Silence

by Twilight Goes To Hollywood

Creatures that hunt by sound have threatened human existence. Trying to survive, Edward and Bella have maintained a silent way of life for their three children. When the unthinkable happens, how will they make it out alive?

Subject/Email Header: Twilight Goes to Hollywood 2018 Contest

Title: Silence

Summary: Creatures that hunt by sound have threatened human existence. Trying to survive, Edward and Bella have maintained a silent way of life for their three children. When the unthinkable happens, how will they make it out alive?

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: M

Based on the movie: A Quiet Place

Word Count: 5,199

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on the movie, A Quiet Place and crossed with characters from the Twilight books and movies. The author does not own any publicly recognized entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

…TGTH…

Silence

Sometimes the silence was so loud, it echoed through my ears and reverberated through every fiber of my being.

We were never meant to live this way. Even the deaf community would have agreed with that. The monsters hunted by sound, so we were forced to tiptoe through life, and that was no way to live. Then again, what we were doing wasn't really living. It was surviving.

We had no idea where they came from. Were they sent from some distant planet to consume everything in our world like some disgusting extraterrestrial locust? Or perhaps their origins were more sinister than that. Perhaps they emerged straight from the depths of hell. It didn't really matter. Aliens or demons, they were still the biggest threat mankind had ever known, and now we were on the verge of extinction.

As my family and I walked the few miles along the sanded path from the closest abandoned store, to our home made from an old farmhouse, I had a horrible feeling that I just couldn't shake.

'Something is wrong.' - I signed to Edward.

He looked around nervously, but like me, saw nothing.

'I don't see anything. I feel it.' - I tried explaining.

Sign language was a very expressive form of communication, however with it being my second language, I sometimes found myself stumbling over my signs, especially while frightened.

Edward nodded. - 'Let's hurry.'

'Quickly as possible. Carefully.' – I signed to Carlie. Out of our three children, she had the most difficult time with the noise. She was born deaf eight years earlier, therefore we had already known the language prior to the attack on our species. However because she never heard before, she didn't know what made noise, and had a hard time adapting to the stillness of our new reality.

'Sure footed. Eyes on the path.' – I made sure she understood. And then I fiddled with one of her hearing aids. They didn't help her hear much, and she absolutely loathed them, but Edward still insisted she wore them whenever we were away from the house. He thought they helped her at least detect loud noises, if nothing else.

'I got it, mom.' – She assured me with annoyance heavy in her movements.

'Let's go.' – Edward signed impatiently. He scooped up ten year old Anthony in his arms, since he was too sick to move any faster on his own, and then he began walking at a quicker pace.

Because I was a paranoid mom, I grabbed my daughter's hand so she would match my steps and I could ensure she remained silent, but when I reached for Ben with my other hand, I was horrified to see he had wandered off. My eyes had only left him for a moment, and that was all it took.

Edward must have sensed something, because he paused in front of us, and looked back. His eyes scanned behind me for our son, and when he didn't see him, he placed Anthony softly on the ground, and gingerly returned to my side.

My stomach was in knots, and I had to cover my mouth to keep my fears contained.

Then we spotted him.

He had swiftly snuck down the side of the path, where a mother duck was leading her babies into the creek.

'Ducks!' - He signed to me excitedly from below.

I smiled with slight relief. - 'Yes. Cute. Please come back now. We must hurry. Anthony is sick.'

Edward started scolding him for wandering off, but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

'He's only five.'

'He must be more obedient if he's going to survive.' – Edward argued with me.

Like a dark omen, that was the moment Ben must have tripped, and immediately began wailing.

He was only twenty feet away from us, but it was twenty feet too far. Edward tried to get to him. We both did. But the monsters were faster.

In a split second our family was broken.

I wanted to scream out my pain, but that would have only taken my children's mother from them. Despite how much I wanted to die in that moment, I couldn't give up. I had two more children to survive for. So I kept my screams locked away in my mind and my soul.

There had never been a more intense heartache to ever exist. There were no words in any dictionary to properly describe that level of torture. No parent should ever be forced to endure the loss of their child. Not like this, there was no reason for this. I knew instantly that I would take that emotion with me for the rest of my days. I was irrevocably shattered.

We all existed in a state of constant grief after that. Anthony pulled through his illness, but he was never the same. He blamed himself for the loss of his little brother. If he hadn't been sick, we would have never gone out that day to find medication. It was too heavy of a burden for any ten year old to bear.

Carlie too held herself at a level of self-inflicted culpability. She thought her special needs required too much of my attention, therefore I couldn't keep a proper eye on Ben.

It wasn't fair to them.

