Carlisle took a deep breath, despite how unnecessary it was, and tried to inhale as much of the scent that was left behind as possible. From what he could tell whoever had been in his house was a woman, her scent sweet and fresh at the same time, and reminded Carlisle of something he couldn't put a name to. But the scent itself was rather extraordinary, and uncommon. Yet whoever had been in his house was not a vampire, but a mere human.
Looking at his office, he found it rather surprising a human had managed to find their house at all. It could of course be someone from Forks, but for some odd reason Carlisle doubted that and no one in town had this kind of scent. Whoever had chosen to break into their house wasn't from this area, and it confused Carlisle seeing how well hidden their house was.
Yet the impossible had happened, and Carlisle almost felt like a human for a second. Because after three hundred years of immortality and heightened sense, someone had actually managed to steal from him. It was almost ironic to think.
But looking around his office, it also concerned Carlisle greatly, because this house was the only place they didn't try to hide. They had all known someone had been in the house instantly, the smell of whoever had broken in had hit them before they got out of the car, and the broken window at the front door had been a nice hint as well. Carlisle had found himself surprised and shocked for a moment, but he quickly grabbed his wife's hand, knowing Esme would be far more anxious than himself.
Whoever had broken into their home had been lucky, as none of them had been home that evening, which was a rare occurrence. Carlisle and Esme had been at the hospital for a function, which had been a good chance for both of them to appear human and socialize, while the kids had chosen to go on a hunting trip together. Leaving the house empty for a single night.
Whoever broke into their house had clearly only cared about two things. Money and jewelry, as every drawer containing those things had been opened, and Carlisle was surprised to find that very little had been left behind, almost nothing really. But what confused him was whoever had broken into their house clearly knew where to look, because not a single place had been touched downstairs, which had been a wise decision as there was nothing of value. At least not to a thief.
But it baffled Carlisle how this person seemed to know where to look, as the woman who had been in their house only had touched drawers with either cash or jewelry. Just like Carlisle desk, where two out of six drawers had been touched, but it had been the correct guess, which puzzled Carlisle. Could a person be that lucky?
To Carlisle it was a mystery, but it was one he didn't have time to think about as he quickly searched his office for missing items, but only cash had been taken. All his expensive medical tools, paintings and first editions hadn't been touched, and it made Carlisle feel relieved. At least for a moment, before what Carlisle would describe as what might be a banshee's scream echoed through the house.
"I AM GOING TO KILL HER WHEN I FIND HER!" Rosalie screamed loudly, and Carlisle immediately flashed upstairs to Emmett and Rosalie's bedroom, afraid the thief had stolen something of great importance. So far whoever this thief was hadn't destroyed anything in their house, but Carlisle feared the worst as he flashed into their bedroom.
"Hey babe… it's okay, look I will just buy you a new one!" Emmett tried to comfort his wife, just as Carlisle arrived, and stared at the couple. Nothing seemed to be out of order, except for Rosalie who was standing beside her vanity desk with Emmett behind her, and Carlisle noticed how his arms were wrapped around her small frame. Although he wasn't entirely sure whenever his son was trying to restrain Rosalie, or comfort her, but none of it seemed to help anyway.
"No!" Rosalie protested, and Carlisle knew she would have been crying if she could. "A new one isn't going to be the same! This was your gift to me on our first anniversary!" she sobbed despite no tears, and Carlisle instantly knew what was missing. Emmett had gifted Rosalie a rather expensive diamond necklace at their first anniversary, one Esme had helped him choose, and although a replica could be made it would never be the same.
"Hey we still got our wedding rings and each other, the rest doesn't matter," Emmett tried to sooth his wife, as he kissed her cheek from behind, and Rosalie seemed to calm down some.
"What is going on?" a voice behind Carlisle suddenly asked, and made Carlisle turn toward his wife immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist as he kissed her forehead. He could see the sorrow and worry in her eyes, and desperately wanted to know what was wrong, but her golden eyes were looking toward Rosalie and Carlisle knew she was far more worried about her child. That was one of the things about her he loved so much about her.
"The thief has taken the necklace I gave Rose at our first anniversary," Emmett explained sadly, while Rosalie growled in anger beside him.
"She has taken all of my jewelry! And Emmett's watch collection!" she hissed, and Carlisle could tell that she was just as angry as she was sad. A small part of him feared she wanted revenge on whoever had done this, and knew she would have to calm down before he would be able to talk to her about it.
"Whoever did this seemed to know just where to look," Carlisle agreed with a sigh, and turned toward his wife. "Only cash was taken from my office, what about our bedroom?" he asked, but he didn't need to hear her answer to know what had happened.
"All cash, jewels and watches has been taken," she said sadly, and due to her eyes Carlisle could tell something was bothering her, but just what he couldn't tell. Had the thief taken something with a personal value? Or did she simply feel anxious because someone had taken their privacy? Carlisle wasn't sure, but held Esme a bit tighter anyway.
"Only jewels and money have been taken from us as well," Edward remarked, him and Bella appearing as well. Bella had thankfully never been one who cared much about jewelry, but Carlisle knew Edward had gifted her a few of his mother's necklaces and rings, which couldn't be replaced.
