Hey guys! So here is chapter 20 :) Enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom :)

My breathing was shallow and my heart was beating frantically. I dropped to my knees and with shaking hands I pulled the book onto my lap. The page the book was open at showed the symbol that was drawn onto the foreheads of my parents the night of their murder. I tried to calm my breathing and focus on the words on the page. My vision was too blurry and I couldn't focus on the words on the page as my heart was still beating frantically and my breathing hard and shallow. I tried to calm down and ignore the heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I finally managed to focus enough on the words on the page to be able to read it. I read over the page slowly and the heavy feeling in my stomach turned into a ball of darkness and tears burned my eyes. I turned the page over and my breathing became non-existent and the tears were falling down my face and onto the open book.

I kept reading until the chapter came to an end. Tears were flowing heavily down my face and tit all became too much for me to handle. I dropped the book and turned to the toilet just in time. I heaved up the contents of my stomach as the ball of darkness consumed me. I couldn't make sense of what I just read. My mind told me it was true and if I thought about it logically then it would make sense. My heart however refused to accept what was in front of me. It felt like a cloud of darkness was hanging around me and as I could feel my heart rip into a million pieces as the words settled in my head. I kept heaving into the toilet until there was nothing left in my stomach. I could faintly hear footsteps outside followed by the bathroom door opening.

"Jesus Christ Bella! What's going on? Are you ok?" Edward asked frantically as he bent down beside me. I could feel Edward pull my hair back and rub my back soothingly as I kept heaving up nothing but air at this stage. Edward pulled me back from the toilet and flushed it. He got up and grabbed a washcloth and wet in with warm water and handed it to me. As I cleaned up my face Edward grabbed me a bottle of water from his room. He handed me the water and sat back down next to me. The warm washcloth felt soothing against my face and I quickly emptied the bottle of water. Edward patiently waited for me to finish and collect myself. I felt embarrassed that he had to see me like this and I could feel a blush tinting my cheeks. I tossed the empty bottle into the trash can and leaned against Edward. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to him tightly.

"Bella are you ok? What happened?" Edward asked softly. I couldn't form the words so I simply nodded towards where the book laid and hoped he will understand. His eyes went wide as he saw the book and he hugged me a little tighter.

"How much of it did you read love?" he asked in a worried tone.

"All of it." I managed to say. I buried my head into his side and started crying again. My heart hurt so badly and I didn't know how to make it stop.

"Bella I am so sorry you had to find out this way. I tried to hide it," he confessed.

"Why did you hide it from me Edward?" I asked slightly angered that he hid it from me.

"Because I wanted to break it to you in a better way. I wanted to make sure you were ready to know the truth about your mother Bella. I know you still struggle with the death of your parents. I didn't just want to jump you with the news." he explained and kissed my head in a comforting manner. I nodded my head in understanding and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly. I just couldn't talk about it yet. I felt so sick and tired that all, I want to do, is go to bed.

"No Edward. I'm not ready yet. I just want to go to bed and get some sleep before we need to get up for the memorial services." I said quietly. Edward nodded and helped me get up. He led me back into the bedroom with an arm around my waist. We quietly got into bed and Edward wrapped his arm around me. He held onto his arms as he hummed a lullaby into my ear until I fell asleep.

Just before I fell asleep I went over what I had read in the book once more. When Constance was preparing to go up against Amelia she had managed to gain an informant in Amelia's coven. Her informant told her about a ritual that will be performed by Amelia and her coven. The witches had used dark magic to place a resurrection spell on Amelia as she was afraid that someone will succeed in killing her. The ritual was simple and set out that a coven of witches that practise black magic and took on the mark of Amelia's coven will be able to perform the resurrection ritual. All, they required, was the coven of witches, some special stones and a witch as a sacrifice. When Constance found out about this she cast her own spell to interfere with the ritual. Constance was not powerful enough to stop the ritual so she added 'conditions' to the ritual. She did this by hiding nearby where the ritual was being performed and chanted her additions to the ritual.

Constance's added conditions to the ritual were that the resurrection can only be performed with a specific sacrifice. Constance specified that the sacrifice needed will have to bear the mark of the scorpion. This must have been where the curse/legend of the scorpion started. It turns out that Constance was only the half sister of Amelia. According to the book Adelia, their mother, had an affair with a normal person and fell pregnant with Constance. Constance had the same mark as me, she had the mark of the scorpion. She quickly figured out the significance and power behind the mark. She cursed Amelia by constricting her resurrection to needing the witch that carries the scorpion mark. In retrospect, this was brilliant as the scorpion mark took nearly a thousand years to appear again. The shit thing about this was that I was the one with the scorpion mark which means I was the one that can unlock the evilest of magic and resurrect Amelia. The fact that I was the key to resurrecting Amelia wasn't the only thing that had made me sick nor was it the worst thing that I read.

