A/N:

I know, I know I am late with the chapter again, and I am so sorry! My move is just very complicated, and many things have gone wrong. I have so much in my head, I simply forgot to update the story, and I apologize for that.

At least, my stomach is better. The doctors said it was stress that caused it, and it doesn't surprise me considering everything that's going on right now, but as I said, I'm better now :)

Title: The Undecided

Author: MarieCarro

Beta Reader: SarcasticBimbo

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Good and Evil Witches. A Prophecy. An Unfulfilled Destiny. The Promise of a Leader. And it all rests on the shoulders of a "misunderstood" teenage girl.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Word Count: 3, 069

{Chapter 5}

I lifted my suitcase out of the trunk of Charlie's car with a groan and then looked at the cabin in front of me. It was a very small, two-story wooden house painted an off-white with picturesque shutters framing the windows. The garden was larger than the house, and as a kid, I'd spent most of the time outside since the room I always slept in was cramped and claustrophobic. I grimaced as I thought about it. It barely had enough space for the twin bed in there and the closet was ridiculously small.

As if that wasn't enough, there was only one bathroom that the three of us had to share.

I used to enjoy spending a couple of weeks here each summer before I started high school, and there had been times when Angela had come here as well. Back then, we always slept in the living room on the two couches that faced each other and we'd chatted and giggled all through the night until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore.

I wanted to smile at those memories, but now that I knew Angela was a Witch, I felt that she had deceived me just as much as Edward had, because she never told me anything either, and she was supposed to be Good.

"Charlie, can you carry Bella's chest inside and place it in the living room?" Renee said as she walked up to the door and unlocked it with the key underneath the doormat.

I didn't even try to fight my smile when Charlie cursed at how heavy the thing was, and that he hated not having his powers anymore.

"Isabella, give me a hand," he said, and I immediately understood he wasn't talking about carrying help.

My smile fell and I looked at him in shock. "I-I don't know how."

He smiled widely, but it wasn't a pleasant smile, and I had to admit that it hurt, but it wasn't my fault I had never practiced magic before. "It's not difficult. You have the magic inside you. Try a spell."

"I don't know any spells," I insisted weakly because I suddenly felt completely useless.

"Charlie!" Renee said curtly. "You can't ask that of her. You know she has to accept her magic heritage before she can perform any spells, or have you forgotten that?"

Charlie directed his eyes toward Renee and gestured toward the chest. "Well, if you know a way to get the thing inside, by all means, be my guest. In the meantime, I'll just sit here and watch." He sat down on the lawn and leaned back on his hands, waiting for Renee to make her move. She wasn't the least bit frazzled.

"Bella, you can unpack in the master bedroom. Charlie and I will be inside in a moment."

"The master bedroom?" I asked, confused. "But where are you going to sleep?"

Renee stroked my hair lovingly. "Charlie and I won't have to pretend to be married any longer, so I'll sleep on the couch, and Charlie will sleep in the basement. Besides, that room you occupied before has already been remade into your own magic supply closet. You'll find everything you will possibly need for your training in there."

I blinked. "Uh, okay. If you say so," I said, and took a steady grip on my suitcase and carried it inside while grunting and groaning at the weight of it. With a heave, I threw it on top of the king-sized bed, and I smiled again as I thought that I'd at least have a very comfortable place to sleep for the upcoming six weeks.

However, it fell again quickly as it occurred to me that it would probably feel very empty to sleep in a king-size by myself, and I instantly began missing Edward. I was still sore from yesterday and it was a torturous, aching pleasure that continued to remind me of the love I still felt for the guy, despite everything, and now I would probably never see him again. No one who hadn't been here before knew of this cabin. Charlie told me on the way here that the address wasn't registered because when we were here, we didn't want to be disturbed.

With a deep sigh, I opened the lid of the suitcase and started to unpack all of my clothes. Most of them didn't look like my usual style because those clothes weren't practical here. I would only ruin them and so I left them at home. Instead, my wardrobe would consist of black leggings and loose tank tops. I hadn't been able to separate from my leather jacket, though.

My hair continued to fall in my face, and it frustrated me to the point that I used the hair elastic I had around my wrist and pulled everything back into the ponytail I used to sport every day before I started high school.

I caught my reflection in the mirror that was placed on the wardrobe, and I felt shocked to see an older version of the Bella I used to be. I hadn't seen her in years, and it unsettled me a bit to come face to face with her again. Her eyes appeared to judge me, and a feeling of disappointment washed through my body.

"Bella, sweetheart, are you done? Could you come downstairs?" Renee called, and the feeling went away. I shook my head to clear it and went downstairs.

