A/N: So I figured what kind of Wiccan would I be if I did not post an update on Samhain. Happy Halloween to you all!

Melanie beta'd this while suffering through a migraine so I can't thank her enough. We get another 'Awaken' chapter tomorrow! WOO HOO!

Dalloway5906 posted an epic 'Reboot' chapter…I mean it is crazy wonderful. So if you are not already reading it…go.

We get some more info in this one…excited to see what you think…

The Curse of the Swan was rec'd on robattack . wordpress . com I can't thank Midnight Cougar enough for the love…she rocks!

"Bella…Bella!" Esme shouted as she crouched down next to her on the floor. She was out cold. "Alice go into the garden and get me some rosemary."

Alice took off out the back door as Esme cradled Bella in her arms. She knew this would eventually happen. So many times over the years she had wanted to tell Bella about her fate, but she was bound by the promise she had made to Renee, even though she knew it was wrong. But the curse had made itself known, despite their attempts to keep Bella in the dark.

Alice came back in from the garden with a handful of the herb. Esme quickly stripped the needles off and crushed them in her palm, holding her hand under Bella's nose. Within a few seconds, the sharp fragrance of the plant had Bella coming around. Her eyes fluttered open and as she looked up into her Aunt's face, everything came crashing down on her.

The curse was real.

And if she understood it as she thought she did, that meant that she was going to die.

Soon.

*()*()*

"Explain it to me again." Bella demanded as she held a cup of warm rosemary-infused tea in her hands. They were sitting around the table with the book open in front of Bella. Esme looked fondly at the worn pages, remembering well the hours she had spent with Renee as they struggled to try and find a way to break the spell. But it had been useless and pointless.

"Almost 200 years ago, a woman named Victoria Mitchell fell in love with a man. He was beautiful and gracious, but he did not love her. He was in love with a farmer's daughter named Elizabeth Swan. Back then they called her a healer, but what she really was, was a witch. Victoria thought her common and unworthy of the attention of such a spectacular man, so she did everything she could to keep them apart. She was even desperate enough to hire a henchman to attack and brutalize poor Elizabeth. But the man stood by her, even after she became with child. He loved her. This enraged Victoria and she tampered with the fates and cursed them all. She cast the spell in the light of the full moon and then in her jealousy and despair, she threw herself off the cliff, strengthening the curse even more.

The legend goes that the second her body hit the water, the man awoke in his bed and discovered that everything had changed. He was no longer breathing…his life continued without the need for his heart to beat or his lungs to work. He was living a life eternal. No death, no breath, no soul.

Elizabeth looked for him but he disappeared when he realized what he had become. So she mourned the loss of her love until she birthed her daughter, two months later. My ancestor was there – see where it says in the curse that the child was 'Haled'? The women in our family have all had daughters right after the women in your family do so there is always someone there to care for the child. In the old days we served as wet nurses but now we are just caretakers for the baby until she is old enough. We had always explained the curse when the child was able to understand, but your mother was adamant that you not know about your fate. She wanted you to live a normal life." Esme said with a sigh. She wished she could have kept this from Bella but it was useless. The curse was strong and it wanted Bella to know her time was short. It was like a living, breathing embodiment of evil.

Bella just stared down at the book. Her mother's handwriting seemed to jump off the page, luring her in. She suddenly needed to know everything.

"What happened to him, the one she loved?" Bella asked and she watched Esme's expression change into something tragic.

"No one knows. Even his name has been forgotten. But his end of the curse is much worse, if that is even possible. Life eternal, never eating, never sleeping, just existing. Your mother and I spent years trying to figure out who he might have been or how to break the curse but…nothing. I'm so sorry darling." Esme soothed as she reached her hand towards Bella, but she was not done being pissed just yet.

"So Alice is going to have to get pregnant. Wait…I'm going to have to get pregnant? Well that just solves things, I'll just go on the pill or the shot or…"Bella ranted but Esme was already shaking her head.

"Nothing will change Bella. Even if we shipped you off to a desert island, somehow the curse will follow through." Esme said sadly.

"What if I just don't have sex?" She suggested but when she saw the color drain from Alice's face she knew something was up. "What Alice…what do you know?"

"Bella…" Alice started in a shaky voice but Esme jumped in.

"Bella, the choice of the pregnancy is not yours to make. It will happen whether you want it to or not, just like it did for Elizabeth."

Bella looked at the woman she thought was her Aunt, the woman who had kept a secret from her for her entire life. A woman who was now telling her her fate was sealed

"When?" Bella whispered, unable to make her voice any louder.

No one spoke.

"When?" Bella shouted, needing to have something to ground her to reality.

"You will give birth on your 18th birthday." Esme said.

Bella was never good at math but the quick subtraction she did in her head left her speechless.

"That means…" She mumbled and Alice nodded her head and spoke.

"That means that you'll be pregnant by the end of the month."

*()*()*

The sky lightened to that beautiful gray that spoke of clear skies and warm sun.

It would be a beautiful day.

He felt nothing.

Days bled into each other to the point of insanity.

He wanted it to end.

But nothing ever changed.

After the first century he begged for death.

For life.

For anything.

He searched and hunted for an answer but he was left wanting.

Now even his love for her had faded.

He was not even sure he ever truly loved her.

He had been infatuated with her.

With her beauty and goodness.

But did she ever really own his heart?

He was coming to the conclusion that she had not.

He rolled to his side.

The sand was abrasive under him but he did not feel it.

The only thing he felt was his mark.

The words written across his ribs burned and itched.

A constant reminder of his curse.

His plight.

Eternal night Eternal day

Until the rite has given way.

The key to all's the graceful bird

The only one your heart has heard

She continues to fade away

And death will take her where she lays

Your life

Your truth

You're living proof

That all is lost

And at what a cost

For all that you have done to me

As is my will…so mote it be.

His hand ghosted over the words that were tattooed in his skin.

His eyes opened and closed.

A reflex.

He was in a cave.

He needed somewhere to just…

Exist.

Another day.

Another night.

Pointless.

He heard voices from outside the mouth of his self-imposed grave.

He would have to move soon.

Egypt was getting too crowded.

So…excited to see what you think of the new info…

See you Wednesday for an extra chapter cause I love ya!