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The Newborn
By : belladonnacullen
Category: Twilight Series > Het
Views: 3452 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.
Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
This chapter contains direct quotes from Eclipse. They're not mine, unfortunately! m *****************************************************************************************
Carlisle was true to his word and stayed with Rosalie night and day. He held her hand even as she cursed him and tried to pull it away. He repeated a whispered apology with each scream. And when her cries subsided, I heard the story of our existence told with insistence and patience. His voice was soft and calm and it belied the turmoil raging in his head. For Carlisle's usually logical and peaceful thoughts had turned to fervent appeals to his god.
"For God made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living. For He created all things that they might be. Wisdom 1:12-14"
"Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall rise again incorruptible. And we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. I Corinthians 15:51-58"
"Please, please, please, please... let this not be in vain. Let this be a second chance... for her."
When her cries rang out unrelenting for hours on end, Carlisle fell into a chant he that must have recalled from his childhood. Its somber meter was a near constant refrain in his mind. It was the prayer for peace for the dead.
"Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine et lux perpetua lœceat ei Requiescat in pace. Amen"
I wanted to trust Carlisle's actions; for he'd done nothing through all the time I'd known him to make me doubt his wisdom. But try as I might I couldn't understand his motivation. He saw people expire each night on his shift. Why now? Why this woman? Was it simply because she came to the hospital with a boy once? It had been plain enough when he brought Esme home. He had been transfixed, caught up in her eyes even as they rolled red in their sockets. But we hardly knew this woman; she was nothing to us. Just as we were getting settled, beginning to heal as Carlisle had wished, he had up- ended our lives.
Esme didn't share my uncertainties about the girl. Instead, her initial alarm quickly turned to empathy. It had only been twelve years since she herself had turned. I saw the horror and pain return her face each time she walked through the door of the study. Because of this, Esme was determined to make the transition as easy as possible for the girl. She made it her duty to prepare a place for her in the house, no matter that we would now have to leave it all behind. She purchased clothing, shoes, and various toiletries that Carlisle and I would never have known to provide. However, this activity barely held her concern at bay. After each outing she would rush home and join Carlisle in the study, holding his hand wordlessly, her face twisted with agonized concern.
It was difficult for me to stay in Carlisle's study with Rosalie. The girl's thoughts were caught in a never-ending loop, replaying the last evening of her life over and over again. The violence that had been perpetrated on her by her fiance was as monstrous as anything I had seen in my years abroad. I couldn't listen to the story for hours on end without it fanning the flames of my anger. I knew that I wouldn't do anything about this violence, and it left me full of impotent rage. I was afraid that I might plunge back into the same desperation that led me to take that first human life all of those years ago. It also caused me to pity the girl. However, I discerned enough from her thoughts to know that I was perhaps the last person on the earth that she would invite pity from.
When Carlisle would gently tell Rosalie about the new realities of her life, her mind would wordlessly cry out against it. "Never walk in society in the light of day, never have a child, never grow old, never see Vera or my family..." The girl wanted nothing of a vampire's existence and hoped against hope that she would somehow die. This bore too close a resemblance to my own recent mindset, and I chose to leave the room rather than contemplate the possibility of eternal unhappiness together with her.
I found it impossible to discuss any of this with Carlisle during the first two days of the girl's transformation. He was consumed with Rosalie's agony and his own struggle with his faith. But as the transformation progressed, and Rosalie's pain began to subside, his mind likewise quieted. I was during one of the breaks in her screaming when I found the nerve to confront him.
"What were you thinking Carlisle?"
"I couldn't just let her die. It was too much - too horrible, too much waste," Carlisle murmured, trailing his eyes over Rosalie's body. Her skin now had an unmistakable gleaming pallor, her features had sharpened, her golden hair shone like the sunshine I hadn't basked in for years. Was Carlisle trying to say that it was her looks that tempted him? It didn't make sense. I knew he only had eyes for Esme.
