I glanced around, feeling a bit better now that I wasn't coated in my own blood. Alice found me a pair of jeans and a lightweight navy blue sweater that somehow fit me perfectly and matched the boots that I had already been wearing. I didn't even question it.

"Perhaps," began Carlisle, "you should start at the beginning."

I sighed. I moved to run my fingers through my hair before remembering that Alice had put it in a single braid. I made do with grabbing it and pulling it over my shoulder so I could fidget with the end.

Edward gently took my other hand. "Just the basics,"

I nodded. If the situations were reversed, I would need more information too. I didn't blame Rosalie for thinking I was trying to stir up trouble. "There are seven different types of magic: healing, spell casting, telekinesis, invocation, potion brewing, precognition, and clairvoyance. Witches are ranked based on how many of these they have mastered. My aunts have mastered all seven, so they are Septes. I moved here to train with them have mastered four since being here. Edward and Alice actually had a lot to do with how fast I've been progressing—they sort of kickstarted my precognition and clairvoyance abilities. That's how I knew there was something off about you guys originally."

"So you can read minds too?" Emmett asked, groaning.

I fought the urge to smile at his dread. "I can, but I try not to. Especially for those I'm close with."

"Prove it. Show us something."

I raised both brows, staring at Rosalie in shock. I honestly didn't even expect her to be here for this conversation, but, on second glance, I could feel the underlying curiosity and anxiety. She may not have wanted to believe me for all the trouble it would cause her, but she did love her sister.

"Umm… ok, I guess." I looked at Edward hesitantly.

The corners of his lips twitched, and he nodded. He knew what I could do. Now I had to show the rest of them.

I stood up, moving over to Jasper. "May I?" I gestured at his free arm resting in his lap.

His eyebrows quirked, but he held his arm out anyways.

I took his cold hand in mine and examined it. It was littered in scars that not many would notice if they hadn't already. I focused on the biggest one: shimmering white scar that looked unmistakably like someone had bitten him on his forearm right above the wrist. I held my hand over it steadily. "My magic is a part of me. The more I use it, the more energy it takes. Witches that go too far… that use more than they have… well, they die. Healing is one of the most dangerous because wounds take a lot of magic to heal. But scars… well, those are much easier." I focused on the mark until my hand began to glow silver similarly to how it did after capturing the moonlight on Ostara. I traced my finger over the mark, when I removed it, the scar was gone.

Jasper examined his arm, tilting his arm this way and that. His eyesight was better than mine, but he still couldn't seem to find it. The rest of the Cullens watched, frozen, and contemplative.

"Spell casting is an umbrella term for so many things—glamours, transmutation, levitation—you name it. It's one of the most basic aspects of witchcraft, but also the most advanced because there's so much to it. It takes a lot of magic to do something like control fire or water, but something like changing your appearance? It's basically nothing." I looked straight at Rosalie, taking in every aspect of her. As I studied her, I began to change. My hair shortened and became perfectly waved and a golden blonde. My skin became white and unblemished. My eyes darkened to almost black. I grew taller.

For her part, Rosalie looked slightly horrified, but also reluctantly impressed. Either that or just pleased at what she looked like—probably a bit of both.

"Somebody pinch me," Emmett muttered from next to the real Rosalie, grinning with a look on his face like he'd just won the lottery. "Babe, there are two of you!"

I heard Edward growl softly at Emmett from behind me. I shook my head, ending the glamour before Edward had to tolerate any more of whatever Emmett's thoughts were. "Telekinesis is pretty straightforward. Moving objects is simple—" I held my hand out and a book on the end table across the room came flying into my hand. "But depending on my magic levels I can also move people. I may or may not have done it to Edward when he tried to get me to leave the night I almost got attacked in Port Angeles.

"Invocation involves calling spirits from the other realms to this one. I can't really show you that without my crystals or drawing a circle, though. It also makes me sensitive to any spirits. Your house is not haunted, by the way," I grinned, trying to lighten the mood a bit, but only Edward, Emmett, and Alice were unconcerned enough with the information I was giving them to smile at the joke.

"Potion brewing is also pretty obvious. They can do a ton of different things from replenishing energy to healing to helping plants grow. If you can read, you can brew a potion. It's actually pretty boring. You don't even need to be ranking to be able to do it.