I absolutely hated that my children carried such intense sorrow and wrongful guilt at their young ages. It wasn't either of their faults. It was mine. I should have done better as their mother. I should have been more stern. I failed Ben, not anyone else. Edward would never actually admit it, but I knew he blamed me as well. I should have never taken my eyes off of him. There was no possibility of ever forgiving myself. I would feel it every second, of every day, until my last breath.

Just a hollow shell of what I used to be, there were many times in the year following Ben's death, that I thought my kids would be better off without me. I was their mother; if I couldn't protect them, what hope did they have? But then one of them would hug me, and silently tell me they loved me, and I knew I couldn't put them through the grief of losing one more person unnecessarily. So I persevered. Always moving forward, but never really going anywhere.

Edward and I didn't communicate much after that devastating day. We were both dealing with our grief in our own way, and unfortunately, our own ways didn't include each other. We signed for survival purposes, but that's as far as it went. When Ben died, our love for each other seemed to die with him, or at the very least, it went dormant. We only existed for our surviving children at that point. Our anguish just couldn't allow for anything more.

Then one night, after the kids went to bed, Edward was cleaning some of our reserved fish, when his hand slipped, and he sliced his arm wide open.

There was so much blood that I worried it wasn't going to stop and he'd bleed to death. It awoke something within me that had been quiet for so long. I thought I had died on the inside when Ben was stolen from us, but in that moment, I realized there was still a part of me that was hanging on. A part of me that still yearned to be that beautiful man's wife.

We had fallen fast and hard for each other in college, and it wasn't long before we were expecting Anthony. Our love wasn't always easy, but it was intense, and as I struggled to stop his bleeding, I feared I'd lose him without either of us remembering just how much we meant to each other.

His face began to pale, but I didn't give up. I couldn't. I cleaned out his wound, and stitched him up, and then held it as tightly as I could, and prayed the bleeding would slow. I held him all night, and without even realizing I had drifted off to sleep, I awoke early the next morning in a panic.

Thankfully, he was looking right back at me.

He was calm, and somehow he managed to calm my heart as well. There were no words spoken or signed, but we both understood how much we needed each other in that moment.

All of our pain, all of our stress, and grief, and fears, all combust at the same time. If we didn't hold on to each other, we were sure to completely fall apart without the hope of ever piecing ourselves back together. He was my heart, and soul. He was my very life force, and I knew we would move forward as a united front from then on out.

Of course, the repercussions of our reaffirmed love was severe.

'I'm pregnant.' – I signed. Having a difficult time holding in my tears. They weren't the happy tears I had each time we found out we were expecting before. I was petrified.

And so was Edward.

'I need to find a doctor. Someone to help us fix this.' – He signed in a panic.

'Where? Everyone is dead or in hiding. We are on our own.'

He shook his head. - 'What about Dr. Carlisle? He used to live on the other side of town. I will go and…'

I shook my head in return, and then placed my hands over his so he would stop signing. - 'Dead.'

Dr. Carlisle had died not long after the monsters first showed up. I remembered one of our neighbors had tried to reach him, and neither of them survived it.

Edward shook his head at a complete loss, and a single tear escaped down his cheek.

I can't lose you too – he mouthed. Not even bothering with the signs.

'You won't. We will figure this out.'

He shook his head again in disagreement. 'I should have never been that stupid. I can't believe I did this to you. To us.' – He signed in an angry rush.

'We will figure it out.' – I reaffirmed with more confidence.

I had no idea where my sudden bout of determination had come from. Perhaps I had been swallowed with grief and guilt for so long that it felt good to experience a different emotion, even one that seemed utterly hopeless. How could I give birth completely quietly? Even more daunting was the prospect of keeping a newborn from making a single sound. It was impossible, and yet, we needed to figure it out. I would not lose another child to those monsters. Until my last breath, I would do everything in my power to keep them safe.

Edward and I spent countless nights making plans for the arrival. We discussed everything that could go wrong, and we came up with plans B, C, and D. Edward got to work silently building a noise containing box that air could still penetrate, while I took that time to prepare the kids. Easy to say, they were both terrified. A baby crying would not only endanger the baby's life, but theirs as well, and I understood their fears. I shared them. But that was our new reality, and all we could do was our best to prepare for it… and of course, pray. If god was even listening at that point.

We spent every free moment working towards what could very well be the end of all of us, but we still forced ourselves to find some moments of happiness as well. We would take turns telling stories, and we would smile, and laugh – silently laugh, but still, it felt nice. If our kids weren't going to survive until adulthood, I wanted to make sure they were able to experience some joy while they could. And love. Our family's strength was not determined by our survival, it was determined by how much we loved each other. In the end, that's all that mattered.