"I know," I said more to acknowledge that he hadn't been able to let her go than the other half of his statement.
"It was too much waste. I couldn't leave her." His head dropped in his hands. "I couldn't leave her," he repeated in a whisper. It was as if he were trying to convince himself of something.
"Of course you couldn't," Esme agreed from the doorway. Two days of suffering had already bound Esme to Rosalie. She saw the girl as a daughter before she had even said three words to her. I couldn't understand Esme's acceptance or Carlisle's sudden penchant for acquisition.
"People die all the time. Don't you think she's a little recognizable? The Kings will have put up a huge search - not that anyone suspects the fiend."
Carlisle simply looked in my direction and frowned. Esme chose that time to leave the room.
"What are we going to do with her?" I continued.
"That's up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way," Carlisle murmured, taking the girl's hand in his. And with that I had hope, hope that Rosalie would take off and never to be heard from again. I hoped that I would have my family back. Yes, this woman would leave. She despised us. It would all be over soon.
*
By nightfall of the third day I heard the rapidly accelerating pace of the woman's heart from downstairs. This was the final stage of transformation before it would cease to beat forever. I joined Carlisle and Esme in the study to help restrain the new vampire in case she tried to hurt one of us, or herself. On entering the room I saw that Esme had changed Rosalie into an emerald green knee-length dress. It suited the girl well, accentuating the yellow light that seemed to shine from each strand of her hair.
Esme and Carlisle each held one of her hands. They both turned as I walked into the room. "It's almost over." Esme said.
"Yes, I could tell."
Esme turned back to the girl. "I remember it well. She's through with the worst of it," she said dolefully. Then she leaned toward the girl. "It's almost done, sweetheart. You'll only get better now."
The girl's heart accelerated until it was simply a violent vibration in her chest. Its force pulled Rosalie's back off of the tabletop and she gnashed her teeth and shook. Esme and Carlisle strengthened their grip on the girl's wrists and exchanged a look of fearful anticipation.
Then, finally, it was over. Rosalie's heart went silent and her body fell back to the table. She didn't move and she made no sound. Her lungs stopped breathing. Three seconds crept by with frustrating torpidity.
And in this space of outward silence, Rosalie's internal voice rose to the surface, more lucid than I had heard it since we met at the hospital fundraiser. Thoughts came rapidly, one on top of the other, as the girl struggled with her new vampires senses.
"I am Rosalie Hale, these people have to watch out. This doctor thinks he can do this to me? I'll have my.... No! I can't go to my family, or Royce... he's going to suffer for what he did! Somehow, he will suffer. Is that the smell of the lake? And the smell of wood smoke? And the smell of table wax, and old parchment, and lilac, and something else? Three things... in the room with me. They smell cool and bright, and they're still, so still. As still as I am. I am very still. No wait, moving slightly. My finger moved to the left... by a millimeter? What am I? What are they? Yes, I know what they are. Vampires!"
Rosalie's blood red eyes shot open. In an instant she'd pulled her hands from Esme and Carlisle's grip and had her back to the wall. She bared her teeth and a hiss escaped from her lips.
"What am I doing?" her clear vampire voice rang out as she looked down at her hands.
Rosalie attempted standing in a more human posture, but when she caught site of us, she crouched, extended her hands and dove. Carlisle and I grabbed Rosalie by her arms, but she easily broke free. She took the chair Carlisle had been sitting in and swung it at him. He caught it in his hands and gingerly placed it on the floor.
"Rose, there's no danger here. We mean you no harm," Carlisle coaxed in a gentle voice.
"No harm! No harm! Look what you did." With that she pressed her fingertips into the hard flesh of her face. She jumped at the new feel of her skin. Her hands slid down to her throat, which must have been burning. "No harm? You burned me for three days, and now this?" She went to grab another chair to her right, and as she did, she caught site of herself in a mirror hanging on the wall.
