A/N:

Trigger warning: attempted assault and a brief allusion to sexual assault are present in this chapter.


I stormed into my aunts' home in a flurry of anxiety and aggravation. It had taken every ounce of self-control I had to make it back from First Beach without having some sort of supernatural panic attack, but I had somehow managed it.

"Isolde! Blair!" I yelled. I was done letting them be cryptic. There was information I needed, and I was going to get it from them the easy way or the hard way. I didn't particularly want to take on my aunts, though, so I hoped it was the easy way.

"What is it?" I heard them call from the parlor.

I all but ran into the richly decorated sitting room.

"What did you see in your vision?" Blair asked sounding somewhat worried.

I was caught momentarily off guard by her question. "What vision?"

Isolde looked at me pointedly. "We said you could go to the beach if you promised to try to have a vision. Why else would you be so obviously flustered?"

"I didn't have a vision."

It was their turn to look confused.

I didn't want to wait any longer. It was best just to have out with it. "There are other things out there, aren't there? Other creatures with magic?"

The look on their faces told me right away what I wanted to know.

"A boy at the beach had magic. I felt it. He told me his tribe was descended from wolves and that the Cullens were vampires. Is it true?"

"Well… we have heard rumors about the Quileute magic," Blair admitted somewhat guiltily.

"We never had any reason to believe they were true until now," Isolde finished. "It isn't like we've been actively researching them."

"And the Cullens…" I prompted.

"We've never actually met them, Emerine. We only saw the children briefly, as we told you. But it makes sense based on what you've told us. We had… a feeling."

"Great. And here I was thinking that I moved away from the magic to a normal, small-town when in reality I'm living in some sort of devil's playground! Our 'feelings' are always right. Why didn't you tell me?" I hissed at them, furious.

"We were going to," Aunt Blair began slowly. She was choosing her words carefully. "We were just waiting for the right time."

For some reason, this answer annoyed me even more. "I'm supposed to be learning about the magical world. You're both supposed to be teaching me this sort of thing! There has to be a better reason than that."

"Of course there is," Isolde snapped. "We had to make sure your magic wasn't so volatile before we could explain anything to you."

The wind outside took the opportunity to push angrily against the window panes. I realized, yet again, that I wasn't controlling myself as I ought to be. I had let my emotions begin to best me. I took a deep breath, calming myself. I didn't want to admit to Isolde and Blair, but the exhaustion that came from accidental magic use definitely helped. My aunts would never be so stupid as to tell me something that would upset me while I was already unstable.

After a moment, I was ready to have a normal conversation. Well, as normal as conversations could be when the topic was supernatural creatures of the world. "Tell me what you know."

Blair chewed on her lip. She was clearly nervous about whatever information they were about to give me. Like usual, she allowed Isolde to take the lead.

"Your father was killed by a vampire."

I sucked in a breath, stunned. I had always known my father hadn't just died. He was killed. But that was the extent of my knowledge.

"We told you about the vision we shared when you were born. You know by now that most visions change; they're subjective to the actions of others. Very few are so clear, and when they are it's obvious it is fate's will. When the High Council came to meet you, they had the same vision we did. They were… not as accepting as we were." It was clear that 'not as accepting' was an understatement. "You know that the High Council forbids non-witches—outsiders—into the lives of those with magic. They didn't want one of their own—someone who they thought was going to be powerful and important to their vision of the future—aligning themselves with anyone or anything else. Especially vampires."

I couldn't speak. I could barely comprehend the words that Isolde was speaking. Her tone was even, but I could feel her emotions as she continued.

"Your father openly refused to keep the vision from you. He told the Council that he would let you live your own life. He didn't want you to have to try and fight fate's will. Cadoc argued that many others had tried and it never ended well for them. If you wanted to try to fight it, you could. But he was adamant that the right to choose was entirely yours. He was found dead within the week. Your mother became increasingly unstable. She couldn't control herself, especially around you. Sara begged us to bind her powers. Eventually, we finally agreed when we saw what our brother's death had done to her. Her emotions began to control her. Her magic lashed out until she spent more time unconscious than awake. All three of us agreed it was for the best. She never used magic around you because she couldn't."

Mom had never told me that before. I had always just thought that she'd turned her back on magic. I guess she did in a way, but this was different. It explained how she managed to not have magical outbursts while I did.

"Of course, we wouldn't let Cadoc's death go unanswered," Blair remarked.

Aunt Isolde agreed with a sharp nod. "We threw everything we had into looking for Cadoc's killer. It was a dark time for us. We were obsessive. It led us to the Volturi—the leader of the vampire kind. We found out that the High Council had made a deal with them. They convinced the vampires that it was in their best interest to kill Cadoc because if they didn't then you would somehow destroy them. They thought that your father's death would make you hate vampire kind. They thought if you hated them, you wouldn't ruin the status quo by combining our two worlds.

