I just want to say I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING.

Rosalie P.O.V.

"I don't care." The words came out cold, but that's how I intended them to sound. I was cold to him, he was cold to me. Why should it be any different now?

"Why must bạn be so difficult? This is the ideal place for us. Remote, comfortable, endless resources. I don't see the problem." Of course he wouldn't. He could be comfortable in a one-room shack in Antarctica, so long as it had a piano. This was Appalachia, a million miles from my comfortable upbringing in suburban New York.

"The problem is that we're in hill-billy country, Edward! These people have thêm children than teeth for God's sake! Esme went clothes shopping for me. Did bạn see what she brought back? Flannel! Red and white flannel with over-all denim jeans! She đã đưa ý kiến there were no ladies stores nearby, so we would have to wait a few weeks to travel to a city to find one." He wasn't listening anymore, I could tell, but I went on anyhow. "I can't even go to school, Edward. bạn get to go, but I can't! I can't wear pants at school, it's against the dress code and my clothes from trang chủ are too formal and modern for these people. We'd stand out too much."

"As if we could ever truly blend in, Rosalie! We've just got to make the best with what we have. Wear your own clothes around the house until we can find bạn something else. Use those…more casual items to hunt so bạn don't ruin anything bạn brought with you." Edward growled and sat at his đàn piano to practice. That meant the argument was over. I heard him mumble something about 'selfish' and 'numb' before he began taking out his aggression on the keys.

I walked to a calendar tacked to the phòng bếp, nhà bếp tường and pouted in all my misery. The ngày read September 1935 over an artist's rendering of a happy family with a wife, husband and two children at a campsite in the woods. I had been a vampire for two years at this point, but I was still young and quite prone to the attraction of human blood. Carlisle, my adoptive father, đã đưa ý kiến I was ready to integrate back into public life, to attend school with humans, but I was not as certain. Even looking at this picture of a family in my phòng bếp, nhà bếp made me thirsty. "I'm going out for a hunt. I'll be back later." I left Edward in his own suffering at the đàn piano and wandered out through the screen door into the woods behind our home.

He was right about one thing; there was an endless nguồn of thực phẩm here for us. Bears, mountain lions, bobcats, herds and herds of deer as far as the eye could see. I ran through the forest to vent my frustrations over Edward when I froze in a small clearing. I heard a sharp bang like dynamite in the distance. I had seen a few phim chiếu rạp during my teenage years with sound, but nothing I had ever heard sounded like this. There were several thêm bangs followed bởi growing laughter. It sounded like men, three of them, but why they would be way out here I would never guess. I knew I should get away as fast as possible, but I was curious. I had never laid a hand on a human as a vampire, so I knew I wouldn't harm these men. I just wanted to know what they were up to, so I could relay the information to my family.

I could smell them getting closer, so crouched on the ground behind a thick curtain of ferns to observe. All three men were dressed in green and brown clothing with heavy boots and bright trái cam, màu da cam hats with flaps over their ears. I held in a chuckle at that, as they reminded me of an Elmer Fudd cartoon I had seen recently. I watched them pass by, one after the other when the tallest one in front turned toward my direction. "Hey, do bạn guys smell that?" I was terrified that I had been caught spying. Did I forget to wash off the perfume I was wearing at home?

The other men shrugged and looked slightly Mất tích at each other. "No, Emmett. I don't smell…oh man, you're walking in the back from now on! I told bạn not to bring beans on the trip!" I was relieved that it was not me this Emmett had smelled, but his own gift to nature. He was pushed to the back of the line bởi his Những người bạn while his laughter echoed through the forest around them. The men continued walking and I continued following until a small river blocked our path. Across the river about a half mile upstream was a fallen cây that looked almost rotted. It was not sturdy enough for the large men and their gear, but I was sure I could make it to the other bank. There was a cliff there I could climb and watch them from above, rather than hiding in the bushes like an animal. I ran as fast and as quietly as I could to my secret place and smiled knowing I had a clear view to their campsite, but they would never notice me.

I watched them for an unknown amount of time. I hadn't realized it was nearly dark until they had lit a ngọn lửa, chữa cháy on the riverbank and began to cook the cá they had caught. The bigger man, Emmett, decided to wash in the river while the other men cooked. I had never seen a man out of his clothes that way before, but I didn't feel ashamed hoặc embarrassed. He didn't even know I was there, after all. That's when everything went terribly wrong.

Emmett had floated downstream a little ways, leaving his Những người bạn at the campsite. I kept my full attention on him. When he returned, they were no where to be found. Thinking it was a joke, he pulled his pants on and went into his tent for a moment. When he emerged, a baby chịu, gấu was just wandering into the campsite sniffing the air in a curious fashion. From his other side, another cub had arrived. I couldn't see where his Những người bạn had gone, but they had taken all three rifles. Several distant shots echoed off the cliff face followed bởi frantic screams. I flew from the cliff, unsure of why I was so intent on becoming involved and made my way back across the rotted cây bridge. It couldn't have been thêm than thirty seconds, but the mother chịu, gấu had joined her cubs and was not pleased with Emmett's presence. In the chaos of the moment, Emmett attempted to make a break for it, but as he was not wearing shoes, he was unsuccessful.

"Oh God, EMMETT! WHERE ARE YOU?" I heard his Những người bạn yelling from the distance. "We gotta get help! EMMETT! CAN bạn HEAR US?"

"There's bears all around here, Pete! We can't stay here!"

