Chapter 11)

Training to be a witch is harder than you think. You need to have confidence in yourself and great concentration. I've been able to master many spells since Nick and the others have begun teaching me two weeks ago. I still have a lot to learn before I become the leader, though.

My appearance did change like Nick said it would. My hair lightened to caramel from the dark brown it used to be. But there wasn't any highlights like the other girls. My height changed a lot. At first the pain wasn't too bad, but after a few hours I was in excruciating pain. I didn't shrink to the four foot ten Nick said I would. I ended up shrinking to be five foot one. You'd think three inches wouldn't be that bad but I'm telling you, it was killer. Nick thinks I stopped at five foot one because I was a female leader. He thinks as a leader, I have to be taller than the females and around the same height as the males in order for other people to respect me. His logic made some kind of sense… I guess.

I haven't been able to test my speed yet and it's something I look forward to. Nick says we are fast, but hasn't told me how fast. He says I can find out on my own. I texted Leah when I woke up and asked if she wanted to race tonight. She agreed eagerly. I'm not really sure what to expect, though. Will I be faster or slower?

I'm constantly working out with the guys. They have me punching bags and hitting dummies with various weapons to make sure I can hit a person if it ever turns out I cannot use my spells. Rayne says there are some witches out there who work with dark magic and try to perfect spells that affect the mind. Like breaking concentration or conjuring hallucinations in the mind.

I shake my head as I come back from my thoughts. I have to focus. It's a training session. I take a deep breath and face the wall where a dummy is propped up. Gripping the handle of the blade, I fling it at the dummy. With a small thud, it strikes the heart. I grimace. I cannot imagine this being another person. If it comes down to it, would I be able to go through hurting someone or even possibly killing them? I stride over to the dummy and rip the blade out. Today I had one of my training sessions. I take another deep breath and raise my hand getting ready to throw it when my phone rings.

Groaning, I lower the blade and drop it onto the mat below me. I sprint across the room and pick up my phone. My breath catches in my throat when I realize it's Edward.

Edward. I haven't talked to him in two weeks. They've been in Alaska taking care of the rogue vampires. They are taking their time which doesn't make sense since they have the wolves. Hesitantly, I pick up the phone. "Hey, Edward," I say. I hear everyone upstairs stop what they are doing. Oh, I forgot to mention. I found out we also have super hearing like the wolves and vampires. It can get pretty annoying.

"Hi, Love. It's been awhile since I've heard your voice. I've tried calling a few times."

"I know. Just been busy with school," I breathed.

"Are you okay? You don't sound okay?" Edward questioned.

I bite my lip. "I'm just a little bit under the weather. Charlie has me staying home today and tomorrow," I lie. As much as I want to scream at him and tell him I don't want to talk to him. I can't. Because I do want to talk to him. But I am also pissed off.

"Oh. I hope you feel better, though."

"Me too," I whisper.

"I was calling to let you know that they are insisting on bringing the Volturi in to help us. It's getting worse down here. Alice said that Aro would read one of our thoughts after he shakes our hands and find out about you. Which means putting you in danger. I don't want that."

I grow angry. Are they freaking kidding me? They are sitting here taking their time while having more attention growing by the second because of the rogue newborns. They need to be dealt with it or else the Volturi will stop in, with or without an invite. I begin to breath in and out through my nose. I can feel my face heating up and I knew I had to calm down. Nick said getting angry would cause more harm to me if I don't know all of the spells. If I get angry my mind could take over and mess with spells I don't even know. Which can backfire. "You need to take care of the vampires before Aro decides to step in without consent. Then you'll be in deep shit."

"Love, if I could-" Edward was cut off mid sentence by me.

"I said take care of it. Go do your thing. Then come home." I hang up without saying goodbye. I really need to hit something right now. I throw my phone across the room and it shatters against the wall. I move towards the punching back. Who does he think he is? Punch. He leaves without telling me. Punch. Then lies about it before telling the truth. Punch. And then keeps changing the time they are coming back. Punch. And why is this making me so fucking angry? One last punch and the bag flies off the hook, landing on the mat.

The silence upstairs annoys me. I'll just practice my dodging and weaving. "Nick, fight with me," I growl out. I need an even fight. Not one where I would always be the winner after punching the object that doesn't even fight back. I hear a few gulps as Nick comes downstairs. I pick up my stick that was leaning against the wall and kick the other one to him. "Don't go easy on me," I demand.

Without a word, Nick nods as he picks up the stick and lunges at me. I pull mine up, blocking his and ducking under it to swipe at his feet. He easily jumps over my legs and pulls back his stick to strike again. Our sticks hit each other's with a loud thwack. It vibrates off the walls. I can feel the tension in my muscles start going down. I'm beginning to relax. The anger is dissipating. Yet, I'm not done fighting with Nick. I want to show him I am ready to finish my training. I am ready to lead. It's time to end this quickly.

