Chapter One

Mistake

Life was good, especially for Rosalie Hale.

The bright lights of the trendy club's interior flashed and spun, making her dizzy as she ground her hips with the beat. The shots she had done at the bar were making her head spin delightfully, and she was hoping to keep her buzz for awhile. The guy she was dancing with pulled her ass closer, grinding himself against her in time with the bass.

"I don't think so," she giggled, touching his cheek. The song ended, and she quickly turned around.

"Hey, what the—"

"Thanks for the drink!" she called over her shoulder, smirking to herself. She was a tease, and she knew it. But being a tease got her into all of Seattle's trendiest clubs and bars, which she was nowhere near ready to give up. While the rest of her friends were graduating school and settling down to get married and have children with their college sweethearts, Rosalie was the exact opposite. She had graduated early, dumped her longtime boyfriend Alistair, and was canceling all of her after-graduation plans to let her parents fund a trip to travel to Europe with her friend Alice. She had spent all summer and most of the fall partying it up in downtown Seattle, and she had no intentions of stopping. Normal didn't suit her; it never had.

She leaned back against the bar, scanning the crowd for Alice. She was sure her outgoing, obnoxious, pixie of a best friend was somewhere in the crowd, doing too much talking and too much flirting.

"Can I buy you a drink?" a voice asked.

Rosalie turned around, raising an eyebrow. She was greeted by a tall man with long blonde hair slick back into a ponytail. His skin was pale white and creamy, and his face has the five o'clock shadow going on. "Normally, the bartender doesn't have to 'buy' anything. He can just give it away," she replied, turning back around.

He cleared his throat. "Well, uh…in that case…a dirty martini for the lady," he said.

Rosalie smiled coyly, turning back around to lean on the bar. She gave him her best sex-kitten stare as he pushed the tall glass towards her.

"What makes you think I'd drink a dirty martini?" she flirted.

He smiled at her, exposing his white teeth. She leaned farther forward, letting him catch a peek down the plunging neckline of her black dress.

"You seem like a dirty girl," he flirted back, pushing the drink until it was directly in front of her.

Rosalie gave him her best smile, accepting the beverage. "It's one of my favorites, actually," she admitted, taking a sip.

He gave her another smile, and she was about to flirt back, when she heard the voice of her friend Alice cut through the crowd.

"Rose! Rose!"

"Where have you been?" Rosalie asked as her friend hurried up to her, teetering on her high heels and yanking her too-short dress down.

"You would not believe the hottie I just met," she squealed, grasping her friend's arm.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. Every guy Pixie met was 'the hottest guy ever,' so she barely paid any attention.

"Do you want to go out into the parking lot with us?" she asked, giving Rosalie a pointed look.

Rosalie balked, looking at the well dressed but very sketchy looking short dark brown hair that was slicked back guy who was approaching them.

"That's him," Alice whispered. "He's gorgeous."

"Demetri!" the bartender behind her shouted out.

The slicked back brown hair man Alice was drooling over nodded at him, and Rosalie raised her eyebrows.

"Hmm…who knew the two hot guys were friends?" Alice half whispered, half giggled. She reeked of tequila; she was probably already three sheets to the wind, but that was typical for her on a Saturday night. Drink first, think later.

"You in?" the slicked back brown hair guy asked. He looked at Rosalie, his eyes scanning her up and down. She shivered under his slightly creepy gaze, shuddering. He was good looking, no doubt; however, there was something about his slicked back brown hair and dark eyes that made the hairs on her arms stand up.

"Where are you going now?" Rosalie asked Alice. Her friend was always doing this–disappearing with guys she just met while drunker than a skunk. It was always up to Rosalie to rescue her, and it was getting old.

"I'm just going to the parking lot. He said he has some blow to share with us. Come on, are you in or are youin?"

"I don't know…" Rosalie said slowly. She didn't do drugs; she never had. Alcohol was usually enough for her to have a good time, and she usually didn't even need a lot of that.

"Come on. Just a bump." Alice winked at her.

Before Rosalie could protest, Alice followed the hot Slicked back brown hair guy and the sexy, Long blonde hair with a ponytail bartender out a side door of the loud club, pulling Rosalie with her. Shivering, she rubbed her hands on her bare arms in the cool, dark alley where they now stood.

