A/N:

A few hints of what may come are dropped in this chapter ;-)

Title: The Undecided

Author: MarieCarro

Beta Reader: SarcasticBimbo

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Good and Evil Witches. A Prophecy. An Unfulfilled Destiny. The Promise of a Leader. And it all rests on the shoulders of a "misunderstood" teenage girl.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Word Count: 3, 456

{Chapter 10}

Edward and I descended the stairs together and then he led me to the garden.

"They've spent every minute out there since you collapsed," he explained. "They're looking for clues as to who left the candle there."

I wanted to know too, and I especially wanted to know who the target was.

The second I stepped outside, I heard Renee's voice. "Oh, Bella, you're awake! Thank goodness," she exclaimed and ran up to me. She embraced me tightly, and then after she released me, she cupped my face in both her hands as she appeared to look for anything that was wrong. "How are you feeling?"

I lowered her hands from my face and tried to give a reassuring smile, but I was starting to feel anxious. "I feel fine. Edward told me what happened at the ritual. Has that ever happened before?"

Before Renee could answer, Charlie joined us. "I've only heard of it once," he said. He didn't hug me or look particularly relieved that I was up and about again. He was just as neutral as he always was.

"Who was that Witch?" I asked, turning to him.

"The Seer."

I frowned. "Who? I haven't read about a Seer in any of my books."

"That's because he was a secret kept by us Originals," Renee said with a scowl directed at Charlie. "The Seer was the Witch who predicted every prophecy ever known. Because of his immense power, we knew it was a necessity to keep him a secret or he would have been in danger."

"But his prophecies are known by every Witch in the world," Edward stated, speaking up for the first time. "Hasn't anyone ever questioned who made the predictions?"

"Of course! There has been quite a few," Charlie replied. "But they've been far between each other and have easily been convinced to stop with some … persuasion."

I didn't understand what Charlie was hinting at, but Edward did.

"You bewitched them," he said with a small smile that caused Charlie to smirk and shrug.

"We did what we had to do."

I suddenly realized we had gotten completely off track. What I wanted to know now was about the Seer's ability to hold the elements on his own. "Okay, back to the ritual. How was I able to channel the elements on my own? How did the Seer do it?"

"That's just the thing, though. How you did it, we don't know." Charlie looked annoyed and I wondered if it was because we had encountered something he had no knowledge of. "Not even a full-powered Witch has nearly enough power to hold more than one element at a time. The Seer had knowledge inside of him that was, unfortunately, never written down, and so even how he did it was a mystery. All of this was lost when he passed."

I looked at my mentors incredulously. "So we know nothing? Nothing at all?"

"I'm afraid so."

The four of us stood silent for a while, and then I sighed. "So what now?"

Renee placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I think that maybe you should write down what you felt when you channeled the elements. It would be good practice for the future."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Our community will expect you to expand our knowledge and history. There will be many books written about you and your accomplishments, so events and experiences written by you will be invaluable."

I gaped at her. "So now I'm expected to become an author as well? I can't write; I suck at it. There's a reason why I've never kept a diary!"

"Then I suggest you start writing one now," Charlie said indifferently.

I huffed and crossed my arms. I was starting to seriously feel fed up with the entire thing, and I hadn't even truly taken the job yet. However, I wasn't in the mood to argue, and when I noticed how both of my mentors kept glancing at Edward, I knew they wanted him to leave. I took the hint, grabbed Edward's hand and led him back inside.

Once by the front door, I turned to him, stood up on my toes and kissed him fervently. When we parted, we were both breathing heavily, and his hands were tight on my waist.

"As much as I hate to say it, you need to go," I said quietly, and while he frowned disapprovingly, I knew he also understood. "Thank you for all your help."

"I didn't exactly do much in the end," he replied. His hands were still clutching my waist, and he didn't relinquish his hold one bit.

"Maybe not, but you didn't hesitate to come here when I needed you."

"Only for you, Bella," he said and his eyes bore into mine.

I sighed, and removed his hands from my body, but I kept them in my own for a few seconds. "I don't want this to be the last time I see you."

Gently, Edward placed a stray lock of hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear. "Then it won't be," he promised.

"I love you. No matter what I choose, that will never change."

He leaned forward and gave me one last kiss before he went out the door. I hated that he hadn't said he loved me, too, even though I knew with all my heart that he did.

I could also understand why he didn't. It's not easy to walk away from the one you love, knowing, as he did, that it might be the last time despite any promises we made.

I didn't allow myself to cry. Instead I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and joined my mentors in the kitchen. It didn't matter that I had performed magic that was almost unheard of; I still had a massive amount left to learn, and only three weeks left.

I could only hope that the rest of my training would go smoothly up until the day when I had to choose.

§~TU~§

I woke up too early and felt full of anxiety. My heart was already pounding violently in my chest.

The day I had dreaded for so long was here; Samhain, and I wasn't ready. I still didn't know which side to choose, but I was out of time.

I remained in bed, just looking at the ceiling and hoping to feel the answer inside like Renee said I would. My spirit guide told me I'd already chosen, but what choice had I made? I still only wanted to be with Edward, but it felt wrong to give up on my good side.

