Emily's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she noticed was the cold, rough texture of the stone against her back. Her head pounded with a fierce, unrelenting pain, and the world around her was blurred and disorienting. As her vision cleared, she tried to move, but her arms and legs wouldn't respond.
Panic surged through her as she realized her wrists were bound tightly behind her, the coarse rope digging into her skin. She struggled, testing the bonds, but they held fast, securing her to the pillar at her back. Her ankles were similarly tied, forcing her into an awkward, uncomfortable position on the cold ground.
As she looked around the forest, the memory of what had happened flooded her mind. "There's no point struggling the rope is enchanted," a voice said, making Emily jump.
The woman who had attacked her walked in front of her with a friendly smile on her face as if she was just talking to an old friend and not someone she had savagely attacked and kidnapped.
"I thought you were going to be incredibly dangerous. I mistakenly thought that the diamonds on your bracelet and necklace were soul gems. Thankfully, they weren't, but it's better to be over-cautious than make a mistake," The witch said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Soul gems?" Emily asked, confused.
She had never heard of such a thing before. Did she mean diamonds filled with magic?
"Oh my, do you have no training at all? How odd, given your skill with magic, I thought you must have had at least some training." The woman said, giving Emily a studying look.
"Well, I guess I can give you a lesson while I get everything ready. As you know, we have a finite amount of magic, and once used up, it takes a long time to replenish, not to mention it leaves us physically weak. The solution to that is soul gems. By using a ritual, you can rip out the souls of other creatures and use their energy to fuel your spells.
"Other witches, of course, are the best. Vampires and Werewolves are also quite good but much harder to hunt than a witch," the woman said as she was making what Emily could only guess must be a ritual circle.
As discreetly as possible, Emily reached out to her diamonds and was surprised to see them still full of magic. She had been tied up, but her diamonds had been left full of magic. She reached out for her own magic and was surprised to feel that it had somehow become like ice in her body, making it impossible to access. A sense of panic started to fill Emily. She hadn't felt so vulnerable since she was in the orphanage and had no magic to protect herself.
"Can't we use the magic from nature?" Emily asked, confused. It seemed that making a soul gem came with all the benefits but tons of risk for the same thing.
The woman let out an amused laugh and gave her a pitying look. "I guess I have saved your life then," she said, her voice heavy in mockery.
"No, if you tried, the wild magic of the world would burn you from the inside out." The witch replied in a tone that clearly said she thought Emily was stupid for even thinking about it.
Emily did her best not to react to that knowledge as she didn't want to think what the witch would do to her if she knew that she could use wild magic. She knew that she couldn't touch raw natural magic without first placing it in a diamond, but this witch made it seem like witches could use wild magic at all. Maybe that was why she hadn't noticed the magic in the diamonds.
"Im guessing this is the ritual for making a soul gem?" Emily asked.
"Correct, but it seems our lesson is over now," the woman said.
Not far from where Emily was tied up, there was another pedestal, and the woman placed a large diamond on a 2nd smaller pedestal before walking outside of the ritual circle. She didn't give Emily another look before she kneeled down, and Emily felt her injecting magic into the circle.
The circle and the runes that she had dawned started to glow, and Emily flinched as she felt something start to wrap around her frozen magic.
Emily felt the feeling of terror grip her heart, and she did not want to risk staying in the circle anymore. She reached out to all of the diamonds on her body and felt a torrent of power flow through her body.
For a few moments, she felt almost invincible before she remembered where she was and the danger she was in.
With an ear-shattering crack, Emily vanished from the centre of the ritual circle and appeared behind the other witch. Emily slammed her hands on both sides of her head with all the magic that she could muster to make an ear-destroying bang that echoed throughout the forest.
Emily cried out as her arms exploded in pain from the chaotic torrent of magic flowing through them. The woman dropped to the floor as blood poured out of her ears.
Emily froze for a moment. She looked down at the witch before using her magic to slam the woman onto the pillar hard enough for Emily to hear bones break.
Kneeling down, Emily placed her hands on the rune that the witch had been using and hesitated. Was she really going to kill another person?
