Bella POV

My brain was still trying to process everything Rosalie had said. She was a vampire. All of the Cullens were vampires. It was surreal.

I still had so many questions about vampires, about how Edward had acted and more importantly how Rosalie was acting. All of that had to be pushed aside for the time being. Right now I had to focus on some of my other questions, like whether or not Emmett and Jasper were okay. Rosalie didn't seem at all worried about their safety. But I was, because if they got hurt it was my fault. They came to help protect me.

"Do you want to go see them?" Rosalie asked. I had almost forgot she was in the room even if it was her room.

"I… yes." Honestly, I didn't know if I did want to see them. A part of me was scared of them. The other part was scared for them.

Rosalie put her hand on my arm, sending shivers down my spine. I had no idea what that was about. I filed it away as another question I needed answered. "They're fine Bella. I promise."

She led me downstairs, back to the living room. The entire Cullen family was gathered in the living room, except for Edward. I wasn't sure if he was here or not and I wasn't eager to find out. "He's not here," Rosalie whispered in my ear. "Emmett and Jasper will explain."

We sat on the love seat furthest from the others.

I looked at the two guys. They looked perfectly fine, dirty but fine. Both of their eyes were almost black. Emmett was smiling at me. Jasper looked like he was in pain but he didn't seem angry at me for putting him in danger.

Alice, on the other hand, looked furious. I flinched into Rosalie's side. Jasper looked at me and cocked his head to the side. "Alice, darling," he said with the strange Southern accent that didn't fit in with the rest of the family. "Your anger at the state of our clothes is upsetting Bella. She thinks you are angry at her."

Rosalie's body seemed to vibrate beside me. I glanced at Alice and her face instantly softened. "Sorry Bella," she said. "I'm not angry at you. I just… I hate when pretty good clothes get ruined."

Esme sighed from her spot beside Carlisle. I guess this was normal. "Emmett, Jasper," Rosalie called. "Are you guys okay?"

I know she only asked for my benefit but I still appreciated it. "We are fine Bella," Emmett tried to assure me. He rolled up his sleeves. "See, no marks."

Jasper smacked the back of his head. I flinched. It was loud, like a baseball being hit next to my ear. "Even if you did get hurt she wouldn't be able to see it." Jasper turned his attention to me. "We are fine Bella. I promise."

Something about Jasper made me trust his words. It was like I knew he was telling the truth. "Jasper," Rosalie warned.

"Sorry," Jasper said with a chuckle. I looked between Jasper and Rosalie, confused by what just happened.

"What was that?" I asked looking back and forth between Jasper and Rosalie.

"My gift Bella," Jasper answered. "I can feel, and control, emotions. I wanted you to trust that we were okay so I gave you a little boost."

Emmett pulled something from his pocket and tossed it at me. I fully expected whatever it was to hit me, that was my luck after all, but I never felt it. I looked at Rosalie and she was dangling my keys from her index finger.

"Emmett, can you not throw things at the human in the room?" Rosalie growled.

"Sorry Bella," Emmett said sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to hurt you." I smiled at him. I never thought he would hurt me.

"Jasper," Carlisle said getting everyone's attention. "Why don't you explain what happened with Edward?"

"Of course, Carlisle," Jasper started. "As you all know Alice sent me when she saw Bella and Rosalie dying." I gasped. "Emmett followed me when he found out. When I got there Edward was getting ready to attack. He had already killed six humans and was working on the seventh." Esme sobbed beside Carlisle but I didn't see any tears. "He would have killed Bella. His emotions were… conflicted. The call of her blood was too strong. I could tell he didn't want to hurt her, not really, but he lost all control. I got him into the woods. Unfortunately, he hadn't snapped out of his bloodlust."

"Is he dead?" Esme asked. It was as if she was afraid to know the answer.

Emmett shook his head. "He's alive," he confirmed.

Jasper nodded. "He lost an arm, which we helped reattach." I stared at him in shock and horror. "Don't worry Bella. We can lose limbs. It's never permanent unless the limb is burned. He snapped out of the bloodlust. I believe it was the pain that got him. He is aware of what he has done and he feels terrible."