"Oh." The girl's wild eyes focused on her reflection. "Oohh." Her eyes darted around the room and then settled on her image again. Her fingers traced from her cheekbones, down her neck, across her chest, and then to her waist and hips. Then she shook her hair. "Ahh."
She spun around to face us, her eyes dancing. "I'm beautiful!" Quickly she turned to gaze in the mirror. "This is why you all look like this! But now," she looked back at all of us and then at herself again, "now I'm more beautiful than any of you."
Carlisle smiled at Rosalie. I heard his thoughts. He was glad he had finally seen a hint of happiness in the girl. Esme walked over to her carefully and touched her shoulder. Rose jumped and bared her teeth, but Esme only continued to rub her shoulder gently. "Yes, Rosalie, you are quite stunning."
This made the girl smile and Esme put her arm around her shoulders. They both looked into the mirror to admire Rosalie's reflection. "Yes, I am... Esme!" With that Rose wrapped her arms around Esme and swung her in a circle. I heard the air leave Esme's lungs in a rush, and Carlisle and I were there to pull Rosalie off of her.
Rose panicked and backed away from us.
"Rosalie, you must remember that while you're new, you will be much stronger than any of us. You could have hurt Esme."
"Oh. I'm sorry," she said dismissively. Then Rosalie went back to looking over herself in the mirror. Suddenly she turned to me.
"And do you think I'm beautiful, Edward?" She shook her hair, narrowed her eyes, and held her hands behind her back in a way that thrust her chest forward.
Suddenly three pares of eyes were on me. I took an unconscious step backwards as Rosalie moved in my direction. I stepped behind Carlisle's desk and grasped the edge with my hands.
"Edward?" she cooed.
"I'm sure you're very attractive, Rose. You're vampire features will be very appealing to humans, especially. It's one of the weapons that we're given to draw in our prey, if we choose to use it. Of course your eyes are different than ours, but they'll change in time, if you maintain your diet." I was babbling to hide my discomfort, and I watched as Rosalie's look changed from mildly seductive, to angry, to shocked; all in the space of half a minute.
She swung around to the mirror again and took a close look at her eyes.
"Carlisle, is he right? Will they change to look like yours?" Rose was alarmed, wringing her hands.
"Yes. If you abstain from drinking human blood, they will change within the year."
With the mention of blood, Rose's hands went to her throat. She looked around at us wildly again. "And the burn here?" Her hands began clawing at her skin.
"You must feed," Carlisle said reassuringly. "But we must be especially careful. We're close to the city, this may be difficult for you."
This is something I'd already considered. The smell of humans always hung in the air here, however faintly. Having a newborn this close to the confines of the city seemed wildly irresponsible. But there was no way we could leave before Rosalie would need to feed. We would have to take her out in search of prey. She'd be faster and more powerful than each of us. I gritted my teeth and shook my head.
Rosalie noticed my displeasure and cast a withering look in my direction. "Is he coming?"
Carlisle looked between the two of us. "We should all go."
Rose began pacing the room, her eyes darting towards the windows and doors. We had to leave for the hunt. "Follow our lead, Rosalie. From there your instincts will take over."
*
Once out in the night air, Rose made a break for the shore. She was surprisingly fast, and I was the only one among us that had a chance of keeping up. I ran wide of her, giving her enough berth to know I was no threat, while keeping her corralled along the lakeshore. Hopefully she wouldn't make a break for the water. I would let Carlisle go in after her if it came to that. We moved east through deserted summertime communities, and I was grateful when the city's smells had fallen behind us.
I heard the soft padding of six sets of delicate hooves on the sand before I caught their musky scent. A small herd of whitetail was grazing at the tree line. A moment later Rose's body twitched and she was off, charging head on into their midst. I listened for Carlisle and Esme, but they were easily two hundred yards behind us. They'd be no help. So I shot off after her, hoping that she kept to the scent of the deer, and that no humans crossed her path.
Minutes later, I found Rosalie in a stand of cottonwoods, three does half-drained at her feet. Her fingers were spread, dripping with blood, and her eyes were wide. She turned in circles, her eyes darting through the trees. When she saw me she crouched, ready to lunge.
