WINTER SKY - ROSALIE - Part 1

THE second that I stepped off of the plane, such a strong calm swept over me that I could've sworn Jasper was nearby. But he wasn't, it was just me and Emmett. Finally.
He pulled me closer to him, as if the Arctic breeze and falling snow would somehow affect my body temperature. Nevertheless, I snuggled happily, and he chuckled, clearly amused by how different I suddenly seemed. The tension had released.
After the recent family traumas and dramas back home in Forks, it was such a lovely refrain to be thousands of miles away. Alone with Emmett.
As soon as Carlisle had mentioned his recent land purchase and gift to us, a private resort in the Portes Du Soleil region of Switzerland, we knew that this was our escape. And as soon as he had handed over the keys to the beautiful little log cheateu on the aptly-named Mount Emmalie, we were on board the first flight to Geneva International Airport.

We strolled through arrivals, me under Emmett's one arm and our entire luggage collection under his other, out to the Range Rover waiting for us. Emmett paid the rental company quickly and we began the long drive through the mountains. I relaxed, and watched his brow furrow in concentration. His face so pure and beautiful. All humor and fooling around gone. When we were alone, he could truly be my Emmett.
He broke the silence after a couple of minutes.
"Rose?"
"Hmm?" I mumbled back.
"I love you." He said simply.
I smiled and squeezed his hand affectionately.
"I love you too."

The drive should have taken a couple of hours, but Emmett had us there in fortyfive minutes flat.
I spotted the lights a good few miles away, disturbing the pitch blackness that surrounded the mountains. The light grew bigger until the Range Rover had shuddered to a stop in the snow. The Chateau was beautiful. A true log cabin surrounded by snow, decked out in fairy lights and complete with a hot tub.
He scooped me out of the car, along with the suitcases and skiing equiptment, and carried me inside. Ducking to miss the doorframe and the low beams inside the lounge, he set me down on the rug in front of the roaring log fire. Plush cream sofas guarded either side of the huge fireplace, which was faced by a massive plasma screen TV. Underneath the TV were two alcoves packed with DVDs.
I rose to my feet in one swift movement, dusted off my cream snowsuit and pulled my pink earmuffs away from my head, alloving my hair to fall free over my face.
I followed Emmett in to the bedroom, which was completely white, with the biggest four poster bed I had ever seen. Esme had obviously coordinated the decorating of the cabin.
Emmett lay back gently on the bed and opened him arms, gesturing for me to come in to them. I sniggered playfully, turned on my heel and darted out, I wanted to see the rest of the cabin.
The main lounge was huge and had an open plan, traditional yet modern kitchen, complete with dining table. Oh the irony. Next to the kitchen stood two huge glass doors, which led out to the porch where the hot tub stood, surrounded by fairy lights.
The huge master bedroom led on to an en suite bathroom complete with a massive round bathtub.
I stood at the glass doors, staring out on to the darkness and felt Emmett's hand slide round my waist. Suddenly his lips were at my ear.
"We going in?" he asked, pointing to the hot tub through the glass. I giggled and turned to him, sliding my hands around his neck and kissing him on the lips. He unzipped my snowsuit and i kicked off my boots and stepped out of the suit.
"Nice!" He said aprovingly, flashing a smile at my matching hot-pink underwear. I pulled his white t-shirt over his shoulders and he wriggled out of his jeans. Standing only in black boxer shorts.
Emmett stepped around me and threw open the doors, the moonlight reflected beautifully off of his marble white shoulders. He sucked in the bitter cold air deliciously.
Suddenly, he froze.