"Where is Edward?" Carlisle asked.

"I told him to go to Denali," Jasper answered. "He needs to stay away from humans for a while. It will give him time to think and Tanya and the others can keep an eye on him. It will keep him from doing anything stupid. Edward knows he can't come home, not with Bella here. He can't go to school either with his eyes."

Carlisle nodded. "I agree Denali is the best place for him. Alice?"

Alice closed her eyes. "He will be fine in Denali," she said once she opened her eyes. "He will be gone for about a week. I can't see exactly how long he will be gone. He's too undecided."

"Before he comes back there will need to be a conversation with him," Jasper said. "We can't have him here around Bella unless we know she will be safe."

"I agree with Jasper," Rosalie said immediately. "I will not have him putting Bella in danger." Was it weird how concerned for my safety she was?

I looked around the room. No one else seemed surprised by her declaration. Based on their reactions this was completely normal. Then again maybe it was normal.

"Food's ready," Esme said standing up.

"Vampire hearing," Rosalie whispered in my ear. "Esme could hear a timer."

Was I really that predictable? Maybe I was. I take that back. I was most definitely that predictable when it came to vampires.

"Is there anything you can't do?" I whispered back.

Emmett snorted and I blushed. "I'm sure there's plenty Rose can't do. Like that thing—"

Rosalie threw a pillow in Emmett's face. "You are an idiot," Jasper said shaking his head at Emmett. He turned his attention to Alice. "We should hunt."

Alice nodded in agreement. She turned to me. "Jasper and I will be back in the morning. If you have any questions Bella, ask Rosalie. She won't lie to you, even if she doesn't tell you everything right away. There are some things… some things you're not ready to know."

With those words Alice and Jasper were gone. "I'm sorry Dr... Carlisle," I corrected. Emmett snickered. "I didn't mean to run your family out of your home."

"Nonsense Bella," Carlisle said. "You didn't run anyone out of here."

"But Alice and Jasper and Edward…" I trailed off. I felt so guilty.

"They went to hunt," Carlisle said gently. "We will all come and go at times for hunting especially since your blood was in the house. It's not your fault," he added when I started to protest. "As for Edward, that wasn't your fault either. His actions were his own and while I understand how difficult it is to resist your singer," he nodded toward Emmett who bowed his head in shame, "I don't condone his actions."

"Bella, you didn't make Edward kill six humans," Rosalie told me. "Not that the humans didn't deserve it."

"Rosalie," Carlisle warned.

"No Carlisle," Rosalie hissed. "I don't need Edward's gift to know what they were thinking, what they would have done. They deserved to die. I would have killed them myself if Edward hadn't done it. The only difference is he shouldn't have fed on them."

I shuddered at the thought of Rosalie killing someone, even if it was in my defense. I didn't want to think of any of them killing for me.

"What happened to the bodies?" Carlisle questioned.

"We took them to the woods and burned them," Emmett replied. "It was the only thing we could think of. Edward took the wallets. He said he plans on donating money to each of the families. He knows it won't make up for what he'd done but it would help."

Carlisle nodded in approval. "I'm never happy at the loss of human life but I appreciate all of your efforts to make it right."

Esme came out of the kitchen with a plate overflowing with food. She had made chicken parmesan with garlic bread and a Caesar salad. It looked amazing and smelled even better.

"Oh my god," I moaned when I took my first bite. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted." Esme's face lit up.

"That's what she said," Emmett said with a smirk. He was looking at Rosalie as he said it. Rosalie looked ready to kill him.

"So, what happens now?" I asked after I finished eating.

"You stay here and I answer any other question you have," Rosalie replied.

"But you don't answer my questions," I grumbled.

Rosalie sighed. "I know. Finding out about vampires is a lot to take in. I don't want to pile more on you." I watched her look at Carlisle.

"Rosalie is right," Carlisle inputted. "No one is intentionally hiding things from you. Vampires are… complicated creatures. The last thing any of us want to do is overwhelm you."

