When an apple falls from the tree, it has no option but to fall. If an exterior force catches it, its impact is shorter than intended. If it is not caught before it hits the ground, the bruising on the fruit is more severe. Yet the apple that falls to the ground is yet appreciated and consumed, therefore not forgotten. In a way, I felt like the apple. I was supposed to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors, yet I have failed them in a way that is unmentionable. I refuse to practice the craft wholeheartedly, not because I don't believe, but because I fear the consequences that come with being caught.

The Salem Witch Trials terrorized so many innocent. While apologies and compensation were granted to the families of the 20 people killed during the trials, it did not undue the damage. It caused the damage to be more painful. It violated the trust between neighbors, causing divide and upheaval.

When I was a child, my mother and grandmother taught me that privacy is of the utmost importance. My gift was not to be squandered on those who would not value it. The one man I thought I could trust betrayed me, and I – I lost the love of my life. At the time, it felt more than that. It felt like someone ripped a hole in my chest as I recounted family history. I ran and left Nikolai behind, severing all connection with him.

Or so I thought I had.

Three days after Esme warned me of impending danger, I resolved myself to be strong and brave. If I was going to die, then I was going to die a proud, admirable woman. I would serve my family well, and hopefully I had a daughter for the gift to pass to. Or forbid, a son would could bear the family gift despite the unbroken line of female inheritors.

That resolve spawned from waking up to find Nikolai watching me sleep. His hand tucked my hair behind my ear affectionately as he smiled down at me. I didn't speak, nor did he. We stared into each other eyes, acknowledging what the other was in a way that never could've been comprehended or even appreciated before. He didn't need to kill me for knowing what he was, and I didn't need to hide my gift from him. The comfort that brought me did very little to still the anger and resentment within at the abuse I suffered by his hand. My cheek still ached from that vicious backhand, my throat reminded of how hard he could squeeze.

" I missed you," He finally said as the alarm clock displayed 12 am.

Tears tugged at my heart then, his thumb brushing them away gently with familiarity that he did not deserve.

" It's been two years since I've been turned….All I can think about is having you in my arms, at my side, as my eternal bride,"

" Niko," How I ached to hear those words before. Now they just tore apart the defenses I built up around the fortress he once had full access to. " Witches make horrible vampires…it'd be like nursing a newborn baby for well over 50 years before we could be trusted alone with another vampire,"

" I know…" His fingers kept stroking my messy bed head hair. It worked keeping my nerves soothed. " I ache knowing that we could have been so much more by now,"

" Meaning if you weren't so stupid?" I dared as I watched his lips twitch from that smile into a flat line, if only for a second. My heart remembered, it never stopped loving him. How does one put a five year relationship behind and then stride forward as if that relationship didn't matter any more? The answer to that question is that they don't. They don't put it behind them. They cringe. They hide. Beg, plead, and steal the moments of peace they can at whatever acceptable price.

He leaned over to steal a kiss, his lips cold and yielding to my own. For a moment I close my eyes pretending like he's human and enjoy the cold embrace. His hand resting on the back of my neck, curved and firm yet just enough pressure to soothe my frayed and insecure nerves. Nikolai repeats my name against my lips before pulling back. " I want you to become my wife,"

" And I want you to be human,"

" We both know that time will not reverse that," Gazing up into his lovely gray eyes, I find myself falling for him over and over, lost in that vicious cycle that refused to give my heart peace. I tried to find love after I left him and I failed to find it. Now here he was invading my life and demanding something I couldn't give him. " If you allow-"

A flicker out of the corner of my eye, and a well muscled man of seeming Latino descent stood in the corner of the room no more than three feet from me. He said nothing, yet his eyes spoke volumes. Whereas Nikolai wanted to hold me close and never let go, this man wanted to bleed me dry – or at the very least – make me suffer. No kindness or fondness registered in his gaze. He stood still as a statue as Nikolai lost the nerve to finish what he wanted to speak.

My gaze moved from Nikolai and the black velvet box he held in his hand to the wall of pictures that dated as far back as possible for my family bloodline. Women prominently ran the length of the top of the wall, descending down to the males who carried the genetics to pass on the gift to another. One entire wall documented my family's wealth and success at protecting the lineage. Another wall featured more simple pleasures – a child playing in an indoor sandbox built in a sun room because it rained too much in Forks. Another picture showed my mother and father holding me as an infant, with my grandmother behind them. My grandfather missed that photo by needing to go to the doctors. Then there was the picture of me and several of my childhood friends from La Push. Witches and Shapeshifters got along famously, as Shapeshifters descended from spiritual people who could astral project themselves.

" Memory lane?" An Italian accent teased. Nikolai half laid himself out over me to shield me as he stared down the Italian. " Move aside, we are wasting time-"

" You said she would be turned willingly-"

" I lied, now move!"

" No,"

" She is not yours to have, boy-"

" You promised me that this would be done my-"

They seemed to be speaking to each other, their lips moving too fast for me to hear anything. Nikolai might have added muscle since I've last seen him, and the way he hovered over me offered an escape. A firm hand pressed down on my chest, effectively pinning me to the bed. " Stay," Nikolai ordered, his gaze forward on his creator.

