om him  popping the brass buttons off. They scattered all over the street.

Show him what you look like, Rose! He laughed again and then he tore my hat out of my hair. The pins wrenched my hair from the roots, and I cried out in pain. They seemed to enjoy that  the sound of my pain. . . .

Rosalie looked at me suddenly, as if shed forgotten I was there. I was sure my face was as white as hers. Unless it was green.

I wont make you listen to the rest, she said quietly. They left me in the street, still laughing as they stumbled away. They thought I was dead. They were teasing Royce that he would have to find a new bride. He laughed and said hed have to learn some patience first.

I waited in the road to die. It was cold, though there was so much pain that I was surprised it bothered me. It started to snow, and I wondered why I wasnt dying. I was impatient for death to come, to end the pain. It was taking so long. . . .

Carlisle found me then. Hed smelled the blood, and come to investigate. I remember being vaguely irritated as he worked over me, trying to save my life. Id never liked Dr. Cullen or his wife and her brother  as Edward pretended to be then. It had upset me that they were all more beautiful than I was, especially that the men were. But they didnt mingle in society, so Id only seen them once or twice.

I thought Id died when he pulled me from the ground and ran with me  because of the speed  it felt like I was flying. I remembered being horrified that the pain didnt stop. . . .

Then I was in a bright room, and it was warm. I was slipping away, and I was grateful as the pain began to dull. But suddenly something sharp was cutting me, my throat, my wrists, my ankles. I screamed in shock, thinking hed brought me there to hurt me more. Then fire started burning through me, and I didnt care about anything else. I begged him to kill me. When Esme and Edward returned home, I begged them to kill me, too. Carlisle sat with me. He held my hand and said that he was so sorry, promising that it would end. He told me everything, and sometimes I listened. He told me what he was, what I was becoming. I didnt believe him. He apologized each time I screamed.

Edward wasnt happy. I remember hearing them discuss me. I stopped screaming sometimes. It did no good to scream.

What were you thinking, Carlisle? Edward said. Rosalie Hale? Rosalie imitated Edwards irritated tone to perfection. I didnt like the way he said my name, like there was something wrong with me.

I couldnt just let her die, Carlisle said quietly. It was too much  too horrible, too much waste.

I know, Edward said, and I thought he sounded dismissive. It angered me. I didnt know then that he really could see exactly what Carlisle had seen.

It was too much waste. I couldnt leave her, Carlisle repeated in a whisper.

Of course you couldnt, Esme agreed.

People die all the time, Edward reminded him in a hard voice. Dont you think shes just a little recognizable, though? The Kings will have to put up a huge search  not that anyone suspects the fiend, he growled.

It pleased me that they seemed to know that Royce was guilty.

I didnt realize that it was almost over  that I was getting stronger and that was why I was able to concentrate on what they were saying. The pain was beginning to fade from my fingertips.

What are we going to do with her? Edward said disgustedly  or thats how it sounded to me, at least.

Carlisle sighed. Thats up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way.

Id believed enough of what hed told me that his words terrified me. I knew that my life was ended, and there was no going back for me. I couldnt stand the thought of being alone. . . .

The pain finally ended and they explained to me again what I was. This time I believed. I felt the thirst, my hard skin; I saw my brilliant red eyes.

Shallow as I was, I felt better when I saw my reflection in the mirror the first time. Despite the eyes, I was the most beautiful thing Id ever seen. She laughed at herself for a moment. It took some time before I began to blame the beauty for what had happened to me  for me to see the curse of it. To wish that I had been . . . well, not ugly, but normal. Like Vera. So I could have been allowed to marry someone who lovedme, and have pretty babies. Thats what Id really wanted, all along. It still doesnt seem like too much to have asked for.

She was thoughtful for a moment, and I wondered if shed forgotten my presence again. But then she smiled at me, her expression suddenly triumphant.

You know, my record is almost as clean as Carlisles, she told me. Better than Esme. A thousand times better than Edward. Ive never tasted human blood, she announced proudly.

She understood my puzzled expression as I wondered why her record was onlyalmost as clean.

I did murder five humans, she told me in a complacent tone. If you can really call themhuman . But I was very careful not to spill their blood  I knew I wouldnt be able to resist that, and I didnt want any part of themin me, you see.

I saved Royce for last. I hoped that he would hear of his friends deaths and understand, know what was coming for him. I hoped the fear would make the end worse for him. I think it worked. He was hiding inside a windowless room behind a door as thick as a bank vaults, guarded outside by armed men, when I caught up with him. Oops  seven murders, she corrected herself. I forgot about his guards. They only took a second.

I was overly theatrical. It was kind of childish, really. I wore a wedding dress Id stolen for the occasion. He screamed when he saw me. He screamed a lot that night. Saving him for last was a good idea  it made it easier for me to control myself, to make it slower 

She broke off suddenly, and she glanced down at me. Im sorry, she said in a chagrined voice. Im frightening you, arent I?

Im fine, I lied.

I got carried away.

Dont worry about it.

Im surprised Edward didnt tell you more about it.

He doesnt like to tell other peoples stories  he feels like hes betraying confidences, because he hears so much more than just the parts they mean for him to hear.

She smiled and shook her head. I probably ought to give him more credit. Hes really quite decent, isnt he?

Ithink so.

I can tell. Then she sighed. I havent been fair to you, either, Bella. Did he tell you why? Or was that too confidential?

He said it was because I was human. He said it was harder for you to have someone on the outside who knew.

Rosalies musical laughter interrupted me. Now I really feel guilty. Hes been much, much kinder to me than I deserve. She seemed warmer as she laughed, like shed let down some guard that had never been absent in my presence before. What a liar that boy is. She laughed again.

He was lying? I asked, suddenly wary.

Well, thats probably putting it too strongly. He just didnt tell you the whole story. What he told you was true, even truer now than it was before. However, at the time . . . She broke off, chuckling nervously. Its embarrassing. You see, at first, I was mostly jealous because he wantedyou and not me.

Her words sent a thrill of fear through me. Sitting there in the silver light, she was more beautiful than anything else I could imagine. I could not compete with Rosalie.

But you love Emmett . . . , I mumbled.

She shook her head back and forth, amused. I dont want Edward that way, Bella. I never did  I love him as a brother, but hes irritated me from the first moment I heard him speak. You have to understand, though . . . I was so used to people wantingme . And Edward wasnt the least bit interested. It frustrated me, even offended me in the beginning. But he never wanted anyone, so it didnt bother me long. Even when we first met Tanyas clan in Denali  all those females!  Edward never showed the slightest preference. And then he met you. She looked at me with confused eyes. I was only half paying attentio