Waiting for the sunrise as a new-born immortal felt like the longest hours of her new life.
The last night of her humanity was long and pained as her past memories became kaleidoscopic bursts of colours filled with such a vital force, that for a moment she was reminded of a certain sensation in her chest that no longer was.
Her skin is smooth as silk yet is hard as marble.
Yet she lives.
She wondered if she would ever be the same again.
Only time would tell.
She watches the sky with anticipatory eyes that glimmered like two rubies in the night, a soft frozen fire embedded in them.
The sky was slowly changing to lavender as the clouds parted, welcoming the golden sun into the sky with a renewed embrace.
She stood there by the window pane as she looked on. Her vampire eyes capturing every colour, every subtle change as the sun surges into the heavens with golden splendour.
It emerges gracefully from the black depths of night and into the awaiting horizon, it's golden rays dispelling the terrors of night.
For a moment she was reminded of the Greek myth about Persephone, dying in the cold winter yet returning in the warmth of spring to live again.
Her skin shimmers lightly at the soft rays of the sun. She watches with intense curiosity, feeling bemused as the light reflects onto her eyes, dancing with incandescent crystalline colours that at a first glance deemed almost too bright for her eyes.
She longed to stare in wonder at her new discovery but the shining rays of the sun had been eclipsed by heavy blankets of white clouds.
She sighed softly and proceeded deftly towards the bed.
She laid back down and stared at the white ceiling, letting her mind run free with her memories as they played out clearly in her mind.
Her youth.
Meeting Carlisle for the very first time, and the happiness she had known then.
The long hard years that followed after he left.
Charles.
Her child.
She sat up abruptly. The memory still fresh and new as excruciating pain fills her mind with torment.
She covers her eyes with the palm of her hand as she tries to fight the emotions that threatened to break her.
I'll never see you grow up.
I'll never hear your voice calling me Mommy.
I can never hold you again.
But always know darling that Mommy always loves you, and she will never forget you.
I'm so sorry, so sorry that I didn't fight for you hard enough.
But do not ever think for a second that I did not love you, because I always will.
A quite sob escaped her lips as she curled herself into a ball, shutting her eyes tightly.
Wanting the world to disappear.
Wanting this invisible pain to end.
His early morning rounds had just finished.
He took his usual route back home, taking a quick shortcut through the green woodlands.
The forest ground crunching beneath his shoes at his gait, the air was fresh as the scent of wild nuts permeated his nose.
The day had promised sunlight, but the grey clouds looming in the distance could not be kept at bay as they hid the sun behind their thick blankets of cotton.
He was thankful for the change in weather. Morning rounds were quite dicey, especially in his situation, and he had no intention of letting the nature of his being exposed in the open.
He had to exercise caution and be completely inconspicuous.
It was vital, not only for his protection but theirs as well.
He walked in solitude with nothing but the tall trees surrounding him, he looked with his golden eyes at the soft leaves that gently billowed in the wind.
There was nothing more he enjoyed than being surrounded by the rustic forest, somehow being intertwined with nature made him feel less alone in his silent solitude. Deep down he had a feeling there was much more to discover here than in the known civilized world.
He was not a painter but he wished he could paint nature's beauty, in all it's gentle grace.
Persevering it for all time. But perhaps that's what made it so beautiful, knowing that they too would soon die, and would soon go into that one eternal peace that resembled sleep, and every moment needed to be cherished, adored before it was gone.
The way a blossom looked before it bloomed.
The way a green leaf would turn into the colour of autumn.
The way the night sky looked as the stars adorned the horizon with diamond lights.
Her face.
Ever since he left her room that night, he could not get the image of her face out of his mind, her eyes that were filled with such naked innocence that they looked directly into his bare soul.
He feared for her and the emotions that are threatening to drown her once more into the black depths of pain.
He stood there at her doorstep that early morning before he left for the hospital, he could hear her quiet sobs from outside the door.
He wanted so desperately to enter her room and to console her in her moment of agony, to take away all that is hurting her, to give her comfort from what is tormenting her. But somehow something was preventing him.
Fear perhaps, but then again it was not fear.
It was something deeper; he could not put a name to it.
The mansion was in plain view as he proceeded to its entrance.
He walked past the threshold as he closed the door behind him.
He shed his outer coat as he hanged it on the coat hanger, placing his black medical bag next to it.
The house was silent; he stared out at the cavernous foyer ahead of him and proceeded to the stairs.
He was about to make a turn to where her room was situated when a voice from the other end of the hall spoke.
"She's not in her room." Edward said as he came up to Carlisle, his hands brimming with sheet music.
"Where is she?" He replied.
"The library." Edward said.
"Has she met you yet?"
"No." Edward said with a small smirk.
Carlisle shook his head, "I think you should have introduced yourself first Edward."
"I didn't want to just yet. It was sort of interesting to watch her wander through the mansion by herself."
"Hmmm." Carlisle replied giving his adoptive son a look.
"I don't think she knows I'm here yet."
"Well you should have made your presence known in the first place." Carlisle scolded gently.
Edward rolled his eyes lightly.
"Edward..."
"Alright, alright. Fine later tonight, I still need to finish these." He conceded as he showed Carlisle the music sheets he had been writing.
"Very well." Carlisle replied as he patted his son on the shoulder.
He watched Edward exit into his bedroom as he closed the door behind him.
Carlisle gave a soft chuckle as he thought of his son's ways around new people. He found it amusing to watch them from a silent distance without any notion that he was there.
Edward liked to call it observing.
Carlisle shook his head in wry mirth as he thought about it.
Especially with Edward's gift of telepathy, there wasn't a thought he could not hear.
