I think this is the longest I haven't updated since I started writing fanfiction. I'm really sorry, guys, but moving is a bitch, especially when you're dealing with college midterms at the same time. This isn't the best chapter I've written, but the next chapter will be amazing. Read on and enjoy!


Jez's POV

"I'm a what?" Nessie gasped. Her eyes were wide, just staring at me. I guess I couldn't really blame her. From her perspective, this was completely unheard of. She knew about vampires, but many vampires nowadays had no idea that witches even existed. You can blame that on the Volturi.

Nessie and I were sitting at our table in the cafeteria, surrounded by the normal human mortals of this insignificant school. They were all so loud, they could never hear what Nessie and I were talking about. Which was a good thing, considering the subject.

"Yes, Nessie, you're a witch. A pretty strong one, too," I said calmly, like I was talking about the weather. Nessie calmed down a bit, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I can't believe this. Witches are real? And I'm one? But I'm already half-vampire and half-human! I don't want to be even more weird!" she exclaimed.

"You aren't that weird. There are hundreds of witches in the world," I replied simply.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" Nessie asked reluctantly.

"Like this," I said, and summoned witchfire into my hand. I used my body to shield the sight of the humans, but let Nessie see it clearly. The witchfire was a beautiful sapphire blue, then it faded into a lovely amethyst. Next it turned crimson red. Nessie's eyes went wide.

"Okay, I believe you," she said, completely shocked, staring at the wonder in my palm. She was quiet for a moment. I let her have the time to absorb what I had said. It was quite a bit to take in so quickly.

"You're a strong witch, too, aren't you?" Nessie asked finally.

"Sugar, I'm the strongest," I laughed. Nessie just nodded.

"You helped me with those girls because I was a… fellow witch, correct?" she asked, just as calmly as before.

"I protect my Sisters, whether they know about me or not," I said seriously. Nessie nodded solemnly again. I smiled. She was a smart girl. She would learn the ways of the Goddess quickly. If she wanted to, that is.

"Would you like me to train you in the ways of the Goddess?" I asked simply.

Nessie let her hand brush against my arm and let me see her thoughts. So she already knew how to share her thoughts with other people. Did she know how to take the thoughts of others yet?

Nessie had imagined human sacrifice, rituals that had a Satanic feel to them, living a life in evil and darkness. Goddess damn it, her parents were Christian. Stupid, narrow-minded…

I replaced her fears with my memories. She gasped as my recollections flooded her mind. I remembered the feel of a bonfire burning in front of me during the Summer Solstice, the delicious heat against my skin. I remembered the drums thrumming around me, beating in time with my heart beat, beating in perfect harmony with the natural world around me. I let the memories take us both back to that perfect summer day.

I let her feel the cool grass beneath my feet as I danced around the bonfire, dancing for the glory of my Goddess. It was a ritual that worshipped nature and our place with it.

I was a witch, not a Satanist. And the same went for my new Sister.

Nessie smiled widely, dazed. "Is that really what it's like?"

"Yes," I answered happily. "It's one of the best feelings in the world, when you're one with nature like that. You dance for the Goddess, you dance for the earth, and you dance for your Sisters. You dance for balance in the universe."

"What would I have to learn?" she asked dreamily.

"I would teach you the laws of our kind. I would teach you about the rituals, the holidays, the basics of Craft, and then we'll figure out what you're good at to determine what kind of witch you'll be," I replied.

"You're a fighter of some sort, aren't you?" Nessie asked reluctantly.

"Yes," I answered sadly. "But I want to make something instead of destroying everything."

"You want to be a better person," Nessie said. "You should be proud that you had the strength to walk away from that life."

I blinked. Was I proud that I walked away? I wasn't sure.

"So," I began, "tell me about yourself."


Nessie spent the rest of the school day telling me all about her family and friends. I wanted to laugh when she talked about her Jacob. It was a little possessive. I loved it. Even without knowing she was a witch, she didn't take shit from a male. Good.

I was a little surprised when she told me her mother was still alive as a vampire. Every halfling I had heard of had killed the mother before or during birth. I guess miracles happen.

"I love my family, but they control everything I do," Nessie told me as we left our last class, heading for the parking lot. "I've never done anything on my own. There's always been someone there to help me or do it for me outright. I want something that is mine, you know? Something they can't do for me, something I can do for myself."

"You're a witch now, sugar," I laughed. "Not only can you do whatever the hell you want, your family couldn't help you with Craft if they tried. Vampires are dead things. They can't follow the rhythms of the earth's seasons like we can. When a witch is bitten and turned into a vampire, she takes the strongest gift she once had with her into that life… and she leaves everything else behind."

"Both of my parents are gifted vampires," Nessie gasped. "Could they have been witches?"

I frowned. "Your mom, maybe. But males cannot be fully gifted witches. Some males receive half-gifts, where they can do a few simple parlor tricks, but nothing like us. Your father might have had a half gift when he was human, if he's a gifted vampire now."

"He is. My dad can read minds, and my mom is a mind shield," Nessie explained.

"Owned! So the only mind your dad can't read is your mother's?" I laughed. "Sucks for him. Where did you park?"

We walked onto the crowded parking lot. Nessie smiled sheepishly.

"I don't drive. My parents drive me everywhere. I told you, they're beyond over-protective," she explained sadly.

I glanced around the parking lot, my senses open to vampires. There was one near the curb, about three hundred feet away, sitting in a silver Volvo. Why are they only driving a Volvo? How… low-key.

"Is your mom driving that silver Volvo over there?" I asked, nodding my head towards the inconspicuous vehicle.

