"Okay… let me get this straight," Angela began, standing abruptly and beginning to pace in front of the fireplace. "You're a witch. You come from a family of witches. You have magic. And I—I have some too?"

My eyes followed her as she went from one side of the room to the other and back again. I was trying to maintain a demeanor of calm; I could only imagine how difficult something like this was to take in. I couldn't imagine being told something wasn't real, only to find out everything you knew was wrong and your life was a lie.

Oh, wait. I did.

I tried to reassure myself that that was the reason I was explaining everything to Angela. That was a pure, selfless reason. I could take comfort in the fact that it was partly true.

But the real truth was it had only been a few months, but I was tired of being alone. It was exhausting, and I needed a friend.

If Angela decided that she didn't want any part of the magical world, then I would respect that. Until then, though, I would answer any question she had as truthfully as I could.

"Yes."

She glanced at me but continued her pacing. "What does that mean exactly?"

I sighed. "I don't know for sure. I've only been training to use my magic for a year or so. There's still a lot for me to learn. But from what I can sense, you have enough power to maybe rank as a Forma, maybe. And if you'd like to learn how to use it, I can teach you."

"Me? Use magic? Emme, I have to be honest. I'm having a very hard time believing this."

I grinned at her. She might have a hard time believing it, but I knew that she felt in her bones it was true. "I'm sure. But you know I'm telling you the truth." I stood up and moved toward her.

She glanced away uneasily but didn't flinch when I grabbed her hand.

"Close your eyes. Focus on me," I commanded. "Do you feel that in the back of your mind?"

Eyes still closed, Angela cocked her head to the side. I waited patiently until finally, she nodded.

"That little spark is your magic connecting with mine. It's faint, but it's there." I dropped her hand. "Witches sense other witches… when they're paying attention, that is," I added under my breath.

"Okay. Yeah." Angela sank back into the chair across from me. "I have so many questions. I don't know where to start."

I laughed. "My aunts knew what they were doing when they taught me the basics. But I've been learning the later stuff by myself ever since…" I trailed off. "I don't know what I'm doing either. But I guess the first step would be to decide if you want to learn or not."

Angela looked at me incredulously. "Of course I want to, Emme! Never mind that it's magic. Have you ever known me to not want to learn anything?"

Angela had a point. Her thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. She wasn't the best student in our class, necessarily. Not counting the Cullens, that honor went to Jessica. She might have seemed shallow, but the girl was smart and incredibly good at school.

But Angela was different. There was no book she wouldn't read, there was no subject she wasn't interested in, and she took pride in that. She could have been good at school as well, but she spent too many class discussions arguing with students and teachers alike. Angela was socially shy, but when it came to learning, she was the sort of student that wasn't afraid to correct other students. She wasn't even afraid to correct the teachers. I'd only seen her do it a handful of times before, but what I'd seen was vicious. Last year, she wrote her Macbeth essay specifically calling out Mr. Mason for the way he taught the play by projecting his antiquated views on gender onto the characters. Then she took it a step further by proving Shakespeare all for disrupting normative gender roles. Even Edward thought that it was amazing when she let us read it at lunch before turning it in, but unfortunately, the brilliance was lost on poor Mr. Mason if her C was anything to go by.

"Before you decide anything, it's only fair of me to warn you. Magic is incredibly unstable and dangerous. My aunt Blair died because she used too much, and I'm still trying to figure out why aunt Isolde ended up in a coma. It's not natural, that's for sure. Learning how to use your power isn't a way to fix every little thing wrong in your life. It often causes more problems than it fixes. And even if you use it perfectly, there are still other magical things out there that are dangerous to know about. Once you cross that bridge, Angela, there's no going back."

"I'm sorry, Emme. I didn't know," Angela mumbled shyly.

I waved my hand, brushing it off. "It's okay. They knew what they were getting into. But that's the point. Magic is living, and just like any living thing, it can't be controlled—not fully, anyway."

Angela was quiet for a long moment. As eager as she was for knowledge, she wasn't one to jump headfirst into things. Admirably, Angela thought about her actions and the consequences that would follow before doing anything.

I would never relate, but maybe that's why we got along so well. We balanced each other out in a lot of ways.

"I'm in."

"Are you sure? Because—"

"Emme, I'm in. As you said, I don't have much magic. You said magic was living, right?"

