The Sallow Rose

Chapter One

It was a warm fall evening, all the children were at school, leaving Esme alone to tend to the garden. Normally she would have Renesmee to keep her company, but Jacob came by today and surprised her with an ice cream day. So, there Esme sat, in all her lonely glory, tending to her flowers. 
Her phone began to ring inside but Esme ignored it, her mind all too focused on the dirt and seeds before her. After a few moments, the ringing stopped, and then started again.
With a sigh, Esme dropped her things and went to her phone. Seeing that the call was coming from Carlisle, she smiled and picked up.
"Hello, darling." She greets him.
"Esme? Have you talked to Alice?" He asks, his voice sounding uneasy.
"Alice? No, honey, she's at school." Esme replies.
"She tried to call you. Look, are you home with Renesmee?" He asks quickly.
"N-No. I mean, yes, I'm home but she's with Jacob. Carlisle, what's happened? You're scaring me." Esme says.
"Listen, I need you to-" he begins but is cut off by Esme's gasp as two people in black cloaks appear in front of her, their red eyes bore into hers.
"Carlisle-" Esme gasps into the phone before Jane snatches the phone from her hand and crushes it.
"Surprised to see us?" Jane asks with a sweet smile.
"Jane. What do you want?" Esme asks, trying not to cower away from the powerful vampire.
"Aro hasn't heard back from Carlisle. He sent us to make sure everyone was still...alright." She replies, an eyebrow raised.
"As you can see, we are fine. Be sure to tell Aro we said hello." Esme says, turning to walk away but is immediately hit with a wave of pain radiating throughout her entire body. She felt her muscles stiffen as she dropped to the ground, her mouth half open, holding a scream that couldn't quite escape.
Just as Esme thought she might pass out from the pain, if it were possible, it subdued, allowing her to let out a gasp as she slowly moved to stand back up.
"Why so quick to end the visit? We just got here. Where's your hospitality?" Jane asks, walking over to Esme.
"What do you want from me?" Esme asks, still recovering from the intense pain she just experienced.
"We don't want anything from you." Jane says, an evil smirk adorning her childlike face.
"We are here for you." She finishes. Esme's eyes widen as she notices the smoke creeping around Jane's body. The smoke quickly flew towards Esme, surrounding her before entering her.
At once, it was like Esme had died. She couldn't smell anything, couldn't see, couldn't hear. It was all darkness.
Her small form fell to the ground, her eyes searching blindly through the smoke. Her lover's name fell from her lips many times as Alec picked up her body and followed Jane out of the house.
"Can you go any faster?" Alice pressed, glancing over to Jasper who was driving.
"The pedal is on the floor, Alice." He says, sounding just as worried as her.
"Has anyone heard from Carlisle?" Rosalie asks from the backseat.
"He just left the hospital. He said we will probably beat him home." Emmett replies, glancing at his phone again.
"He said he called Esme and got a hold of her but it cut off in the middle of her talking." Edward adds, grabbing their attention.
"Said she sounded scared." He adds quietly, staring out the window.
"Faster, Jasper." Bella hisses.
As soon as the car skids to a stop in front of the house, everyone piles out and begins to investigate what has turned into a crime scene. The house was all too quiet, all too empty. They searched the house, calling out her name but not finding anything.
"Wait, guys, in here!" Bella shouts from the kitchen. In an instant, everyone was beside her, staring at the same pile of crumpled phone.
"It's hers." Emmett says, bending down to slowly pick up what was left of her phone.
"Who would do this?" Rosalie asks, her voice shaking. If she were human she would be in a puddle of tears already. Alice glanced over to Edward who was already reading her mind.
"Volturi." They reply in unison.
"They took her," Carlisle says, entering the house.
"Didn't they?" He asks, his brow furrowed with worry. Edward nods simply.
"Let's go." Carlisle says, wanting to find his mate as soon as possible.
"Carlisle, maybe we should have a plan-" Jasper suggests but is cut off by a very upset Carlisle.
"We need to find her scent before it's gone. We can't do that if we're just standing around, talking."
"The wolves are here." Edward says, already walking towards the front door with everyone else following him.
"Sam, good to see you." Carlisle greets, putting on a strong mask.
"Jacob told us what happened." He says, looking to Carlisle sadly which made the eldest vampire's facade crack for a moment. Sam looks back to the woods as multiple young, shirtless boys jog out from the woods. Carlisle recognizes most of them, but many of them were very young and relatively new to Carlisle. New wolves.
Sam looks back to the vampires standing in front of them and smiles slightly.
"We're here to help."