"Oh, yeah! That's her," she said, waving at the car. The gorgeous brunette driving waved back, smiling widely. Nessie turned back to me. "Where are you parked?"

I smiled. "See that giant group of boys huddled around that pretty Boss 302?"

Nessie glanced at the horde of idiotic boys admiring my car and sighed. "I thought the Boss wasn't coming out until 2012."

"To the public," I laughed. "I'm just special that way. And using your powers to help people gives you a lot of public connections."

"You're a car fanatic, aren't you?" Nessie said exasperatedly.

"Hell yeah!" I smiled widely. "Who doesn't like a shiny car that goes two hundred miles per hour?"

"You'll get along great with my dad and Jake," she muttered.

"No I won't," I said simply. I placed my hand on her shoulder and said telepathically, I hate stupid, arrogant males. I'll probably just kill them.

Nessie rolled her eyes. "Let's try to avoid that, okay?"

"Fine. See you tomorrow," I laughed. Nessie walked over to the Volvo and got in. Her mother wasted no time in asking a barrage of questions about me. Nessie must have had a really hard time here. That was going to change.

I headed for my car. I tried to push my way through the mob around my pretty car, but to no avail. I started roughly shoving them out of the way.

"That's it! All of you morons, get the hell away from my car!" I hollered furiously. "If there's one scratch on the paint, I'm taking it out on all of your scrawny asses!"

The crowd cleared pretty quickly after that, and I drove my shiny new car back to my new house.

I lived halfway between Forks and the La Push reservation. According to the state, it was unincorporated land. According to the shapeshifter wolf pack, it was Quileute land. I didn't mind sharing the land, as long as the wolves let me be.

I had built a two story Victorian home, complete with a three-story turret, on ten acres of land. I had a large field for a backyard, about two acres, and the rest was dense forest. The left-hand side of my yard was dedicated to my new garden. The house was large, about three thousand square feet if you included the small attic and basement. The house was painted off-white with forest green trim. The front door was forest green, too.

I hopped up the steps and looked at the plants I kept on the front porch. They were pretty green things, growing vigorously in the late autumn air.

"Hello, darlings," I greeted them. Plants grew better when you talked to them. They were living things, and they thrived on contact with other living things. Singing was the best way to get them to grow.

I hummed a little Celtic tune while I unlocked my front door and stepped inside. My house was finely decorated with items from all over the world. I had cherrywood cabinets from Tibet, woven rugs from India, a china set from France, and all sorts of other goodies I had collected during my travels around the world.

I dropped my bag on the side table next to the front door, and went out to the side entrance in the kitchen. I opened the door to my private sanctuary.

I walked into a wonderland. The green plants towered above me, showering me in green leaves and flowers in too many colors to name. There were wooden fences and archways for the ivy-like plants to climb and wrap around. I had a small stone pool with some white and pink lilies floating in the clear, clean water in one corner.

This was my best garden yet. Everything grew so quickly. It was probably due to the magic of the Old Place. It was hard to believe I had accomplished all this in two months. As soon as the contractors had taken off, I had set to work, and this amazing place was my reward. It was something to build, create. It was something I could be proud of.

It was a great place to practice my Craft. I could meditate here, or scry for the future. This place was connected to nature like no other place could be.

I took a seat at the base of the weeping willow tree that sat next to the pond. I let the long leaves hide me from the rest of the world, and cleared my mind to meditate. Tomorrow would come soon enough.


Seth's POV

I was just hanging at the Cullen's place with Nessie and Jake. They were sitting with me, watching TV.

Okay, they were staring at each other with that loving look and I was watching TV, trying to ignore them. Watching them stare like that got nauseating after a while.

Edward walked in and glared at the couple. As soon as Nessie was fully grown (about a month ago), Nessie had started to notice Jake as more than a friend. Jake was clueless, and Edward was not happy. I couldn't blame him, I guess. It must be hard to watch your little girl grow up so fast.

Edward gave me a small, grateful smile and sat down next to me.

Nessie jumped up and said, "Jake, I need a ride to school. Will you take me?"

"Of course," Jake replied automatically, and got up to follow her out the door.

"Seth, do you know why Nessie has been avoiding me?" Edward asked suddenly.

I jumped, surprised. I wasn't expecting that. Why would Nessie be avoiding Edward?

Edward looked at me. Oh, right. Mind-reading.

"She met a new friend at school a week ago," Edward explained sadly. "A girl named Jezebel Blackwood. It seems like whenever Nessie even begins to have thoughts about the girl, she immediately thinks of something else. I'm wondering what she's hiding from me. What could she possibly have to hide?"

"Her new friend is a serial killer?" I suggested with a shrug.

Edward gave me that look again. Right, I'll stop now.

"Bella has met Jezebel when she went to pick Nessie up at school, and can't figure out what they're hiding. When I tried to pick Nessie up from school, Jezebel had already gone home, and Nessie was thinking about something completely different. I'm worried," Edward said.

"Of course you're worried. You're a dad, it's your job," I said simply.

"Thank you, Seth," Edward smiled. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Would you and Jacob go pick Nessie up today? Perhaps the two of you can discover something Bella couldn't," Edward asked.

"Of course, dude. Whatever you need. I just don't know how much Jake and I can find out for you that Bella hasn't," I said.

"Anything will help at this point," Edward said, looking more relaxed than before. "I appreciate this, Seth."

"No problem. I doubt we'll find much out, though. I mean, she's just a human girl, right?"


Oh, is Seth in for a big surprise! Next chapter, Jez meets Seth! What do you think is going to happen? Please, review! I'll update faster!