Nick steps back and then moves forward again with the stick aimed at hitting my side. I act as if I don't see it. But at the last second, I jump as it got close to my side and quickly came back down using my thighs to trap it. I twist as soon as I have it in between my legs. This causes Nick to fall over. I land on my side and roll into a crouch. I lunge at Nick and put the stick against his neck. "I win," I pant while saying.

There's a clap from the stairs. I look over to see Rayne smiling proudly. "Yes, you do win. Nick how does it feel to be beaten by your cousin?" I smile brightly and toss my stick to the side as I hold my hand out to Nick.

He rolls his eyes and takes my outstretched hand to get up. "Good job, Bella Bear. I think we can say you've done enough physical training. Now it's time to finish learning the last of the spells. I'm going to teach you how to heal yourself." Rayne tosses Nick a knife. I watched as Nick slices his palm. Within seconds, it's healed as if nothing happened. "Healing small wounds like this is easy and barely takes any concentration. When it comes to bigger wounds, it's possible you might need another person to help you. You really need to concentrate when you are healing yourself or someone else. We'll start small for today. Here," Nick holds out the knife to me.

I cautiously take the knife from him. I run my fingers along the blade then handle, admiring the craftsmanship. The handle is handmade. Is this blade hand made to?

Yeah, my grandfather made it. Passed it down to my dad who passed it along to me. Rayne thinks to me.

I smile at the family tradition. I place the blade against my skin. I wondered if it would hurt. Will it feel like a papercut? I wince slightly as I slice my skin open and the air hits the opened wound. I watch the blood ooze out of my cut and quickly recognize the rusty smell. I instantly worry about fainting. I have never been good with blood before. But I'm surprised when the nausea never comes. "Um, now what?" I question.

"Now, I want you to concentrate and say the healing spell in your head. Remember the healing spell from the last book you read?"

I nod and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. I exhale slowly before inhaling again. Doing this allows me to clear my mind so I can concentrate better. Oh, great goddess of the moon; Please heal this body you gave birth to. Let this energy flow into the wound and heal it right.

Neither scar nor pain in sight. I recite the healing spell as I picture the wound on my hand stop bleeding and begin to close up. I reopen my eyes to see the wound completely healed. I'm beaming by the time I look at Nick.

Rayne's POV

I watch in awe as Bella heals herself. She's a fast learner, much faster than any of my brothers or sisters. Claire took five months training to be a witch. Ryan took eight months. I, myself, took up to a year training. Where Bella is at now, I didn't get to that point until my sixth month. She's only been training for two weeks. It's no wonder why she's set to take over as leader. She has the blood of two witches flowing in her- meaning she's a natural.

"Well done. But I think it's time to call it a day. If I remember correctly, you promised a certain wolf friend of yours a race," I wink at her.

I love seeing her blush. It's very cute. "Yeah, I better get going," she announces as she gathers the broken remains of her phone. She gracefully run up the stairs. It's hard to believe that she was ever a klutz. Nick has told me so many stories about her clumsiness.

"She's progressing quickly." I state bluntly.

Nick sighs. "Yeah, and I think it's due to the vampires and wolves she knows. She's getting angrier with them. It's egging her on to do the best she can. I got to admit it though, I do like that." He picks up his and Bella's stick and leans it against the wall. "I'm just afraid of what will happen when they finally do come back. I don't want her to get hurt."

"I understand. But we can't take that choice from her. It's hers to make. We just have to be there for her." I pat Nick on the shoulder and start heading upstairs. I can heard him following me. "Say, don't you think it's about time she got her tattoo? She's one of us. Hell, she's going to be the leader of us. Bella should get it now," I suggest.

I hear Nick hum. "Yeah, I suppose. I'll ask her about it when she gets home. I need to call Charlie and let him know she's staying the night again." When we reach the stairs I go to raid the fridge while Nick gets onto the phone. Nick's been planning to tell Charlie the truth. He doesn't want to lie to him about anything anymore. He's always admired Charlie since he was younger.

I hear him take a deep breath as the phone rings. "Hello?" Comes through the phone. I grab the stuff to make a sandwich. Nick, do you want one? I ask him through our connection.

Nick nods to me before turning his attention back to Charlie. "Hey, Uncle Charlie. It's Nick. I was just calling because Bella fell asleep while doing homework. I was going to see if it's okay for her to stay the night again?" Nick's heart starting to race. He's getting nervous.

"Sure, no problem, son." When Nick doesn't answer right away, Charlie seems concerned. "Everything alright, Nick?" The worry laces in Charlie's voice.

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if I could stop by and talk to you after work tomorrow." I watch Nick begin to pace around the kitchen as I make the sandwiches.

"Alright. I'll be home around six tomorrow. Does that work for you?" Charlie asks.

"Yeah, that's great. Thanks Uncle Charlie." Nick sighs with relief.

"No problem, kid. Now get some sleep."

Nick hangs up the phone and sits on the bar stool for the island. I pass him his plate and we eat in silence.