No.
Yes.
No.
I hurled the notebook into the kitchen and clenched my hands into fists.
One month. Just one month.
Enzo expected me to wrap up my old life into one month. House included.
Then! On HIS schedule he'd turn me into a bloody, crazed vampire who he'd then pawn off onto Kheti.
Me. A crazed vampire in a modern world. I'm not even allowed to continue writing my books after I come to the right mind again. Nikolai supported Enzo 100%. I had no one to support me when I needed it most.
A knock cut off my family. Lo and behold it is none other than the drama queen of pregnant teenagers with the cliched ultra religious grandmother and abusive boyfriend. Admittedly she probably suffered as much as me as she is also unwed and a high school drop out. Pile on the cliches and tragic backstory. Hell I always call her a Mary Stu. She makes Isabella Swan appear capable almost.
Wait - that is unfair. Bella cooked, cleaned, drove a stick shift...Bella is an updated housewife from the past. I rescind my redemption of her as someone to be admired. She's just a doormat for everyone in her life because she was taught no different - babysitting her mother, sacrificing her happiness just so her mother could be happy, living with a father who she barely knew in a place she hated. I may have argued she was a victim if this was forced on her by someone else, but no. She forced it on herself, therefore she was the stupid one and deserved all the pain and unhappiness that came with it.
" Have you seen or heard from my boyfriend? He's missing since Friday,"
I tried to feel sorry for her. Having met her boyfriend once, I'm glad he's missing. A pig like him didn't deserve to breathe - the cheating liar prick made sexual advances toward me and then called me a bitch when I turned him down. Nikolai almost snatched him until I told Nikolai it wasn't worth the effort. " Define missing," I don't think Nikolai killed him, because I warned him about the Quileute pack that defending Forks. That didn't mean that Enzo wasn't responsible.
She wrung her small hands. " He's not answering his phone, his car isn't at his house, and he hasn't showed up for church. Please, if you know anything or hear anything-"
My hand touched her shoulder. " I know you're pregnant. And you live with a staunchly religious grandmother, but men do pick up and leave their significant other all the time. He's young still and so are you. He likely left because he's afraid of losing his freedom and it has nothing to do with you,"
Cecily Baxter pulled away quickly. " He did not leave me. He is not like that,"
Her naivety and youthful obsession disappointed me. She now became a statistic. Her baby will like also grow up in poverty as well because she is a single mother in a world that hates single mothers. Fact - single parents are typically poor and have a lesser earning potential than similar individuals in a marriage or unified living arrangement. Fact - poor children often attend poor districts because poor parents are unable to afford the property taxes in higher rated school districts. Fact - Crime is higher in poorer areas because of many factors, and society generally associates crime with poverty, but in fact, the more horrendous crimes that damage society are inflicted by the more wealthy. Fact - those who don't know better will never strive for better, and because C. Baxter is an ignorant teenager with a baby on the way, she knows nothing about the real world and will continue to think the world hates her needlessly when in fact she's only half right. The real world does hate her needlessly, but she will contribute to her own miserable existence if she doesn't try to escape her grandmother, find a job, and earn a driver's license. She will always be abused if she keeps picking abusive life partners.
" I'm not the one accused of witchcraft. It's not my family that an embarrassment to Forks. Yours is," The teen stomped off leaving me in stunned silence.
Shutting the door slowly, I decided to call a friend who lived in Colorado for support and advice. The landline connected me to another minor set of problems I could help with. My friend, a witch, asked for my grandmother's Book of Shadows to reference against her mother's. I gift wrapped the precious book for her and mailed it out the next day.
Packing up Gram's witching supplies and accessories in a trunk, I then hauled the trunk to a storage unit and plotted the next point of action. Yes, I am a real witch, but I never truly practiced the craft. Wasted potential, blah blah. I know, but between writing books and living life and plotting itenaries, practicing the craft is tough to fit into the schedule. Therefore I held no need for the objects since I'd be dead in a month. My friend inherited a Book of Shadows I felt she'd put to good use. Everyone won out in the end.
Nikolai intercepted me at the gas station holding a set of silver keys.
" To our new home," He answered the dead silence cheerfully. " " It's finally completed,"
Holding the keys in my hand, I looked them over skeptically. They swayed in mid air. " Furniture included?"
" Interior completed. Exterior wall completed. Funds settled. Everything is ready for our new life together," He leaned in for a kiss and I leaned out. " You are not pleased. What have I done wrong?"
For once I'm not angry at him. He acted lie the man I once knew, not the vampire.
My hand cupped his cheek instead. " Absolutely nothing. I forgive you for everything I perceived as wrong or insulting. Just don't hit me again or I will kill you," His baffled expression passed as quickly as I removed my hand and put the keys in my back pocket.
We turned to look at the peeping old lady and waved with eery cheerful smiles. Nikolai snuck a kiss before escaping to his rental vehicle and fleeing my mild wrath. No matter, I'd yell at him later. Besides I had a dinner invitation to dine with the Swans. Charlie wanted me to attend a dinner with himself, Bella, and Billy Black. I agreed because I knew I can introduce Billy to the new threats in Forks.
