AN: Alright, I know it's been a hot sec, but I'm back and I think this chapter is worth it!

As always, I do not own Twilight.

Emmett reached out and grabbed Rosalie's hand, as if in silent support of her. She turned and gave a brilliant sad smile to him, her whole demeanor becoming slightly softer.

"I first met Carlisle Cullen in the winter of my eighteenth year of life. I had just been brutally raped and left for dead by my very own fiancé."

Bella blinked in surprise, flabbergasted at the turn of the story. Soon though, she became lost in Rosalie's words.

I had grown up in Rochester, New York my whole life. My daddy was a banker, a good one at that, and my mother...well she was a woman of a certain breeding and standing as they say. She spent every second of her life trying desperately to impress other people. You can only imagine her joy when me, her only daughter, ended up being beautiful. I had never really cared about my looks, but my mother sure did. She made sure I was always presentable, every hair in place, ever button buttoned, every thread snipped. It was exhausting, but she was my mother and I loved her in that way only a child can; so I dealt with it.

As I became older it became clearer and clearer to me that she didn't see me as a person, not really, but more as a status symbol. Someone to lord over her friends' heads, and to barter my hand in marriage with other socialites. Which is how I ended up engaged to one Royce King. I barely knew him, but everyone knew he was the most eligible bachelor in town. Which meant my mother wanted him for me. Me? I think I mostly just wanted to be in love. To move out of the family home, to have a family of my own...If my mother's meddling got me that, I think I would have been content.

Unfortunately, not knowing Royce well would end up being my downfall.

We dated for two weeks before he proposed, and naturally I was overjoyed. My mother threw herself into wedding planning, and my father muttered about how good it would be to join two well off families.

One night, about a month or so into wedding planning and proper dates between the two of us, Royce called me over to his apartment. I thought we were going to have dinner, maybe talk about cake flavors. Instead, I walked into his apartment being filled by his friends, the floor a mess, beer and liquor the only thing I could smell. I tried to leave right then and there, but Royce grabbed me by my arm….and well...I'm sure you can piece together the rest.

They left me in the street when they were done. Practically in a gutter. I thought I was dying, prayed that I was dying so I wouldn't have to live with the pain...or the shame I was sure was going to come after.

But instead, Carlisle found me.

He took me from the gutter, changed me into a...a vampire, and then immediately tried to pair me off with his "son". I was angry, and confused, and so so scared. I didn't understand why I was still alive just to play pretend with some boy who wanted nothing to do with me. And when I asked Carlisle, who made me call him father even though my real father was still very much alive, what happened to the men who ruined me he said nothing. Nothing! Can you believe that?

So the very first moment I was alone, I left, snuck into my old home, put on my wedding dress, and slaughtered every last one of those bastards who thought they could touch me.

Of course Edward found out, regardless of how careful I was I didn't know he could read minds. I could tell the moment he knew, and I tried everything to keep him from telling Carlisle.

But it was too late. Carlisle knew that I had killed humans, that I had strayed from his choice.

That was the moment I learned that I had a gift.

A gift? That tidbit of information was brand new to Bella, and it shocked her out of Rosalie's story telling.

"You have a gift? No one ever mentioned that."

Rosalie gave a sharp smile, all teeth.

"Of course not. I never let them know. After getting caught by Edward once I was certain to never let that happen again." She tapped her head with one painted fingernail. "It's surprisingly easy to think vapid thoughts while I know he's listening. After a while, well, I think he just tuned me out completely."

"What's ya gift?" Jasper had his head perched on Bella's shoulder, somehow managing to look interested and utterly detached all at once. His arms had wrapped around Bella's waist, both for comfort, and to keep Bella from falling off of his lap in all her excitement.

Rosalie looked pensive for a moment, and when she spoke her words were a kind of hesitant that Bella wasn't used to hearing from her.

"The best I've ever been able to explain it is...I can read someone's intentions. At first, it was only if they meant me or other's harm. But Emmett has helped me grow it to the point that now I can almost get a general overview of what someone's intentions are."

Jasper let out a long low hum that Bella knew meant that he was interested in Rosalie's gift, but he didn't say anything else. After a pause, Rosalie started up her story again.

I could feel that Carlisle wanted to hurt me in that moment, and I ran, or well tried to. But Edward was faster, even in my fear, and caught me and dragged me down to the basement, which I didn't even know existed. That was the first time I learned how Carlisle "disciplined" his family. It was also the first time I realized that I wasn't the only woman in the house.

Down in the basement was a beautiful woman, soft in every way I wasn't, but before I could even talk to her she flinched away from us. She dropped her eyes to the floor the minute Carlisle looked at her, and when he told her she could go upstairs since the basement was about to be occupied by another she fled away in a flurry of soft caramel curls.

It was there in that dark basement that Carlisle had Edward tear my arms off, which was absolutely traumatizing as I had no idea they could be attached back. Then they starved me for three days, which as a newborn was a special kind of torture. Carlisle would bring bags of blood from the hospital and slice them open in front of me, telling me that the pain I felt, the thirst, was the Devil's work, and I had to be better. His family was better than that.

Later Edward told me that Carlisle was being kind to me, for Esme had to stay in the basement much longer than I did. He said that I should have been grateful to him, and Carlisle for molding us into better people.

