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Chapter 16: these realms of silence and uncreated things
The sound of an explosion filled the room, as unexpected as a bomb and as loud as a hundred jet engines. Unlike a bomb, the sound did not fade. The resonance built upon itself, the cacophony growing deeper and fuller—and more painful—the longer it went on. The stone walls vibrated and dust began to shake free from eight hundred years of stasis in the nooks and crannies. Small pebbles jumped and skipped from the crevices where they'd been wedged by passing feet. As the sound grew, so did their dance until they were bouncing inches off the floor.
The passage of time, even in moments of abject terror, relies strongly on the mind's ability to process events, and only a vampire mind could process the speed at which events unfolded. A human would have only heard a mind-shattering noise that preceded a tumble of bodies being sprawled outside of the door. The two events happened so quickly it would have appeared as if an incantation that transported them there. To the vampires who endured that second of existence, time had simply stopped, trapping them and leaving no hope for escape.
The guards closest to the walls fell to their knees clutching their heads against the pain. Esme collapsed against Carlisle, her eyes wide in fear. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to shelter her even as he tried to cover his own ears with his hands. Edward and Bella struggled trying to protect one another. It did not help that they were familiar with the pain and nausea. It was the same feeling they had felt on the cliffs during the hurricane as they watched Rolle fight Demetri. The only thing they could do was hold each other, desperate to protect one another.
Rolle dared not look at the Cullens. The initial pulse had knocked them down and left them nauseous, and a low and uncomfortable hum reverberated through the room keeping them in their debilitated state. He couldn't stand to see the pain he was causing them, but had no idea how to spare them. He could only know with absolute certainty that this pain was nothing compared to what was possible if he allowed the Volturi to hurt them. He, also, couldn't bear to see the horror in their eyes as they looked fully into the face of his demon. His own eyes were hard and fearsome, the image of Gillian's broken body appeared before his eyes. No matter where he looked, the image floated in his line of sight as if it were burned into his retinas. His mind frantically repeated, Not Bella. Not Bella. even as he made a note of the pattern of dust falling through the air. With a quarter step to the left, the dust reacted and shifted. Rolle raised his chin a fraction, and the pattern shifted again.
Jane was the first to force herself to her feet, snarling at Rolle's attack but unable to clear her head to fight back. As she gained her feet the room pulsed with sound knocking her to the floor again. Her scream of pain ripped through the air. The ghosts of her victims rejoiced at the sound, the tables now turned.
The pulse made Renata vomit blood, losing her grip on Aro as she clutched her stomach, retching violently.
Carlisle caught the eyes of Edward and Bella as the pain crippled them, but they could easily see their pain wasn't as bad as the Volturi were experiencing. The faces of the other vampires contorted in agony, the likes of which they had not felt since the fires of their transformations.
Carlisle looked up. Edward and Bella's eyes followed his. They could see the dust ripple through the pulse waves, colliding and bouncing off other waves just above their heads. Like multiple stones thrown into a pool, the ripples fanned out and struck each other cancelling each other out altogether in some cases, though smaller deflected waves still rolled across the air at a fraction of their original strength. Rolle had somehow created a sort of bubble around them as these waves collided with the waves reflecting back off the stone walls.
Movement outside of their small sphere made them turn to look. Despite the small protected area around them, the sudden motion of turning to look, made worse by the sound attack, made their heads spin and nausea bloom within them.
The movement that drew their attention had been Caius. He had lurched to his feet and threw himself at Rolle with a scream of rage.
Despite the pain ripping through his body, Edward felt Rolle's mind disappear entirely as his mind aligned with Caius' and began to mimic the elder's singular focus and intent.
"No!" Edward cried out, but it was too late. Caius disappeared in a cloud.
