They were walking through the snow-covered forest.
The ominous trees looming above them in hushed stares, their once leaf-covered bodies now esconed in blankets of snow.
The air was cold and thick, wrapping their delicate silhouettes in a diaphanous fog as they walked.
It was one of those beautifully idyllic nights. The golden day melting into the blissful embrace of night as the two collide across the sky, painting it with their undying promise of tomorrow.
There were no stars. Only the luminescent moon, it's pale eyes watching the two strangers from the midnight sky.
Strangers.
Even the word itself sounds cold. Indiffirent.
They were not strangers.
Far from it actually.
But only time will tell, what they will, or will not be.
She was wearing a delicate blue frock that evening. Her hair billowing gently in the cool breeze as she walked.
He was following behind her, a hidden smile on his lips.
He was completely distracted with the way her beautiful fingers caressed each of the tree bark she passed. Their coarse and callous skin almost looking like fine silk beneath her tender touches.
He longed to kiss them.
But he did not tell her this as he made his way next to her.
"How far is it?" She asked softly with a gentle smile, the little dimple in her cheeks showing as she brushed a hair from her face.
"Not too far, were almost there." He replied as he unconsciously tugged at his tie.
"Wait, it's crooked," She said as she turned to face him completely, the skin on her fingers brushing against his as she straightened the tie for him.
She began loosening and tightening the other end of the knot till it looked just right, her restless fingers gently dusting off the little snowflakes off his coat along the way.
"There we go, that looks much better." She said smiling at him.
Even in the darkness she could see the way he was looking at her. The way his dark pupils poured into hers like black diamonds.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, her voice perplexed.
There was something intensely endearing with the way he was looking at her.
His gaze averted as his lips pursed lightly, "It's nothing," His voice came out in a whispered timbre, "Thank you."
They continued their walking till they reached some sort of peak.
It was slightly triangular, surrounded by neighbouring rocky-ledges and giant trees halfway near the edges.
Carlisle walked ahead of her, nearing the edge of a very high cliff.
"Carlisle!" Esme screeched, her hand pressed to her chest.
He walked back to where she was, putting his hands on her shoulder in an assuring gesture.
"It's alright," He said in that voice to which she could not resist, "I'm going to show you something."
"Please," She begged "I don't want to be near that, that. . ." Her voice trailed off; instinctively she could almost guess how high up they were.
His hands slid down till they touched her fingers, "Trust me," He said, his right hand gently touching her cheek.
Esme looked at him with uncertain eyes as she nodded.
He leaned close to her, his lips barely a few inches from her ear, "Close your eyes," He whispered.
Esme took a deep breath as she slowly closed her eyes shut.
She felt his large yet wonderfully sculpted hands mingle with her own, guiding her footfalls as they walked.
Esme gently squeezed his palm and said, "Not too near, please. . ." She whispered.
"Alright," He replied softly.
A few meters further, she felt him stop.
"Can I open my eyes now?" She said, feeling the intense curiosity burning her insides with uncontainable excitement.
She heard his melodic laugh, "Not yet,"
She pouted slightly, but conceded. "Fine. . ."
"I'm going to take off my coat, wait for a moment." Carlisle announced.
She squeezed his hand slightly, "No, don't leave me here half blind." She moaned.
Carlisle chuckled, "I shan't be a moment, you can count to 5 and I'll be back before you know it."
"A-Alright, 5 means 5 okay?" She said feeling unsure.
"Yes, 5 means 5."
She felt his hands slip from hers and she began mentally counting in her head. Her eyes still closed.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
True to his word without even a second to spare she felt his hands glide back into hers. She let out a sigh of relief as leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his torso and rested her head against his chest.
"So what are we doing here?" She murmured softly.
"You'll see in a few moments." He said in a mysterious tone.
"Tell me." She demanded, the excitement was taking on a life of it's own.
"Patience is a virtue, so you shall have to wait a moment longer." He said with a silent chuckle.
"Mmmmm," She mumbled into his chest, feeling impatient.
"Just a few minutes more." He promised.
In the distance she could sense something, light perhaps but she was not sure.
"Now," He whispered.
And her eyes fluttered open.
The sun was making it's way through the miraculously cloudless sky, and they were just beneath it's heaven-lighted trail. Soaring gracefully with golden wings to partake it's place amidst the sapphire sky.
She stared in awe at the beautiful sight before her, the smell of the ocean passing her nose.
In the distance she could see the restless ocean, lined with rocky ledges that surrounded the small town.
It was breathtaking. She could see everything, everything her golden eyes could see and it felt wonderful. The peaceful scene before her warmed her heart greatly as she looked at the handsome man beside her. The once familiar fear she had felt before was completely obliterated.
Esme had unconciously let go of him when she noticed something was missing.
She looked to her side to find Carlisle gone.
"Carlisle?" She called out, tension in her voice.
"I'm just here." Carlisle spoke.
He was standing underneath a large tree that shielded him against the sun.
"Come look," She said smiling at him, her eyes filled with innocent enthusiasm.
He stepped out from the dark and into the light.
And time stopped.
Her breath, frozen in her throat.
