An Interesting Story
Sunday could not come soon enough. Especially not after I´ve spent the whole weekend running the weirdest scenarios in my head. I wondered what Rosalie would eventually tell me.
When morning came, I´ve practically ran outside to be there earlier than Edward. My parents were still sleeping, so I wrote a message for them that I would be with Edward for the whole day.
They would understand. I hoped.
But I had much more exciting things to worry about today.
I sat down at my front porch and waited. The leaves had already fallen off the trees, and the cold breeze let me know that winter was soon coming. I blew in my hands to warm them and hoped Edward would soon be there.
And since it was almost winter, that meant that Christmas was right around the corner. I still had to wait another month, before I had all my memories back. I wondered what would trigger it and I hoped Alice was right.
I had faith in Alice. She had to be right.
A car stopped in front of me and I smiled. Edward was right on time, as always. I sat down next to him and he held my hand while he drove away.
He seemed nervous, just as I was. I turned on the radio and together we sang the lyrics to an old, alternative rock song. It might be stupid, but it calmed me. And I realised it calmed Edward just as much. He squeezed my hand and looked at me. ¨Are you ready?¨
¨Always,¨ I nodded. Edward smiled at me and leaned in for a quick kiss.
I looked at the road in front of us, my eyes wide. ¨Don´t do that, you´re going to kill us!¨
¨Then we'll walk away from the car wreck with not a single scratch on our bodies,¨ he said smugly with his crooked grin.
¨Easy for you to say, mister vampire with your great senses. Us common folk still bleed, you know?¨ I teased him.
Edward kissed the knuckles on the hand he was still holding, something I found quite endearing. ¨I will make sure no car can ever hurt you, Bella.¨
¨Is that a promise or a threat?¨
Edward laughed and this joyful sound felt like the extra oxygen I needed today. ¨That's for you to decide.¨
As we approached his house, I saw that Rosalie was already there. She looked at the woods behind their house and even from this distance, I would still see her frown.
Edward stood next to my door and opened it for me. He took my hand and squeezed it again.
While we walked towards Rosalie, she gestured at the woods.
¨Let´s walk.¨
Rosalie had always demanded some kind of respect, even before I started to know her. What she said, you automatically followed and this was exactly like that. I followed her with Edward beside me and waited until she spoke.
¨Jacob´s my brother,¨ Rosalie said, her back turned to us. I nodded, even though she couldn't see that.
¨My real brother. We were siblings once, when we were human.¨
Rosalie stood still in front of a large rock and her whole curvaceous body trembled. I took a step in her direction, I didn't know why. Maybe I wanted to comfort her in a way she desperately needed, or maybe I felt that she needed a hug.
But Edward held me close, and I couldn't come near Rosalie while I wanted that.
I looked at him and he shook his head.
¨I was nineteen at the time, and Jacob was twenty. We grew up wealthy, since our father worked at the bank during the great depression. It might be different from what you´re dealing with now, Bella, but life for me was simple at that time.
I was engaged to the most eligible bachelor in town and Jacob…. Well, he played around, I guess.¨ Rosalie gniffled.
¨As I said, life was simple. I didn't have a care in the world, besides what to wear for the next dinner party. I guess our father liked it when I dressed up from time to time, to impress the guests.¨ She shrugged.
¨And in his own way, Jacob also led the life he liked. He sometimes helped out father, but he mostly lived from day to day. He enjoyed his life, just as I enjoyed mine.
Until he met Aro.¨
Rosalie trembled even harder, but she steadied herself, determined not to show too many emotions, pretending not to be too weak. My heart ached for her.
¨Aro is a bad man, in case you couldn't already tell,¨ she continued. ¨I still don´t know how he found Jacob, but he started to change. I only noticed it in the little things. My brother has always been a little troublemaker.¨ Rosalie laughed again. ¨But once he met Aro, his eyes lost their spark. I can't explain it better than that.
I always felt as if Aro had something over Jacob, and Jacob had to repay some kind of debt. I don´t know for sure, though.¨
She shrugged again. ¨All I know is that when Aro had enough of him, he killed him.¨
I grasped, but Rosalie wasn't finished.
¨He did it in the most horrible way. Slowly. I don't know how much you know about turning into a vampire, but he made sure to only bite us a little bit, so that our transformation took longer than it would take if we were bitten hard. It was pure torture.
And after our transformation, Jacob was like a personal slave to Aro. It was worse than when he was still human and I didn't understand any of it. Aro was obviously angry at Jacob, and this was his punishment.
So I asked him, countless times, why we were doomed to this existence and what he had done to deserve this, but Jacob never answered me.
I still don't know why I also had to be bitten that night Aro turned us. Or why I had to endure everything.¨
Rosalie sighed and I wanted to take her in my arms but Edward wouldn't let me. I frowned.
¨Vampire life was horrible to us. To me. We were in a different family, but unlike the Cullens, we only fed on humans. And believe me, I can almost feel your resistance, Bella, but as I said, life was different back then.¨
Rosalie finally turned around and for the first time ever, I noticed her eyes had a different colour.
¨And I'm still struggling with all the restraint I have to endure here. I feel like a drug addict. A recovering one, but a drug addict nonetheless.¨
¨R… Rosalie, your eyes?¨ I stuttered and I pointed at their crimson colour. Edward held his arm around me, and I finally realised he did it to protect me.
Protect me from his own sister.
¨Don´t be scared, it´ll go away,¨ she assured me. ¨It just looks weird, that's all. I also had to get used to the golden colour we have when we drink from animals.
When I first met Emmett, I was so intrigued by his eyes, it was wonderful. I can't even think about what would have happened to me if I never met Emmett during a hunting trip. His lifestyle intrigued me, so I asked to join the Cullens.
I told Jacob when I knew for sure that no one was listening and I ran away. Jacob found that hard.¨
I swallowed. ¨And you? You found it also hard to…. change your diet?¨
Rosalie smiled, but it wasn´t the fierce smile I got used to. It was a sad smile, which hid the years of pain and loss she endured.
¨Of course.¨
I quickly looked at Edward. ¨But why is Jacob still coming over? It doesn't make any sense!¨
Rosalie rolled her eyes. ¨To annoy me, that's why. And it works. But why do you know him?¨ she asked me in return. For once, Rosalie didn´t sound strong. For once, she sounded vulnerable and desperate for some answers. A feeling I was all too familiar with.
Unfortunately, I couldn't answer her.
¨I don´t know.¨
Edward glanced in my direction and frowned. ¨You seem to be friends.¨
¨I think we are.¨