The power of Rolle's true attack was utterly devastating. He seemed only to tap Caius on the shoulder as if he were politely trying to get his attention. The only thing more frightening to Edward was the thoughtless ease Rolle displayed. Rolle looked as if he wasn't even aware of what he had done. The act seemed to be completely unconscious and as automatic as a blinking eyelid simply wiping away a spec of dust from the eye. Rolle's blank and accepting mind operated like nothing more than a poisonous gas, designed for only one purpose: to waft through the air, resigned to inevitable destruction. Everything Edward had ever feared about Rolle was coming true. Rolle could kill them all without even realizing what he had done until it was too late.
"Carlisle!" Edward shouted as he grabbed Bella and rushed out of the chamber.
As soon as they breached the semi-circle of deflected waves, the full brunt of Rolle's attack struck them. The indescribable pain and the shocking power of it made Edward fall to his knees. The jolt with the floor made him cry out in agony. His knees and thighs cracked and fissured with the impact causing searing pain to shoot up his legs.
"Edward!" Bella screamed in fear. Edward's hand on her arm jerked her down and forward. The motion made her skin burn under the sleeve of her blouse, but the pain of it was nothing compared to the slicing terror he invoked in her when he cried out. Her mind reacted to the sound of his pain and fear. Rational thought was replaced an instinctive reaction she had no idea she possessed.
He was her only reason for existing. Protecting her sanity meant protecting Edward. The shield that protected her mind swelled past the confines of her body and engulfed him, buffering him from the effects of Rolle's attack. Edward felt some of the pain in his body abate and heard the anguish in Bella's thoughts as he was brought into the thicker walls of her shield. She put her arms under his and lifted him. The pain from the damage to his legs remained, but the feeling of being electrocuted had gone. Edward lurched from the floor and bolted for the door with his wife. He caught Marcus by the arm as they passed, pulling him out with them.
Carlisle tried to shield Esme as Jane's matching scream of rage preceded another pulse. With their arms wrapped around each other, Carlisle and Esme ducked out through bubble. As they dashed after Edward, they managed to pull Aro and Renata with them and plunged out of the room. The four of them collided with two other guards, scooping them up like a plow as they fell through the door, pushed out by yet other wave of sound marked by another plume of dust. Jane's scream ended abruptly.
Still shielded by Bella, Edward pushed past Carlisle and grabbed the shirt of another guard just inside the door. Carlisle pulled Edward back. The wrenching motion pulled Edward and the Guard through the threshold before the door slammed shut with a new wave of screams, now muffled behind the ancient wood. All three fell into the tangle of bodies still on the floor at the doorsill. Edward wasn't even sure whom he had rescued.
"Bella!" Edward said, frantic, pulling her into his arms. He buried his face against her neck, surrounding himself with her scent.
I'm okay. I'm okay. Oh, my God! Rolle! I can't believe... She felt her shield snap back. Her arms tightened desperately around Edward as she felt the separateness from him and used all her concentration to push her shield back around him again to no avail. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she whispered against his skin. Her fingers tightened in his hair, holding him close. She only hoped they'd survive this, wanting the quiet of their bed to hold him and love him, and talk to him about what she had just done.
Stumbling and pulling each other along, the ten that escaped moved down the hall away from the pulsing, roaring source of their pain. The unending sound resonated through the castle long after the screams stopped.
~•~
The survivors pulled themselves through the door of another tower of Rocca Nuova. It had been Felix that Edward rescued from the audience chamber, and he now fell against the heavy door coughing and sputtering as he hurried to bolt it.
"Carlisle!" Bella cried, seeing him hold up his damaged arm. Though it was still intact and connected to him, the crystalline skin was crisscrossed with a spider web with dark cracks.
"I'm all right," he said softly.
"How-?" She could not find the words to finish her thought.
"I'm not sure," he confessed. Even as he spoke the cracks faded and healed completely. He cupped Bella's cheek and kissed her forehead to calm her, then did the same to Edward, before turning to pull Esme close with a gusting sigh of relief.
Edward knew the same marks were deep across his legs, and felt them heal as well. He was grateful that his pants had hidden his injuries from Bella.