"Yes…"

Angela shrugged. "Ladybugs are alive. You can't control them, either, but they're not exactly big enough to hurt you."

I stared at her. She wasn't wrong and she wasn't exactly right either, but the fact that she had said it so simply was somehow jarring and amusing all at once. "Okay."

"Okay?" she grinned excitedly.

I returned the look. "Okay!"

We began with the basics.

I told her about the different categories of magic and how each day of the week coordinated them. I told her how the world around us often contributed to our magic as much as we did. Angela was an excellent listener, but after my explanations, she'd flood me with questions.

"So Fridays are generally best for potion brewing?" she asked for the fourth time.

"You can do it on any day, but yes, potions made on Fridays will generally be more powerful."

"Then why haven't we done one yet?"

I blinked at her. "I don't know. I've never taught this stuff before, Angela, you have to be patient with me," I laughed.

She nodded with a heavy sigh. "You're right; I'm sorry, Emme. I just—I never expected my entire world to be changed in such a short time. When I woke up this morning, I was just Angela Webber. Now I'm someone else entirely. I'm almost afraid that after I leave here, everything will go back to the way it was before."

I glanced toward the window, staring at the rain dripping down the wavy glass panes. "I've known about witches my entire life. I suppose I can't relate to how you're feeling in that sense." I didn't want to add that I hadn't known about other creatures until I'd moved here. And now that I had, I was afraid that they would disappear from my life once more. Sometimes, I was afraid that Edward wouldn't come back. That Rosalie was right, and I would only ever be trouble to him.

Angela must have guessed where my mind went because her next words were hesitant. "Are the Cullens witches too?"

My eyes snapped back to her. "No," I answered, probably a little too aggressively. It wasn't my place to tell their secrets, even if I didn't think they'd mind all that much.

Angela looked startled at my sharp reply.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

Her dark eyes softened as she studied me. "You miss them, don't you?"

I nodded. "They didn't exactly leave at a great time for me. Between that and my aunts… it's been hard."

"Is that why you've been all distant?"

I snorted. "Was it really that obvious?"

She shrugged. "Not really. This is probably going to come out really weird, but I've always been more observant than our classmates. And there was always something about you in particular that I was drawn to." She sent me a shy smile. "I suppose now I know why."

I smiled back, but her admission made me feel terrible. If I hadn't been so distracted and drawn to the Cullens, I would have noticed Angela when I first got here. "I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner, Ange."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I swear!" she backpedaled, snickering at my expression. "I'm grateful you figured it out though because this has got to be the coolest thing to ever happen to me."

"You'd think, huh?" I groaned, falling backward and laying on the ground.

Angela flopped down beside me in the opposite direction. "So what do you do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, examining the paneling on the ceiling.

"So you have this power. You've mentioned you're pretty strong as far as magic goes. What do you do with it? Surely there are some rules about personal gain or something. I've seen Charmed."

"Oh," I breathed, realizing what she meant. "Well, it's certainly not like Charmed. We can totally use magic for personal gain. It's frowned on, of course. Witches are supposed to keep to themselves. We're meant to try and put as much magic into the world as we take, for better or worse. For example, I've taken to summoning spirits and helping them cross over lately. I don't have any reason to use my magic to rob a bank, although I certainly could. But why would I need money? Human desires don't really seem that important when you have magic at your fingertips."

She absorbed my words for a moment before speaking again. "Okay, there's a lot to unpack there."

I laughed before launching into an explanation of the afterlife for magical creatures.

"There is our world, and then there are the Other Realms. There are so many different Realms that they are infinite—"

"Like the Multiverse Theory?"

"No. Well… maybe. Honestly, I haven't died yet so I don't know for sure. Your spirit usually just goes somewhere else. They don't like to talk about it when you call them back."

"Spirits… so like a soul? And you've called them back before?" Angela choked out, surprised.

I hummed. "I don't like to call them souls, although some do. It just makes witchcraft seem like a religion, and it isn't."

"The afterlife, souls… sounds a lot like many religions. What makes witchcraft any different?" she asked.

