Rosalie

1. Condemned to a wretched life

I waited impatiently, my jet black eyes glued to his perfect, child-like face. His dark curls were still covered in a mixture of blood and sweat and his tantalizing aroma still ceased to leave me be. It played with my nostrils, daring me just to get and inch closer and then sink my teeth gently into his flawless neck. Ahhh the warm, mouth watering sensation as it slowly trickled down my throat… NO! He was still grimacing in pain but his sharp screams had subsided as soon as they had begun. It would surly be over soon. He arched his back again as more pain surged through him, igniting every fibre of his being as the fire shot closer and closer towards his heart.

I watched as he relaxed again. My aching to help him through this pain was battling ferociously with my ache to kill him, but I knew that I could not succeed in either of them anyway. Then his eyes fluttered open, the deep pools of blue searched frantically around the room until they found my face. I almost smiled at him and I found myself taking one of his hands in my own as he took another sharp breath. He shuddered as another wave of pain surged over him. This was taking longer than my own transformation I was sure. His heart was still beating normally, dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum, and the waves of pain were more spread out than mine had been when I was close to the end. It had been just one day, maybe Carlisle was right in saying that it took longer than that.

Sure enough, two days later I was still sat at his side. I had not moved a muscle, and in truth Esme was starting to get a little worried. I assured her that everything was fine, but I didn't dare tell her that there was something odd that held me glued to my seat next to him, part of the reason was probably that I didn't know the answer to that myself. I studied him just as Carlisle did, watching his breathing, his heart rate and then finally I heard it stutter and falter. He gripped my hand even tighter, actually managing to inflict some pain… and then it stopped all together.

I was surprised to find that I felt my own heart sink when I heard his stop. I already missed the sound dearly and felt greatly ashamed of myself, as if I had snatched his glorious, carefree, human life away just in attempt to my own painful life a little less so. How selfish was I! I had cursed this poor man to live just like the rest of us! How selfish and heartless was I! Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and a whisper in my ear "Please don't think that of yourself Rosalie, I believe as well as Carlisle that you did the right thing," Edward said softly "Yes, you can be a little stupid and shallow but you do some great things as well." I thought about this for a moment, was that supposed to be comforting? Edward and I had never really seen eye to eye. He had irritated me since the first time I heard him speak and the feeling was mutual, so as you can imagine, I was surprised to find that this helped a little. "Thanks Edward." I muttered. He nodded and then looked towards the young man on the bed. To my utter delight he was waking up.

At that precise moment, Carlisle and Esme rushed into the room and the man's eyes snapped open. He looked around him, now managing to have a good look at the four abnormally pale faces that surrounded him. He looked first at Carlisle's calm face (who was helping him into a sitting position) then at Esme's sweet face and pleasant smile, then Edwards rather concerned expression and then finally at me. He watched me for a time, as I watched him. "Your name?" Carlisle asked. The young man did not take his eyes off me as he answered Carlisle's question. "The name is Emmett sir" he said politely, his strong country accent was as clear as a bell in his low voice. He must have been from somewhere down south. This made me wander exactly how far away from the house I had strayed when I had found him. Finally he looked away as Carlisle introduced the rest of the family one by one, but he was still unable to stop himself from stealing a glance at me every now and then and every time our eyes met, I couldn't help but think of how his innocent features and dimpled smile reminded me of my old friends son, Vera's little Henry. This bought a new ache, so I dismissed the thought as fast as I could.

Carlisle then took some time to explain to Emmett what he was and we were all prepared for the worst … but no one was as worried as me. I had condemned him to this rotten life, and in doing so, I had to take my much deserved punishment. He shocked us all as he seemed to take to being a blood drinker very well. A little too well maybe. However, when the rest of the family was out of ear shot, Carlisle took me to the side and warned me that it was early days and he could quite as easily change his mind once he realises what being a monster really meant. I had to admit, I loved the way Carlisle already counted him as a member of the family, and for some unfathomable reason the thought of this produced a wide grin that spread across my face. I quickly noted while glancing at my reflection in the glass window that the look suited me and this pleased me even more.