A/N: Hey, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive and no, I haven't abandoned you. I've been really sick this last month. I'm still recovering from it, but I wanted to get something out to you.

I wrote and re-wrote this chapter probably a hundred times. But in the end, it came out just the way I wanted it to. So … enjoy!

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Chapter-28: A Forgotten Dream

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BPOV

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A smile tugged at my lips just as I heard the familiar chirp of an incoming text message. When I looked at my phone, the smile only got bigger.

I want you to take note of what I do to you in your dream, baby. So that when we're together, I can recreate your dream for you. ~Edward

I felt my cheeks flush at his words. How could he make me blush even when he's not with me, I had no idea.

The sound of Alice's chuckle brought me out of my thoughts. When I looked at her, she was leaning against the kitchen counter with a wide smile on her face. "Judging by the way you're blushing, I can only guess that the message is from my brother."

I tried to play it off, shaking my head a little. "What blush? I'm not blushing."

This time, she laughed out loud. "Sure you aren't," she said before lowering her voice and looking conspiratorially at me. "But between us girls, you seem happy."

I didn't even try to deny it this time. Instead, I smiled down at my phone and then looked back at her. "I am happy, Alice. He makes me happy," I confessed.

An amused expression came over her face as she took in my words. "I think that's the first time I've heard those words spoken in reference to my brother. That boy has spent most of his time trying to be a pain in the ass—as you can imagine, I think. So this feels like a proud sister moment for me. Esme will be ridiculously happy to hear it too."

I was about to respond to her when another message came in.

Good night, my human. I'll be with you when you wake up in the morning. I want to be the first one to greet you when you open your eyes. ~Edward

Smiling at his cheesy yet affectionate words, I said to Alice, "I think he's still a pain in the ass at times, but he can be incredibly sweet too."

"Sweet?" Her eyebrow hitched upward. "You've really changed him, Isabella … for the better."

Before I could answer her, there was a sharp knock on the front door, making me almost jump up from my seat. I cast a glance at Alice, and she simply shrugged, motioning with her head to tell me to open the door.

"Who is it?" I asked when I was at the door.

A familiar voice came through in answer. "It's Leah."

I let out a relieved breath and looked at Alice. "She's a friend," I assured her as I started to unlock the door. She murmured something in return, but I couldn't catch the words. Brushing it off for now, I opened the door to greet my friend. "Leah! Hey, how are you? Come on in." I moved to the side to let her in.

She smiled at me and stepped inside. "I wondered if you'd be alone or not," she said once I had closed the door. "Glad I could catch you alone."

Alone?

I started to say that she was mistaken and I had a friend over when my eyes fell on the empty spot where Alice had been standing just a few seconds ago.

She wouldn't leave me alone, I knew that. So that meant she had moved away from here. But why? Was she hiding? Why would she hide from Leah?

"Earth to Isabella!"

Leah's voice stopped the questions running through my mind, and I motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. "Sorry. Would you like something to drink? Coffee or soda?"

She shook her head. "Water's fine. I'm supposed to be at home to give my mom her meds in half an hour. I just wanted to come by and see you."

"Thank you for coming," I replied, placing a glass of water in front of her. "It's been a while since I'd seen you or Rachel anyway." As I spoke, her earlier words played in my head and it dawned on me that aside from a very few trifle details, I knew nothing about Leah or Rachel. "So it's just you and your mom at home?" I asked, trying to make small talk.

"No, I have a little brother. But he mixed up the meds a few months ago. So I'm not taking any chances."

"And your dad?"

My question made her face darken. She dropped her eyes at her hands and said, "He died. They said it was a heart attack."

There was a sudden change in her voice that caught my attention. "Said?" I prodded. "You don't believe it then?"

She was silent for a long moment before shaking her head slowly. "I don't. We don't have good doctors in La Push Rez, so people brought him over here when he was found lying unconscious in the forest surrounding the beach. He was declared dead when he was brought into the hospital." She stopped talking then, picking up the water to take a sip.

