All the stars in the Night Sky: Chapter 3: Vengeful

Esme's POV:

After forcing Bella back home, I had gone back to our house, knowing that Edward would eventually find me there and berate me for "endangering his Bella." Well if he wanted to challenge me, that was his foolish mistake. I had made my decision long ago, as soon as I realized that my daughter was alive in Volterra. Bella would be our daughter for all of eternity. Edward would have no say in this, only me and Bella.

Edward's arrogance; as if he knew what was best for my daughter was infuriating. Yes, my daughter, I had already claimed her as mine. Edward was going to have to live with that. He pretended that he knew what everyone should do, as if he had higher authority in our family than he did.

That was where Carlisle and I had gone wrong, I suspect. We had never really treated them like adults and given them responsibilities as adults. And finally according to the stories I heard from Carlisle, when Edward had come crawling back to him after his vigilante years, Carlisle had spoiled him like the "prodigal son." It infuriated me so that I'd have to speak to my dear husband about his spoiling of that boy.

I restrained a growl and almost crushed the steering wheel of my dear Carlisle's poor car. Bear in mind, this wasn't the first time that I've acted like this. Carlisle and the rest of the family have unfortunately seen my moods similar to this at other times. Usually towards controlling men throughout history. Almost all of our family members have had at least one accident concerning humans, but me…..I'm not even sure some of my kills were actually accidents. I might have been no different from Edward at one time in terms of vigilante killings. And all four Carlisle, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett had witnessed some….Disturbing incidents on my part.

I drove on the road fast. All of us were extremely reckless with our driving, even me. It was probably the only thing about us that our little Bella feared. When I thought about it now, concerning Bella's fear, she seemed quite brave in the forest when I had lost control like that. I sighed to myself as I closed in on our house. That was one thing that I'll admit I'm ashamed of doing tonight. That and only that. I had snarled and roared and looked at her with primal black eyes, more than likely terrifying her. I had never wanted to scare her, but being compared to….To her….To Renee of all people, well I just really couldn't control my onslaught of emotions.

I parked the car, noticing that there were sounds of a car coming behind me. It was a few yards away though. But it was definitely coming here to our home. I recognized the sound of the wheels and engine too. It was Edward's Volvo. I smirked as I got out of the car, grabbing the keys. This confrontation was going to take place sooner than I had expected.

Still, I had worries about how I had reacted in front of Bella. I had quite clearly frightened her, however, I was happy to see that she hadn't tried getting away. Well, she did know that vampires were far faster than humans and that there was no way a human could get away from our kind so she probably realized that her running away would have made no difference. But I suspected, or maybe hoped that the real reason for not trying to escape me was because she loved me more than she feared me.

I closed the door when I heard Edward getting closer. Given our whole family disregards any and all speed violations so long as there wasn't anyone watching, Edward would more than likely get here faster than usual. Especially considering how disturbed he was when I let him read my thoughts. I smirk in amusement as I walk up inside the house. Yes, Edward would have to deal with some grim realities tonight. Once inside, I was met with all of my family's eyes on me.

Alice and Jasper were sitting on the couch watching me. Jasper looked resigned, but also….sad for some reason. I'd have to speak with him at some point to comfort him, but not in the state I was in now. Alice however, was smirking. I narrowed my eyes at that. What was this little pixie of my daughter not telling me? I looked to the rest of my family and saw that Emmett was smiling happily and Rose was looking in a way that I couldn't decipher and Carlisle just looked completely worried.

My curiosity got the better of me and I asked almost immediately what was going on. "Alice, love?" I asked gently, "Did you tell the rest of the family what I was planning to do?" Alice smirked a little and nodded to Carlisle, "Ask him."

My eyes went to Carlisle's bright yellow ones. They always seemed to be much paler than the rest of our family's for some reason. His expression became serious as he took a breath. Clearly he was unsure of how to handle this. He then looked at me in the eye and spoke calmly and clearly with no worry or hesitation any longer, "My love, I think we need to talk about this. I love Bella like a daughter just as much as you do, but Edward has a right to take a vote in this."

My anger started surfacing once again, "A vote?" I demanded before I could stop myself, "Carlisle, you know he'll vote no any time he's asked. Why will he do this? Because he wants to control her. You know that! Carlisle Bella has the right to be happy with parents that love her for eternity, not the caged life that Edward will give her where he's controlling her till she dies. And to be honest, I don't care if the rest of you tell me that you will not allow her to be changed, I'm going to change her myself."

