A/N:

Well, finally, I have another chapter for you, and I also wanted to share some news with you.

About 3 weeks ago, I got a job! Yay!

Unfortunately, it means it's taking time out of my writing, and updates will be even slower than before on this. I apologize on that beforehand. You'll read more about this issue at the bottom, and you'll get to have your say in what you think I should do about it :)

Title: The Undecided

Author: MarieCarro

Beta Reader: SarcasticBimbo

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Bella thought she knew what her life looked like. It was normal teenage angst and high school boredom. However, one night proves her very wrong and she realizes everyone has been lying through their teeth. Bella isn't normal. Bella is a Witch. And she has a very important choice to make. B/E, Mature Content, AU/A(H)

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: 2, 737

{Chapter 22}

"Angel!"

Edward held me tightly and kept my hair out of the way until my stomach calmed down and I was able to sit back up straight.

"I warned you, darling," the Necromancer said and tsked, unimpressed at my purging as he stepped away from us. "You'd better clean up after yourself before you leave."

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and glared at his back. "You said I might experience a headache. You call this a headache?" I spat out venomously, the hate I'd felt from Sarah lingering in my heart.

"Everyone reacts differently," he replied nonchalantly. "It depends how strong of a psyche you have." He looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "It appears you have a rather weak one."

"Watch it," Edward said with a clear warning in his voice.

"Just telling it as it is."

I jumped down from the slab and strode up to him and grabbed his wrist using all my strength. He didn't flinch at my hold, but he looked down at where my hand was in interest. "If you value your life, I suggest you shut up," I threatened darkly through clenched teeth.

The Necromancer laughed. "Looks like Sarah had quite the affect on you, darling." He easily pried his wrist out of my hand as if my grip wasn't stronger than a child's, and it annoyed me more than it should have. "Auferetur spiritu!" he whispered and snapped with his finger close to my ear.

The hate and darkness I'd felt in my heart faded away, and I felt momentarily confused before the Necromancer explained.

"Sometimes, the spirit of the body you've possessed lingers. Sarah wasn't quite ready to let you go."

I shuddered and Edward came up behind me to place his hands on my arms.

"What did you see?"

"Everything," I whispered. I felt incapable of speaking louder about the subject. "It was as you thought. Sarah was raped by another Witch. There was nothing I could do." My hands clenched into fists as I thought of Joshua again. "It was as if he was doing it to me."

Edward's hands tightened on my arms. "I'm sorry, Angel. I wish you wouldn't have had to go through that."

"I'll live," I replied bitterly. "I didn't feel anything, but seeing it was enough." I turned around in his arms and allowed him to embrace me for a moment, then I looked up at him. "She killed him and used his blood to kill Cyrus. If that doesn't cause a blood curse, I don't know what would."

"You're right," Edward agreed. "Using another Witch's blood to exact revenge always leaves its mark. Sarah's hate for everyone around her made it worse."

"So what are we supposed to do? I can't live with the thought of having to endure my last year in this life without you. No matter how far into the future that might be."

"Don't stress over it." He cupped my jaw in his warm hand. "There were a lot of variables in Marie and Nicholas relationship that differed from your ancestors'. The curse could very well already be broken." He leaned in to kiss me, but before our mouths could touch, the Necromancer made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat.

"I can't take any more of this sap. If I check the blood curse for you, will you leave me alone?"

Edward gave him a suspicious stare. "How do you know how to do that? That's not your power."

He rolled his eyes. "I was older than ancient before you were born. Believe me, I've picked up a few tricks along the way. I can do things your tiny desires can't even dream of."

I felt Edward shift his weight to charge at the man, but I stopped him with a calm hand. I wanted to get out of the bunker and ask Edward about his past with this Witch, but I wasn't stupid enough to reject the offer.

"What do you need from me?" I asked.

"Obviously your blood," the Necromancer replied as if he questioned my intelligence. I didn't let his taunting get to me this time because I'd understood it did no good. It only spurred the man on. I grabbed the dagger from my belt. "How much?"

"So eager," he breathed out as his grin widened. "I like it. You might have what it takes after all." He fetched one of the candles from before, spoke quiet words to it, causing the flame to turn bright red. "Unfortunately, for now, I only need a drop."

Without taking my eyes off his grinning face, I pricked my finger with the tip of my dagger and allowed the red liquid to ooze out. He directed me to squeeze out a drop over the flame. For a second, the flame burned brighter, and then it burned out with a fizzle, emitting a small puff of pure white smoke.

