A/N: Meyer's characters, not mine.
Chapter Seven
Esme's POV
I still remember Carlisle, but everything else was gone. I used to have flashbacks, a few moments where I would see my past. But I haven't had one of those in a while. Then again, minutes felt like days, and days felt like years. I wonder if he'll ever come back, my Carlisle, to get me. To save me from this wretched prison that has become my home.
But why would such a perfect angel want a monster like me? I live off the blood of innocents, and my mind functions almost solely on instinct. I do think, I'm thinking right now, but it's different when there was blood involved. I wish there was a way out.
()()()….()()()
Carlisle's POV
Tonight, we will make our move. Our plan isn't much of a plan, but Peyton says she doesn't do plans, she just acts on instinct. So Peyton will go in first, fight her way in, and then the rest of us will follow, taking out whoever's left.
I'm nervous, but ready. Who knows what they're doing to her in there. Just thinking about Aro touching my wife makes me want to tear him to shreds.
What if she's dead?
Oh God, no. Please, don't let her be dead. There's nothing without Esme. She's my everything, I need her. Without her, I can't seem to function normally. I'd rather die than live a day knowing that Esme was indeed dead. She's like a drug to me.
And the blood drugging… Good God, what if she doesn't even remember me?
"She'll be ok," said Edward. "She'll remember you."
I nodded at my son, though regrets and worries still drifted through my mind.
The cave we were currently in was very dim, and I could see little, even with my enhanced sight. The cave was nature-made, not Peyton-made, but she added to it, making it more comfortable. She had lit a small fire but quickly put it out once hushed voices were heard. We weren't taking any chances.
The tattoo-clad vampire was now talking to Bella about her shield abilities. The Volturi mansion is quite large; Bella wouldn't be able to shield the whole thing. Plus, we wouldn't be in line formation, making it harder for her to keep track of who to disable.
Alice hasn't seen anything, not even a glimpse. Peyton offered to leave for a short time, but everyone agreed it would be too dangerous. If we wanted to win, we needed to stay together.
Edward sighed solemnly and got up from his place beside me, choosing instead to sit by his wife. I saw him flinch as Peyton's eyes bore into him. I knew my first son was having trouble adjusting to another person who was immune to his mind-reading abilities, but he has done better than I would have thought. When he first met Bella, he was furious over the restriction between them, but he soon grew to enjoy the silence he had with his wife.
Rosalie suddenly piqued and asked, "Do you think it's late enough?"
Her mate leaned down to whisper in her ear but she pushed him away and stood up. "We aren't doing anything by just sitting here. It's past nightfall and most residents of Volterra have already gone to sleep. If we wait too long, our cover will be blown and we'll never get Esme back."
I sucked in a deep breath and glanced at Peyton. She blinked once but didn't say anything for a long moment. "We were planning–"she started, but Rosalie cut her off.
"You were the one who said we didn't need a plan! You said you go off on instinct alone! Well, you know what I think? I think you're a joke. I think your friends were killed because you were too weak to do anything about it."
"Rose!" Edward snapped angrily. He made a move to get up but Peyton grabbed his arm and pulled him down.
She then proceeded to reach into her back pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes.
She flicked the top open and pulled one long Marlboro out of the pack before she tucked them back away. She stuck it in her mouth and lit the end with a small flame dancing around her index finger. She put the flame out, throwing the cave back into darkness, and blew a ring of smoke into the musky air. The smoke curled and swirled, creating wonderful patterns at the girl's will. Finally, after a few more drags, she let the stick dangle between her fingers as she spoke.
"Everything that you said is very true. I am a joke, a fraud, a complete and utter idiot, if you will. But, let's look at the facts, shall we? The Volturi would kill every single one of you in a second without even batting an eyelash, so what makes you think that you have any better options? For God's sake, you're out of options! I'm your last hope, and without me, you can kiss your mother and wife goodbye. Now, I'm here to help you. I'm not an evil person and I'll do my best, but you have to let me. You can't chain me down and tell me exactly what to do, because I won't do it! I'm usually a solo fighter and this is very different for me, so please just trust me."
"We just met you, how can we really trust you," Rose said, crossing her arms.
"I know it's hard, but I know I can do this. Please, just trust me and everything will turn out okay."
She turned and stared right into my eyes, and for a moment, it felt as if she were looking right into my soul. And then the moment was over, and she was announcing that we were leaving in ten minutes.