My strict words and the look in my eyes obviously startled everyone in the room. Well, maybe not Alice and Jasper, though they were a little startled but not nearly as shocked as Rosalie and Carlisle appeared. Emmett actually seemed to find this amusing, judging by his expression. Finally, after the most unnerving silence in the history of our family passed, Rosalie took this time to speak.

"Esme," She hissed, "Look, we all know you love her; we'd never give any doubt about it. But she has a right to decide. And she'll be making the wrong choice if she chooses to be a monster like us. Don't tempt her. She's already gotten in deep enough by being involved with Edward."

I narrowed my eyes again for another time that night. "Is it for the same reason you were so willing to kill Bella when she first found out that we were vampires?" I sneered, my voice merciless in my accusation. I saw the effects of me being vindictive of her immediately. She growled, but also flinched. I knew that a part of her still felt guilty for the petty jealousy that she had bore towards Bella when she found out that Edward was interested in the human instead of her.

"Don't act superior," I continued, uncaring of her guilt, which to be honest she completely deserved to feel, "I've put up with your problems and insecurities just as all of you have put up with mine. But I will not allow you to make Bella's choice for her any more than I will allow Edward to." I finished that sentence when I heard Edward's car come to a halt in the driveway. Well, speaking of the devil….Err, vampire I mean.

Within only two seconds, the door of the car opened and closed, and we heard him quickly run up into the house faster than lightening and the next second was spent zooming up the stairs till he was smack right in front of me, golden eyes accusing as well as Rosalie's had been a few moments ago.

"Esme," He growled, eyes blazing as he breathed in and out, trying to restrain his monstrous rage."

I however, was not impressed. He might have been changed before I had, but not that long before me. Not to mention, no matter how strong he thought he was compared to me, he did not even want to imagine what I could do to him in my rage at this moment.

"Yes, Edward?" I asked calmly, not allowing myself to be caring at all to his petty whining of not getting his way all the time.

"Whoa, easy, Eddie," Emmett said in an amused but also cautionary tone, "I know you get pissed when Bella's in even the slightest bit of danger, but Esme wouldn't hurt her, you know that. Besides, I don't think it would be a good idea to mess with mom right now."

Though Emmett could be rude in his comments, I couldn't agree with my second son more right now.

"Silence, Emmett!" Edward spat, glancing only for a moment at the larger vampire before glaring at me again, "This is none of your business. Esme, what were you thinking? Bella's still not feeling well after the incident in Volterra; she's still shaken up. And it was even worse when you," He halted his speech and if possible, he glared at me harder as he snarled, "I saw what you were thinking, Esme! I saw! How could you? You know that Bella will lose her soul if she becomes one of us. How can you betray me like this?"

My eyes suddenly became slits. Bella's words echoed in my head. Yes, Edward thought it was all about him. Always. And Bella was right. We always let him think it was about him as well. We never deterred him from thinking otherwise.

"This may come as a shock to you, young man," I said, never having recalled my voice ever sounding stricter with my oldest child, "But not every action I take or thought I have revolve around you and your self-loathing." I paused for a moment, deciding to be as calm as possible (I didn't want Jasper to feel upset at my hectic emotions after all) "Whatever feelings you have towards Bella, they're your own. Bella is capable of her own decisions. Allow her to make them if you don't mind. If you don't let her make her own choices and force her to do otherwise, well…..," I allowed my voice to trail off but I allowed my thoughts deliberately to travel to Charles, that pig of a husband of mine and then put the thought of Edward next to him.

Only because I had never believed Edward to be anything like Charles had I lacked even the tiniest of terrible thoughts of comparing my son to my abuser, but now that I saw Edward for what he was, it seemed unavoidable. I got exactly the reaction I expected. Edward's gold eyes went wide and feral and he let out a snarl of rage and disbelief. I noticed Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Carlisle getting ready to pounce and restrain my son if he attacked me. I myself readied my muscles in case Edward was looking for a physical conflict.

Instead, Edward launched self-righteous remarks of defense, if it could be called that, "How can you compare me to that….That….How could you, mother?" A few years ago…..Well, who am I kidding, a few weeks ago, I would have felt terrible at hearing him say that. I would have felt endless guilt. But not anymore. I had long since lost any sympathy for him in his self-important, religious, heinous beliefs. I knew also why he called me "mother" now instead of calling me by my name like had a few seconds ago. It was because of his rage towards me that he wanted me to feel like I was at fault, hence using a title of endearment. That trick wouldn't work either.

