Everything was dark.

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I wanted to, but no matter how hard I tried, I remained floating through the darkness.

I could hear something in the distance. It was calling something. The voice sounded familiar, but I didn't know who it was. I didn't know anything, so I focused on the voice, trying to understand what it was saying.

"Emme!"

A jolt shot through me; it felt as if I had been doused in freezing cold water.

The voice—a smooth tenor… a man's?—was begging now. "No. No! Please… please, Emme! Listen to me! You have to come back. You have to—" The pleas receded to broken sobs.

Something was very wrong.

The darkness was pressing against me again, but I fought against it. I was tired and confused, but I knew I wanted desperately to comfort the voice. The sounds the man was making shook me to my core. My heart was breaking. I wanted to console him. He shouldn't be like this.

Was it my fault?

I didn't know.

I couldn't breathe. I gasped, desperate for air.

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't!" the voice howled. "Just help her! I don't—I don't know what to do!"

I wished I could do something. I wished I could tell him everything would be okay. I didn't know if it would be, but every fiber of my being wanted to take his pain away. I had to get to him.

Who was he?

A face flashed through my mind. Pale skin, smooth and unblemished. Disheveled bronze hair. Bright, careful topaz eyes. A charmingly crooked smile.

I knew who he was.

Edward.

I had to get to him!

I was too weak. I struggled against the darkness, spurred to action by his cries. My body wasn't listening to me, though every part of it ached to do something—anything.

Suddenly, my vision was flooded with bright light. I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to it. As the scene before me became clearer, I became more confused.

I was lying on the ground, the upper half of my body cradled in Edward's arms as he clutched me to his chest. I was pale—as pale as Edward, even—and gaunt. I looked dead, but I knew I wasn't. I was still here, but I wasn't in my body.

I brought my arm up in front of my face and examined it. I sucked in breath after noticing that I could see straight through it. Much like when Kumboh possessed me, it looked as if it was smoking and was blurred, although this time my arm was fully transparent when it should have been solid.

A cry pulled me from my self-examination.

"Oh no…" Alice fell to her knees beside my body, opposite Edward. She took my hand in hers.

It was only then that I realized there were others standing around me. Emmett sat a few feet away, legs sprawled in front of him and his head in his hands. Rosalie crouched next to him murmuring in a soothing tone that was much too low for me to make out. Jasper stood behind Alice, a hand on her shoulder but eyes on my body. A fire blazed bright behind us.

"Her heart is still beating," Jasper said. He probably meant it to be reassuring. It wasn't.

I lowered myself to the ground next to Edward. I had to talk to him. 'I'm here. I'm okay.'

He didn't move. He didn't register my words—or Jasper's for that matter—in any way. Edward couldn't hear me. None of them could. I didn't know what was going on.

'Edward,' I pleaded desperately.

Nothing.

Rosalie was crouched over me now. "Lay her down," she demanded.

Edward didn't seem to register her words. I didn't know if vampires could be catatonic, but he certainly was close to it.

Rosalie was insistent, though. "If you're not going to do anything, Edward, then I will. We need to make sure she isn't injured. Set her down!" she hissed.

Reluctantly, Edward placed my body gently on the ground in front of them. I was coated in mud and looked even worse from this angle. But I was still alive.

Rosalie examined me from head to toe through her normally hate-filled eyes. She let out a frustrated breath. "If this stupid girl was normal then this wouldn't be so difficult," she huffed, brow furrowed. "There doesn't actually seem to be anything physically wrong with her. She's just unconscious."

"Her pulse is so weak," Alice mumbled, still holding my hand. Her voice wasn't as cheerful as it usually was. She was worried.

I groaned in frustration. My body needed a magical stimulant. I needed probably every last potion in our cupboard. And I needed energy, life—blood. And most importantly, I needed to figure out a way to tell them that.

Emmett's head shot up. "She mentioned taking a potion before she was going to summon that demon. Maybe there's one at her place that would help?"

'Yes! Do that!' I shrieked into the ether, knowing that it didn't matter how loud I was. None of them would hear me. Still, I couldn't help but try to be louder.

Edward had me in his arms in an instant, and then he ran. They were all running. And I followed, floating behind them. I kept up easily; I didn't have to avoid any obstacles as I found I could just phase through solid objects. I had to admit, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when my aunt had told me I'd be able to fly one day.

