I feel like I've missed something major, no doubt the first few readers will point something out I've missed but here it goes. I have a feeling I've left a loophole open that I didn't mean to. Ah well, I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer.
24th December 2033
Eddie Cullen
Christmas Eve eve was a complete waste of a day, I hadn't had barely any chance to speak to Esther or my mother about what we were going to do, I was thinking about it all day, I had been watching Matthew closely at the beach, he seemed so happy and loved being with his cousins, I just didn't understand him. I was seriously worried about what was going to happen on Christmas Eve. I prayed he was smart enough not to do anything stupid. He seemed genuinely serious when he said he was protecting us. He must know something we didn't because I just couldn't understand why he thought our powers weren't enough that he had to intervene. I was on edge all day, snapping at the tiniest of things, id made my youngest daughter cry for being angry at her when it wasn't her fault. I had had a huge argument with my own sister and called her a spoilt brat over a bottle of shampoo and I had snapped at my wife a few times too but I think Chloe put it down to the stress of Christmas eve coming up.
It was now late the night before the battle, not many people were sleeping, Holly was still up talking to one of the vampires that were here. They looked awfully cosy for friends. Only two days ago she was into the Sean guy, now it was this one, Sean didn't even seem to be bothered. I glared at them, his hand reached towards her and he pulled her closer to him. I jerked up from my seat and walked over to them.
"Get your hands off of my daughter" I glared at the vampire, his name was 'Phoenix' what kind of a name is that anyway? He looked at me shocked, Holly was even more horrified.
"Dad" she glared back.
"You were really going to kiss her right in front of me? At least have some respect towards her father" I told him.
"Actually I wasn't going to kiss her sir" he said, his hands falling from Holly's waist.
"Then what were you doing?" I asked. Holly was still glaring at me.
"My ability, it's to see the very near future, you know a few seconds before it happens? I can't see further than a minute ahead, I saw that the chair she was sitting on was about to snap if she stayed on it, I pulled her towards me so she wouldn't fall" he said innocently, I saw the vision in his head, and I looked down to the wooden chair to see that he was right that the legs on the chair were weak enough that they were about to collapse any second.
Huh.
Still seemed like a lame excuse. I saw the way Holly looked at him. I had been too busy listening to my daughters thoughts to listen to his when he saw the vision.
"Fair enough. I still don't approve of this though" I said pointing between them.
"Im 18 in just over 24 hours. You don't have to approve of it for very long" Holly glared at me, she took Phoenix's hand and walked out the room.
"Eddie, what's wrong with you?" Chloe asked coming up behind me. I turned to look at her but didn't reply.
"We need to throw out this chair" I mumbled to everyone in the room, embarrassed I had witnesses to my little outbreak and started walking out the house.
"I got it" I heard Chloe say before she ran after me, she was obviously telling someone to stay behind, my mother maybe, or my dad. It wouldn't have been Nessie, she was still angry with me from this morning.
"Eddie!" she shouted. I ignored her, I just needed air, I needed time to think about how the hell I was going to save my entire family tomorrow. If Matthew thought he had to protect us, he knew something about the Volturi we didn't, maybe it was an ability one of them had. Something he knew we wouldn't stand a chance against.
"Eddie!" she said again and when I ignored her again she decided to scream my name. "Edward!" I sighed at my full name; Chloe used 'Edward' a lot more than she used to, since she was friendly with Esther, I accepted it from my mother and Esther but Chloe only used it when I had done something wrong in her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked me, appearing in front of me when I stopped running. I didn't say anything to her, I stared at her blankly. I then broke down; I collapsed onto my knees and put my head in my hands.
"Eddie" she said softly, her hands appeared on mine and pulled them away.
I wanted so much to tell her everything. I needed to talk to someone, this needed to be fixed.
"It's ok Chloe" I heard a familiar voice, Esther appeared at my side and placed her hand on my shoulder, she knelt down by me.
"I don't know what's gotten into him" Chloe said.
"I do" Esther said sadly. "Can you leave us alone for a minute please?" she asked Chloe, her voice sounding hopeful. Chloe raised her eyebrows.