Aro pulled at the cravat at his neck as if feeling strangled by it and looked around the room. Caius was gone. Only he and Marcus remained, along with four of his precious guard: Felix, Alec, Chelsea and Renata. They had lost Jane, his most prized. After seeing how Rolle had instantly decimated Caius, Aro had little hope for the lives of the nine others in the room. Eleven! Eleven had been lost. Almost half of the Guard destroyed in barely a blink, but the thunderous sound still rolled through the halls like a deadly vapor.
"Aro!" Marcus said urgently, sliding his hand into his brothers.
As Aro saw what Marcus had witnessed in the audience chamber, his expression changed with understanding. Disbelief and shock filled his eyes as he looked at Carlisle for confirmation of this betrayal. Only Edward could hear the deep hurt that Aro felt at the duplicity. Only Edward could see the hurt curdle and sour in the elder's mind, rolling over onto itself to become dark and sinister anger. Aro turned a burning glare to all of the Cullens.
"What is this treachery?" Aro accused heatedly, his exquisite voice shaking as anger blossomed into rage.
At his words, the few remaining guards sluggishly rose to their feet. They moved as one into a defensive stance knowing only that they must protect their leaders. The Cullens followed suit and all but Carlisle dropped into a crouch.
"Wait! Please!" Carlisle begged, holding up his hands for calm. "This is not why we are here. We don't wish to fight!"
"Why are you here?" Marcus demanded in a rare display of involvement.
"We came because of Rolle, to get him away from the things he'd absorb from being around you."
"You came for him?" Marcus challenged. "You wanted nothing to do with him!" he reminded them.
"No! He attacked us, but we didn't understand what he was doing."
"You sent a Trojan Horse to our gates!" Aro shouted. Upon hearing this, the guards snarled and tensed. "I would never have thought it of you, Carlisle," Aro continued.
"Aro, please listen to me!" Carlisle implored, growing panicked by the mounting animosity. "You have to let me explain."
"I have to do nothing," Aro snarled as the hurt of this betrayal morphed into rage. "Of all the kindness I have extended to you... treated you as a friend... sheltered and nurtured you as a brother... to think you would repay me like this!"
"We saved you!" Edward shouted, unable to remain silent any longer. "We came to prevent this from happening, but we couldn't. We pulled you from that room. We could have just left you in there."
Felix's eyes glanced between Edward to Aro, recognizing this truth, but not relaxing his position. Alec had immediately realized his twin was not among the survivors. His anguish at the loss of his sister, protector and best friend would not be forgiven. Chelsea and Renata, however, paused and shared a look between each other. They were alive, and their beloved Master was alive. Both women looked meekly at their lord.
Aro felt their eyes on him, but did not acknowledge them, turning his burning glare to Edward as this truth became evident. "You say you came to Volterra to get him away from our influence? Away from us?" Aro asked, though he repeated the words with malice.
"We think Rolle absorbs thought processes of others. We think this is why he is able to track people the way he does," Carlisle explained; grateful for this moment to do so. "I don't know what triggered him in that room... maybe he reacted because you called Jane forward to test Bella. I don't know."
The anger in Aro's face was replaced with a guarded look as he considered what was being said. The guards remained tense and defensive, their eyes were wide with disbelief from the amount of damage done during such a brief attack. No one had ever believed the rumors about a genocide of the vampires in Romania and Moldova. Caius had always scoffed that it was merely propaganda; a boast of power to instill fear into anyone who would challenge the Romanian elders. Caius was wrong. They now had first-hand knowledge of what had happened there.
Carlisle took advantage of the pause and continued to speak. "Truly, Aro, he acted on his own. He felt he was protecting us, acting on the rumors of Caius' inciting the Guard against my family. I would have never condoned such action against you."
"What would entice him to feel so protective of you?" Aro wanted to know. His tone was still waspish and angry.