I had to be in the astral realm. It was the only thing that made sense. I obviously wasn't dead, but the desire to leave my currently useless body was stronger than my desire to begin healing. Astral projecting was another form of magic, so surely it was taking a toll on me. I'd have to be careful. I needed to figure out how to communicate with Edward before I ran out of strength. He'd never forgive me if I actually died.

We arrived at my aunts' home to dead silence. I couldn't sense things in the astral realm like I could in my body; I had no idea if Isolde was there or not. I tried not to think about where Blair was.

Edward placed me on the chaise lounge in the study. He stayed by my side, holding my hand. He brushed a hand across my forehead, pushing my hair back. I couldn't feel his emotions, but I could see them reflected in his eyes. He didn't know what was happening to me like I did; he was in more pain than I was.

I tried to grab his hand. My spirit passed right through him.

I could hear Emmett and Alice rummaging around in the kitchen. Jasper was standing by the window. Rosalie sat on the chaise at my feet. They both seemed tense and on edge.

I looked around the room. Surely there was something in here—some magical object—that would allow a spirit to touch it.

There was a noise coming from the window in front of Jasper. He took a step back.

"What was that?" Rosalie asked nonchalantly. She was trying to sound like she wasn't as apprehensive as she looked. I don't think it fooled anyone.

Edward didn't seem to register the noise. He hadn't registered much of anything. I wished again that I could comfort him somehow. There had to be a way.

"Just a bird," he drawled in response. He turned and went into the kitchen, surely not wanting to leave Alice for too long after everything they had been through.

I had a sneaking suspicion which bird was trying to get in.

The raven that I had healed was sitting on the sill on the other side of the glass. When she saw me, she let out a squawk.

I blinked in surprise. 'Can you see me?' I asked.

'Of course,' she replied easily. I could barely hear it through the glass of the window, but it was unmistakable. The bird had answered me. In English.

My mouth fell open.

The raven stared at me calmly. 'You seem to have gotten yourself in quite a mess,' she noted, turning her attention to my body.

I took a moment to collect myself. After all I had been through and learned, a talking bird really shouldn't have come as such a surprise. I stepped through the wall of my aunt's home so that my spirit was outside with the bird. 'Can you help me?'

'You helped me once,' she replied. 'It's the least I could do.'

'How?'

'I'm not a witch, I'm a bird,' the raven laughed. 'How am I supposed to know?'

She had a point.

"Her heartbeat is slowing." His voice was broken and low. I almost didn't recognize it… it was the first time he had spoken since he brought me home. Edward sounded hollow.

I all but screamed in frustration. I'd managed to astral project myself, but I was equally as helpless now as when my spirit was in my body. I hated being helpless.

I couldn't move any objects, because I didn't have a solid body—one that was working anyways. But maybe…

I turned back to the raven. 'This is going to sound weird, but do you think I could borrow your body for a moment?'

She looked at me squarely. 'I said I'd help, didn't I?'

I didn't know if it would work, but I had to try. I reached out and touched the raven.

Everything was dark for a moment, but when my vision returned it was bright and more colorful than I could ever have imagined. I looked around, shocked by what I was seeing. I had had no idea that humans were so colorblind.

Emmett's words pulled me from my admiration of the world around me. "I don't know what I'm looking for!" He was still sorting through the potion cupboard in the kitchen, but I could hear much better than before.

I had a solid body. Now I just had to figure out how to speak to them with it. That started with getting back into the house. I used my beak to peck on the glass of the window. I knew they could hear me, but none of them acknowledged me. Of course, that only made me more irritated. I was trying my best to get a message to them, and none of them were cooperating. I couldn't actually upset with them, though. They were trying to save me, after all.

I continued tapping, louder this time.

It was Rosalie that broke first. "Will someone shut that bird up? I can't hear myself think."

Alice returned to the room. "Maybe it wants in? I wouldn't put it past Emme or her aunts to have a pet raven." She opened the window.

I flew in or tried to anyway. I ended up half flapping across the room before falling on the floor. I'd never tried to fly as a bird before. Apparently it was more difficult than it looked.