"No I can't. I want to know, I have a right to know. Im his wife" she said, a little bit of the old Chloe coming out in the last word. Her and Esther were as close as she was with Nessie, they had grown closer over the years, even calling each other best friends but there was just a hint of the Chloe that hated Esther when she was 17 and thought Esther was going to take me away from her.
"Chloe, please. I need to talk to Esther alone" I said, I didn't want to hurt her; I knew this would but I had to say it. Her eyes flickered to me.
"No, stay, its ok." Esther said then. I turned to look at her and shook my head.
We can't tell her. I told her.
Why not? She can keep a secret. As far as im aware, Matthew can't read minds, he can just read people. He's very good at noticing change and people's attitudes, something he learnt from Ariella I think.
"Stop talking in your heads! Tell me what's going on." She said to us. I sighed and turned to my wife.
"Let's go somewhere that is a bit drier" I announced and stood up. The rain had started to fall. The day had been beautiful, a summer day in the middle of winter. I knew it was too good to be true. We'd probably have a thunderstorm tonight. How fitting.
I took my wife's hand and Esther's hand in my other and we walked back to the house Chloe and I lived in. We hadn't been here in weeks; we were staying at the Cullen Mansion so there was no need to be here. We opened the front door and turned on the lights, the place was eerily quiet without my daughters here. I led my wife and best friend into the living room where we all sat down on the couch.
"Ok…" I sighed and turned to Chloe. I told her everything, everything I knew she'd forgotten and what Matthew had told us, she was shocked and she sat there with her hand over her mouth as she thought through everything I had said.
"Esther and I haven't been able to speak all day. Matthew has been very good at keeping us apart in one way or another. If it wasn't for Chantelle demanding that he get some sleep… we wouldn't be here now" I told her.
"So what do we do?" I asked.
"Well I was thinking… why don't we persuade him to make the Volturi forget? That's what he did to us right? He can make them forget about him" I said to them both. Esther shook her head.
"Not that simple." She said sadly. "I thought about that too, straight after he did it. I managed to talk to him today, when he was trying to keep me away from Bella. I got an interesting piece of information out of him. I don't think he meant to give it away."
She relayed the memory in my head.
"Matthew can I ask you a question and you promise not to get angry like you did yesterday?" Esther asked in the memory. She was at the house doing a painting next to Matthew who was doing his own; this was just before we left for the beach.
"Sure" he said innocently.
"Why didn't you tell us your ability had grown in power?"
"It hasn't" he said, without looking up at her.
"Don't lie to me; I saw what you did to everyone when Ariella ran. You made them all forget, and then you threatened us not to talk about it. Im just trying to understand why you did it"
"Im doing it because I have to"
"No you don't. We're here to protect you and you're making that harder than it should be."
"Don't you see? Im protecting you. I don't want anything to happen to my family. To you, to Eddie or Bella. I love you all that's why im doing this" he said.
"Doing what Matthew? Making them forget?" Esther said, she had stopped doing her painting and was watching Matthew. He finally stopped too and looked up at her.
"That was a one-time thing; I'd never done something on that scale before. I can't do that again" he said to her.
"What do you mean? Isn't it what you're going to do tomorrow? Make the Volturi forget about you?"
"What gave you that idea? No im not going to make the Volturi forget about me" he said and turned back to his painting.
"Why not? All this would be over"
"Because I can't. I can't do that" he said.
"Matthew what do you mean you can't? I saw you do it" Esther, who was also reading his mind as she spoke to him saw nothing. He was very very good at controlling his thoughts. Something most of the Cullen's took years to master.
Something Esther knew Aro was very good at. Making things seem like they weren't.
"I can't do it on my own. I can't make the Volturi forget and that's final!" he told her with a glare. He stood up, put his paint brush on the table and walked out of the room. Esther looked down at the painting to see a beautiful castle; it looked Italian in nature she then saw the string of people standing in front of the castle, all in black except one in the centre. It was a man in red robes and he was holding the hand of a blonde woman to his right.