He proceeded down the mahogany stairwell as he adjusted the sleeve on his indigo blue polo.
He turned to the familiar corner at the end of the corridor and paused slightly as he found the door.
He took a pause and inhaled deeply as he grasped the door handle.
He entered quietly, his eyes searching the room for her.
Carlisle's eyes landed on a figure that was comfortably bundled on his favorite chair that was situated next to the large glass window.
He could hear her hum softly as she thumbed her fingers through the pages of a book she had been reading.
He caught sight of a vague glimmer on the side of her cheek, but before he could say anything her eyes were on him.
"Good morning." He said softly as he closed the door behind him.
A gentle smile touched her lips as she saw him.
She closed the book and placed it behind her.
Carlisle walked up to where she sat.
"How do you feel? He asked gently.
"Not too well." She replied quietly, her eyes suddenly sombre.
His brows furrowed as he nodded infinitesimally.
"But a little better." She added.
His eyes met hers.
"That's good," He replied, gently tucking a stray lock of caramel hair behind her ears.
"Your library is beautiful," She said with quiet adoration. Her eyes moving from each panel that was brimming with ancient textbooks filled with forgotten histories and laced with lost tales and legends.
"What have you been reading?" He asked, curiosity in his voice.
"Oh," She spun around in her seat and showed him the familiar sepia coloured book.
"Myths Of The Sahara." He said, his voice having the consistency of honey.
"It's lovely." She replied, smiling at him, "I do hope you don't mind me coming in here," She asked with eyes lowered, her voice small.
"Of course not," He replied, returning her smile. "You can come here as often as you like."
"Thank you," She whispered.
She stood up from her seat, the gloomy light from outside reflecting in her eyes.
His breath caught in his throat.
Her eyes were slowly fading from red to the familiar colour of black.
She would need to feed soon.
"Esme, I'd like to teach you to hunt this evening." He said,
She cocked her head in confusion, "Hunt?" Then last night's conversation dawned upon her, "Oh, hunt." The timbre in her next words was filled with uncertainty, "Alright."
He was about to say something else when he noticed she was still wearing the hospital gown.
She noticed his reaction before he could say a word.
"I think I need to shower." She said, swallowing hard.
"Yes of course," He gently lead her out of the library and through the door, "The guest bathroom is up the stairs to the right."
"But I don't have anything to wear." She said mostly to herself than him.
He saw the look on her face, "I think I have something that will temporarily suffice."
The guest bathroom was modestly large, with white Italian tiles and a porcelain tub that seemed to almost take half the space of the room.
She closed the door and started to undress, feeling quite self-conscious as she avoided her reflection in the mirror.
She stepped onto the shower, letting the warmth of the water douse her pale body as she slowly worked a rich lather of soap onto her skin.
Carlisle emerged from his room as he headed towards the guest bathroom, he could hear her soft hums from inside as he knocked,
"Esme, I'm going to put your clothes in your room alright?"
He could hear her muffled reply from behind the door.
She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself as she reached for the door handle; she peeked out the hallway to find it empty.
She then ran tiptoed towards her room and closed the door behind her.
On her bed was a neatly folded peach-coloured dressing shirt.
A few moments later she heard a knock.
"Come in." She said.
Carlisle stepped in, his eyes found their way to her gentle frame that was covered by his dressing shirt.
It was obviously too large for her.
But she never looked more beautiful as the shirt tail of cloth hung loosely above her knees.
She gave a crooked little smile as she fumbled with the sleeves.
He walked over to help her, "Here, allow me," He said softly as he rolled the first sleeve all the way up neatly, stopping at her delicate elbows and repeated the same action as he did the left.
"Thank you," She said as her eyes rose to meet his.
Her dark pupils glimmering as they held onto his with those searching looks of longing.
"Your hair is still wet," He said, breaking the intensity of their eyes as he reached for the towel she had laid on the bed.
"Turn around," He said gently.
She did as she was told as he started drying the ends of her hair with gentle strokes, lightly squeezing the excess water onto the towel.
Esme could feel his fingertips softly brushing across the nape of her neck.
"The hunt tonight," She said as he continued drying her hair.
"Yes?" He answered from behind.
"Will it be difficult for me?"
"No, I'll be right there with you." He replied assuring her.
She cleared her throat nervously, "What exactly...What exactly do we eat?" She somehow knew asking that question was preposterous, because she already had the notion. But she needed to hear the answer from him.
Carlisle smiled softly and said, "No need to distress yourself, we feed on animal blood." She tilted her head slightly as she absorbed the answer. "And this is enough to satisfy our...hunger?" She said as she swallowed coarsely.
Carlisle's brows furrowed as the lines drew themselves onto the plains of his forehead, she could feel his breath escape his mouth. "To nourish us yes and to satisfy our hunger. The blood lust is your greatest challenge as a new-born." Esme listened to him as she turned to face him. "How were you able to last as long as you have by simple means of animal blood?" She asked, her voice sounding perplexed.
"Gargantuan amounts of patience and exercise in control. It isn't easy or simple, it takes quite a while to achieve, but in the end it is worth it."
"I don't want to hurt anybody." She whispered, "Please help me." She asked, her eyes pleading with him.
"I will." He replied.
Now it was a simple matter of waiting for the night.
A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry for the delay please forgive me :), but here is chapter 19! I hope you guys enjoy and THANK YOU sooo much for all your awesome reviews! I LOVE YOU GUYS! You are the BEST! :)
Haha and yes I am 18 years old XD You guys got me XD
Please keep readin' and reviewin'! They make me giggle with happiness excessively XD
God Bless and stay tuned for chapter 20 weow!