"Your blood is as pure as a newborn's, darling," the Necromancer announced and put the candle down on a table. "Now, as much as I've enjoyed this visit, you've outstayed my welcome. Clean up your mess and leave."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at him. As grateful as I was he'd helped me find out I was curse-free, he didn't stop trampling all over my nerves. "Tersus," I said and directed my hand at where I'd vomited, and the room was once again spotless.

Neither of us made the effort to say goodbye. Edward and I clasped hands and used his ring to get out of there, and when we were able to breathe fresh air again, I sagged down on the ground in relief.

"Talk about roller-coaster ride," I mumbled and put my head in my hands. We'd landed somewhere on the coast, and the angry wind was blowing my hair in every direction, but I couldn't be bothered to pull it into a ponytail.

Edward sat down beside me but didn't touch me. "Yeah, he's a lot to handle."

I turned my head and looked at him. "What's your deal with him anyway? It seemed very personal."

"It is," he confirmed, and his shoulders and neck were tense. "And a long story."

"We've got nothing but time at this point," I reminded him. "Tell me. You promised me no more secrets before we left."

"It's not really a secret. It just involves a lot of people." He took a deep breath to help him relax and then leaned back on his hand. "The Necromancer has a name. I doubt it's the one he was born with, but I know him as Jasper. He used to be a part of my coven when my grandfather, Tobias Masen, was its leader."

"I thought Necromancers were solitary Witches. That they prefer working alone."

"They do, but a few decades back, when there were more of them, it wasn't uncommon for covens to have Necromancers. They were more accepted in our community. A coven with its own Necromancer was seen as a powerful one, and Jasper's one of the oldest ones in history, which raised my covens status even further."

Something he thought of caused him to shake his head, but before I could ask, he continued with the story.

"During most of the 20th century, wars raged all over the world, and it was a playground for all the Necromancer. With the mortals' high death count, they'd never had that many dead to play with, and things got way out of hand. It ended with Necromancers being banned from covens to spend the rest of their existence as far away from society as possible." He turned to look at me. "You might not have noticed it, but that bunker is a prison. Jasper can never leave. Witches can visit him as much as they want, but he can never step foot outside. He lives now through the memories of others."

I let that thought sink in for a moment and then nodded. "I guess I should feel sympathy for him, but I'm not," I confessed. "If he warranted an exile, he deserves what he got. And he didn't seem to mind too much."

"He doesn't really, but no matter how much you enjoy isolation, being robbed of your freedom for eternity isn't fun for anyone."

I could agree with that much, but I didn't comment further. Maybe I'd look into the Necromancers exile in the future, but they'd have to really prove themselves trustworthy before I even considered granting them their freedom back.

"A couple of years before we met, I sought him out as I wanted more information about my family. More specifically, my mother's side." He gently touched the tube which held my family tree. "Look anywhere around Stoneheart Mansion and you can find traces of my father's ancestors, yet there is nothing about my mother. Not that it surprised me a lot because my mother wasn't born into the coven. Like Alice, she joined us as a teenager."

"Where's her former coven?"

He pursed his lips tightly and clenched his jaw in annoyance while softly shaking his head. "That's the problem. I don't know. Mom never spoke of them. Only said they did something unforgivable and she left." He shrugged, but his eyes told me the mystery eluded him to this day. "I didn't care much as I grew up. I had my grandparents and my friends, and it was enough for me. But I searched for Mom's maiden name, Vates, at a genealogical website once and the only hits were of people from Europe. I didn't ask her about it because Mom gets very angry every time we bring up her family, but I got curious, and that was why I went to Jasper."

As he told the story, he looked out over the water in front of us, and his eyes were far away as he remembered.

"At first, he said he wanted to help, but that I'd have to do him a favor as payment. He wanted to be allowed to just leave the bunker once every year, and I promised I'd talk to Dad about it. I lay down on the slab and he started to chant, just like with you, but nothing happened. He started to laugh and it didn't appear as if he could stop. I understood then that he had never intended to help me. I had been his entertainment when I came and asked for help, and so after tossing him around the bunker until he couldn't stand, all the while he never stopped laughing, I left. Today was the first time we met since that day."