After a moment, she continued. "My dad was a healthy man, Isabella. He always looked after his health. I just don't buy that his heart simply gave up one day, you know?"

"Maybe he had a weak heart to begin with," I said, giving her hand a light squeeze. "Things like this never come with a warning."

"You think I'm living in denial, don't you?" she asked, looking at me. When I didn't answer her immediately, she let out a humorless chuckle. "I get what you said about the lack of warnings, but that doesn't explain to me why his body had very little blood left in it when he died. Doctors at the hospital claimed that he had anemia, but that doesn't mean that he'll be paper white when he dies."

I felt my mouth go dry at her implications. She can't know about vampires, can she?

Maybe my horror was apparent on my face because after taking a deep breath, she said, "I haven't told anyone about my suspicions before now, but Mrs. Goff told me about how you're dating Dr. Cullen's son. So I thought you needed to know what you're getting yourself into. Dr. Cullen and his family? We have rumors circling around about them at the Rez."

I tried to laugh it off, but it came out sounding more like choking. "That's ridiculous, Leah. Rumors are just that—rumors. Don't believe everything you hear. People can be very superstitious in small towns like this."

"Rumors start from a grain of truth, Isabella," she said, standing up from her seat. "I just wanted to let you know what you might be getting yourself into." I sat in silence as she made her way to the door. "I have to go home. Take care of yourself."

The sound of someone closing the door snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see Alice standing there with a worried look on her face. "Are you alright?"

I didn't answer her and asked instead, "Where were you?"

"I stepped out of the house for a minute. I thought your friend would appreciate the privacy," she said like my friend hadn't just come to me to reveal that she knew about her and her family's food habits.

"How are you so calm?" I asked. "She just accused you guys of murdering her father."

Alice lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "You know we don't prey on humans. So there's no possibility of one of us draining her father of his blood."

A terrible thought hit me then. "Edward! He … he isn't like you. He told me himself."

She nodded then. "He used to get off on hunting humans, I know. But he hasn't drank from a human since the night he met you," she assured me. "My brother might be a little volatile at times, but even he's not so reckless as to hunt so close to home. Besides, Harry Clearwater died before we moved here."

I felt my shoulders slump in relief. "So he couldn't have done it then," I mumbled.

"No," she answered. "Although, Leah is right about one thing."

"What?"

"It was vampires that killed her dad, just not the one you're in love with."

"Are you sure?" I hated that my voice shook a little as I asked her. I knew that I had agreed to forgive him for his actions before we met, but the idea of him being the one to have killed Leah's father still tore at my heart.

Alice, apparently guessing where my mind was going, stepped forward to touch my shoulder with her hand. "Isabella, I know my brother. Yes, he used to be an insensitive buttwipe, even still is at times, but he wouldn't kill so close to home. I think he never wanted to even risk the chance of hearing the thoughts of someone whose family he had killed."

Her attempt at reassurance managed to calm me down enough for me to offer her a small smile. "Thank you, Alice. Well, it's getting late …" I started.

She laughed a little at my lame attempt to slip away from her. "Just go and call him."

I opened my mouth before shaking my head and saying, "I just need to hear his voice, Alice."

She hugged me and bade me good night.

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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I cleaned up and settled in my bed before picking up my phone to call Edward.

He picked up at the first ring. "Hello, my human."

His greeting, meant to make me smile, did the exact opposite. I called his name in a half-whisper and broke into tears.

"Bella? What is it, baby? Are you hurt? Do you need me to come over? Where's Alice? Fuck! Bella, talk to me." He sounded frantic as he asked me over and over again if I was okay.

Realizing that my tears were making him worried, I tried to calm myself down. "I'm okay."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I just …" I stopped to take a breath and asked, "Do you remember Leah?"

He sounded confused when he replied. "She's … your acquaintance, right?"

"Yes," I answered. "She came to see me today."

"O-kay," he said, dragging out the word a little bit. "Bella, what's this about? Did she hurt you?"

"No! It's not that. She just told me some really bad stuff and I …"

"What is it? Why are you freaking out?"