"he was adamant that he couldn't repeat what he did" Esther said then, bringing me back to the present, it was clear on the look on Chloe's face she had shown her too.
"'I can't do it on my own'" Chloe said quoting Matthew. "Maybe Ariella was what helped him make us forget. Maybe she helped him somehow? That's possible right?" she asked.
"Sure, someone that can boost abilities, it's been known to exist. The abilities are only boosted when that person is around, Matthew might not be able to make more than one person forget now but if he comes in contact with Ariella again he'll be able to make more forget" Esther told her.
"So tomorrow when Ariella is standing with the Volturi we could just get Matthew to use his ability?" Chloe asked.
"I don't think it's that easy" I said, if it was im sure Matthew would have told Esther that's what he was doing, there was something that bothered me about his conversation with Esther, I had watched him all day, he truly was happy with the people he was with and when he spoke to Esther he seemed genuine when he said he loved his family. So what the hell was going on with him?
"There's something that really concerns me though" Chloe said then. I looked up at her, I was deep in thought; I hadn't heard what her and Esther were talking about.
"What's that?" I asked.
"The picture he drew. Where is it now?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know, I went back to get it earlier and it was gone." Esther said.
"Why what's wrong with the picture?" i asked my wife.
"The man in red." She said. "He was holding the blonde girls hand. They looked awfully like Chantelle and Zio" Chloe said.
"I disagree" Esther said then with a gasp. Chloe looked at her waiting for her to explain.
"I think they were meant to be Ariella and Matthew."
"So what do we do?" Chloe asked.
"We talk to him again." I said and stood up.
"We can try" Esther said.
"Just me and Esther, if he knows you know he'll make you forget." I said to Chloe, she nodded reluctantly. I took her hand and we walked out of our house.
"I can't wait to come home again" she sighed as I locked the door. I wrapped my arm around her, tucking her into my side in a hug.
"Soon" I told her and we headed back to the house.
I watched the clock painfully. The vampires were doing one last big hunting trip and I decided to go with them to waste the time away until Matthew woke up.
When we arrived back, early Christmas eve I entered the living room to see Matthew lying across Sophia's lap, she was hugging her little brother to her chest and talking to him, he was smiling up at her with adoration. I smiled at the scene, you could tell how much Sophia loved her baby brother and he loved her.
He was laughing and she smiled back at him, the scene so perfect you wouldn't think there was a sword above their heads.
"It was the best thing I ever did, give Sophia a baby brother" Chantelle said to me at my side. I took her hand in mine, something so simple and familiar to us both. She was my sister and I was her brother.
"There's nothing in this world he loves more" I said, seeing it in Matthew's head. There was a flicker of sadness in his mind as he spent time with his sister. I frowned and his head whipped round, his eyes falling on mine.
"Matthew" I said slowly; indicating for him to leave the room. He shook his head and hugged his sister tighter. She just laughed and hugged him back, kissing his head and holding him closer.
Im not moving. He told me.
We need to talk.
Nu uh. He said childishly. There was no chance id get him away from Sophia or his parents today, nor would he speak to me in his head. He had such a demanding personality.
Just see what happens Uncle Eddie. Everything will be ok I promise. He told me.
I wanted to believe him, I really did but I had a nagging feeling in my gut that things were about to go terribly wrong.
William Black
"The packs need to phase" my dad ordered. It had started; we were all heading towards the clearing that Lizzy had seen in her dream. I had hold of Sophia's hand, who had hold of Matthew who had hold of Chantelle's and she had Zio's. We were walking behind most of the vampires that had come to fight with us. Zac was standing with Nessie, Chloe, Eddie and Lidiya to our right in that order; my siblings and cousins directly behind them; Bella and Edward with Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie behind them. A shield in front and a shield behind. The children were the most protected here. It was what was discussed beforehand, we couldn't leave Isobel or the other children behind, it would leave them too vulnerable, so they could only come with us. Esther was on Matthew duty though. She was following directly behind him, ready to shield him at any moment should we need it. My dad was in the back with all the wolves in human form. But we all knew we had to be in wolf form for this, we couldn't risk having to phase on the fly.
