34. What Happened To You?

"The sky is falling down... The night is calling you. A star is burning out... The sky belongs to - WHOA!" I crashed down hard onto my bed, guitar in hand. I glared at Mark as he came in staring at the floor, trying not to laugh at me as I disentangled myself.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed with just a hint of a chuckle. "I just really didn't expect you to be lying on the ceiling." He held a blunt out to me and I took it gladly.

"Where's Mel?"

"She went to some crunchy new age shit that I ignore when she starts to talk about."

"She wants to clear out my garage and start doing chakra cleansings or some shit. And teach a belly dance class."

"Now see, that one I could get on board with. Belly dancing is hot."

"She wants me to join her dance troupe," I said with disdain. "Not really my thing."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I bet you'd be good at it. You're...er, you're very bendy. And stuff."

I smirked as I leaned back against a pile of pillows. "So what'd you think of WV?"

"Well, watching you kick a methhead in the face has to be one of my highlights of the year," he laughed.

I leaned up and he was staring at me, this strange expression of awe on his face. I threw a pillow that smacked him in the nose before hitting the floor. "Mandy is forever trying to get with guys she knows I've been with. So dead set on being my vagina cousin."

"Your igloo sister?"

"Precisely." I waved my hand towards the window so it would open and I flung the blunt roach outside.

"I'm surprised you didn't just sit there and beat her up telepathically."

I smiled. "I'd rather fight the old fashioned way. I've got a lot of anger that needs to be let out."

He sat down next to me and leaned over, peering up into my face. "How have you been feeling lately?"

My smile slowly turned down. "Some moments are harder than others. Sometimes I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror."

"Liz," he started. "What happened wasn't your fault."

"Part of it wasn't." I stared at my knees as I spoke. "I have this need to escape... but I can't run away from what's inside of me. I think I've finally figured that out, at least. I'm just trying to take it all as it comes." Seth said I had to feel it out to heal, and he was more than willing to be my sounding board, my shoulder to cry on, whatever I needed.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, hugging me from the side.

"Doesn't hurt that I have so many supportive people around me," I allowed.

"If I could take that whole night and undo it or make you forget it, I would. I'd pay any price to take it away."

"Thank you," I said, but I wasn't sure... I wasn't sure if I wanted to forget. I wasn't sure that I should. It was another piece of my story. The feelings, however brutal they may be on me, they had their place. I was tired of looking at my life as this series of negative things that had served no purpose; I was sick of feeling like a victim of circumstance. I didn't know how yet, but one day I would put everything inside of me to use.

He gave my shoulder a squeeze and then we both got up. I stretched and yawned like I'd just woken up, though I'd been up for hours just lounging around. I was being a lazy butt today.

"We should do something. I'm thinking some retail therapy is in order." I stepped over to my dresser to get a few things before heading to my closet.

"I'm down, but to be clear, I won't hold you back if you try to kick someone's ass like Seth does."

I popped my head out of the closet to wink at him. "Good."

Magic was calling to me as we walked the streets of downtown Olympia. It was day time and we were out in the open, so there was nothing to be done about that, besides paying attention to my surroundings. I kept my eyes peeled, but I wasn't trying to stress it; I wanted to have a nice day today. Problem free. I'd handle it if something happened, but until then I was going to enjoy this.

We were on Seventh when we heard the music and we both went to it like moths to a flame. These two dudes were out here, just throwing down acoustic guitar and drums right on the sidewalk as people gathered to watch, throwing loose change and dollar bills into the open guitar case.

This was the way I wanted the whole world to be - music, dancing, laughing, singing. This should be happening everywhere.

I was mid-spin when Mark caught me. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

I was certain he was joking until he actually started to dance with me. Not like high school prom shit either, he was really getting into it. Spinning and dipping me down, lifting me by my waist to swing dance... This motherfucker must have taken classes at some point.

I was pretty impressed, honestly.

As the song came to a slow close, he pulled me in closer, close enough that I could feel his heart pounding against my shoulder and his breath against my neck. A final spin and then I was lowered until my back was parallel with the ground. In the moment that our eyes met, I was jolted with the knowledge that he was in love with me.

It wasn't even questionable. It was written right there in his eyes... of course I recognized it.

