The Darker Nature of the Cullens

So, in my fic "Dancing with the Devil's Daughter" I'm exploring the dark side of the Cullens, a side that SM hinted at, but never really wrote about. Really, the closest she came to exposing us to that side of the family was with Rosalie's story about her turning, which I am so looking forward to seeing in "Eclipse."

I don't really have any teasers to offer up yet, so I thought I'd write about the logic that ran through my head when I started to play with the idea of an Evil Bella turning the Cullen clan evil as well.

Jasper: This one is really the easiest. Jasper's tie to the family is through Alice. If there were no Alice, Jasper would probably have continued to feed on humans. Alice is what makes Jasper good, but he's still susceptible to temptation, as we saw in "New Moon." In DwtDD I'm playing around with Jasper having that temptation forced on him over and over. Do you think he can resist that temptation? I sure don't.

Rosalie: Almost as easy as Jasper. Rosalie has never tasted human blood, but she is capable of killing for revenge. What happened to Rose was terrible, but rather than letting it destroy her, Rose destroyed the ones that harmed her. To me, it's Rosalie's stubborness and desire to be human that keeps her in the Cullen lifestyle. She doesn't want to be a vampire, so she refuses to feed in the natural vampire way in an attempt to get back a human life. The Cullen family lets her do this, but Bella won't. If Rose's human facade and dream is destroyed, then what we're left with is the vicious, vengeance filled woman who murdered her rapists. Rose is very capable of becoming evil.

Esme: I've had people say that they think she'll be the hardest to turn after Carlisle, but I disagree. As one of my reviewers put it, Esme's moral compass "doesn't always point north." In "Twilight" she would have supported the murder of Bella if it kept Edward with the family. To turn Esme evil, all you really have to do is convince her that it's what is best for her family. The Cullen children have taken the place of the child Esme lost, and she would do anything to keep them safe.

Alice: Actually one of the more difficult. Alice slipped up a few times, but she managed to survive on her own and become a vegetarian thanks to her visions. Once Alice knows her path, she won't be swayed. The only problem is that in DwtDD, she doesn't know her path. Thanks to Bella, her visions of the future are almost non-existent. Without visions, Alice doesn't have much to work with, leaving her in a prime condition to be manipulated. This manipulation would be made even easier if Jasper, the man who "kept her waiting" is on the side with the cookies. In my working theory, when Alice runs blind she's a lot less sure of herself, and that will end up being her downfall.

Emmett: Quite possibly one of my favorite characters. Emmett embraces the vampire lifestyle, even if it is an untraditional version of it. We also know he gave into the call of the singer, twice. This tells me something: Emmett is not good at resisting temptation. The singers are the ultimate temptation, and he gave in easily. All Bella has to do is find a way to tempt him, to give him something only she has, and then she'll own him. I'm not saying Emmett is weak, he just doesn't feel the need to control himself as much as, say, Edward.

Edward: This is who I feel is the toughest besides Carlisle. Edward lives in a state of self-loathing for the ten years he spent feeding on humans. It's also those ten years that show he is very capable of evil. Yes, he hunted the scum of the Earth, but he still murdered humans. We know he wanted to hunt the men down in Port Angeles... but here's a question that hasn't really been explored: what Bella had let him? Had told him to? They say old habits die hard, and I'm betting it's the same with Edward's "let's play God" habit.

Carlisle: The most difficult of the bunch. Carlisle has never fed on humans. He's a blood doctor for Christ's sake! So, what makes our Dr. McVamp tick? Maybe the idea that, under the surface, he's not as civilized as he likes to believe. Much like with Rosalie, to get to Carlisle, Bella is going to have to destroy the illusion of humanity that he hides himself in. Carlisle isn't human. He's a bloodsucking monster of legend. Maybe it's time someone reminded him of that. Personally, I'd love to see a vicious, bloodthirsty Carlisle. Maybe one out for revenge against Aro for brining the Devil, quite literally, into his family?