The third friend was correct. I could smell the bears coming. They had smelled the cá the men had been cooking as well as the other foods and wanted to tham gia the party. I could smell Emmett's blood now and it was getting stronger bởi the second. He didn't have much time left. I looked toward his friends, who were now running as fast as possible toward civilization. I was in shock that they would leave him this way. He was their friend, possibly a relative, as far as I could tell, but they had left him to die with the bears.

I couldn't do that. I followed the scent to his body, where the chịu, gấu was still picking at his curled, weak form on the forest floor. He was moaning slightly, so I knew he had a chance. I used every amount of strength I had in my body to tackle the chịu, gấu and run it off. I wasn't trying to kill it, she had em bé that needed a mother to look out for them when they wandered into trouble. She was just being a good mom.

I rolled Emmett onto his back to check his injuries, which were ghastly to say the least. Three gashes went down his bare back where the chịu, gấu had taken him down. Several thêm went across his chest and arms. The chịu, gấu must have been swatting at him like a kitten with a ball of string. He had bites on his legs clear through his jeans and what appeared to be a cracked skull which was bleeding so badly, it covered one side of his face in red, gushing blood.

I can't lie. The thought of tasting him did vượt qua, cross my mind at that point. I had not hunted for nearly two weeks and tonight's trip into the forest to feed was so distracting, I was still dying of thirst. I removed my flannel over-shirt and wrapped it around his torso to stop some of the blood before turning my sights on a large, older chịu, gấu in the distance. He was an easy opponent and I was back with Emmett immediately. I scooped him into my arms like an infant and ran without thinking as fast as I could away from the bears to a safer place. The clearing where I'd first heard the gunshots.

I was still so far from home. I had no idea what to do. He was still breathing, but he didn't have long. Something in his face spoke to me. His eyes were partly open and he was staring up into my face completely helpless, like an infant. God help me, I don't know what came over me, but in that instant I knew I had to do thêm than get him help. I would never be able to get his face out of my mind and for me, that meant eternity. "Be still, Emmett. I'm taking bạn to a doctor." I whispered and took off as fast as my feet could carry me with his body safely in my grasp.

The screen door slammed open at the back of the house, causing Edward and Esme to come running to the kitchen. "I found a hunter. He's dying. Please? Is Carlisle trang chủ yet?" I was babbling, unsure of what I was really saying. Carlisle came down the stairs and was at Emmett's side in an instant. "A chịu, gấu was attacking him, to protect her cubs. His Những người bạn abandoned him."

Edward brought Carlisle his medical bag. He looked over to me with confusion while examining Emmett. "I can close these wounds, but it won't be easy. This head injury looks quite serious. I can't guarantee that I would be able to save him. Rosalie? What do bạn want me to do with him, exactly?"

I hesitated, but made myself perfectly clear. "I want him to tham gia us. I want to keep him."

"Are bạn mad, Rosalie? bạn can't just keep a human like a Mất tích puppy!" Edward was shocked and livid with me. I was not surprised. "Of all the selfish…"

"Yes, I'm selfish Edward. I don't want this poor man to die after his Những người bạn deserted him as chịu, gấu food. I'm selfish because I carried him hundreds of miles in the dark through the woods alone to the most trusted doctor I know, rather than leaving him to die. I'm selfish and horrible, but unlike you, I can feel emotion for another person."

"Enough!" Carlisle growled so loud, the walls shook. "Edward, bring me a bottle of ether. Rosalie, carry him to the spare bedroom. I'll have no thêm bickering from either of you."

I did as I was told and laid Emmett on the bed. I stayed at his side for three days and nights until he awoke. I was unsure of what to expect at that point. I was afraid he would be scared hoặc upset, hoặc worse, he would want to leave us.

"Am I dead?"

I jumped at the sudden sound from across the room. "Dead? Um, I can't believe- Your name is Emmett, correct? I'm Rosalie."

"Yes." He shook his head and tried to sit up. "You're the Angel who saved me. bạn brought me to God. My Angel, Rosalie."

"I think you're head injury may still be affecting you. I'll get Carlisle." I left for a moment and brought Carlisle back with me to Emmett's room. "What do bạn remember, Emmett? The last thing bạn can think of?"

"I remember…swimming in a cold river. Then a lot of pain and an angel, you," he pointed to me, "my Angel was carrying me. I felt like I was flying. Then another angel, a man was over me. I'm sure it was God…then it all goes dark. I'm dead. I must be, because bạn both look like angels. In my twenty years on earth, I've never seen someone so beautiful." He spoke the last sentence looking straight into my eyes.

Carlisle broke the silence. "You are dead, but this is not heaven, I'm sorry to tell you." This was the part I feared most. When he learned what he was, how would react to the information? Carlisle explained what we were and how we survived while I took Emmett's hand and waited quietly beside him. "I can not judge your reaction. Please tell me what bạn are thinking, Emmett?"

"I'm a vampire. So I am dead, but we're still in Tennessee, then?" he let out a long breath and nodded in understanding. "Nothing is going to change that, I suppose. bạn both seem to be getting bởi alright with this…lifestyle. I guess I'm okay with it, as long as I have bạn both there to guide me."

"You aren't upset hoặc afraid?" I whispered. "We drink the blood of humans, Emmett."

"If bạn were as bad as bạn seem to think bạn are, why did bạn carry me away from the bears? bạn could have left me there and never had a thing to do with me hoặc my death. bạn didn't drink my blood when bạn had the chance. I couldn't have put up much of a fight if bạn had tried. No, I trust bạn both. You're my angels." He smiled brightly and I knew everything was going to be all right.