The Short Human Life of Rosalie Hale

Chapter 11: Sympathy

A/N: I'm so ridiculously happy that you all are enjoying my story! It seems that you are enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

As far as reviews: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! I cherish each and every one I get! They keep me going every time the inevitable writer's block hits!

So I was reading my reviews and I keep seeing two things in particular come up: most people want the revenge scene and Rosalie/Emmett meeting. I WILL MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THEM BOTH! Personally, I'm super excited about Rosalie/ Emmett scenes ( yes I put a 's' on 'scenes' because I plan to do a bunch of them finding each other and getting together… what can I say? I'm a sucker for romance!). I will also try to include any and all suggestions I get! I promise they will be somewhere in the story, not necessarily in the next chapter because it might work better in other places.

Also, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brought everyone everything they wanted! :)

Thank you all for taking time to read my story!

Okay, so this is me shutting up now. I'm sure you would rather read the story than another boring author's note…

Read and Review! :) (Reviews are as good as opening presents on Christmas morning!)

"The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where the stand in times of challenge and controversy."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

A week went by, and I didn't move from my spot at the window. The window was like a portal to the rest of the world that I wanted to be a part of; the world that had stayed the same despite all the drastic changes that had occurred in my life, the world that kept revolving when my personal world had stopped. I was frozen forever at the current state I was in, and never moving forward.

That was what hurt the most about the transformation. That fact alone hurt worse the fire of the change, and it was because that was all I had wanted in life: to move forward, and I would never get that. I always wanted a husband to kiss me when he came home from work each day, to give me children. I wanted to watch our children grow up and have our grandchildren. I wanted to sit on a porch swing somewhere, my husband grey haired at my side as we thought of the many wonderful memories we created together. I wanted it all so much it was like a need.

But that would never happen. Not for me. I had been within reach of everything I wanted from life, and it had been ripped from my grasp. I was furious.

Initially, my anger was directed towards Dr. Cullen for obvious reasons. He had done this to me, it was all his fault. His only excuse was it was 'too much waste', but I sensed there was something else. There was another reason for my change, and he was keeping it a secret. Whatever it was, I was going to find out...soon.

The more I thought about who was to blame for my current state, the sooner I realized that it wasn't really Dr. Cullen's fault. Dr. Cullen had only been trying to help me, he had just been doing his job. Doctors were supposed to save lives, no matter what it took. However in my case, he took it a bit farther.

The fault really belonged to Royce and his friends. They had been the irresponsible ones; they made the choice to take gulp after gulp of alcohol until all rational thought had left their mind completely.

I thought some more about Royce, letting my mind answer the 'what if's' that popped into my head during my conversation with Esme. I thought about all the times Royce took me out for dates. I remembered every kiss, every touch and how harsh and insensitive they all were. Had I been disillusioned the whole time? If Royce hadn't raped me and we had married next week... what would've happened then? Would I ever have had a loving relationship with him?

I recalled my trip to Vera's on the last night of my life. When I saw Benjamin kiss his wife, there had been that little gut felling that I ignored. Benjamin's kiss was so sweet and loving, unlike every kiss I shared with Royce. With Royce, everything seemed forced, lacking any emotional depth. Benjamin's kisses with Vera showed her how much he loved her without making a show of it. There had never been any love in Royce's kisses. He had me fooled with his promises, all the material things in life he could give me when he never could give me what a successful marriage thrived on: love.

Sure, if I had married Royce he would have given me everything I had ever wanted money wise. We would've lived in a huge estate like his parents, servants attending to our every whim. I would've had children, but they would have been his children.

My life would have been exactly like Esme's, settling for second best. She and her husband didn't love each other, but they still married because he seemed like the perfect man, like Royce had looked like to me. Esme and Charles had had their child, and even though it was given to her by a man she did not love, she still loved her child with every fiber of her being.

I had no doubt in my mind that I would have loved any children of mine, no matter who fathered them.

Thinking about children reminded me of what Esme had told me earlier. A vampire's body never changed, but a woman's body had to change to give birth. I would never have children of my own. A stabbing pain hit my heart with such brute force the sobs that built in my chest finally spilled forth. Putting my head in my crossed arms on the window sill, I cried dry sobs letting all my pent up emotion out.

My cries eventually died down, after they had run their course. I no longer felt any melancholy over my lost life for the moment, I felt one specific emotion that over powered it all.

Rage.

Absolute fury.

My anger was so intense, yet it came so sudden. I wasn't going to wallow in self-pity while the people responsible for this mess was still walking about, without a care in the world. I needed to take care of this, of them as soon as possible.

It would help to end this, and them, I just knew it.

At that moment, I had been so ready to act and hunt them down like the animals they were, but something stopped me.

A piano played from downstairs, playing the most beautiful tune I had ever heard.

The sounds that came from the piano were so sad, and full of pain as they wove their way into my heart. I connected each note with what I was feeling a moment ago, when I was crying at the window. It was my emotions put into music.

I drifted downstairs in search of the source. Who was the master playing this piece?

I came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, the music emanating from the sitting room to the right. Pushing on the cracked white wooden door, it opened to reveal a solid white room. All the walls were painted the exact same shade of pure white, all except one that was entirely made of glass. The glass wall overlooked the woods, a mass of dark jade and brown lit up by the early morning sunrise.