"Fall back" my dad ordered the pack. I reluctantly dropped Sophia's hand; she looked at me longingly as I started walking backwards to my pack. We all phased and my dad started listing formations and strategies. I barely paid attention, I knew I was meant to be doing it too, as the second alpha but I left it to my dad to do. I was far too worried about my imprint, and my dad saw that.
We fell into formation as my father instructed; he and I at the front; our betas; Leah and Kayleigh on our lefts.
We arrived in the clearing and we all stood in position as we waited.
The second the black robes entered the clearing I saw Sophia tighten her hand on Matthews.
I counted quickly. There were only eight of them. We vastly outnumbered them.
"Well well" the one that seemed to be the leader said. He stepped forward. "May I introduce myself; I am Lucien, the leader of the Volturi. Well... temporary leader" he smiled.
"My name is Carlisle." Carlisle said stepping forward. "I hoped we could resolve this in a friendly manner" he said. Lucien narrowed his eyes.
"Im afraid im not here to talk. Im here for the boy" he said.
"You're not having him" Carlisle replied. "My coven is vastly more powerful than you even know. You know you don't stand a chance right?" he asked. Lucien smirked.
"Ezra" he called. A vampire stepped out from the robes, his was very dark black but not as dark as the hybrid blonde that stood next to Lucien. Lucien had a dark red robe on. Ezra scanned us quickly, his eyes fell on Esther.
"Katherine Josephson" his voice caressed the name. I frowned at the name he spoke. Esther sighed.
"Ezra" she answered.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Who the hell is Katherine?" Eddie asked his friend.
"It's me, im 3500 years old, I didn't always use the name Esther" she told him as if this was obvious. His frown deepened.
"What's your real name?" he accused her.
"Esther"
"Is it?"
"Yes Edward, it is. Katherine is a name I went by 200 years ago. Im known by many names, Katherine, Grace, Emerald, Leah and Esther."
"And Josephson?"
"That's my surname" she told him.
"I never knew you had a surname" he said, his voice sad, as if the woman he thought was his best friend turned out to be a completely different person.
"Now is not the time." She told him, her eyes never leaving the vampire guard member. It seemed like he wanted to go to her but he was stopping himself.
"Ezra" Lucien said again, impatiently. Ezra looked to his leader and then back at Esther suddenly sad.
"No don't! Ezra no!" Esther screamed, I saw her run towards him.
"Im sorry my love" he said and she froze on the spot. It was then I realised I couldn't move either. Everyone was looking around, it's like we had movement of our head but no other part of our body. Everyone looked extremely concerned.
This isn't good. I heard my dad's voice in my head.
Ezra walked towards Esther who was frozen on the front line. He took her face in his hands.
"Im so sorry." He told her with a caress on her cheek. I saw Eddie frown at them.
Are they together? I asked in my head.
I don't think so. My dad answered. Not anymore. I don't know who he is, but it won't surprise me, the way they're looking at each other if they were together at one point.
But Esther was in hiding for 2000 years right? I asked.
Doesn't mean she was alone for that amount of time. People she trusted would have come and gone. She isn't a 3000 year old virgin. My dad said, laughing at the end.
I hadn't even thought about it to be honest. It was hard for me to believe that Esther may have been in love at some point.
"Matthew what are you doing?" Eddie's voice interrupted my conversation with my dad. His voice shook.
"Im doing what needs to be done" Matthew answered him, he pried his hands from Chantelle and Sophia and he began walking towards Lucien, he wasn't affected by Ezra's ability the way the rest of us were.
"Matthew no!" Zio said to his son and then turned to Ezra "Let us go!" Zio roared. That moment he sounded so much like Aro it was scary.
"Not a chance" the Volturi leader answered him as Matthew walked closer to the Volturi guard.
It was then that he too froze on the spot. He looked around confused.
"What's happening? Come to me now child!" Lucien ordered.
"I can't." He shouted back. I looked over to Esther to see her grinning.
"You don't think I'd spend fifty years with you and not learn your ability to do you?" Esther said turning to Ezra. He frowned.
