"Go to the fair she said, it'll be fun she said," Irina murmured sarcastically as we watched Sasha mess with the general male populace. Kate and I giggled. Sasha looked at us and glared, shaking her head in mock annoyance.
The three of us sat on a fence, our legs swinging over the side. Almost every person took a second glance at us – male and female.
"I wish I could read minds," Kate snickered.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because then I could tell whether they thought we were hot or just weird. And if any of them wanted fun tonight." She winked. Only Kate.
"Why don't you go and ask? You know they're not going to say no," Irina told her.
"I like them to come to me," she smirked. Me and Irina looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small boy, maybe about two or three, wandering around by himself. He looked lost and scared, biting his finger nails but not sucking his thumb like I would have expected from most children his age. I immediately felt drawn to him. He tripped over his feet and tumbled down a couple of sharp steps, going sprawling into the gravel. Kate and Irina flinched and I stood up. The scent of blood saturated the air.
We all jumped up. Sasha's head snapped up toward us, both in warning and in fear. The other two sensed this and began to back away. I went forward toward him.
"Tanya!" Sasha yelled, her voice begging me not to attack. I smiled at her to show her I was in control. She relaxed slightly but looked confused, her brow creasing. I approached the child. He still hadn't picked himself up, but instead lay there as if he didn't have the will to. To my surprise he wasn't crying.
"Hey sweetie, are you okay?" I asked him gently.
He jerked back, scratching his hands and knees again. "D-d-da-d s-said n-not to-to t-tal-k t-to stran-ger-s," he stuttered. His voice shook as if he was crying and he was very quiet. His accent made me smile. "H-he s-said t-th-at I'm b-bad."
It shocked me that he said he's bad, not that it's bad.
He rubbed at his wrist, the red transferring onto his arms. They were covered in bruises that were not caused from his fall. He squeezed it and the tears started to fall.
"Where are your parents?" I looked around for someone that slightly resembled him.
"I-I-I don't k-know," he whimpered. He was becoming more and more upset.
"Come here," I reached toward him. He pulled back and tried to stop crying. "It's alright, I won't hurt you, I only want to help." He curled up tightly, willing me not to touch him. I was at a loss of what to do, I couldn't just leave him there. I picked him up. He froze, going stiff, his whimpers becoming quieter.
He was a lot lighter than I anticipated, and I could fell every bone in his body. He felt brittle, as if I would break him just by touching him, which I probably could. I enjoyed the warmth of him, the feel of his heart beating against me. The suddenly longing for my own child hit me like a wave. I smothered it down.
"It's okay honey," I rubbed his back. He gave in and lent into my shoulder, nuzzling into my neck. Tears I could never cry pricked my eyes. "It's okay," I repeated gently. He started to cry, properly now. I wished I could cry with him. "What's your name love?"
"C-Carlisle," he mumbled into me. He was more relaxed now.
"Tanya, what are you doing." Sasha stood behind me, hands on hips. It wasn't a question, but more of a threat. Carlisle shrunk into me.
"He's hurt. We can't leave him here." I prayed that she would understand that he wasn't the only one that needed this.
"He's not our responsibility," she snapped. Her face told me she understood, but that she still wouldn't risk it.
"I will meet you back home when I've helped him," I told her sharply.
She glared, serious this time. I met her gaze with the same expression. I had never stood up to her before, we always got along. She looked shocked. Carlisle was trembling, scared.
"If you get in trouble with the Volturi, I will NOT bail you out." She spun on her heel and disappeared into the crowd, taking the other two with her. I knew she was serious.
"Carlisle, it's okay. She's just my…mum. Do you know where your mum is?"
"I d-don't have a-a mum," he whimpered. I squeezed him a little bit tighter.
"What about your dad?"
"Don'tknow," he said quickly. Fear. He was holding onto me now.
"We'll go clean you up a bit okay? And then we'll go find who you belong to?"
He hesitated before nodding. I readjusted my hold on him so I could walk and took him into the nearest bathroom. I sat him on the edge of the counter and gently persuaded him to let go of me. He was reluctant to do so. His eyes were wide in the dim lighting. I dampened some tissues and carefully wiped away the majority of the blood. He didn't complain or cry out once.
Although there were many of them, the grazes weren't deep but I bet they throbbed. He kept touching his wrist.
"Let me see," I told him, pulling his hand away from it. Over the short time since he had fallen, it had become purply-black. "Sweetie I think you might need to go to see the doctor?"
"No!" he yelped, pulling away from me. "I don't deserve to go. If I am good then God will protect me but I'm bad so I have to learn." He said it uniformly, like it had been rehearsed a thousand times before.
"Who told you that?" I gasped, shocked.
"F-father," he replied quietly, looking at his hands, fidgeting.
"I think your arm might be broken, he won't mind." I couldn't believe I was trying to reason with a three year old. Sasha would have laughed. He didn't look convinced so I picked him up again.

I walked up to the receptionist.
"Hi, um, I think that Carlisle might have broken his arm?" I half asked, half told her.
"You're pastor Cullen's boy right?"
He nodded unsurely.
"Okay wait there; I'll go find the doctor."
She disappeared down a hallway, returning with a man. He had a low thick brow and a hard face. Something about him made my skin crawl. I couldn't believe I was letting him near the small child.
He led us to a dingy small room that was dimly lit and stunk of rat pee. Carlisle stood holding onto my leg.
"Let me see son," he said in a gruff voice. Carlisle hesitantly held out his arm. Just as the doctor lent over to examine it, a man with a red face appeared in the door way.
"CARLISLE WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT TALKING TO STRANGERS?! WILL YOU NEVER LEARN YOU STUPID BOY?!" His voice was scratchy and loud, scary to me even though I could have killed him in seconds.
"I-i-i-I'm s-sorry d-d-daddy!" Carlisle shrieked, pure terror reflecting in his little voice. He backed up to stand behind me.
"YOU!" His father screamed at me. "GET OUT! NOW!"
"No!" cried Carlisle.
"SHUT UP!" he yelled at him. "OUT!" He looked me in the eye and pointed to the door.
Carlisle was sobbing, more upset than he had been when he fell. "I want to go too," he cried to me. My heart broke. I wanted so badly to pick him up and run. The nurse was grabbing my hand and trying to pull me away. I knew I had to move or I would give Sasha's family away.
My eye's burnt as I walked out the door. Once I was out I ran like a coward into the woods, desperate to get away from the child's cries. I ran home where Sasha opened the door, wrapping her arms around me as I sobbed, unable to make tears like he could.
"There was nothing you could do Tanya," she told me after I told her what happened. "He's a human. He would not do you any good."
I buried my love for the child deep inside, knowing I would never see him again.