Estella
"You have to run," Aiden says. His eyes are wild with fright and urgency as he speaks quickly to her. "Go!"
But she can't leave him. She feels as if her feet are firmly planted in the ground, unable to move from her spot in the forest. "I won't leave you," She says. They lock eyes for a brief moment, but Aiden doesn't allow her to stay. He gives her a shove, forcing her to move from her spot. "Don't be stupid, Ellie! Get out of here, now!"
"I'm not leaving you here! They'll be here any moment now. We don't have much time."
"That's my point," He says harshly, as he steps forward to grab her face between his hands roughly. His rugged hands are tough against her angelically soft skin. He leans in to kiss her, and then pushes her back to send her on her way. "Please," He says, gently.
Estella knew she had made the wrong decision to leave him as she flew through the forest at light speed. She barely noticed the trees sticking out as she sped past them; it was so natural for her now; it almost seemed normal.
"Estella?" It was her mother's soft, gentle voice calling to her from a short distance. Estella began to run faster, allowing her legs to send her through the dense forest. She could no longer sense Aiden's presence as fear trickled up her spine to her neck.
"Mom!" She called, not being able to find her mother through the thick trees. "Where are you?"
"Estella?" Esme called once more, sounding even more distant than before.
Estella suddenly realized that she was running in one large circle, not getting any closer to finding her mother. She fell to her hands and knees, trembling in fear. What was happening to her?
When Estella woke, she immediately flung the covers off and pelted down the staircase. Alice and Jasper were laying in the living room calmly, staring intensely into each other's eyes that immediately widened when they saw her. "It's only two, El. What-"
"Where's mom?" She asked urgently. Jasper's presence soon began to calm her nerves as she found herself letting out a sigh of relief. "I had a nightmare, that's all."
Alice laughed at that. "Why didn't I see that one coming? They're outside, El."
Estella nearly sprinted to the back patio doors, feeling the cool Washington air drifting into the dimly lit house. She collided with what felt like a stone wall, just as she reached the glass doors. "Ellie, what are you doing up?" Carlisle asked, looking curiously down at his youngest child. "Are you alright?"
She took in a deep breath and nodded. "Is mom out there?"
"I'm right here, sweetheart." Esme said, stepping inside the house. Her comforting, sweet scent immediately overpowered Estella as ran into the strong security of her mother's arms.
"Oh, my little one, are you alright? You couldn't sleep?"
"I had a bad dream…you were in it." She said softly, shutting her eyes tiredly. "Will you come lay down with me for a little while?"
Esme seemed more than willing to spend time with her daughter, which made Estella feel guilty. Had she given her mother the impression that she didn't want to be with her?
No one said a word as they headed upstairs, into Estella's peaceful bedroom. The walls were a deep lavender, which was naturally her creative mother's idea. Esme wanted Ellie to have a calming, comforting bedroom filled with soft chairs and soothing colors. Ellie curled under the covers as her mother lay down beside her on top of the blankets. They both knew how easily Esme would bring down Estella's temperature, so Esme was always careful to keep that distance.
Estella turned to face her mother, who simply smiled down at her. "You are so beautiful, my Estella Carlisle."
Not compared to you, she thought. But she held her thoughts back and reached out to lightly touch one of her mother's curls. "I want to be like you," she said carefully.
There was only a short moment of silence. Estella hardly hid the fact that she wanted to be changed in order to remain with her family permanently, yet some of her siblings didn't feel the same way. Part of Ellie wanted to live a long life, full of aging and going to college, having kids, growing old with the man she loved… yet mother didn't react negatively at her words; instead, she seemed to be filled with sadness. "Do you think about it often, Estella?"
She didn't even have to think twice at that. "All the time. But how can I not?"
Esme was silent for a moment, as if she were in full understanding. Esme smiled sadly at her daughter. "I fear losing you one day, little one." After she spoke the words, it almost appeared that she regretted it, probably because she feared what the others would say. After all, Esme was a peace maker; she was never the cause of dispute in their home.