He spun around to me and I froze too as he unsettled the breeze around me. I caught it. Scent. One of us.
"Someone has been here. Within the last hour." He warned.
"I don't know that scent, do you?" I asked cautiously.
"No, but I need to follow it. We can't have danger. One of us here will ruin everything. What if it's a newborn? What they get out of control?"
I nodded.
"Stay here" he whispered, kissing me lightly on the lips, then darting out in to the moonlight.
He returned within a matter of seconds, his golden eyes immediately met with mine in the most hungry and delicious manner, as if he missed me, as if he had been without me for centuries.
I stared back in anticipation.
"The scent is trailing down to the village in the valley. They may be waiting to attack." he reported.
I closed my eyes and listened, I could hear the people in the village, all was well, for now.
"We must watch this situation closely." I frowned.
I was suddenly grateful to Alice for making us hunt before we left, the human scents shouldn't be too difficult, should anything kick off and we have to be amongst them. What had she forseen? I remember a breadth of emotions crossing her porcelain face the day we left, but she had not warned us of this unexpected visitor.
Emmett took my face gently in his hands.
"Rose," he breathed, "please don't worry"
I looked up at him.
"I'm not worried, I just don't want anything to ruin our time here" I sighed.
His kiss reassured me as he lifted me and he slowly guided me to the hot tub, never letting our lips part.

We lay on the rug, my body encased in his, completely at peace. I had his t-shirt on now, it drowned me like a tent, but was doused in his sweet scent.
"Do you miss home yet?" he laughed.
"No! Do you?"
"Nah. Well. I kinda miss the brat!"
"Renesmee?" I chuckled.
"Yeah ..."
I thought about it. How nice it would be of we had our very on Renesmee. She or he would be with us now ...
He felt my shudder.
"Whats wrong baby?" he asked, panicked.
I turned to him, and the dry sobs started. If I could cry tears, we'd be swimming by now.
"Don't you hate it? Don't you?" I demanded.
"Hate what? Rosalie? You're scaring me." He sat bolt upright and spun me toward him in one swift movement.
"The fact that we'll never be parents? I'll never be able to bear a child. I'm cursed to be a disgusting monster forever. I'll never be a mother." I sobbed.
"Look at me." he gently lifted my chin and stared in to my eyes. "All I need is you, you complete me. I'd happily spend destiny here, forever, with you. You are my everything. A child may have been a nice addition. But I don't need that. All I need is you."
I gripped on to him in the silence, listening to the crackling of the fire.
And then I heard it.

Before I knew it I was fully clothed, thundering through the trees downhill to the village with Emmett by my side. The scream was the sort of scream that was fresh out of a horror movie. Piercing. Blood curdling. Although it must have been miles away, it rang clear in my head.
It was the scream of a woman, of pain, but not pain for her. Pain for another. Protection for another? I couldn't leave this alone. She was hurting.
The visitor. I knew straight away, that scream of terror. The human and the vampire had collided.

We caught his scent and followed it to a little cabin on the outskirts of the tiny village. From a distance I could see him, one of us definitely, but with ruby red, glowing eyes. Tall, with blonde curly hair and a very square jaw. But not as big as Emmett. He must've heard us coming. In his arms he held the woman, one arm round her waist, lifting her up and the other over her mouth. She was very beautiful, but covered in blood and flopping in his arms. Emmett let a snarl rip from between his teeth and bent into hostile posture.
I froze.
In a millisecond, he was running, his prey in his arms. Emmett raced after him, though he was a good distance away.
"Rose, get the baby." I heard, and then he was gone.

I walked towards the cabin at human pace. It took me a few minutes. I felt completely lost. Where had our peaceful getaway gone? My head was racing. Who was he? Who was she? What baby?
As I entered, I noticed it was a similar, yet smaller and more basic version of our cabin.
It was completely dark inside, but I could see, and I could smell. Human scent, everywhere. Blood, everywhere. Smeared over the floor, the walls ... The scent surrounded me until I choked, my throat burned horribly as if I had been drinking acid. I held my breath and gathered my thoughts.
Movement from the centre of the room caught my eye, the movement of little chubby arms and legs. There lay the most beautiful little creature to have ever met my eyes. A baby, with a shock of blonde hair and the most piercing, electric blue eyes I had ever seen. His skin was a soft peach, with rushes of red on his little cheeks. He was covered in blood, he had just been born? He was perfect. When he opened his mouth and smiled, a full set of teeth. My jaw dropped in shock. How much he reminded me of Renesmee!
I reached down, ever so cautiously, to lift him up and into my arms. The feeling was incredible, if my heart could beat it would be racing, I felt a sudden desire to protect the little boy.
I began rocking and shushing him in my arms, humming one of the tunes that Edward had played on his piano so many times. His eyes, fringed with long lashes, began to close.
After a few minutes, his breathing slowed and I could hear his heart beating evenly. I wrapped him in a blanket and continued to hold him in my arms. Blood covered my snowsuit but I didn't care, I was mesmerised. My eyes darted around the rest of the cabin and I spotted it on top of a pile of clothes. A diary with a pen on top, clues perhaps?