"The High Council didn't realize that your mother would turn her back on magic because of it. They didn't know that you wouldn't even find out about other creatures until much later… until after you had already found your soulmate."

My father's death had been because of me. The realization hit me like a brick. I felt dazed. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

The High Council used me as a pawn because they were scared of uncertainty. As a child, I had always looked up to them; they were so knowledgeable and worldly. But this—it was pathetically small of them.

I thought back to all the times the witches and warlocks on the Council visited me, laughed with me, gave me gifts—they didn't do it because they were kind. They did it because they wanted something from me. They wanted me to become one of them and live a life that they thought I should.

And my father had died because he refused to let anyone else decide my life for me.

"We confronted the High Council," Isolde remarked as if it was the simplest thing in the world. For her and Blair, the choice to do so probably was. I hadn't been around to see it, but I had always grown up hearing how close the Wildes siblings were.

Blair had a small frown on her face, staring into the fireplace. She was undoubtedly remembering the confrontation. "They didn't even deny what they had done."

Isolde scoffed, hatred flashing in her eyes, though not directed at anyone in this room. "We demanded justice for our brother. They refused."

"Is that why you left?" I wondered. My voice was small. It cracked when I spoke, thick with feeling.

The twins nodded together. "We knew this place would eventually be important to us and to you. It was where our future was. So we came here and waited for you to join us."

It was a lot to take in, to say the least.

When I was growing up in Salem, no one ever wanted to tell me anything about my father. All I knew was that the Wildes were all-powerful users of magic. He was a ranking Septe. He had dark brown hair, like me. He was a good man. I had always known there was more to him than just empty facts.

The narrative my aunts had given me told a story of a man who didn't just exist and then die. Cadoc Wildes was a Septe that used his powers to give his daughter a better life—a life where she didn't have to fight fate just because some stuck up magicians were afraid of what would happen if she didn't. He stood up for me until the moment he was cut down.

I could make my own choices. And thanks to my father, I would be able to.


Jess called me the next morning, asking if I'd like to go dress shopping with her and Angela in Port Angeles that afternoon.

I thought about saying no at first. Then, I realized that I had been walking around the house in some sort of hypnotized state just thinking for the better part of the last ten hours. I hadn't slept a wink. I was living off of energy potions at the moment. I kept circling between Edward, vampires, and my father. I needed some sort of distraction from it all before my mind imploded.

"I'm going to Port Angeles with Jess and Angela," I told my aunts.

The pair of them had given me space I desperately needed after last night. They didn't even hesitate when I told them my plan to leave. They were wise enough to recognize I needed a distraction, too. With a request for another pillar candle and an iolite stone from what I assumed was the only store of its kind in Port Angeles, they sent me on my way.

Jessica came to get me at about three in the afternoon. For once, I was thankful that she was so chatty. The second I got into the backseat of her car, she blurted out that Mike had asked her out to dinner on Thursday.

"So not only do I need a dress for the dance, but I also need a new top for our date. It's getting warmer out and all I seem to own are sweaters and t-shirts. I'd like something a bit nicer, you know? I don't want to wear a dress since I'll be wearing one on Saturday—I really want the dance to have the shock factor. I'll probably wear jeans on Thursday, but I want the top to make the outfit a bit nicer than something I would wear to school. That way Mike will know I put in the effort but can still be casual."

Jessica was anything but casual according to her detailed outfit plans, but Angela and I let her ramble on anyways. Thinking about clothes was infinitely easier than thinking about the supernatural.

Port Angeles was a surprisingly charming seaside town. I had only been through it once (when I had first arrived from Massachusetts), and it had been too dark to see anything. I hadn't really cared at the time either. But in the daylight, I noticed that it had the small-town vibe that Forks had without any of the inconvenience. It had enough shops and restaurants to actually be entertaining. The area down by the bay even looked like it had tourists.

We ignored that area though.

Jessica drove us to the only department store in town, though it was still within walking distance to the boardwalk.

"What do you think semi-formal means exactly?" Jess questioned.

Angela and I both shrugged in response. I certainly didn't have a better answer.

"Come on," Jessica whined. "Aren't you from Boston, Emme? Surely dances were a big deal there."

"You know I was homeschooled, Jess. I've never been to a dance." We made our way over to the Juniors section of the store, scanning the area for the clothes that were even a little bit nicer than casual.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. In that case, I can't believe your aunts won't let you come to this one."

"I honestly don't mind missing it. The only thing I have to compare them too really is what you see on TV or in movies. Dances just seem… awkward," I mused aloud.

