Suffer a Witch

by ArielApostolos

Angela has always known she was meant for greater things, but this wasn't exactly what she meant. Awakening as a Witch at the age of 17 and dealing with unrequited love was one thing, but when push comes to shove, Angela will find out just how far she's willing to go to protect her chosen family, and the love of her life. It was time the world learned to suffer a witch...

15. Chapter 15

"As much as I'd hate to interrupt," Jasper, well, interrupted, "What do we do with Edward? We can't trust him to leave and not join Victoria's side, and we can't kill him, as per mother."

I turned to face the two men holding Edward by one arm each, though the boy seemed beyond the will to fight at this point. Whatever Bella had done to him had robbed him of much of his energy. Weakening a vampire was said to be impossible but I was quickly tossing the definition of that word out the window on a daily basis.

"Hmm," I stared the boy down, wondering what options we truly had. Jasper was right, Edward was a threat to our Clan if left to his own devices, but there was no way of keeping him secured that wouldn't split my attention away from the coming battle. Then a curious thought occurred to me and without hesitation I reached for his soul.

It was shredded and flayed but still mostly intact after Bella's attempt to consume it. What drew me to peer deeper was the source of his mind-reading ability. It held a curious combination of both Witch and demon energies, as if it were manifested in two stages. The closer I inspected it, the more the weave came into focus until I could see it clearly.

"Well I'll be damned," I found myself murmuring aloud. Witch magick allowed him access to people's thoughts, while demon ancestry translated the frequency into something his mind could understand. It's why he could read humans, vampires, and the wolves' thoughts, because despite his latent heritages, he had been born human. That meant his parents had to have carried recessive versions of Witch and demon genetics.

"Well," Rosalie interrupted my musings with an impatient huff. "Care to share with the rest of the class?"

I casually reached out with my magick and left a stinging slap across her ass that I knew even a vampire would feel. Her hiss and shudder was enough to bring a grin to my lips as I continued to cradle Edward's soul, realizing belatedly that only Bella would be able to see what I was up to. "I was curious about something and so I decided to 'ball of yarn' Edward's soul a bit. You'd find this fascinating, Carlisle, but in his human life Edward carried recessive genes from both Witch and demon genetics. But the way it manifested has completely corrupted his mind, which hasn't helped since becoming a vampire froze him at a rather crucial point in his development. He has not only been stuck in the body of a 17 year old on the cusp of adulthood, but his genetics have been warring inside of him for nearly a century, neither able to gain ground in his unchanging state."

Carlisle's sharp inhale told me he understood completely what I was insinuating even as I continued. "I doubt all of the voices he's heard in his lifetime have always had an outside source. Did he ever have a time in this life where he did things that seemed completely out of character for him?"

It was Esme who gasped this time, a hand cupped over her heart as she turned to Carlisle. His eyes met hers sadly before returning to mine. "Edward went through a phase early in this life where he chose to hunt humans. He promised that he would only feed on the most vile of criminals, rapists, murderers. We have all slipped up and taken human life before unfortunately, as living our vegetarian lifestyle is not easy even for myself. But Edward returned to us with tales of all the lives he had saved before going back to an all-animal diet."

"We never thought anything of it," Esme added, her eyes watery as she looked at her broken son. "This life isn't for everyone, and we would never tell one of our own how they are allowed to feed. But do you really think..."

I nodded as I reached into his memories unobstructed. Bella's energy really had done a number on him, as I'm sure of all the vampires to exist, he would be one of the few who had a chance of fighting me off. His memories were strangely distorted, much the way Alice's branched along due to her visions, but his were more scattered fragments of thoughts and feelings that made up the separate parts of his mind: there were the clear memories of Edward Cullen, from the viewpoint of his eyes, but then there were moments when those memories turned jagged and sharp and Edward's vision seemed to dim, which was strange to see from a vampire's eyes.

Then there were those ever-present moments of depression that seemed to permeate his existence. Those lows were based, ironically, around love-or, more accurately, his feelings of being unlovable. His beliefs had convinced him early in his vampire life that he was a soulless creature of darkness, which twisted the loving nature of the Witch within him into believing his love was tainted and unworthy somehow. So while his unending depression fueled his self-loathing, both aspects whispered to him of opposing ideals, leading him to begin to misinterpret his mind-reading gift at times.