The sun drowned him with golden rays as he stood there, looking every bit like Apollo himself in all his beauty and splendour that would make Narcissus himself enraged with fatal jealousy.
He was shining in the sun. His skin shimmering like diamonds with crystalline colours that danced with visceral life in the light.
She was lost for words.
She could not speak, her eyes continued to stare in sheer wonder as he walked towards her. Wearing that familiar gentle smile that made her legs feel like lead.
"I...you're..." She was trying to conjure words that would make sense but failed miserably as she shook her head in bemused awe.
He chuckled lightly, "Look at your arms." He said.
And she did.
Like him, she was shimmering away underneath the sun's gleeful rays, her skin like crystal as it shined with incandescent colours that were dancing with kaleidoscopic movements beneath her gaze.
They both stood there like two shimmering stars in daylight. Immaculately beautiful.
She smiled looking up at him as the restless light reflected in her eyes, making them burn with a warm flame that ignited from her heart.
Her lips parted, ready to reveal to him whatever secrets that laid in her lips when. . .
She could smell something. Something in the air.
It was 5 am.
The once cloudless sky was now heavily covered by white cotton as the golden day turned into a dreary shade of grey, the snow starting to fall once more.
The place they were in was not far from a local hunting reserve that lay a few kilometres south.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
She was watching the sun's light being covered to a dim by greedy clouds.
"Esme?" Carlisle said, "Esme, what is it?"
In the distance she could hear a man with a loaded rifle. The was snow crunching beneath his boots as he returned into the forest carrying something with him. He had just made a kill, a young deer. He was cutting some sort of rope when his fingers slipped, causing the blade to slide onto his skin, cutting it.
She closed her eyes as she took in a breath.
She smelled.
Blood.
Within seconds she was gone from Carlisle's side.
He caught the scent of the blood and his brows furrowed.
This can't be.
He knew he couldn't do this alone, he needed help.
She was running, running blindly through the woodlands. The scent guiding her through the dark sea of trees.
She had lost all control.
Her body no longer hers.
The scent grew stronger with each step she took.
Her feral strides riding with the wind as she ran, her thirst growing with an unquenchable hunger in her throat that yearned for blood. Human blood.
Some magnetic pulse pushing her faster and further into the woods, her breath quickening as she licked her lips.
It did not take long for her to find him.
He was kneeling in the snow, oblivious to the inevitable danger that awaited him.
He was feebly clutching to his wound as he vainly tried to wrap it with a cloth when. . .
She crashed onto him with a blunt and heavy force, knocking him out as she straddled on top of him.
He was helpless and she knew it.
She had no control.
She was a prisoner of her own body.
His heart was beating and it was driving her into a mad frenzy, she could hear it. Feel it as it pulsated in a daunting rhythm that drew her in like quicksand.
The blood from his wound, dying the snow a bright crimson red.
She was about to bite him when a voice called out to her from across the wide plains.
"Esme!" Carlisle screamed as he ran towards her, an icy breath escaping from his lips as he neared the latter.
But she did not move, not by an inch. She was blinded by thirst.
She kept the defenceless stranger pinned to the ground with a forceful hand.
Carlisle approached her carefully, "Esme, please, don't do this."
Her eyes were unsteady. Crazed with thirst.
"Do not forget who you are," He said, his eyes calling out to her with a silent plea.
"If you choose to do this, you can never go back. You will not forgive yourself if you do this, please. . .Let him go. . ."
Esme stared at him blankly. Her mouth parted, her fangs glimmering with a foreboding sheen.
She was about to bite the stranger beneath her for a second time, her teeth barely missing his skin when Carlisle called out to her once more. His voice strong, determined.
"Esme, Esme do you remember the night of your graduation?" Esme stopped, her head bowing slightly as if in thought.
"That night you found that gold necklace waiting for you by the window and you never knew who it was from?"
Her back straightened as her head veered to look at him, her eyes meeting his.
The familiar look in her gaze returned as her hands found their way to the golden pendant that hung loosely around her throat.
It was as if a switch had turned on.
Her senses returned as she watched with horrified eyes at the scene in front of her.
The man was unconscious and she was about to. . .
No, no, no
"What am I doing?" Esme asked in a terrified voice as she stood up, backing away from the hapless stranger.
"Esme, It's alright, you didn't bite him. He's alive," Carlisle said in a calming voice, trying to motion her over to him.
"No," Esme said shaking her head, her voice quivering with self-loathe.
"Come here, Esme, it's going to be alright." Carlisle said in a gentle voice, trying to placate her as he wrapped the man's wound with a handkerchief, turning it into a temporary tourniquet.
"What have I become?" She asked helplessly.
"Esme-" Carlisle called out as he carried the man in his arms with incredible ease.
He turned to look at where she was but, she was gone.
"Esme!" Carlisle called out, the sinking feeling of fear and loss eating away at his gut.
He looked back at the young man in his arms, he was about to wake up.
He quickly walked to where the stranger's old truck was parked and placed him on the driver's seat.
"Carlisle." A deep voice said from behind him.
"Edward," Carlisle said, as he moved the man gently to the passenger seat.
