Chapter Two: Faith
(Carlisle's POV)
I could see the hopelessness looming on the faces of my family, and it killed me. They looked to me for strength and hope, but how was I supposed to give something that I didn't have? I knew it was almost a certainty, after years of living with them, that Aro, Caius, and Marcus would kill Edward. Not by choice, but because Edward would push them to it. He knew which buttons to push, and he was determined to push them. His spirit broken, shattered by hopelessness, he was a shadow of what he once was, looking for relief from the agony of her death.
It was only a matter of time.
I couldn't say it. I couldn't even think it. I dropped to my knees as despair gripped me. My chest felt ripped open, and the pain throbbed uncontrollably. I could barely breathe from the torture. I had never in my life felt something so horrible. I lifted my eyes to the heavens, desperation drowning me.
Heavenly Father, I don't know if you are listening. I don't know if you care about those such as I, but I have nowhere else to turn. I am begging you, on my hands and knees, not to let this happen. Do not take him away; don't let him waste his life. Please…
My son is a source of goodness in a world that is too overrun with evil. You know as well as I that the darkness in this world is great, but he is a source of light that fights against it. He strives to hold on to his respect for life when it would be so much easier to just let go of his humanity. Edward fought against the greatest temptation possible for our kind, when he found Bella. His love won out over the beast within him. The world needs him. My family needs him. I need him. Please…
Without him I do not know what will be left of me to give to my family. Losing him will tear me apart. Please…
He is my son in every way that matters, and I love him. He is a miracle. He is proof that you exist! How else could someone so good exist as a creature that is primordially evil? We were created to kill, but we fight against our nature. He fights even though he has experienced the easier road. Even when he ventured down the dark path of feeding on humans, Edward only killed the vilest of men, the humans who were every bit the monsters we tried not to be. Please…
No matter what it takes, bring him home safely. All I have left is a father's faith that you will see the goodness in him and decide that the world needs him more than you do. Please…
I look in my wife's eyes, and I feel myself torn to shreds. She's lost one child already. It is unfair to make her endure this torture again. It is bad enough that she had to outlive one son. Watching her go through it again is excruciating. Please...
Whatever is within me to give: my life, my soul, I forfeit it to you. Just bring me back my son. If there must be a sacrifice I will gladly take his place. I am begging you; take my life instead of his. Please…
Bring Edward home. Please…