I was silent for a moment as I contemplated how best to answer her. "Obviously, I don't pretend to be part of any religion. I never have. But to my understanding, religions require blind faith. Take Christianity, for example. Christians believe in God. They have no proof that He exists, but they believe with their entire selves that He does, and He has a hand in their lives. For us, though, we do have proof. We have stories of the first witches like Hecate and Circe. We have evidence that they actually existed. And there is no greater proof than the magic running through our veins. We don't worship anything or anyone. We appreciate what we have. Being a witch isn't a religion. It's a lifestyle. Of course, each person is different. But I don't know any that treat witchcraft as a religion."

Angela nodded slowly, unsure. "Okay. That makes sense. My parents will be disappointed with my newfound atheism, though."

I gave her a look. "Just because you're a witch doesn't mean you have to stop believing in whatever religion you believe in. And I'm not telling you that to learn magic you have to. Just do what makes you happy."

Angela gave me a look right back. "You just told me that the afterlife involved Other Realms and not heaven and hell like I was taught in Sunday School."

"Maybe the Other Realms are heaven and hell. As I said, I've never been, and I don't pretend to be an expert on it."

"But you did say that you called spirits back to this realm? So surely they've told you something?"

I shook my head. "The spirits I call have unfinished business in this realm and never quite fully make it to another. Sometimes when this happens, they reach out to witches to help them. I've had a lot of time to myself recently, so I've been skipping that step and summoning them first before they summon me."

Angela pushed herself to her elbows and stared down at me. Her gaze wasn't judgmental, but it was considering me carefully. "Is that why you've been so tired since the Cullens left? You spend all your time summoning spirits and then solving their problems?"

I looked away. She hit the nail right on the head.

"Okay. Then tonight you teach me that energy replenishing potion. And then next time you want to help random spirits, I'll help you."

Her words weren't anything special. Still, the effect they had on me was immediate. I felt tears prick my eyes, but I pushed them back. I hadn't cried since my aunt died, and I wasn't about to start now. Still, I was incredibly touched by her offer. Angela had seen the toll magic was taking on me, and because she was my friend, she wanted to help.

"It might be dangerous," I warned, sitting up next to her.

She grinned at me. "Did you know that ladybugs are toxic?"

I laughed.

I slept in on Saturday. It was almost noon by the time I managed to get out of bed.

It was the first time I had actually slept through the night. Having a friend over made me realize that I couldn't keep going at the pace I was. I needed to keep practicing my magic. I had a lot of answers I still needed to search for. And yes, I wanted to distract myself from the fact that Edward wasn't with me. It made me anxious whenever I thought about it. But sometimes, it was okay to depend on people other than you.

So, I decided to do something I normally would never have thought to do.

I decided to call Jacob Black.

He'd given me his phone number the night he, Embry, and Quil had dropped me off after I crashed their bonfire. Enjoying my time with Angela reminded me that I'd enjoyed my time with them as well. I flipped open the cell phone Edward had gifted me and punched in the numbers.

He answered by the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hi is this Jacob? It's Emme."

I could hear the change in his tone immediately. "Emme, hey! What's up? I thought I told you to call ages ago," he joked.

"Phones work two ways, you know."

"Sure, sure. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"It's been a really busy last couple months with school stuff and whatnot, but I finally have some free time. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

I could hear muffled noises in the background like someone else was there. I couldn't make out what they were saying, though until a loud "Shut up!" sounded through the receiver. I laughed to myself while I waited for Jacob to deal with who I was assuming was Quil, Embry, or both.

"Sorry about that. I'm just working on my Rabbit right now… I don't know how you feel about cars, but if you want to come over, you're more than welcome."

"I don't know anything about cars, but I'm willing to learn if you don't mind the company."

"Of course not!" And he sounded completely genuine.

"What time should I head your way?" I asked.

"Whenever is fine. We'll be here."

I told him I'd be there in about an hour and then ran to get dressed. Since I'd be hanging out in a garage all day, I decided on nothing nicer than jeans, converse, and an old graphic sweatshirt that I'd gotten from the Salem Witch Museum as a joke. Despite the irony, it was quite comfortable.

On the way to the Reservation, I decided to pick up a few bags of chips and some sodas in case the need for snacking arose. I wasn't a big snack person, but I had a feeling that the boys would probably appreciate it.

When I arrived at Jacob's house, Jake was already out front. He was sitting on his porch with Quil and Embry. They were clearly waiting for me. Jacob ran over when I saw me grab bags out of my back seat. "I brought snacks, I hope you don't mind."

"Trust me… I definitely don't mind." Jacob's toothy grin was bright against his deep, russet skin.