Oh Goddess, the people he had killed because of those broken voices. The man who just wanted to approach the woman at the theater when she was alone because he was nervous in crowds, sent to an early grave because the voices whispered of the man's desires and wants rather than presenting his surface thoughts of pure intention.

Or the woman who had to sell herself for money just to support her only child as a single mother. His gift only showed him her acts committed, not the reasoning behind them. His religious upbringing would have him giving the woman a quick death at his teeth rather than to see her suffer the indignity of prostitution, leaving a starving child to die alone and crying with its last breath for a mother who only wanted what was best for her baby.

Oh, no, the poor young man who dared to approach Edward in a small naval bar while on shore leave. The two had struck up an honest conversation at first but Edward's gift led him to brand the man a sodomite, a homosexual who would forsake the Lord to 'lie with another man as he should a woman'. They never made it past the alleyway before Edward had torn the poor boy's throat out.

On and on those memories went, jagged or numb, they all ended the same until one day he found someone who challenged him, a vampire who fed without conscience or hesitation. A man of foreign bearing who had come to venture the 'new world' as his thick accent rolled the words. Blonde as the moon was pale and as ancient as time, this man would come to show Edward the night for what it was, a playground where their kind could feast and live as they were meant to be.

They traveled several months together only to part at the end of a hunting spree through the European continent. Their voracious hunger had jointly been sated and so they promised to seek one another out should the thirst come upon them once again. It was during those times with this foreign vampire that Edward had truly 'found' himself, found the balance between dark and light. It was his ancient companion's company that had helped him find purpose in his broken existence. Vlad had truly pieced together a puzzle that had never had a picture before, and oh how I wished he had kept hold of those budding sparks of light.

Unfortunately, Edward returned to Carlisle and Esme with tales of grand gestures of chivalry, saving maidens and men alike from the evils that would stalk them in the darkness. Lies, the lot of it, but even Edward was unaware of this fact by then. His broken mind and soul had learned to present a persona fitting with the proper son the Cullens deserved, and for decades he managed to keep his mask in place. Even when Carlisle turned Rosalie in the hopes they would form a mate bond as he and Esme had, Edward could think only of his foreign companion and wonder what had become of him.

Goddess, the fracture between Edward and his two aspects was so complete he had completely blocked out his body count. It was all so easy to forget and let the demon or Witch take credit for those deaths than dwell on them himself. It wasn't until he met his first singer in Bella Swan that his tight hold over his aspects began to loosen once again. He remembered his victims, their tastes, their screams, and in that first breath of Bella's freesia scent he imagined just how much pain he could extract from this defenseless mortal before her weak little heart gave out.

It wasn't just his family's voices in his head that day that stayed his hand. His aspects recognized something familiar in her, something kindred that deserved more than just a quick meal or slow death from him. So he held off, ran away to the Denalis to think and let the voices come to him clear at last.

They whispered to him of his right to have her. She was impure, dark in some way that her innocent guise would fool him of otherwise. They would gain more from being near her than by killing her for a quick fix in a single-dose kill. No, he could bide his time, woo her and make her dependent on his own essence. Confuse her, manipulate her, until she had no choice but to pursue him and his secrets. It would have been perfect, he had even gotten a taste of her most scrumptious blood in Phoenix and managed not to take everything she would give him. All he had to do was make sure he kept her on a tight leash and she would never fall into the clutches of that damned Witch, Angela.

I pulled away from the thoughts, hovering in the distance of his memories as I fought not to vomit. This soul was broken long before Bella's hunger got ahold of him. There was no way I could let my Ma'atem see the depths of his depravity. There was no way I could let this wounded creature go on living like this either. But what could I do that would not kill him but would neutralize him as a threat?

That's when I realized I had only one option really. "Bella, I'm going to need your help for this."

She was at my side in an instant, her fingers lacing with mine as our souls entwined. I let only her in this time, making sure to keep everything I had learned of this boy between Bella and myself. Her surprise turned quickly to anger, but I just as swiftly snatched the emotion away as I forced her to see what I required of her. She gave a begrudging affirmative burst of energy before we both pierced his soul to its core. This had to be done quickly or his aspects might sense us and try to repel us.