"You should be familiar with precognition," I said, turning to Alice. "It works a bit different for witches, though. We can't exactly have visions whenever we want like you can, although some people are really good at triggering them. But they are similar in that they are subjective and almost always changing depending on a person's choices. And apparently I can have visions of past events as well as future ones, although I had no idea about that particular detail until 12 hours ago.

"The last one is clairvoyance. It's also pretty broad since there's a lot of ways to manipulate someone's mind. Like Edward, I can read thoughts, but it goes farther than that. Stunning, hypnosis, empathy," I gave Jasper a wink, "When I was almost attacked in Port Angeles I cursed the men that did it, which is technically a more permanent form of mind control."

"It was far more than they deserved." Edward's voice was harsh and cold.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Those men will never be able to hurt anyone again—even in self-defense."

Edward scoffed, clearly still not agreeing. He was probably right. If those men ever had to defend themselves against someone, it would be karma. I didn't regret what I had done to them.

"Anyways," I looked to Carlisle. His eyes were scrutinizing, taking in every last word I said. "May I?"

Carlisle nodded without asking what I was planning on doing. I was surprised at his trust in me, despite only meeting today. My eyes clouded over with shades of light, just like they did the night in Port Angeles. And just like it did whenever I spoke using magic, my voice became distant. "Put this away," I told him, holding out the book I had gotten with telekinesis.

Carlisle was on his feet immediately. He took the book and returned it to the end table on the other side of the room. He turned back to me.

I pointed at the chair he had been sitting on next to Esme, "Sit down."

He did.

Jasper sucked in a sharp breath. Esme's amber eyes were wide.

I let Carlisle go. Not three months ago, these simple displays of easy magic would have caused me to sleep for a solid 12 hours. I couldn't help but notice that I only felt the smallest bit of exhaustion creeping through my veins. I had more stamina now. I was getting stronger.

I dropped onto the loveseat next to Edward. He pulled me to him before I even made it all the way onto the cushion. I scanned the faces of the Cullens, trying to gauge where I stood with them now. Edward's thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand, but he made no move to signify that any of their thoughts were of the negative variety.

"Have you ever come across anything like this, Carlisle?" Jasper asked with a sharp edge to his tenor voice. There was no hostility coming from him, however. He was serious, noting that my kind could be a threat to him, but he didn't seem to believe that I was, and that was the part that mattered most.

Carlisle shook his head slowly, looking toward a bookshelf with unclear eyes at a memory none of us could see. He was thinking very hard. "During my time with the Volturi, I heard whispers of witches—just one in particular. I thought it was just a rumor at the time, but I'm beginning to think that their encounter was real. It was a taboo subject, so I never asked. If your kind is as powerful as you have demonstrated, Emme, then the reason that Aro would want to keep their existence from us is obvious."

I frowned. This was not the first time I'd heard of witches mixing with the Volturi, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind for now. "We have access to a lot of magic, sure," I explained. "But we also have our weaknesses. I come from two incredibly long lines of powerful witches. My family's magic is more potent than most, not to mention it's finite. If I use more than I have, I'm dead. I may not be human, but I am mortal."

Edward stiffened beside me. This was a fact he knew, but we had not yet discussed it in depth.

"I can't heal myself. My senses aren't as good as yours are. I certainly don't have super strength or speed or whatever else on my own. If one of you decided to attack me right now, I might have a vision, or my instincts might warn me about it, but if I didn't see it coming, you could easily overpower me."

"No one is attacking you, Emme," Edward stated harshly as though I was being ridiculous.

I threw up my free hand in defense. "I didn't think you were. I was just pointing out that all power has weaknesses. Nature is about balance."

It was silent as the Cullens contemplated my words. They had abandoned all pretenses of humanity after my little display of magic. It was like sitting in a room full of statues, with the exception of Edward. He had seen enough of my magic by this point to be quite comfortable in its presence.

"Well," Alice chimed. "I'm glad that's settled. Now that we know Emme is, in fact, a witch as she said, I have just a few questions."

Alice's light tone dripping in sarcasm was a juxtaposition that shouldn't have worked, and yet it did. I laughed quietly.

"No one was questioning Emme's trustworthiness, Alice," Carlisle insisted. "But we can't just go after strangers without all the facts first."

"Why not?"

Rosalie elbowed Emmett with a roll of her eyes.

What Carlisle said made perfect sense; it was what anyone rational would think. I had a bad habit of acting before thinking, however.

"What did you find out about me, Emme?"