I sat on the rug and opened the diary, still balancing the baby in my arms, a photograph fell out. It was her, and him together. Laughing and smiling, his arms around her. His pure, deep purple eyes stared at me, they reminded me of Heidi from the Volturi guard when she wore blue contacts over her red eyes to tempt her prey. He was definitely one of us, but I dodn't know him. I hadnt realised how young they both were, sixteen perhaps? Her name was scrawled on the first page, Carlita Rose Nutelli. I flicked to about halfway through the diary to the last entry written about a week ago. It was in Italian, and I was suddenly thankful I'd majored in Italian twice now.

"I'm pregnant. Definitely. I am so scared as we only made love two weeks ago yet my stomach is swolled and my bones ache. Pierre seems panicked, says he will stand by me but I cannot tell Mama. Her Catholic ways mean pregnancy before marriage is a sin. I feel so stupid. French boys are so romantic, and I couldn't resist his blonde curls, his strong arms and those strange purplish eyes of his ...! I love him, even though it has only been a month. When I told him I was pregnant, he told me not to panic and that his Aunt has a chateau in Switzerland we can hide out in as she is in America. We are going to run away together tomorrow"

My head spun. It was like a replay of what had happened at home. An immortal impregnating a mortal. The bloody scene, it all clicked in place like a jigsaw. I cradled the baby in one arm and the diary in the other and sat on the rug in a shocked silence.

I don't know how long passed, the slow breathing of the baby was like the ticking of a clock. The sun began to rise and suddenly Emmett was back. His entry startled me and I automatically took on a protective position.
"Rose," he breathed. I relaxed and we embraced. Though I still held the baby. He kissed my head.
Emmett leaned back and stared down at the little one in my arms, I could tell as the emotions swept across his face that he was reacting exactly as I had, total awe.
"What happened?" I asked anxiously.
"I had to destroy him, he was out of control. He had a taste of human blood and was thirsting for more, he would've caused devastation in the valley."
I gulped. "And her?"
"She had just given birth, like an Edward and Bella situation. He was in love with her. He thought he could change her to one of us, but the scent and taste of her blood as she gave birth overpowered him and he ended up killing her. She was dead when we got here."
"And her body?"
"I don't know what happened to it, he had got rid of it before I got him. I had a look on the way back but I could see nothing."

We sat in silence for a minute. I looked at the baby.
"What about him?" I asked.
"Well we can't leave him here can we?" Emmett asked, gesturing around the bloodstained cabin.
Secretly thrilled I held him up to me.
"Freddie Edward Jasper Cullen" I smiled.
"If you wish" Emmett laughed. He took the baby from my arms, "Hello Freddie" he smiled.

We set off back towards our cabin, setting the little cabin on fire to wipe away all of the horror.
When we arrived back I checked my mobile, 33 missed calls from Alice. We both chuckled.

Freddie slept most of the day, I watched his perfect chest rise and fall for hours. Emmett drove to the nearest town and brought supplies of clothes and food for the baby.
In the afternoon, a knock at the door startled us both. Emmett answered it to a small bald man.
"Can I help you?"
"Well I hope so," the man answered in a heavy french accent, "I am the regional fire chief. There was a fire in the valley last night and I wonder if you seen anything?"
"No, nothing." Emmett answered calmly, "As you can see, my wife has recently given birth so our nights are a mixture of heavy sleep or dealing with the little one!" He gestured over his shoulder to me, snuggled up with Freddie on the couch.
I smiled at him and he seemed dazzled for a second.
"Oh, I see. The cabin was empty I'm sure, as the owner is abroad. Must've been an accident but I thought I'd ask anyway. Thank you for your time." he smiled and turned on his heel.
Emmett raced back to me and Freddie and took us in his arms.
"I know we've only been here a day, but before Freddie gets any bigger, I think we should go home?"
I nodded in agreement as my eye caught the news report on TV, an emotional plea for the safe return of Carlita Nuttelli by her mother ...