For everyone knew how weak-minded women were.

It took everything in me to simply recite the Lord's prayer in my mind instead of giving into the rage I felt.

I spent two years like that. Trapped playing family while the men tortured me and tried to convince me that we were something better, something holy. Eventually we moved, and the soft woman from before was allowed to play pretend with us, the dutiful doctor's wife; Esme Cullen. She was quiet and sweet, and I tried desperately to talk to her to form some sort of companionship. But she was a terrified little thing, like a bird with a broken wing, and the only time it seemed like she was allowed to speak with me is when the others were around.

It was a terrible, smothering, bleak existence.

Then, on a hunting trip where they blessedly let me go alone, I found Emmett.

She paused and shot Emmett a grin that Bella couldn't ever remember seeing on Rosalie's face before.

"I planned on eating him you know? He smelled amazing, like wild berries and cinnamon."

"Like Christmas in a hiker!" Emmett grinned. Rosalie rolled her eyes but still had her smile in place.

"Yes, well, regardless of my plans that all changed once I touched him."

"What happened then?" Bella was almost surprised by how breathless and excited her voice sounded, but perhaps that was simply credit towards Rosalie's story telling.

"Come now kitt'n. Ya know," Jasper's voice was practically a purr against her ear and Bella melted into him. "A vampire knows their mate as soon as they touch."

She shivered against his cool breath and the memory of the very first time they touched. Oh yes, she knew all too well.

Emmett and Rosalie seemed to be sporting matching indulgent smiles when Bella looked up, and she rolled her eyes at them.

"Okay yeah yeah, I get it. You can continue with the story."

A sharp grin and Rosalie continued.

I had to fight the bear off first, I'm still not sure what Emmett did to piss it off so thoroughly. But when I finally had him to myself...well, I was going to break his neck. He was in a lot of pain you see, and even though I was hungry I didn't want him to suffer terribly. But the moment my hand touched his neck I was lost.

I ended up carrying him back to Carlisle even though it was the last thing I wanted. But I needed Emmett, you see? Needed to have him, he was a part of me, and I had no idea how to change him. Carlisle had guarded that information close to his chest, and Edward, well, he didn't seem to care. I don't know how I convinced Carlisle to change him, but somehow he did. I don't think for a moment that it was for my happiness, but regardless, I got my mate. Emmett has, and continues to be, a safe haven in that horrible place.

Of course, he took immediately to Esme as well, calling her mother and trying to get her to smile. Carlisle was quick to reprimand him, to make Emmett more like Edward who seemed to almost ignore Esme's existence entirely, but Emmett was persistent. Between the two of us we managed to talk to Esme for once. Of course it was only when Carlisle was at work, Edward tagging along as he went for yet another doctorate, but it was something.

That's how we found out about the scars.

Rosalie seemed to shrink in on herself, and Emmett immediately reached for her. Together they looked like a tight ball of misery.

Rosalie looked up at Bella, her eyes full of tears that would never fall.

"I didn't know how bad it was, really I didn't. Not until we saw them."

"Saw what, Rosalie? What scars?" Bella was getting a sinking feeling in her stomach. Emmett made a soft keening noise in his throat and buried his face into Rosalie's hair, almost like a child hiding.

"Esme is covered in scars," Rosalie's voice was a choked whisper; one Bella had to strain to hear. "Some like claw marks...others, I don't even know how to explain them. They scared us when we saw them, and when Emmett reached out to touch her Esme flinched away."

Another keening noise from Emmett and Rosalie shushed him quietly, a hand going up into his curls.

"We tried to save her, to make her run away with us, but she refused. Said that she was living the life she deserved." Rosalie sneered, her beautiful face cold and angry. "Some nonsense that was drilled into her probably."

Bella tried to imagine it, to put the Esme from her memories to the one they described. All too soon she realized how very little memories she had of Esme at all, and she covered her mouth with her hand, suddenly feeling sick.

Everything Rosalie was saying was very possible; and that was terrifying.

"With all due respect," Jasper leaned forward a bit, his eyes staring into Rosalie's. "While all y'all have said has been, informat've...there is nothing I can charge your maker with. So far, none of what y'all said has broken any rules."

He paused and it was only due to the fact that Bella was in his lap that she was aware of the tenseness in his limbs.

"It would be my absolute pleasure to tear 'im apart, but I need a reason."

Rosalie nodded a grave expression on her face.

"I'm aware, but I believed you needed to know what kind of person he is." A brief pause, "I think we finally found something that he can be charged with."

Bella froze, thinking about her own situation and how many risks they took telling her about vampires.

"I recently discovered that for the past decade, Edward and Carlisle have been building an army. Apparently it's been getting out of control recently, and a fraction of them have broken off and have been killing indiscriminately. Carlisle was ranting about it before we left, and was talking about going out to Seattle to take care of it."

Bella turned to look at Jasper, and his hand on her waist tightened slightly to keep her from falling off his lap. His face was a carefully crafted mask, but she could feel the rage and satisfaction beginning to bleed into the air.

"Ah. Now that, that I can rip 'im apart for."

AN: Another chapter down! What did we think of Rosalie's story? I'm sure we all expected Carlisle to be involved with the Seattle Situation, but how many of us expected for it to be part of his plans failing?

Until next time, as always, enjoy.