I quickly found the source of his Witch magick while Bella drew out the demon energy and spindled it between clawed fingers. Holding both aspects of his soul aloft, I pulled Bella in close before sealing both of our souls in a protective barrier and began weaving my spell. This was yet another damning remnant from my partial Wight transformation, the leftover knowledge of how to weave annihilation magick. It was a devastatingly powerful bit of spellwork and I could only hope I didn't destroy the boy entirely in the process.

It worked on the principle that all matter has an antimatter counterpart. By focusing my magick, I could specify what matter needed to be annihilated by creating a magickal equivalent of its antimatter substance. The energy released was devastating either way, which was another reason I had Bella along for the ride. She might not be able to feed on annihilation energy but she could divert it away from my active spellwork.

As soon as the weave was finished, I began unleashing it slowly, breaking down every single synapse in Edward's vampire brain that connected to his memory. This was a wound that not even his advanced healing could repair as it broke down his cells on a subatomic level, while his body would expel the dead material and create new synaptic pathways. I imagined it as the vampire equivalent of electroshock therapy but much more accurate and effective, as I slowly but surely 'killed' Edward the Butcher and hopefully erased the parts of him that became schizophrenic.

The moment I reached his human memories, I let the weave disintegrate into nothingness. Now came the hard part as I released myself and Bella from my barrier. Immediately, the two aspects began writhing and struggling against us in confusion, indistinct voices and emotions raging about. Pulling the two unruly parts of the boy's inherited aspects together, Bella and I began the arduous task of knitting the two complimentary opposite energies together, as was always meant to be with Witches and demons. This symbiotic, sympathetic relationship could exist even within a single soul and body, apparently, but when left separated, the body began to break under the strain. Edward had been unlucky enough to already be dying at the time of his turning, but he'd already begun showing signs of his gift in his ability to understand others on a deep level.

Carlisle, the compassionate soul that he is, had unfortunately frozen Edward on the cusp of union with his two aspects. Now it was costing both Bella and I precious reserves we couldn't afford to be losing all because I couldn't stand to see Esme sad. Goddess, when did I become such a sap?

A powerful flash went off before our eyes, sending both Bella and I back into our bodies. We both collapsed where we stood, Sam and Rosalie catching me and holding me up while Leah and Emily caught Bella. I whispered a quiet 'thera' to heal the damage Bella had initially done, my magick tapping out once again as I began to feel faint, barely noticing Edward's body sagging between the two men holding him up.

Before I could pass out, a deluge of energy came flooding into my body, causing me to gasp and arch into the nearly orgasmic feeling of my heart-mates forcing their life-forces into my soul. Bella's unhinged groan told me they were doing the same to her, though her demon aspect would surely have begun the process itself had they hesitated.

I reached out blindly and grasped the back of an overheated neck and pulled Sam's lips down to mine, uncaring of our audience. Goddess, she tasted like she smelled, wild and borderline feral with a dominance that rivaled Rosalie's and I drew more of her into me as my tongue familiarized itself with a new oral fixation before eventually letting her slowly end the kiss with a lingering nip to my bottom lip.

We both turned at the sound of a high-pitched squeal in time to see Alice quite literally wrapped around Bella as the brunette plundered the pixie's mouth with such a thorough exploration that, if I hadn't been wet before, I was certainly drenched now. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, only this time it was the clearing of several throats that had us all pulling away with heavy breaths.

Carlisle, ever the tactful mediator, chose to be the sacrifice to my ire as he took a step forward. "We do hate to interrupt, truly we do, but we have a newborn army bearing down on us and Edward looks to be rather confused by his surroundings."

Holding back my screech of frustration, I forced myself to take several unnecessary breaths before turning back to Edward. He looked the same as he had before, only now there was a strange innocence in his eyes as he gazed at all of us with wide-eyed confusion. The sound of his name seemed to draw his attention to the doctor.

"Dr. Cullen," he said in surprise, his eyes widening as he blinked in ever-deepening confusion. "Everything looks so clear, so beautiful. Am I dead? Is this what heaven looks like?"

Esme made a sound in the back of her throat that sounded suspiciously like a sob, a restraining hand from Armando the only thing keeping her from rushing to her first adopted son. Carlisle looked at me with a healthy dose of wonder and curiosity in his gaze before he slowly approached his son still sitting on the ground.

