1942 – Esmé
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I was upstairs hanging the laundry. The little attic window was open and I could feel a warm, soft, April breeze. I stopped my movements and closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy it. I could feel the sunlight on my face.
Oh, how I wished this war was over and that my family would be safe. Last night, Carlisle promised that when this was all over, he would take our family some place beautiful. Maybe Spain, or France.
Paris, Marseille, Côte d'Azur.
I could already imagine Alice in a light summer dress, a delighted grin on her face. Emmett and Rosalie too. Maybe they would finally be married then, expecting a child.
My grandchild.
The thought brought a smile to my face.
And Carlisle. My dearest husband. I couldn't wait to see him laughing freely again. His mind free from worries. Just him and me, with our family.
I woke up from my thoughts when I heard Alice calling for me from downstairs. I recognized a desperate tone in her voice.
"Ma! Mother!" She called, bursting through the kitchen door downstairs.
"Alice?" I called back, already making my way downstairs. What was going on? She was supposed to be in school.
An uneasy feeling came over me.
"Mom!" Alice cried as she ran up the stairs. She crashed into me when we both reached the second floor, her arms winding around my waist.
"Alice, what is it baby?" I could hear the alarm in my voice.
"They,-", Alice's breath hitched as she tried to tell what happened.
"They… They took Emmett." She cried.
I froze.
"They did what?" My voice broke.
"They took Emmett! We were in class and they came in and they took him. I escaped through the window." She cried into my chest.
Oh no, not Emmett. My baby.
I realized I did not have time for a mental break down. Carlisle needed to know. And I needed to get my son back.
"Alice, sweetheart listen to me." I shook her, calling her attention.
"You need to let your father know. He has to know, this is very important. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes." She sniffled and slowly released my waist. I cupped her cheek and tried to wipe some of her tears away.
"Take the bicycle from the shed, you will be faster with it. And take the road through the fields, the one across Thomas his land."
Alice nodded.
"Go on. Be careful." I kissed her forehead and ushered her downstairs.
When she was gone, I went to the kitchen and retrieved the pocket knife. I hid it away in my skirts. Then I left the house and made my way towards the police station.
"Charlie, where is he?" I asked as soon as I entered the building. I knew he was on duty.
Charlie rose immediately from behind his desk.
"Esmé, I'm so sorry." His eyes full of sympathy as he made his way over to me.
"Charlie, please, tell me where he is." Involuntarily I started trembling.
"They took him to the interrogation room. I'm so sorry Esmé, there was nothing I could do." I knew that. Charlie was a good man and for the sake of his own family he couldn't do much more than cooperate. He had chosen the lesser of two evils.
"I have to see him." I started towards the back where I knew the interrogation room was. But Charlie stopped me by putting his hand on my arm.
"Esmé, don't." He pleaded.
"He's my boy Charlie." My voice broke. "I have to get my son."
I pulled away from him and went towards the interrogation room. Charlie called out to me one more time but other than that, he didn't make an effort to stop me.
I could hear the shouts and sounds of violence from down the hallway. Tears wanted to escape as I thought of what was going on inside, but I forced them back. I had to be strong.
I stalked down the hallway to the guard on watch.
"Let me in." I commanded.
"You are not supposed to be here Ma'm." The guard told me. He was young. Too young. He had sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. His cheeks were where still slightly chubby with babyfat. He was barely a man.
"Do not stand in my way." I told him. "Let me in." My expression challenged him and I could see him hesitating.
"Ma'm…" He started again. The sounds behind the door became louder.
"You let me in now, or so help me you will not see the end of the day." I seethed, my hand clenching around the knife hidden in the pocket of my skirt. I was ready to use it.
The boy actually looked frightened, and finally he stepped aside.
I burst through the door and what I found behind it made my blood run cold. A wave of nausea hit me.
Emmett sat hunched over in the middle of the grim room on a bare, wooden chair. His hands were bound behind his back. At my entrance he lifted his head slightly. His left eye was swollen, he had a cut on his cheek, and blood trickled down from his nose and his mouth. His feet were bare, his toes blue. Bruised.