Estella moved so she was leaning up on her elbows. "Mom, can I ever be like you? Please? I know it's not something you can just say yes to, but I-"
"Shh, darling. It's important for you to rest. I promise you we'll talk about this tomorrow. But now, you need to sleep."
"But please, I-"
Esme held a finger to her daughter's lips, and shook her head. "Not tonight. I think that this is a conversation in which we should include the entire family. You understand, don't you?"
Estella had no choice but to nod in response. "Rose and Edward would never let it happen," She said bitterly, picturing the two throwing things around and damaging each item in the house in order to take out their rage.
They both heard a crash downstairs, knowing that Edward also agreed with them. Get out of our heads, Edward.
Esme chuckled lightly as she brushed a stray hair off Estella's forehead. "I'm afraid they have very strong opinions towards the matter. But we'll discuss it at another time. Now, you need to sleep."
Ellie pulled the soft covers to her chin, and buried herself further beneath the blankets. She suddenly remembered that she had one more question.
"Mom, why don't vampires dream?"
Esme seemed a bit surprised by the sudden question. "Everyone dreams, Estella. You don't need to sleep to dream."
Estella hadn't meant the question literally, but she knew her mother understood what she meant.
Estella knew her brother would ring her neck for this, but she couldn't help it. She was a teenager. It was in her nature to break the rules her parents made.
When Emi and Camille asked Estella to go to the gas station after school for some cheap slushes, she had said yes- mainly because she knew that the guys were going to be there. How could she say no to that?
So Estella found herself walking down the street to the grimy gas station, the only place high school kids like her ever went to for entertainment; or at least the high school kids who didn't have their licenses.
Ellie texted Alice to let her know what the plans were, naturally leaving out the part about "accidentally" bumping into the La Push gang. She made sure Alice wouldn't foresee anything; as long as she only made plans to hang out with her friends, her thoughts would hopefully be safe.
"Ew, I can't believe you like lime." Camille said to Emi as they poured the slushes into their oversized plastic cups, slowly killing their bodies with ridiculous amounts of sugar. Estella found herself staring at the double doors longingly, secretly hoping the LaPush boys walk in…
"Aren't you getting anything, Ellie?" Camille asked causally, gently bumping her elbow to get her attention.
"I'm not hungry." Estella replied, offering a smile. "I'm fine!"
Camille studied her for a moment, looking for loopholes in her best friend's defense. She didn't seem to find any, so she went back to criticizing Emi's slushy of choice.
Suddenly, the temperature immediately changed around her. Estella felt as if she were surrounded by sudden warmth, which almost felt too hot. "Well, look who it is." She heard Emi saying playfully.
Estella turned to find sure enough, the La Push gang: Quil, Embry, and Aiden. Quil was immediately talking to Emi about completely useless topics that they both found hilarious. Camille seemed very comfortable around Embry, which left Aiden and Estella.
Aiden gave her an odd look, as if he was finally seeing her for the first time. She still found it difficult to look at him directly in his dark set of eyes, knowing they were the same eyes she saw in her dreams. She couldn't help but to worry if he knew.
"Hello, Miss Cullen." He said her name the way someone would describe a garbage dump. She narrowed her eyes immediately at him and took a step forward.
"Don't you have some hunting to do?" She snapped. Lucky for her, her friends didn't hear her outburst. But Aiden's friends certainly did- she saw their ears twitch at the snap of her harsh words. Aiden hardly seemed affected.
"We leave that for your kind." He said coolly.
He obviously knew the truth about her family, but she would never admit it to him. She had to listen to at least one thing her family told her, so she decided that now was the best time.
"What, at a loss for words?" He replied, raising an eyebrow. "Finding another way to use that mouth of yours?"
Estella couldn't stop herself as anger began to fill her body. She shot out her fist to collide with his face, but she was too slow for him; his hand snatched out to grab her thin wrist, as she felt the sickening crunch of her bone breaking.