"He lost his mate, and it destroyed him," Carlisle answered. "Caius' conjectures seemed particularly focused on Bella. He didn't want Edward to experience that loss."
Aro's eyes flickered toward Marcus as he recalled these events from his brother's memory. "I'm sorry, Carlisle," he said, though his tone was still accusing. "There are too many questions and doubts. I'll need more than your assertions." Aro held out his hand, staring expectantly. His eyes were cold and full of mistrust, but there was only one answer to this demand, for there was no way to interpret it as a request.
Carlisle looked at his wife. He had nothing to hide, but he hated the fact that this would violate her privacy as well as his own. As the man who had turned her, he knew the reasons behind her suicide. As her husband, he knew her more intimately than anyone ever would... at least, until Aro touched him.
Esme looked up into Carlisle's honeyed eyes. Always the gentleman, she loved him even more in that moment. With their world on the brink of collapse and their family in danger, she was still his first priority. She stroked his cheek, then turned to look at Aro as she raised Carlisle's hand and placed it into his without fear or regret.
Aro could not help but note the strength in this woman. Under any other circumstances, he would have complimented Carlisle for finding such an intrepid woman as his mate, but there were too many questions demanding answers in the wake of such slaughter.
The first things Aro saw eased his mind immediately. Carlisle had never entertained thoughts of expanding his coven for power. His family grew out of love and nothing more. The desire for power was nowhere in Carlisle's mind. He even shunned it in his human ruse at hospitals where he chose to spend his time, turning down positions of power and influence, wanting only to heal the sick. In all of the humans and immortals he had ever come across, Carlisle had never considered their skill or potential. It was as inconsequential as their appearance or manner of dress. He only considered the person they were and their character, which was why his family wanted to help Rolle. They weren't here because the boy was powerful, but because he was broken.
Aro also realized that Rolle had duped the Cullens by attacking them. The boy had sacrificed their good graces in order to trick Marcus into bringing him back to Volterra. Aro's lip twitched with a snarl. He could see now that Rolle had acted alone, exonerating the Cullen's involvement, but the boy was far craftier than he seemed.
When Aro saw the Romanians in Carlisle's memories, it was an enormous relief to know that Carlisle had not struck any sort of bargain or alliance with them. A flood of knowledge hit him all at once: the Romanian's story of finding Rolle, how they tested him, why they wanted him, how they evaluated Rolle's skills. A smirk pulled at his lips at the knowledge of Vladimir's disfigurement. At least, Rolle hadn't been lying about his anger toward the Romanians. He finally had a complete answer to the question of what had happened to the vampires of Romania. Rolle had destroyed them all when Stefan and Vladimir organized their countrymen to hunt and kill him. Aro enjoyed a moment of perverse irony that the very weapon the Romanians had hoped to use against them was the very weapon that had nearly obliterated the Romanian cabal once again.
To learn that Rolle was usually nomadic did not surprise Aro, considering the fact that the boy had survived almost seventy years without coming under scrutiny by the Volturi. What did surprise him, though, were the reasons for this. The Cullens believed that Rolle was a cognitive mimic, spending his time alone in the oceans to remove himself from outside influences whether he realized this or not. It also meant that the boy was easier to manipulate than he had already learned; not a good candidate for a position high within the Volturi.
He saw that Edward's and Alice's gifts could be thwarted by Rolle when he was most confused and lost in his human memories and driven by his vampire needs to connect with his mate.
"Rolle is my friend," Edward affirmed, still tense. He stood with one arm behind his back, holding Bella behind him and close to his body. He shifted a half step further in front of her. He wanted only to get her away from all of this: Aro, what was left of the Guard, even Rolle and his passively violent powers. Every cell of his body needed her to be safe, even more than the rational part of his mind that knew a resolution needed to be found.
