Esme took a breath as she made her way to the castle doors. There was no doubt the Volturi could smell her by now. She felt every inch of her shake, with anticipation or anxiety she couldn't be sure. Taking another deep breath she placed a hesitating hand on the door handle, her heart pounding in her chest, she almost feared it would break through her chest.
"Oh, Esme, just open the door!" She told herself, her courage slowly building.
She suddenly felt the handle slipping from her hand, startling her enough to take a couple of steps back, placing her hands protectively on her belly. Squinting her eyes, Esme struggled to see anything through the darkened doorway. She took a small step forward in hopes of seeing inside better, to no avail.
"Hello." A sweet female voice rang through the darkness.
"Hello, my name is Esme." She answered, taking another step forward, her voice unwavering. "I was hoping to speak to Aro."
"Please, come in." The voice rang again, echoing slightly, causing her to shudder.
Upon walking through the doorway, Esme felt the temperature drop what felt to be 30 degrees. She wrapped her arms around herself hoping to keep her warm. She never realized how cold the castle had been before.
"Mrs. Cullen." The voice pulled Esme from her thoughts. She turned towards the direction of the voice and was met with a petite brunette woman. "I regret to inform you but Aro and the others have gone out of town for a meeting." The women said matter-of-factly, walking over to a desk that was hiding in the darkness. Esme turned to follow he*r. Both of the women's heels echoing through the nearly empty room.
"Then I would like to speak to whoever is in charge," Esme announces as the woman sits down.
"I am afraid that won't be possible ." The woman said, her voice laced with irritation.
"Then I suggest you make it possible," Esme said sternly, forcing herself to stand up taller, her eyes never leaving the other woman's. She ignored the voice in the back of her head, telling her how silly she must look with her belly sticking out as far as it was.
"Mrs. Cullen, can I call you Esme?" She asked, standing back up to make better contact.
"No."
"What?" The woman asked, taken back by how confident Esme sounded.
"No, you may not call me 'Esme', Mrs, Cullen will do just fine," Esme said, a small smudge smile painted on her face.
"Mrs. Cullen, as you know, Aro is a very busy person, he has a lot going on right now and won't be seeing any surprise visitors." She answered smugly.
"What about my children," she asked, all her confidence she had now melting away, only to be replaced with the fear as to where her Emmett and Rose could be.
"Your children? Oh, you mean the stowaways who have been sneaking around the castle. They are being dealt with accordingly."
"What does that mean?" Esme asked, feeling the blood drain from her face and her knees start to go weak. "Where are my children?! Where is Gracie?!" Esme yelled.
The woman's smile quickly disappeared from her face. "How…How do you know about her?"
Both women stared at each other for what felt like hours, but only a minute or two had passed. A large cloud of tension hung in the air around them. Esme began wondering where her children were, thinking of a way to distract the other woman so she could getaway.
"Mrs. Cullen, as I have said before, your 'children' are being taken care of." Esme inwardly growled as the woman used her hand to make air quotations when she mentioned her children. "There is nothing left for you here, I suggest you turn around and leave. Go home to your husband and forget about what happened here, go begin the welcome of your new baby."
"I want my children to come home with me." Esme spat, furry running through her veins.
"I would hate for them to take care of you the same way theory took care of your children." The woman was standing only inches away from Esme, that she could smell her fruity perfume. She reached out and placed a hand on her stomach. "It always is a shame when they do this to a pregnant woman. Don't say I didn't warn you, Esme."
Esme's eyes went wide with fear as the words began to sink in. She began to quickly look around and her ears were on high alert, hoping to be able to see or hear someone coming. The woman's face was stone cold, unemotionally solid, staring blankly at Esme.
Suddenly Esme heard a door being slammed open, but only silence followed. The woman's face suddenly broke into a sinister smile. She felt the woman slowly let go of her stomach, and walked a few paces away from her, the same sinister smile painted on her face.
"Feeding time." She stated, her voice rough and horse.
Esme saw a blur of a person run over to the corner of the darkroom, but she couldn't make out their face.
Calmly Esme walked over to the center of the room, tears streaming down her face. "Do what you must, but please let my family go, and let my little one survive. She has done nothing wrong and she is human. Spare her life, and you can have mine. "Esme announced, her mind flashing with images of her family. Emmett and Rose in the garage fixing everyone's cars. Alice and Jasper sitting on the couch, wrapped up in each other, enjoying the day. Bella and Nessy sitting around the grand piano, listening to Edward play a new song. Finally, her mind flashed to Carlisle. He was standing in front of her with a smile on his face, and love in his eyes. There was no special moment she thought of, he also looked at her like that, and she always felt the love he had for her.
After a moment of silence, Esme inhaled deeply, keeping her family in her mind, she whispered. "I'm sorry."
Suddenly there was another flash from the other side of the room, heading towards the front door, in a moment, the front door was open, filling the dark cold room with light and heat.
"Wha.." Turning around quickly the woman caught a glimpse of the figure before she ran over to the door to close it.
Before Esme could wrap her mind around what was happening, she suddenly felt herself being lifted into the air, but just as quickly her feet were back on the ground, but she was facing the opposite direction. Turning back around, she was met with a tall broad-shouldered man, with his back to her.
"Emmett." Her heart pounded in her chest with relief, as she realized her son was standing in front of her. She leaned forward slightly onto his back, finding comfort knowing he was right there. Inhaling deeply she felt a cramp begin to form around her stomach. She reminded herself to stay calm.
"How did you escape the chamber?" The woman asked, her voice laced with anger and concern.
Esme felt Emmett's back begin to vibrate as he let out an evil chuckle. "A few men and a door can keep us away from our mom, especially when she is in danger."
Esme caught a glimpse of another vampire running, this time she saw blonde hair. "Rose."
"But how..? Those guards are newborns, how did you get past them?" The woman asked, panic rising in her chest as she began to back away, toward a large hallway.
"Would you like to join them?" Rose said, suddenly behind the women. "Or, are you willing to help us."
The woman turned to look at Rose for a second, before running down the long hallway at full speed, her heels threatening to break every time she slammed her foot down on the concrete floor.
"They always run," Emmett said, turning back around to face his mother as Rose ran after the women. Emmett notice Esme's face was twisted in discomfort. "Mom, are you okay?"
Esme nodded her head as she heard the woman scream down the hallway. "I will be okay." she forced herself to straighten herself out and look at her son. "I am so happy you are okay," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.
She felt a small cold hand on her shoulder. Turning around she saw a sorrow faced Rose. "Oh, honey!" She sobbed as she wrapped her arms around her, tears of joy streaming down her face. "I am so glad you guys are okay, your father was right, this was a dumb idea. I keep forgetting how fragile I am now."
"There is no time to think of that now." Rose said, pulling away from her mom, we have Gracie's scent and it is stronger than ever, we need to go now!"
Esme nodded, grabbing her daughter's hand, and ignoring the pain in her stomach, as they made their way quietly down the hallway.