()()()….()()()
Aro's POV
"My Lord," Felix said as he raced down the long hallway to meet me. I was on my way to meet with Esme, a fresh pitcher of blood in my hands.
"What is it, Felix? Can't you see I am busy?" I hissed, truly annoyed at his interruption.
"There is someone fifteen miles away in a deep cave in the woods. They had a fire lit and there was whispering coming from the cave. The scent smelled like–like…"
"Spit it out, boy, I don't have all day!"
"Peyton. It smelled like Peyton."
My grasp on the pitcher faltered, if only for a moment, and it slipped from my hands. Felix quickly grabbed it but not before a few drops of the ruby liquid had cascaded over the side, staining the cobblestone.
"Here, My Lord," he said, handing me the pitcher.
I took it with shaky hands but held onto it firmly. She was coming back, after all these years, to punish me for what I did. If only I could tell her that I did nothing but send them away. I loved Peyton as a daughter; I would never really kill the people she loved.
But I know Peyton, and I know she isn't one for reasoning. She had always been quick to anger and quick to kill. She threatened me the night before she left; she told me that she would go to the ends of the earth to make sure I was dead before the year was over. However, she never returned, but I have lived in fear since that day. I've never seen a vampire with that sort of power and it frightens me now to know that she is within a minute's run.
"Tell everyone that we are having a special visitor tonight, but tell no one who. I will have that honor once I am done with the Cullen," I said, gesturing towards Esme's room.
Felix bowed with a polite nod and sprinted back down the corridor.
I opened Esme's door without knocking and was surprised to see her lying on the bed, wrapped in a blanket. She was bare, though well covered by the comforter, and not to my surprise, she was sobbing.
Her feminine beauty struck me like lightning and it took everything I had not to force her right there. My calm façade had already started faltering when I heard the news about Peyton's upcoming arrival and now it had fallen completely.
I slammed the pitcher on the bedside table roughly and Esme made a quick grab at it. I let her drain the blood but ripped the blanket from her body while she drank. Her eyes became large as she realized what I was planning to do and she tried to get up from the bed. I pushed her down with my left hand then used my right to pick up the empty pitcher. On any other day, Esme would be much stronger than me but I had consumed an especially large amount of blood today, just for this very occasion.
I threw the pitcher at the wall, watching the glass splinter into shards. Esme screamed under me as I began to shed my suit.
"Please, please, Aro, don't do this! You don't know what you're doing! Please, just kill me! Just kill me!" She wriggled beneath my touch annoyingly as I grabbed her hair and pulled her upper half up.
"Open your eyes! Now!" I barked as I pinched her thigh. Her red eyes flew open in an instant and her breathing had turned to frantic panting.
"I know exactly what I'm doing and I don't care what you think about it. I will not kill you, simply because you are fun to play with," I flashed a devilish smile and caressed her cheek.
She snapped her teeth at me wildly and I hissed at her.
"Listen to me you whore, I own you. If I want you, I have you. That's how it works around here. Got it?"
She snapped her teeth at me again, so I sunk my teeth right into the supple flesh of her upper right breast. She screamed in pain and kicked her legs wildly as I attempted to hold her down.
The wound I had made was bleeding now, a river of blood flowing down her porcelain body. I picked her up and threw her to the other side of the room, not wanting to get blood on the comforter. She whimpered and curled into a ball, her once white stomach now stained a ruby red.
I pulled on my clothes, done with Esme for the night. I had had my fun, and I wasn't about to take her on the floor like some kind of monster. I straightened my tie before the mirror and smiled at the woman in the corner. I was a civilized man after all.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I opened it, wary of who it was, my nerves were already strung high.
But instead of the teenage girl I expected, there stood Felix, a grim look on his face.
"Is she here?" I asked, working hard to keep my tone calm.
He nodded once and I cursed.
"Did you tell anyone else who it is?"
He shook his head and said," But many know her from when she was here the first time."
"But many don't. We don't have time; get ready for a battle, Felix."
()()()….()()()
Esme's POV
Pain flooded my system like never before, and blood was everywhere. My body was covered in the sticky substance and so were the bed, the wall, and the floor.
I hesitantly sat up and touched the bite on my breast. It stung and spewed another fountain of blood. I pushed the wound up and licked it gently, hoping the venom in my saliva would heal it, but it seemed to only make it worse.
I leaned against the wall, my last slip of dignity gone.
()()()….()()()