I began to recount everything I had seen in my vision, starting from the very beginning. I told Alice and her family about her human life. I told them about how she had been gifted and feared because of it; her mother loved her unconditionally, but her father only saw her as insane. I told them about how she found out that her father killed her mother so he could remarry and then tried to kill her. I told them how she ended up in an asylum and underwent electroshock therapy until her memories were gone, and yet she still managed to make a friend in the groundskeeper that only worked under the cover of darkness. I told them how two vampires came for her and the groundskeeper bit her and fought the vampires for days so she could undergo the change. When I was finished, there was silence.

I examined Alice's face. It was hard to see what she was feeling—the girl was already pale, but she seemed even lighter if that was possible. I knew that vampires were incapable of tears. Her wide, unfocused eyes betrayed her though. She could feel that I was right. "I have a sister?" she whispered, suddenly looking at me.

I nodded. "Her name is Cynthia Brandon. She's still living in Biloxi. Actually, you have a whole line of family on her side."

Alice's lips parted into a wide grin of pure excitement at the idea of a family she never got the chance to know.

"So what are we going to do?" Esme asked, standing up much too slowly for one of their kind. Her face was determined, fierce. I was a little bit taken aback by her reaction. She seemed so nonthreatening that I never would have been able to imagine that look coming from her had I not seen it for myself. It was unnatural for someone so gentle and soft.

I knew what I wanted to do. I had known from the second I remembered the vision after waking up. But I wasn't a member of their family, and it wasn't my place to be giving them orders. I knew they would all want to protect Alice, but not all of them would be in favor of taking the offensive like I was. I glanced at Emmett who was bouncing his right knee with a smirk on his face. My eyebrow quirked upward in amusement. At least there was one other that was on my side.

"Perhaps it won't come to a fight," Carlisle mused thoughtfully from his chair.

I tried not to make a face at that. None of them had seen the vampires as I had. It wasn't in their nature to show kindness. The blond would stop at nothing to catch the only prey that had ever escaped him. He'd been waiting years, decades, to come across her again.

"But what if it does?" Jasper drawled. He narrowed his eyes in thought. "We can't risk it, Carlisle." Maybe there were two that were on my side.

"But if we speak to them first, perhaps they will understand the situation. They will have to accept that this is our territory. And they wouldn't dare come after a member of our family or anyone under our protection."

For the first time in a long while, Edward chimed in. "Carlisle is right. If we can avoid a fight, then we should." He looked toward me. "I don't want to put to chance anyone getting hurt."

I rolled my eyes. If he thought I'd sit out while they did whatever they ended up doing, he had another thing coming.

I was about to say something when I involuntarily tensed, the Cullen's living room fading away as a vision took over my sight.

Edward stiffened from next to me on the sofa. "Someone's here," he muttered, standing up from his seat. "Stay here."

I ignored him, following him to the door. He swung it open, not waiting for whoever was out there to make it to the front door. Within seconds the rest of his family arrived behind us. We all filed through the door and out onto the front yard to meet the arriving strangers.

Three figures emerged from the trees. They were all far apart from each other, but it was clear that they were all together. They were too far away and it was too dark to notice anything distinct about their features, but their hair color was recognizable from across the lawn.

One of the men had dark hair, the other was a blond. And the woman's hair was a startling, vivid shade of red.

"Emme?" Edward murmured softly.

The room had fallen silent once again. I'd been able to hide my visions from my human friends, but it seemed as if these vampires weren't completely oblivious. They were probably used to the signs from Alice.

"There are three of them in their group now—the blond, his mate, and another dark-haired man. I didn't recognize him."

Emmett shrugged. "There are still six of us. Plus Sabrina here." He shot me a dimpled grin.

Edward's response was almost immediate. "Emme will not be a part of this."

I pulled out of Edward's grasp, jumped to my feet and stepping away. I turned to look him square in the eyes. "The hell I won't!" I hissed, tone low and adamant.

Edward stood as well, matching the ferocity in my own gaze. "It's too dangerous—"

I cut him off. "If I can help, then I'm going to help. I'm not going to go home and twiddle my thumbs while General Zaroff and ginger Ivan go after Alice." My reference earned me a snort from both Emmett and Rosalie. I didn't acknowledge it though.

Edward was looking at me, pained as if he wanted nothing more than to wrap me up in bubble wrap and lock me in Rapunzel's tower. It was one thing to be protective. It was another to hide me away when I was capable of taking care of myself.