"I'm James, by the way," he said to Rosalie.

She smiled, nervous butterflies settling in her stomach. Something didn't feel right…

"Well, we have the ladies here. Do you have the hookup or not, Demetri?"

The slick looking brown hair man grinned, nodding. He walked up to a pair of men hanging out closer towards the street and began talking to them. They looked shady, so Rosalie looked away and pretended she couldn't see them.

"I thought he already had the stuff? This is such fucking bullshit; I'm already fucking freezing," Alice whined.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at her pixie friend, looking over at the men Demetri was talking to. Suddenly, there was some shouting, and even a few pushes. James's eyes went wide, and there was a flash of something in the small beam of light coming from the nearby streetlamp. More shouts echoed in the alley, and suddenly, someone screamed. Demetri moved quickly, his arm connecting with the side of the second man. He doubled over, falling to the ground in a heap next to his friend.

"Holy shit," Rosalie gasped, seeing the flash of what Demetri held in his hand. It was a knife.

"Oh my fucking god!" Alice screeched, and her voice got Demetri's attention.

"Demetri! What are you thinking? They're dead!" James exclaimed, kneeling beside them. He stared down at the lifeless, bleeding bodies, his dark eyes panicked. "You killed them! What are we going to do?"

"Nothing," Demetri sneered, wiping the handle of the blade on his shirt. He tossed it up onto the roof of the next building, and Rosalie felt her heart begin to race. Demetri didn't even look the least bit sad that he had just committed murder.

"We have to go.Now,"she whispered, grabbing Alice's arm. As they began to move, Demetri looked up.

"Where do you think you're going?" he shouted. "Not so fast!"

"Alice, run!" Rosalie gasped, pushing her friend towards the side door. They yanked it open, dodging through the crowd. People gave them dirty looks as they teetered through the loud club in their high heels, racing to get away. "Go, go, go!" Rosalie gasped, shoving at her friend. Her gut had been right; they needed to get away, and fast.

The swirling lights and loud music didn't help her already shocked senses; she could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she wove her way through the endless crowd of people, fleeing for her life.

"Pixie! Grab that cab!"

They darted into the waiting taxi as soon as they were outside. After screaming at him to step on the gas, it peeled away from the curb and down the busy city street. Neither one of the spoke until they got to Alice's downtown apartment.

Rosalie walked slowly across the floor of the lobby, her heels echoing against the marble. "That really happened."

"No…no…" Alice babbled. "It didn't happen…no…"

"Pixie," Rosalie said firmly, grabbing her shoulders. "We have to go to the police."

Alice's tear streaked face grew ashen.

"We can't…we can't go to the police. They'll think we were involved! Sometimes accomplices go to jail, Rose, and…and…"

"Why would they think we were involved?"

Alice bit her lip, looking away.

"Tell me, Pixie!" Rosalie exclaimed.

"I gave Demetri my number. He has my phone number in his pocket. They'll know, Rosalie. They'll know!"

Rosalie gaped at her friend. "You gave that creep your number? Alice, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry, I just…he was cute, and…and he seemed normal at first. I mean, what was I supposed to do? If we go to the police, they'll know we were involved, Rose!"

"Um, not give him your number!" Rosalie hissed, slamming the door behind them. She clicked both locks on, sliding the deadbolt into place. Somehow, the resounding click of the steel didn't do much to calm her churning stomach.

"What are we going to do?" Alice whined, gripping the kitchen counter.

Rosalie kicked off her shoes, eyeing her best friend.

"We're not going to do anything. If you don't want to go to the police…I can't make you. But this is a mistake."

"We can't," Alice whispered, walking over to her. "Rose, they'll know that we were there. How can we prove that we weren't involved?"

Rosalie paused, licking her lips as she leaned over the counter. The bottom of her stomach churned nervously, and she had a bad feeling in her gut.

"I don't know, Alice, I-"

"I…I'm scared, Rose."

x-x-x-x-x-

This was an idea that came to me from a different story but I changed a few things in it. I love the Jasper and Rosalie pairing thing, lol. This is a short story, but I'm really excited to share it with you all.