15.
Carlisle had heard everything.
"Do you think the others know as well," asked Esme carefully.
He shook his head.
"Only one way to find out," muttered Edward.
"Let's bring them outside. Jasper, will you come with us?"
Carlisle, Edward, and Jasper made their way back into the cave. Elise let out a soft sob and I turned back to her. "Rose, tell her the vampires are dead, that we killed them."
Rosalie translated and Elise calmed down considerably. "Merci, merci," she whispered over and over. After a while she fell silent and soon she was asleep, her breathing slowing down.
Slowly I got up and moved around her, sitting down next to John. We didn't say anything.
The sound of sobbing echoed off the cave walls and into the clearing where we sat. I stood just as Edward and Carlisle emerged, helping two people along with them. Jasper was walking slowly behind them.
The one Edward was holding was about a head shorter than him, a man with sunken-in cheeks. His eyes were red and swollen and his lips raw and bleeding. He stumbled along, his head of brown hair bobbing as he moved. Carlisle was holding on old woman up with his arm. She looked to be about 70, her head full of perfectly white hair. She was crying softly to herself, her hand clasped unto Carlisle's arm tightly. She let out a soft gasp when she noticed she was outside. The man sank down to the floor and buried his face in the grass, crying.
"How long have they been in there?" Alice asked quietly.
"Too long." Bella's tone was grave.
The old woman was muttering something in a foreign language. "Can anyone understand what she's saying?"
Nobody responded, staring blankly as the woman babbled on. Edward's head swiveled around suddenly, looking at something behind me. When I turned, I saw Elise trying to stand up. I rushed towards her and pulled her to her feet. Leaning on me, she glanced at the old woman and a tear rolled from her eye. "Russe." Then she rushed towards the old woman on shaky legs and fell next to her, wrapping her arms around the old woman's frail body.
"Rose, you don't happen to speak Russian, too, do you?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I only know French because a lot of my family was from France."
The man was looking up now, studying his surroundings, carefully avoiding looking at us. By the slant in his eyes I could tell he was Asian. He looked to be about 40, his face dried out from years of exposure to the sun. Jasper squatted down to his level and waited until the man's eyes slowly focused on him.
"Do you speak English?"
The man didn't respond for a while. When he opened his mouth, he spoke in nearly perfect English. "Who are you?"
"We came here to kill the people that held you captive."
"They are dead?"
Jasper nodded.
"Thank you," the man responded, clasping his hands together and bowing. "Thank you, thank you," he murmured as he bowed to everyone of us.
When he was done, Jasper asked him, "How long were held captive?"
"Months and years, I'm not sure. Long time."
"Do you know anything about the people who held you captive?"
"Animals," the man spit to the side. "They torture many more of us, killing us slowly. They keep asking us, 'Do you want to live forever'. Then they kill us and take us away."
"Where did they take you?"
"No one knows."
Jasper exchanged a glance with Carlisle, who nodded slowly. They were killing the humans off to create more ghost vampires. Emmett growled softly in disgust.
"These humans were disgrace. I thank you for killing them."
Another glance was exchanged. So the man didn't know what they really were. "Does the woman know anything?" Edward asked, nodding his head in her direction.
The man shrugged. "She does not speak English. She only cry, all day and night, and pray."
Carlisle motioned to Edward, Jasper, and Esme to join him. They spoke in muted voices, but I could hear them.
"Edward."
"The man doesn't know anything more, and the woman, well, I can't read her thoughts because everything is in Russian."
"I think it's safe to let them go," whispered Esme. She put her hand on Carlisle's arm and squeezed it softly. "Carlisle?"
He looked at his wife for a few seconds and then back at the others. Nodding, he replied, "Yes. If they don't know anything, I think we're safe to let them go."
I stepped forward and joined the little meeting. "What about the girl, Elise?"
"She knows?"
I nodded.
Carlisle was silent for a moment as he thought it over. "We'll take her with us and decide what to do when we get back."
Edward started to object. "I don't really think –", but Carlisle shook his head to tell him to let it go. The group split and we began to pack our bags up as Carlisle went to go explain to the man that he was free to go. The man stood and vigorously thanked him.
"Take the woman with you," Carlisle added.
The man nodded and helped the old woman to her feet. Elise looked around, unsure as to what was happening. Rosalie moved to her side and explained to her in French. She nodded in reply, fear coming back into her eyes. I helped John sit up while Carlisle assembled a stretcher for him and Elise. She didn't need one, but it would take us a day and half to get home at human speed. He gave her a sedative, which knocked her out instantly and we were on our way. I stayed next to John for the first hour, but we didn't say a word. By his blank face I could tell he was lost in thought. I fell back and Alice came to walk beside me, grabbing hold of my hand.
"There's something he's thinking about, something he wants," I whispered.
She nodded. "Don't let it worry you. We'll deal with it when he asks you."
I nodded, but I couldn't keep my mind off of it. I had seen the look on his face as he had to sit there and watch me fight.
We made it home just before the sun rose. John was carried into the little cabin, where I fixed him dinner and the left him to sleep. Elise had been put up in Renesme's room, who was now wide awake and asking a million questions. Bella pulled her to the side so she wouldn't bother anyone else.
I plopped down in one of the leather chairs in Carlisle's office. Edward stood in the corner behind me, while Alice propped herself on the arm of my chair, Esme choosing the seat beside us. Jasper stood behind Alice.
"What are we going to do with Elise? Alice, can you see anything?"
"She'll eventually find out what we are."
"What happens when she does?"
"She runs away."
"She'll tell the whole world about us, Carlisle," Edward protested.
"Maybe we can convince her what she saw wasn't real, that she made up the part about the people who kept her captive being vampires."
Everyone considered what I said. "It might work," muttered Carlisle.
"It depends on how much she saw," added Jasper softly.
"There's only so much you can explain away for a person."
Alice nodded. "I think it might work. If we can convince her, we can let her go."
"But first we'll let her rest," Esme said firmly but kindly.
Carlisle nodded. "Yes, she needs to rest. Edward, why don't you make her some food for when she wakes up? And everyone, act normal; there is no need to scare this girl more."
Everyone stood but Edward was still having doubts. "What if we can't convince her?"
"It'll work, Edward," Alice said.
He glanced at his sister and nodded after a few seconds. "Okay."