He was right. I was freaking out. Taking a deep breath, I said quietly, "Edward, her father was killed by a vampire, and I …"

Instead of the anger or frustration I was expecting, I heard an amused tone in his voice as he finished my sentence for me. "And you thought I was the one who did that?"

"No, I just …" I trailed off before sighing because no matter how much I wanted to say otherwise, that was where my mind had gone when Leah first told me about her father.

"Bella, do you trust me?" he asked after a moment, all traces of humor gone from his voice.

"Yes."

"Then trust me when I say that I never hunted that close to home. I might not like Carlisle, but I knew having to move right after she had finished renovating the house would've made Esme sad ..."

I felt a smile come over my face then as I heard him try to prove how much he didn't like his adoptive father and how his decision to not hunt close to home had nothing to do with wanting to protect Carlisle's reputation.

"Edward?" I called his name, stopping him in mid-ramble.

"Yeah?"

"I believe you. And I'm sorry for asking you."

"No, Bella," his voice came before I could finish the words. "I'm glad you asked, and didn't simply pin the blame on me. Besides, it means I got to hear your voice again tonight."

Smiling at his sweet words, I shook my head. "I …" I stopped, realizing that the last thing I wanted to do was to tell him that I loved him in a phone call, and said instead, "I'll see you in the morning, right?"

"Bright and early, baby."

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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AlicePOV

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I waited until Isabella's heartbeat settled down, indicating that she was asleep, to start following Carlisle's orders. He had been worried that whoever her "visitor" had been might have left something behind … something that might help us to trace him. I recalled his face filled with worries that if Edward had found out anything suggestive of the stranger's identity; he might take off to finish him. Carlisle had wanted to question that man, to find out why he seemed so interested in Isabella.

After looking through her kitchen and living room and coming up with nothing, I decided to venture up the stairs that led to the second level of the house.

The upstairs seemed abandoned; lacking the touch of life Isabella had brought to the downstairs part of the house. Just as I reached the top of the stairs, my eyes found a framed photograph of a couple—a man with almost black hair and a mustache standing with his arms around a woman with Isabella's hair color and a bright smile on her face.

Her parents, I realized.

For a moment, I stared at the photo before me, trying to imagine how these people must have been. If not anything, one thing was evident in the photograph—they were happy. A twinge of regret made me sad for the family Isabella could have had—maybe with a reserved but loving father and with a lively mother.

I tried to envision how life would have been in the Swan house if Charlie and Reneé Swan had been alive. I could see Isabella walking down these very stairs when the doorbell rang and with a smile on her face, welcoming her father home with a hug. Reneé would probably peek from the kitchen and tell her husband to wash up for dinner and ask her daughter to help her set the table. When everything was ready, all three of them would sit by the dining table to have dinner as a family. My heart ached for the girl I had started to consider my sister.

She has been cheated of so much happiness …

Tick tock of a clock nearby made me snap out of my thoughts of an impossible future, and with a sigh, I pushed it away to begin my search for clues in the second storey of the house.

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~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

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Letting out a frustrated sigh, I moved to inspect the last place left for me to check—Isabella's parents' bedroom. Guilt gripped me for snooping into what must have been their private sanctuary, but I tried to reason with myself that it was all for Isabella's well-being as I pushed open the door.

The moment I stepped into the room, however, I felt a sudden sense of familiarity wash over me.

What was that?

Trying to shake off the feeling, I walked into the room, looking around as I did.

Nothing but dust bunnies again, I thought gloomily. Just as I was resigning from the task of finding anything useful, a hint of blue sitting on top of a writing desk caught my eyes.

That feeling of familiarity hit me again as I started to make my way toward the dust-covered writing desk. On the desk sat a small ornate wooden box with a blue flower sitting on top of it.

What struck me as odd was how alive the flower looked sitting in the midst of this dust-covered room. Instinctively, I reached for the flower. The moment my fingers touched its petals, I was hit by a vision.

