A/N: Welcome! I'm so very excited about this new story…I had hoped to wait until I finished Search and Rescue but I really want to get this one started. I am writing it as I go so as of right now this is the only chapter written. I know where it is going…it's just not there yet. I am hoping to update once a week…on Wednesdays…but that may change as I get the chapters written.

Melanie is along for the ride again…she is the best beta out there in my opinion…she started a new story yesterday…'Awaken' and it owns me…I live for her chapters. So get on that one early…

Dalloway5906 is with me as well not only as a pre-reader but as a real life mentor to my studies.

This story will talk about witchcraft and Wicca. All the spells and rituals are mine so this is sort of my Book of Shadows. Please don't blast my beliefs…just leave if it is not for you.

Ready….

She stood, clad only in sky at the edge of the cliff. Her porcelain skin gleamed in the light of the moon, her swollen belly rippling with contractions as her body labored to birth her daughter.

"God and Goddess I implore thee

Take this child and set her free

Cast her not within this curse

Trust her heart to put love first

Let her choose the path she sees

As is my will…so mote it be."

She screamed the words up to the heavens as her body collapsed to the ground. As she felt the first burning pains of her child coming into the world, her heart gave a painful thump in her chest. She would never see this child grow. She had known about her family's curse since she was just a babe, but she demanded that her own daughter not know about what was ahead of her. She wanted her daughter to live a full life…until the day it was taken from her. She would not know her fate.

Renee Swan listened to her daughter's cry as her friend, Esme Hale held the slight bundle in her arms. She tried desperately to life her head so she could see her baby, if only once. But her body protested, her heart stilled in her chest and her breath left her in a huff. Her last word on this earth was her daughter's name.

"Isabella."

**()*()**

"Bella…get your head out of those books and come look at these new bracelets." Alice yelled as they browsed in the antique store. Bella and her cousin Alice visited the store at least once a week, mesmerized by the wonders that covered the tables and shelves. Bella had lived with her Aunt Esme and her daughter in Salem since she was just a baby. Her mother had died during childbirth and no one knew who her father was. She always felt that something was missing inside of her when she saw her cousin with her mother. She knew she was loved, her Aunt made sure of that, but she could feel deep in her soul that there was something more that was just out of her reach.

Bella ignored her cousin and continued to flip through the new delivery of books. They were dusty and faded but she loved the leather covers and the handwritten pages she found inside. Every once in a while, the pages would draw her in, as if the words were calling to her, but without fail Alice would grab the book out of her hands, toss it back in the pile and drag her out of the store.

Alice was busy looking at the newest amulets and charms while Bella poked through the books, so she didn't notice when Bella opened a navy blue book that had a beautiful pentagram covering most of the front. She didn't see Bella's eyes flutter closed as she held the book to her chest, feeling as if that missing part inside of her was finally filled. She didn't know that Bella shoved the book into her bag as she all but ran from the store, throwing some half-assed excuse to Alice on her way out the door.

Bella ran as fast as she could to the one place she felt safe, the cliffs. The ground gave way to the Atlantic Ocean and while the rocks and pounding waves below had her heart thundering in her chest, her mind was clear. This was her safe place, the one place she felt she could be who she really was.

Sitting on the damp, cold grass, Bella dug the book out of her bag and held it in her hands. She ran her fingers over the pentagram on the cover, her heart beating frantically in her chest. She opened the book and gasped when she saw her mother's name written in flowing script inside the front cover. No wonder she connected with the book, it had belonged to her mother. Why did her Aunt not have it then? Why was it left in an antique shop instead of coming to her, its rightful owner?

Bella shook her head as she turned the page…and froze. The words jumped off the page, making her head spin as she read them. It was a spell, or a curse, she wasn't sure. But it only took her a moment to read what it said. And as she realized the power behind the words, her breath stilled in her chest and her life suddenly made sense.

For breaking love and breaking trust

The lies you spread were not enough

One Swan can live whilst the other dies

Until the Curse is rectified

The child Haled until the day

That eighteen summers pass away

The Handsome one is also blighted

He lives the life eternal nighted

To break the spell the two must meet

And share the love they both do seek

Until the time that that doeth pass

Eternally damned their lives shall last

For what you left my life you see

As is my will…so mote it be

**()*()**

Bella ran breathlessly into her Aunt's kitchen, frantic for answers. She found both Alice and Esme sitting at the table, waiting patiently as if they knew that she was coming. Bella slammed the book down on the table and stood with her hands fisted on her hips.

"What is this?" She demanded, her eyes accusing as she looked from face to face. Her cousin looked sad but her Aunt was resigned.

"Everything you read is true. That was your mother's Book of Shadows." Esme said, reaching her hand towards the book, but coming up empty when Bella snatched it off the table and held it to her chest.

"And what exactly is a Book of Shadows?" She asked, her knees suddenly unable to hold her and she sat down in one of the chairs.

"A Book of Shadows is a journal of sorts. We use it to keep track of our spells and rituals." Alice answered, making Bella's eyes flash to hers.

"And by 'we' you mean?" She breathed, suddenly nervous about the answer.

"Witches, Bella. Your mother and all of us…we're witches." Esme said and Bella felt the book slip from her fingers as everything went dark.

So…there it is…

See you Wednesday.

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Thoughts? Theories?