Thanks for all the positive reviews I've gotten! I've gotten some questions and this shall be my answer: to EsmeAliceRose, at this point, only Jasper is a vampire but he's still in the newborn wars. To Lily CullenSalvatore, there will be a few more chapters before they get separated.

Disclaimer: Still don't own it...


September 13th, 1917. Today is Alice and my sixteenth birthday. We had no party, for no one wanted to celebrate the "witch's" birthday. The only thing we got to recognize our birthday was a small cake.

Cynthia made Alice and I matching necklaces. She also had one, too. They were gold lockets with a black and white picture of the three of us together on one side, and a piece of each of our signature coloured ribbons. For Cynthia, a deep green, almost emerald one, for Alice, a light pink one, and for me, a baby blue one.

Mother gave us matching embroidered fans. Alice's was in pink and mine was in blue. Papa got us new dresses and parasols. They were, as usual, identical, but in different colours. Hers were yellow and mine were lilac.

After dinner, there was a knock on our door. Mother answered it, received two parcels, thanked the postman, and returned to the living room. She scowled when she saw the names and announced it to be for Alice and me. She handed us the ones belonging to us and we thanked her. It was a long white box with a red ribbon tied around it. I looked at the name of the sender. It was from Edward. I gasped from shocked and turned to Alice. She was smiling and looking at me.

"On the count of three?" we asked at the same time.

"One," I started.

"Two," she counted.

"Three!" we all but shouted together and pulled off the ribbon. I pulled off the top of the box and it revealed I dozen roses with little white freesia's surrounding them. The bouquet was held together by a pretty bracelet with small, diamond hearts as charms. A note was sticking out from the top of the flowers.

To my Bella,

I apologize for not being there on your birthdays, but I hope this will make up for some of it. The charms are my mothers. She has many of them so don't worry about me spending too much money. You deserve it anyhow. Greatest wishes to you, my love. Happy birthday. Edward.

My eyes filled with tears and I smiled, reading the note. I looked over to Alice who had almost the same expression. Papa and Cynthia smiled, guessing who had sent the gifts. Mother glared at the gifts, looking as if she wanted them to burst into flames. I took off the bracelet from the bouquet and put it on as Alice copied me. Cynthia had filled two vases with water and put our flowers in them. Alice's flowers turned out to be a large sunflower, surrounded by lilies. We went up to our room and placed the vases on our desks before retiring for the day.

oOo

The rest of the month passed in a blur, and October blending into November. I soon found myself in November, almost Thanksgiving Day. Alice, Cynthia, and I were sent on many errands, buying foods and décor, sending cards, and the occasional pumpkin pie to deliver. Edward hadn't returned my letter, which got me extremely worried. Alice assured me that she had 'a feeling' he was fine and was just busy. As Thanksgiving arrived, I found myself waking up to Mother pounding on the door.

"Girls, get up! You need to make a last minute errand. Mary Alice! Isabella! Cynthia! Wake up!" I got up and opened the door.

"I'm up, Mother. I'll wake Alice up too," I told her, and she proceeded to pound on Cynthia's door.

I walked to the closet and got out the dresses Alice and I received on our birthdays. I also took out our shoes, underclothes, stockings, and coats.

"Alice," I shook her, "Alice, wake up."

"Five more minutes Jazzy," she mumbled and rolled over. Jazzy? I thought

"Umm..Alice, you need to get up now," she didn't respond.

"Alice! Major Jasper Whitlock mysteriously returned from war and is at our door!" I half-yelled at her.

"What?" she shot right up and looked around.

"I knew that would get you up," I laughed while she sat there, confused, "Mother needs us to go on a last minute errand with Cynthia. We need to get up and get dressed," I told her.

"Alright," she sighed and got out of bed.

We helped each other get into our dresses and she sat in the vanity and I helped her do her hair. I combed through her dark hair and tied it with a pale pink ribbon in a half ponytail. She did the same to mine, though with a light blue ribbon. We put our shoes on, grabbed our sunhats, and went downstairs. We were greeted by Cynthia at the bottom of the stairs.

"Mother needs us to get some more potatoes, carrots, and asparagus," she informed.

We headed out of the house, down the street and towards the marketplace. We spotted Ms. Bates turning the corner of the street, and went around the block to avoid her.

"Quickly!" Alice shouted, giggling. Cynthia and I ran as best as we could in our heels to where Alice was hiding. Although we were making quite a racket, we thankfully, didn't get caught running away from her.

We ignored all the stares and whispers when we got to the marketplace and we each grabbed one thing and met at the cashier. We paid and headed back through the alleyways, thinking it would be faster. We walked quickly and avoided eye contact with the homeless people residing there. We were almost out when an old man stopped us.

"What are you pretty ladies doin' back ere'" he slurred. I tucked my head and tried manoeuvring around him, with no avail.

"Now don't go anywhere till' you answer my question," he glared.

Cynthia hugged the sack of potatoes she was carrying, and looked as if she were about to cry. Alice, taking notice of this too, grabbed my hand. I turned to Alice and looked her straight in the eye, wishing for something to happen. The man looked at us with confusion and frustration.

"What does yous' two think you're doin'" he said harshly. Suddenly, he stumbled backwards.

"Did one o' you just pushed me?" he looked ready to kill. I felt my heart pounding, and not a second later, I felt Alice's too. There was a spark between our grasped hands and the man flew backwards. He got up, dazed. His eyes widened in fear as he realized that we were the sisters of the rumours.

"Witches," he gasped and the other homeless people, who had gathered around us, watching, gasped with him. They all slowly backed away from us and I as I pulled Alice and Cynthia toward the end of the alley. We stayed silent for the rest of the short walk left. Right before we entered the house, we made a pact not to tell anyone.

