Carlisle's POV
As I looked at my adoptive son's back proceeding to head back inside the room, I tried to calm myself down to recall and comprehend everything that had happened since we got here.
- Edward heard a stray thought of a dying child.
-Esme begged to save the said child.
-Esme broke into the house where the child was being held captive.
-She almost got killed by the residents of the house but Edward and I got there in time to render them unconscious.
-We went in and saw a chained young girl, bleeding and slowly dying, still barely alive even without a heart.
-Esme begged me to bite the girl to save her, I refused to make an immortal child, so she bit her instead.
-the child woke up for a moment before the venom kicked in, Edward was able to read her thoughts and memories.
- Edward killed the two unconscious humans
- I got mad and questioned him, he felt no remorse and told me to look around to find out why.
'Ok, that's basically it. How did everything go from a light-hearted easy hunt and bonding to a possible annihilation of our coven because we possibly have made an immortal child.' he let out an exasperated sigh as he decided to walk inside and look around.
He saw his mate beside the child holding the girl's hand, still whispering to the child that everything going to be ok. Edward looked at him, signaling him to look around with a slight tilt of his head toward the contents of the room.
Trying to ignore the chaos, I followed my son's instructions and looked around.
The first thing I saw was the surgical table, as I roam my eyes around more, the frown I didn't know that was shown on my face slowly morphed into anger, and then rage.
Surgical tables and tools, medicines and drugs, a freezer full of vials of blood, body parts, and organs, all labeled by date... x-rays, charts, and diagrams of what seems to be a small child, some smaller and some a little bigger... I'm guessing it's the same girl but from younger to present. Files and papers on the table and shelves, with details about what they had done to the poor girl, their discoveries.
'she wasn't human...' for what she was, that can wait. He had an idea of what the girl wanted to do, what Edward saw and heard from the girl, but he had to confirm something.
"What did she want?" I asked, almost choking from the pure rage I felt towards the perpetrators.
Edward looked me straight in the eyes and said. "to destroy every single thing here, to not leave any traces or part of her with them"
As I thought, it is so... But I can't destroy everything, we need the research papers about her race and her body. It might help her in the future. I don't know how the venom will react to her kind, but we need all the information we can get, burn the whole place down, and leave this place to go back and wait for the venom to kick in and observe the transition.
I looked at Edward and signaled him to start, I knew he read all my thoughts on what needed to be done. Making use of our vampire speed to get everything done as quickly as possible, packing every file, book, and some of the vials of blood inside some boxes that we found inside the room after emptying them.
After we were done, I walked over to my mate and gently laid my hand on her shoulder.
"We have to go, let's get her out of here my love... She needs to be taken back home for the transition..." I say with the most understanding tone I can produce. Trying not to further agitate the love of my life.
She finally looked at me, worry and fear still on her face, worry about what was going to happen and fear of the thought that this child might die, that she'll have to experience another child dying on her.
I can see it, and I'm pretty sure Edward does too. She already has claimed the child as her own. There's no going back.
All three of us moved to break all the restraints from the child's limbs, each one easily broken without much effort but done carefully so we do not hurt the child further.
I tried to move forward to carry the child and leave for home, but Esme did not let me, stopping me with a restrained push. She lifted the small figure of the child with such care, seemingly afraid that she'd break. And then with a final look towards us, she sped off towards our home.
After she left, we started to erase all traces and evidence of the girl's existence, destroying everything, making sure that nothing would be left and found, and if they did, it wouldn't be anything that could be used. We set it up to make whoever comes here to investigate, that they'll find that it was a gas leak accident, that even if they do find the lab, they can wonder what was done there, what was kept there, but nothing will be traced to the girl.
Burning the mansion down, might not be a good idea since this is close to a forest, but we do what we have to do.
After making sure that the fire spread throughout the mansion, no part or corner was missed. We sped off towards our home. Hoping that everything is ok.
As we arrived, we sensed Esme and the child in one of the unoccupied rooms. We immediately went there to check on the situation.
There we saw Esme, just staring at the girl while holding one of the child's hands. Looking like a mother deathly worried about her daughter's condition.
~~
Esme's POV
After I lost my child, I was devastated and lost all my will to live, guilt of not being able to protect her was. She always felt that the child was a girl. She didn't know how and why, but she knew that the child was a girl... She was supposed to have a daughter...
She tried to kill herself by jumping off a cliff, and she almost did, but Carlisle saved her... He turned her into a vampire, and told her that he couldn't just watch her die because she was his mate, that he already saw her from a distance but decided to let her live her life as a human, to have a family and child, grow old, that she accepted and let her go... But he couldn't let her die... he kept apologizing for damning her into this new life.
When I woke up and heard all this new revelation about being a vampire, someone's mate, and everything else, I was confused and scared, and ultimately still heartbroken, she didn't know how she could feel her heartbreak, because apparently, it was no longer beats... She was essentially dead.
It's only been a few months since she turned and it was a real adjustment, they moved to another state, very remote and close to a forest... She can no longer eat human food, which is sad because she loves to cook... she can no longer sleep... And most importantly, she can no longer shed tears... This hit her the hardest, as she is still grieving the loss of her child... Her precious little girl... The slight relief that crying... No longer possible.
Carlisle tried his best to make me feel loved and help me move on. Even Edward, our son... Yes, he was my mate's adoptive son... And now also my son...
Edward was a good boy, he had a gift of being able to read and see people's thoughts. He apologized for the fact that he could not control his gift and that he could hear everything even if he didn't want to. But all I felt and thought was pity and guilt... Pity because of how hard it must be for him, unable to turn off his gift... And guilt, because I know how dark my thoughts are right now.
Months passed, and I was still having a hard time controlling my thirst, but my mate said that as soon as he was able to get our papers done for my new identity, we could move to Alaska, where their allied coven was located. They had a similar diet to our coven, they didn't drink human blood, only animals. That's why our eyes were gold when I woke up and saw my red eyes, it was unnerving... But they assured me that it would only be for a while and it would turn to the same gold they had. And in time, it did... Gradually, from red to gold.
We settled into our temporary home, made a habit, and lived as peacefully as we could, away from prying eyes, it helped that the place had a small population and the houses were too far apart.
It was supposed to be a normal day, we had to hunt, and like always, both of them went with me to assist and prevent any accidents from happening.
Everything was going as usual, but then Our son suddenly stopped when we were about to go home, and then I smelled a peculiar scent, it was blood... I know it was blood, but at the same time, it was different from any other blood I've encountered so far... It didn't make me crave for it... On the contrary, it calmed me down... But it alarmed me, because the scent was so strong, it meant that the person it belonged to was bleeding a lot.
I begged Carlisle to help whoever the person was and he conceded. Then Edward told us that he stopped because he heard a young girl's thoughts, and what she said.
After that, I don't know what came over me, something snapped within me. Everything was a blur.
The next thing I knew, I was back home holding the girl's hand. Promising her that everything's going to be ok... That I'll protect her from everything that would dare harm her.
'mine... My child must protect my child' Something kept repeating this over and over in my mind.
I don't understand where it came from, it seemed similar to how it was when I met my mate, I immediately felt a connection, and from my very being, I heard myself saying 'Mate'. He explained what it was, that it was our mate's connection, identifying each other.
But this, I don't know what this is. I should ask him later... But that can wait. I should make sure my child is safe first.
As I watched over her, I heard footsteps getting closer, I went on alert and ready to protect my child, but when I sensed that it was my family, I relaxed a bit and went back to watching my daughter.
"rest assured my child, everything going to be ok... Mother's going to protect you, nobody's going to be able to hurt you anymore..." I say and kissed her hand.