"Look. I can't explain it. I haven't seen it so I don't know why I feel this way. I just know she's going to be important to me. You all are. I can feel it. And you know my intuition is always right. You aren't going to win this one, Edward. Unless you all want me to leave," I turned, looking at the rest of them, now standing as well, "I am staying right where I am."

Alice was by my side in an instant, arms wrapping around me. I staggered a bit, thrown by her sudden weight. "Thank you."

"Fine." I turned back to face Edward after Alice released me. His jaw was set. He didn't look pleased by the idea of me putting myself in harm's way, but his eyes were softer now. "But if things get too bad, you're leaving."

"Like it'll get that far," Emmett scoffed.

Jasper stepped forward to Alice's side. "He's right." He faced Carlisle. "It won't."

Their father figure nodded slowly in agreement. "We will speak to them. If they attack, we will defend our own."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. As much as Carlisle's pacifism was to be admired, in this instance, it was only going to get us in trouble. The strangers would attack. I knew it. And they would be here tonight. I made eye contact with Jasper. I could still feel the uncertainty coming from him, just as I knew he could feel it coming from me.

"We were planning on playing baseball tonight. What if we all stay at home? Or just Alice and Jasper?" Esme suggested.

"That won't work," I explained. "I've had a vision of us playing baseball, and Kumboh warned me they would attack. Then, just now I saw the three of them arriving here. It doesn't matter where she is."

"Then we should stay together." She her tender voice was firm. No one disagreed.

"I think we should just enjoy our night as planned," Alice said, tilting her head. "Especially if it doesn't matter where we go or what we do."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Rosalie asked tentatively. This was the first I'd heard her speak since she demanded I prove my powers. Focusing on her for the first time since then, I realized I didn't feel the normal hatred or annoyance coming off her like I usually did. As much as I'd hoped the dynamic would change between us, it was probably too much to hope for.

"I feel confident that should things come to an unpleasant outcome, the odds will be in our favor," Jasper declared.

The others seemed to accept this without hesitation.

I considered him. Not for the first time, I wondered how he got to where he was today.

Alice interrupted my thoughts with a clap. "I'm glad that's settled," she grinned as if we had been discussing what movie to watch instead of the life she didn't remember and the fact that she was about to be attacked. "We'll head out in…" her eyes clouded over as she trailed off, but it was only for a moment. "A couple of hours."

I saw Edward smile crookedly out of the corner of my eye and quickly followed his gaze across the room to Rosalie. The beautiful girl looked annoyed at Edward, then me. "Let's go, Emmett. I have to get changed." She dragged him off without another word.

Edward, on the other hand, looked quite smug.

Carlisle also excused himself to his office to finish up some paperwork for work. Esme, Alice, and Jasper remained with Edward and me in the living area, however.

"Now, Emme," Esme began, sinking down onto the settee nearest her. "Perhaps you can tell us something about yourself that isn't witch related."

I chuckled. "That's definitely the most interesting thing about me. I'd probably just bore you with the rest."

She waved a hand. "Nonsense."

I blinked, scrambling to come up with something. "I lived in Salem my entire life. My dad died shortly after I was born—apparently, he was murdered by vampires."

Esme blanched.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly. "No hard feelings, I promise. It wasn't any of your faults. Anyways, my mom rejected magic and left me untrained until she abandoned me to run off with her boyfriend causing me to set our house on fire because I couldn't control any of my magic," I explained quickly in one breath. "And then I moved here."

Edward snorted, rolling his eyes at my hasty explanation.

"You're dating an arsonist, Edward," Alice laughed sounding positively delighted.

I hadn't thought about it like that, but she did have a point. "Well, I was the reason Tyler Crowley's van burst into flames that one day he tried to run me over…" I smirked. "I swear it was an accident though."

Alice smirked right back. "Sure it was."

"He deserved it," Edward added.

Esme looked back and forth between the four of us fondly as we joked with each other—well, Alice, Edward, and I joked. Jasper mainly just watched, chiming in when he had to. She seemed genuinely happy; it was clear she loved her children very much.

"Which one of you plays the piano?" I asked as I eyed the baby grand in the corner after the conversation had slowed.

"It's Edward's," Esme declared proudly.

My eyes narrowed as I met Edward's golden ones. "You didn't tell me that you played an instrument," I accused.

He shrugged. "You never asked."