"It is difficult to explain," Carlisle began, "but you are technically dead by human standards as you no longer have a beating heart, nor do you age. The only way I could save you and keep my promise to your mother was to make you like me. To turn you into a vampire."

Edward's brows furrowed as he focused his gaze directly on Carlisle. "Yes," he murmured casually, "it has been many years for you, but I'm different now." His gaze snapped my direction, his gaze narrowing as he focused his gaze on myself then Bella. "I can hear the thoughts of every person here with the exception of these two women. You call them Angela and Bella in your thoughts. And you all love them, it is strange and unheard of but apparently not for this century."

His gaze traveled to Esme, an honest smile that only served to highlight his beauty appearing on his young face. "You and Carlisle treated me as a son, even when I did things that deserved your consternation. Even when I hunted humans and returned to you, never once did you condemn me. Oh! And you have another mate!" His gaze flicked to Armando's, his eyes widening in awe at seeing the Dryad for what was essentially the first time. "You truly love Esme and Carlisle, I can see that in all three of your memories. I apologize for how I have acted towards you in recent weeks. I can only assume Angela and Bella here have done something drastic to make me feel so different from the person I see in your minds. Oh, do forgive me, I only just now realized how rude I'm being!"

He closed his eyes and a look of heavy concentration tightened his features. When next his eyes opened he once again had that carefree smile that made him look like a totally different person. "There, now we can converse and you'll actually get to speak your own thoughts."

He grinned, as if it were the funniest thing to him, but it was baffling to say the least. "Man this is weird," Emmett chimed in, turning to me with raised brows. "What the hell did you do to Eddie-boy?"

A light-hearted laugh from Edward's direction brought our attention back in time to watch as the boy stood so fast he nearly toppled forward. "Oh, wow, that's going to take some getting used to. But to answer your question, I'm pretty sure she erased my memory as a vampire and made my mind-reading gift even stronger, judging by the looks of surprise I got when I turned it off. It's so weird but I could understand everything even while all of your voices were going off in my head. Is that normal for a vampire?"

Carlisle nodded, smiling proudly at his son. "Yes, vampire brains have an infinite capacity to store and recall information. So while you may have been buffeted by so many thoughts at once, your mind stored them for you to work through at your leisure."

Edward nodded, that innocent curiosity still lightening his golden eyes. "What about this burning in my throat? It seems rather painful and I would like for it to go away."

Emmett's massive hand landed on Edward's shoulder, his boyishly handsome grin toothy and mischievous. "That's a sign you need to feed, bro! And I know just where we can wrestle up some takeout."

Edward frowned, scratching idly at his throat as he sent Emmett a look of concern. "Animals, right? I don't want to hurt anyone."

Esme was hugging the boy before he could react, his surprise lasting only moments before he was hugging the woman back. "This...this feels familiar," he murmured offhandedly, leaning down to inhale his mother's scent. "I'm so happy Carlisle found you. I don't think this family would be complete without its mother."

I felt my Ma'atem's heart soar at his words, taking the moment to luxuriate in her emotions before clearing my throat. "As much as I hate to break this up, (I'm starting to see a pattern here) we need to start working on a gameplan. Emmett, take Edward to feed and return as quickly as possible. Edward," the boy turned slowly out of his mother's arms to face me with a curious raise of his brows. "Use your gift to learn what you need about feeding and your vampirism while out, but until I say otherwise I want you to keep it off for now, understand?"

He was quick to nod, smiling still calmly in place. "An excellent idea, Miss Lockwell. I look forward to learning more about the woman who holds the hearts of this family so dear to her own."

I blinked in surprise, not sure how to react. Luckily I wasn't expected to as Edward turned and gestured for Emmett to lead, an excited 'whoop!' from Emmett the last thing I heard from either vampire as they blurred off into the woods.

"Not gonna lie," Bella murmured as she slid her arm around my waist. "That was fucking weird."

I couldn't help but nod as I turned my face into her neck to inhale her new musky scent. She was literally desire incarnate and I couldn't wait for this to all be over with so I could ravish my mate. This thought pinged from me and into Bella, whose energy began filling the air around us. Luckily, only our heart-mates were close enough to be affected, the four other women drifting closer with mixtures of growls and purrs.