"How can I?" I asked in a bored tone, "It's quite easy for me to do so, son. I can because it's true. Aside from actual physical abuse, how different are your methods of controlling Bella from how Charles used to control me?" There, I had said it. I had said it out loud for all the family to hear. Now, not only did Edward know it from reading my mind, but the rest of the family heard it as loud as a vampire's roar.

I wasn't an empath like Jasper, but I could almost feel the thick, cold, uncomfortable tension in the room. Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett held completely still. Emmett and Rosalie I'm more than sure felt shock but also agreement. Carlisle I suspect was just in pure denial. He didn't want to believe that his most beloved child was what I claimed him to be. Then again, I couldn't really be too hard on my husband. I had a part in making Edward the self-absorbed, abusive and worthless vampire he was today after all. I, like Carlisle, had made him feel special and had praised him endlessly for a century. If that wouldn't make someone narcissistic and absorbed with one's self, I don't know what would.

Jasper and Alice remained still. Well, Alice did anyway. She had her hand on Jasper's arm, whispering for him to calm down as he was shaking from the onslaught of emotions from all of us. I imagine that Alice was able to remain so calm because she had seen this coming.

Edward on the other hand was literally trembling in his chaotic anger, finally unable to contain it anymore. Finally, he strangely lifted his eyebrow at Alice, prompting me to look at my small daughter. Alice had her gold eyes fixed on Edward and I realized at that moment that she was sending him thoughts or mental images. Of what, I of course did not know.

No longer fixating his anger at me, he let out one last roar and lunged fast past me, venomous fangs bared as he went at Alice who was now smirking again. Luckily, I had suspected this would happen and snapped my arm up faster before he had moved, grabbing him by the throat with my right hand. I saw Edward's startled eyes meet my own, which were now pitiless and so concentrated that I might have burnt two holes in his head with my eyes as I launched my feet off the floor and slammed his body against the wall smashing some of the wood, my hand still locked around his throat.

I lifted my arm a little, pulling him off of his feet in a slow, but dangerous motion. "Edward," I growled, still holding him in a tight grip, eyes staring into his own shocked ones, "I will not tolerate your rude and thoughtless behavior any longer, boy. Not towards me, your sister, Bella or anyone else for that matter. I will not allow you to dominate Bella's life any longer." I pulled his head back from the wall, using my hand, then slammed his head back into the wall so hard that I heard the wall crack a little, "Bella will be my daughter whether you like it or not. You will not have any say in either my wishes or Bella's decisions. Bella will become a vampire by my hand and of her own free will. You will not have any choice in the matter. There will be no more controlling actions on your part." I finished my cold, hard and domineering sentence by pulling Edward from the wall once more and this time throwing him across the room for him to land at Carlisle's feet with a loud "thud" and the whole house shook upon his impact to the floor.

"Esme!" Rosalie cried. I ignored her. I wouldn't tolerate anyone's complaint in order to stop me, not Rosalie's, not Edward's, not anyone's any longer.

"Quiet, Rosalie," I said simply, an uncaring tone in my voice, "Be quiet." I observed Edward's weak form along the ground and then looked up to lock eyes with my shocked husband, full of despair, "Carlisle, I will speak with Bella tomorrow at her school. I need to hear what her answer is. I'm trusting you not to allow Edward to get in my way. Bella's choice is her choice, simple as that. I will put my trust in you to make sure that I can speak with her alone without Edward's ignorant influence." I took a breath, which was odd, since I didn't need to even breathe, "I know that you believe that Edward will change, but he won't. He hasn't changed in one hundred years and I doubt he'll change now." I turned from both of the self-righteous and disbelieving male vampires and added, "If I find either one of you trying to stop me, I'll bite you. I'll leave permanent scars from my venom so that you'll remember them forever!"

I heard several gasps behind me. The gasps were so quiet that no human would be able to hear, but I could hear them just fine. I growled a little over my shoulder without looking at any of my family members, "I'm going out hunting." I added in a sneering tone, grinning in triumph at my son, "Don't worry, Edward, I'm not planning on going to your precious possession. I've already planted seeds of suggestion in her head. She doesn't need any more influence from me tonight. I'm just going to feed. None of you will come after me." I wasn't requesting that last part. It was an order.

And there was one last thing that I needed to understand before I went. I glared at Alice, "You are coming with me, young lady." I said as calmly as I could to Alice, "I want some explaining about what that was all about just now and why Edward wanted to attack you."

Alice got up, nodding. She placed her hand almost understandingly on Jasper's arm and then walked past the rest of her family, sending one last smug look at Edward who was staring hatefully at her.