Emi and Camille turned to face them with open-mouthed expressions. "What the hell?"
Aiden let go of her wrist, looking as if he slightly regretted that. Estella snatched her broken wrist back and held it close to her chest, as if he was planning on hurting her again.
"Her brothers will kill you." Emi blurted out, finally walking towards Estella. "We should go to the hospital, Ellie. That looks awful."
Aiden laughed at that. "I'm hardly afraid of them." He said, smirking. "Brothers? Is that what she calls them?"
Embry pushed past Aiden as Quil motioned for them to leave. "Come on, let's get out of here. We aren't even supposed to be here."
Quil gave the girls an apologetic look, and then took off after his friends. Camille took a look at Estella's already swelling wrist and made a face. "He was an asshole, El. Forget him."
"Definitely," Emi added. "Here, let's get you to the-"
"No, it's fine." Estella said quickly. "My dad's a doctor, remember? He can put something on it at home."
"If you say so," Camille said as they walked back towards the direction of their school. "My mom was going to pick us up." Estella didn't want to go anywhere near home, but she had no choice. She nodded as they waited for Camille's mom to pick them up.
Off in the distant, she heard a wolf cry coming from the mountains. All three girls whipped around to attempt to hear which direction it was coming from. Estella had a feeling she knew exactly who it was.
Because of Emi being in their house, Estella was saved from a large amount of trouble. The second they walked in the door, Esme was right at their side appearing calm.
"Would you girls like something to eat or drink?"
Emi had only been to the Cullen household a handful of times. Things always went smoothly, but this time, Estella wasn't able to forewarn her family- even though Alice probably knew what was going to happen anyway.
"Hi, Mrs. Cullen!" Emi said cheerfully. "I haven't seen you in forever."
Esme smiled sweetly at the girl, but her gaze drifted down to Estella's wrist and froze. "It's nice to see you, Emilia. You know you're welcome here anytime."
Carlisle appeared beside Esme, who also took interest in her broken wrist. "I saw that nasty swelling from a mile away. What happened, Ellie?" He most likely already knew what happened, which made Estella feel even more guilty for lying.
"She fell outside the gas station!" Emi said, butting in. "We wanted to take her to the hospital, but, you know Ellie…"
Esme and Carlisle laughed uneasily, yet it was normal to Emi. Estella knew all of her family's habits in order to appear human to others around them. "That's our daughter." Carlisle said. "Let's go check out that wrist."
Esme and Estella shared a long glance as they headed to the back of the house towards her father's workroom. After that look, Estella knew she was in deep trouble.
The night with Emi fortunately went smoothly. All of her brothers and sisters were out hunting, which left their parents and the two girls. Esme made dinner for them; their excuse for not eating was that they told Emi they were loaded up from a heavy lunch. Emi didn't seem to be curious about her family's actions at all, as she spoke animatedly with her parents at the dining room table.
As her parents lingered in the kitchen, Estella sat in the grassy front yard with Emi, staring up at the beautiful Washington sky. A million stars twinkled above them, revealing their special beauty. Emi turned to Ellie with a smirk on her moonlit face. "We should get some revenge on him, El."
Ellie laughed out loud at that, hearing her laugh echo across the yard. "I 'd really rather not cross paths with him again," She said, attempting to sound casual and careless towards the topic. "Don't want any more injuries."
"Are you gonna tell your parents?"
"No, definitely not." Ellie said a bit too quickly. Fear crept up her spine as she began to worry that her parents already knew what had actually occurred. "They'd freak out. It's not worth the drama. My family doesn't exactly get along with theirs."
Emi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Really? That's interesting."
Ellie bit her lip, fighting the urge to spill a few tales. But she kept her mouth shut, knowing it would never be worth the risk and trouble. Emi was easily one of the school's biggest gossipers, so naturally she'd tell the entire high school Ellie's deepest darkest secrets.
