Disclaimer: The above line is not mine :( nor is Eclipse, book or movie. You may have noticed that I stole 2 moves from the movie. I just think they were pretty awesome!
Chapter Thirty Six: PredatorsEsme:
It's almost time.
I know they aren't coming yet – Alice would have warned us if they were – but my eyes scan the forest constantly. Obsessively. I pace anxiously, running over Jasper's special training in my mind. Emmett and Jasper are practicing nearby, with Alice and Rosalie watching on one side and Jacob and two of his friends from the other. Edward and Bella are hidden. All of us are in danger.
Carlisle stopped my pacing by placing a hand on my hip and redirecting me. He locked his fingers in mine and gently kissed me. It was a sad kiss, lingering on my lips.
"I've seen what newborns can do, Esme, and it's terrible," he murmured. "They may fight like children but they are stronger and faster than any of us. One slip and they'll catch you out. And Victoria…" He hung his head, defeated, and I lifted his chin and kissed him. I wished he wouldn't worry so much, but I couldn't ask otherwise of him. I was worried too.
"Esme," he whispered. "I want you to know that I love you. More than anything in this world, anything at all."
"I know that," I told him, squeezing his hand. "I love you too. I'll be careful. I promise."
He sighed quietly and rested his forehead against mine. I pulled my wedding ring off my finger and pressed it into his hand, closing his fingers over it.
"I'm everything I am because you love me," I told him. I was paraphrasing a favourite song of mine. Carlisle didn't miss the reference. He stood up a little straighter, stronger, and even managed a small smile as he slipped the band back onto my finger.
"That's better," I breathed, and I kissed him one more time before I walked away, interrupting Jasper and Emmett to squeeze in one last practice.
Jacob was standing with Edward and Bella now, but the other two wolves looked clearly surprised as Jasper directed Emmett to stand opposite him – with me between them.
"Don't forget to watch us both," Jasper reminded me, lowering himself into a crouch. The chocolate brown wolf twitched as if he wanted to join us. I can't believe he wanted to do this.
"Bring it on, Ma," Emmett challenged.
I crouched and hissed, settling into predator mode, and from either side my sons sprang at me.
.o.o.o.
Carlisle:
"They're coming," Alice announced. She stood at my right shoulder, where Esme usually did. Esme was at my left, where Edward usually was. It felt odd not having Edward beside me. Over the last ninety years, he had been my second-in-command. Esme was quite happy to allow him that position, even though, as my mate, it was technically hers. She has stepped up to fill his shoes today, though, as Edward is with Bella higher up in the mountains: the newborns would be led here, to us, and their prey would be hidden and safe. We hoped.
"Get ready," Jasper warned. We did; organising ourselves into rows of wolf, two vampires, and a second wolf each.
Sam, Alice, Jasper and a wolf I didn't know the name of were in the front row. The first of the newborns appeared, and some of them laughed, brimming with confidence, as they ran towards us. Slowly, it dawned on them. It was painful to watch as, one by one, their faces dropped as they realised that Bella was not here. They had all been tricked, and now they were in serious danger. Our front row met them head-on. A few of them were already dust before Jasper signalled for the second row - Emmett, Rosalie and the two wolves I didn't know the name of but who had come to watch the training sessions with Jacob.
Alice ducked a swipe from a grizzled man in a builder's uniform. She couldn't engage him without turning her back on the thick of the fight - not to mention the huge wolf ploughing towards her. Swift and nimble as always, she flipped through the air and the wolf ran underneath her, taking down the newborn she had dodged and leaving her free to engage her next opponent.
Emmett was cutting his way through the crowd easily, careful to keep an eye on Rosalie, who was engaged in a ferocious duel with a young brunette who, judging by her stance and actions, had been familiar with several martial art forms in life. Nearby, Jasper fought with a steeled expression, never facing one direction for too long, and never losing track of Alice's position. In fact, he seemed to watch everywhere at once.