I threw a hundred in the open guitar case and slipped away to smoke a cigarette. Mark shrugged and kept on dancing. I sat down and counted to thirty, then I decided to pretend that it hadn't happened. I couldn't... There was just too much to consider, and I was going to have a panic attack if I tried to think it through right now. I was going to rewind to just before the look, then take my day from there.

I was cooking dinner when Seth came in and he immediately asked me where Mark was.

"I dropped him off about a half hour ago," I answered before giving him a huge hug. "He doesn't have to babysit me all the time, honey."

"I don't want you here by yourself," he mumbled into my hair.

"Mel's here," I said before shifting the subject. "We went shopping today," I told him excitedly. "I got all kinds of stuff."

He looked around. "Where is it?"

"In the car."

He smirked at me. "I'm guessing you want me to carry it in."

I puppy dog eyed him.

He faked a yawn and made his shoulders sag. "But I'm just so tired after working all day..."

"Please, baby?" I whined. "You're so strong, and I'm so teeny."

He smacked my ass on his way out the door.

For the first time since we'd met, Seth was picking at his food instead of eating it. Any other time, I would have assumed that something was bothering him. This time, I knew something was, and I knew exactly what that something was.

It was the food.

"You don't like it?" I asked him.

He frowned at me. "It stinks," he said, and he meant that literally.

"I think it's delicious, Liz," Mel threw in.

"I need meat," Seth said. "This is what food eats."

"It was hard for me at first, too," Melody said. "But think of all the animals whose lives you can save!"

"That one could work for me... But definitely not for Seth." I wasn't sure that wolves even could manage a diet without meat. Veggies and beans might have the appropriate protein for a normal person, but Seth was not a normal person by any measure.

He and I looked at each other, and then down at our platefuls of pasta and cheese alternative with tofu and broccoli. "McDonald's or Burger King?" he asked.

I laughed. "We can decide on the way. Sorry, Mel."

"That's okay," she said as we got up from the table. "Thank you both for trying!"

We were sitting in BK grubbing down when Mark called me. We had a rule about not being on our phones when we went out to eat, and I guess that should include fast food. So I ignored it.

"I wonder if vegans can swallow jizz," I said after swallowing a huge bite of A1 burger. Seth just looked at me funny. "Because we're animals... it's technically an animal product."

He started to laugh. "Maybe it doesn't count if it's given willingly? I don't know. I don't know their rules."

Mark was calling me again. I almost asked if Seth minded if I went ahead and answered, but then I had a little flash of memory from earlier today - myself in his arms, him looking down at me with something in his expression that I just couldn't handle thinking about.

"What?" Seth asked as I tucked my phone away once more.

"Mark and I danced earlier," I told him. "Like, there were these guys playing music in the street and apparently Mark is some kind of secret swing dance professional."

He eyed me for a few seconds. "That doesn't explain your little... grimace and shiver thing I just saw."

My phone went off again, and this time I'd rather face Mark than face Seth's scrutiny. He waved me a go ahead, and I got up before answering my phone.

"Dude, the fuck?"

"Ah, just the witch I was looking for."

I stopped, turned around, checked my phone again. "Who is this?"

"Imagine my surprise when I see you out, not with your wolf... your imprint, right? But with sweet little Mark! Mark who's all... soft and squishy and disgustingly human. So, what's the deal? You and the wolf break up, or were you just having a bit of fun on the side?"

I tried so hard to remember the name of the witch Mark had told me he'd fucked around with before, but it wasn't happening. "What do you want?"

"You know the answer to that, Lizzy! We want you."

Seth was dragging me to the car at this point. He clicked my seat belt into place before peeling out of the lot.

"Are you proposing a trade?"

"I saw you two earlier, dancing together. The way you looked at each other! You seem like the type that would sacrifice yourself for someone you love."

I had an odd moment of pride at that statement. "Where are you?"

"Not yet, doll. I'm going to have some play time with Mark tonight. I sure have missed him all this time." I heard someone scream in agony in the background, and then my car growling as Seth pressed harder on the gas pedal. "Tomorrow. You can meet us tomorrow."

The line went dead, so of course I called back. Again and again. His phone went straight to voicemail without ringing.

I finally looked up at the surroundings we were passing through, and I couldn't find anything but trees. "Where are we?"

"The Cullens."

"Why?"

"Best shot we have right now, baby."

My head was spinning. What was happening? Where did I even start?