Her hands shook with indecision before she swallowed and hardened her heart. The witch had attacked her first and was going to kill her, and she doubted that if she let her go, she wouldn't attack her again.
Emily poured her magic into the rune the witch had been using before. The circle started to glow, and the runes started floating in the air, encasing the woman.
A few seconds passed before the woman let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed throughout the woods, and Emily closed her eyes and looked away, unable to watch as she felt her stomach turn.
The scream seemed to go on forever before it stopped, plugging the woods into a creepy silence. The ritual circle stopped glowing, and the runes vanished.
Emily stood up and felt her body explode in pain, both from the attack but primarily due to the immense amounts of magic that was rampaging through her body. She immediately cut off her connection to all the diamonds and stumbled from the weakness that filled her body.
She could feel her arms and legs screaming in pain that was far worse than when she had fought against the vampires. Looking at the woman, Emily limped towards the woman and pressed her hand against her neck, searching for a pulse.
After a few seconds, Emily removed her hands as she couldn't feel anything. She limped over to the diamond on the 2nd pedestal and reached out to it with her magic and was surprised to find that it had a source of magic inside it.
Emily looked around, memorizing the place as best as she could before she vanished with a faint pop. Emily collapsed, holding in a scream of pain, as she landed in a hidden area just a few meters away from her house.
The entire house was lit up with blue lights from the police cars parked outside. Emily summoned a small amount of her magic to numb the pain in her body, knowing that she would regret it later as using magic now would cause her more pain down the line. But there wasn't any other way to hide how much pain she was in, and she needed to in order to sell that she had just got injured while running.
With a deep breath, Emily walked out of the bush and made her way towards the house, where the police were waiting outside with her hysterical mom.
Her mom was the 1st person to notice her and rushed over to her and engulfed her in a hug and crying. Emily flinched at her mom's tight hug, as she started crying, her eyes out on Emily's shoulder.
"I am okay. I just tripped while running," Emily tried saying. But she doubted her mom was listening as she just continued to cry.
"Ms Swan, why don't we go inside and talk," a policewoman said as she gently pulled Renne off Emily.
"Miss Swan, are you okay, or do you need to see a doctor?" another policewoman asked, looking Emily up and down.
It was evident from the expression on the officer's face that she appeared dishevelled and probably bruised and battered, but she was determined to avoid the hospital at all costs.
"No, let's go inside," Emily said as she walked into the home.
She couldn't see a doctor as she had no way to explain how she had gotten her injuries. Once she had gotten rid of everyone, she would go and see Carlisle for some painkillers, and her magic would take care of the rest.
As she entered the house, Emily found Bella on the couch with red, teary eyes, surrounded by tissues.
As tears streamed down Bella's cheeks, Emily walked over to her. "Hey, come on, don't cry. I am okay, really," she said, wrapping her arms around Bella and holding her close in a gesture of comforting warmth.
"Miss Swan, could you tell us what happened?" the first policewoman asked as she helped Renne onto the sofa next to her and Bella.
"Yes, sure. I was running like I always do, and I noticed that it was getting dark. I checked the time and realized I would be late getting back. I decided to take a shortcut, but it was more steep than I thought, as I hadn't used it before, and I lost my footing.
"I fell down the rest of the shortcut, hence my injuries, and I had to walk back home, which is why I am so late," Emily said, trying to make her voice as calm as possible.
"And you sure you are okay?" one of the officers asked.
"Yes, other than some bruises, I am fine, and I promise I will see a doctor in the morning," Emily said.
Emily could see that the police didn't look entirely convinced. Emily wished she had checked how she looked as the looks the officers were giving her made her think that her injuries looked worse than she thought.
"Okay, but make sure you visit the doctor in the morning," the interviewing officer said, standing up.
Emily let out a mental sigh of relief that the police were leaving and wouldn't be investigating what had happened. Emily looked down at Bella, who was still curled up against her and gave her a soft squeeze.
Grabbing one of the tissues, Emily wiped the tears off Bella's face. It seemed that all her crying had tried out Bella as she seemed content to just cuddle. Once Renee had seen the police off, she crawled onto the couch with both Emily and Bella.