The months passed quickly. Too quickly. Before I thought we were ready, I was heading into my eighth month. Then again, there was no such thing as being ready enough for what was coming.

'I'm going to leave for one more fishing trip before the baby comes. Don't want to run out of food and have to leave you alone with a newborn too soon.' – Edward signed.

It was something we had already discussed, but that didn't make me any less stressed. We had rarely separated since the world began to crumble around us, and I feared some kind of tragedy would strike while we were apart. I couldn't stand the idea of never seeing him again. After everything we had already lost, it was too much to bear.

'You know I have to go.'

I nodded reluctantly, but the tears just kept flowing.

'I'm going to take Anthony.'

My stomach flipped, and I shook my head anxiously.

Edward put his hand up to stop me. - 'He needs to learn. Someday I won't be here. He's old enough to start contributing.'

As much as I hated the idea. I knew he was right. Our kids needed to know how to survive without us. It was yet another terrible burden for them to carry at their ages, but with the world the way it was, it was a necessary aspect of life.

I took a deep breath, and then reluctantly nodded.

Edward kissed my head, then left to send Anthony in to say goodbye as well. Their trip should have only taken several hours, but every minute apart could feel like a lifetime in such an unstable environment.

Carlie was upset she was being left behind, but as Edward told her, I needed someone to stay with me, just in case something went wrong. I was still over four weeks from being full term, and had never gone into labor early before, but I still couldn't stand the idea of both my kids out there. I was glad he convinced her to stay.

She stayed, but she was angry about it. So she stormed off to her room, where she remained for a while.

I cooked us dinner, and brought it to her room, but she had the door locked. Of course I couldn't knock, not that she'd hear it anyway, so I just put her plate outside her door, and hoped she'd get hungry enough to find it.

Because I was so big, my back was always aching, so I decided to take my evening bath a little early that night. I put in my earbuds, and then tried to soothe away the stress and aches, even if only for a few minutes.

Even though the earbuds kept the noise contained within my own ears, I still kept the music soft. We always had to be alert. There was no moment when we could let our guards down completely. It was a good thing I did...

Suddenly there was a noise.

I reflexively sat up, and pulled the buds out of my ears, and listened. It was still quiet, so I started to think I had imagined it. Right when I was about to relax again, I heard another noise.

My heart jumped.

My entire body began to shake as I slowly got out of the water, and wrapped my robe around myself to prevent dripping. I made no sound except for my shallow breathing, and even that felt too loud, so covered my mouth.

Another noise.

Then a crack.

I gasped just as I heard something sharp scratching above me.

With my hand still covering my mouth, I inched out of the bathroom, and went to go check on Carlie. Her door was still locked, and as far as I could tell, she wasn't making any noise. Whatever I was hearing came from the ceiling.

I tiptoed back to the bathroom, and crept to the window. I peeked out, and then I saw it. The tail of a raccoon hanging over the edge of the roof.

I took a sigh of relief, but that relief was short lived. There was a deafening scream that was far from human, and I knew we were about to be invaded.

Stupid fucking noisy raccoons!

I kept still, hoping the creature would be satisfied by its raccoon meal and leave us be, but when I saw one giant, black, spider like hand tracing down the window, I reflexively took a step back, which caused me to bump into the water bucket.

I gasped again, and this time, I was definitely heard. Without wasting another moment, the creature broke the window easily, and pushed it's way inside. I ran for it, hoping to lead it away from Carlie's room, and thankfully it followed. I quieted again, and managed to sneak outside, where I glanced up and saw sheets tied together hanging outside Carlie's room, and that's when I realized she wasn't even in the house.

I was terrified of my daughter being out there somewhere, so I did the only thing I could think of, I slammed a door shut, hoping the other creatures would come my way instead of towards wherever she went.

I managed to silently sneak back into the house, and narrowly avoided the creature as it crept down the hall.

Over the years we had come to conclude that there were three creatures currently residing in the area, so all I could do was hope that the one in my house would call his two other buddies, so that my daughter would be safe.

And then I got what I hoped for.

The creature made a deafening noise that shook me to the very core.

I was frozen in fear where I stood, leaning against the doorframe of my bedroom… and then my water broke.

Not only was I consumed with horror, but the intense pain of labor rushed through me. I had given birth three times before, so I had an idea what to expect, however, this was definitely different. The onslaught of pain was stronger than any other I had ever experienced before, and I knew the baby was coming fast.