I found myself smiling back easily.

The four of us made our way to the garage.

"Well, this is it!" Jacob announced, holding his arms out in a 'ta-da' gesture.

It was obviously an old Volkswagen, but that was about where my knowledge of cars ended.

Quil and Embry snickered from their chairs next to the hood.

I grinned sheepishly. "This looks like a good car," I offered lamely. I didn't know what I was looking at, but I trusted Jacob knew what he was doing.

Jake snorted and rolled his eyes. He walked over to the front of the car and lifted the hood. "You have much to learn, young grasshopper."

And that's when my car lessons began. He pointed out the various parts of the engine and battery and everything else. He explained how what he was doing to get the old thing running again. There was a lot more involved to it than I would have guessed.

My thoughts briefly drifted to Rosalie. She also liked working on cars. I wondered why. For some reason, I thought that Rosalie wouldn't have liked the fact that she had something in common with Jacob. I couldn't imagine that they would get along very well. But maybe it had something to do with the fact that she saw the world in such a black and white way. Perhaps working on her vehicles was something of a reassurance that she was right in seeing things in that way. There was only one way to do things, and if you did them wrong it wouldn't work.

"Why did you decide to build your own car, Jake?" I asked, eager to see if his answer would be similar to my speculations.

He shrugged. "Partly because my dad said he'd never be able to afford to buy me a car that runs. He used up all that money on my sisters." He rolled his eyes, but something told me he wouldn't have it any other way. "Partly because I like the challenge."

"So you have older sisters?"

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, twins. Rachel and Rebecca."

"Where are they?" I wondered. Surely they couldn't have been too much older than Jacob.

"Rachel as at Washington State. Rebecca got married right out of school and lives in Hawaii."

My eyebrows shot up at that. "Hawaii, wow."

"I take it you've never been?" Quil questioned.

I shook my head. "I'd never left New England before coming here, actually. And even moving here wasn't exactly planned."

"What made you come here?" Embry asked.

"It's a long story, but the gist of it is my dad died, my mom ran off with her boyfriend, so I had to move in with my aunts." I grinned, lifting my brow at them, hoping that would assure them that it didn't bother me as much as it probably should.

The boys looked between each other and then back at me.

"Between the four of us, we could have a highly entertaining TV show as far as family drama goes," Embry muttered.

Jacob and Quil chuckled nervously. I assumed Embry's family was something of a sore spot for him.

I was nosy, and I wanted to know why the atmosphere had suddenly gotten so tense. But I wasn't about to just go snooping through their minds. "Have any of you been to Hawaii?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

They all shook their heads.

"I was supposed to go visit Rebecca last year, but it never happened. Rebecca and Solomon ended up having to go to Japan for some tournament or another. He's a professional surfer."

I'd never been surfing before either, but I couldn't imagine I'd be good at it. The thought did make me giggle though.

"What's so funny?" Embry asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Don't worry about it," I smiled innocently.

"I don't know about you guys, but that makes me worry," Jacob declared from under the lifted hood.

"I'm worried."

"Definitely."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, I was just trying to imagine myself surfing. Even in my imagination, I can't do it."

The boys cackled at my expense.

Embry cracked open a Coke. "I'd offer to teach you, but forget surfing here. The beaches are rocky and it's too cold for the water to be nice for any amount of time."

Quil nodded. "Yeah, cliff diving is better. You're in, you're out."

"You guys cliff dive?" I asked, surprised. I couldn't imagine it was a safe activity for a human. Then again, maybe these boys weren't exactly that. I still felt trace amounts of magic in them all. But when there was no one else around who was normal, it seemed like we were normal.

"Does that make us more impressive?" Quil chuckled, elbowing Embry in the ribs.

I gave them a pointed look. "Please, we all know I'm the most impressive one in this room."

"And why's that?" asked Jake, standing up and slamming the hood down.

Well, I wasn't about to use magic in front of them. It would be hilarious if I did. But I wouldn't. "Wouldn't you like to know?" I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows.

Jacob groaned, throwing a Dorito at me.

"It doesn't count if you don't tell us, Emme!" Quil chastised.

I shook my head regretfully. "Maybe one day you'll be impressive enough to be in on the secret too. Until then, you'll just have to work harder at becoming more impressive. I don't make the rules."

