They all landed outside of the Denali family house. "Come on, let's put everything away," Irina said, rushing towards the house at vampire speed.
"You would think after thousands of years she wouldn't be so hyper, but it seems to have only gotten worse with age," Tanya said with a sigh.
"Will you be storing some of your clothes here?" Tanya asked, looking at Emily.
Emily looked at the very expensive-looking clothes. "Yes, please. I can't explain where the money for these clothes came from until I can find a job," Emily said.
If it was something other than clothes, then Emily was sure that her mom wouldn't notice it or know how much it would cost. However, when it came to clothes, she was sure her mom would know exactly how much they cost.
"You can keep them in my room," Tanya offered as they walked up the drive.
"You sure?" Emily asked.
"Yep, I have plenty of space in my wardrobe. Alice managed to convince me to let Esme design the house. I should have known we would end up with wardrobes bigger than bedrooms, " Tanya said jokingly.
Emily nodded, thinking that did sound like Alice. She remembered in the books when they made the cottage for Bella, the wardrobe was the same size as the bedroom, if not bigger.
"Okay," Emily said, following Tanya into the house and onto the 2nd floor.
Emily was curious to see what Tanya's room would look like. As far as she knew, Tanya had lived for over two thousand years and probably had seen a lot.
Tanya opened the door to her room and stepped inside. The first thing that caught Emily's eye was the large bed. For a moment, it surprised her as she knew that vampires didn't sleep and couldn't get uncomfortable even if they stood motionless for days on end.
Emily blushed as she remembered that the Denali sisters were meant to be some kind of sex vampires in the past. That would explain the bed.
The room's walls were painted a soft green and covered in paintings. Some were of people, and others were landscapes of breathtaking views.
Across from the bed was a floor-to-ceiling set of shelves with various items. As far as Emily could tell, there wasn't a theme, and Emily was sure they were undoubtedly things Tanya had collated over her life.
Emily walked over to one of the shelves and saw some very old coins. "From places where you lived in the past?" Emily asked.
"Yep, most of this stuff is from our past. The coins are actually what I used when I was a human. I have cleared a section of the wardrobe for you," Tanya said.
"Thank you," Emily said as she started to pull out clothing from the bags.
Tanya took some of the clothes and started hanging them up in the closet for her. It only took them a few minutes before almost all the clothing was hung up.
"Are you keeping the gym clothes?" Tanya asked, seeing it was the only bag that Emily hadn't emptied.
"Yep, I can never have too many gym clothes to go running in."
"So, how much time do the bracelets have?" Tanya asked, holding up the bracelet.
"Oh hmm, I would say a full day," Emily said as she checked the mana left in the bracelet.
"Oh, so we could all go out again at some point?" Tanya asked, smiling as she did so.
"Sure, I would love to," Emily said.
"I think Rose and Alice are hoping to go to a beach or maybe a water park," Tanya said as they walked back downstairs.
Emily took a sniff, and her mouth started to water at the smell of food. "Oh great, going to a water park or beach with a bunch of models," Emily said, letting out a playful sigh.
"Ah, the downsides of socialising with vampires," Tanya said in a fake pitying voice.
A few of the vampires let out small snorts at what Tanya called the downside of socialising with vampires. No doubt, thinking of the bloodlust they would normally need to deal with.
"A steep price to pay, certainly," Emily said jokingly as she walked over to the dining table.
Almost the moment that she had sat down, Esme brought over a bowl of food, and Emily licked her lips in anticipation. Tanya took a seat across from her, looking, and Emily noticed that she looked a little off for some reason.
Emily shrugged it off, guessing that it was a problem with the smell of the food.
After eating dinner, Emily checked her watch to see what time it was before letting out a sigh. It had already gotten quite late, and Emily knew she would have to leave soon.
Something that she was hating more and more each time she did it. Emily hated that she had to hide who she was.
"You have to leave?" Tanya asked.