After she left, Estella immediately went to sneak up to her room. Naturally, she only made the turn for the stairs before she was caught.
"We need to talk, Carlisle said gently, touching her on the arm. "About what really happened."
Estella and her father had a very powerful relationship. His compassion and tenderness made Estella automatically be drawn to him, especially when she was a child. Estella could recall curling up on her father's lap, even though his chest was as hard as stone. To her, it didn't matter; he was her daddy.
Carlisle guided her into the dining room, where her mother sat uncomfortably at the table. Her beautiful face was turned up in a frown as she studied her daughter carefully. "Alice called- she said that it would be better if you explained to us what happened."
Estella looked up at her father, who nodded encouragingly for her to sit and talk to them. She took a deep breath and sat across from her mother, hiding her newly wrapped wrist beneath the table.
"I went to the gas station with Camille and Emi…and we bumped into the La Push boys." She attempted to make her tone appear carefree, but her parents didn't see the situation in the same manner.
Carlisle cleared his throat as he sat beside his wife, gently touching her arm. "Your mother and I are very worried about you, Estella. It is not a good idea to put yourself in these potentially dangerous situations."
"Look at your wrist, sweetheart. What happened?" Esme added, her voice full of worry and concern.
Estella refused to look back down at her mangled hand. For some reason, she felt herself feeling defensive towards Aiden. Why- Because of the dreams? She knew it wasn't right or possible, but she strongly felt connected to him. When she was in his presence, she felt something. It was there, whether he knew it or not; whether anyone knew it or not. But her family would never understand.
"It was an accident. Alice probably says differently, but it's the truth."
Carlisle covered Esme's hand with his comfortingly. "Do you realize that they also struggle with control? He lost control of his emotions, clearly."
"You were hurt, dear. I can't even bear to look at your wrist." Esme said quickly.
"Shape-shifters, you mean?" Estella asked, curiously. It surely made sense; she could recall several instances in which her family struggled with controlling their thirst. Jasper would often times need to leave their home in order for him to gain control and be able to breathe. Estella always felt guilty, but her family would constantly assure her that it was never her fault.
"Yes," Carlisle said. "Both of us types struggle with controlling our emotions, mainly because of our strength. Do you recall each of us having to be extremely careful with how we touch you? Or if we're angry at you? It would be entirely too easy to hurt or kill you, Estella. Shape-shifters also have incredible amounts of strength; if they aren't careful, they could easily harm someone." After his last sentence, he nodded over in the direction of Estella's wrist. "It appears that is what happened to you."
"I punched him in the face." Estella said proudly. "I made a comment about him needing to hunt, or something like that. He knows about us, and he just made me so mad-"
Estella was shocked to find her parents- laughing? She raised an eyebrow, staring at her parents carefully. "Is that what Alice told you?"
"Yes, that it what she told us, but we didn't believe her." Carlisle said, attempting to stop laughing at his daughter. Between Esme's worry and concern, she was also chuckling to herself.
"Oh, my sweet girl. Come over here," Esme said, opening her arms for Estella. "I'm so sorry I laughed at you." Estella reluctantly allowed her mother to hold her close, as she rested her chin on her stone shoulder. Esme combed her fingers through her daughter's thick mess of curls soothingly.
"No more violence, Estella Carlisle. Understood?"
"Yes, mother." She replied defeatedly.
"No, no, and no. Absolutely not." Edward said sharply, giving Estella the death glare. "It's not going to happen."
"But Bella asked you to go! If she's friends with one of them, why can't I?"
"You want to be friends with a dog who broke your wrist?"
Estella sighed dramatically as they drove home from school in the Volvo. As always, he drove like a maniac -and she was completely used to it. All of her family drove like irresponsible uncontrollable lunatics, but it hardly fazed her; although Esme didn't drive like that much of a manic.
"I just want to go to this bonfire. I'll apologize to the guy for punching him."
Edward smirked at that. "I've got a big picture of that. No one of us can accompany you, since it's not within treaty lines. Sorry, Ellie. You'll never be allowed to go."