Just when I was about to lead Alice into the forest to get her to tell me what was going on, Edward decided to let the family know himself. Tactless as always.

"She'll never be yours, Alice." Edward sneered.

Alice paused for a moment, whereas the rest of us froze. Alice kept moving towards me though.

"Alice?" I asked, stunned as I looked down at her. And here I was thinking that I was the only one with big secrets to spill around this house.

"Yes, mother?" Alice asked, smiling gently, "Don't you want to speak in the woods after we feed?"

I just stared for a while. This was completely out of my zone of awareness. Was I really so not tuned in to my children, that I didn't just abandon Bella, but didn't notice what feelings one of my other children had for her as well? Had I really been so unaware this whole time that Alice was in love with Bella, or was I interpreting this all wrong?

"Yes, Alice," I finally managed out, "We will talk in the woods. Follow me."

I rushed down the stairs and through the doorway into the woods with Alice speedily running behind me. The two of us being a couple of white flashes in the night, faster than the eye could see. We were going to hunt three deer or four. Maybe a couple of bears like Emmett usually did. I needed something to vent my rage out before I spoke to Alice.

Then Alice and I needed to discuss what exactly was going on here.

Back at Bella's House:

Bella's POV:

I had pretended to be sleeping when Edward had left out the window. I guess he wanted a word or two with Esme after what happened in the woods. Though now that I didn't have him constantly looking at me, I could actually open my eyes and stare at the ceiling and let my mind wander.

Now that I thought about it, what actually happened in the woods tonight? Sure, I had heard plenty of what Esme had said tonight. But I just didn't understand it. Had she been serious? Or was this just another game that vampires played. I mean for god's sake, vampires had forever to come up with manipulative plans and hurt humans emotionally as well as physically. It would be only natural that this was yet another way of tricking a human into believing that they cared about me and hurting me in the worst way possible.

I wanted to believe it, certainly, but wasn't that the point of a vampire's trickery?

I had no doubt in my mind whatsoever that I loved Esme like any daughter would her mother, but how could I be absolutely sure that Esme loved me? Hell, did any of the Cullens? Edward sure found it easy to turn his back on me in a flash a year ago after my birthday. Alice had come back but only after she had seen me jump off that cliff. Hell, Rosalie and Jasper were probably both happy that I was gone. I was only there for Emmett's entertainment and Carlisle, well, he just was happy that Edward may or may not have found a mate. But apart from that, I didn't expect much. No, they didn't want me. Not at all. Esme more than likely was no different from the rest of the family.

I turned my head to stare at my wall then. Yeah, my activities were very eventful tonight. How boring. I suspected that it was time to start having hobbies outside of Edward and the rest of the Cullens. After all, it was only a matter of time before they left me again. That seemed to be what they were best at.

Might as well resign myself to that fact, but rebound from it by keeping myself busy after they did the damage to me.

Maybe more reading or running a bit. Sure, I was horrible at sports and had terrible coordination skills, if any, but just flat out running on smooth surfaces, I was a little better at, and besides, I knew how much them leaving had hurt me; that emptiness that had formed. Any and all bruises and cuts that I would sustain would be worth relieving myself of the agony during the running. Maybe some hiking and video games as well.

I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me. I couldn't think about this. Not now. Not after all that conflict in the woods. I needed to sleep and get my mind clear before I saw Edward and his family at the school tomorrow. Nothing like being more sleepy than you already are and having a bunch of manipulating know it all vampires making things even worse for you.

I tried not to think at all about Esme's pain as she knelt on her knees before me, pleading for my forgiveness and love. I squeezed my eyes shut even harder. I couldn't bear to think of it like that. Esme's pain was too much. The sounds she made as she snarled…..It was just too much. The sounds of a wounded creature was awful and the sounds a vampire made were specifically made just to entice sympathy from their prey.

It was true, I was a sucker for the noises that vampires made. I loved how they purred and growled. I loved some of the noises they made and would bend more than easily to their distressed noises. And seeing Esme like that tonight and hearing those noises had been far from easy. In fact it was just plain disturbing to hear and watch.

I turned more in my bed, still pondering over it. Esme wasn't that old for a vampire, but still she was old in comparison to me. Whatever noises they made, they were usually more in control of their emotional responses. Still, I had to remember that no matter what they did to me in the past, the Cullen family was not exactly the usual coven of vampires.

But I subdued those thoughts. I needed my rest. Slowly I somehow got my emotions under control and drifted off.

Author's Note:

Yes, as you see what I've suggested with that Alice bit, there's going to be some femslash, so those that don't like it, don't read the next chapter.