The book went on to describe the resurrection ritual. It didn't go into much detail but just thinking about what it did disclose sent another wave of nausea through me and made my heart ache. The start of the resurrection ritual required a lot of planning, but the book didn't disclose what is involved in the planning. The resurrection ritual was a bit more complex than I though and it required more than one sacrifice. It required many sacrifices during all the stages of the ritual and then they would need me as the final sacrifice to complete the resurrection. The ritual is started with two sacrifices, one human and one witch. These sacrifices are to set things in motion and to alert the coven of witches who carry Amelia's symbol that the witches with the mark of the scorpion has been found. The book was unclear as to how the witches became aware of additions Constance made to the ritual.

The book went on to describe the starting sacrificing of the ritual. It documented that a witch, who practises in black magic, must draw Amelia's mark on both the sacrifices foreheads in their own blood. The next step is the chanting of some part of the ritual and them with a dagger that has had a 'blessing' placed on it by a coven of dark witches must be used to slit the throats of the sacrifices. I remember as I read over that part how the image of my parents dead bodies came to mind. Even as I thought about it in the comfort of Edward's arms I couldn't shake the image from my head. The start of the ritual as outlined in the book matched perfectly what had happened to my parents the night they were murdered. Well, I always believed they were murdered but now it makes more sense than it did three years ago. My mother hiding herself away from me after she found out about my mark and how she spent an insane amount of time locked up in her study. She was preparing for the ritual. She was practising black magic and she was the one that had killed my father and then herself. I remember the police telling me about finding a dagger covered in blood near my mother and how they believed it was the murder weapon.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my own mother would be evil enough to kill my father, the man she loved so dearly. I also couldn't believe that she would sell out her own daughter to a coven of dark witches. She would have been perfectly aware of the implication of what she had done. She would have known that it would lead to me being hunted down like an animal by a coven of dark witches to sacrifice me to bring back the evil bitch Amelia. How could my own mother be so cruel as to condemn her own daughter to death? I finally understood why my grandmother never trusted her and was always very wary of her. The knowledge that my own mother didn't love me enough to save me but instead start a ritual for my death, felt like a knife was being stabbed through my heart. I felt guilty and responsible for the death of my father. If I was never born or if I had kept my mark hidden then he would still be alive and happy today. The last thought I had before sleep claimed me was that I still had my mother's old books in my apartment and among those books was journals written by her. Well, I knew now that they weren't her journals but they were her grimoires.

Edward and I were woken up by the annoying incessant beeping of his alarm. Edward grabbed my arm before I managed to smash his alarm clock with it. I was still so tired from all the events of last night and the fact that we didn't manage to get a lot of sleep.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and get dressed for the memorial service so why don't you stay in bed till I'm finished," Edward whispered in my ear and kissed my head.

"Ok", I mumbled and rolled over and hugged his pillow to my body as he went to get ready. I must have fallen back asleep fairly quickly as Edward came to wake me up after he was done. I reluctantly got out of bed and took a quick shower. I grabbed my black knee-length lace dress and teamed it with a pair of black studded stilettos. The dress was long sleeved so I didn't need a jacket. I pulled my hair into a neat bun and applied more foundation as usual trying to cover the dark circles under my eyes. I added a bit of red lipstick and wore my favourite heart shaped diamond earrings. I looked myself over in the mirror and decided there was nothing more I could do to hide my dark circles and I looked appropriate for a memorial service. I stepped out into the bedroom just as Edward returned with a small bag of pastries and freshly brewed coffee. He really was too good to be true.

I grabbed my coffee and gave him a small kiss of the lips as a thank you. After a small argument, I reluctantly ate the croissant he had bought me. I was still not feeling very well after last night and really didn't have much of an appetite. After we finished our coffees we headed out towards the assembly hall where Professor Colton's memorial service was being held. I never really knew him, but I felt sad that his life had ended so abruptly and in such a cruel way to.

"Did you know him well?" I asked Edward.

"I did. He has been lecturing here for nearly a decade. He was a brilliant man. He always had the friendliest smile." Edward said fondly.

"His death is a real tragedy," I said and gave his hand a squeeze.

"It was but he died a hero. He will forever be known as the professor who gave his life trying to save a student," he said in admiration.

"How is Liam doing by the way?" I asked remembering that he was the student Colton was trying to safe.

"He is physically doing well but this has taken quite a toll on him mentally. He will actually be speaking at the memorial service today." Edward said as we reached the outside of the assembly hall.

Just as I was about to go into the hall Edward pulled me back to him.

"Bella you don't have to go to this if you don't feel up to it. I wouldn't hold it against you," he whispered concerned.

"It's ok Edward. I want to be here to acknowledge the sacrifice Colton made to save the life of a student. Like you said he was a hero." I assured him with a small smile.

"You are truly the strongest, bravest person I have ever met Bella Swan," he said and kissed me softly. His words struck something in me. Bravest...Strongest... and then I remembered us reading about Constance in the meadow and how I felt connected to her and how I thought she was so very brave and strong for what she did. The connecting I felt to her must have something to do with our shared mark. I wonder if there is more to it. Maybe her grimoires are here somewhere in the university and perhaps it can shine some light on the significance of my mark. I decide to talk to Edward about it later as we headed in for the memorial service.