In my vision, a hand was holding a pretty blue flower like the one in front of me. The hand twirled it over and over as the owner of the hand hummed to herself. I couldn't see her face, but her dress looked like it was from the early 1900's.

"Mary Alice!" A voice suddenly called out. The girl turned around and smiled. A small gasp left me as I took in who seemed to be none other than myself.

The Alice in my vision looked at the doorway and answered, "Coming, Mother!" Then she touched the one petal of the flower and whispered, "I'll be back." To my utter shock, the flower petals closed in on themselves as if they could hear her.

A sudden ringing of my cell phone made the vision disappear, and I found myself back in the dusty old bedroom that once belonged to Charlie and Reneé Swan. Letting go of the flower like it had burned me, I reached for my phone. A wave of calm spread through me as soon as I saw the caller's name. "Carlisle?"

My father's voice sounded anxious as he asked, "Alice, have you found anything? I've been waiting for your call."

"I … Carlisle," I whispered, letting some of my confusion slip into my tone. "I didn't find anything in any of the rooms except for in her parents' room. But it wasn't anything left by the intruder."

"But it was enough to make you worried?" he asked imploringly.

"Yes." I tried to gather my thoughts before confiding in him. "There was a blue flower here. It looked familiar. When I touched it though, I had a vision or a déjà vu or flashback … I don't know."

His voice was still calm as he asked, "What did you see, Alice?"

"I saw me, Carlisle," I whispered, afraid of what I had seen. "I was holding the same flower and … and it looked like it could hear me." Shaking my head at my own words, I sighed. "I'm not making any sense to you, am I?"

"Can you show me the flower?"

His question threw me off, but I took a picture of the one in front of me and sent it to him.

There was a long moment of silence before Carlisle spoke up again. "That's a Forget-Me-Not, Alice. It is as I suspected when you first showed up with Jasper."

"What do you mean?"

"Forget-me-not has been associated with witchcraft for a long time," he explained. "During my years of travels, I've learned a few things of witchcraft, and one of those is that some witches used these flowers to channel their pure magic. The flower is said to be a symbol of those witches who have been lost in time but were never forgotten."

Nothing he said made any sense to me. I moved away from the flower in question and looked out of the window. Trying to hold off the panic I felt rising in me, I asked, "What exactly are you saying, Carlisle?"

"I'm saying, Alice, that the vision you just had and your pre-cognitive powers makes me think that maybe you used to be a witch when you were alive."

"No!" I cried out. "It can't be. I can't be. Witches aren't real. They are just myths."

"Vampires aren't supposed to be real either, honey," he told me softly. "Your powers don't make you who you are, Alice. It's the person you used to be that does. Besides, I have a friend who used to be a witch before she was turned. She said she could project her powers more after becoming a vampire. Maybe it was the same for you too?"

"But …" I glanced around me, desperately trying to find something else to help explain this. My eyes were drawn to the flower again, and I said, "Everything in this room is covered with dust. Everything, except that flower. It should've been dead after all these years. Hell, it shouldn't have been here in the first place."

"It might be possible that it belonged to Isabella's mother."

His murmured words made me inhale sharply. "Why do you say that?"

"From what I've heard, Reneé Swan was quite the green thumb when she was alive. She used to be a florist, but knew a great deal about herbal remedies to sickness. So I think there's a possibility that she was gifted like you."

"So you think she was a witch?"

"It's a possibility, yes."

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before asking, "Let's say for a moment that Reneé was a witch, but why is the flower in bloom again?"

Carlisle's voice sounded thoughtful as he replied, "Maybe it sensed a similar source of energy again? We don't know how the genetics of witchcraft work yet."

The gasp that left me echoed loud and clear in the empty room as the weight of the possibilities finally settled on me.

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A/N: Yes, that was exactly how I imagined it. The story is marked supernatural, remember?

So ... thoughts? Share them with me and leave a review.

Song rec for this chapter: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

Thank you for reading. As a treat for those of you who love The Vampire Diaries, I posted my winning entry from the Villains Turn Contest, A Heart to Win. Check it out if you want to.

See you soon.

Take care.

Ann