This particular evening promised a possible escape from death. Billy Black already sat in the living room in a wheelchair when I arrived. Charlie invited us to be comfortable while he helped Bella with the food in the kitchen. I sat next to Billy, comfortable in my knowledge of his gift and of my own dark future. " It's nice to meet someone other than the Marianis. Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Mariani is a sweetheart but her husband is...less than tolerable most of the time. It's nice to have different company, Mr. Black,"
He glanced down at his beer. " Billy, Please,"
I smiled lightly, actually relaxed. " She's a wise old soul,"
" Sincerely?"
I nodded, running my fingers along the couch material in general disinterest. " I find her a pleasant person given her age. She's not what you'd expect for her sort of person. More...human. Her husband on the other hand is more distanced," I answered carefully.
Charlie walked into the room with a beer and settled across from Billy. " He doesn't talk much. Prefers his wife occupy the conversation most of the time," He kicked up his feet on a foot stool and shut down my wonderful plan to save Forks and possibly myself. " A protector of Bella when I can't be there,"
" Mr. Mariani?"
" Mrs. Mariani," Charlie corrected me. " She tried to warn me about Edward Cullen dating Bella,"
Billy's lips pressed into a thin line.
I ignored my hunger in favor of the current adult company. Charlie isn't a verbose person. Amiable yes, but conversation usually landed between bits of interesting information and avoiding awkward pauses.
" Your son is growing, isn't he, Billy? I think I saw him while on the Reservation the other day. A striking image of you," I said while Charlie sipped down his beer. " Rumor has he inherited the family genetics. I wish him luck with it,"
" He'll be a lady's man for certain," Charlie quipped lightheartedly.
Billy pat my arm in appreciation. " You keep the Marianis company often?"
I wished we had a game to watch on television. " Often enough. My fiance and I, Nikolai, are acquainted with them. Nikolai works for Mr. Mariani, new hire. I inherited Gram's house in Forks. But I'm moving out at the end of the month. Turns out Nikolai found a house in Alaska that is perfect for us. To be honest, I think the isolation will be good for us. It'll give us the chance to build our lives the way we want to, without encroaching on the expectations of current society," I shrugged, praying he read between the lines.
Charlie stopped drinking. " So soon?"
" Unavoidable. Mr. Mariani's business is mobile and Nikolai and I are going to try and patch up our differences," I glanced over at Billy again and then cleared my throat. " We only split up because of an argument and he left the US for Russia. Turns out he lost his passport while there, and then I changed my number so he couldn't track me down to apologize. Stupid obstacles, I know,"
Neither man argued with the lie, and I soon smelled a wonderful intermixed scent of well cooked fish, some kind of salad, and glimpsed a desert that Bella briefly put out on the table. Tonight we were eating good, that was for certain. Better enjoy the taste of food while I can.
Billy offered to let Charlie go to the kitchen first to help Bella. I volunteered to make Billy more comfortable for the plates Bella would help bring into the living room. As I adjusted his chair for him, he gripped my hand. " Are you in danger?"
I smiled weakly at him. " Always, but not from Nikolai or Mrs. Mariani. There are three others in the area too. Already killed," I whispered quickly before catching my breath and handing him a food tray that he used whenever he visited Charlie. " James, Victoria, Laurent."
He nodded and thanked me loudly for my help before remarking on my blouse. I remarked on his jacket, and we waited for Charlie and Bella in comfortable, cooperative silence.
Bella and I talked about my books while Billy and Charlie bantered about sports and fishing. Fishing and sports were a foreign subject to me even though I learned all about fishing tips and fishing equipment for use in my books. The passion the men held for the activity simply overwhelmed someone like me - who thought that fishing is boring and useless. Bella's flat questions glanced off my own anxious behavior, anxious behavior that impacted Billy enough that he insisted on seeing me back to my house. I welcomed his company.
As we traveled the short distance, Billy finally asked me if I was willing to be made.
" Unless you can kill Enzo Mariani, Billy, you can't stop it. Neither can I. At the moment I don't have the will to purchase a weapon and take my life. Even if I succeeded in securing one, Nikolai is too observant and Mrs. Mariani won't let me die because of her husband. I'd be changed for one reason or best you can do is stop the three before they kill more people,"
" And what of you?" Billy insisted stubbornly. " You have gifts too. You can use those gifts, become what your ancestors were, what your grandmother was,"
I grimaced. " I'm not that skilled or knowledgible. Even if I were, witchcraft is dulled against the special people. It's a sad but true fact," I stopped at my front door. Someone probably watched us from the foilage or Nikolai waited for me inside the house despite me telling him to respect boundaries. " Goodnight, Mr. Black. I truly wish your son the best of luck in his lifetime,"
Before I stepped fully inside the house, Billy called out one last time. " You still have time,"
Time. Now that was funny. The only time I had was to create problems for Enzo once I became a vampire. To make life easier for my mother. To leave my book series in good hands. That's what I had time for, not fighting an impossible and inevitable death. I stood against the back of the front door and soon found myself staring into the silent and patient Kheti sitting on the steps like a statue.
Then she blinked. " It won't work."
" I know," I whispered, knowing exactly what she referred to.