Slowly, the dark outside shifted as the sun dawned, but I didn't move. I wanted to stay in bed all day, and just ignore the outside world, but since I knew that Renee would knock on my door and tell me to get up, I sat up and looked around the room.

I needed to center myself, and so I decided to try some meditation. Hopefully, it would help me focus.

Candles were already spread all over my room as I had made it a habit to practice single rituals whenever I was alone. My magic had improved immensely since I first began practicing, and I had pretty much perfected projection at this point.

I hadn't closed my curtains the night before, so there was too much light in the room to relax, and so I looked toward my window and envisioned the curtains closed. They effortlessly began to slide together on their own, and I smiled at my accomplishment.

Next, I concentrated on each candle, imagining them burning, and with a small 'poof' for each candle, they lit up one by one.

Meditating on the bed wasn't the ideal place, so I climbed down on the floor. Then I reached inside my nightstand drawer where I had a small bowl of dried and powdered lily of the valley, and crossed my legs as I centered my focus on the beating of my heart and my breathing.

I lit the dried herbs with the closest candle, blew out the flame so that they were only glowing and placed the bowl on the floor in front of me so that the scented smoke traveled up to my nose, and I took several deep inhalations while chanting.

By the power of the soul, soothing and strong,

Peace flows freely where I belong,

By the power of the body, hot, fierce and clean,

Balance the energies of all who live in-between,

Thunder clap and lightning strike,

Balance fill me up with peace and light

I continued to chant over and over for at least thirty minutes, and when I finally felt my heart calm down and my anxiety leave, I slowly opened my eyes and exhaled softly.

The herbs had burned up and the smoke and heavy scent filled the room. I felt calmer than I had felt for weeks, and that was why I stood up to blow out the candles and open the curtains back up without magic. It helped me to maintain my relaxed state of mind.

There was a soft knock on the door. I already knew it was Renee and I called that she could come in.

When she opened the door, I noticed how she had some black lace fabric draped over her arm. She smiled gently at me.

"Good morning, honey. How are you feeling today?"

I decided there was no reason to lie. "Nervous. Confused. Divided. I don't feel ready."

She nodded with a concerned frown. "It's normal. Most Witches feel that way when they go through the claiming."

"I doubt they have as much pressure on them as I do, though."

"True," she agreed, not downplaying the importance of the day by giving me perfunctory reassurances. "If it's any help at all, I'm positive you will make the right choice for you. Don't worry about what others expect of you, not today. You will have plenty of time to worry about that later. Today is all about what you want. What feels right for you."

I turned away from her and looked out through the window.

It was quiet outside, but the few houses close by were decorated for Halloween with pumpkins on the porches and ghosts hanging from the trees. The sight made me smile.

There would be many trick-or-treaters tonight, and I remembered how Angela and I used to dress up every Halloween even though we didn't go out ourselves. It was a tradition of ours up until the year we stopped being friends.

I hadn't dressed up for Halloween since I started to hang out with Edward's coven. They'd always been busy, and while I hadn't understood why I was never invited to their "get-togethers" before, it hadn't bothered me too much since they never talked about any of it. However, since I'd spent the last three Halloween's on my own, it had felt useless to make any real effort.

I knew differently now. I knew why I hadn't been invited and the significance of this day, not just for me personally, but for all Witches. My new insight made me want to rediscover my love for this holiday and it would help me to get my thoughts on something else for a moment.

"I want to decorate the house. It doesn't have to be all out, but I definitely want to carve a pumpkin," I told Renee while still looking outside at the endless decorations littering the other houses' lawns.

"Of course. Whatever you want. You might want to wait with getting dressed then. I'll hang your dress here on the door."

I turned around. "What dress?" I asked and saw how she took the fabric over her arm and hung it up to reveal a stunning floor-length black lace dress. It was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.

"It's a tradition for us Witches to dress up to the nines when we go through the claiming. In our community, it's the biggest event. Nothing tops it. I took the liberty to buy this for you before we moved here. I hope that's okay."

I nodded, feeling completely speechless as I reached out to touch the lace. I didn't know how, but Renee had found a dress that was me in every way possible. It had that edge to it that my style had evolved into after freshman year, it was subtly sexy, and of course, black. I absolutely loved it.

"I can't wait to put it on," I said, and it caused Renee to smile again.

"I'll start getting everything ready. You can change when you've carved your pumpkin."

She left and went down the stairs, and once I had put on a sweater over my tank top and pulled a pair of sweats over my legs, I followed her. She was already gone, but on the kitchen counter, there was already a huge pumpkin waiting for me, and I wondered if Renee had known for some time that this was something I'd want to do. I couldn't see any other explanation because there was no way she'd had the time to go out and purchase a pumpkin in the amount of time it took me to get dressed.

Instead of questioning it, I accepted it. I grabbed a sharp knife and a spoon out of one of the drawers and sat down in front of the pumpkin.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as I concentrated. The design had to be perfect, and I wouldn't stop until it looked exactly like I wanted.

