𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Rochester, New York

CULLEN HOUSE - THE DECK
         The sun sets over the river as Rosalie looks out. Jane exits. Rosalie knows who's behind her without looking. She slowly moves to Rosalie's side, turning toward the river. Rosalie speaks after a moment of silence. "My life was perfect once, you know," she whispers.

       "No one's life is perfect, Rose," Jane speaks softly. Rosalie cracks a smile and replies, "Mine was. Absolute perfection. Til the end. I had... almost had... everything, even though it was the Great Depression. I was eighteen, beautiful—everyone in Rochester envied me. There was only one thing I wanted that I didn't have..."

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK (1933)
       Rosalie holds a baby close to her. The baby has black hair and dimples. He's absolutely cherubic. Human Rosalie has rosy skin and blonde hair. She's stunning, but naïve and vain. She longs as she hands the boy back to his mother, Vera, 18.

"I wanted a child badly. A home of my own, a husband to kiss me when he came home from work. And I thought I was going to have all of that," Rosalie continues.

     Rosalie walks on the arm of the handsome, well-dressed Royce King. Passersby eye her admiringly. Royce enjoys the attention she brings him. But it's clear from their looks that Royce himself is not well-liked.

"Royce King was the most eligible bachelor in town. I barely knew him. But I was young. I was in love with the idea of love."

      Rosalie doesn't see Royce eyeing a pretty woman across the street. The pretty woman, appalled, hurries along. He wipes the lear off his face. Rosalie blithely only sees her perfect man.

"I was young..."

ROCHESTER NEW YORK  (1933)
STREETS
       Rosalie heads down the empty lamp-lit streets. She pulls her coat close in the chill of the night air. "On the last night of my life, I left a friend's house late. I wasn't far from home." She slows as she sees a group of five men, gathered under a streetlight. They laugh drunkenly, passing a bottle.

       Rosalie veers away to avoid them but hears a voice. "Here she is. Hey, Rose. Come over here," It's Royce King. Rosalie relaxes a little as she realizes it's her fiancé. "Here, hold this," he passed his bottle to his friend, "Hey, come over here. We've been waiting for you," he says. "You're drunk," Rosalie exclaims, eying him and his friends. "Isn't she lovely, John? I told you she was a looker," Royce admires his fiancé's body.

       "It's hard to say with all those clothes on," his friend, John, replies. Rosalie, uncomfortable, looks to Royce but he just snickers. "What do you say, Rose? Why don't we take off a few layers," he asks. "Stop it... I'll see you tomorrow. Sober," Rosalie starts off, but Royce abruptly yanks her hat off. She cries out in pain as the pins wrench her hair out.

      Royce grins, the sadist in him unmasked now. The men laugh. "Hey, where do you think you're going," he asks. "Stop it. Just stop it. Let go. Stop it," Rosalie demands, reaching for her hat. "Comeback. Hey, you'll do as I say," Royce exclaims as he grabs her coat.

      She fights him, scratching his face, but he violently rips the coat off her. The brass buttons pop off as they scatter on the street. "I didn't see who he was until that night. Who they all were..."

CULLEN HOUSE - THE DECK
       Jane reels at the horror of Rosalie's assault. Empathy fills her as a stoic Rosalie continues, "They left me in the street, thinking I was dead. Believe me, I wanted to be. Carlisle found me, he smelled all the blood... Thought he was helping me. I got my revenge on them. One at a time. I saved Royce for last, so he'd know I was coming."

HOTEL CORRIDOR (1933)
        Two large men guard the doorway to a room. They look up as a specter in white appears at the other end of the hall. As it nears, they realize it's Rosalie, in her wedding dress. Royce is terrified as he hears the sound of the two guards' bodies falling heavily to the ground. He backs into a corner. The door splinters open and Rosalie enters. She closes in on him.

CULLEN HOUSE - DECK
"I was a little theatrical back then. Things got better after I found Emmett. But we'll always be this. Frozen, never moving forward. That's what I miss the most, the possibilities. Sitting on a front porch somewhere, Emmett gray haired by my side, surrounded by our grandchildren, their laughter." Rosalie is silent for a moment. Jane turns to her, empathetic.

  "We're the same, Jane," Rosalie whispers, turning to her. Jane leans in and wraps her into a tight hug. Rosalie returns the favor, digging her face into Jane's black hair. They hug for a moment before they pull away. Relieved, Rosalie walks off. Edward stands in the window, looking out at Jane. Smiling, she waves and turns back toward the house.

FIN