"Not even if I have my friends with me? And Bella, with older kids?"
"Especially not with Bella. Do you honestly expect her to defend anyone, let alone herself?" Edward chuckled to himself at that. His eyes definitely had changed when he spoke her name, Alice was right. It was…sweet.
"Curfew?" She pleaded, ready to get on her hands and knees and pray.
"That won't make a difference, love." They pulled in the long drive in front of the house as he shut off the engine to talk to her more. "Listen, Ellie. Bella is friends with one of them, but she's in a much different position than you are. They know that you belong to us. That automatically makes you enemies."
She didn't want to hear any of it. The past few nights Ellie had continued to have dreams about Aiden. Her emotions continued to grow in unexplainable ways; she surely couldn't speak to a family member about it; vampires and werewolves would forever be enemies, as far as her family knew.
After taking an extra-long shower in an upstairs bathroom, she went back to her room to find Rosalie sitting at her desk innocently. Estella raised an eyebrow in response. "Do I get a makeup lesson?"
"Please." Rosalie said, waving her hand in the air. "You mastered that at a very young age. There's actually something I'd like to talk to you about."
Estella plopped down on her bed, attempting to blow-dry her tangles of hair. Water dripped down her leg as she ran the soft cotton through her mane. "Edward is planning on having Bella over for dinner tonight."
Estella felt her jaw drop to the white-carpeted floor. "Are you kidding me?"
Rosalie's expression revealed that she wished she were joking. She flung her long blonde hair behind her shoulder and sighed. "I wish. Naturally, he doesn't listen to a thing anyone says except for Carlisle. He thinks that it's perfectly fine, as long as we all keep our distance."
"Am I allowed to eat with them? At least one of us has to look normal."
Rosalie had an odd look on her face, which she didn't try to hide. Estella moved across the room to change out of her suede robe and into a comfortable pair of pants and a shirt. As she dressed, Rosalie simply stared out the windows with a scornful look plastered on her face. "Rose?"
She shut her eyes and then forced herself to look at Estella. "Do not panic , whatever you do. This is a lot to consume, but…Bella knows the truth."
Estella stood in complete shock, unsure of how to reply. She couldn't help but to feel the slightest bit betrayed; their family's secret banded them together. Not a single human soul knew, other than the shape-shifters that knew the truth. How could Edward give up such a grave secret to someone he hardly knew? Estella was quickly filled with anger towards her brother.
"How could he? I thought vampires had brains?" She spat, as she paced back and forth across the room furiously. Rosalie snickered at that, but she quickly regained herself.
"Obviously I'm not content with his decisions, either. But unfortunately there's nothing we can do. Esme said we're going to all help make dinner- she wants Italian." Rosalie pinched her face up in disgust at the mention of food. "That means you as well, Estella."
"Spectacular." She replied, rolling her eyes at the idea of them attempting to cook in the kitchen, where it was only filled with the random food Estella chowed down on. She was mostly afraid of the limited cooking skills Emmet had to offer.
"I suppose we should begin dinner," Rosalie said bitterly. "See you downstairs."
After her sister left, Estella collapsed on her bed and began to text Camille as if her life depended on it. Surely her best friend wouldn't be very busy on a week night, but they were teenage girls. Camille could be anywhere.
"Not so fast, kiddy." Emmet said, snatching her cell phone and burying it in his deep denim jean pocket. "Come on, we got food to make!" He tossed her over his gigantic shoulders like a rag doll and flew down the staircase. Estella kicked and yelled at him, but he only continued to laugh at her pathetic attempts to break free. His loud voice always boomed off the walls, causing Rosalie to hiss at them to be quiet.
"We will not have any of that when company is here." Esme scolded, nodding at Emmet. "We can't frighten the girl."
"All Emmet has to do is make eye contact and she'll be scared." Estella said. Emmet tossed her on the loveseat carelessly and headed outside in search of a means of entertainment, other than helping everyone in the kitchen. Estella followed the appetizing smell of garlic into the room, only realizing how ironic it was.