The living room had been transformed and I blinked a couple of times to be sure I wasn't hallucinating. All of the furniture had been moved away, and instead of the usual low coffee table in the center, there was now a circular table, covered in a white cloth, and several lit candles adorned it.

A spell book was opened and next to it lay one of my very sharp daggers. There was also a black lead pot in the center of it, and several glass jars of what I now knew was potion ingredients.

The lights were out and everything glowed, causing the whole scene to appear iridescent.

"What's gonna happen now?" I asked. I was feeling rather nervous, especially at the sight of the dagger. I really hoped I wouldn't have to sacrifice anything or stab myself.

Renee, who was sitting cross-legged by the table, smiled at me. Charlie was walking around the room, lighting candles that were placed in every nook and cranny they could possibly have found.

"It's time for you to accept your magical heritage and gain access to your powers and your family's knowledge," she said in a serene voice. When I looked closer at her, I realized that her eye color had changed. They were no longer the blue I was used to, but a shimmering forest green, and it was swirling around, sometimes blending into a glowing yellow. I realized then that I was looking into the eyes of a Witch of the Old. The things those eyes had witnessed were of a nature that I could only dream about.

I slowly walked closer when she gestured for me to sit down next to her, and when we were level with each other, she grabbed my right hand in hers. I gasped at the intense heat that radiated from her palm, but I didn't attempt to pull away.

Charlie joined us, and his eyes, like Renee's, had also changed color. His were now a flaming orange that occasionally blended into the same yellow Renee's had.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to collect myself. It was shocking to see the proof that magic existed. It didn't matter that I knew. It was still strange. "Okay, what do I have to do?"

Renee placed my dagger in the hand she was holding, and then proceeded to talk me through the process. I had a difficult time giving her my complete attention, though, because the dagger in my hand made me nervous.

"Charlie, add the mandrake root in the pot, please," she said before took a hold of my left hand and directed the tip of the dagger toward my palm. "Bella, we need your blood so that the Divine knows whose ancestors she should call."

"And I have to do it myself?" I asked shakily and swallowed.

"Yes. Or else, She will interpret you as unwilling."

Before I could change my mind, I quickly pressed the tip of the dagger into my palm, and fortunately, it was so sharp, I barely had to use any force. Still, I couldn't hold in my cry of pain.

Renee had me make a fist to squeeze several ruby drops into the pot, but nothing extraordinary happened. She continued to add ingredients into the pot, and for my sake, she named them all.

"Nightshade, Henbane, Datura, and oil made from the Strychnine tree."

The contents in the pot started to boil.

"And lastly, water hemlock root." She turned to me, and her eyes were swirling faster. My breathing picked up when she said the spell while looking deep into my eyes.

"From mother to daughter, from father to son

the power shall pass from the shadow of the sun.

I call for you through the times, ancestors of the Sinclair/Alistair line.

Bless this childe with your grace

Guide her need in this sacred space."

White smoke started to build and pour out over the sides of the pot.

The slight throbbing in my palm from the cut was forgotten as I was completely enthralled with what was happening in front of me. The smoke had set a course toward me, and it swirled around me in dancing circles. It smelled surprisingly sweet, and I took a deep breath through my nose.

As the smoke filled my lungs, a powerful feeling that was impossible to compare with anything I had ever felt before radiated from my heart and out to my limbs. When it reached my palms, it felt as if they were being enveloped in the finest, softest silk.

Suddenly, the smoke dissipated, and while I still felt the aftertaste of the power in my body and the silk on my hands, it wasn't as intense as it had been.

On their own accord, my eyes closed, but I could still see the room in front of me. It looked the same except that Renee and Charlie were not there.

Someone was, though.

A young woman in her mid-twenties. She had my face, but she was blonde and had blue eyes. A small smile was playing on her lips while she looked at me, and when the sound of steps echoed behind her, it grew wider.

The steps belonged to a tall man with a kind face. He had my brown eyes and hair color, and I could clearly see several other features we had in common. When the couple stood next to each other, I knew that they could be no other than my biological parents.

I wanted to call for them, reach out and touch them, but I couldn't and something sad crossed my dad's face. Mom blew me a kiss and before the image dissolved, I saw a tear falling down her cheek.

When I opened my eyes, I felt the tear on my own cheek and touched it lightly with the tips of my fingers. I wondered if she had truly been crying or if I'd only seen a reflection of myself.

I sniffled softly and Renee handed me a handkerchief. Her eyes were back to her ocean blue color, and she was looking at me with sympathy. "You saw your parents," she said, not as a question, but as a statement.

