Thunder cracked across the darkened sky, the perfect sound for baseball.

Carlisle Cullen stood at the edge of the open field deep within the Washington forest, the faint rumble of laughter and the whoosh of wind filling the clearing. His family was scattered around the bases, Edward on the mound, Esme smiling softly on the sidelines, Emmett boasting about his next hit, and Rosalie rolling her eyes at him. Alice and Jasper were a blur near the outfield, their movements too fast for human eyes to follow.

This was their kind of peace, a rare moment where eternity felt light. Then, in an instant, that peace shattered. Carlisle’s head snapped toward the treeline before anyone else could react. The scent hit him first, sharp, metallic, feral. Newborns. A pack of them.

“Everyone, get ready,” he said calmly, though the steel in his voice made his family freeze mid-motion.

Edward’s jaw tightened. “Three… no, four of them,” he murmured. “They’ve already seen us.”

And then they came. A blur of movement, fast, reckless, fueled by bloodlust, tore through the trees and into the clearing. The first newborn lunged at Rosalie, who sidestepped, slamming him to the ground with supernatural force. Emmett met another head-on with a roar, their impact shaking the earth beneath them.

Carlisle, ever the protector, stepped forward when one of the newborns broke through toward Esme. He intercepted them effortlessly, gripping the vampire’s arm and twisting with a sharp crack before throwing him clear across the field.

But there were too many, all fury, no control, and even with their family’s strength, the Cullens were outnumbered. Carlisle ducked under a blow that would’ve shattered a tree, caught his attacker’s wrist. The newborn hissed, eyes red with hunger, and swung again.

Then out of nowhere another blur entered the fray. It wasn’t one of his own. A figure moved faster than even Jasper could follow, taking down a newborn with surgical precision, their movements sharp and clean. They were a blur of motion, disarming one vampire, throwing another into a tree so hard the bark splintered. For a heartbeat, even Edward froze in surprise.

Carlisle straightened, eyes wide. “Who—?”

The stranger didn’t answer. They didn’t even look at him. They moved with the same inhuman grace, a vampire, clearly, but not like the others. Controlled. Precise. Deadly.

When the last newborn fell, silence filled the clearing again. The family stood still, the crackling of thunder far off in the distance once more.

Before he could reach them, they were gone, vanished into the trees, nothing but a whisper of movement and a faint, unfamiliar scent left behind.

Alice blinked, scanning the forest, her expression awed. “I didn’t see them coming,” she said quietly, almost to herself. “Not even a glimpse.”

Jasper frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Whoever that was, they weren’t new. They knew exactly what they were doing.”

Carlisle’s gaze lingered on the trees where the stranger had disappeared. His heart, if it still beat would have been pounding. “They were protecting us,” he murmured, half to himself. “And then… they just vanished.”

Esme came up beside him, touching his arm gently. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

Carlisle looked into the dark forest, the faint wind carrying the last trace of {{user}}’s scent.

“I hope so,” he said quietly. “Because whoever they are… I think our family may owe them our lives.”