"Really, Estella?" Edward mocked, lingering in the doorway. "Haven't we taught you anything? Garlic doesn't exactly ward us off."
Alice laughed as she stirred something delicious-smelling on the stove. Carlisle and Esme were chopping vegetables at the island while Rosalie began to set the table. "Bella knows that none of you eat, so-"
"Estella-"
"I'm just asking."
"You can eat with her and make her feel at home, little one." Esme said, ruffling her daughter's hair playfully. "I know you can handle that."
Edward slid out through the backdoors, headed to get Bella. Estella had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach; how was this possibly going to end well; She hadn't ever had a real conversation with Bella. Edward also hadn't fully explained how Bella had reacted to the truth about the Cullens. How could they all be so certain that she wouldn't say a word?
She looked over at her parents, realizing how fragile their world really was. It took them decades to build the foundation for their family to live in peace. It could so easily be ruined because of Bella, and they were simply throwing all of their work away for a random girl. Estella knew how harsh she sounded, but family would always come first; No one would dare get in the way.
"How's your wrist, Ellie?" Her father asked, walking over to get a good look at her hand. She held it out for him as he fingered it gingerly, nodding every now and then. She stared up at her father, seeing now naturally his tenderness came to him. He touched her so incredibly delicately, as if she could break from a gust of wind. Finally, he smiled down at his daughter. "It will be healed in no time. Does it hurt?"
"Nope." Estella replied, thankful that Edward wasn't in the room listening to her thoughts of pain. The wrist hadn't been bothering her all that much; it was Aiden. She strongly felt the need to find him and scream her lungs out at him for hurting her, yet she wanted nothing to do with him. Her feelings were so mixed up she didn't even know how to unwind them.
"They're here!" Alice said cheerfully, sounding a bit too excited. Jasper looked extremely uncomfortable as Alice pulled him along. Esme touched Estella's face gently as she passed. "Everything will be alright, my girl. I promise."
Estella hoped she would be right.
Esme
Esme could easily sense how uncomfortable her youngest child was feeling. Little Estella lingered in the corner of the living room as they each greeted Bella, trying to appear casual yet keeping their distance. Bella seemed to be a bit anxious, but Jasper was able to calm her nerves. Edward stood at her side as if he were waiting for one of them to pounce on her. Surely he trusted them to not even think such a thought?
At that thought, Edward smirked when no one else was looking. As Edward led her upstairs to continue the tour, Esme walked over to Estella and gently touched her helpless curls.
"Hello, my little one." She said softly. Estella smiled warmly at her. "How are you?"
Estella reached for her mother's hand and held it tightly. "I'm fine. Are you alright? Jasper looks like he's…in pain."
Esme chuckled softly. "He'll be alright; Alice is making sure of it. And yes, I'm fine. You never have to worry about me, I can promise you that."
Estella genuinely seemed worried at that; she was so small and young. It was nearly impossible for Esme to remember her being a mere fourteen, unsure of her future and all that lay ahead. Estella's eyes revealed her deepest fears- the future itself. Esme knew that her daughter wanted to be changed at some point in her precious life, but her other children would perhaps disagree at that, especially Rosalie.
She couldn't help but to wrap her arms securely around her daughter and hold her closely to her chest. She breathed in the sweet scent of her child, feeling her soft hair rest against her cheek. Esme shut her eyes and held onto the moment for as long as she could, wishing time could stop in that moment.
Carlisle stood in the door frame that led to the dining area, smiling softly at her. He understood Esme's longing for her daughter to stay the same age forever, frozen in time like the rest of their family. Often at times when they lay on their unused bed together, they would share their fears for their youngest child's future. Carlisle knew exactly how Esme felt, yet he also respected his other children's opinions as well.
Then of course, Esme deeply feared the Volturi and the knowledge that they don't share of Estella Cullen.