Chapter 2

The Move to Phoenix

Third-person POV:

"Morning, sis," Bella said sleepily as she entered Gyda's bedroom, rubbing her eyes. "What are you staring at?" Bella asked as she sat next to her sister, her twin trying to spot what was so interesting.

"Nothing," Gyda replied, forcing a smile. "Just counting the days, we have in with the sun shining all the time, I'll miss it, but I'm sure you'll miss it more," Gyda said, teasing her sister, knowing that Bella hated the cold, dark, and wet that was the forecasted weather of Forks Washington 90% of the time.

"Sounds fun," Bella scoffed, pouring herself a bowl of cereal; she didn't understand how Gyda could like it in their father's town. Bella hated it; there was nothing to do, and she felt so out of place there and didn't want to leave their mom. "Got any plans today?"

"Yeah, we have to make sure we buy coats today and winter boots at the sports store," Gyda spoke in her boss-like manner; all the while, in her mind, she was thinking of all she needed to do to get Bella ready to move to Forks.

"Alright, we'll do that after school," Bella said, digging into her breakfast. "sounds good," Gyda replied, digging into her bowl of oatmeal.

Once Bella was out of sight, Gyda closed her eyes and remembered what she had done immediately after the Norns told her that Bella would be born within the year. Gyda stood invisibly in the middle of the house; she could sense Charlie and Rene asleep this day had come with much planning and preparation; the Valkyrie had locked up her home with Runes so that no one would be able to enter it; she had also marked the land with memory Runes making people believe that an older couple was residing inside of it and were hermits, hardly ever venturing out.

Flashback:

A few days ago, Bella was born and safely situated in her crib in her parent's bedroom. Rene and Charlie had already purchased items for their new addition, so she bought a matching set in green to differentiate them from the original purple car seat and other things. Gyda moved cautiously through the house and ensured all the paperwork they had for Bella had been duplicated, copied, and saved with her information. She also added herself to all the newborn photos.

Gyda stood next to Bella and could already sense that she was special and different from other newborn babies; she wasn't fussy and had beautiful, intelligent brown eyes like Charlie. Gyda Placed her fingers on Bella's temples and closed her eyes, engaged her memory runes, and implanted vague images and feelings in the infant's head, so she would have a sibling bond with Gyda when she changed into the body of a three-day-old.

She moved over to Charlie and did the same, then to Rene; closing her eyes, she repeated a few carefully chosen words; then, an exertion of her supernatural power, she rewrote their memories, "Charlie, Rene," she whispered into the air, feeling the magic take hold. "You have two daughters. I've always been here." when she pulled away, she looked at her descendant and his wife, Gyda felt bad for intruding on their lives, being so close and altering them so drastically, but It was a necessary deception, one that would keep Bella safe from any threats lurking in the shadows especially when she entangled herself with vampires whenever that may be.

End Flash Back:

Gyda POV:

Bella and I flew from the sunny state of Arizona to the State of Washington, which was a state that was under a near-constant cover of clouds and rain, I could tell that Bella didn't want to go, but she had talked herself into moving so mom could spend time with our new stepfather. When we deboarded the plane, I picked up Bella's and my suitcases and excitedly trudged over towards Dad; my backpack bounced up and down on my back while Bella carried her own and walked more sedately; Charlie took them from me before placing them in the trunk. Charlie turned to me, and though he wasn't much of a hugger, I was, so he obliged and opened his arms wide, and I walked into them.

When I first dreamed up the scheme, I wasn't prepared to feel so devoted to Charlie and Rene. But bouncing back in time and being cared for by them for a year shifted my feelings. The situation changed even more when they split, and Rene took me and Bella away with her to Arizona. I didn't expect to have a hole in my heart filled with parents who loved me, a baby sister I adored and cared for; it was everything I had over a thousand years ago. I didn't know what was missing, but another hole was empty in my heart. It was a hole I was determined never to fill because it would be a distraction to keeping Bella safe, and that was something I couldn't afford to be distracted.

When Charlie let me go, I stepped aside and turned to my sister, I wanted to tell myself that it was because the sun was going to be gone from us until we graduated the next year, but I knew that Bella didn't like small towns; she was a lot like Charlie in the fact that she was a loner, she enjoyed being by herself and was self-sufficient; unlike our mom who drove herself crazy being alone, "your hair looks longer since the last time I saw you." He said, trying to find something to speak to the daughter, with whom he had difficulty getting along.

Rene was lost in the most basic day-to-day activities and never stayed still, so marrying Phil, his minor league baseball career, was the perfect distraction for her. I didn't care either; I loved Forks because it reminded me of my long-time home in Norway, but I could handle my mom's flighty forms. Still, it was Bella who decided that we should let her travel with him. Bella responded shortly, "I cut it since the last time we saw you."

I prodded Bella with my toe, conveying my disapproval of her lack of emotion. It perplexed me why she acted so aloof and hesitant to give him an inch. "oh, I guess it grew out again." He lamely replied; Bella moved toward the front of the car since and sat in the front seat. I didn't mind because she got car sick. I gave Dad a sad expression and a small smile; he pulled me into his side, hugged my head to his chest, and kissed me on the top of my shoulder-length choppy burgundy hair.

We arrived at the house that would be our home for the foreseeable future; when he parked the car, I hoped out and beamed at the small building, the three-bedroom and one and a half bath the full bath, "Home sweet home," Charlie announced as they pulled up to the small house in Forks. Rain drizzled from the ever-present clouds, dampening the ground and the spirits of its inhabitants.