"I need you to do something for me," Carlisle began, before he could even finish his question Edward spoke.
"I can't, I can't do that Carlisle, I haven't even hunted yet, and the smell will drive me insane." Carlisle looked into Edward's black eyes, "You have to try son, remember to hold your breath. You can do it, I trust you. Just drive him to the hospital I'll be there as soon as I can." Carlisle said as he checked on the man's wound one last time to make sure it was well covered.
"And Esme?" Edward asked,
He tensed visibly for a moment as deep worry furrowed between his brows, "I'm going to find her."
He watched as Edward drove off into the distance, before turning on his heel and headed straight into the darkened woodlands.
She was running again.
Running away this time from, everything.
She was filled with this self-hate that tormented her with such pain.
She had almost took that man's life.
I almost killed him.
Me. Esme.
Dry sobs escaped her lips as she ran.
She had no direction, she was lost. Alone.
And that perhaps was the worst of it all.
She had been running for over a few minutes, she was going deeper into the forest with no destination.
She slowed her pace as she came to a full stop.
In the distance she could hear fast footfalls, but before she could recognize who it belonged to, a voice called out to her from the frosty distance beyond.
"Carlisle," She said as she saw him slowly walk towards her, his eyes pained with distress.
"Don't come near me." She warned, his steady gaze remained unwavered as he stopped in front of her.
She shook her head as the emotions within her welled up once more like a violent tidal wave, "What am I?" She said, her voice quivering, "If I am no longer human, then what am I?"
"Esme," Carlisle whispered as he made a move to come closer.
"No!" She screamed, "If blood no longer flows through these veins then what am I?!"
"A beast? A monster?" She said in an angry whisper, "I almost killed a man today. I almost killed a man today."
She looked at his handsome face, her eyes tracing every beautiful line with her vision. Longing to touch him, to hold him. But her emotions were her insurmountable barrier that kept her hidden from him.
"I cannot go on like this. . ." She whimpered as she sunk onto the ground, the soft snow caving lightly under her weight.
"Why don't you answer me?" She asked with helpless sobs.
"Help me. . . .Help me to understand. . ." She whispered.
Carlisle watched with a heavy heart as he slowly approached her.
He knelt by her side as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
He started to speak, his voice soft and kind. But the words he spoke carried grim memories of the past that still haunts him with nostalgic fear that could not be erased.
"The year was 1640. My father was an Angelican Pastor. He led these yearly raids that focused on the destruction of vampires and werewolves." He began as he moved closer to her, rubbing her back soothingly as he spoke. Her head remained low, her face hidden beneath her caramel hair, "As time wore on my father became old and weak. And the responsibility of leading the raids rested on my shoulders. I had to do what my father could not." His eyes were unfocused as the memory of those years resonated into his thoughts with familiar clarity. His hand resting chastely on her shoulder. "The first two raids were successful. It was not easy for me, especially with the ordeals I had to go through in order to pursue such a precariously dangerous task. Until my third raid came." He paused for a moment as he looked out into the forest. The still silence hanging over them like a dreary cloth.
"It was an evening like all others. The stars shining meekly at a far off distance. We were walking in the dark, heading to the lower parts of the London sewers with our lighted torches barely leading the way. I had somehow gotten astray from my group when I found this man in ragged clothing leaning against the wall in one of the sewers." His voice tensed as he recounted the events that would forever change his life.
"He seemed to be shaking, his entire face and body was covered by some sort of putrid filthy cloth. "Are you alright?" I asked," Carlisle's eyes winced as he continued. "I came close to the man when he launched himself on to me like a wild animal, it all happened so fast when he...When he bit me..." His eyes narrowed solemnly on the floor. His lips tight with tension.
"I never saw his face."
Esme looked up. Staring at him with glossy eyes, Carlisle looking back at her, knowing that she too shared his pain.
"There were moments when I craved for death, but it fled from me. I was walking a long and deathless road that seemed to be spinning in circles." He whispered. "But perhaps the most pain I have ever endured were those long infinite nights of loneliness. When the days had no end, and the nights seemed endless. When the cave I had lived in seemed more alive than I, more human. . ."
"When all you know was the night and nothing else." He whispered, "We cannot change our fate. But we can choose to live through it, in the best way we can."
He gently raised his hand and softly cupped her cheek. His eyes filled with tender emotion, holding her heart in such a delicate hold that it melted all the anger, all the hate inside of her in a single gesture.
He softly lifted her chin so that her eyes met his.
"Do not walk in this darkness alone."
He had found her once more.
And he was now saving her again by an unspoken emotion that stood the many tests of time.
Love.
A/N: Whew! I actually typed this out on one sitting! which took a while haha! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, this is sort of my version of how Esme dealt with her bloodlust, I didn't want her to actually kill someone cause' for me that's like going a little too far XD so I hope you guys liked how this turned out :), I LOVE YOU ALL and THANK YOUUUU for all your lovely reviews! I LOVE hearing from you guys because YOU are all AWESOME :)
God Bless! And stay tuned for Chapter 25 ;)
And another Big shoutout to my Beta Reader Jucy Sam! Thank you so much for helping me out with your awesome editing skills XD