14.

It was dark outside, though not as dark as it had been in the cave. The only light came from the moon shining through the canopy of trees. Esme had laid the girl on the grass, tending carefully to her wounds. Carlisle's pack lay next to her, bandages and antibacterial cream sitting on top of it. John fell down on the floor next to the girl and closed his eyes. Esme glanced up and smiled softly at me. "How is he?"

"I think his leg is broken, and he's got some cuts, but most of the damage was from what he saw."

She nodded. "Why don't you finish up with her and I'll tend to John."

We switched placed and I bandaged up the last cut I could see on her. I turned her over slowly and made sure I had gotten everything.

Slowly the others trickled out of the cave, covered in dirt and ashes. Carlisle came out last, looking from the girl lying in front of me to his wife. "Esme," he said softly. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not, but I thought I detected a note of pain in the way his voice. She stood and walked towards him. They whispered together softly.

Edward walked up behind me and squatted down. "How is he?"

"Broken leg and cuts and bruises, which will all heal fine."

"You're worried about his mental health."

"And you can hear my thoughts again."

"The people who caused the fog are dead."

"Yes," I responded to his previous question. "Will he be okay?"

Silence. I glanced back at Edward worriedly. "I don't know, Lisa," he said slowly.

I pushed my lips together, unsure of how to feel about that. Edward stood and moved over to Bella. My eyes began to burn and I glanced down at my hands.

"It'll be okay," whispered someone behind me. I didn't have to look up to know it was Alice. I folded my hands together and stood slowly.

"Edward wasn't so sure."

"Edward can't see the future," she reminded me.

"Yeah," I replied mechanically. "What is Carlisle talking to Esme about?"

"We found two humans in the cave."

I glanced at her for the first time.

She read my facial expression. "He's not sure what we're going to do with them. We can't let them free because we don't know how much they know, but we can't kill them either."

"Or leave them."

Alice glanced over her shoulder at Carlisle. Esme was rubbing his arm.

"Maybe we should let the Volturi take care of it."

Alice shook her head and looked back at me. "They would just kill them."

"Too bad we don't have someone who can wipe their memory."

"Yeah," Alice replied softly, glancing back over her shoulder again.

Edward had moved to join Carlisle and Esme. "Let's ask them what they know," he suggested quietly.

Esme nodded. "That sounds good. Carlisle?"

"Yes."

Behind me, the girl we had found in the chair was coming to. I sank down on me knees just as her eyes flashed open. Slowly she took in her surroundings. When she spotted me, she jerked back, wincing in pain. I placed my hand softly on her shoulder to keep her down.

"We're not here to hurt you," I said. "What's your name?"

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Finally she cleared her throat and whispered, "Elise." Her curls bobbed up and down as she shook.

"Elise." I wondered momentarily if I had detected an accent when she said her name. "We need you to tell us what you know."

The girl stared at me, confusion written across it as plain as day.

"Please, you need to tell us what they did to you. How much do you know about the people who took you."

"S'il vous plait! Je ne parle pas l'anglais. No… English." She grabbed my arm, her eyes darting around her in fear. "S'il vous plait. Vous devez m'aider!"

"Nous vous aiderons," a voice said from behind. I glanced up to see Rosalie standing over me. "Juste nous dire que vous savez des gens qui vous ont pris."

Words started streaming out from the girl, all in French. Rose responded once in a while with a nod or a 'que', which I assumed meant 'what'. Once in a while, Elise's voice would break and tears would roll down her face.

"She says she doesn't know much. They tortured her and repeatedly asked her the same question, but since she couldn't understand them, they just tortured her some more. She says there were others with her from many different countries. She also said there used to be six of the vampires before there was a big fight and two were killed."

"Does she know what they were?"

Rosalie translated my question. When the girl answered, there was no need for a translator. "Bloodsucker," I translated to myself. Rosalie nodded slowly.