"Evil," Edward tested the word on his tongue. It felt severe. The Volturi were evil, Benjamin was far from evil. "Em, you don't mean that."
Emmett brought his hand over his face, allowing the pair to fall into silence as Edward read his mind, which was spinning in circles.
Too powerful.
Powers of a God.
Evil.
What is their purpose?
Why would such a powerful being be created?
Evil.
Could they handle the children?
Would the Volturi come?
Edward placed his hand on Emmett's forearm, silencing his thoughts. "Emmett, your children aren't… evil." His voice cracked with the word. While he had sent centuries believing that he was a soulless monster, Renesmee had changed all of that. It still astounded him that he had created such a pure being in this world. Renesmee brought light and love not only to the family but to everybody around her, he knew now that he wasn't going to hell.
"You don't know that Edward. You saw what Benjamin is capable of, it's as if he's some sort of… weapon." Emmett looked away from Edward, staring at his shoes.
"Emmett, he isn't a weapon, he's a scared boy."
"He killed his parent's Edward."
"Out of fear!" Edward yelled.
Emmett's head snapped up, Edward rarely yelled.
"Emmett we might not know what exactly these children will be or what powers they possess but there is no instance in which these children will be evil. I've read Alice's mind and…"
Emmett's eyes widened.
"Em they are so pure, they are so good and kind." Edward sighed thinking of the images he had seen of the cherub esque babies. He knew they would put Renesmee to shame in cuteness.
Emmett closed his eyes, bringing his body down onto the wooden floor, Edward followed him sinking to his knees. "That was wrong of me to say, of course I don't want my children to be…" He swallowed. "Evil."
Edward brought his hand up to Emmett's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "Emmett of course you don't want that. You never did. You're just scared of the unknown."
Emmett nodded in agreement and the pair sat in silence once more.
Carlisle sat at the desk in his office as he carefully studied the slide of Benjamin's blood, examining the cells with the utmost attention.
The room was bathed with silence, with only the whisper of activity coming from downstairs.
Zafrina stood against the wall, watching for any sign of life from Benjamin, "Have you found anything yet?"
"It's strange," Carlisle picked up a slide putting it towards the light, the blood seemingly shimmered as if a piece of glass in the sun.
"This blood, it's almost the perfect combination of human and vampire. I've never seen anything like it."
Zafrina stepped away from the wall to get a closer look at Carlisle's slides. "It's beautiful," She remarked, gazing at the crimson substance as it sparkled in the light.
"And with beauty comes power," Carlisle whispered.
Alice sat on the couch, Jasper by her side, when the vision came to her.
A small blonde haired girl and black-haired boy ran through the forest at lightning speed laughing as they hopped over logs and swerved around trees. The pair twisted and turned deeper into the forest, almost in a dance with the elements. The girl's hair whipped around her face, blonde tendrils sparkling in the wind. As they came to a bend in the tree's the boy stopped suddenly and crouched down to look closely at something. The young girl stopped to crouch beside him peering over his shoulder with large, curious, purple eyes.
"What is it Ollie?" She whispered, holding out her hand to touch the creature in front of her brother.
"A sparrow."
In front of the pair laid a small blue sparrow, it's wing twisted up towards the sky. The girl extended her fingers to carefully brush the small creature.
"He's dead," She remarked, carefully touching the bird's face, she closed her eyes. Her face twisted in sorrow as if the young girl could feel everything the Sparrow had ever felt, "Ollie, please help it."
The boy, Oliver, nodded his head as he picked up the tiny bird cradling it in his hands, he closed his eyes, allowing his palms to wrap around the creature.
The pair sat for no more than a minute together in silence with their eyes closed.
Oliver let out a sigh. Opening his hands the small sparrow spread its wings and flew into the air.
"He's beautiful," The girl remarked, watching as the sparrow floated in front of them as if thanking the pair for their kindness.
"That it is Amelia."
Alice gasped for air as the vision came to an end, scanning the room around her she grasped Jasper's thigh.
"What is it Alice?" Jasper eyed his wife with concern.
Edward burst through the balcony door, and crouched in front of Alice, grabbing her hands he looked her in the eyes.
"Alice, what does this mean?"
Edward searched Alice's mind for an answer but her thoughts were racing, he gripped her wrists tighter trying to anchor her back to reality.
Emmett, who had followed right on Edward's heels, looked at the pair with worry. He knew it took a lot to shake Alice like this.
"Edward…" He tried.
Jasper's eyes flew to his brother, shaking his head he silently urged him to remain quiet.
It felt like years passed before Alice turned towards Emmett, allowing Edward to release his hold on her wrists. "We need to have a family meeting… immediately." Her voice was laced with severity.
Emmett swallowed. "I'll go get Rosalie." In a blink of an eye he disappeared up the stairs towards the bedroom. Esme flew across the room, seating herself next to Alice she placed her hand on her thigh. "Alice… What did you see?"
Alice looked up towards Edward, I can't tell her this yet. What do we do?
Edward nodded his head, "I think it's best we talk about this with everybody here, I'll go get Carlisle." Edward disappeared towards the library to collect the patriarch.
"Alice." Jacob stood from the couch eyeing the pixie with suspicion. Jasper shot him a glance, Renesmee, taking the hint, gripped his arm, pulling him back down.