"The real question is what we should do about it?" a dark southern voice spoke, and for the first time Carlisle noticed Jasper had stepped into the hallway as well, his eyes as always serious. Now more than ever before. Carlisle didn't even need to ask what had been taken from him, because this thief had only taken jewelry and cash. If he had to be honest with himself, Carlisle didn't really care about the cash, what they had laying around the house was nothing. It wouldn't even affect his accounts. But memories had been stolen with their personal belongings, and Carlisle couldn't help but feel this thief had stolen his privacy as well.
"We should hunt this filthy thief down and make her pay!" Rosalie growled, and made Carlisle slightly worried. He had always accepted what she did to Royce and those men, although he wouldn't agree, but had understood her pain. This however, should not require such extreme measures.
"I doubt that's going to be necessary," Carlisle tried to convince everyone, and kept his voice even and diplomatic, knowing how his children could argue. "But it doesn't mean we should just let it slide. Perhaps it would be possible to get some of our stolen objects back?" he tried to suggest.
"We could try to search all the pawn shops and jewelry stores in Port Angeles and Seattle?" Bella suggested quickly, and Carlisle gave her a thankful smile. Bella might be his youngest daughter in vampire years, but she was by far the most diplomatic and calm of his children, something he appreciated at times like these.
"If I go along we might get some details of where the stores got them from?" Edward suggested.
"And then we can hunt that bitch down!" Rosalie growled, but immediately stopped as Carlisle gave her a stern glare, and noticed his wife did the same thing.
"Rosalie, we are not going to hurt any humans, and I will not repeat it! It's far too dangerous, and we risk causing unwanted attention!" Carlisle warned his stubborn daughter, who although she didn't seem to agree, chose to look down, knowing she wouldn't win this argument. At least not right now. But she never got a chance to say anything, as Edward interrupted.
"Carlisle, Rosalie is right," he tried to reason, and Carlisle looked at him in surprise. Did Edward want to take revenge on this thief as well?
Son you cannot wish to go down that path! Carlisle begged in his thoughts, knowing Edward would read his mind. He had always forgiven his children, even when Edward chose to leave him and Esme for years to feed on humans, but he would always do whatever he could to prevent it. He was a doctor, someone who had sworn to save lives not take them, and he feared Edward and Rosalie's thought of revenge would cause too much attention and cross a moral line.
"I have no intentions of hurting this person," Edward answered Carlisle's thoughts, and everyone's eyes were locked on those two. "But I have heard your thoughts Carlisle, and you are aware of the same thing as i. This human, whoever she is, has been in our home. The only place where we don't have to hide…" Edward hinted, and the room was silent for a moment, before everyone groaned.
"Fuck!" Emmett cursed, and for once Esme didn't scold him, everyone far too concerned about their coven's safety. Because whoever this thief was, she might have seen things no human was supposed to see. And in his mind Carlisle quickly began to realize she had been inside his office, and if they were unlucky she had looked at all of his pictures. If that wasn't enough, she had stolen a rather large sum of money, far more cash than an average household would have stocked at their house.
"I suppose that settles it," Carlisle sighed sadly, and squeezed Esme's hand in comfort. "Try and track some of our stolen object's down, and get to whoever sold them… it might lead us to this thief," he said, and paused to give them all a warning glare. "But we are not going to harm her if possible! Edward will try and read her mind, and we will see how much she knows. But no one touches her!" he warned, and could sense neither Jasper or Rosalie seemed to agree. But they remained silent.
"Well I will try to get in contact with Jenks… perhaps he can help us somehow," Jasper mumbled, and Carlisle could feel conflicted feelings coming from him, as the soldier wasn't pleased with his decision. Not that Carlisle couldn't understand where Jasper was coming from, and knew Jasper would offer to kill this thief without a thought, simply to protect their coven. But Carlisle wasn't like most covenleaders and Jasper would have to accept that.
And so everyone scattered, each having their own tasks to do, and gently Carlisle grabbed Esme's hand and led her downstairs. He could sense something was wrong with her, that something was bothering her, and behind closed doors in their room he wrapped his arms around her.
"You mean more to me than all diamonds on this planet my love," he said lovingly, as he brushed his fingers through her caramel colored curls, and Esme leaned closer against his chest.
"And know I love you just as much," Esme sighed, but Carlisle could still hear the pain in her voice, and carefully he lifted her chin to stare into her golden eyes.
"But?" he questioned.
"She took the necklace my mother gave to me," Esme sighed, and Carlisle immediately realized what necklace she was talking about, recalling the necklace with a pendant shaped like a fern. It was by now one of the few memories from her human life. It was the necklace she wore the first time they met when she was sixteen, and it was the one she wore when she gave birth to her son. She even wore it at their wedding, and only used it for special occasions or on bad days at this point.
"Oh i am so sorry my love," Carlisle sighed, suddenly understanding and feeling all the pain his wife felt, and instantly he pulled her closer. Burying his head in her hair, while trying to offer her some kind of comfort.
And right there and then Carlisle made himself a promise, one he would swear upon in front of god. He was going to find that necklace, no matter what.