I sighed. "I probably could have guessed since your talents seem to be endless." I wasn't even being sarcastic. Edward was perfect; I was lucky.

Jasper snickered at that one, though, clearly not agreeing in only the way a brother could.

Esme scolded him. "I hope you haven't been showing off, Edward."

Edward, on the other hand, laughed at the glare I was sending him. It was answer enough—of course, he had.

Esme didn't scold him further, however. Instead, her expression softened once more. She and Edward exchanged a brief look before she turned to me. "Do you play an instrument, Emme?"

"Mom told me my father used to play the violin, so I taught myself that when I was younger. I haven't touched one since I moved, though."

"I used to play the cello," she smiled wistfully. "It's been a while for me too."

"Perhaps we can play something together one day," I suggested.

Esme nodded. "I'd very much like that. But for now, why don't you play something for her, Edward."

I turned to him, eager. "Yeah, Edward."

He shot me an annoyed look, but I could tell he didn't mean anything by it. Edward's long fingers wrapped around mine as he pulled me to sit beside him at the piano bench. I thought of my vision from earlier but glanced outside the window. We had decided to keep our baseball plans instead of staying at the Cullen residence, but it still made me nervous. I reassured myself with the fact that it was much too light out still for my vision to be correct.

But the moment Edward started playing, I was pulled from my thoughts and into the music.

I watched as his fingers danced across the black and white ivory keys. The composition was something so intricate that it was hard to believe he was the only one playing. It was a faster movement, but it certainly wasn't upbeat. I'd listened to my fair share of classical music, but this was something I had never come across before. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard.

It was then that I noticed the quiet laughter coming from Alice and Jasper. I shook my head, trying to change my facial expression into something less flabbergasted.

Edward wasn't fooled, though. "Do you like it?" he asked casually, winking.

My eyebrows rose to my hairline as I understood his meaning. "You wrote this?"

He nodded simply.

I rolled my eyes at him for the thousandth time, shaking my head in disbelief. Just when I thought we were on equal ground, he did something like this. I wracked my brain, trying to think of a talent I had to impress him with later. I couldn't beat him at this moment, though; if I was being honest with myself, I didn't really want to. But I could join him. That was something that sounded much more appealing.

I closed my eyes, getting a sense of the music. It may have been complex, but what I felt the most was the warmth that it exuded. Remembering one of my first lessons with my aunts, I held my hands out. Edward hesitated for a fraction of a second as he noticed what I was doing. The warmth in my palms grew. I opened my eyes. Small balls of flames danced in my palms, licking at my fingertips. I tossed them into the air and they hovered as I sent more flames into the space above us. Then, I twirled my fingers, sending them twirling above our heads and the piano to the speed of the music that Edward played. The soft glow of the orange light reflected off the piano and the walls of the room.

I heard a gasp from behind us; I couldn't tell if it was Esme or Alice. "Beautiful…"

Edward sent me an affectionate smile before he all but stopped playing as he began playing something else entirely. At first, the notes were hesitant and solitary, but after a moment the music grew picked up speed and grew tender. It was lovely and whimsical, but also dark and mysterious. Somehow, the piece managed to flow, but it was uncertain.

As I listened, I let the flames above us dissipate my focus solely on the music Edward was creating. I didn't recognize the song, but it became one of my favorites immediately. "I've never heard this before." My voice was quiet; I was afraid to miss a single note. "3/4 is my favorite time signature. It's criminally underappreciated."

Edward's right hand walked up the keys in a harmonic minor scale—part of the reason for the tune sounding so mystifying. "It was inspired by you."

It was hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that something so beautiful could be inspired by me. "Thank you," I managed to whisper. I rested my head on his shoulder as he continued to play, knowing that it wouldn't bother him in the slightest.

A/N:

Hi all! I hope you enjoy this chapter that I stayed up wayyyy too late to finish up (I'm posting this at 7am... lol). I had a concern in a comment about how the Cullens not believing Emme was odd. I hope this chapter clears that up. It's not that they thought she was lying or didn't believe her, they just needed all the facts before deciding what to do. I don't think the Cullens would run headfirst into anything without going over their options.

Anyways, I posted a song that fits the criteria for everything that I wanted for Edward's piece on Emme on the Tumblr (devils-playground). It's called "Silhouette" by Daigo Hanada. Let me know what you think of it or if you have another option that you think might work better!

As always, thanks for going out of your way to read and support this fic! Until next time :)