"You didn't tell me they had someone that could learn abilities!" Lucien glared at the hybrid girl at his side.
"I didn't think she knew Ezra's!" the girl defended herself. Lucien growled.
"I'll deal with you later!"
"If you survive this" Esther chimed in. Suddenly the blonde hybrid was on the floor, screaming. "You all remember Jane right? Funny thing is, Ive met many Volturi guard over the years, but they never remembered me of course. After meeting Elijah, before he joined the guard I took his ability to make people forget. It took me only a day to learn it. I made Elijah forget he ever met me because I knew he was on his way to meet with Aro. Since then ive met with Volturi guard members, that's how I was so well informed on Volturi business, I needed to know where Aro was. After I met with people, I'd copy their ability and I'd make them forget." She explained.
"Why haven't you told us this before?" Eddie exclaimed.
"Because it didn't seem relevant. The ability I have doesn't work like Matthew's, he can make you forget people ever existed, what I do is on a time scale. I can make you forget the last hour, sure, but not specific to a person."
"So what? You're going to make us forget this?"
"There would be no point in that. I was just informing you of how I can do this." She said, this time focussing on someone else in the guard and they fell to their knees in pain. The blonde hybrid she was burning beforehand stood up.
"Jane's was another ability I learnt quickly, ive never used it on another person until now though" she said stopping the torture on the guard member.
"So you're affectively the old guard in one person?" Lucien asked, he was mesmerised.
"Pretty much. I never met the three leaders though, nor have I ever been able to successfully learn a tracking ability" she said.
"Interesting" Lucien smiled. I could see Esther immediately regretted what she had said.
"Courtney" he said then. A girl stepped forward.
"Esther stop her!" Carlisle called out before the girl had time to do anything. She didn't take another step forward she just stood there. Clearly frozen by Esther's ability.
"It's ok, I don't need to move. Look at me child" she said turning to look at Matthew. He did as she asked. "Do not look away from my eyes" she told him.
"What's she doing?" Chantelle asked. Matthew began to move. It was an ability similar to Sophia's, she was reversing what Esther had done to him.
"No!" Chantelle cried trying to reach for her son. Matthew was now walking to the guard.
"Stop him!" Zio demanded Esther.
"I.. I can't" she stammered. She was watching Matthew, a deep frown on her face as she concentrated.
"Do something!" Sophia cried. I ached to stand with Sophia, I could see her panic, and her realisation as to what was happening and I wanted to hug her. Or at least try my best to bring Matthew back into her arms.
Esther suddenly screamed and she fell to the ground.
"What's happening to her?!" Chloe shouted, clearly concerned.
"You pissed me off" Lucien growled. He snatched Matthew's wrist and pushed him towards the blonde.
"Esther!" Lidiya screamed, I saw the concern as Esther fell to the floor, no more screaming, no words. She just lay there, not moving.
"Ah you're the death child yes? Life's twin" Lucien said turning to smile at Lidiya. "You would be a wonderful asset. You and her" he said pointing at Esther on the floor.
"What did you do to her?" Lidiya asked.
"It's a real shame you didn't have your little twin sister right now isn't it?" he grinned, his smile menacing. I growled. I wanted to rip his head off.
"We need to go before she wakes up. She might have something else that can stop us" Matthew said, looking up at the blonde by his side.
"Matthew" Chantelle was crying. "No, baby please come back" she sobbed. Matthew turned and looked back at his mother.
"Im sorry momma. I love you" he said, before now his face had been blank of emotion but seeing his mother a small tear fell from his eye as he held his hand out to the blonde. She took it, her face determined and a small smile on her lips. I felt like I knew her but I couldn't place it.
"We are done here" Lucien declared.
"I love you all" Matthew said as the Volturi began backing up. The girl holding his hand tugged him lightly to follow.
"They'll forget as soon as I leave the clearing" he said looking up at her. She nodded in satisfaction.
"You can't make me or Esther forget, or my mom" Eddie said proudly.
"I can, I couldn't last time because I was weak, I need Ariella holding my hand to make you three forget, but it's possible. Ive done it before on you" Matthew said to Eddie.