As if she understood his need to feel closer to her, Bella slid her fingers under the hem of his shirt, pressing her palm against the skin of Edward's back. The familiar tingle of electricity between felt like a balm. It had been present since the moment they first touched, reminding them of who they were and what they were together: stronger, complete, destined. Bella's leg slid closer to Edward's so their ankles touched. It was a small thing, but even the slightest touch brought them comfort.
Still holding Carlisle's hand, Aro met Edward's watchful eyes and glanced at Bella. Brave Paris protecting the beautiful Helen.
Edward hated the way Aro scrutinized Bella and drew the elder's attention away from her. "You touched him. You know how fractured his mind is."
Aro met Edward's watchful eyes, knowing he was reading him. He did not try to impede Edward, but shared with the telepath that he had been able to read Rolle's mind—even if it was painful to do so—and what he had read was Rolle's psychosis and damage. Aro's eyes tightened as he began considering what to do next. The roaring through the halls had not slackened. If anything, it had intensified while they had been talking.
"Let me go to him," Edward said. Bella gasped behind him, her fingers pressed hard against his back.
"No!" Carlisle said quickly. "No, Edward," he repeated, shaking his head. "He's not in control and needs to be calmed down. You can't give that to him right now, not with Bella here."
Edward wanted to argue, but it had been out of his fear for Bella that he had offered.
"You think you can stop him?" Aro wanted to know, releasing Carlisle's hand.
Carlisle thought for a moment, unsure if he indeed could stop Rolle, when he felt Esme slip her hand into his. He turned to look at her and his immediate refusal to let her go with him died on his lips. Her expression was exactly as it had been in the woods that night they made love: confident, reassuring, and eternal. There was not even the fear that he would go back on his promise in her steady gaze. His fingers tightened around hers.
He looked back and Aro, shaking his head and shrugging. "I don't know. I can only try."
It took all of Edward's concentration to keep the sneer off his face as he heard Aro's thoughts. Either Carlisle could stop the destruction of the guards or Rolle would kill Carlisle, too.
"All right," Aro agreed.
As Carlisle and Esme moved toward the door, Bella reached out and grabbed Esme's hand. Alice's fears for Carlisle bubbled violently to the surface. Was this it? Was this what Alice saw? Alice had refused to tell her any more. Maybe, with Rolle in his broken state, she had been unable to really see, but Edward's reaction to the vision still frightened her. She looked at Edward to see if there was any recognition in his face that these were the events he had seen, but Edward's focus was still on the threat before them now.
The terror in Bella's face tore at Esme's maternal instincts. Seeing fear in her daughter's eyes made her pull Bella into a comforting embrace. She cupped Bella's cheek and kissed her. "Be brave," she said.
As the Volturi stepped aside to let Carlisle and Esme pass, Edward once again heard Aro's thoughts. Rolle was simply too powerful and too uncontrollable. If Carlisle could stop him, Aro meant to have the assassin destroyed.
"What?" Edward said aloud. "No!"
Carlisle stopped with his hand on the door. "Edward?"
"He plans to have Rolle killed if you succeed," Edward said, staring accusingly at Aro.
Carlisle looked questioningly at Aro. "Is this true?"
"You always were too compassionate," Aro said. "You'd leave a rabid dog to run freely on the streets?"
"Rolle is not a rabid dog!" Carlisle maintained. "He's no different than any of us."
Aro stared at Carlisle with the indulgent expression of a parent dealing with a child's tantrum. "You just admitted that he wasn't in control, so which is it?"
"All life is precious, even his. Even ours," Carlisle said strongly, and for a moment, he heard his own father's voice in his mind. Though William Cullen had touted that only human life was precious, Carlisle had abandoned his father's faith when William learned of his son's curse and had him hunted. Carlisle had vowed to be better than that man.
"You know, as well as any, that an unstable vampire is a danger to us all," Aro snarled. "We can not tolerate any that would break our laws and risk exposure!" he enunciated, angry that Carlisle was being impudent.
"I will not go in there to stop him knowing that you only wait to outside to destroy him!" Carlisle shot back. "I believe in his strength of character. I believe he acts only out of a will to do good."