Jasper sent a wave of calm throughout the room hoping it was enough to subdue his family before the storm he felt was to come.
Emmett quietly entered his bedroom to find Rosalie, Seth, and Bella sitting on the bed watching TV, from the sound of it he figured it was another episode of that Kardashian show Rosalie couldn't get enough of. The group looked up acknowledging his presence, Bella snatched up the remote to press pause.
"Do you have an update?" Bella asked, her eyes wide.
Emmett stared at the group, trying to find words for his concern.
"Em…" Rosalie moved to get up but was trapped between Seth and Bella on the bed.
"Alice had a vision." Emmett said, his face as pale as a ghost.
Bella flew out of the bed to stand in front of Emmett, "What.. What did she see?"
Seth and Rosalie stared at the pair, hoping for the best.
"She won't tell us… family meeting." Emmett said and before he could finish his words Bella was pushing beyond him and down the stairs. Rosalie flew out of the bed towards her husband, Seth pushing past Emmett to join Bella downstairs.
Emmett wrapped his arms around his wife, whispering in her ear… "Rosie, no matter what it is, we're going to be okay."
Rosalie nodded her head into her husband's shoulder as for the second time in her second life tears streamed down her cheek and onto her husband's shirt, leaving evidence of her fragility.
The pair allowed themselves a moment in silence before Rosalie pulled back, allowing her husband to brush the tears from her cheeks. She nodded her head and grabbed Emmetts hand, giving him permission to lead her to the family meeting.
Alice stood at the front of the living room, Jasper by her side. The family, sans Zafrina who was keeping Benjamin under, were all gathered sitting on various pieces of furniture.
Alice looked around the room, not sure how to tell her family this caliber of news.
Reaching down Jasper gripped his wives hand encouraging her to begin.
"As you all have heard I had a vision earlier today of the twins…"
Alice looked around, noticing Rosalie's death grip on her husband's hand.
"Before I tell you anything I need you all to know that they are fine, they're… amazing." Alice smiled at the memory of the children's beauty and glanced over to see Rosalie's audible sigh of relief. "In my vision today I saw the children in the forest and much like Benjamin I saw their powers…" Alice swallowed not sure how to phrase the next part, "One of the twins can sense emotion and the other…" Alice gripped Jasper's hand closing her eyes, "the other can bring the dead back to life."
Alice opened her eyes and found every eye on her, the room was dead silent.
Carlisle spoke first, "Alice.. What exactly did you see?"
"The twins were in a forest and found a dead sparrow on the ground. The one twin, it was like they could feel everything the sparrow had felt, the other…. they wrapped it in their hands and when they opened them it flew away into the forest."
Carlisle pondered Alice's words, "are you sure the sparrow was dead?"
"When they touched the bird it was stiff and ice cold… I know that."
Carlisle paced, flipping the information around in his head, "This is… something." Carlisle sat down in a large armchair next to Esme and continued thinking.
The room remained silent, its occupants trying to process the monumental news.
Rosalie was the first to speak, "Alice, did they do anything when they healed the bird, like a spell or," Rosalie faltered. She was grasping at straws trying to understand how this sort of gift was possible. It crossed so many lines that were previously believed to be solid.
"No spells, he," Alice stopped in her tracks, covering her mouth with her hand, "I'm so sorry Rosalie."
Rosalie smiled, "Alice, it's okay. We have much more pressing issues to think about right now."
Emmett leaned down and kissed Rosalie's cheek, knowing how happy this made her. Edward's lips curled upwards as he heard Rosalie's thoughts leap for joy.
Alice smiled and continued on, "Well he sort of just closed his eyes and sat in silence with his hands tightly wrapped around the bird."
Jacob, who had been silent, finally spoke up, "Is there anyone of your kind who has ever had a gift like this," he looked around the room for answers. Edward listened to his thoughts, knowing he was filtering himself.
How dangerous could this kid be? Could he kill someone only to bring them back to life? Can he even bring a person back to life?
Carlisle answered, "No. I've never heard of such a gift. There was one vampire a very long time ago who could heal, but that gift could only go so far. If the person was too far gone he couldn't heal them. This… this is something new, it defies all logic." Carlisle shook his head as he descended back into thought.
Edward was the next to speak, "What does this mean ethically speaking? Alice… Do you have an idea of how long the bird had been dead before he revived it?"
Alice closed her eyes trying to picture the bird in her mind, Edward listened in, reexamining the image. Alice retraced her memory to the bird, thinking back to the image of the tiny brown bird on the forest floor. She paused the image in her mind, scrutinizing the stiffness of the bird and the glassiness of its eyes. She continued the memory, trying to process Amelia's feelings, she knew the bird was cold. Edward thought back to years of biology classes from high school to college. At some point he knew he had taken an entry level veterinary class. Rigor mortis in birds set in around three hours after death.
"A few hours." Edward remarked.
Jacob huffed from the couch, "I hate when you two do that."
Edward chuckled at the remark, working the facts around in his head. "In your vision he did this before."
Alice nodded her head.
Carlisle cleared his throat, "I think I may have to call some friends, philosophers, this… this brings up a lot of questions about the finality of death."
Emmett swallowed loudly, thinking of the ethical implications of his sons gift, maybe he had been right, maybe he was a monster.