I stepped back and assumed a submissive stance. "No, they are yours, Rosalie," I intoned softly, not meeting her eyes. "I'm not here for your kill."
Rosalie stood straight and covered her face in shame, unintentionally smearing blood on her cheeks and chin. Her nostrils flared and she pulled her hands away from her face and looked at them hungrily. Then she turned to me, desperate and sad. "How come I can't cry?"
"Crying is human."
"Then this feeling is stuck inside?" Her eyes roamed over the carcasses at her feet. "I will do this...forever, and I won't cry about it?"
"You'll get better at it. You won't always make such a mess, and you'll learn to drain the animal. If you drain them dry there is less waist and -"
Rose didn't give me time to finish. Once again my words only spurred anger. Testing her new speed, she picked up a lifeless deer and launched it in my direction. I barely had time to duck out of the way. She threw herself on the ground and covered her eyes and ears with her hands. I could hear her troubled thoughts as she struggled to block out the overwhelming sensations registering in her mind.
I stood quietly, completely at a loss. I was afraid that I was the last person she would want consolation from. I took a hesitant step in her direction. Her head shot up and she stared at me with undisguised loathing.
"You must love this."
"No, I don't."
Rosalie's expression softened and she smiled at me. She was swiftly in front of me. "Could you help me, with this then?" Her hands wiped at the blood staining her cheeks. "Could you help me get it off?" she asked, bringing her face within three inches of mine.
I took a step back. She sighed. I slowly brought my thumb to her face. I cringed as I timidly wiped at the corner of her mouth.
"Argh!" Rosalie cried as she spun around. "I am trapped forever with a man that hates me. This is hell! And after what he did to me, I am the one in hell!" she thought to herself.
"I don't hate you."
Rose reeled. "What?" she demanded.
I took a breath before answering. "I can hear thoughts."
"Aaahh!" She punched a tree and, with a sharp crack, it fell to sandy forest floor. Rose jumped back in surprise, but then recovered her previous train of thought. "Trapped forever with a man that hates me and can read my mind," she growled.
"I said I don't hate you. And you don't have to stay with us forever."
"Well, you don't like me!"
I didn't argue and an awkward second passed between us.
"And what should I do forever, then?"
"That's up to you."
Rosalie turned her back to me and sat on one of the dead deer at our feet. I listened for Carlisle and Esme, but couldn't pick up their sound or scent.
"Rosalie?" She didn't answer. I took a step toward the girl.
"Stay away, ok?"
I was happy to stay away, and I relaxed against the trunk of a tree.
"There is this," Rosalie said, gesturing to the animal underneath her. "And is there any alternative?"
"Human blood."
"I could kill humans?" I heard the sound of hope in her voice.
"I wasn't offering it as a suggestion!"
"Have you?" Rose was suddenly standing in front of me. I looked away from her. I could feel my face turn into a mask.
"Please tell me," she pouted. "Have you?"
"Yes," I said under my breath.
"Is it easy? It must be so simple." Rose sounded almost giddy.
"No, it was anything but easy."
A look of confusion clouded her face. "But I'm so strong..."
Didn't she understand? I closed my eyes and tried to order my thoughts. "Sure, physically, it's easy. But the mental anguish involved alone is enough to--" I stopped speaking when I heard her footsteps fading into the night.
Opening my eyes, I caught sight of a receding silhouette against the gray waters of the lake. I looked down at the half-drained deer at my feet I'm ashamed to say that I took more than a second to decide against finishing off her kill. But she was running straight for the city. She would hunt humans. With an angry sigh I took off in her direction. But when I can within ten yards of her, Rosalie turned and bared her teeth. A growl rumbled in her throat, and her fingers extended like claws.
"Get away," she roared. I stopped in my place. "Leave me alone! The other one, he said I could leave. Leave me alone, you insufferable, blind, heartless fool!"