Alice gently scooped me off the ground before I could attempt to right myself. "Poor thi…" she began to murmur reassuringly. She trailed off before she could finish, however.

'Not a poor thing yet,' I thought, eyeing the pixie-like girl. I knew Alice well enough to recognize that she had been pulled into a vision. I wished I could see what she was seeing. The only magic I had was holding me in the raven's body. I couldn't tap into any of their minds.

Edward stiffened and whirled around. He glanced between Alice and me, eyes widening. He sucked in a breath. "Emme?" he managed to choke out.

I let out an excited squawk and shot across the room to land next to him. Somehow, I managed it without falling this time. I couldn't tap into his mind, but he could still tap into mine.

His eyes bore into mine, eager and relieved. "What—how?"

'Can you hear me?' I thought excitedly.

Edward nodded, glancing behind me. I followed his gaze. The others had come into the room when they heard him say my name. They stood by the window behind Alice who still seemed to be searching the future. Rosalie was still sitting on the chaise with my body, but she watched curiously as well. I was surprised to see no contempt coming from her as usual.

"What's going on?" Emmett sounded as confused as he looked.

'The longer this takes, the more dangerous it is. Edward, I need your help.'

"Of course," he replied easily, eyes now only on me. "Anything."

'Emmett was right. I need you to give my body any potion in the cupboard labeled 'PUP.' It should stabilize me. Then I need you to take me to the hospital. I don't need any special treatment; I just need to be around as much blood as possible. I used too much magic. That's the best way to replenish it.'

"You're going to be all right. Alice saw it."

I glanced back at Alice who was now watching us intently along with the rest of the Cullens. I nodded. I knew I would be, but it was still a relief to hear. 'I know. Tell Emmett I'm sorry for what I did to him. And I'm sorry I went after James like that without telling you. I'll understand if you can't forgive me.'

"Don't be ridiculous." His voice was much steadier now. It was almost back to its normal velvety cadence. I didn't realize how much I missed it. His broken voice would probably haunt me; I never wanted him to be like that because of my actions again. "I know why you did it. It was still irrational, of course. You should have told me."

'He told me—' I stopped myself, shaking my head. Edward's expression blackened at the mention of the blonde vampire. 'It doesn't matter right now. We can talk about it when I'm not a bird.'

I had to leave him, but I didn't want to. He seemed to sense the same thing. "I love you," Edward whispered, clutching my real hand even tighter.

'I love you, too. I don't know how long I'll be asleep. Don't worry about me though, okay?' It was a stupid thing to ask for. We both knew he would worry anyway.

"No promises."

I opened my eyes with a gasp.

My body was tingling. Normally, I would be alarmed, but I welcomed the feeling. It was magic, and it coursed through my veins, essential, and welcomed. I took a calming breath as the fluorescent lights flickered overhead. The beam eventually steadied. I smiled softly at my control.

When I first moved to Forks, magical overstimulation would have caused an outburst of magic. I wasn't even fully aware of where I was yet, but I could already tell I had command over the magic within me.

I turned my attention to my surroundings. I was in a hospital bed, but the room I was in looked much nicer than the average hospital. I furrowed my brow, confused. My bed was made with crisp, white sheets and a plush, navy blue comforter. Normally, hospital walls were painted some light, neutral color. The walls in this room were a deep, forest green. There was a dark oak dresser in the corner with a large TV sitting on it. There was even a game station attached to it. The window to my left was donned with navy, gold, and white paisley blackout curtains, though they were drawn open to reveal the trees outside. It was day time, but raining. In front of the window sat a luxurious leather sofa. There was a vase of carnations on the oak nightstand next to the bed varying in shades of purple from light lavender to deep eggplant.

I smiled, trailing my fingers over the blooms. Purple was my favorite color. They were all perfect. Not a single bloom showed any signs of wilting.

My attention turned toward the door as someone knocked on it. They didn't wait for an answer before opening it.

Edward was instantly at my bedside. He was in an olive green t-shirt that somehow managed to look nicer and better made than my nicest blouse. His khaki pants were well-tailored as usual, though spotted with raindrops as if he'd run here. Knowing him, he probably did. His bronze hair was darker than usual only confirming my theory.

I flung myself out of bed and into his arms without a second thought. I had forgotten how cold to the touch he was. It was comforting against my own burning skin that pulsed with magical adrenaline.