I didn't know how to react to his story. It was sort of odd to me because I didn't understand why Jasper would ask for a favor he clearly wanted and then pull one on Edward who was essentially the only person within the next fifty years who could give him some of his freedom back.

It didn't add up.

None of this did I say to Edward, though. I didn't want him to believe I thought he wasn't justified in his anger toward Jasper, so until I knew more, I'd keep my mouth shut.

"I get why you're angry," was all I said now. "I'm sorry I forced you to face him."

"It's fine, Angel," Edward said and gave me his trademark smirk. "It was years ago, and while I'll never like the guy, I can't really blame him anymore for wanting something new to happen every once in a while."

"Did you ever get the answers about your family's family?" I asked and swallowed thickly. I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

"No. Until Mom feels like she can talk about it, which I don't know if it'll ever happen, it will remain a mystery. But if Dad can accept it, then so can I."

§~TU~§

We used all means of travel as we started to move through the country. Whenever we were positive no mortals would be around our destination, we used the ring, but even rouges lived in the cities, and we had to use regular forms of transportation to remain inconspicuous.

The first one we encountered was in South America. In the Three Crosses mountain range in Bolivia to be exact.

The rugged Evil Witch didn't speak any English, but Edward cast a quick translation spell to help us all understand each other.

She'd heard of me and my prophecy, and she leeringly asked me why she should recognize me, a little girl, as her magical leader. She had denounced all forms of community and only wanted to perform her own magic in peace.

Luckily, I'd made my research. There were stories going around in the cities around the mountains. Venturing into them rarely meant you came back. There were rumors of curses and the child of the mountain; a demon.

I confronted her with the stories and gave her two choices. Either she recognized me as her leader and kept a leash on her child, or the child would come with us. It was harsh of me to give me that ultimatum, but the woman had already made it clear she wouldn't cooperate when asked nicely.

"It's not my wish to take your child from you," I said to make it clear my intent wasn't to become a dictator. "I'm not asking much. You can stay here with your child for the rest of your lives if you so wish. I will never call for you to come to me. All I ask is that you clean up the mess your child has made and, in the future, keep the magic exposure to a minimum."

The woman thought about it for a moment, and then, rather reluctantly, nodded.

"You have to take the allegiance vow," Edward reminded her harshly. "A nod isn't enough."

A sneer took over the woman's face, but, nevertheless, she kneeled before me and said the required words. "I swear on the Goddess that I give you my allegiance and pledge you my commitment. Shall I ever break this vow, I ask the Goddess to strike me down without mercy."

I accepted her pledge, and that was all that was needed.

It continued like that whenever we encountered a rouge. Some resisted more than others. Some did as Renee had predicted and wanted to make sure I was truly the one I claimed to be. They'd all heard of me and my prophecy, and a lot of them explained they'd left the community because of the lack of leadership and structure. That they were fed-up with the coven leaders greed.

That was the repeated story amongst the Evil Witches. It was different with the Good. They claimed they wanted to become one with nature and Goddess again. Some of them had stopped performing magic and tried to live mortal lives with their mortal families, but since their children were half-witches, I had to remind them they couldn't escape. They had to take their responsibility toward the next generation.

In the end, they all took the allegiance vow, but I had already anticipated that part wouldn't be too hard since I could reason with both sides. The most arduous task was, naturally, to find them all, and weeks quickly turned into months.

One night, about four months after we'd left home, Edward and I had, for once, taken in at a motel in Greece. I was in that state where I wasn't awake, but not fully asleep either. I was aware of Edward spooning me, his naked skin against my own, but I was halfway in dreamland.

I felt the presence of someone, but I couldn't say if it was a part of my dream or if someone had actually broken into our room. I had no idea what the figure looked like, but I heard whispers.

Hushed words I would forget as soon as I woke up.

"Your love for him shall be no more,

Your heart shall no longer soar.

When looking upon his face,

Love into hate will now replace."

A/N:

Dun, dun, DUN!

Oh my god! What just happened? Was that real, or a dream? In that case, who was it? What will happen now?

And furthermore, what did you think of the history between Edward and Jasper?

I know updating on this story is slow, and I am sorry about that! The only excuse I have is that I love this story so much, and I really want it to come out right, so I am taking it excruciatingly slow. Therefore, I want to hear from you guys. Do you want me to continue the way I have and update the story when I have a chapter ready for you, or do you want me to stop updating and finish the story first? The power is in your hands!

Until you hear from me again,

Stay Awesome!