The memorial service was beautiful and heart-warming. Colton's family spoke about how funny and loving her was. They shared stories about him with us. Some of his students also gave speeches and there was not one dry eye in the hall. I held onto Edward's hand tightly as I saw how much he was affected by the death of the beloved professor. The last person, to speak, was Liam. He spoke about the brilliance that was professor Colton and he went on to thank him and his family for the fact that he was saved by Colton. By the end of his speech, Liam had grown to emotional and Maggie, his sister had to come up to the stage to help him back to his seat. I grabbed a tissue out of my purse and handed it to Edward. Even in sadness he was beautiful. At the end of the memorial service, Colton's family thanked everyone for attending and directed us into the ballroom for tea and snacks. Both Edward and I agreed to skip the little get together in the ballroom. I think the two of us had had way too much excitement to last us a lifetime. We silently walked back to Edward's dorm room and I was reminded of the fact that I still don't have my own room and all my stuff was currently stuffed into Edward's room.

"Hey, do you know by any chance when I will have my own room again?" I asked when we got back into Edward's room.

"Tired of me already are you?" Edward mocked me with a smirk.

"I'll never get tired of you," I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Glad to hear that love. I actually went down to ask them at the office. They are currently swamped with the death of Colton and the student's who got injured in the Harpy attack so they will take another while to sort out your living arrangements." he explained and gave my a kiss on the nose.

"That's fine I just don't want us to get into trouble cause I'm shacking up with you for so long," I said with a wink. It felt good to just talk to him and be a little silly.

"Well, I think we are ok for another while. So don't you worry your pretty little head about it," he said with a goofy grin. I untangled myself from him and took off my shoes as my feet were killing me. I forgot it was rather a long walk to the assembly hall and my poor feet just isn't able to do it in stilettos.

"So what do you want to do? Watch a movie or catch up on some sleep?" I asked as I rubbed my sore feet.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we should talk about last night," he said as he came to sit next to me on the chaise. I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid talking about this with him for long so I might as well bite the bullet and get it over with.

"There isn't much to talk about really. My mother is a psychotic bitch who killed my father and herself and has sentenced me to being a sacrifice to resurrected an evil bitch." I said as I continued rubbing my feet.

"Ok, firstly there is a lot to talk about and secondly Bella I promise you that I will not let anyone harm you. I will fight till my last breath to stop this ritual from going any further and you being sacrificed," he said as he stared into my eyes. I swallowed hard at his declaration. It was hard to believe him considering my own mother would probably drive a dagger through my heart if she had been given the chance.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me." I confessed and gave him a passionate kiss. I reluctantly pulled away as I know we still need to talk.

"I was actually thinking earlier on about the connection I felt to Constance when we were reading about her and Amelia in the meadow last night."

"It makes sense that you felt a connection to her since you both carry the mark of the scorpion."

"Do you think that maybe there is a book in the library that will tell us more about her life? Do you know what happened to her grimoires? I know they are close to a thousand years old but surely there is a chance they might still be here somewhere."

"I don't know about her grimoires. Witches are usually very secretive about their grimoires and are very unwilling to share them with anyone. They usually hid them in place no one would find them. As for a book about Constance.. I would say there will be one in the forbidden section perhaps, but we still don't know how to get into the section to look for it without getting caught."

"Ok, so maybe if we find a book detailing Constance's life then it could help us figure out if and where she hid her grimoires."

"You're still forgetting the part where we can't go look for a book about her life love."

"Right well, I do have an idea about that."

"Do share."

"I was thinking we should talk to your mother together on Monday and explain everything to her. Perhaps she will be willing to help us."

"You want to tell my mother everything?"

"Yes, I think it is the right thing to do. We clearly need help and I think she is the perfect person to help us."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I am. I don't think we have any other options Edward and things are getting a lot more serious and I think it would be wise for us to warn her about the resurrection ritual."

"You are right Bella. She needs to know about that, but you will be exposing you secret. If we tell her about the ritual then she will feel obligated to inform my father so they can prepare."

"Yes I thought about that. I might not be completely ready to have everyone know my secret but if it does get out to the student population then it happens. There are more important things to worry about then my secret coming out. I just need to tell Alice before it gets out. I'm sure she will kick my ass if I leave her in the dark."

"Fair enough. We can go talk to my mother tomorrow morning and you can either tell Alice before or after we meet with her."

"Ok. So just one more thing. I need to go to my apartment in Forks."

"Why?"

"My mother kept journals and I got them after their death. Only now I know they are her grimoires and not journals. They are still in my apartment back in Forks. I think they could help us in figuring out this mess."

"You're right, they would be of great assistance. We can ask my mother for her help as she can grant us permission to leave the campus, but I will accompany you to Forks."

"Fair enough. I would love to have you go with me. So now that that is settled, what do you want to do?"

"I think it's time we go over the preparation for tonight. There are a few things I need to explain to you before we go ahead with the Affinity ceremony."

So the next chapter will be about the Affinity ceremony :) See you soon!