I felt a growl erupt in my own chest. Rosalie spun around and ran back toward the city. This time I let her go.
*
Carlisle and Esme found me alone at the shore. Dawn was threatening on the horizon. "She left. She said she wanted to go," I explained to them.
"No! She's too young. She can't survive on her own," Esme exclaimed.
"We'll need to leave tonight, Carlisle." I said looking at my father. "It's near daylight. She's liable to be seen. We need to put as much space as possible between the girl and ourselves. This could be a disaster."
"No!" Esme shouted. "We can't leave her."
Carlisle was stunned. He hadn't seen this coming. When he spoke, it was as much to himself as it was to Esme and I. "We left you two alone. I thought maybe you would come to understand one another. I thought maybe..." his voice trailed off and his mind didn't pick up to fill in the missing words.
"I could have used your help, Carlisle."
He sighed. "It's too late to go for her today."
I glared at Carlisle. "Chasing after her won't bring her back." But I saw a look of deep pain flit across Esme's face and I stopped speaking despite myself. Instead I turned to look at the lake.
"I won't leave her, Edward. She is my responsibility. But Esme, I won't stay indefinitely and endanger myself, or my family. A week. I'll wait a week. Edward, you choose for yourself whether to stay that long." Carlisle hung his head and walked slowly back toward the house.
*
The first three days passed without incident. There were no strange sightings or suspicious deaths reported in any of the local papers. We each breathed a sigh of relief after scanning the headlines each morning and evening. Carlisle took this time to resign his post in an orderly manner. Esme packed what we would bring with us, and closed the rest of the house. I couldn't imagine we would be back to this location anytime within a century. Rosalie Hale. What had he been thinking?
But on the third day our luck ran out. The paper announced the deaths of two of the men that had violated Rosalie the night she died. Their murders were under investigation. The paper provided no details about the crime scene or the state of the bodies.
"That's it, Carlisle, we must leave," I said, after reading headline on the front page.
"I said she had a week." Carlisle's jaw was set, and his eyes were harder than I'd ever seen in my time with him.
"But, her actions, Carlisle. She's killed in her own city. She'll be seen. The Volturi will hear about this! Staying is madness. Staying for a killer?"
"You would begrudge her justice? You can always leave, Edward. No one is holding you here." I heard a door slam on the second floor.
I could say nothing. He was right. Carlisle and Esme waited nearly five years for my return. I would wait with them now.
Two more men were killed the next night. And one the sixth night Royce King and his bodyguards also met their end. The newspapers all declared that a serial killer was on the loose. Our family hadn't left the house in days. We waited until nightfall to pack the car. Carlisle didn't speak a word to Esme or I. Esme moved slowly through the house one last time. I suspected she would wait for the girl to return until an angry mob of humans or the Volturi descended on the house. But I couldn't fault her for it. It was the same love that had helped to save me.
We were piling into the car when I heard her thoughts. "Is it too late? Will they hate me? I can't be alone like this. Oh god, let them still be there."
Rosalie ran into the car's headlights. She was dressed in a tattered wedding gown. I sighed and shook my head at the sight of her. She put her hands over her eyes to shield them from the headlights. Esme was at her side. Rosalie shrank from her presence, squinting her red eyes.
"Can I still stay with you?" she asked Esme.
Esme cautiously moved toward the girl, but Rosalie herself took the step that closed the distance between them. Esme gently took the girl into her arms. "Of course, dear. You'll always have a place with us."
Carlisle moved to Esme's side. "But Rosalie, each of us aspires to live with a conscience, and to avoid the blood of humans. If you stay with us you must try to put this past week behind you. If you intend to continue feeding off of the blood of humans - "
"What?" Rosalie interrupted. "You thought I drank their blood? I killed them; I didn't eat them. I'm not Edward!" she said smugly.
- 12
- 13
- 14
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The Newborn	By : belladonnacullen Category: Twilight Series > Het Views: 3452 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

The Newborn