Edward wrapped his arms around me gently, bringing his head down to rest on mine. "Shhh, Emme. Everything's all right now."

I hadn't realized that I had basically been hyperventilating. I steadied my breathing. "Edward. What happened?"

Edward slowly pulled away but didn't release me. I looked up to meet his bright, topaz eyes. They looked relieved. They looked sad. "I was almost too late. I could have been too late," he whispered, his voice tormented. His fingertips grazed my cheek softly.

I shuddered, relishing his touch. "It wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's, it was mine. I could have done more, I should have—" I took a step back, running my hand through my limp hair. I stumbled a bit. My legs were shaky from disuse.

Edward steadied me without a second thought. "He played us all."

He led me back to the bed, pulling me down to sit next to him. I hooked my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. "What happened?" I repeated after I was settled. "Where are my aunts?"

Edward was silent for a moment before beginning his explanation. His expression was bleak. "Emme, your Aunt Blair was killed."

My heart skipped a beat. Nausea welled in my stomach. I knew this already, but it still didn't hurt any less to hear again. "Isolde?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"She's in a coma. Carlisle examined her. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. We assumed it was something similar to what you were in, so we brought her here as well. She's in a room down the hall."

I hadn't been expecting that. Isolde was badly shaken when I last spoke to her. She was weakened, but not to the point of a coma. Regardless, I was thankful that she was safe.

"Your plan worked. When Alice and I returned home, we found that Carlisle and Esme had left to take Laurent to Denali. James and Victoria left town to wait for us to make a move. We knew they had your aunt. We decided that Jasper and I would go after them, and Rosalie would take Alice to our home in Chicago until it was safe for her."

I felt another sharp pang in my chest at the mention of Aunt Blair.

Edward's grip on my arm tightened, but he continued. "They didn't stop. Between Jasper and I, we could follow them easily enough up into Canada until—" He stopped speaking and glanced at me. He was afraid of how I would react.

"Just tell me. I need to know."

"They stopped. By the time Jasper and I had caught up to them, your aunt was dead. I'm so sorry, Emme."

I shook my head, willing the tears to stay away. There would be time for mourning later, but now I needed answers. I needed to know that I didn't essentially sacrifice my aunt for nothing. "Keep going." My voice cracked, betraying me. I winced.

Edward studied me closely but began again. "Victoria was waiting for us, but James was nowhere to be seen. I assume that is when he backtracked to you. Jasper and I fought Victoria; it was unlike anything Jasper or I have experienced before. She was… she was stronger and faster than both of us. It wasn't normal—even for a vampire. It was terrifying. I could read her thoughts in the clearing, but when I fought against her, I couldn't hear anything. Jasper couldn't sense her emotions, either."

"It was her blood," I muttered. "James said he 'drained her' on a 'hunch.' Apparently witches don't smell potent, but our blood has some sort of potent effect on vampires. He and Victoria were basically vampires on steroids."

Edward's eyes were bearing into mine. He was guarded. There was something he wasn't saying, but I couldn't bring myself to press him about it at the moment. "Are you certain?"

"No." I pulled my feet beneath me, focusing on calming the magic beneath my skin once more. "I don't exactly trust James. He could have been lying, but it does make sense. He was stronger than I expected him to be." I could sense that it was my turn to explain, but Edward didn't push me. I took a moment to compose myself before continuing. "James called me. He said to meet him in the clearing alone or he'd kill her. I didn't know that she was already gone… so I went. Emmett tried to stop me—he wanted me to wait for you—but I wouldn't listen. I was afraid I would be too late if I waited." I couldn't even bring myself to look at Edward. "I used my magic against him."

"Trust me, Emmett doesn't care about that. He's more upset at himself for being unable to stop you."

"Of course he is," I sighed. "Magical ethics are something that's been debated since the beginnings of magic. Most witches wouldn't hesitate to use magic for even the most trivial thing. I have always tried to be as good as I could, but when it came down to it, I'm just as bad as the worst of them."

Edward ran his slender fingers along the palm of my hand. "No one blames you for that. We all would have done the same thing to save a loved one, Emerine. It was very brave of you."

"I don't feel brave. I just feel tired."