As the monster lurked through the house, knowing I was there but not being able to find me, I kept moving silently from room to room, just trying to stay one step ahead of it. The creatures were fast, and had amazing hearing, but they were also blind, so that was the only advantage I had.

As I made my way to the kitchen, and silently endured another intense contraction, I grabbed a knife out of the block. The monsters were tough to kill. We had only known one person to even survive such a feat. Our neighbor Jasper got a lucky shot some years ago, and hit one square in the mouth, just as it was opening up to consume him. It was the only way we knew to defeat them. We had two guns, but Edward had one with him, and the other was locked away in the basement, which was unreachable at that moment. But if one of those things opened its mouth at me, I was going to make damn sure I stuck in right in the fucking brain with that knife.

As the horrifying game of cat and mouse persisted, I somehow found my way back to the upstairs bathroom, and because I could feel it happening, I made the quick decision to get back into the water, in order to birth the baby as quietly as possible.

I felt like my insides were being shredded apart. The pain was so intense that I couldn't help the small muffled screams that leaked out from the cracks in my fingers.

Just as the baby's head was crowning, one of the monsters found it's way back to the room.

I sunk lower in the tub so the waterline was at the bottom of my nose. I tucked the knife under my hip, and then ever so slowly, reached between my legs to try to hold my baby in.

The monster was fumbling around the room. Listening for even the smallest noise. Despite my attempt to hold it in, my body betrayed me by pushing the baby out against my will. I could feel it moving under the water, but being within the monster's reach, I had no choice but to keep the baby submerged.

I was trembling. And crying. And honestly thought I was drowning my baby. But in that situation, to drown would only be merciful.

By some miracle, or perhaps by the grace of god, something grabbed the monster's attention, and it immediately jumped out the window.

"No," I whispered. Fearing it was after Carlie.

I reflexively got out of the water, and I was both relieved and terrified to see the baby girl take her first breath. I didn't hesitate. I immediately put her to my breast in an attempt to keep her quiet. I knew she needed to cry to get the water out of her lungs, but I couldn't allow her that luxury. Crying meant death, and I wasn't ready to allow that to happen just yet.

The afterbirth had come out in the water, so I quickly used the knife to cut the cord. I was still wearing my robe, but it was soaking wet since I didn't take it off before getting back into the water. So I dropped it to the ground. I managed to strap the baby to my chest using the wrap I had there, and then I covered both of us with Edward's robe. I kept her hidden under the fabric, hoping she'd stay warm and secure long enough for me to do what I needed to do.

I slowly made my way back down the stairs, and peeked outside again, hoping for some kind of sign Carlie was okay. But she was nowhere in sight.

The baby started squeaking, and making little noises, so once again, I had to try to take cover. I finally made my way down to the basement, where Edward kept the spare gun and all his tools, and thankfully, that's when I remembered his box. Just as the baby began to cry, I was able to shut her into the sound proof container, and pray it was enough to keep her safe for the time being.

But her momentary audible cry had alerted the monster, so once again, it was searching the room we were in… and this time, it brought one of its friends.

I kept one hand on the baby box, but I made myself as small as I could against the far corner of the basement. The two monsters threw things around, and listened. Always listening for even the slightest sound. I covered my mouth again, but my panicked breathing was too loud, and the creature slowly zeroed in on me.

It moved within inches of my face, so I readied my knife, and silently said a prayer. The moment it was about to strike, another noise abruptly sounded in the distance. It turned towards the commotion, and then it darted away, with its friend right behind it.

I let out the breath I didn't even know I had been holding.

The relief only lasted a moment, because then I heard footsteps tapping down the stairs.

I wanted to cry out to Edward the moment he came into view, but he quickly brought his finger to his lips, and urged me to remain silent and still.

'Where's Anthony?' – I signed shakily.

He gestured outside, and then showed me the sign for fireworks.

I knew exactly what that meant. It was something we had set up months prior. The plan was for Anthony to set off the fireworks in the field across from house, as a way to draw the monsters away if they attacked during the birth. I was grateful, but terrified.

'You left him alone out there?'

He shook his head. 'Carlie is with him. They lit the fuse and got to safety.'

'There is no safety anywhere.' I cried noiselessly.

He wrapped me in his arms, before realizing what he had missed.

'Baby?'

I pointed to the box, and he responded by quickly but cautiously peeking inside. I could see his shoulders relax and tense at the same time.

He turned back to me. 'She's sleeping.'

I nodded, and then more tears fell from my eyes as he showed me the sign for 'beautiful'.

I closed the distance between us, and clung to his side as we both looked at our sleeping angel. She was our precious gift from god, right smack dab in the middle of hell. And then a noise from outside reminded us that our fight wasn't even close to being over.

