Chapter One
Emmett
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky as we hunted but things were about to change, heavy storm clouds were gathering in the distance and they matched my mood. Since waking to this life I knew something about me was puzzling, quite apart from my being a vampire. My memories of my human life were cloudy, I remembered a home with a pretty young wife but then something terrible had happened although how and why she died remain a mystery to me and the Cullens couldn't tell me anything except that I was dying when I was found and changed because the beautiful Rosalie had begged. She had carried me miles, running all the way, trying desperately to get me to Carlisle in time to change my savaged and bleeding body, to save me, and for that I was very grateful. Rosalie was stunning and very intelligent but very unhappy about her life. Once I was over my newborn phase which resulted in a lot of damage to various houses which Esme, bless her, never complained about, Rosalie explained to me why she always looked so sad and scared. She never felt secure until I turned up, she was always terrified that our secret would be revealed and she would be known for the monster she felt she was although she had never killed a human or tasted human blood. Most of all she was sad that she would never have a family of her own, babies to cherish, children to watch grow into adults with all the possibilities that held out for them. I like to think I made her happy, we got along well and enjoyed each others company even if occasionally I drove her crazy with my madcap and juvenile ways. They were my release valve from the pressures of not yielding to temptation when we spent so much of our time among the humans.
At first I had been reluctant to go back to school,after all I was a full-grown man but as Carlisle pointed out it allowed us to live in the human world without causing raised eyebrows so I became another son, Emmett Cullen fostered by Dr and Mrs Cullen along with my sweetheart Rosalie Hale. Life was pretty good, Edward and I rubbed along although I got the feeling that he thought himself superior in some way to me. Let him, he could read minds so he knew it didn't bother me and Rose felt the same about him, he was the brother you wished you never had and from his attitude I guess he thought the same way about me. I think his attitude was partly down to the fact that Rosalie had been turned by Carlisle hoping she would become a companion for Edward but she flatly refused anything to do with him and that pissed him off. Even more so when Rose came home with me, his attitude was "if you turned me down what the hell are you doing with that dummy?" We both wondered if Edward would ever find his mate, he didn't seem interested in any of the girls we met in the human world or even the Denali sisters who were not only beautiful but alluring. Tanya in particular had the hots for him but he shrugged her off and I wondered if he was looking in the wrong place for his mate, if indeed he was looking at all. Maybe his mate would be a guy. I didn't see the attraction myself but it took all sorts to make the world spin. I didn't suggest it though, I thought he'd hit the roof not to mention Esme who always hoped for another daughter in the family.
Then along came Alice and Jasper, a real case of opposites attract, she was warm and bubbly, it was impossible not to love her and she slipped neatly into the family, taking over as our dresser and organiser. Trying to stand against her will was like throwing flour against the wind and as successful!. Everyone loved her, even Edward although she drove him mad at times. Alice could see the future or at least a possible future dependant on what people decided. Her companion was a whole different matter. I'd heard of him, all vampires had, he was legendary and just as intimidating in the flesh so to speak. I knew we were all worried about having him in the family except Carlisle who gave everyone a chance. He was very quiet but even so he radiated a kind of controlled rage which only dissipated when he was with Alice. To keep the family together Carlisle registered him at school as Rosalie's twin brother which was uncanny really because almost from that day Rose treated him like her brother, always the first to excuse or forgive when he slipped, which he did on a fairly regular basis at first. He'd lived on human blood for so long that it was difficult to kick the habit but he never gave up trying and by the time we moved to Forks he hadn't slipped up in a very long while. At school Alice supported him during lunch but it was up to Rose and myself to keep an eye on him in classes. I'm not sure what I expected, I guess I should have known better than to judge a book by its cover because he was very intelligent and great fun when he unbent. Alice brought out the best in him and it was easy to see they adored each other. There again book and cover come together because everything changed about a year ago. The first I knew was when Rose decided she needed a weekend away with Alice. That was fine by me, Jazz and I could go hunting together, something we didn't get many chances to do. I guess I was a little surprised when Rose invited Alice, I thought they'd already arranged it between them but Alice was always up for a shopping trip so I thought no more about it. I just hoped Rose would get more sexy lingerie, I loved my baby all dressed up to thrill.
Rose
I didn't know what but something was very wrong in the family. I'd had a strange feeling there were undercurrents which was unheard of in the Cullen house. I waited and watched trying to decide who was unsettled or unhappy when outwardly everything seemed fine. It took me some time but I narrowed it down to Alice, she was still bubbly and manic but it was hard work for her and she spent just a little more time alone, leaving Jasper to read alone where normally she would have snuggled up close and just watched him. This went on for weeks and then I realized he had noticed too. He watched her more closely then stopped doing things like reading to spend time doing things she enjoyed, going to the theatre, the cinema, shopping, and I guess it was the last that was most telling to me. He arranged a trip to New York to coincide with fashion week and she didn't want to go! Alice never gave up the chance of a shopping trip and he knew it, so the problem wasn't her but him. I saw the hurt in his eyes as he realized he was losing her a little at a time. I arranged this trip so we could talk, if she was prepared to, and the first evening after shopping for the best part of three hours during which she seemed a little distracted I approached the subject,
"Are you OK Alice?"
She nodded with a bright smile but it didn't reach her usually sparkling eyes.
"Are you going to tell me whats wrong or do I have to beat it out of you?"