BELLA
"A note?" Jen asks me.
"Yes," I respond.
"That you slid under his door?" she persists.
"Yes," I inform her, again.
"Seriously? Are you like 12 years old? Do you like me? Check yes or no," Jen asks in disbelief.
"I don't recall asking for your opinion on the matter," I fake a scowl at her.
"That's because you know that I will always voice my opinion," she just grins at me.
Shaking my head, I notice that the Cullen family, minus Edward, is staring at us. They can't seem to figure out our banter with each other. Sure, we can sass each other, but that is just part of the fun that is our friendship. Okay, it might just be that the vampires can't believe that we are eating monster themed cereal. Dakota walks in and pours herself a bowl of her favorite kind.
"Where are the guys?" I ask her.
"They are playing yet more of that new video game. I think they said something about a tournament, if anyone is interested," Dakota answers. Jasper and Emmett launch themselves to the game room…boys.
"So, ask already," Jen says to the remaining members of the Cullen family.
"You're both witches? Like burn them at the stake?" Alice launches into the questions they all have been dying to ask.
"Like with vampires, there are a lot of myths surrounding witches," I answer through my giggles.
"And before you ask, there is no such thing as a magic school either," Jen gets through her own set of giggles.
"So, how does that work? Parents teach their kids?" Rosalie asks.
"Rosalie, witches can't have children," I inform her. Does she think that Jen is secretly my mother?
"Really? Why's that?" Esme is very curious.
"It's because of an ancient enchantment. Way back when, there was a powerful family of witches. Mostly, the members of the family were concerned with keeping the bloodline pure and themselves in power. They ruled much like the Volturi. Then something tragic happened. One of their daughters fell in love with a mortal man. At first, the family tried to convince her of her folly. When that proved futile, they disowned her. She married her love. One day, she discovered that she was with child. Her family threatened that child's safety. They tried to destroy what they called an abomination while it was still in the womb. The young wife used her magic to protect both her and her unborn child against her own flesh and blood. When her family still tried to kill her baby, she cursed them. Once her child was born, the young mother used all of her magic to curse not just her family, but all might wish to follow in their footsteps. So it was then, no witch can bear a child…ever," Jen explains.
"The way is works is like this. When someone is about to present, they sort of call out to witches near them. The witch that is there when that person presents is responsible for them. They take the new witch along with them and train them. They stay together however long they need to be. Sometimes the new witch trades mentors in order to specialize in certain things. For example, I have a talent for Hunting. So I stayed with Jen for the duration of my training. She is the best after all. Bethany, however, seems to have an affinity for Healing. So, she will have the option to go with the next Healer that we run across," I answer their question.
"Wow, I think the witch world is more structured than the vampire world…or maybe just more confusing," Alice says.
"You get used to the structure. And I think you will catch on fast," Dakota assures them.
"What time are you meeting with Edward?" Jen asks me nonchalantly.
"10 o'clock," Dakota answers for me.
"You're meeting with Edward too?" Jen and I exclaim at once.
"I already made my appointment for ten, so you are just going to have to reschedule," I inform her.
"And I want the next slot," Jen adds.
"You are both hilarious," Dakota manages to keep a straight face. Then, we all three dissolve into giggles. The Cullen family members present join in after a moment. We settle into a comfortable silence. Well, with munching of course.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Be wary going through that one area of the forest on your walk. You know what tonight is," Dakota tell me.
"The Full Moon Festival," Jen and I answer together.
"What's that?" Rosalie asks.
"Once a yeah, packs of werewolves, real ones, gather in certain clearings," I explain.
"What do they do?" Rosalie asks like she doesn't really want to know.
"Only werewolves know. Other immortals usually just stay away from the Festival locations to be on the safe side," Dakota answers her.
"What do you mean 'real' werewolves?" Carlisle speaks up for the first time during this conversation.
"Well, Jake transforms into a horse-sized wolf. Okay, a lot of Jakes fellow tribes-people do too. While their transformations can be dictated by mood, the moon does not have any effect whatsoever. That's why we just call them wolves, because they aren't really werewolves," Jen says.
"You seem very calm about not knowing the details of the Full Moon Festival," Carlisle comments.
"Eh, witches have their own culture. Vampires have their own culture. Nymphs have several different, yet similar cultures. Why not werewolves?" Dakota answers.
"Going back to witches, so you trained Bella?" Alice can't hold in her curiosity.
"Yes. It's very unusual for witches to stay in a group, like we do, even amongst Hunters. But our results are unquestionable," Jen says off-handedly.
"Results? What exactly to you guys do?" Carlisle asks.
"We do a couple of things, really. One thing is we are very good at training new witches," Dakota starts.
"Another thing we do is Hunt," I continue.
"Hunt?" the four remaining Cullen family members say at once.
"Let's start with the Council, shall we? The Council has a representative from every immortal species, save one…vampires. When the Volturi took power, they decided to not send a representative. They wanted to try to be autonomous. The Council voted to allow them the chance. Such a thing has been tried before, with poor results. The Volturi wanted the vampire world to forget about the existence of other immortals. The Council voted and decided to make vampires like mortals for other immortals. The Volturi were warned that they would be watched carefully though," Jen explains.
"We work for the Council. That means that we work with other immortal Hunters. That is one of the many programs that the Council uses to promote inter-species relations. What we do, along with the other Hunters who usually work alone, is take care of security threats. The humans can't know that immortals exist, or we'll have a repeat of the various attempts to eradicate all of us. So, the Council determines the most pressing threats to that security. Then, the Hunters fix it, however we need to," I elaborate.
"Since the Volturi have taken power, they have played it safe. That is until recently," Carlisle interjects.
"Exactly, since they have made several power plays that are garnering more and more attention from the mortal world. They have to be dealt with. The Council tried diplomatic avenues, to no avail. That's why we were asked to take care of the matter," Dakota adds.
"So, since diplomacy failed, force is your choice for dealing with them?" Alice sounds concerned.
"If they can't keep the existence of immortals a secret and they won't listen to reason, then they have to be dealt with," Jen, Dakota, and I say together.
Everyone is quiet with their thoughts. I'll give the Cullen family some credit, the four that have been talking with us took all that we told them fairly well. They must understand that what we say is true. I mean, look at the history of witches. You have New Haven and Salem most recently. Those were disasters. Hell, look at the Volturi's own history. That's not pretty either. They have tried to wipe werewolves off the face of the planet because one of them is afraid. Imagine the entire human race's fear. I look at the clock. Shit, it's almost time to meet with Edward. I haven't even thought about how to start our discussion yet…