"Right, come on, we need to go to bed. We can't spend the night on the couch," Renee said.
"Come on, wake up, Bella," Emily said, shaking her sleeping sister awake.
Bella let out a groan as she opened her eyes.
"Mom says we need to sleep in our bedroom, and I could do with a shower," Emily said.
Bella let out a groan as she got to her feet and awkwardly walked toward her room, almost falling over several times.
Emily grabbed a towel, walked into the bathroom, and locked the door. Stripping down, Emily looked in the mirror and winced at the bruises that covered her body.
In the centre of her back was a horrifying bruise, which was a dark black colour, and below that was a thing bruise that wrapped around her body and must have been from the rope that pulled her back when the witch attacked her.
Her entire belly was black and purple, and the only really visible bruise was on the side of her face, which was all purple with a black eye.
Seeing the state of her face, Emily could see why the police were not entirely convinced by her story; she looked like she was in a fight.
Emily stepped under the cold water of the shower and let out a hiss as her bruised body flared into pain. She quickly got washed, wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel, and walked into her room.
After closing the door, Emily reached out to her magic and placed a ward on the door to stop people from looking for her. After slowly pulling on some clothes, Emily teleported out of her room as carefully as she could, but a small pop could still be heard.
Once she landed on the ground, Emily felt her feet give way, and a muffled scream slipped out of her mouth. Almost immediately, Kate's, Irina's and Tanya's eyes snapped towards her.
A second later, Tanya was next to her and had carefully picked her up, moved her to the couch, and carefully put her down.
"What happened?" Tanya asked softly, her voice full of worry.
"I was attacked by another witch. Can you get Carlisle?" Emily asked.
"I am ringing him now," Irina called out.
Tanya hovered nearby, her hand twitching slightly as she seemed at war with herself, whether to try and offer Emily some form of comfort but not wanting to cause her any more pain.
"What about the witch that attacked you?" Tanya asked, her voice seeping with anger and hate.
"Dead," Emily said softly.
"Good," Tanya said, her body relaxing slightly.
A few seconds later, the front door opened, and Carlisle appeared next to Emily in a blur of colour.
"Anything broken?" Carlisle asked.
"Not that I know. I just need something for the pain," Emily said.
"Let me check you out first," Carlisle said.
Very softly, Carlisle pressed different parts of her body and asked her to move her arms and legs, making Emily hiss in pain. Once that was done, he asked her to show her back and belly, and Emily heard several vampires let out hisses that caused her to get goosebumps.
"You sure I can't get you to go to hospital? With the bruises on your back and belly, I am worried about internal damage," Carlisle said.
"Im will be fine. I just need something for the pain. My magic will take off the rest," Emily said.
Carlisle seemed to ponder for a moment before opening his doctor's bag and pulling out a small bottle of pills.
"These are oxycodone. Take one now, and then I will write you a prescription for buprenorphine patches you can get tomorrow morning. The patches are longer lasting, and buprenorphine is a much stronger painkiller," Carlisle said before standing up and leaving.
"What you done with the witch's body?" Kate asked.
Emily winced. "Noting yet, I had to rush back home before the police started searching for me."
"Do you need some help dealing with the body? We have done this before, after all," Tanya offered.
"Err, yes, please," Emily said as she let out a sigh.
The painkiller had started to kick in, and she started to feel a little light-headed as the pain started to fade away.
"You okay?" Tanya asked.
"Yep, the painkiller is kicking in," Emily said.
Emily heard a few quiet laughs fill the room as she closed her eyes. "I need to wake up early," Emily said.
"Okay," Tanya whispered as she stroked Emily's head softly.
Emily's eyes snapped open as she felt someone shaking her awake. Emily let out a groan and tried to turn over from the person waking her up. However, they didn't give up and kept shaking her, and she turned over to see Tanya looking at her.
"Hey, don't give me that look you said to wake you up early. It's currently 6 am in Phoenix," Tanya said.
"Here, this is another painkiller, but it's a slow-release pill that will last about a day," Tanya said, passing Emily a white pill and a glass of water.
