I'm in the forest, sunlight pouring down over my shoulders as the birds chirp quietly in the air. I wait and listen, serenity filling my chest as I breathe in the warm, muggy air. I hear laughter, and the rush of waves as they crash against the shore. My feet make no sound as I follow the noise to the beach, the wind brushing my hair against my body.

I can see Kim. And Jared, and Sam, and Emily. I see Paul. I see myself. I'm screaming, but I'm not afraid. I'm happy. I'm shrieking as Paul splashes water across my legs, all of us dancing along the shoreline as Collin plucks away at his guitar near Seth and Leah.

"Fourth of July..." I breathed, watching all of us. At once, everyone's faces snap to mine, their eyes blank and their expressions hollow. They ascend from the water in sync, Collin's guitar dropping to the sand as he stands with them. Fear engulfs me. They're moving. Quickly. They're running, and I can't move..

"Stop!" I scream to myself, as the old Haley smirks silently, watching Paul as his body begins to tremble. "Stop!"

But Paul isn't Paul anymore. He shivers uncontrollably, heat radiating from his skin as his teeth elongate into fangs, his body twitching and growing until finally he explodes out of his own skin, a giant, silver wolf standing in his place, snarling. I jump back, a pale figure colliding with Paul, the both of them crashing through the trees as an army of angels follows them, tearing everyone I love away from each other. Why aren't they moving?! Why aren't they changing? I scream, scrambling through the bushes until I can't move anymore, something heavy and solid pressing my face into the dirt, holding my arms behind my back.

A crack flies through the air, Paul, in human form, being thrown into the grass in front of me, groaning. His eyes flicker to mine for a moment before several of the deadly angels lift him by his arms, hissing as he struggles against their hold. All I can do is watch as they bind his hands to two trees, his shoulders stretched out wide as he kneels to the ground.

"No," I groan as I'm rolled onto my back. "Don't!"

Jackson smiles down at me, stroking my hair away from my face.

"Shh," he murmurs. "It'll be alright, it'll be fine." his eyes flicker to Paul. "Don't you trust me?" And then his tongue wiggles itself inside my ear.

"Haley!"

My eyes snapped open, my chest heaving as Edward grips at my shoulders, shaking me awake. I grunted, trying to squirm from his hold as Yaya and Adam barged into the room, trying to calm me down. "It's fine, it's fine, you're alright!" Edward cried, staring at me, not loosening his grip. I listened to my heart hammering in my chest, tears pricking at my eyes as I closed them, leaning my head back against the wall.

"Honey what happened?" Yaya asked desperately, her expression concerned as she scooted around Edward, pulling me into her chest.

"I remembered," I breathed. "I remember the fourth of July, and then it turned into a nightmare, I can't, oh God..."

"She remembered something?" Seth asked from the bottom of the steps.

"She was having a nightmare," Edward corrected. "The more she tries to remember the more difficult it becomes."

"Where's Paul?" I asked immediately. Everyone's face fell, Yaya looking to Adam. Something was off. How long had I been asleep?

"Three days." Edward murmured, answering my mental question. I noticed he hadn't answered the other one.

"Paul's been gone since the fight at school." Collin said quietly, knitting his eyebrows together.

"He's been gone?! What do you mean he's been gone?"

"They took him, Haley. We think Jackson took him and we haven't been able to find him."

"No, this is all wrong," All of this was so damn wrong. "You can smell, you can hear him, why can;t you-"

"He hasn't been shifting."

"I was bitten, I should be a-"

"There was no venom," Edward murmured. "He just wanted..."

"He just wanted a taste." Brady shot angrily. I cringed.

"You need to eat something before you worry about all of this," Yaya demanded, waving the boys away. "You need to relax a little bit."

"She needs to know the truth." Kim challenged, walking into the room with Jared in tow. I supposed everyone had forgotten I liked to sleep in my underwear. Edward at least had the decency to look away in embarrassment.