He closed the lid, and then told me to stay there, before he took off up the stairs.

Not even a minute later, our two older kids came quickly into the basement.

I cried with relief, and then hugged them both. Even if we didn't survive that night, I was grateful to get the chance to hold them one more time.

'You okay?' – I asked them.

They each nodded, but the look of fear heavily plagued their features. I wished I could sing to them, and rock them the way I used to when they were little. Even Carlie, who could never hear, had been comforted by the low vibrations of my humming as a small child. It was a comfort I couldn't give them anymore, and probably never could again. A comfort our newest baby would never know.

The three of us huddled together in the basement, with the baby box as close as possible, and we waited. Waited for Edward to come back. Waited for the monsters to find us. Waited for whatever would come next.

And then there was a gunshot.

And another.

Anthony jumped at the noise, and Carlie jumped as a response of his jump. So I hugged them closer to try to keep them still. Their tears were wetting my chest and shoulder, and once again, I was left praying.

Then there were footsteps.

They seemed too loud to be from Edward, so with no hope left, I just held my kids tightly and braced us for what I thought was going to be our end.

Thank god it was Edward after all. But why was he being so loud?

"I shot both of them." He said, shocking me by his vocalization almost as much as the message was conveying. The unexpected sound of his voice, after so long of silence, was as stunningly beautiful as it was petrifying. "They're hurt, but not dead. They're going to come back."

My stomach twisted. Did his spoken words mean he was giving up?

"I have an idea." He said, as if he heard my silent concern. 'Carlie,' he signed, before holding his hand out to her.

Somehow, she knew exactly what he was asking for. Without hesitation, she took out her hearing aid, and handed it to her father.

'What are you doing?' – I signed, afraid to speak out loud, especially since I was too baffled to even begin to understand what was going on.

"Carlie snuck out of the house and followed us." He began to explain in a rush while he fiddled with her hearing aid. "I didn't know she was there, but then she tripped over a twig, and I heard her."

I gasped, but it didn't stop his story.

"One of the creatures lunged at her, but right before it was about to strike, it abruptly fell over."

My stomach flipped, and then I looked down at Carlie questionably.

'My hearing aid scared it.' – She signed to me, despite not hearing her father's story.

"What?" I questioned, no louder than a breath.

"I don't know. The high frequency of it, or something. It was too much for the creature. It fell over in pain. It was writhing around, and I just happened to get a good shot."

"You killed it?" I asked out loud in bewilderment. Not even recognizing the sound of my own voice.

"That one. It was a lucky shot. We need some more of that luck. The other two are just wounded. They need to be shot when their ear folds open from the pain of the high frequency. I need to amplify this." He said in a rush while he continued to work at his desk.

"What can I help with?" I asked with my heart fluttering in anxious anticipation.

"Bella. You just gave birth. Take care of yourself."

"If we survive the next hour, then I'll take care of myself."

He stared at me for a moment, then we both went back over to the check the baby. We took turns kissing our kids for what could have been the last time, and then we readied ourselves for the inevitable attack.

"Remember how to use this?" He asked while cocking one of the guns.

I nodded.

"Wait for the ear flaps to open. Aim true. Don't hesitate."

I inhaled deeply, and then took the gun from him. My father had been a cop before his death. He taught me from a young age how to handle myself with a gun. I knew what I was doing, and for the first time, since the first monster was reported, I wasn't scared.

Edward motioned to the kids to stay back, so they pulled the baby box with them, and hid as best as possible. The only thing that stood between our babies and the monsters, was us. We already lost one child, we would not lose anymore. I had to believe that with every fiber of my being.

"I got it." Edward told me quietly. He held the hearing aid up to the amp he had stored there, and then we waited.

For creatures that hunted by sound, they themselves weren't very quiet. We heard them enter the house, and Edward cocked his gun.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

The two creatures rumbled down the stairs, and the moment they came into view, Edward hit on the amp. Both crashed to the ground in withering pain, and I couldn't help the hint of smile that played on my lips.

It was working.

Those fucking creatures killed my child, and I was going to enjoy killing them in return.

"For Ben," I said while taking my aim.

"For everyone." Edward agreed.

I nodded once, and then we both took our shots. The bullets hit their marks, and putrid monster gore splattered everywhere.

It was done.

Killing the creatures didn't disillusion us. We still knew our planet was in peril. But the three that had been stalking our area were dead, and I didn't have a doubt Ben's killer was one of them.

The fight wasn't over. We won the battle, but there was still a tireless war ahead of us. More monsters would eventually come... But for now, we were safe, and our family could finally take a breath in peace.