"I am so excited to be here, Dad," I said, grabbing my suitcase from the trunk while I left Bella's for Dad to wrangle. Dad followed me while Bella sulked and trailed lackadaisically behind him; we traveled up the narrow staircase as we remembered. "I'm glad that both of you are here," Charlie replied, ruffling my burgundy hair affectionately. At the same time, he opened the door to the first bedroom. All three of us walked in; Charlie placed Bella's luggage on the bed and awkwardly said as we looked around the repaired bedroom.

"This is your bedroom, Bella," Dad said as we looked around. "It's a pretty good working lamp." Dad said verbally, pointing to the 'New' old-fashioned lamp, "The sales lady picked out the bed stuff. You like, you like Purple still, right?"

Bella nodded her head, "Purple's cool. Thanks," As Bella moved towards the desk that Charlie had provided, "Okay," and he and I left Bella to unpack on her own that was the great thing about Charlie for Bella's benefit; he didn't hover.

Dad opened the second bedroom door, and we walked in; the bedroom faced the forest, and the window had a cushioned window seat. I was surprised that he'd given me the slightly bigger bedroom, the desk he had given me was one of Grandma Marry's, but Dad painted it a sage green color. My bedspread was a warm forest green with tiny white lily flowers decorating the spread. I was grateful he'd put more effort into decorating my room than Bella's.

I concluded that it was because I made more of an effort to have a relationship with him; there were more phone calls between us than there had ever been between my sister and dad, more letters and cards sent in the mail at random just because, and watching more sports with him when we visited in the summer. "I hope you like what I did, Gyda," he said as he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck when I spun around and engulfed him in a big hug because I was a bit choked, "I love it, Dad, I really do."

I know he was uncomfortable with the sentiment, I let him go and retreat downstairs so he could recompose himself. I walked over to the newly painted desk and put a Large book on top of it; it wasn't really a book though it was a laptop that Charlie and Bella weren't aware that I had, just because mom insisted that one of us had to have a computer with internet access so we could email her. When Dad called and asked us who wanted it, I immediately told him to give it to Bella. I didn't have much to do with modern technology, but when I did, I gave in to getting the best of it.

About an hour and a half later, after putting all my things away and speeding about marking the house with Runes that would deter harmful intentions and alert me to who and what entered inside and Runes of submission that would put down any creatures that tried to attack my family. "New school tomorrow," I stated to my sister as I sat on the edge of Bella's bed. "Nervous?"

"Terrified," Bella glanced at her hands, trembling slightly. I ran my fingertips down her face, attempting to read her thoughts. With a low groan of annoyance, I realized that it was getting increasingly difficult for me to peer into her mind with my active Runic Magic; it had become more challenging since she turned twelve, and the Valkyric blood inside her started to awaken. "Don't worry," I said reassuringly. "I'll be by your side to drive away anyone who may try to cause you distress or break through your cone of defenses you like throwing up around yourself."

"I'm a bit anxious, though," I said, worrying my bottom lip as I stared at her. "I may love Forks, but who knows what kind of hooligans they've produced! And it's not like I'm looking forward to having to keep them away from you and me." Her brown eyes widened in fear. "But we have each other," I reassured her quickly.

"Right," Bella agreed in relief, her voice full of gratitude, knowing I would protect her as her big sister at all costs. Both of our heads whipped toward Bella's front window that looked out over the street; we walked over and looked down and saw Dad standing out in the driveway with Billy Black, Dad's best friend and Chief of the Quileute tribe, and his son Jacob which had been our childhood friend. I smiled at Jacob when he looked up, caught our eyes, and waved cheerily. "Well, let's go say hi to our friends."

We walked down the stairs of the porch and down to the driveway; Dad looked over at us and smiled a small grin of pleasure, "Gyda, Bella, you remember Billy Black," he asked.

" Yeah." Bella answered and reached out to shake hands with Billy, "Of course, I remember Uncle Billy; he's hard to forget." I teased, gripping Billy's forearm and giving Jacob a soft jab in the shoulder which made him smile wider.

Bella shifted uncomfortably in her spot and attempted to break the silence. "Hey, you two are looking good." She said, gesturing towards Jacob and Billy. Billy and Jacob smiled in response, "Well, I'm still dancin'. I'm glad you two are finally here. Charlie here hasn't shut up since you told him you were coming." I laughed, turning my head and giving my dad a smirk while my eyes gleamed with mischievous knowledge.

Jacob nodded in agreement, his gaze never straying from Bella's face. He had been thinking about her when he heard we were coming. I knew he had a crush on her. I felt terrible that it would be an unrequited love if everything the Norns told me happened, "Don't even think about it, Jake, fifteen and she's so much older than you, and she'll be off to college in a year, and you'll still be in high school," I spoke trying to get him to see sense while using my Runic magic to influence him towards friendship.

Dad blushed at having his private inner joy at having his daughters back living with him spilled for us to hear, "All right, keep exaggerating, and I'll roll you into the mud." Bella and I giggled as they began chasing each other around, "After I ram you in the ankles."

"Yeah, bring it." Dad started playing punching with Billy while I moved towards the rusty orange-red truck parked in the driveway; as Bella and Jake were talking, and my dad and Billy messed with each other, I pulled out my Artavo. I began marking the truck with protection Runes, runes to fix flat tires if Bella were to run over nails on the road, and Runes to keep the engine running in good condition.