Emily took the pill and quickly drank the water before standing up. She was surprised that she didn't feel in pain. Emily lifted up her shirt and saw that the bruise was still there.
Emily summoned her magic, and it flowed through her body eagerly. She had to stop a hiss from escaping through her lips. It seems the painkillers couldn't stop the pain from using magic, but the pain was bearable.
"So, are we coming back with you?" Tanya asked.
For a moment, Emily stared blankly at her as she tried to work out what Tanya was talking about before she remembered the dead witch she needed to deal with.
"Yep, you still have your bracelets, right?" Emily asked.
"Of course," Tanya said, showing her wrist and the bracelet delicately wrapped around it.
"Then I guess you can spend the day in Phoenix with me," Emily said, letting out a yawn.
"Aww, don't we get to come as well?" Kate asked with puppy dog eyes.
Emily rolled her eyes at Kate's puppy dog eyes. "I guess you can all come if you want."
"Yes," Kate said, jumping over 6 feet in the air and giving a large fist pump. Emily was vaguely reminded of a cartoon character as she jumped so high in the air.
"You have made her dream come true. She has been begging for us to go somewhere sunny ever since our last trip," Tanya explained.
Emily nodded as she could sort of understand why. As Vampires, they had to live in parts of the world where the sun didn't come out, or they would be stuck in the house or coming out at night only.
"Do you need to bring anything?" Emily asked.
"Nope, we are ready," Tanya said, stepping close to Emily and taking her hand. Kate stepped to her other side and took her wrist, and Irina grabbed Kate's arm.
Emily reached out for her magic, wincing as she did so, and they all vanished with a small pop.
They landed in her room, and Emily felt Tanya holding her up slightly. Her legs wobbled from the pain of using her magic. The three vampires looked around her room, clearly interested in how she had styled her room.
Emily found herself feeling quite self-conscious as the vampires looked around the room. Her room was very plain, and the walls were the same pale blue as they had always been. The bed was still a single bed. The only thing that Emily had bought for the room was a very large wooden desk.
It had a so-called modern computer that, compared to the laptops she had in her old life, could only really be called an ancient relic. Next to that were drawers and the old oak jewellery box where she kept all of her gemstones.
"I keep meaning to redesign," Emily said awkwardly.
"I am sure Tanya would love to help," Irina said, giving Tanya a little nudge.
"Of course, if you want the help, that is," Tanya offered, sounding a little unsure about the offer.
"Maybe not sure when I will get around to it," Emily said vaguely. "Oh, pass me your bracelet, Tanya," Emily said, sitting at her desk.
The so-called soul gem made from a witch's soul sat in the middle of the table. She reached out and could still feel a large amount of magic in the diamond. She hadn't checked before how much magic was actually in the soul gem.
Emily was surprised to detect that the witch had the same amount of magic as she currently had. Emily wasn't sure if she had a lot of magic or not, but given that the much older witch had the same amount of magic as she did currently, Emily was leaning towards her having a lot of magic.
After all, she was only just shy of 15 years old and knew her magic would continue to grow as she got older. If what the witch said is true, then she may have come up with a way to not need to constantly recharge enchanted items herself.
Tanya passed her bracelet over to Emily, who gritted her teeth and used her magic to move the centre ruby to the left before she added the new diamond next to it. Emily carefully added a linking rune, and she felt the magic pour out of the soul gem and fill up the ruby.
Once the ruby was full, Emily carefully watched the soul gem and could feel it starting to replenish the little magic it had used at a slower pace than her own normal restore rate.
"Here, this shouldn't run out of magic, meaning you never have to worry about the sun again," Emily said, passing the bracelet back to Tanya.
"Really?" Tanya asked, surprised as she put the bracelet back on.
"Yep, though, it's a bit of a waste of the diamond as making some kind of charging station would probably be a better option. Anyway, you need to sneak out before my mum and sister wake up," Emily said as she opened her window.
"See you soon," Tanya said as she gracefully jumped out the window with her two sisters following after her. Emily closed the window and, stripped down for another shower, and shuddered when she remembered the body she needed to deal with.