"Do you now?" Aro sneered, growing thoughtful as he looked around the room at Carlisle's family. "And exactly how strong is that belief, hmm? Would you risk your family?"
Carlisle's jaw clenched.
Aro gave him a hard stare in return. "But you're right," he continued. "Why should they suffer for your indiscretion concerning this boy? If he starts killing again, it will be your life that is forfeit."
Carlisle looked at Esme, but her confidence in him had not wavered. If he believed Rolle could be saved, then they would save him, together.
"Could that be hesitation I sense?" Aro asked, breaking the silence.
Carlisle looked at Edward and Bella. Both looked conflicted about his course of action, and both looked afraid for him. He wondered if their fear was based on his recent ennui or if they thought he might fail on purpose just to use Rolle for his painless ability to end existence. He knew he had to do something to ease their minds.
He looked at Aro and said, "Agreed."
"Carlisle!" Edward's expression said more than his words could. "I'll go with you!"
"We'll all go," Bella added quickly.
"No!" Esme ended the discussion, refusing to risk two people she loved as if they were truly her own children. "Carlisle is right. You can't do this. He's upset." Edward, he did this for you and Bella.
Carlisle agreed. "Edward, we don't know the range of Rolle's abilities, so I need you to calm down. If he senses from you that Bella is still in danger, I don't know if he'll listen to me."
Edward felt the sudden weight of his responsibility and, glancing around the small room, realized the near impossibility of achieving that state of composure.
"You have my word she will be safe. Edward has nothing to fear," Aro offered. When disbelieving expressions turned to him at the same time, he said simply, "What choice do we have? There is no lock on the audience chamber's door, and I doubt it would stop the assassin anyway. So I have to wonder why he hasn't yet come to finish what he's begun."
Silence filled the small room as each of them wondered the same.
Everything will be all right, Carlisle silently reassured Edward. I promise.
Esme caught Bella's face between her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. When she pulled back and met Bella's eyes, she caressed her cheeks with her thumbs, and a silent communication passing between the two women. It was a thousand feelings and a million words. It was promises made and fears exchanged. It was a strength they shared because of the men they loved.
It was family. And Afton wasn't there anymore to tease them about it.
~•~
Esme only made it halfway up the corridor before the nausea was too much. With a gasp, she lurched to the side and emptied her stomach. Carlisle, doing the only thing he could, held her hair back for her and waited helplessly for it to pass.
She laughed weakly when he handed her a handkerchief. "This brings back memories," she offered with a wan smile. "I don't think I've been sick like that since I was pregnant."
"Stand behind me," Carlisle suggested. "It might help a little."
Esme nodded and they continued on to the audience chamber. The roaring was ceaseless, and the pulses came sporadically. The closer Carlisle and Esme got, though, the worse they felt. The discomfort was indescribable. Carlisle tried to keep his mind off the feeling by trying to classify it in medical terms. His limbs were weak and he felt tired. There was an odd tingling throughout his body and what he could only classify as an incredible headache, though he hadn't had one in over 400 years. When the sound pulsed, he felt dizzy. Vertigo swept over him. At those times, he thought the floor looked farther away than it actually was. The disorientation only added to the nausea. If he were human, he would have diagnosed this disorder as radiation sickness.
When they stood on the other side of the door, Carlisle pressed his face against the stone wall, reassuring himself that the walls were not spinning. The rock was unexpectedly warm to his touch. Esme's hands rested on either side of his waist. He felt her rest against his back.
"Ready?" he asked her.
Esme swallowed hard, fighting the retching sensation. With an indelicate sniff, she said, "As I'll ever be."
The door's handle felt hot to his hand and the hinges groaned as he pulled the heavy reinforced door open. They didn't know what they expected to find inside, but even without expectations, they were shocked by what they saw.