"Yep," Emily said downcast.
"Maybe we should buy a house in Phoenix," Tanya suggested.
"Really? I could make some changes to the bracelets, replace the gems with large diamonds, and get maybe four days out of each use. Or maybe I could find some way to make the enchantment more cost-effective," Emily said, excited about the prospect.
"There isn't a rush at the moment. You could come over every night if you want," Tanya offered.
"I can put sleep off for a few days, but not every night," Emily lamented.
"That seems the best of both worlds, really. Not sleeping for 1000s of years makes each day feel so much longer," Tanya remarked.
"Hmm, I will take your word for it."
"School is starting soon for you, isn't it?" Tanya asked.
"Yep, it's just two weeks away."
"Does that mean you won't be around as much?" Tanya asked.
"Not sure; it depends on how much freedom my mum gives me. Honestly, she is pretty lax just giving me time to be home by," Emily said, thinking about how her mom didn't stop her from running early in the morning.
"You need to get a phone so we can talk and arrange to meet up."
"I did think about getting one," Emily said as she stood up from the couch.
"Here is my number. Send me a text when you get a phone," Tanya said, handing Emily a card.
"Okay," Emily said as she took the card.
A moment later, Emily wrapped her magic around her, and she vanished and appeared back in Phoenix. Taking a look at her watch, Emily began her walk home.
Emily landed on top of a cliff, looking down at a La Push beach. Emily was a little surprised to see that there was already a fire in the stone BBQ that she had made during her last visit here.
Sat near near the fire were two girls that Emily recognised as Emily Young and Leah. It was a surprise, given that the beach was at least half an hour's walk, if not more.
Emily took a few steps back before she ran forward and jumped off the cliff with a scream. Emily watched as both Emily Young and Leah looked up with shock on their face as they saw her falling through the air.
As the ground got closer, Emily gathered and used her magic to slow herself down before she landed.
"What the fuck you scared the hell out of us," Emily Young said with her hand on her chest.
Emily let out a laugh. "The look on both your faces was priceless. So why are you both all the way out here on your own?" Emily asked as she took a seat on one of the benches near the BBQ.
"It's our private place away from the boys," Leah said happily.
"It's a good job you have come. I'm not sure there is enough food to feed Leah," Emily Young said jokingly.
"What you got?" Emily asked.
"Hmm, twelve burgers and eight sausages. But Leah could no doubt eat all of it on her own," Emily Young said.
Emily raised a curious eyebrow at that. "Hmm, how about some chicken and some kabobs?" Emily asked as she conjured up a dozen of each.
"Sure, I won't turn down more food," Leah laughed.
Emily conjured charcoal in the BBQ and watched as it slowly caught on fire and started to turn white.
"So how is letting us fly and shoot fireballs going?" Leah asked excitedly.
"We can do some tests now if you want?" Emily offered.
Emily removed her bracelet and slid one of the charms off. Emily then turned it from a charm into a ring, removing the linking rune as she did so. Emily paused as she looked down at the ring. She thought about how she should enchant the ring.
Unlike the bracelets she had made for the Cullens, which were constantly active, these needed to be able to be turned on and off at will and some kind of safety feature for when the diamond was low on magic. So Leah wouldn't just drop out of the sky.
Both were things that Emily hadn't ever done before. Emily added a rune that she enchanted with the same magic she used to fly and then paused as she thought about how to add the safety feature.
She added another rune that would glow red, blue or green, depending on the mana in the diamond. Emily gave it a tap and smiled as the run glowed green.
The final rune that she added was a modified linking rune that would use the second rune, and if it was red, it wouldn't draw mana from the diamond.
Finished with the ring, Emily looked up at Leah. "This is my first attempt. I am not sure how well it will work," Emily said as she handed over the ring.
Leah quickly slipped the ring onto her finger, and a few seconds later, she started floating off the ground. Emily quickly drew on her own magic and floated up near Leah.
