Author's Note: Okay, I never realized how many words is actually needed to get a decent length for a chapter. It's rather daunting. But, anyway, here's the first real chapter. I don't know if anybody guessed what the problem actually was, but it took me half a day to think of something that could go wrong that I was interested in.
Disclamer: Bella and Rosalie and all the Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
"...The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back..." -Stephenie Meyer, Twilight (pg. 18)
My eyes darted around the room in panic, half expecting a couple of carnivorous vampires to lunge out at me.Perhaps a couple of human corpses would be laid neatly on the steps, staining the floor with the sickening blood. Rosalie would lose control, and that would be the end of that. But there was nothing. The piano, the stairs, the floor, the curtains- everything was in it's regular place. More significantly, everything was regular. Except for Rosalie, of course. I could see her back, huddled behind the piano like I'd expected. A strange thought struck me.
She hadn't attempted to stop me.
As easily as she could have, Rosalie had not simply come over to turnthe light back off and dart back to her spot in the darkness. Heaven knows she could do it a blink of an eye. She could probably even have taken one more milisecond to permanently tie me up to the banisters. But she hadn't. Which was extremely strange. If it had been Edward, I'd probably be uncapable of moving right now.
I peered at her, shocked to see her quivering like a little girl. "Rosalie? I don't understand. What's wrong?" I shuffled over hesitantly, and she flinched, but didn't move.
"Please- please don't come over here." She replied in a weak, nearly inaudible whisper. It was true though; there didn't appear to be anything wrong. I suppose I'd expected something gruesome, something terrifying. But everything was normal. Something glinted on the floor besides Rosalie as it was struck with rays of golden light. Frowning, I went around to the other side of the piano.
And that's when I saw it. My untrustworthy human reactions took me a few seconds to process everything, but when it did, the images it was being shown started linking up quicker than I could imagine. I just gaped, horrified, as Rosalie stared up at me with her frustrated, tearless eyes.
"Do you understand now, Bella?" She whispered, her voice cracking. She buried her face in her slender hands. "What am I going to do?"
It was hair.
The glinting on the floor, the golden strands clenched in her fists- it was her hair; the magical, fairy-like stuff that I had always admired so much. Strands clung to her clothing, surrounding her on the floor like a halo of light. And I remembered what Edward had told me about vampires. When they were changed, their body stayed in the same state that it was...for eternity. Eternity. I looked at the scant inch of hacked-off golden hair left on Rosalie's head, horrified, and I realized what a huge impact this had on her.
"Oh, God, Rosalie..." I cried, flinging my arms around her in comfort. Her voice choked, and she wrapped her cool arms around me as well, squeezing me so hard I could barely breathe.
"What am I going to do?" She whispered, sounding so pained I felt tears well up in my eyes. They spilled over, running down my face and onto her shoulder, and she stiffened. Rosalie immediately pushed me away, embarrassed and angry as she fully realized who I was. It hurt me to think thather apparent dislike for me ran so deep that she wouldn't even let me comfort her.
She sniffed haughtily, turning her face away so that it was illuminated by the soft light. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy and remorse. She was still so beautiful, even without her rapunzel-like hair.
"What happened?" I asked quietly, curious. What had happened? Never in a million years would Rosalie do that to herself. And I meant that quiet literally. Rosalie's dark gold eyes only flashed to mine and away, but not before I had seen the scared, confused expression still lingering in her flawless features. Why wouldn't she tell me? How could she not tell me? I forced myself to keep quiet, however. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through. Appearance was everything to her, and she...she was going to live forever, frozen in that state. Her hair would never grow back.
"Where's Emmett?" I said finally, breaking the silence with a change of topic.
"He should be...back...soon. He went out for a quick hunt. He was getting too thirsty." She replied coldly, staring down at the locks of hair strewn around her. I nodded.
The tension in the air was thickening by the second, and I was too scared to ask another question. Rosalie and I were like oil and water. We didn't mix at all. If we were chemicals in a lab it would surely be in smithereens by now.
I was suddenly excruciatingly impatient for Emmett to come home. Rosalie was staring off into the distance frostily, her body rigid, but it was obvious that she was still upset. She needed comfort, consolation, explanations...and I definitely wasn't the one to give it. She needed Emmett. We both needed him. Rosalie and I were so tense sooner or later we would probably explode.
I glanced at my watch, letting myself get sucked in by the darkness outside as I prayed for Emmett to hurry up. I shifted my foot, and Rosalie immediately shifted hers away from mine. I sighed.
It was going to be a very long wait.
I'm not sure when exactly Emmett returned home.
We had sat there for ages. Whether it was thirty minutes or thirty hours I'm uncertain, but my whole body was numb and my back was stiff. Naturally, Rosalie hadn't moved an inch, not bothered at all by her uncomfortable position. I wanted to comfort her again, desperate to make some progress in my relationship with her, but it was hopeless. She didin't even acknowledge my presence after that one question. I found myself wishing fiercely that Edward and the others would come home, and soon.
But it was quiet clear when he did return. Rosalie bolted upright, her lip quivering, panicking as she desperately swept aside the pile of golden hair. I felt sorry for her and I could practically see what she was thinking. She was worried that Emmett wouldn't like the way she looked anymore without her hair, or would leave her for someone else. Or worse yet, would be angry with her. Something along those lines. The Rosalie I had first met was an entirely different person from the timid vampire I saw now, and I sympathized for her. A furious Emmett was something I did not want to see, and I knew all too well how it felt to worry about your true love leaving you.
Headlights illuminated outside the house and I briefly glimpsed a large, jeep-shaped shadow pass by the window. Rosalie stood up fluidly, taking a step forward and back again, as if unsure. Then with a sudden movement and a shake of the head she was gone, up the stairs and out of sight.
Which left only me to explain the situation to Emmett, a situation that I did not understand myself. I wrung my hands nervously, cursing myself for being so afraid.
"Hey, Bella! Sorry I left, but we have to take our precautions, as you well know. We have school tomorrow. Where's Rosalie?"
The door swung open and Emmett appeared, casually dressed and cheerful as ever. His smile slipped a fraction and he frowned as he saw me cuddled up by the piano. He would catch on soon. Vampires were so devastatingly quick sometimes.
I saw his mouth drop open in a mixture of horror, shock and disbelief as he saw the hair. His eyes slowly shifted to me, narrowing. I gulped audibly, opening my mouth to speak.
"What...happened?" He said slowly, his deep voice booming out menacingly. I flinched, taking a step back.
"I don't know," I whispered in a hoarse voice, "I came back and Rosalie-"
He was already gone. I shivered, rubbing my arms as a strong gust of wind slammed into the front door. There was a storm coming on.
"What's going on?" I muttered to myself, climbing onto the couch and resting my head on the arm rest. "Let's see what's happened so far..."
Rosalie's hair was down to an inch and she wouldn't tell me anything. Emmett was suspicious of me. I was cold. My whole body was sore and there was a storm brewing outside. And most importantly, Edward wasn't here.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself.