Rebirth (Twilight Saga - Pregnant with the next generation)

Chapter 24: Tethered to Time

Carlisle kept moving forward, not caring to cover his tracks – or the path of destruction he had created in his wake as he laid waste to the rocky forested landscape.

Only one thought beat an agonizing tattoo against his skull in time with his steps – Esme, Esme, Esme his mind screamed out at him.

He was a man lost. Still taking care not to prolong the animals’ suffering he hunted with a degree of savagery and barbarism that had never been there formerly. And while his body thirsted for blood, his soul hungered for his mate for his Esme.

He could see her so clearly in his mind’s eye. Saw her young and vibrant as the young woman his immortal soul had yearned for. Saw her on each one of their wedding days, always wondering how he could be more in love with her than ever. Saw the light and unadulterated joy in her eyes when she caressed her belly when she thought she was alone or unwatched. Saw her clumsy waddle and tired eyes that always smiled for him, just for him. Saw her growing swollen with their child.

And then the images turned dark and murky as shadows of recent memories tempered them with suffering. He saw her sick, terrified alone in a cement bomb shelter on a thin pallet and pitiful resources. He saw the wariness in her eyes as she moved her unwieldy body anxiously away from Jane’s gaze. Saw her desperation as she looked for any means of escape, pleading, begging Jane and Alec and the guard not to harm her baby.

Screaming out that she would willingly return to them once her baby had been born and was safe; seeing her seemingly lifeless body being beaten and battered and broken as Jane had smiled lasciviously, innocently from the corner, not even having to get her hands dirty with the blood of his most beloved.

Saw his reflection in the glassy screen of the TV once the film had finished, the tv that was now pulverized glass and plastic and he sat there, numb with unbelief.

He wished with all of his being that the cell phone in the pocket of his ruined jeans would ring with news from Alice, from anyone telling him any new clues or hints or information about the Volturi’s plans for Esme or her location. He was running on pure instinct – and the piercing compass needle  in his heart leading his head and his body.

“This is amusing to them”, Esme thought venomously. Torturing her, and by her, her family was a game. A play to further their own power and means.  She was so angry. She was so scared. And all she wanted was Carlisle; Carlisle and her baby – that was all. She screamed it out to the heavens that she had to believe existed beyond the trees, beyond the sky, beyond the four grey walls that kept her prisoner.

Alice’s steps slowed again and she bent over slightly at the waist panting. Jasper had thought this was so she could catch her breath, but with dawning horror he realized that her rest stops had taken on a pattern, a steady pattern of every 10-15 minutes that had already happened 3 times.

He slowed his pace and crouched beside her, rubbing her back and using the other hand to steady her. “Alice? Alice – are you having contractions?”

“Mmmm” she breathed, “I don’t know! At first I thought it was just Braxton Hicks contractions along with a backache or a pulled muscle or ligament, but now I’m not so sure! Ooohh”.

He scooped her up into his arms gently, “Okay honey let’s get you somewhere to sit and rest and see if we can get the labour to slow or stop like last time.”

He cursed inwardly; they were so far away they couldn’t get back to the house for an hour even if he ran which he couldn’t with Alice in his arms. It wasn’t her weight, it was the uncomfortable position and jolting motions she’d be put through on the journey back.