"You okay?" Emily asked.
Leah, with a mischievous glint in her eye."Come on, let's fly," she said, her voice filled with excitement and exhilaration.
Without a moment's hesitation, she launched herself into the air, her body lifting off the ground with ease. The two Emilys were left staring in shock and fear as Leah soared higher and higher, her hair whipping in the wind.
Emily shot after her, worried that she might end up getting hurt, as she performed a series of aerial acrobatics, twirling and spinning through the air with grace and precision.
Leah stopped with a large grin on her face as she looked at Emily. "Easy as walking."
"Great, but I think your cousin is having a heart attack," Emily said, looking down at Emily Young.
Leah looked down before a flash of guilt crossed her face, and she quickly flew back down towards the ground and her worried cousin. "Look, I'm fine," Leah said as she landed.
"Emily said that was her first attempt, and you went so high in the air. What if it failed?" Emily Young asked, the worry in her voice overflowing.
Emily saw a chastised look on Leah's face. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"Well, it looks like the ring works, at least," Emily said, hoping to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.
"Yep, do you know how long it will last?" Leah asked as Emily Young started to place the burgers on the BBQ.
Nope, but the rune on the left will glow green, which means it has 50% or more. Yellow is 25% to 50%, and red means below 25%. Once it's in the red zone, it won't allow you to fly," Emily explained.
Leah wiggled her finger with the ring on it.
"Okay, but you have to come and check often as I don't have a way to contact you once it's out of mana," Leah said as she took a seat, waiting for food.
"Okay, I will see about doing something about that. I really need to find a way to charge up enchanted items with how many I am making," Emily said, letting out a sigh.
"Oh, you made anything cool?" Leah asked.
"Not really, just simple things."
It wasn't long before the first round of food was ready, and Emily was surprised when Leah took four burgers. Leaving her and Emily Young two burgers each.
Emily had thought that Emily Young was joking about how much Leah could eat. But as she watched Leah devour the four burgers, she realised that Emily Young wasn't exaggerating how much she could eat.
And the burgers were just the start. Next, she ate seven of the twelve hotdogs. After the hotdogs, she ate half of the chicken and kabobs. Emily gave Leah an incredulous look even when she was drained of mana, and ravenous Emily wasn't sure she could eat that amount of food.
"She has also gotten really strong as well," Emily Young said, seeing Emily's surprised face.
Emily frowned as she looked at Leah. Now that she was looking, Leah had seemed to put on a large amount of muscle, far too much for it to be normal.
"Hey, Leah, give me an arm wrestle," Emily said, placing her elbow on the table.
Leah gave her a confused look but grabbed her hand. "Okay?"
"3, 2, 1, go," Emily said.
Almost instantly, Emily was surprised at Leah's strength as her arm was slowly pushed down towards the table. Even without using mana, Emily was still stronger than most girls and boys her own age.
Seeing no choice, Emily channelled mana through her body, and her arm stopped. Emily quickly turned the tables, pushing Leah's hand back and then towards the table. After a few seconds of struggling, Leah's strength finally gave way, and her hand hit the table.
"You said this was recent?" Emily asked Emily Young.
"Yes, her appetite has grown in the last two months, and her strength may be in the last month."
"Emily, it's fine. So I got a bit stronger, but Emily is still stronger than me," Leah said, rolling her eyes unconcerned.
"I had to use magic to boost my strength. Without it, I wouldn't stand a chance against you, and I doubt most adults would either," Emily said.
"Really?" Leah asked, surprised.
"You don't feel like howling at the moon, do you?" Emily asked semi-jokingly.
"Please, those are just legends," Leah said, rolling her eyes before noticing how Emily was staring at her. "Right?" Leah asked.
"Well, just let me know if you start wanting to howl at the moon."
"Wait, so the legends are real, we can turn into wolves?" Leah asked excitedly.