I didn't like it but I let it go. As much as I hated that they were keeping things from me, I did appreciate them thinking about my wellbeing.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Rosalie asked.

"Okay." Anything was better than having vampires stare at me. "Is it safe to walk this late at night?" I asked.

Rosalie laughed. "Nothing will hurt you while I'm around."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I muttered, thinking about my ability to trip over air.

"I'll even protect you from yourself," she promised.

We walked to a bench at the edge of the backyard. It was dark and I couldn't see much but Rosalie apparently could see perfectly fine. "Why are all of your eyes gold?" I asked. "And now Edward's are red and they were black too."

"We feed on animals," Rosalie began. "That's what the gold comes from. We live off the blood of animals."

"What happens to the animals?" I questioned.

Rosalie looked confused by the question but answered it anyway. "We usually leave the bodies."

"That's such a waste," I said with a frown. Rosalie was still confused. I leaned back. "I don't know. I was just remembering a project I did when I lived in Phoenix, about the number of homeless people and how many families can't afford to feed themselves. It's a waste that you guys kill these animals and leave them there when you could take them to a butcher and donate the meat."

Rosalie looked thoughtful. "We never considered that," she admitted. "We would have to do something to cover the bite marks..." she trailed off and sighed. "I take that back. Emmett wants to try butchering the animals himself."

I didn't want to think about that. I imagine Emmett would have way too much fun. "So red and black eyes?" I asked, going back to my original questions.

"Red eyes come from drinking human blood," Rosalie explained. "Also, vampires, in their first several months of existence, have red eyes as they feed on their on human blood. It fades to gold after a few months of animal blood. Black eyes… black eyes can mean many things: hunger, anger, lust."

"Your eyes were black when you found me," I pointed out.

"Anger," she explained. "I was angry at the humans, angry at Edward and angry at the whole situation."

I touched her face, just below her left eye. "Your eyes are still black."

Rosalie grabbed my hand and held it again her face. "It will fade," she told me. "I'll hunt after you go to sleep."

I leaned against her. It was cold outside. I realized her body was equally cold and didn't offer any warmth. It was, however, comfortable. More comfortable than I thought possible considering her was also as hard as a rock.

"Why is your body so cold?" I asked curious.

I felt Rosalie shrug against me. "Honestly, I don't know. It's just how it is. Our skin is hard, like diamonds, nothing can penetrate it. Remind me to show you what we look like in the sun."

"So, stakes don't work?" I half-joked.

"Nope, stakes, holy water, garlic, crosses, even sunlight, none of it hurts us," she said.

"If none of that affects you then how do you die?" I asked. All vampires had a weakness. I learned that from the many movie marathons with Renee.

"Trying to kill me Bella?" Rosalie laughed.

My face turned red. "I… I didn't… I mean…"

"Breathe Bella," Rosalie commanded. "I didn't think you were going to kill me, or any of us." I relaxed slightly. "And to answer your question, fire. We can lose limbs and have them reattached but if you burn them, they are gone. Same gone with the rest of us. We typically prefer to decapitate them and then burn them."

I shuddered at the thought. "Have you done it before?" I wasn't sure if I wanted the answer.

"Twice," Rosalie admitted. "Once was a vampire from Jasper's past. Another was a vampire drawing too much attention to himself. If we didn't end him, he would have exposed us."

"Have you killed any humans?" I questioned.

"I have," she confirmed. "When I first turned." It was chilling hearing that the vampire I was leaning against had killed humans. It didn't scare me, a part of me thought it should.

"Why?" I asked when I realized she wasn't going to say anything.

"It's not a great story Bella," Rosalie began. "I will tell you, just not tonight."

I crossed my arms over my chest. That was her go to response for everything. It was like she didn't think I would happen anything. "Fine," I said. Nothing I said would change her mind. I had already tried.

"I should get you inside," Rosalie said as I shivered against her.

She lifted me into her arms, like she had done in Port Angeles, and carried me back to the house.