"Reign it in, love," I grumbled into my mate's ear, understanding more and more with each touch of her soul just how much her energy complimented my own. With every connection we formed, each time my magick touched her energy, she became more demonic by the hour. After we handled these newborns, we were going to have to sit down and discuss the reality of whether we had time enough to wait to initiate the Contract. Because I had no idea how much demonic essence was truly in my mate's genome and I feared what might happen if she was pushed into a full awakening without the proper substance backing it up.

"Alright," I turned to Jasper, Alice curled into his side as her gaze remained heavily on Bella. I had to fight not to roll my eyes as I nudged Bella towards the pixie who shot out of Jasper's arms and into Bella's with vampire quickness. "Now that those two are sufficiently distracted," I began, both Jasper and I smirking at the two purring and mewling adorably from each others' arms, "I need you to show me how best to handle these newborns so I can pass the knowledge on to everyone else."

He nodded, tapping the side of his head in invitation. "Might as well make yourself comfortable. There's a lot of things to know about taking on a newborn army and I'm rather curious what you'll find rootin' 'round in my soul."

I raised an eyebrow, tossing a look over at my mate who had somehow gotten an agile pixiepire once again wrapped around her, legs wrapped around Bella's waist from the side while she held her face pressed into the brunette's neck. With a flick of her wrist, Bella's dark energy casually manifested as a tendril that whipped through the air, snatching a chair from the nearby porch which landed beneath her even as she began to sit. It was similar to spellcrafting, but I could tell this was much different than my magick. Another question for another time.

"Hey, Tink," I called out, only receiving a murmur in reply as the pheromone doped-up vampire continued to cling to Bella. "Never thought I'd ask this, but mind if I borrow your husband for a few minutes? After all, you do seem pretty preoccupied with my mate there."

Alice gave a vague reply as she waved her hand in our general direction, her face never leaving Bella's neck, my little demoness' eyes darkening as she glared across at myself and the male vampire who was suddenly standing too close to me. "Relax, my love. Our hearts are one, and we hold the love of many within but this man could never be one of them."

Slowly her eyes returned to chocolate brown as she met my unwavering gaze. "Good girl," I sent back lovingly, the praise seeming to send a tremble through my mate. I filed that bit of information away for later use. "Now play with your pixie while I go digging through another soul, but remember what I told you. No one will have you until I've made you mine in all ways."

Bella gave a full-body shudder this time, her eyes and face bleeding straight to full-demon black as she clutched little Alice hard into her lap. Whether by accident or design, she had managed to force the little fae creature into grinding into her, ripping a chirping sound of pleasure from the petite vampire's surprised lips that were now biting down on my mate's neck with precarious strength.

"Don't worry," Jasper whispered subvocally, just loud enough for me to hear. "She knows not to break skin unless invited."

He was telling the truth, I could feel it as much as see the absolute control coming from the vampire. Still, it took me several seconds to shake off my instinctual need to protect my mate after she'd almost been lost to a vampire's bite once already. Until I was certain she was as immune to vampire venom as I was, I didn't want to take any chances.

Taking a deep breath, I nudged my heart-mates to keep an eye on the two while I worked. Without preamble, I threw myself into Jasper's soul. There was a distinct difference between his energy and that of Edward's and I could tell right away that Jasper was descended from Witches only. I suppose it made sense for him to become a mate to Alice. While I was coming to understand Witches and demons created a perfect symbiosis, like still attracts like, as my grandmother's words rang through my thoughts. Pairing an empath with a hyperactive Witch-descended pixie vampire with more energy than good sense just made too much sense.

I nudged his soul with my own, acknowledging his trust in my presence and the slight deepening of our bond as I began to surf the waves of his magick to find my way to his memories. He was older than many of the souls I'd delved through, but I knew that what I was looking for would be found in his early past during his service to the woman he called Maria.

Her name in my thoughts triggered a pulse of emotions and I let myself drift down the path naturally rather than forcing my way through. Not only did I not wish to cause the man any undue stress or pain, but the more power I exerted over his soul the deeper our bond would grow. And even as gorgeous as he was I was decidedly still a raging homosexual and I did not want to pull him into my heart-bonds.

Jasper seemed to recognize this, as the river of his emotions became a rushing current pulling me along until I found myself deposited unceremoniously onto my spiritual ass in the middle of a desert. Or, what looked to be a desert at first glance but turned out to be miles of prairies and desolate plains.