"Well... not everyone, of course, but some can, as far as I know; it required cold ones to be near the tribe, and even if there was, it should be an older member of the tribe that shifted first," Emily said, partly to Leah and partly to herself.
Emily tried to think why Leah would be changing now before she came to a shocking and worrying conclusion.
Was it because of her and her magic? They live in an area that has magic veins, which could be why they have the power to shift. Was it possible that her magic had caused Leah to shift early? Emily asked herself.
"Cold ones, as in vampires, are real?" Emily Young asked, fear in her voice.
"Ya, but none are around here as far as I know," Emily said absent-mindedly, far too deep in her own thoughts.
"Wait, so I can turn into a wolf?" Leah asked, sounding excited.
"At some point, you should be able to," Emily said, still unsure if her magic was responsible for Leah's accelerated change.
If so, maybe giving her a magic ring was a bad thing to do. Would it make Leah turn into a wolf even faster, or was it the scent of vampires on her that made Leah start to change.
Either way, Emily couldn't help but feel guilty. She knew in the books that Leah had resented becoming a werewolf. But she wasn't sure if she could stop it now that it had started.
"Is everything okay?" Emily Young whispered, seeing the look on Emily's face.
"I'm just worried how Leah would feel about becoming a shifter in a few years," Emily admitted quietly. Emily Young gave Leah a worried look after hearing Emily's concern.
"Can we fly some more?" Leah asked excitedly.
"Err, maybe when Emily doesn't have to watch," Emily said, glancing at Emily Young.
"Hmm, do you have enough mana to teleport us all?" Leah asked, catching Emily by surprise.
"Yes, easily. Why, where are you thinking?"
"Hmm, what about Phoenix? You could show us around."
"Err, sure, if you want, we can," Emily said, surprised that they wanted to visit where she lived when they could go anywhere in the world.
"Then let's go," Leah said, jumping to her feet.
"Okay, grab my hand and close your eyes," Emily said as she grabbed each of the other girls' hands. Emily pulled on her magic, and the three of them vanished from the beach and appeared on the outskirts of a small park.
"Wow, it's scorching here," Leah said as she fanned herself.
"So, where do you feel like going?" Emily asked.
"Somewhere with air conditioning," Emily Young joked as she tugged at her shirt.
"Shopping centre then," Emily said, leading Leah and Emily towards the shopping centre. Halfway through the walk, Emily applied a weak cooling charm to both the girls, who thanked her the moment it was applied.
"You get used to that heat?" Leah asked, sounding doubtful.
"Eventually, visiting the beach is worse as the sand is like lava until your feet toughen up.
"I will keep our cold, wet beaches then," Emily Young joked as they finally got to the shopping centre.
The three girls spent the next few hours walking around and looking at clothes in the shops. Emily offered to buy anything they liked, but they turned her down, saying they wouldn't be suitable for La Push.
"Is there a water resort nearby?" Emily Young asked as they stopped outside a swimsuit store.
"Err, I mean, all of them are nearby," Emily said, giving Emily Young a look.
"Oh right," Emily Young said, laughing.
"Can we get some swimsuits and visit a water resort?" Emily Young asked.
"Sure, let's get some swimsuits," Emily said, pulling both Leah and Emily Young into the store.
Emily helped Leah and Emily Young browse through the swimsuits, as it was something that they hadn't bought very often before. Quickly, Emily helped them both pick something to wear before she grabbed a random one for herself.
As she did so, she felt a shiver go down her spine. She had the feeling that Alice had somehow gotten a vision of her shopping and hadn't asked for her opinion. Brushing her worry off, the three girls went to pay for their swimsuits.
"So where are we going?" Leah asked as they left the store.
"I have only been to the local water park, as it's not far away. But it's still quite a good water park. It has slides, diving boards, and outside rapids. So pretty much everything you would want in a water park."
"Right, take a deep breath and close your eyes," Emily said, placing her hands on the two girls' shoulders. Both of them gave each other a look before they closed their eyes tightly.
