"It was nice of you to visit, Rosalie! You must come back soon." Vera said after releasing me from a firm embrace.

"Yes- I had a great time! Thank you for having me, Vera." I answered.

"Rosie!" a little boy's voice rang as he rushed into my arms. I squeezed the child tightly and stoked his beautiful, dark, bouncy curls.

"Oh, Henry! It was so nice to meet you!" His dark brown eyes held my gaze for a second before he replied,

"Bye, Bye, Aunty Rosie!"

I loosened my grip, and he retreated back to Vera, attaching himself around one of her legs. Despite the cold breeze rushing through the open front door, we all chuckled for a short time before I decided that it was time to leave. We exchanged farewells, and I waved at the happily family one last time before I left their modest, but blissful home. I walked along their drive until I reached foot the path that would lead me back to my home. I shivered in the cold, wet mist, but distracted myself by thinking of the toasty warm house waiting for me back in town.

Vera was an old friend of mine. Ever since we were little girls, I had always known that she, like most people, envied me. I caught a glimpse of myself in a puddle on the ground, and stopped to look at myself. Running my fingers through my long, golden locks, I couldn't help but smile. The most elegant, beautiful creature I had ever seen was staring back at me. She was stunning. Most women resented me for my stunning good looks. My eyes followed the reflection of my angelic hair and down my graceful body, until a sparkling glint caught my eye. It was the expensive diamond ring on my skinny finger that Royce gave to me. With a jolt, I was reminded that I was going to be married soon. Moist droplets started falling lightly quickened my pace- I did not want to ruin my new, azure silk dress.

Through out my whole life, I had always been envied. Not once, was I jealous of someone else… until tonight. After spending time with Vera, it came apparent how much she and her husband loved each other. Now, Royce was a rich, handsome man, but I knew after tonight, that I did not love him, and I was jealous of Vera's truly loving relationship and her little boy- oh, how I would love to have a child like hers. I hated her for having it all, but I hated myself even more for feeling that way about her. It's okay, Rosalie. When you're married to Royce, you are going to have perfect, pretty children, and be a perfect mother, I reassured myself. Even though, I did not love Royce, I would love our children. I wiped my damp face in distress.

It was so cold; I took a short cut through a dark street so I could get home quickly. Suddenly the light, moist droplets turned into hard, bullets of water crashing down, completely drenching me. Despite my already ruined attire, I broke into a run. I grumbled to myself sweeping my wet hair out of my eyes. Blisters were screaming where my high heels clung to my feet. I bent over to remove my shoes, when a group of laughing men came into my view. Good, I thought, maybe one of them could give me a ride home…how wrong I was.

One of the men abruptly stopped snorting as he spotted me.

"Allo, allo, allo! What do we have here?" the bigger one asked.

I saw the bottles of wine in their hands, and retreated with the realization that they were drunk.

"Oh, don't run, sweetness!" A small, fat man sneered. I tried to run, but was paralyzed in fear. The bigger man hindered when he caught sight of my face.

"Well lookie here! If it isn't Rosalie Hale! Oi! Royce!" I was relieved at the fact that Royce was with them. He wouldn't hurt me.

Royce appeared from behind the men, gulping down a bottle of vodka. This was a surprise to me, as I had no idea that he had a liking for that particular beverage.

"Rosalie! What are you doing here?" He stumbled towards me and put his arm around my shoulders. My now soaking hair curtained my now frightened face. I tried to back away, but barely moved as a result of my fear.

"So much hair…lemme see that lovely face of yours…" Royce struggled to say, as he ripped locks of my golden hair from their roots. I screamed in agony as he and his drunken friends laughed at my pain. Then, all the men surrounded me, cornering me against a hard wall. I saw a shadow a little distance ahead and shouted for help… but I wasn't heard. It was then, that I knew that no one was going to save me. I tried to run but the small, fat man grabbed my arm and smashed me up against a hard wall. I shrieked as my arm cracked loudly. They seemed to like it when I was withering around in pain.

"Aww don't cry, little missy," Royce scorned "Pretty women like you are meant for much more than just looking at." It was then, that the gut wrenching wailing started.

I was draped awkwardly along the ground. My whole body was in agony. I suspected that my arm and legs were broken, but those horrible men had done worse to me that night. I looked at my ripped up dress. The once beautiful body underneath it was bloody. I tried to move, but couldn't. I just stayed there, waiting to die- it would be soon. I felt absolutely devastated. Lying in uneven pools of my own blood, I would never see my mother or father again. I had always basked in the attention my mother and father bestowed upon me, and it had been no secret that I enjoyed being their favorite child. If only I could have had one last chance to tell my brothers that I loved them. I half opened my eyelids and saw that my once flowing, graceful azure blue dress was now saturated by a dark red color. I knew I had no hope. What was the point of me wasting my energy, screaming for someone to come and rescue me? My fiancé clearly did not intend on doing so. I inhaled a long, slow depressed breath. All my dreams of having the perfect wedding… of hosting that garden, Royce by my side, entertaining guests… having children… watching them grow up… dieing an old, but happy woman… were taken away from me. Instead of sipping champagne on my tenth wedding anniversary, I was going to die there, on a dirty road. I wondered what everyone would say. Would they know what really happened?

My insides crushed a little as I realized that "the love of my life" was responsible for the dreams that seemed to be lying, almost dead next to me on the muddy ground. My heart, although never really loved Royce, still seemed to explode. If the physical pain was not already enough, the emotional pain was most certainly rubbing salt on the wound.

As was starting to slip out of consciousness, I felt an impossibly icy, cold pair of hands turn me onto my back. I tried to look at who it was, but all my hazy vision would tell me was that it was a blonde man- the most extraordinarily beautiful blonde man. If my eyelids could actually open up completely, I was sure that they would be wide with shock. I though about trying to tell him not to bother- that he was too late… to tell my mother that I loved her…

But before my brain could send the message to my lips, I was suddenly in his rock hard arms, and everything around us was moving at an outrageous speed.