Something Meaningful

Chapter 4

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Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

RPOV

Using all my strength, I pushed up against the pile of rock and dirt that I was buried under lifting myself up. As soon as I was free from underneath the rubble, my eyes scanned the area for any possible threat to me. Once my senses concluded that there was no immediate danger facing me, I stood still listening for Bella's heartbeat. I did not know if a human could have survived the fall. My eyes were closed as I put all my focus on hearing a movement or sound that would point me to where she was buried under. I concentrated on her scent… trying to bypass all the other smells bombarding me in this small enclosed area.

I started calling out her name. "Bella? Bella! It's Rosalie, can you hear me?" I was about to abandon this method and proceed to check under every mound of dirt & rock when I heard the faintest whisper… … so low and weak that if I hadn't been concentrating so hard on it, I might have missed it. I refocused all my auditory senses to the area that seemed to be from where the low whisper came.

It was then that I heard the slow but steady sound of her heartbeat. I ran in the direction of the pulsing heart. "Hold on, Bella… I am going to dig you out of there," I reassured her. Then I began to remove rocks and dirt until I could see her motionless dirt covered body.

I grabbed her left wrist with one hand and extended my other arm around her shoulder lifting her up to a sitting position; scraping off her as much dirt as possible with my hand. Her eyes were closed. I shook her gently as I called out to her, "Bella. Bella can you open your eyes?"

She started to slowly blink… as if testing the waters. After a couple blinks, she opened her eyes completely. I watched her closely noting how the expression on her face went from drowsiness/confusion to total alertness as her memories of the recent events seemingly flashed back to her. Panic started to set in her body as she looked at me; remembering, I deduced, the monster, that was me, she saw kill the wolf.

Wanting to reduce her fearful stares and rapid heartbeat, I stepped back away from her creating some distance between us. "Are you able to move all your limbs?" I asked. Without taking her eyes off of me, she proceeded to test the mobility of each limb – giving me a nod when she was done.

As I walked around the enclosed cave area we were trapped in, I was thinking out loud: "I had no idea this underground cave existed in Forks. Surely, it must have tunnels leading out to the surface. If I just use enough force I am sure I could break my way through this wall surrounding us…" The distance I put between us must have done the trick as I could see and hear that Bella was a lot calmer than she had been earlier. She sat quietly just listening to my verbal meanderings.

I was exploring the wall encircling us, feeling its texture and assessing its width so that I could determine how much force it was going to take to pummel us out of there when Bella snapped me out of my concentration by finally speaking. "Rosalie? … you… aren't human are you?"

I froze in place, not turning around to face her. I knew this line of questioning was coming sooner or later. I guess I was hoping for later. I, finally, responded, "What do you think I am, Bella?"

She took a human moment to get the courage to answer. "Well, your skin is abnormally pale, your inhumanly strong and fast, your teeth are razor sharp & extremely strong, your eyes switch from a golden honey color to pitch black, and I noticed when your fingers touched me that they were ice cold."

"So, what conclusions have you drawn from these observations?" I asked.

"Before I share my theory," she said, "I need to know one more thing."

"Yes?" I replied.

She hesitated at first, as if questioning herself on whether or not to ask, then seemed to have made up her mind, asking, "Rosalie, do you have a heartbeat?"

I could no longer keep my back to her. The time had come to face my interrogator. Regardless of the consequences, of this I was sure there would be, I had to come full circle on this path that had thrown Bella and I together, here, wherever that was…

With all the grace I could muster, I turned around facing Bella, my eyes locking with hers, neither one of us breaking the gaze after an inordinate time had passed; it was as if all time stood still. Well, I suppose for me it does. But for Bella, time was not on her side, as they say. Each moment we lingered in this underground grave, was time taken away from her life force.

"I do not," I finally answered. Bella's eyes still held my gaze but her face showed a release of tension that puzzled me. After all, I just informed the girl that I was a 'heartless', pun intended, I mused to myself, caricature of a person. Wouldn't the appropriate human response be panic and fear, an increased sense of tension, rather than decrease?

"I see," Bella responded, breaking our gaze as she looked away. After a moment's pause, she sighed, looking back toward me, questioning earnestly, "Are you a Vampire, Rosalie?"

I looked into her chocolate brown eyes and without hesitation said, "Yes, Bella… yes, I am." Surprisingly, I felt a sense of relief/release of tension in me after finally being able to 'come out', sort to speak, without feeling immediate worry that my family was in danger now that our secret was revealed. Maybe it was the fact that Bella and I were isolated from the outside world that served to give me peace in the moment. I hadn't felt this kind of peace in a long time… maybe never in my existence as a Vampire.