Emily wrapped all three of them in her magic, and they vanished and reappeared in a large parking lot.
Both Emily Young and Leah looked around excitedly. In the distance, you could see the water park with its many slides.
"Well, let's hurry. It's 1 pm here, so that makes it mid-day back in La Push. So I think we can have five hours with no real problem," Emily said as she broke both the girls out of their sightseeing.
After Emily had bought them three-day passes, the girls made their way into the changing room, changed into their swimsuits, put their clothes away in two lockers, and made their way into the park.
"So where first?" Emily asked.
"The biggest slide," Leah said instantly.
Emily looked over at the highest slide and felt a mix of nervousness and thrill at the sight. The slide didn't have many turns or anything like that. Instead, it was a steep drop before it curved upwards, and they watched as a man came flying out and landed in the pool with a splash.
"Let's go," said Emily, eagerly anticipating the slide.
Both Leah and Emily quickly made their way to the slide, with Emily Young following behind them nervously.
"Err, I will wait for you down at the pool," Emily Young said, seeing the stairs to the slide.
"What? Come on, the slide is 100% safe," Leah said.
"It's not really my type of slide," Emily Young said as she fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Okay, you can pick the next slide then," Emily said, not wanting a fight to start.
Emily Young shot Emily a thankful look as Leah let out a sigh.
"Race you to the top?" Emily said, looking at Leah, who got a comparative look in her eye.
"You are on," Leah said as she turned and started to race up the stairs.
Emily followed after her and was surprised at how fit Leah was. By the time they had gotten to the top, Leah wasn't remotely out of breath. Emily had to guess it was due to her change into a shifter, as there was no other reason that Leah was so fit.
"I won," Leah declared.
"Emily rolled her eyes. "Not a chance you were entire steps behind."
"Was not. Call it a draw?" Leah offered.
Emily felt her lips twitch. "Sure."
Leah walked forward towards the lifeguard, who was standing next to a capsule with a door on it.
"You first?" the lifeguard asked Leah, who nodded. "Okay, well, step inside and keep your arms crossed like so," the lifeguard said, crossing his arms across his chest in demonisation.
Leah nodded and stepped inside before crossing her arms across her chest. The lifeguard nodded before closing the door.
"Okay, 3, 2, 1, and drop!" the lifeguard said, and Leah fell down with a scream.
Just hearing Leah's scream made Emily feel a rush of excitement. "You going next?" the lifeguard asked.
"Yes," Emily said as she stepped towards the capsule. As she got inside and crossed her arms across her chest, Emily could help her get a thrill as she thought about going down the slide.
It was a silly notion, given that she could fly, but the idea that she couldn't control it excited her.
The lifeguard started counting down, and then the floor vanished from under her. She dropped down the slide and closed her eyes as water sprayed her face.
With a scream, she left the slide and flew into the sky before she started falling and hitting the pool with a splash. Emily quickly swam to the surface and brushed the hair out of her face.
Emily looked around and saw Leah and Emily Young standing near the pool's edge. With a push of her legs, Emily swam over to them and climbed out of the pool.
"I get to pick now?" Emily Young said.
"Sure, just don't pick something boring," Leah said.
"How about the rapids?" Emily suggested.
"Ya, I think we all need to share a ring?"
"Fine, but we are getting some food after," Leah said.
"Okay, let's go get a ring," Emily said as they made their way towards a small line waiting for rubber rings.
"Isn't it great that the park isn't too crowded today?" Leah cheerfully remarked while waiting in line for the rapids ride.
"Well, it's near the end of summer, so I think most people are getting ready for school again," Emily Young said, looking around.
When Leah finally made it to the front of the line, she quickly grabbed one of the large rubber rings and zoomed off towards the line for the rapids ride.