"What are you making us forget?" Zio asked.
"Me" Matthew said, another tear falling from his eyes.
"We could never forget you Matthew"
"You will. Ariella has the ability to magnify others. Ive just wiped all your memories, adjusted them so I never existed. The Volturi have already been through our house, clearing my bedroom, removing any trace I ever existed, photos, my scent, everything. You'll live happily and I'll lead the Volturi like I should as Aro's grandson. Ill protect you. Always" Matthew told his father.
"We're supposed to protect you Matthew, not the other way around. Aro was never your grandfather any more than he was my father. He was an evil, vindictive, old man who didn't care about anything other than power. Don't turn out like him, you're a Cullen. Just like me. Not Volturi." Zio pleaded with his son.
"I am Volturi. Just as you are, father and your father was before you. You cannot deny that. We always will be destined to lead. And that's what I'll be, I'll be the leader of the Volturi, because you won't be" he told him.
"Matthew please" Chantelle added. "Sweetheart you're only a baby"
"With the power to make people forget." He told his mother.
"A mother would never forget her son. I will not forget you" she said strongly.
"Im sorry" he said again as he turned to walk away.
"No! Matthew!" Sophia screamed. I watched her as she reversed the ability put on her; she broke free and began running to Matthew. Matthew blinked at his sister in surprise. The leader, Lucien pointed at her and as she reached him he held out his hand at her stomach. It was all in slow motion as he pushed her, her body flying backwards and converging with a tree. Lucien left the clearing with everyone else. We were all still frozen in the spot, I ached and pained to go and see if Sophia was ok, I was whimpering on the spot, I needed to check on her. She wasn't moving.
"Katherine come with us" Ezra pleaded Esther.
"No" she answered, she was awake now, her eyes burning, she was trying to move but was frozen on the spot, she looked too weak to stand up. The way a human would if they were injured badly.
"Don't be angry" he begged her.
"I will never forgive you for this, not for what you're doing to that child"
"He is where he belongs now. You of all people should see that."
"He belongs with his family. This family. My family." She told him. He shook his head in sadness and without another word; he turned from her and exited the clearing.
The last two were Ariella and Matthew, they had paused at the edge of the clearing, Matthew was looking at his sister unconscious across from him. His little eyebrows in a frown, more tears on his face.
"He'll pay for doing that to Sophie." He said to Ariella.
"She'll be fine" she told him.
"I hope so" he said, the first time his voice had cracked. He finally took her hand and left the clearing.
The second the ability wore off, I was running to Sophia; phasing back on the run. I was aware that a bunch of people had tried to run after the Volturi but they were all muttering that they couldn't smell or track them. It's like they were never there. I saw Eddie, Chloe and Lidiya at Esther's side helping her stand up out of the corner of my eye but my body and mind were way too concerned with Sophia. I didn't care who was watching me, I quickly pulled on my shorts as I fell to my knees next to her body. Chantelle and Zio appeared next to me, as did Carlisle.
"Shes pregnant!" I told Carlisle in hope he'd understand my fear for not only my girlfriend but what it had done to my unborn child.
"Shes what?!" Zio exclaimed.
"Zio now is not the time" Chantelle sighed at her husband.
"Sophia is fine, but I need to get her home to check on the baby. She was hit pretty hard in her abdomen." Carlisle told me. I lifted Sophia from the ground and held her in my arms as we headed back to the house.
I lay her on the bed we were sharing as Carlisle came in with some medical equipment.
"Where is everyone?" I asked, only Chantelle, myself and my mother were here with Carlisle and Sophia.
"They're down stairs discussing what just happened" Carlisle said.
"I need to do an ultrasound. Not the kind you're used to. The ones I have to do for hybrids" he said, I didn't understand what he meant until he took off her jeans.
"Oh" I mumbled and looked to Chantelle who was at my side being embraced by my mom.
"Chanti, mom, I'm sorry we didn't tell you. We were going to wait until after everything that happened with the Volturi" I tried to explain.
"It's ok William, I had guessed she was pregnant a while ago" Chantelle smiled at me.
"Me too" my mom answered.