Angela chuckled, finally finding a few racks of dresses. She began to look through them. She seemed to be amused by my wariness of high school social activities. "It kind of is. But you have to focus less on the dance part and more on the people. It's sort of nice to have a reason to get all dressed up and hang out with your friends."

Jess, on the other hand, was appalled by my confession. "You have to come to prom, Emme. Non-negotiable," Jess insisted adamantly.

I shot her a small smile. When Angela put it like that, it didn't seem quite so miserable. "We'll see. That's still months away."

"Only two and a half," Jessica corrected. Leave it to her to know exactly when prom was going to be.

Jess and Angela found a few dresses and moved to the fitting room to begin trying them on. I didn't find anything that tickled my fancy. I hadn't known what I expected Port Angeles to have, but this department store definitely wouldn't have anything that suited my needs. Luckily, I had my dress from last year that I could use again.

Jess managed to narrow her options down to a floor-length strapless gown and a shorter, electric blue spaghetti strap one. I convinced her to go with the blue dress—it matched her eyes and better suited her bubbly personality.

Angela didn't have a similar decision to make. The second she tried on her pale pink dress, she fell in love with it. It certainly suited her. She looked lovely in it.

The two of them moved towards the accessory section of the store next.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I meet you at the restaurant later for dinner? My aunts asked me to pick up a couple of things for them." I needed a break from all the estrogen and now seemed like a good time as any.

The offered to go with me after they were finished, but I needed a little break. I insisted I would be ok by myself for an hour. We all agreed to meet at the little Italian place on the boardwalk in an hour.

I made my way back towards the boardwalk area of town. It wasn't that difficult to find. The more shops I walked past on the main street, the more I realized Port Angeles was sort of a tourist trap. It wasn't as bad as Salem, though; Salem was much too well known to be anything but.

I easily found the shop my aunts had mentioned… it stood out against the posh boutiques and specialty shops.

It was clearly one of those shops marketed towards new-age witches and Wiccans or whatever they were calling themselves these days. The windows were filled with crystals, dream catchers, and greenery. The aesthetic was pleasing, even if most of it was nonsensical.

I went in anyways. The store might not have been meant for those with real magic, but it had what I needed. I purchased the new pillar candle and stone for my aunts and then was on my way.

I still had another thirty minutes before I had to meet my friends, so I decided to wander a bit. I let the thoughts that had been threatening to overcome me into my mind finally since I was alone.

Right now, I couldn't do anything with the information I had learned about my father—no matter how badly I wanted to get justice for him. But I could do something with the information I had learned about Edward. And if my aunts were right, if I was right, then my soulmate was a vampire.

I snickered at the thought. I was lucky no one could look into my thoughts without me noticing. They would have thought I was absolutely insane.

Fate had decreed that a witch and a vampire would be together.

What did that mean though? Witches, vampires, werewolves—we were all very obviously separated from each other. I was sure that Edward didn't know that I had magic or else he would have immediately known. He wouldn't have asked if I was human, either, if he had already known I wasn't. I wondered if any of his other family members knew about magic. Depending on how old they were and how well-traveled, they could have come across a witch or warlock in their lives. None of Edward's siblings knew what I was, though. I was sure of it. If any of his family did, it would have to be one or both of his parents whom I hadn't met yet. Regardless, it was a long shot, because surely they would have warned their children the moment they learned about the weird girl at school.

I sighed miserably. My arm was beginning to fall asleep from the weight of the pillar candle hanging off of it.

I had fifteen minutes until I had to meet Jess and Angela. I decided to start heading for the restaurant. Even if I was early, I wouldn't mind waiting.

At least, that's what I planned to do. Then, I realized I had no idea where I was.

I had managed to meander away from the populated and polished area of town to an area that the tourists obviously weren't meant to see. It was run down, to say the least.

"Hey there!" a voice called.

I whipped around, seeing three guys. They all looked to be in their mid-twenties and were all dressed in some variation of dirty jeans, t-shirts, and flannels. My intuition screamed at me that they were nothing but bad news. I decided to ignore their call and walked away from them as quickly as possible.

"Wait up!" one of them yelled after me.

Again, I ignored them. I knew I was heading in the right direction to get back to civilization, but I could still hear the men following behind me. That's when I noticed that there were two more of them up ahead. A sinking feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. I had been herded.

I stopped in my tracks trying to decide what to do. My body was pulsing with adrenaline; I was running on pure instinct.

I had to make sure they were really a threat first. It only took a moment in their minds to realize exactly what they had planned—and it was nothing good for me. Other girls my age had flashed thought their minds, their eyes wide and filled with fear. I even thought I recognized one from school. They had done this before.

