Esme's Story: Book Two: The Vampire Years
by Esme Mom Cullen
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Family
Characters: Esme/Carlisle
Summary: It's you." In the sequel to Book One: The Human Years, Esme opens her eyes to two strange men and a new life. Follow her story as she discovers who and what she has become, finally falls in love, and embraces her new family and cultivates its growth.
The majority of Twilight fics focus on Edward and Bella and although I love them, I occasionally like to read about less written about characters. Esme Mom Cullen’s Esme-centered story, “Esme’s Story: Book Two: The Vampire Years” is an excellent glimpse into her beginnings. We also get a taste of Edward as a three year old vampire. He and Carlisle are both very sweet in the sincerity of trying to help her transition into her new world.
It’s June 1921 and poor Esme is trying to cope with how her new body and mind work. It’s also quite an adjustment getting used to living with a mind reader.
"Do I need to go sleep in a coffin before the sun destroys me, or is that just another vampire legend?" Maybe that is what I wanted – to walk into the sun and end what I started.
"Don't think like that," I heard Edward say. Did he just scold me? "Yes, I did. I was in your same position not very long ago. Please, just hear Carlisle out. I know you want to trust him, and he is worth trusting."
I stared at him. Edward, you see everything. You know. This is unreal. He nodded and spoke, "Alice in Wonderland is a good analogy for what you are feeling at the moment but eventually the Lewis Carroll part of this life will fade and the reality of it will set in."
Of course we also get a peek at Esme remembering being a teenager and crushing on the handsome doctor who fixed up her leg years before. In the books and most fics, Carlisle and Esme are the parental rocks of the family, not love-struck kids or reckless vampire in Esme’s case.
"I can't imagine you just blending in."
"What do you mean?"
"You…you don't look like everyone else." Because you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen…
…"I'm sure they notice you." Our eyes met for a moment, but I looked away, afraid he might see the stupid girl who noticed him and never forgot him.
The sweet mother and son bond form with Edward being the one who ‘baby sits’ Esme while Carlisle is away at the hospital. They chat and bond with Edward showing her how to play the piano gently as Edward reveals he’s on his fifth piano because he pummeled the previous ones. He kindly offers her an ear for when she’s ready to talk about her difficult past even though she knows he can hear her thoughts. He, basically, earns her respect and loyalty to him and Carlisle. He’s an engaging and patient companion. I got a kick out of the good-natured teasing he gives Esme in regard to her attraction to Carlisle, but it’s not all easy going here. Esme has to learn to deal with the aftermath of killing her first human. It breaks the heart of this tender spirited woman. Additionally, she has to wrestle the demons of her human life such as her abusive husband and loss of her son.
This fic is written in the first person and the reader truly gets insight in Esme’s mind and gets a feel for what makes her tick. In the books, she’s almost a sideline character so this author does have more leeway than someone writing, for example, an Edward point of view fic.
Esme Mom Cullen also does an admirable job in staying close to canon and not unnecessarily drawing things out (my fic pet peeve) yet still getting all the important info in the narrative. It’s as if Stephenie could have written this as a Twilight prequel. I’m always impressed with fic authors who have the ability to pull that off. As of now, it’s up to ten chapters and can’t wait to see how the rest of it plays out.
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