I was tired by the time I got home that night. It wasn't that late, only ten or so, but I'd been at Jacobs for almost nine hours. I was genuinely surprised by how quickly time had flown. I was even more surprised about how eager I was to hang out with them again. The entire drive back to Forks I'd been debating on whether or not Angela would also like hanging out on the Reservation so I could have the best of both worlds.

I decided not to even look at my homework or do anything responsible. I went straight to bed and for the first time in months, I fell asleep immediately.

I was on an airplane.

I looked out the window. We were high above the clouds. The sky was light, but the sunlight was fading.

I was anxious. I couldn't stop bouncing my right leg. My fingers drummed against my left.

A small hand reached over and snatched mine. I looked to my left, only to see Alice. She was looking at me with an expression of worry mixed with fear. I knew my own expression must reflect it.

Alice's other hand reached up to my face and gently brushed away a tear that I didn't even realize was there. "It's going to be okay," she whispered.

"You don't know that."

She attempted a smile. "It's my job to know things, remember?"

But something told me she didn't.

Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of something, offering it to me. "I knew enough to see that you'd need this, although I couldn't understand why at the time."

"What is it?" I asked, momentarily distracted from my overwhelming emotions.

"Rabbit blood."

My next words were a distracted murmur. "What day is it?"

"You already know that."

I snatched the vial. I took a deep, steadying breath. I didn't know if it would work. I didn't know if it would be enough.

But it had to be. There was no other option.

I woke feeling more afraid than I ever had in my life. I threw the blankets off me and stumbled to my bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face, trying to calm myself down. Whatever was happening in the vision I had dreamed was going to be horrific if I had to feel even a fraction of what I was feeling now.

My heart was racing, and no amount of calming potions or deep breaths would calm it.

I was about ready to start screaming and breaking things. Visions often left me feeling side effects, but they had never affected me so badly before. I had never been so scared in my life.

Before I could do anything else, I felt a slight tug in my chest. It was familiar; it was comforting. I paused, hoping to feel it again, and I did. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to surrender to the feeling pulling at my heart.

"She's okay, Edward. I promise. It was just a bad dream."

"How do you know, Alice?" he choked out, his expression pained. "You couldn't even see her at all yesterday. I can feel it. I can feel her. She's not fine."

This time, Alice looked concerned. "I know. But I see her now, and she's fine. She's—"

Edward jumped to his feet, running his hands through his already unkempt bronze hair. "I should have never left. I don't know what I was thinking."

A snort sounded from the other side of the room. "It's the only time you've thought clearly in the last year," Rosalie sneered.

Everyone stopped to look at Alice as her eyes glazed over. Edward made stared at her, eyes wide.

Alice blinked a couple of times. "I can't see her anymore."

I was thrown from the vision. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I could still feel Edward through whatever way our spirits were connected. It had a calming effect that I so desperately needed at the moment.

Whatever calmness I had managed promptly disappeared when I heard a knock at the door.

It was the middle of the night. Whoever was visiting had business with me, or they wouldn't be here. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed the faint glow of the ward stones from my window—green. A human was on the doorstep with no mal intent.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't much feel like fighting anyone at the moment. If it came down to it, a human would be much easier to handle.

Slowly, I crept down the stairs.

Maybe it was Angela. She was the only human I knew that knew where I lived. Maybe something had happened.

But if it was Angela, then why did I feel so nervous.

When I opened the door, it was most certainly not Angela.

"Hello, Emerine," the woman whispered, staring at me softly. "It's been a while, hasn't it? You've grown."

I took a step back, my hand falling off the door. It opened wider. I didn't pay it any attention. All of my focus was on the woman in front of me.

I knew she was waiting for me to speak, but only one word managed to fall out of my lips.

"Mom?"

A/N:

Poor Emme finally manages to start to relax and then this happens lol. It be like that sometimes.

Anyway, this chapter was obviously a filler that took me incredibly too long to write because... I just really didn't want to lol. I'm eager to get to the good stuff and move the plot, but we gotta establish relationships somehow, ammirite? I feel like there might be some sort of continuity issue or something here that I missed because it's been so long since I worked on this particular fic. I feel like this chapter also basically opened up a TON of plot points so it just seemed messy to me. Not my best work, but I realllllly want to get back into this story, so I hope you'll forgive me!

Lemme know if you guys have any theories about where I'm taking this! Til next time!