Emily Young had a warm smile on her face as she watched Leah run excitedly to the ride. "Come on, let's catch up with her, or else we will need to find our own ring," Emily said before they both rushed after Leah.
The line to get on the rapids ride was very short, and it was soon their turn to go down the ride. Emily, Leah, and Emily all climbed into the ring and grabbed onto the handholds inside the ring.
"Hold on tight," the slide operator said before giving the ring a big push and sending it down the slide.
Emily Young and Leah screamed excitedly as the rubber ring spun around and waved left and right. For a moment, Emily was tempted to use her magic to speed it up but stopped herself as she realised it could cause problems like flying off the slide in the corners.
As they got to the bottom, they came bumping into a small pool before coming to a slow stop. Emily and Leah were still laughing as they got off the rubber ring.
"Come on, let's get something to eat. im starving," Leah said as she rubbed her belly.
Emily was glad that she could conjure money out of thin air; otherwise, she would be worried about Leah wiping out her savings.
After getting lunch, they spent the next few hours trying a few more of the slides and a surfing machine before Emily told them how long they had been at the park.
"I wish we could stay longer," Leah said as they changed into regular clothes.
"In a few years, could I officially invite you over for summer?" Emily offered.
"Deal," Leah said instantly.
The three girls walked out of the swimming pool, and Emily led them to a secluded area before she grabbed both of them and teleported back to the beach.
"Will your parents be looking for you, given it's been over seven hours?" Emily asked.
"If we don't turn up in an hour or so, they will, but we should be fine, and La Push is very safe," Leah said with a shrug.
"Please be careful with the ring," Emily said to Leah.
"I doubt Emily will let me fly that high or much anyway," Leah said, pouting.
Emily watched them leave the beach before she looked around, conjured some more charcoal, and placed it in a wooden box next to the BBQ.
With that taken care of, Emily drew on her magic, vanished from the beach, and landed on the hill just behind her house.
"Hey, you are back just in time for dinner," Bella said as she walked through the front door.
"Keep it in the oven for me. I still need to do my evening run," Emily said as she ran to her room and got changed into some running shorts and a sports bra.
As she was leaving, Emily looked down at her bracelet and quickly added a gravity spell, which would make it two times harder for her to move around.
Emily grabbed her jacket and left the house. Looking at the evening sun, she activated her bracelet's new feature and began her run. By the time she had reached the secluded mountain trail, Emily was happy to feel slightly out of breath.
She hadn't felt out of breath in a very long time without running for hours at a time. Taking a look at her watch, Emily knew she wouldn't have time to run up the mountain, so she turned around to start the run home.
As she got closer to the city again, Emily was surprised to see another runner making her way towards her. She almost never saw anyone running in this area this late.
"Evening," the woman said politely.
"Evening, great night for a run," Emily said politely.
As the woman passed her, Emily sensed the hairs on the back of her arms and neck standing on end. Before she could even process the feeling of impending danger, she was struck with a force that felt like a sledgehammer to her back, causing intense pain and sending her flying through the air.
Her confusion escalated as she realised that the protective enchantment on her bracelet, powerful enough to repel vampires in the Amazon, had failed to shield her from this unexpected assault.
Before she could fully comprehend the situation, she felt something wrap around her body and pull her back the way she had come. As she looked down, a dark blue magic rope was wrapped around her waist.
Emily poured magic into her hand and used it like a knife to cut the rope, which faded away as she landed on the ground. Pouring magic into her body, she stood up with supernatural speed.
However, it was still a step too slow compared to her attacker. As she looked towards her attacker, she saw her running towards her at vampire-level speed. Emily scrambled to react under her two-times gravity.
The woman hit her like a freight train, driving all the air and stomach acid out of her body. Emily was sent flying and crashed into the ground as she scrambled to get back up but couldn't get a single breath.
"Hmm, and here I thought you would be a dangerous opponent," the woman said.
Before Emily could reply, she felt something hit her in the head, and the world exploded into stars before she passed out.