empathy

NINETEEN

"Ana! I want Ana!" Antonina cries once she has woken up the next morning.  

Emmett is sitting on the bed next to her not knowing what to do. She has been like this ever since she has woken up just half an hour ago and god, he is so clueless as to how to react. 

His siblings, excluded Rosalie have left for school earlier and his wife is currently out hunting. Carlisle is working and Esme is out grocery shopping. 

"I know you do. I know you do, " he mumbles, staring at her while she keeps on crying. "Do you want... Pan?" he offers her the stuffed figure she has thrown away earlier. "No, Ana!" she denies, throwing it back on the ground. 

Well, alright then. 

"What is that noise?" Rosalie enters their bedroom, raising a brow at what she finds. "It's crying," Emmett turns to her; his eyes wide, posture stiff and a panicked look swaying behind his pupils. "Well, have you tried comforting her?" she asks him, going to get some clothes to change into.  "She wants..." he goes to reply but gets interrupted by the little girl. "I want Ana!" she cries yet again.  "Ana," Emmett finishes. 

"God, one wouldn't believe you're ninety years old," Rosalie rolls his eyes at him before walking over to Antonina, crouching down in front of her. 

"Hello, you," she starts, her voice unusual soft and Emmett can't help the fond yet sad smile from creeping on his lips. "How about we get some breakfast before we try and call Anastasia, hm?" Rosalie offers. Antonina only really listens once her sister's name rolls off her tongue. 

"Ana?" she questions quietly, calming down a bit. "Mhm, we'll call her later and you can talk to her for however long you want. But you need to eat something first," Rosalie means. "Is that alright?" she adds. 

Tentatively, the girl's head bends into a nod before she turns to make grabby hands at her Peter Pan stuffed animal; Emmett picks it up and dusts it off before handing it to her. 

"You amaze me," he walks over to Rosalie, kissing her temple lightly before pulling away again. The blonde turns to him with a smile before nodding at Antonina. "I'll go make some cereal," she states. "You should get her changed, maybe," Rosalie adds before making her way downstairs; pressing a kiss to his lips while walking past him. 

--- - ---

Jasper is worried. No, 'worried' is the wrong word. He is, he doesn't think there is a word for the level of worry he has reached over the past two hours. 

He was worried yesterday when he found out Anastasia has a sister; when said sister appeared with his so to say brother, who failed to mention a word of her.  He was worried when he smelled the blood on her and when the little girl flinched away from even Esme.

But now Anastasia isn't here and no one seems to give two shits. The teachers actually seem a tad relieved when they see her empty seats, other students just don't even think to notice and no one else is really there. 

The library is awfully quiet and while he has never minded the silence, he has grown so used to the quiet sounds of her breath and the steady beating of her heart that not hearing it here just adds to his... worry. 

He can feel it in his bones,  that something is wrong; though, he would not be able to explain it, if you asked. Hell, Jasper isn't sure whether he understands it himself.

All he knows is, things are not the way they should be and he is not sure how to do anything against it. For he doesn't know what it is that is wrong. 

"Jessica," his voice is tense and his breath is held as he approaches the Stanley girl. "Oh, uhm, Ja... Jasper," she turns to him, her words caught in her throat. "Have you seen Anastasia?" he asks, knowing the chances she has are about zero. "N, no. She, no, I, I haven't." Oh, why is she stuttering that much? "Do you know where she lives?" Jasper hangs on, getting more impatient by the second. "No, she, she never told me," Jessica replies and it's the last thing she is able to say before Jasper has brushed past her. 

"Jasper?" Alice frowns at the state her best friend is in. "I'll leave early," he means simply, sharing a quick look with Aurelia, who nods at him to hurry up. 

--- - ---

Emmett is laying on the couch alongside Antonina, his phone between them as they try to call Anastasia for the second time. Rosalie is currently busy helping Esme put away the groceries, both of them glancing over their shoulders every now and then to take a look at the pair. 

"Emmett," Jasper speeds up to the living room, slowing down once he notices Antonina. He might have forgotten she's here for a second. "I need her address."

The following run just seems agonizing slow and with every step, the dread combined with the feeling of missing something out on something weighs his shoulder down and slow his legs. The barely two minutes feel like two hours and his body grows tenser the moment a strong smell of blood reaches his nose. 

But it isn't the blood that worries him, it's how the blood doesn't make him thirsty, how it lets him feel the tiniest bit of comfort wrapped in layers of worry, dread and fear. 

Is he sure he is prepared for whatever caused this much blood? Is he ready to face it?

Is there even anything to face? 

Stopping at the edge of the woods to hurry over to the house, Jasper has to gulp when his eyes land on the bloody print on the door; its smell even more concerning now.