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The Falling

Summary:
In the action itself, she is weightless and free. The flight is not to be feared, only the impact. A story on the life of Esme Cullen. Image Hosted by ImageShack.us Banner By incredible Iris!

Notes:
I may submit this to the official site. What do you think?

70. Chapter 70

Rating 5/5   Word Count 521   Review this Chapter

And so you stay,

“As you are?”

“Yes, Esme.” His voice is gentle, almost resigned, soft as a whisper but still loud in my ears.

“Is that why…” you left? Is that the secret?

“Yes. I am… I was… changed, as I have just changed you, in the sixteen hundreds. I am more than two hundred years old, Esme. Considerably more.”

I can only nod, mesmerized. I’m even more caught in the beauty of him than I was with weak… with human eyes. I can’t find the words to describe the way he looks to me. The texture of his skin is fascinating—not smooth, as it first appeared, spattered with tiny pores just as mine is, but so much finer, more delicate, incredibly beautiful. He sparkles subtly in the darkness like the diamond still on my left hand, the tiny ring Charles Evenson bought me with.

No, he’s far more beautiful than that stone, as still as he is, because he at least is alive, breathing stilly, softly, and he is entrancing with the slightness and the incredible precision of his motions. He does not fidget. Each time he breathes it is with deliberation.

“I… Esme, I found you in the morgue. Still breathing. I… I bit you. I did not want you to die. Forgive me,” he whispers, and bows his head.

“For what? Saving my life?”

“You must understand. You will not be able to die any longer… I’ve tried, believe me. You cannot even starve yourself. No one can have enough willpower to resist… feeding.”

I shudder at the unfamiliar word. “Feeding? Do I have to…” I have never been much for fantasy stories. I don’t know what a vampire does, though I understand the concept—I will drink human blood to live, but so many versions of the myth exist. And a horrible thought dawns on me. “Do I have to kill to live?”

“No. Not if you don’t want to, if you choose to live with me… I mean, as a part of my family… if you choose to live as Edward and I do. We live off animals, not humans. We kill when we feed, but there is a lesser sin we can choose to commit. I hope you will choose that path, Esme.”

“You’ll teach me?” You’ll be here with me?

“Yes. Of course.” He takes my hand gently, and I grin.

“Then I will live as you do, and with you, for as long as you will have me, Carlisle… and thank you, for this. For changing me.”

“Really? I was afraid I had made a mistake… I acted… on a whim.” His words are slow, as though it’s an actual physical struggle to get them out. Maybe it is. I know nothing about this new life.

“Why?”

He doesn’t answer. His eyes close, and I want to cry at the absence of their light.

“Carlisle.” No response, but his head moves a little in my direction. He’s listening. “Why?”

Finished with falling,