We came home to find the house empty. Papa had left to make some last minute charges at the bank, and Mother left a note on the dining table, saying she would be back soon for she had to help Mrs. Jamison, down the street, with her turkey. We set our items on the kitchen counter, not knowing what else to do with it, and Cynthia headed up the stairs.

A while later, Papa entered with Mother right behind him. They both looked furious.

"What is wrong with you two?" Mother yelled angrily, "Going into the alley? With your little sister, no less! How irresponsible could you two get? And not just that! No! You just had to prove all the rumours true didn't you?" Alice opened her mouth to talk but got cut off by Papa.

"I could hear the gossip spreading," he said calmly, "People stared, whispered, and pointed at me, and your mother." He frowned. His calmness was worse than Mother's wrath.

"I have a good mind to send you girls straight to bed without supper," she continued, "However it is Thanksgiving, so you shall go right to your rooms until I call you down for supper, and return right after."

"Yes, Mother," Alice and I replied. We trudged up the stairs and as we got to our door, Cynthia appeared at hers.

"I'm sorry," she looked at us apologetically.

"For what?" Alice frowned, "You didn't do anything, it is our fault." With that, we turned and went into our room.

"Well," Alice said, breaking the tension between us, "At least she didn't forbid us to talk."

"True," I said, smiling a little, "How is 'Alice's wonderland'? Has Jasper been the star of it?" I mocked.

"Definitely!" she said, unashamed, "I'm trying to picture exactly how he looked when he was alive. He had the softest, honey-blonde hair, the brightest blue eyes, a height of exactly six feet tall, and the cutest smile," she closed her eyes with a smile on her lips.

"I agree, Alice, you two would have been a perfect match," I informed her.

"Just like you and Edward!" she exclaimed. I blushed.

"Unfortunately," she went on, "Unlike you and Edward, Jasper and I will never be," she looked down sadly.

"But," I cut in, "As you told me a while ago, what is meant to happen, will happen. You have to trust fate," I quoted her.

"He's dead! There's no possibility of an 'us'" she complained.

"Maybe not in this life, Alice, but the next," I told her.

"Perhaps," she said, not totally trusting me.

The sun was on the horizon when we were called for supper. Mother glared at Alice and I as we sat. Papa didn't look up, and Cynthia looked at us apologetically. We said grace and waited for Papa and Mother to take their food.

"This smells great, Mother," Alice said.

"Yes, very much so. Thank you for making it, Mother," I followed, understanding that Alice was sucking up to her. Mother nodded curtly and looked down at her plate. Conversation flowed, excluding Alice and I.

About halfway through our meal, Alice's fork clattered onto her plate. She got a distant look in her eyes, and gasped. No! I thought in panic. Not at the dinner table! She mustn't have a vision in front of Mother! Cynthia seemed to think the same thing and caught my gaze, looking at me with panic. Mother glared at Alice and called out to her. Papa froze and turned to Alice.

"Mary Alice Brandon-Swan!" she yelled, livid. Alice snapped out of her vision and looked at Mother, terrified.

"S-s-sorry, M-mother," she stuttered, "P-please forg-give me f-for dozing o-off," she lied, still stuttering. Mother stared angrily at Alice.

"Go to your room this instant! I do not want to see your face for the rest of the night!" I thought I heard her mutter 'witch' to herself, but I wasn't sure, though Cynthia's eyes widened in shock. Alice must have heard it too, for tears filled her eyes and she left the table immediately.

"Isabella," she turned her death glare to me, "Go put you sister's plate in the sink. Throw out the food left on her plate," she commanded me. I got up without a word, picked up Alice's plate, and did as I was told. When I was done, I sat back down, thinking of how Mother could call her own daughter a witch. I became so angry, though I did not show it. All my inner-anger was channelled towards my mother. Suddenly, she fell of her chair, writhing. Papa and Cynthia got up and rushed to her aid.

"What's wrong, dear?" Papa asked. I was frozen in my seat. I was seeing red, still angry at what Mother had done to Alice. Cynthia glanced at me. Mother, eyes wide in fright, caught it, and as she glanced at me, so did Papa.

"Witch," she mouthed, and continued to thrash around on the floor.

"Whatever you're doing to her, stop it now!" Papa demanded. I never thought Papa would believe the rumours going around.

"I'm not, I can't," I stammered.

"Now!" he shouted. Papa never shouts. That broke whatever made Mother writhe in pain. She sat up, gasping, Papa rubbing her back, and Cynthia holding her hand.

"I do not want to see you, or your sister for the rest of the week!" she yelled at me. I dashed up the stairs and into the room. I threw the door open and slammed it shut. Alice looked at me, with tears running down her face, startled.

"It happened," she stated, taking in my expression.

"You saw that?" I asked, trying to keep the tears from falling. She nodded simply and came up to me and hugged me.

"What are we going to do, Bella? Our own mother thinks we're witches! Even Papa believes it to some degree now," she cried.

"I don't know, Alice," I pulled away from her and dragged her to my bed. "Maybe they will ignore what happened today," I said hopefully. Alice shook her head.

"No, you know that won't happen. They'll send us away. Papa might stall her for a while, but they'll send us to an asylum, or a ministry," she cried harder.

We didn't talk much after that. We were both thinking of ways to somehow, some way, escape our fate. We couldn't run, for we didn't have any money, or supplies. There wasn't anywhere we could hide. The only thing we could do, was try to convince Mother and Papa that we didn't control what happened, and that Alice really was daydreaming.

I fell asleep that night, holding a crying Alice in my arms, while crying myself, frightened for our lives. We both knew that things would only go worse from here.


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