The room seemed filled with a heavy smoke, but the billowy cloud was not a gas. It was a dense swirling dust that hung in the air. One of the thrones was missing from the dais. As before, Carlisle could make out an area in the center of the room that seemed to be a convergence point where the sound waves cancelled each other out. Wrapping his arm around Esme, Carlisle stumbled back into the room, trying to reach that small bubble. The pain sliced through their bodies. Each step felt as if their legs would shatter with the impact of their footfalls. As soon as they pierced the bubbles wall, they both gasped in relief.
Several things registered instantly. First, they were already both covered in a fine layer of gray dust. Second, there was an enormous hole in the wall leading outside. Third, the cloud of dust was swirling out into the sky, scattering quickly. Lastly, Rolle stood across the room from them. He was completely still, obviously unaffected by his own power. Neither of them could see Rolle doing anything obvious that created the destructive sound. Like them, he was covered in the gray dust. He stood facing the wall, which was only an inch away from his nose.
"Rolle!" Carlisle called to him.
There was no reaction.
"Rolle, please!" Esme tried. They stared, unsure how to pull him back.
"He might be angry that Edward and Bella are here," Carlisle said close to her ear.
"He wouldn't get mad at them," Esme said, leaning close to Carlisle's ear as she spoke. "He'd be afraid for them, but not angry."
They watched Rolle's unmoving form as the dust swirled and thinned in the air. The sun peeked at the edges of the fractured wall, catching Rolle in profile and showering part of the room in rainbows.
"There's no music," Esme said suddenly, recalling a night so long ago now, and how Edward broken through to Rolle by playing the piano. She started humming one of Edward's compositions.
Carlisle watched her trying to reach the young man. When that song didn't work, she started humming a lullaby, and Carlisle had to look away. He knew it was the song she used to sing to her infant son while he was sick. He was overcome with admiration and love of Esme's unflappable conviction that they could succeed in this when he was not certain they would.
He felt the lethargy lapping at his heels again. He did not know what to do. He did not know what to say. How many times had he been able to act without thinking? How many times had his hands reached for exactly the right instrument to save a life? How many times had he puzzled out an illness, noticed a symptom, healed flesh, mended bones, and now he couldn't even press two thoughts together to find a way to reach Rolle? Anything! Anything!
He hated this feeling, this helplessness. He hated not knowing if he could keep his family safe.
He heard Rolle sob across the room, startling him out of his own despair. Rolle's chin dropped to his chest and his face pinched in pain. His shoulders began to shake before he leaned back and drove his forehead hard into the wall. Black cracks created a spider web across his forehead and temple.
"NO!" Esme screamed, and without hesitation she leapt up and charged out of the neutral bubble to save Rolle from destroying himself. As soon as she was out of the protective space, she crumpled to the floor and began retching.
"Esme!" Carlisle cried as fear ripped through him.
The dust in the room shifted sharply and fell as a heavy wave surged through the marble room.
§∞•••∞§
A/N: Love and thanks to my volunteer peanut gallery: Irishgirl, Songster, LolaShoes, Milalencar and Emmanuelle Nathan. Thanks to Nikki Pattinson over at Twilighted.
A quick personal note... due to some bumps in my personal road, I may not be able to post on a schedule any longer. My "buffer" of written chapters has been consumed, and I'm now writing and posting back to back. As some of you have noted, the detail in this story is deeply interwoven into the events unfolding. The only way to do that right is to write ahead, discover things that need to be fixed, and do so before a chapter posts! My outline is very detailed for exactly that reason, but as these characters are wont to do, they often take tangents all on their own. I'll do my best to stick to a schedule for you, though. Rest assured, however, that this story will be completed (barring bus accidents, alien abductions or other unacceptable sudden death events or inexplicable disappearances)
these realms of silence and uncreated things
The Myth of Orpheus
http://www(dot)renaissanceastrology(dot)com/orpheushymns(dot)htm
Esme's lullaby
Fly Away Home soundtrack, Rememberance of Things Past
http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=csI-TU35Ndo