Edward's lips twitched upward. He pulled me back so I was now curled against him, lying with my head on his shoulder. "You should get some rest."

I groaned into his chest. "Not yet. We haven't finished talking."

"There's plenty of time for that later," Edward insisted.

"I'll rest easier after we get this out of the way. I have questions that need to be answered, and I'm sure you do too."

He didn't say anything to that. We both knew I was right.

I took a deep breath and continued. "I summoned Kumboh as we planned, but instead of getting information from him, I let him possess me. I figured he could just use my body to take care of James instead of wasting time to gather hints and tips. I didn't know he'd be stronger than usual. I suppose you know what happened after that."

His reply was even but his face was dark. "I can hazard a guess."

"I'm sorry."

He sighed, exasperated. "That's not what you should be apologizing for. I know why you did it—we all do."

I looked to him, confused. "Then what should I be apologizing for?"

"For very nearly taking yourself away from me forever."

I rolled my eyes. "So dramatic." An image of him nearly catatonic next to my corpse-like body flashed in my mind. I couldn't fault him for it. I would have been the same had the situation been reversed.

"If I'm dramatic, you're impulsive."

"I suppose I can't argue with that," I allowed. "It worked though, didn't it?"

Edward's grim demeanor returned instantly. "It did. Emmett got to you first. James was already gone." He sounded regretful as if he wanted to be the one to have finished the job. Knowing Edward, that was his exact line of thought. "Then I showed up…" He trailed off.

"I could hear you, you know."

Edward turned to me sharply, surprised.

"I think its how I'd managed to astral project. It's a subset of invocation that's really rare. I've only ever heard it mentioned—I don't know anyone that's actually done it. I just wanted so badly to get to you and tell you that I was fine and everything would be okay… it just sort of happened. Of course, then I didn't know how to actually talk to you until the raven let me possess her. I got lucky."

"I can't say I've ever read the mind of an animal before," Edward mused. "I never thought I would be grateful to a bird, either."

"You would have figured it out. Emmett was on the right track."

Edward must have seen the look on my face and tried to lighten the mood. "He'll probably be asking for a rematch the second you're back on your feet." It was silent for a moment before he added, "They love you, too. Even Rosalie has seemed to come around. They've all come to visit you."

I looked down, nervously messing with my fingers. I still felt guilty. "Being around me brings nothing but trouble. It was my fault my mother left, and my fault my house burnt down. It was my fault that Aunt Blair was kidnapped and murdered. Isolde—" I couldn't bring myself to finish. I didn't know what was wrong with her. I only knew that I let her down. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. This time, I didn't try to stop them. I was too tired to be strong anymore.

Edward pulled me tighter against him. "It's going to be all right, Emme."

I wanted to believe him. More than anything, I wanted to believe him. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't out of the woods just yet.

Hello dear readers! Sorry this took so long to get out. It was really hard for me to write for some reason. I am really dragging my feet with these last few chapters... I don't want the story to end haha.

Speaking of, YES there WILL be a sequel to this story! I have big plans for New Moon already and have been laying hints for what's going to happen there ever since Emme met Jacob. Much like how I began this story, I have a vague idea of what I'm going to do, but it will take a hot sec to plan the details. I'll post the prologue for it the same day I post the last chapter for this so you guys don't have to worry about forgetting to follow it (if you're interested of course).

Now, there's been a Guest (or Guests?) that have left some really valid concerns in the reviews. First of all, thanks for reviewing! I can't address all of your concerns because of the future plots that I have planned, but I wanted to explain what I can! First, in the OG Twilight, you can't just set a vampire on fire to destroy them. You have to dismember them first. Emme summoned Kumboh to do that for her; she never had enough faith in herself to do it alone. It wasn't until after she realized that she was strong enough by herself and had faith in her magic that could she defeat him. She'd had a love/hate relationship with it up to that point, stuck between wanting to learn it and be a Septe and being afraid of it and what using magic means. But for her, using magic isn't so scary when you use it to save someone you love… it just took going up against James to realize that. As to her aunts being easily incapacitated… you're right. It was way too easy. And there's a reason for that—but I'm not going to tell it quite yet.

I can't decide if there will be one or two more chapters of Devil's Playground, but either way, I truly hope you all have enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Your comments/kudos literally give me life :)

Until next time!