Seth got out of the car and had to pull me out of the other side. I was telling myself to process, but wasn't actually processing and the stalemate in my brain had my body on a bit of a shut down. He carried me through the door and then sat on something with me still in his arms.

"What's happened?" Carlisle asked.

Seth started to explain when my eyes found Edward's. I usually hated having him in my head, but this was too convenient to pass up. I gave him a full rundown of everything that had occurred since the day I found out that I was not just an ordinary human being.

"I see," he said once I was through.

"We've never dealt with witches before," Carlisle said thoughtfully once he'd heard Seth's abridged version of events.

"What can you do?" I asked suddenly, my voice small and strange. "You don't hurt people. They wouldn't hold back from hurting you." I remembered how easily I'd killed the vampire in Brooklyn; he didn't really stand a chance against me. The one creature in the world I'd known to be near indestructible, and destroying it took me mere seconds.

"We can't do anything," Edward agreed. "None of us... except Bella."

"Me?" she asked awkwardly.

"You," he said, smiling at her crookedly. "You can protect Elizabeth's coven so that she can strike without distraction."

"My coven," I scoffed. They weren't mine. I was a lone wolf.

"Seth, get your brothers. We need them for this," Edward said, apparently having formed a plan already.

Seth got up and headed for the door, and suddenly I was nervous. It had been quite awhile since I'd spent time with any of the Cullens, even longer since I'd been in a room with all or most of them at once. It wasn't made any easier by the sharpened instincts in me that were screaming danger at their presence, knotting up my guts.

"No worries," Edward laughed.

"I think I understand how the wolves feel around you guys now." I couldn't help it.

"We make her nervous," Edward said to someone else's unspoken question.

Emmett flashed his sharp teeth at me. "Don't worry, we don't bite... much."

I smirked, always defiant. "You should see what I did to the last vampire I met." I snapped my fingers and produced a fireball, snuffing it out in my hand a moment later.

Emmett wasn't smiling anymore.

"That's why you've disappeared!" Alice suddenly said. I turned around to look at her, confused. "I can't see your future anymore. At all. It was really spotty before, because you're almost always with Seth, and because you're possibly the most impulsive person ever. But I noticed a little while back that I wasn't seeing you at all anymore."

"I kind of figured you guys already knew. Renesmee knows," I shrugged.

Edward smiled. "Renesmee is very well practiced at not thinking about things around me that she'd rather keep private."

Him saying that immediately made me remember her talking about wanting to get laid. That made me giggle and him scowl. My amusement didn't last long... my brain was running avoidance at this point, working to keep me from facing what had occurred at some point between me dropping Mark off earlier and stuffing my face with cheap, shitty food.

Seth came back in and crossed the room to stand behind me.

"Why would they take Mark?" Edward was wondering aloud. "Because he's the only one close to you that isn't gifted in some way?"

"Probably," I said, but I knew that wasn't exactly it. They'd taken him because they thought there was something more than friendship between us after seeing us today... understandably so.

"What?" Seth said from behind me.

My eyes snapped to him, then to Edward. "Oh, what in the fuck, dude. Learn to control your facial expressions." I shook my head, exasperated.

Seth was about to ask again what he was missing when wolves howling pierced the air outside. Ana came bouncing through the door moments later, overly excited given the current situation. I could see she was bursting at the seams to tell me something.

I stood up and met her in the middle of the room, hugged her and quickly adjusted our scenery.

She smiled as the wind whipped her hair. "Where are we?!" she yelled over the sound of the waves crashing against rocks below us.

"Somewhere you can tell me whatever it is you're smiling about." And where I can avoid Seth and the fucking mind reader.

She walked to the edge of the balcony we were standing on to look out at the waters below. "It's beautiful," she said.

"It is, but we should probably get back before everyone starts freaking out."

"Oh, right. Sorry." She cheesed at me once more. "Josh and I are going to get married."

I wanted to be so excited for her, to jump up and down and squeal like a good best friend. I had to settle for a hug and a "I'm so happy for you!" instead.

She didn't care, because she was on point in her best friend role right now. "I'm sorry I came in excited about this," she said. "I know this is a bad time..."

I sort of smiled. "It's not like you planned it." I conjured a bottle of Cristal and two glasses, and we shared a toast.

"Liz..." Ana hooked her arm easily with mine. "Let's go save St. Claire Extraordinaire."