"What's the truth then?" I demanded, sitting up and pulling away from my Aunt.

"We've never seen anything like what Jackson is doing."

"What exactly is he doing?"

"He's been tampering with black magic."

The room went silent as I stared at all of them, a mix of annoyance and disbelief on my face.

"Magic." I said flatly, tempted to roll my eyes.

"It wouldn't be the oddest thing you've heard, let's be honest." Adam grumbled crossing his arms.

"None of us believed it either. Not until we saw her."

"Who the Hell is her? You guys need to quit with he open-ended questions." I was being a bitch, I knew that, but we were talking about Paul, and as I crossed my arms I tried to be as brave as he'd always looked. Why do you care?

"They call her Zeița Morții," Quil said quietly, everyone's eyes flickering to him as he walked into the room. Adam looked taken back by his presence and for the twentieth time that morning, I was confused as Hell.

"We thought you left already." Jared said flatly. I'd never seen him look at somebody in his own Pack with such hatred. My face grew hot with my frustrations. What the Hell was going on?

"Not until we get Paul back. I'm not gonna leave when you need me most."

"Who is Zeita?" I asked, sweat collecting at my forehead again.

"You need to lay down." My aunt murmured. I swatted her away, shoving past Edward and standing, Paul's T-Shirt (Which I'd stolen) brushing against my shins.

"I need to know what's going on!" I cried. This was too much drama for one morning. Too much drama for one lifetime, I thought bitterly to myself.

"She's a witch," Adam started. "The original of Romania."

"She's not just a witch, she's the witch," Quil corrected, sitting at the edge of my bed. "And she's the deadliest thing to happen to our world. There's only one person who can tell you the entire story.

"Your Dad." I murmured quietly, watching Quil as he nodded his head. Quil Sr. had been around since Emily was a baby, between him and Jacob's Dad, you could learn the entire Quileute history in one sitting.

I was chewing on my bottom lip the entire ride to Quil's father's house, Quil himself tapping on the steering wheel nervously as we drove. I glanced at him subtly, watching the way his jaw hardened every time he took a deep breath, his thick hair curling slightly around his ears.

"Why are you leaving?" I asked quietly, after some time. Quil looked like I'd just shot him. "We don't have to talk about it." I said quickly. Quil shook his head.

"No," he murmured. "It's probably better if I get it out to someone. As long as you promise not to tell."

"I promise."

"No, Haley. I mean really promise. You can't say a word, not even to Paul."

"I promise..." I said again, eying him.

"I'll tell the Pack why on my own time, but now...I just can't do it yet."

"I understand, but why would you want to go? Everything is here, Claire, the Pack, I don't see-"

"Sometimes when you want to protect someone, the best thing you can do is keep yourself away from them."

"I don't believe that." I said shortly, looking out of the window.

"Have you ever heard of Imprinting?" he asked quietly, biting his lip. I shook my head no. "It's a werewolf thing. It's only happened to a few of us, it's so rare, but lately it's been triggered in almost half of the Pack."

"Triggered?"

"When one of us is born, we could go our entire lives without ever phasing, even if we carry the gene. Some of us wouldn't even know. Collin, Brady, Michael, they phased ages ago, back when Ness was first born. The vampires have this Coven, it's almost like their government, called the Volturi. They make sure their secret stays safe and that leeches don't run around the globe causing a scene and endangering their secret, threatening exposure."

"So why would they come here? No one would even suspect the Cullens of being superhuman, unless you considered them inhumanly gorgeous."

Quil laughed. "When Ness was first born, the Volturi thought she was an Immortal Child. It's a long story, they're illegal to create because they can never learn, but considering the fact that Ness is half-human they spared the family. They come back every once in awhile to "check up" on her-it drives the Pack crazy, we're always worried someone else will phase."

"So the gene is only triggered by the presence of vampires?"

"That's the only time it would be necessary, ya know? So I guess it makes a lot of sense. Anyways, the Imprinting..." he cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing slightly as if he were embarrassed. "When a wolf phases, he becomes at risk."