I glanced around hurriedly. There was one van at the far end of the road, but it looked like no one was in it. For all I knew, it belonged to the men. No one was on the street. The group probably thought that was a good thing for them. They didn't realize it was a better thing for me.

Still, I didn't want to take any chances using magic out in the open. I quickly ducked into an alley on my left. It was a dead-end, but that didn't matter. If this was a test for fight or flight, I had chosen to fight. If they weren't such awful human beings, I would almost feel bad for them. I took the bag off my wrists so my arms would be free. Then, I waited.

I could hear their heavy footsteps approaching. The five of them stopped at the mouth of the alley.

"There you are," one of them smiled.

"I know what you want from me, and it's not going to happen. I'll give you a chance to apologize now," I told them. My voice was stronger than I thought it would be, though it made sense. What I had seen in their minds had angered me to the point of calm. I had no intention of letting them go after I saw their previous actions, but I'd be tempted to go easier on them if they saw the error of their ways.

I received nothing but disbelieving laughter as a reply.

I didn't blame them, really. I was petite; at my full height of five feet, four inches, I was not intimidating in the slightest. I didn't need to be though.

I heard the car engine roaring and the tires screeching before I saw the actual car. It screamed to a stop right in front of the alleyway. I recognized the vehicle immediately, but I didn't want the car or its owner to distract me. I turned my attention back to my attackers.

The men didn't know what to do with the arrival of someone else. They seemed frozen, deciding their options.

The passenger door of the shiny silver Volvo flew open. "Get in." His voice was furious.

Despite the chill that involuntarily flew down my spine, I didn't even look at him. "Not yet."

Edward was next to me faster than I could blink.

There were gasps and shouts from the men who still hadn't moved. They had still been contemplating their best course of action. It seemed that Edward's impossibly sudden appearance had spurred them into action. It seemed that their fight or flight tendency was flight.

I threw out an arm, holding them in place. It was the first time I had ever tried to hold so much at once.

"Now, Emme." Venom laced Edward's tone. He was tense and shaking; he would kill these men if I didn't stop him.

I continued holding the men in front of me before turning to Edward. I knew what I wanted to do without even thinking about it. My vision clouded over with shades of white and light grey. My voice became cold and distant. It was foreign to me, yet I recognized it as mine.

"Don't move until I finish."

Edward froze, eyes widening in shock.

I turned my attention back to the men.

I must have looked truly frightening because their struggles increased a tenfold. I felt my energy rapidly draining.

"Stop struggling."

The men stopped. I released them from my invisible hold.

"Humans should be the last thing I should have to worry about right now. Yet, there are few creatures in this world that are eviler than the five of you. After I speak these words, you won't remember anything that has happened in the last hour. Et verba mea: adiuro te. May you never harm another living thing in your pathetic mortal lives. That shall be your curse."

The cloudiness fogging my vision slowly receded.

The men blinked a few times, looking around. Then, they turned and left without another word.

I looked anxiously back at Edward. He still hadn't moved, even though I knew he could. I didn't want to be the first to speak; I didn't know what to say. It would be difficult at best to explain to him what had just happened.

That was when the fatigue caught up to me. I had used too much magic, but I couldn't bring myself to regret it. I stumbled slightly.

Edward didn't hesitate. He wrapped his solid arm around me and carried me to his car. His touch was gentle. I could feel his worry over me. It was comforting to know that even after everything that had happened, even if he was mad at me, he still cared.

And I could tell he was still extremely angry, but I didn't know if the feeling was directed at me or at my would-be attackers. Or both, for that matter.

After we were both situated in the car, he began to drive out of the warehouse district and back towards the touristy area, not that I was really paying attention. My attention was entirely on Edward.

His face betrayed nothing.

"What are you?" he finally asked. The anger that was radiating off of him didn't show through his tone.

Immediately, I felt relieved. I didn't want him to hate me. I didn't think before I used my magic against him. I'd never even used hypnosis before—I didn't know it would work. I didn't feel bad about using my magic against humans. I did feel bad about using it against him.

"I'm a witch."

His brow furrowed. "Witches aren't real."

I grinned at him, resting my head against the cool glass of the window. A half-hearted laugh that was probably not appropriate for the situation managed to escape me.

"Neither are vampires and yet here we are."


A/N:

Oh boy.

Thank you all for your kind follows/faves/reviews! A special shout out to reader RedUnicorns whose review almost made me cry with relief. I am working realllly hard to make sure that this story is my own while at the same time making sure it fits as well as it can into the world of Twilight that we all know and love. The last thing I want are characters that are OOC. Consequentially, I now know wayyy more about the Cullens than high school me would have ever would have thought lol.

But before we get to them, Edward and Emme both have a lot of explaining to do...

Until next time!