"Who the hell are you." A cold, angry voice asked.
I noticed the three other people in the room. One man was standing in the far corner at the left. One stood about two feet behind Emmett. And the third, the one who had spoken stood to my left. His uniform told me he was an officer. He looked the most menacing of them all.
I ignored them and dropped to my knees before Emmett. I gently gripped his chin and turned his head to get a better look at his wounds.
"What have they done to you." I whispered as my fingertips skimmed over the bruised skin.
A hand gripped my arm and roughly pulled me up.
"I asked you a question. Answer me, woman!" It was the man who spoke before.
"Don't touch her!" Emmett growled. The man behind him hit him on his head. "Be quiet."
I jerked myself free and smacked the one who had hit Emmett across his face. "You should be ashamed of yourself." I seethed. "Get out."
"I'm asking you one last time, lady. Who. Are. You."
"His mother. Now get out. All of you, and bring me water and a towel."
The mans expression changed from cold and angry to almost friendly. "His mother? Well, that almost justifies your behaviour. Fine, we will get you some water to clean up this...-his gaze sweeped over Emmetts form – …mess." He nodded to the two other men as a sign for them to leave the room. He waited until one of them came back with a bucket of water and a towel before he left the room as well. The door closed behind him and I heard him yelling at the guard. "Dummkopf! Verstehst du nicht was Wache halten bedeutet? Herr König, du bliebst hier, ich bin zurück in fünfzehn Minuten. Ich muss der Idiot sein Verstand zurückgeben." The sounds of footsteps faded away, and then there was quietness.
I sank to my knees again in front of Emmett. My hand cupped his cheek and I searched his eyes. "What happened?" I asked him. I kept my voice down, not sure how much that Herr König could hear through the door.
"I can't tell you." Emmett whispered. He shook his head and averted his eyes.
"You can't do that to me Emmett."
"Mom…" Emmett turned back to me again, pain in his eyes. "You know I can't tell you. The less you know the better."
I nodded. In stead of pushing him I decided to clean him up. I reached for the bucket and the towel. The water was cold but it did its work. Careful for his bruises, I cleaned Emmett's face.
I felt like I had only spent two minutes in the cold room when I already heard the heavy footsteps returning. The door swung open and the man from before was back. I rose to my feet when he started talking.
"Mr. Cullen, we are done for today. Unfortunately the charges are too severe to let you return home. So, we will have to keep you here until we know the finer aspects of the matter. Mrs. Cullen -," he addressed me, "my apologies I cannot let your son return home with you, but surely you understand that we have to take the accusations seriously."
"What accusations. What are the charges?" I asked him.
I could see the man hesitating. Not out of fear, but for some other reason I couldn't grasp.
"We believe he is guilty of treason, Mrs. Cullen. A crime we cannot neglect." I knew that if I'd look Emmett in the eyes, I would find confirmation. I had suspected for a while now that he was up to something, that he had a hidden agenda. And I knew that he would never have taken the choice of joining the resistance lightly. He had known what he had gotten himself into. It was just very hard to see him paying the price. However, I did not look Emmett in the eye out of fear that the man would pick something up.
Before I could give some reaction, the door opened again and the two men from before entered.
"Now, Mr. Cullen, you'll be escorted to your cell. Mrs. Cullen, don't count on him making it to dinner tonight."
With a nod from the officer, the two other men hauled Emmett out of his seat and into the hallway. They left me standing there with the wet towel still in my hands as they took away my son.
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Dummkopf! Verstehst du nicht was Wache halten bedeutet? – Stupid/Idiot, don't you know what keeping guard means?
Herr König, du bliebst hier, ich bin zurück in fünfzehn Minuten. – Herr König (mr. King), you stay here, I'm back in fifteen minutes.
Ich muss der Idiot sein Verstand zurückgeben. – I have to give the idiot his sense back.
I'm sorry if my German isn't flawless, corrections are welcome