"It's some kind of disease, isn't it?"

"Sometimes it feels like it," Quil laughed. "That's how dangerous it can be. After a wolf phases, his body is automatically on the look out for the perfect mate. The perfect girl. It could be absolutely anyone in the world, which is why sometimes it never happens to some wolves."

"What happens if the wolf is already with someone?" I asked, automatically thinking of Anna and Embry. "Like Anna."

"That's why we're encouraged not to talk to girls," Quil grumbled. "We're not exactly encouraged to talk to anybody outside of school. If Embry was to find his Imprint, Anna would be heartbroken."

"How can you tell the difference between someone you love and your Imprint, then? Anna could be his."

"No, she couldn't be. Trust me, he would've known. The first time you set eyes on her it's like seeing the sun for the first time. Think of the most beautiful thing you've ever felt and then multiply it by a million. She, whoever she is, is literally the only reason you have to live. Without her the world doesn't make any sense. It's not worth living in. It's not even worth thinking about."

"It sounds like you know the feeling..." I murmured. Quil sighed.

"Claire's my Imprint. It happened when she was two."

"TWO?!"

"Listen, just listen!" he pleaded quickly. "It isn't like that, it's never like that okay? When you Imprint on someone, you're whatever they need you to be. It doesn't necessarily turn out romantic. If she loves you, like a brother, then you're her brother. If she loves you like a father figure, that's what you are. If she loves you like...like Sam loves Emily, then that's what you are for her. You're her Sam."

"So right now..."

"Right now, I'm just her older brother."

"Why would you leave her then?"

"Because I've seen what Imprinting does to these girls, Haley. I've seen the way Kim's nearly fallen apart without Jared by her side. I've seen the way Emily's face looks every time she has to look at herself in the mirror."

"What does Emily's face have to do wi-"

"Sam lost control once and she was too close," Quil said shortly. "And he will never forgive himself for it."

I took a deep breath and ran my hands over my face, wondering how in the Hell I didn't see it before, how I hadn't come to that conclusion on my own. It felt like I'd been hit with a train. What else was I missing? What other details weren't coming together?

"Don't leave her, Quil. If you know what it will do to her, don't leave her."

"It will be hard but she will survive," Quil growled. I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince me or himself. "If I'm going to go, it has to be now. It has to be before she gets too heavily attached."

"You don't even sound like yourself right now." I scoffed, shaking my head.

"She needs to have her choice Haley. Imagine having someone falling in love with you only because they didn't know any better!"

"Isn't that what Imprinting is in the first place?"

"Exactly! I had my choice taken and damn it I wouldn't trade Claire for anything else in the world but I don't want her dragged into the middle of this! I don't want her staying awake at night, wondering whether or not I'll be coming home, I don't want her being targeted because of me, I don't want her to live a life like this!"

"It sounds to me like you're taking another choice she'll never get to make on her own. What if it's what she wants?"

"Is it what you want?" Quil asked, surprising me. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life waking up from nightmares about Paul? You haven't slept right since you lost your memory, and did I mention that it was because of Paul tha-"

"Don't blame him." I snapped, which was odd. Up until that moment, I'd been the one who was blaming Paul for my loss.

"Haley," he sighed. "I just meant that I want the best possible life for her. Before it's too late."

I laid my head back onto the seat rest as silence filled the car.

"I get it, Quil." I murmured after some time. He looked at me gratefully. "But I have a question."

"What would that be?"

"Does Paul...I mean, has he..."

"Oh, God," Quil sputtered. "You, I mean, he, you just really have to ask him about that, to be honest."

"Oh." I murmured, disappointment filling my voice.

"Why?" Quil asked slyly, glancing at me with a smirk. "Do you like him?"

"Shut up and drive." I grumbled, sinking into my seat. But in the answer was ringing in the back of my mind, flashing like a police siren. Yes. Yes I do.