There sat Jasper upon his horse, full military regalia as he spotted three women of unquestionable beauty. He thought it only right to seek them out and offer any assistance he might render. What he did not expect was for his life to end that day as the one called Maria bit through his neck and let her venom do its work.

The memories sped up from there as his year as a newborn came and passed, proving his worth time and again both in battle and in his unique gift that led to better control of Maria's newborns. He was allowed to live and her army thrived as newborns were created and done away with after their strength faded. I watched on as Jasper was forced to end vampire after vampire until one day he simply had had enough. One of his only friends, Peter, came to him and explained how vampires in the north coexisted without warring for territory. At this point, Jasper was so depressed and weary of the fight that he left to become a nomad himself.

I just barely caught a glimpse of Jasper sitting down at a diner when a familiar voice chirped up, "You sure kept me waiting." It was there I pulled out of the connection, as I'd already absorbed everything I needed to know about fighting newborns. I wanted to leave the man some of his more precious memories, and meeting his mate was not mine to see.

I immediately grabbed ahold of every soul bound to mine and began disseminating the techniques and tactics I'd learned from Jasper's near century of experience. Some were shocked by the images they were seeing, others awed, but most just seemed impressed. I was completely overlooking his connection to the Confederacy simply because of the amount of shame he felt knowing he had fought to defend slavery. He kept his historical texts as a reminder of the atrocities he had once supported and that he was no longer that person anymore. He felt the same shame when he thought of all the lives he had taken, both humans and newborns during the Southern Vampire Wars. I wished I had the time and energy to cleanse that soul but it was unfortunately neither the time or place.

"Alice," I called out, turning to find the pixie fighting Rosalie's impossibly strong grip around her waist as she struggled to return to a smirking demon-eyed Bella who was looking far too smug and whose fingers were glistening suspiciously. Growling, I glared at my mate as she simply met my gaze while slowly licking her fingers clean.

"What, you never said I couldn't have a taste," she said teasingly in that rumbling voice filled with promise.

I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes, bringing a hand to my forehead as I felt the beginnings of a headache. "I'm in a soul-dive for less than five minutes, tops, and you're already in her panties?"

"To be fair," Bella added, voice losing none of its lustful humor, "she's not wearing any."

Groaning, I just decided to ignore the whole thing despite now having the sweet taste of Alice on my tongue thanks to my permanent connection to my mate. I reached out to Alice's single-minded soul and grabbed it firmly in my grasp, finally causing the vampire to still in Rosalie's arms. "Better," I chided, waiting until the tiny vampire met my gaze hesitantly. "You're not in trouble, but I need you to focus. Give us a battleground that isn't your backyard as I would hate to cause any damage to Ma'atem's hard work."

Alice nodded once before her eyes went distant, Rosalie pulling the pixie upright and into a more comfortable embrace from behind. She nuzzled her sister's neck, drawing a comforting breath from the girl even as Bella began to growl. "Calm yourself, love," I told Bella as I walked over to stand behind her chair, my hands falling firmly on her shoulders. "She's still her sister, in a way. Besides, the same limits they have applied to us due to our age, I have applied to them as well."

I felt four hearts reach out in protest, neither woman having had the time to find out that I had basically put them all in magickal chastity belts as revenge for all the teasing I'd had to endure. "Anytime you girls want to break that fast, just say the word."

There was silence from their ends of the bond, stubborn women the lot of them. Still, I was sure Bella and I could 'persuade' them after this situation with the newborns was handled.

Alice's gasp drew our attention to the petite vampire, her eyes searching and finding mine. "They're coming in off the ocean. They plan to wipe out the reservation to feed before heading our way. They'll hit land any minute!"

I shot a pulse through every soul connected to mine, directing them to the location provided in Alice's mind. "Bella and I will have to be careful with how much magick or energy we expend. If the Volturi are close enough to oversee the battle, they will know right away what I am and they cannot be allowed to leave with that knowledge."

I received acknowledgments from everyone, present or distant. Then everyone was moving out and I picked Bella up into my arms, taking to the air as I wrapped our bodies in my cloaking spell. The wolves were my family, and we would all fight and die for their loved ones.

This is what it means to be of the Lockwell Clan.