A/N: Alright. So I know I haven't posted in a while, but my teachers have been loading me with so much work it's insane. I finally decided that tonight, I was gonna finish this chapter, damnit! Because someone inspired me to, even though he doesn't know it. Anyway, enjoy, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Chapter Nine

"Amber! Amber, darling, are you alright?" my mother looked me over frantically, trying to find any visible signs of harm on me, although she wouldn't find one. All harm was inside my mind.

"I'm fine, mom. Really," I muttered, not enjoying the attention once more. My mother didn't look convinced, however, and still looked at me with a worried look in her eye.

I finally worked up the courage to ask the questions that were burning inside me, begging to be asked. However, I started with the easiest questions, the one I already knew the answers to but only needed to hear aloud.

"Who is Gwenaël?" I asked. I looked to my father, and he knew that I knew. But he still took his time composing his answer. When he finally spoke, it was in a short, brief statement that did not shock me. My father was always a man of little words, while my mother made long, drawn out speeches.

"I am," he said. I nodded. I knew that, I could handle it.

My father hated being in the spotlight, I knew, so I turned to my mother next.

"How did you get here so quickly? I wasn't unconcious for that long...was I?" I looked to Jasper, silently questioning.

"Only about two minutes," He said, and I nodded. There was no way that they could have known where I was, not to mention gotten here so quickly, without other means.

Like, say, being a vampire.

But I could only really assume that my father was a vampire. My mother, I knew, was completely human. I'd seen her injured before, seen her age. My father had not aged since I could remember.

My father answered this time, much to my suprise. His answer was brief once more. "I ran. I carried your mother, much like how the boy carries you."

I couldn't blush, even though my father knew about mine and Jasper's relationship. That was something that would usually embarrass me for some reason. But I couldn't. Not right now.

I was right.

My father was a vampire.

So what did that make me? Half-vampire? Or was I adopted? That would explain why I didn't look like either of my parents.

But what my mother said next shocked me to the core. It shocked me more than the fact that my father was a vampire, because this was something I had never imagined.

It was surreal.

"I am a witch, Amber."

And she changed her appearance suddenly, and her usual plain countenance changed.

A woman of no more than what appeared to be twenty-eight stood before me, with shock silver hair and red eyes. Her facial features were the exact same as my mother's, but she did not have the small tell-tale signs of age that her face had shown just moments before.

My jaw almost literally hit the floor, and even the gathered Cullens stared a bit.

Jane, however, did not. And it angered me so that she knew about this while I did not.

"W-w-what?!" I finally managed to stammer.

"A witch, darling. That is what I am," my mother smiled bitterly at me. "And if we had told you from the beginning, we could have avoided this whole mess! If you had been raised the way I wanted--" but my mother got cut off there by a stern look from my father. It was obvious I was not supposed to know these things, but I wanted to anyway.

"Raised the way you wanted?" I asked.

My father seemed to give up, knowing he would lose to my mother. When she wanted something, she got it.

"I wanted you raised in the ways of a witch. I wanted you brought into the magic at age four, raised in the society, and to go through the ceremonies that all witches go through. I did not want you to be left out of it, if only because of your vampire half. You would be both; witch and vampire, forever immortal. But since you were only half witch...we did not know. So your father and I decided that you would be raised as a human, to know nothing of either of our kinds. Perhaps if you had known your true nature, then we could have avoided this happening." She glanced towards the Volturi members, who were watching us with the same amount of enthusiasm that you would give a TV show you'd never even heard of.

So Jane was right. I wasn't human at all. There was no trace of human blood in me.

But I was beginning to wonder.

"If I am half-vampire, why don't I have any vampiric qualities? Why can't I run like they can or lift the things they can?" I queried. I wanted to be like Jasper, to be the same as him.

Damnit, I wanted that so bad.

"We do not know," my mother said. "There are several theories we have come up with. The witch blood could be dominant in you," my mother said proudly. "Or the vampiric powers could be latent. They might not show until you reach full maturity. Or," and I could tell that my mother did not like this next theory, by the way she srunched her nose a bit,"Or you could be a mere human, and the powers canceled themselves out."

I nodded, but I really hoped that the powers just hadn't shown up yet.

"However, we know that you have your witch abilities," my father said. "As an infant, you were always making things blow up or change shape, among other things," he smiled.

So...I could do stuff like that?

How cool was that?!

And Jasper knew I was excited about the idea that I could do something special, because he grinned and squeezed my shoulders, and I turned my head to beam at him. I turned back to my mother, and began asking questions in rapid succesion.

"So what kind of stuff can I do? Can I change my shape? My appearance, like you did? Can I blow stuff up? Can I put spells on people? Oh, mom, this is so cool!" I gushed. I was so happy.

I was special.

My mother smiled, and she too seemed happy. "You must learn to master your powers," she said. "We will take you to the Council to grant you permission so that you may begin your training."

And I was elated. I could learn to do special things, and I hoped to high heavens that my vampire powers would show soon.

Jane laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. It was the laugh of someone who was used to killing. "We cannot allow that," she said. "This creature is a danger to us, no matter her bloodlines. She must be taken care of." And the way she said that made me knew exactly what she meant.

They wanted to kill me, and a part of me somehow knew that if they found a great enough reason, they could get away with it.

Do you have any idea how tempted I was to end that on a cliff hanger? Seriously. It was torture to end it with a decent sentence.

But I'm a reader too, and so I know how terrible it is when someone leaves it on a cliffhanger. It's torture.

And speaking of which, I really just love throwing everyone for a loop and adding the witchy-ness. ^^ But don't blame me, really. It's all Jillian. She created the parents herself, so she's the one you can go kill because the Volturi are after Amber.

I'm totally innocent, people. I swear!