Edward sat at the piano, his back erect as his head nodded in time with the melody. His messy auburn hair glowing in the light coming in from the glass window. Sometimes his arms would flex as he put more emphasis on certain notes, making them louder and more emotional than others.

Not wanting to disturb him, I stayed where I was. I leaned my back against the door frame, and closed my eyes listening to the beautiful composition, every note more captivating than the last.

It ended all too soon, the last note still hung in the air.

Opening my eyes, I saw Edward still sitting at the piano, his hands were now folded in his lap as he stared down at the keys. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears, I had no doubt that he would be crying if he could.

Compulsion made me break the silence, I needed to know what that piece was called. My mother had given me piano lessons when I was little, and I was fairly sure that if I had the sheet music I could play it.

"That was beautiful," I said, not wanting to sound rude by abruptly asking for the sheet music.

"Thank you," he replied, his voice so soft I could barely hear it.

"What's it called?" I asked, hoping for more information than he seemed ready to give out.

"I don't know."

That was strange, how could he not know the name of the song and play it so well?

"Do you have the sheet music?" I asked hopefully.

"No."

I looked at him questioningly, my head tilted and eyebrows furrowed, trying to show him I did not understand.

"I wrote it," he said not even looking at me. It was like he knew what I was thinking. Before I had time to react more, he explained.

"I started writing it a long time ago, when I was first changed. Ever since I was a child I loved to play the piano; I started with reading from sheet music, then eventually it became a way of expressing my emotions. I play whatever I feel."

"What happened to you? To cause your change I mean..." I hoped I wasn't invading a touchy subject. Esme had said that Dr. Cullen only changed people if there was no other way, if they were on the brink of death. Whatever had happened to Edward, it promised not to be pleasant.

"When the influenza hit fifteen years ago, I lived in Chicago. My parents had already passed from the disease, and I was barely hanging on. Carlisle was my family's doctor, and changed me to fulfill my mother's last wishes. I hated Carlisle for a long time after that, for doing this to me. So, the way I expressed my feelings was by starting one of my many compositions."

He had talent! Sure, I had met people who wrote their own compositions, but not as beautiful and complex as his music. It was amazing!

"Thank you," he said again.

I looked at him, alarmed. Had he just read my mind?

He finally looked up from the piano keys to look at me. He didn't say a word, just patted the piano bench, signaling for me to sit beside him.

I cautiously made my way to the piano bench, I never once let my eyes leave his. I didn't entirely trust him, giving there was a good chance he could read minds, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and told myself that he wasn't a threat.

He looked straight into my eyes as he explained.

"When people go through the change from human to vampire, they bring along with them their strongest human trait. That trait is amplified into what is called a 'gift'. Carlisle brought along his compassion, Esme brought her ability to love passionately. You brought your beauty," Edward smirked at me, "but there are some people who bring characteristics that turn into powers of some sort. I am one of those people; I was very perceptive in my human life, always letting what others thought of me influence my actions. Now that I'm a vampire I can read minds. I'd rather not hear somethings, so I try to tune out when I think of it. I'm getting better at it, to where a lot of the time it's just background noise. I try to give everyone their privacy," he said giving me a crooked smile.

"There are lots of other vampires like me, some of which are the Volturi. The Volturi are a powerful vampire coven in Italy, their job is to make sure we don't kill conspicuously; if we do, we die. The leaders are Aro, Caius, and Marcus. They take pride in having as many 'gifts' as possible. They would love to have me, but I would rather stay with Carlisle and Esme. They both helped me so much, and are kinder to me than I could ever deserve."

I wondered what he meant by that, had he done something bad?

"Also, because of my mind reading abilities, I tend to understand people better. I started writing the song you heard earlier after my change, when I felt the most alone I have ever felt. I continued the song when Esme joined the family. I read her mind and understood everything she had gone through, and more of the melody fell into place. Then, when she got to know Carlisle I composed a new song. It wasn't exactly happy because it described all those years they spent apart from each other, but it's still her favorite. When you came along, I finished the song I started fifteen years ago. I know everything that happened that night, Rosalie. I saw everything you saw, and I want to help you." Edward finished, so sincere.

I didn't know if I was mad or happy that he read my thoughts. I was a little bit of both, I suppose. I was mad because it was a total invasion of my privacy. I didn't appreciate Edward scanning through my thoughts any time he pleased, but then again he actually knew what I was going through. Esme thought she could relate to me, but Edward really could. He read my thoughts and knew everything that happened that night.

I thought back to my change, the conversations I heard while I burned. Edward had known all along that Royce and his friends were guilty when 'no one would suspect the fiend'.

That pleased me that someone knew the truth. Very much.

Edward had said he wanted to help me too. Help me? Help me how?

He must have read my mind again when he answered me.

"I heard what you were thinking upstairs. You wanted revenge. I don't blame you at all, I would've done the same thing if there was a sole person responsible for my change. I can't get revenge on a disease, so I plan to help you. I have no doubt that you will feel better when you get your revenge. But you can't do it alone, you need someone to help you resist the temptation of their blood since you are a new vampire. We will also need a plan."

A/N: There you go! Chapter 11: my Christmas gift to you! I really hope you liked it! Review and tell me what you think! (Since you like bonding with Esme, I thought you might like bonding with Edward!)

You all know what's coming up soon! I will also be answering a whole lot of requests next chapter! Yay!

Until then :)

Elizabeth

P.S.: Link to Edward's song in this chapter is posted on my profile! Go listen if you want to...