of being alone... The pain finally ended, and they explained to me again what I was. This time I believed. I felt the thirst, my hard skin; I saw my brilliant red eyes. Shallow as I was, I felt better when I saw my reflection in the mirror the first time. Despite the eyes, I was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

She laughed at herself for a moment. "It took some time before I began to blame the beauty for what had happened to me — for me to see the curse of it. To wish that I had been . . . well, not ugly, but normal. Like Vera. So, I could have been allowed to marry someone who loved me, and have pretty babies. That's what I'd really wanted, all along. It still doesn't seem like too much to have asked for."

She was thoughtful for a moment, and if felt a small amount of pain in my chest. I could never give her children; I don't even know how adoption could work. Then she smiled at me, her expression suddenly triumphant.

"You know, my record is almost as clean as Carlisle's," she told me. "Better than Esme. A thousand times better than Edward. I've only tasted human blood once" she looked at me and I understood that I was the first one, when she saved me.

"I did murder five humans," she told me in a complacent tone. "If you can really call them human... But I was very careful not to spill their blood — I knew I wouldn't be able to resist that, and I didn't want any part of them in me, you see. I saved Royce for last. I hoped that he would hear of his friends' deaths and understand, know what was coming for him. I hoped the fear would make the end worse for him. I think it worked. He was hiding inside a windowless room behind a door as thick as a bank vault's, guarded outside by armed men, when I caught up with him. Oops — seven murders," she corrected herself. "I forgot about his guards. They only took a second."

I couldn't help but feel a small ounce of pride, I didn't generally condone murder of humans, but she didn't let them keep her down, she fought back against her attackers.

"I was overly theatrical. It was kind of childish, really. I wore a wedding dress I'd stolen for the occasion. He screamed when he saw me. He screamed a lot that night. Saving him for last was a good idea — it made it easier for me to control myself, to make it slower —"

She broke off suddenly, and she glanced up at me. "I'm sorry," she said in a chagrined voice. "I'm frightening you, aren't I?"

I looked her in the eyes. "No, I don't blame you for that. You never should have gone through that; I only wish I can give you everything you wanted."

"I almost killed the others" she whispered.

I furrowed my brows "who?"

"the ones from Port Angeles" I must have looked shocked, but she continued "Alice couldn't see you then, but your presence didn't black everything out. She saw Bella, Edward went to keep her safe. Imagine our surprise when he said you were there as well. He told Carlisle you would go to the hospital. When I found out what those men wanted to do to you... I almost lost everything. Stronger minds prevailed though. Carlisle took care of it. That man is currently in prison"

"I'm okay. I'm here and you did save me later. We're evenly matched now. Partners."

Rosalies eyes lit up "Partners" she whispered leaning in to kiss me. She pulled away suddenly as if she remembered something.

"the other wolves, they'll know about this won't they"

I shook my head "they know that you're my mate. But everything else they won't be able to see unless I want them too or if I have some emotional crisis. Korinna taught me how to close my mind in the pack. What happens between us stays between us"