My family and I were always protective of our secret; moving to another location if any hint of suspicion about our way of life surfaced. Yet, now, a mere human girl had penetrated through my barriers and the walls I had built up for so long as protection… protection against the outside world invading my private world. I smiled as it occurred to me that maybe if my walls could come tumbling down then perhaps it was a positive sign that the physical walls that held us captive inside this place could also be tore down; regaining our Freedom.

Bella had been watching me intently during my internal musings. Her voice brought me back to our present moment. "So, if you are a Vampire, then I assume your whole family is too." I nodded. "Wow! I thought all the stories about vampires and other monsters were just myths. I would have never believed it to be true if I… I hadn't come to Forks."

"Are you afraid of me now that you know what I am?" I asked with a curious tone as my eyes looked intently into hers.

She frowned contemplating my question. "No… I know that's not a normal response… I feel different around you than I usually feel around others."

With a smirk on my face, I watched Bella's response to my question, "Different? How so…?"

She blushed and a panic set in her face as she tried to explain, "Uh… well… I get nervous around you… like I am afraid I will say the wrong thing."

I walked toward the back of the enclosed area putting some distance between us and leaned up against the wall with my arms crossed. Looking over to her with my perfected stern face, I said, "Bella, you should be afraid. You need to have some self-preservation instincts. Why do you think the students at school stay away from me and my siblings?" She shrugged without answering.

I rolled my eyes. "They sense that there is something dangerous about us. Their instincts tell them to put some distance between us. Now, my family is different from the rest of our kind. We call ourselves Vegetarians since we do not drink human blood, only that of animals."

Bella seemed to visibly relax when she heard my description of our diet as 'vegetarian'. "Maybe that is why I do not fear you. I must've sensed that you were different somehow," she stated excitedly.

I felt myself growing angry with her ignorance. "Bella, even though my family and I don't drink human blood it doesn't mean were not tempted by it! We keep our distance from humans so that we don't lose control. The closest, I can compare it to is a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Even though humans stop drinking alcohol or taking drugs once an addict the potential always exists to, 'fall off the wagon', as you humans say."

I could see her face lighting up with recognition and understanding of the analogy I had just described. "So, now that you are stuck in here with me so close, does that mean that you will be tempted to drink my blood?"

Our eyes met. I heard her heart rate speed up. My eyes veered toward the throbbing pulse point on her neck. A low growl emanated from my throat. Bella's eyes widened at the sound… My throat began to burn.

As I stood there against the wall, I couldn't help but think just how very easy it would be to just close the gap between us and indulge my desire for her sweet red nectar. Of course, I reminded myself that I was a devout vegetarian. In fact, aside from Carlisle, I had the most control of my family members. I never killed a human for their blood since I was turned in 1933. Even when I took my revenge on Royce and his friends for assaulting me, I tortured them to death but never drank their blood. Just the idea of drinking their foul blood repulsed me; wanting no part of them inside me, ever again.

I realized Bella's eyes were still transfixed on me waiting for a response to her question. "Indeed our circumstance does throw a wrench into my normal routine of avoiding close contact with humans. But I just hunted prior to crossing paths with you so I will be fine for another 1-2 weeks without feeding."

Bella gulped, "one… to two weeks?"

I could not help a wide grin forming on my face at her reaction. I found myself getting lost in her brown eyes then noticing how smoothly her brown hair flowed down the length of her back. I noticed the cute freckles on her face. I could not recall ever being so enamored with a human before since being turned. "Bella, I do not intend for us to still be stuck here for that amount of time. I am going to start digging us out of here as soon as -"

Suddenly, I snapped my head toward a sound coming from the other side of a pile of boulders blocking us in. Immediately, my senses picked up the foulest scent I had ever smelled; realization dawning on me that some Humanoid form(s) on the other side of the rocks was trying to get access to where Bella and I were trapped in.

I quietly walked over to Bella. She looked at me with questioning eyes as she too had heard the outside sounds. I placed my finger on my lips indicating to her to be silent. She nodded in acknowledgement. I extended my open hand to her. She placed her hand in mine. We ran together toward the back of the underground chamber. I frantically searched for somewhere to hide us until I could assess the level of danger. Finally, I found a small, narrow opening in a wall hidden behind a boulder with just barely enough room for the both of us to squeeze in standing.

The outside sounds were getting louder and closer. With no time to spare, I stepped into the narrow opening pulling Bella into me holding her tight against my chest. As her sweet scent washed over me, I found myself, surprisingly, overcome by a strong need to protect her.

I smiled to myself as it dawned on me that, although, being in such close physical proximity to Bella caused my throat to burn and a low growl to be released, I knew that in my newfound role as her Protector, I would sacrifice myself first before I allowed myself or anyone else to bring harm to her.

And so it was that on this day, I, Rosalie Lillian Hale, finally found something meaningful in my Vampire existence.

Next chapter, Humanoids among us…