Esme and I now stood between Jacob Black, who had arrived later than most of his comrades, and an especially disdainful grey wolf who I suspected was female. We waited, surprisingly calmly, for our signal.
"Go!" Jasper shouted, waving an arm at us. We leapt into action as the last of the newborns entered the clearing. There were about five in this group, who were completely without regiment, like a herd of startled deer.
Jacob and the grey diverted, catching the wingmen of the herd formation. I was several paces ahead of Esme when I reached the tail of the group. I was glad for the speed; I didn't get a close look at anyone's faces, I only had to grab and pull. I tried not to think about it as the resistance under my hands crumbled away.
"I'm sorry," I murmured to whoever it was. Suddenly, it felt like I was running through tar. I couldn't get more than a few paces from the body before I was forced to stop. I didn't dare turn to face the body, though - or, more accurately, the remains. My eyes were locked on the newborn tearing towards me. He reminded me of Emmett, but that's not what was stopping me. I couldn't move. I was trapped by the knowledge that I had just killed someone. As a doctor I had lost a lot of patients in my time. I had supervised capital punishment as a human, and had not stepped in to prevent the Volturi's 'lunches' as a vampire. But never had I actually killed anyone with my own hands.
Ever.
Until now.
"Carlisle, what are you doing?" Esme shrieked, jumping over me just in time to avoid a collision. She knocked the charging newborn off his feet, cart-wheeled over him and tossed him away from us, where he was soon plucked from the air by the grey from our row.
Esme twisted around to face me, eyes wide with terror.
"Move!" she shouted, jerking a hand towards the battle. She was right. I should move. I had to move. But I couldn't.
"Carlisle, are you insane?" she yelled as she raced towards me. "You have to keep-"
She was knocked off her feet by an angry newborn. The pair skidded across the ground; the newborn trying to kill her, she trying to get free before both were swept into the thick of the battle.
"CARLISLE!" Esme screamed.
It took no more than that to inspire me back into action. I almost flew towards them. I pulled the newborn off Esme and she cried out in agony, her face contorted with pain and both hands pressed to her right side.
As quickly as possible, I dispatched the newborn. I glanced around: the wolves were chasing several newborns who had run into the trees, and the few newborns left in the clearing were at the other end, being taken care of by the others. I fell to my knees by Esme's side. Her face was creased with anguish, both hands pressed against her right ribs.
"Did he get your ribs?" I asked, flustered. She managed a nod.
"A little," she told me. Grimacing against the pain, she held out her left arm and I wrapped mine around it and helped pull her up. I put my hand where hers had been. I could feel the cracks in her skin.
Suddenly, her pain seemed to disappear. She glared into the trees for a moment, and before I could say a word, she disappeared too.
"Esme!" I cried, shooting after her. She was in no state to fight Victoria. If those cracks didn't seal up very soon, she was in extreme danger of being snapped in half at the middle. She wouldn't die from breaking up, but incapacitated like that, Victoria would make very short work of her.
"Carlisle, look out!" I heard distantly. Rosalie? I whipped around, searching for her face, only to be trampled over by a near-flying newborn. Quick to recover, wrapped my arms around her legs. She fell and I rolled, grabbed her neck and twisted. There was a screech and a crunch, and it was all over.
My hands shook violently as I got to my feet. Looking around as the last of the newborns in the clearing collapsed into dust, I felt sick to the stomach. I twisted my ring around my finger uncomfortably and remembered Jasper's words.
You're out here with us, backing your decision, and that's what counts. You're a good leader and I'm proud to follow you. We all are.
At least they were all safe. Now that the newborns were out of the way, my family was safe. It had been hard, but I had backed my decision, and protected the ones I love. That's what leaders do. That's what counts.
Jasper smiled knowingly as he strolled towards me. The rest of the family convened too, brushing their clothes or picking things from their hair as they came. If it weren't for the battlefield-worthy carnage around us, it would be hard to believe that, just a few seconds ago, we were all such ferocious predators.