Chapter 1
I was broken, that much I could admit to myself. I was beautiful, to human and vampires alike. I was fast and strong. But, I was not whole. The once Rosalie Hale, every girl's wish and every man's desire, was now a broken shell of a women. The irony was not lost on me. I could still see those horrible images my last life. Their grasping hands and drunken laughter in the cold, pitch night. The way my dress had laid torn with the blood pooling around me. Everything I had ever wanted, all that I had been was taken away from me with iron hands and fire. I could never have beautiful children like my friend, Vera, or the perfect life I had dreamed for myself. Never to grow old with the one I loved. It was all gone, and I was a vampire now.
I sighed as I ran through the woods, tracking the scent of my meal. It had been years since I had been changed, yet the memories were still clear. An endless cycle of pain in a never ending day. I looked around the woods as I ran. I was hunting alone tonight, an odd occurrence. We tended to hunt together as much as possible, mostly out of safety. But, everyone was busy. Carlisle and Edward were working at the hospital. Or, more accurately, Carlisle was working and Edward was a mere consult. A smirk grew across my face. Edward always wanted to be what Carlisle was, but fell short of his control. It was almost pleasant to see Edward not be able to do something. He can be such a perfectionist and know-it-all! Esme would have happily gone with me, but I declined. She was busy drawing plans for our new home. It seemed like we had just came here and we now had to move. Again.
A flash of white to my left caught my eye and I smirked until all my teeth exposed. I let my instincts roll over me until every scent, sight, and sound became an overwhelming flood. Venom pooled in my mouth and I boosted my speed toward my prey, the woods flashing around me. I was almost upon it when the elk caught my scent and tried a desperate attempt to escape. How silly. There was no escaping me.
I leaped at the buck and sunk my teeth deep into his throat. He struggled against my arms, his eyes white and fearful. I paid no mind; he didn't have the strength to break my iron hold. His warm blood poured into my throat, calming the fire that was always there. It wasn't enough.
I sighed again as he ran dry and I tossed the dry, dead elk away. Animal blood wasn't as filling as human blood, and it certainly wasn't as filling as the bigger predators. I glanced down at my dress to look for any damage. Not one drop on the baby pink silk. Beautiful, like me. I smiled. If there was one comfort to this sickening life, it was that I was still beautiful. If everything had been taken from me, I don't know how I would have continued with this life. It would have been too much to bear. I tossed my golden hair across my shoulder and looked at the green forest around me. The auburn and golden of the trees showed no movement of any other suitable prey. Not much was moving in the autumn heat. Perhaps if I went further north, I could find better prey before my family would start to worry.
I paused. My family. I was…truly thankful to not be alone in this life. I had grown fond of them, even loved them. It was nice to have someone understand my new life, to have someone just be there. Esme and Carlisle were kind to me despite everything. I was angry at Carlisle for some time for changing me, but my anger toward him had started to dim with time. He hadn't had known what I wanted and had simply acted out of remorse. Esme was also, in some ways, better than my own mother. Esme didn't care about society or worried about outside opinions. She had everything taken from her as well, leaving her broken. She may always be broken by the loss of her son, but she had had Carlisle and Edward to help heal her. It gave me a small hope that one day my loss would also be healed.
Edward, on the other hand, was a constant thorn in my side with his attitude and mind-reading. Yet, if with his pestilence, I wasn't eager to change how I felt about him, despite Esme and Carlisle hints. They way they acted when we were near each other! Hinting at Edward and I as ever becoming a couple!
My musical laughter echoed through the trees. Absurd! It might be unavoidable that he find me attractive, to want me. After all, I never saw another vampire as beautiful as me. But, he annoyed me so! No, if there was one thing my life has made clear to me, I wasn't going to settle for anything less than I needed. I needed someone to make me whole, like Esme. Nothing less.
A distant roar of a grizzly dragged me from my thoughts, reminding me of my lingering thirst. My senses told me that the bear was near the empty ravine but I was too far to tell much more than that. My mouth filled with venom in anticipation as I bolted toward the ravine, my dress flitting around my knees behind me. It was only a few miles away and would certainly be a much more fulfilling meal.
My senses were overwhelming as the ravine came into view, leaving me practically humming in expectation. But, as I heard the bear roar again, I slammed into a stop at another sound.
A man was screaming.