It had been a heavy task to hollow out the huge orange fruit, but it kept me distracted, which was exactly what I was aiming for.

Finally, the pumpkin was sporting the classic laughing grin and I smiled at my creation as I wiped my sweaty hair out of my face with the back of my hand. I wanted to place it by the front door, but I was sticky and sweaty, so I decided to take a shower first, and also change into my gorgeous new dress, before doing so. I left the kitchen and went back upstairs to fetch a towel and then locked myself into the only bathroom in the cabin, which was opposite the living room, underneath the stairs.

The shower was absolutely what I needed, and I stayed under the spray just a few minutes longer than necessary to stall the inevitable just a bit. The time was drawing closer. I could feel it.

I re-dressed in my sweats and tank-top so that I could go to my room and change, but before I had the chance to climb the stairs, I felt a sharp pain in my midsection that I could only compare to the feeling of being stabbed with something very sharp. I lost my grip on the railing and fell down on the floor, my arms clutching my stomach. I couldn't breathe, but Renee must have heard me fall because she came running just a few seconds later.

"Bella?" She crouched down next to me and called for Charlie. "Oh goodness! Charlie, it's happening!"

She placed an arm around me to help me stand up and led me to the couch so I could lie down.

Charlie came up from the basement and looked at me with confusion written all over his face. "Now? But it's too early," he stated.

Renee turned to him with a glare. "Her powers don't seem to agree with you, so are you just going to stand there or are you gonna help?" she threw at him, but I couldn't have them fighting now. It felt as if I was dying but their fighting was still grating on my nerves.

I grabbed Renee's arm and she turned to me. "Don't … fight! Help … me!" It took everything I had to muster up the strength to get those few words out.

Both of them immediately ran into action. Renee hurried upstairs while Charlie grabbed the book with the claiming spell from the shelf.

When Renee came back down, she had the lead pot with her, and she had filled it with dried herbs which she lit on fire. Then she brought out the dagger she had placed in the lining of her pants and grabbed my hand. With a quick motion, she sliced my hand open, but instead of dripping my blood into the pot as I expected, she took a handful of the burning herbs and placed them in my palm over the bleeding wound.

However, there was no heat that could burn me and the slice didn't even sting.

Charlie joined us and held the book open to the section with the spell in front of me. I didn't know what he wanted me to do, and the shakes going through my body were so bad, I couldn't form the words to ask either.

Renee took my bleeding, herb-filled hand and pressed it, palm down, against the pages of the book.

"You have to choose now, Bella," she said. "There is no more time."

I was out of time, and I had no idea what to choose. I wasn't ready for it, but I had to be. Completely terrified, I looked at both spells.

Neither of them seemed to call more for me than the other because I didn't want to be either good or evil. I felt comfortable with both as they were each a half of me, and I just couldn't choose.

The spells didn't differentiate too much from each other, and after I memorized them both, I mashed them together in my head. I wasn't going to settle for one side if I could possibly have both.

I had already performed near impossible magic. Maybe I could do it again.

With new determination, I closed my eyes and let my choice fill me up from my toes to the top of my head.

On this day, on this hour, I call for Ancient Power

Good and Evil reside in me,

Give me both and set me free

"Bella, what are you doing?" Renee asked and tried to remove my hand from the book, but I held onto it tightly.

Let my powers rise,

Let it been seen through my eyes

"She's calling for both sides," Charlie exclaimed, but he didn't try to stop me.

"But that's unheard of," Renee cried out.

Hear it in my voice,

This is my choice!

There was a whirlwind around me that threw both Renee and Charlie backward as if it was protecting me, and I could feel how my strength came back to me. The pain disappeared and I felt filled with energy.

When it reached its peak, it took my breath away and I gasped for it. The whirlwind finally faded away, and I could breathe normally again.

"Wow," I said to myself when I understood it was over. I could feel the power, both good and evil, course through me.

Charlie and Renee looked at me with wide, wary eyes and waited as if they expected me to do or say something.

"What?" I asked.

Renee blinked. "Uh..." She swallowed and tried again. "How are you feeling?"

I gave her a pleased smile. "I feel great. Better than great, actually."

"Isabella, what you just did has never been done before," Charlie said from his spot on the floor.

I turned my attention to him. "Yes, and?"

"And we don't know what this means. You're the first Witch ever to claim power from both sides."

I shrugged because I already knew this. "I know what it means," I said confidently.

"You do?" Renee asked.

I nodded. "Yes, it means everything isn't divided between good and evil. You said yourself that my destiny is to lead Witches into the new age. This is the new age. And none of those old stupid rules apply to me."

Charlie and Renee were speechless as I turned around and left the room. There was only one person I wanted to meet right now, and I took my phone out of my pocket to call him. I wasn't going to text this time. I needed to hear his voice. It had been too long since the last time because he had left us alone after we said goodbye.

Only three rings went through before I heard him in my ear.

"Angel?"

A/N:

She's a full-power Witch now! Welcome to the deep-diving part of this story. Let us begin :-D