Stay? What was I – his obedient slave now?!

" If she is permitted to stay mortal, she will grow old and die, Nikolai. You will have a broken heart," The man started to reason. My heartbeat picked up as I looked up at Nikolai's chest, inhaling his heady cologne that he liked to wear. His hand planted on top my breast, possibly not to grope – only to pin. Cold seeped through his body to mine, sending chills through my otherwise cold form. The thin blanket over top me didn't even help. " She must be turned-

" Niko, if you turn me, I won't be able to remember anything about my life for at least 50 years," I pleaded with him. " Don't do this,"

" She will come back to who she is, who you remember over time,"

" No, Niko, I won't. He knows that if I am turned, there is a chance the magic will claim. My gift will make me ins-"

" Do many witches regain their sanity?" Nikolai demanded of his creator, Enzo Mariani. " Do I have your word that you would protect her from the Volturi? That she will be mine and no one else's?"

Enzo Mariani nodded.

Nikolai shifted to gaze down into my eyes. " I love you, Allison Bishop, to the stars and back…" His faint Russian accent weaseled its way past my fear, yet I heard more than love in that answer. Possession threatened to take over the pretty words and twist them into a hell that I would not want.

My eyes answered for me. Enzo moved forward and Nikolai backed away. For a moment I thought that I was dead. I blinked twice, and then the curtain shifted as a breeze pushed through the open window. Where Nikolai had sat in on the footstool that doubled as a chair in the small bedroom, a rounded depression of his ass remained. Tossing the cover aside, my racing heart threatened to quit as I took the steps two at a time, my foot catching on the third step from the bottom. As I went down, a pixie like female held me in suspended rapid descent that would've resulted in a painful landing at the base of the steps.

I gazed up into the eyes of Alice Cullen, then looked over her shoulder at the other female I never laid eyes on before and heard enough about from the neighbors, Mrs. Hilbert and Mrs. Allen. " Mrs. Mariani," Alice eased me up slowly from the diagonal suspension to my feet before letting me go. I latched onto the railing and held onto it, grateful for their timely intervention. A part of me wondered if it truly was timely intervention or the visit had been cut short on the will of the men. Either way, I thanked the stars I would see the sunrise as a mortal.

My relief must have shown as Mrs. Mariani bowed her head. " They are gone for now-"

" But they will come back. Nikolai will take me as his, one way or another," I summed up for her. " Please…excuse the lack of introduction, Mrs. Mariani. I've been busy with research at the local library, and I really neglected my time spent with the ladies who my grandmother called friends. I find visiting them at the assisted living homes rejuvenates tired spirits,"

Both females watched me as move to the vase with fresh flowers and proceeded to the kitchen to dump out the water and place the flowers in the sink. At the bottom of the vase a ring rolled out. An engagement ring I'd returned to Nikolai when I broke the engagement off now lay in my kitchen sink, a reminder and warning that his love really would see me insane for the next 50 plus years. Alice said nothing, while the other vampire watched me. " Esme said that you were a historian, Mrs. Mariani. That's a noble profession to have,"

Such politeness at this hour shouldn't even be occurring yet here I stood. At exactly 12:36 a.m, I talked to an Egyptian historian who shouldn't even be alive and a seer. Grandmother would have offered them tea.

" It is noble as long as the history is true,"

" As much as I'd like to talk this over, I have to get back to sleep. Deadlines to make, vampires to dodge, old shapeshifter friends to talk to. Maybe I should spend a few nights with them instead-" Dropping the flowers into a fresh vase full of water, I carried the vase back to the entrance. Tucking the ring on my left hand, I wondered if I did the right by wearing it. I never did get over Nikolai, and I wanted to forgive him, even if my heart couldn't. Maybe we could make it work, just not as immortals.

Maybe I was deluded.

A hand rested on my arm and I looked up to find myself looking into the eyes of a predator, a woman who probably killed more people than the entire police force of the US in all its years of existence. " There are those who do contain their gifts, and they are strong vampires, but they must work to control the energy that is no longer contained by the special genetics of a mortal witch. It is not impossible or painful, once mastered," Something else lingered unspoken, and while I wanted to play 50 questions with the woman, I didn't have the energy.

" Alice, Mrs. Mariani, I thank you for your support, but if they want to turn me, they will. It's late, I need sleep, and I have a window open upstairs. I'm going to rest and I'll speak to you another time," The clipped response should have been enough to show my gratitude, yet impulsively I reached out and hugged the Eygptian first. She cringed at the contact, while Alice buried herself in the gentle embrace.

On their way out, Sehkhet turned to Alice. " If your visions are correct, she will break the man that is known as Nikolai and Nikolai will break her. They deserve more than this half-demolished second chance to a new start," Alice just smiled, like she knew something else and wasn't sharing. Kheti walked the distance from the Bishop residence to her house, knowing that they did not chase away Enzo and Nikolai. The men left willingly, which meant they'd be coming back on their own schedule.