"You did? How long? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I figured you'd tell us when you were ready." Chantelle answered.
"The day Sophia left to go to Italy. The way you were acting, it was your father that realised. The imprint, it magnifies when shes pregnant. It did with your father and he recognised it in you." My mom answered.
"Zio didn't know?" I asked, remembering his reaction.
"No he didn't. He'll be fine. He just has to get over the fact our only child is going to be a mother" she smiled.
"Yeah" I said slowly. I hoped everything was ok. I looked back over to Carlisle who was just tidying up his medical things. His face showed no emotion.
"Well?" I asked him. He looked at me, his face suddenly sombre.
"How far was she?" he asked.
"At least 2 months" I told him. His face dropped.
"Then that means im terribly sorry William" he said, his hand on my shoulder. "There's no heartbeat. I can see the foetus. I figured she was roughly 2 months; I just needed your confirmation. The amniotic sac had detached from her uterus, before I checked, I could see a lot of blood on her jeans."
"That's bad?" I asked, I knew nothing about pregnancy. My mom stepped away from Chantelle and pulled me into a hug and I hugged her back as I stared at my girlfriend, still unconscious.
"She lost the baby William" Carlisle said softly. I felt the urge to cry but I was too shocked.
"What about Sophia is she ok?" I asked.
"She'll be fine, would you like me to tell her when she wakes up?" he asked. I shook my head.
"I will" I said softly; still in shock. Chantelle walked away from us and over to her daughter. She kissed her forehead and smoothened out her hair.
I still hadn't moved from where I was standing, my mom had pulled back and was watching my face. I felt sad. Very sad. We had kept his a secret out of fear of our parents. Had keeping it a secret just cost the life of our child?
Chantelle went in and out of the room. I watched as she dressed Sophia in a clean pair of jeans and she sat next to her holding her hand.
I finally moved as Sophia began to stir. Her head moved to face her mother.
"Momma?" she asked.
"Oh baby" Chantelle exclaimed and hugged her daughter.
"Im fine mom" she gasped and hugged her back. She sat up and I moved over to her.
"Will!" she sighed in relief. I couldn't bring myself to smile. Tears were already in my eyes, I just didn't know how to tell her. "Will?" she asked then, her voice questioning. The tears fell from my eyes as I knelt in front of her. I had my head down; I couldn't bring myself to look at her.
The pain of losing my child was about to become magnified when I told her.
"Sophia" I said, my voice cracking.
"Will what's wrong?" she asked, I could hear her own voice shaking. I watched as Chantelle took a step back. I finally looked up at Sophia in front of me. Her face concerned. My eyes went to her stomach where our now dead baby was. She followed my eyes, she gasped and her hand fell on her stomach. I shook my head, the tears silently falling faster now.
"Im sorry baby" I said, my voice was just a mess now.
"Tell me im still pregnant" she sobbed. I didn't reply. "William!" she exclaimed, I looked up at my girlfriend. Girlfriend was too simple of a word for what she was to me. My imprint, my life. My world. I couldn't bear seeing her face; I began to cry as I shook my head again. Her pain crippled me as mine did her. She fell off the bed and into my lap. She wrapped her arms around me and cried into my shoulder heavily. I cried with her as I held her tightly to me.
It felt like nothing in the world could relieve this pain we were feeling.
It felt like we had lost something that was more precious than life itself.
That last sentence can interpreted however you want; there is of course a much broader meaning to that sentence than just Sophia and William's unborn child. A sad chapter I know. Next one will have a snippet of Matthew's pov. I realise some of you may not like where this is going but it was always my plan that being the son of Aro was going to come back and bite Zio. I want to say a huge thank you to Gempire, who I took inspiration from, those that have read her stories probably recognise Ariella's ability as it's the same as Liza Black's and the whole child going to live with the Volturi thing too, I have to admit although I had always planned on this happening, the way it happened was drawn from her story. I even asked her permission and she gladly gave it. Again, if you haven't read her stories, go read them! :)
I'll try and update within the week. Thanks for reading, this is another one of those chapters I was nervous about posting.