I nodded and opened my mouth to ask how she knew that, but she beat me to it.

"We always see our closest deceased ancestors when our powers are passed down the line."

Another tear fell from my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. I didn't understand why I was crying for two people I hadn't even known existed before yesterday, and it felt absurd that I was grieving them when I never knew them.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to the two people that had raised me. For all intents and purposes, they were my parents, and by grieving for the two phantoms in my vision, they surely must feel betrayed. I know I would have.

"Why are you apologizing?" Renée asked with concerned eyes.

I sniffled and shook my head. "I don't know why I'm crying for them. I didn't even know them."

"Don't feel guilty for grieving them, Bella. We would never take that away from you."

It shocked me that Renee understood my feelings better than I did, but it felt so much better after she gave me that reassurance.

"It must feel better to at least have an image of them now," Renee continued, and I wanted to agree with her, but I quickly realized that I couldn't remember the faces in my vision. I just knew that I'd seen my parents, but everything else was blurry.

"I can't see their faces. Everything I saw is a blur," I said and my voice trembled as I realized I'd already lost the only thing I'd ever had of my birth parents.

It was quiet for a few seconds, and then Renee spoke. "We have something for you," she said and looked over my head at Charlie. "Get the album."

He left silently but came back only a minute later with a leather bound photo album in his hands. He handed it to me, and I looked between them both with confusion as I opened it to the first page.

What I saw made me gasp.

The first photo of the album was of a baby in the arms of a familiar looking blonde woman. Next to her stood a man that I also recognized, and I instantly knew that it was my first family photo. The woman looked so much like me, it just had to be my mother, and the man shared my dark hair and eyes.

My blurry vision once again became clear, and it pained me to realize that the phantoms hadn't appeared to age very much between the photo and their demise.

How much time did I have with them? Did I get even a year?

I started to flip through the album for clues and I got my answer when the photos abruptly stopped and the faded text below the empty space on the next page read:

Isabella's 1st birthday

Pain seared my heart, and I had to close the album and lay it down to escape some of it.

"Okay, so what now?" I asked to distract myself.

"Bella, we understand if you need a break. We don't have to continue right away," Renee insisted, but I just looked at her.

"Yes, we do," I simply said and stood up so that I would face Charlie instead. I knew he wouldn't look at me with the same sympathy as Renee and that was what I needed right now. "What should I do?"

He looked at me for a long second, but then he simply shrugged as if thinking 'why not.'

"You should test out your powers at first. We don't always need spells, but they are a good support as we begin to learn the craft." He grabbed the spell book from the table, completely ignoring Renée's pleading look to take it easy, and flipped to the next page. "An elemental spell should be easy enough," he continued. "And Water and Air are always willing to play with new Witches. Earth is a bit more stubborn and Fire is too fickle for you to control right now."

He gave me the book and pointed to the text written in elegant calligraphy all over the page.

Quietly, I began reading the words out loud.

"Water and Air

Elements of the universe

I call for you now, attend to me.

In my mind, I ask of you

Keep me safe from curse and blast

From caves and desert, from sea and hill

By wand and cup, by blade and quill

I call for you now, attend to me."

A creak made us aware of the porch door being opened and there was also a rumbling in the walls of the house as the two elements reacted to my call. A gust of wind blew toward me and circled me at the same time as the most bizarre thing I'd ever seen appeared in front of me.

It looked like a flying band of glistening water, and it joined its elemental friend in its circling around me. They began to swirl together as if they were playing and when I reached out my fingers to touch them, they made small pirouettes on my palm.

I giggled, delightedly at the sight and sensation, and it must have pleased them because they circled me even faster and faster until my body somehow absorbed them. Strangely though, the water didn't make me the least bit wet.

When I became aware of the other two people in the room again, I heard their hushed discussion about me.

"Do not dare to push her too much, Charlie. It's too dangerous."

"We don't know that."

"And we can't take the risk either. You know it as well as I do."

"I just don't think we have the time to take it too slowly. You saw just now how easily the elements accepted her."

"Yes, I did, but I'm not going to put her life on the line because of one event."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, making them aware of my presence again and they both turned their heads my way.

Renee tried to smooth everything over by smiling. "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with. Both of us believe you've had enough for today. You should lie down and rest. I'll call you when lunch is ready."

I knew that I wouldn't get anything else for the moment, so I reluctantly did as I was told because I had a feeling I didn't know everything I should know.

A/N:

We got to see some real magic there, and also get an image of Bella's real parents. If you want to see a picture, there is one in my group on Facebook; MarieCarro's Creative Corner, in The Undecided Story Album.

I will give a link to all who ask for it!