“Carlisle?” she asked in a confused voice, staring at me.

“She doesn’t want to fight,” he told her.

The woman touched his arm. He was still tensed to spring. “She’s so frightened, Carlisle. Couldn’t we…”

okay for mutuals to reblog.

@ohstorm (thank you!)

The water of her bath seems to sound incredibly loud after Carlisle's announcement. She wishes to smile, to revel in the way Carlisle adores her. She wishes to tell him the same in return, but instead the bath water has become a murky brown.

That's what they don't tell you about newborns, especially when they're so new; when you tear them from limb to limb, you're bound to be covered in the blood they've recently fed on. Some of it is putrid—stale—others gifting the lingering smell of human blood. The sweet, irresistible scent of a vampire's most coveted elixir.

She's had to deal with it in her nostrils all day, her clothes stained by it. The bath water dilutes it somewhat, but even then it infuses with the steam and becomes akin to an incense.

Every time she closes her eyes she sees Bree's face and so she stares at everything and nothing.

@doctrcullen (thank you!)

They've barely spoken the whole day. It's been another day of training, another day of sparring all for the chance to make it through the moment Victoria and her newborns make landfall in Forks.

Esme, so wrapped up in her own thoughts—terrified more about the townsfolks' lives than her own—can't help but start at Carlisle's voice. She must ensure she doesn't do that on the field; she will be dead before she knows it otherwise.

A hand comes to thread through messy curls, kiss curls framing her face having come loose from the hairband otherwise holding her hair back. A moment later, her features soften with a smile although her lingering anxiety makes it harder than usual to come by. With Carlisle, things come so easily, but not today. Not since Alice's vision and the first reports coming out of Seattle.

Eventually her hand drops so fingers can link with his. Jasper and Edward are fighting. It's easier to be honest and vulnerable when the empath and mind-reader can't pick up on said honesty and vulnerability. They don't need worry clouding their judgement, no-one does.

"And I will never go anywhere." She squeezes his hand, swallowing her impending doom down and away.

She can't know if she's being truthful. The last time he might ever see her alive is on the battlefield.

@whtlckhale (thank you!)

She's still jumpy, anticipating an ambush from a newborn or the Volturi they invited. So caught up in her own thoughts, Esme doesn't even hear Jasper approach.

His voice causes a growl, her fingers finding soil as she crouches with muscles taut underneath skin. Subconsciously she can feel the dirt caking underneath nails as she takes a moment to recognise the blonde, her eyes narrowed with her head tilting to the side. Strands of hair that have come loose during battle hit the side of her face, almost as if encouraging her to come back to the present.

The distraction is enough to invite her back to the present and Esme releases a shuddering breath, unfolding herself to stand with an apologetic glance if not slightly embarrassed.

Every time Esme closes her eyes she sees Bree's face, and every time it hurts the same.

"Sure." The one word she manages feels like spitting sand. She doesn't particularly want company right now, but she hasn't got the energy to explain or refuse. Instead she gestures to a moss covered rock having been sat there upon Jasper's intrusion.

@merveiilles (mike) asked: “ i can't believe this! ” (thank you!)

It's always a surprise for everyone when a newborn discovers their talent. This one is... unique to say the least. The person seemingly suffering the most with Mike's unharnessed power is Edward.

Esme can't help the way a slight smirk appears on lips. There's something rather amusing about a mind-reader forgetting what he's doing partway through despite knowing it's coming.

She'll tell you anything you want to know [...] we'll take responsibility for her. Give her a chance.

okay for mutuals to reblog.

@feltferal asked: "i hope i've been misinformed." (thank you!)

That was the problem with Esme. Her heart was her Achilles heel. To some degree, she and Jasper were opposites of one another; one could say she was emotional and Jasper was logical, but how could she have extinguished this newborn's life?

"She poses no threat." Esme can still see frightened red eyes now. "She is scared, Jasper."