𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍;
THE PIEDMONT LINE

— REESE STARED AT THE wedding album that had been hidden away in her closet, flicking the ashes that grew from her dwindling cigarette into an empty wine bottle. The photographs were of two happy people, smiling brightly at the camera. Reese's aunt Elizabeth was dressed in a elegant white dress with puffed shoulders — it was the eighties, after all — and was slow dancing with a young man in a neat, oil black tuxedo. He had a nice smile. Reese wondered what happened to him. If what Elizabeth had told her was true, then this man was most likely dead.

The house was empty, her aunt having left for a walk with the twins — and Poppy had tagged along — who had been weeping; it was only natural, given the fact that it was December tenth: Paul's birthday. They were still young, and Reese was sure that they didn't have the faintest idea of what the day actually was, but they could feel the energy around those who did. Reese could feel it too; that web of sadness tightening around her, cutting off her oxygen supply and leaving her gasping for breath. Paul would have been thirty five. In Minnesota, Mallory would have baked a cake that always seemed to be missing something — she wasn't very good at following instructions — and the twins would have devoured half the frosting. Reese would be making a pretty banner, using the crayons that were lying around to write out Happy Birthday Dad in big letters. They always took each others birthday's off, so that they could spend time together doing whatever it was that the birthday person wanted; Paul liked to spend his twenty-four hours playing board games and singing off key to his favorite songs — mostly Kenny Loggins. But in Washington, today was nothing special. They'd all gone to school and work, and pretended that they didn't feel like their hearts were about to shatter.

Elizabeth asked if Reese had wanted to join them on their walk, but the teenager declined. She just needed some time for herself. She'd planed to break into her aunt's liquor cabinet and down a bottle of whatever she could find, but when she'd opened her closet to grab the spare pack of cigarettes she kept in there, the wedding album fell off the shelf and nearly landed on her feet. Feeling as if that was a sign, she'd ditched her previous getting-shit-faced drunk idea and decided to look into what happened to her aunt's husband. She had a google tab open on the article titled Richard Hummel Obituary. So far, all she had gotten from the funeral website was that he had tragically drowned in a river not to far from his house. The odd part, was that he had been a star swimmer. Captain of his High School swim team and almost went pro before he shattered his shoulder in a car accident, effecting his speed.

There had been practically no information, the rest was just about how much he would be missed and how he left behind a new wife, Elizabeth, and his two parents, Ed and Linda. Reese had planned to leave it at that when she'd stumbled across a link at the bottom of the search page, it was from a new reporter who had decided to interview the maid who cleaned their house. There had been a beetle under the floor boards for weeks, she'd told the journalist, Elizabeth was going crazy trying to find it, she nearly tore up every carpet and wood panel trying to catch it. Reese gasped for breath as she recalled the beetle her own mother had been desperate to catch and kill. She began frantically searching for deaths after beetle sound, but that left her with very little.

Figuring the box the wedding album fell out of might have some more information, Reese dragged her desk chair to her closet and clambered on to it, careful not to fall, and heaved the heavy box down to the ground. There was a bunch of wedding things stashed away in there; two wedding bands and a certificate of marriage that had been crinkled from the years and a bunch of photos that hadn't made it into the album. Just when she'd about given up on finding something useful, a book at the bottom caught her attention. The book was old, and smelled vaguely of moth balls with pages tinted yellow from age. Reese stared at the title, the words causing her stomach to turn: Piedmont Grimoire. In the first few pages, there were hundreds of names written in loopy prints or just initials.

Reese read through them all, her heart stopping when she reached the most recent section of signatures. Underneath Morgana Piedmont's name were a hundred others — Juliet P., Jennifer P., Prudence P., Mary P., Charlotte P. — and on and on the letters went, ending with Mallory P. Reese stared at the name, tracing the letters with the fingers, her heart aching at the familiar curl of the Y. Reese tried to picture her mother sitting in her bedroom with a bunch of candles surrounding her, looking through the book the same way she was. It was hard to imagine her mother — the woman who used to sing her to sleep after she'd had a nightmare — practicing witchcraft. Reese let her fingers brush against the pretty cursive, tears burning her green eyes. She sniffled and the reached for the cup of pens on desk and signed Reese. L under her mother's name.

Once her ink had dried, Reese continued reading. The pages were littered with spells and incantations, and Reese stared at the potion ingredients; eye of newt, tail of rat, feather of spotted owl and the oddities carried on. All that for a day of good luck Reese mused to herself, and flicked to and marked the sections titled omens and chosen one with some sticky notes. The omen paragraph spoke of the beetles and how they arrived on a witches door before death; chirping near the spouse of a witch meant an impending doom. The next section she checked out was the one about old legends, and in all capital letters — on a page all by itself — was the prophecy of the chosen one: Reese recalled a conversation she'd had with Elizabeth the night before My parents always talked about the prophecy; of a chosen one who would break the curse that has followed our family for generations. It's said that a first born Piedmont daughter will be the one break it. Mallory always hoped that it wouldn't be you, Elizabeth had told her sadly.

Reese let her eyes scan over the loopy handwriting of the chapter title, speaking aloud to herself. "The Chosen One Prophecy." 

Reese wanted to slam the book shut an stop reading; she wanted to go back to when she didn't know about magic or their family curse. But her denial got the best of her in the end — after all, Elizabeth could be wrong and there could be another firstborn Piedmont daughter out there somewhere who would actually be the Chosen One (perhaps she would be more prepared that Reese too). Taking a deep breath, Reese read the prophecy: On the night of her eighteenth birthday, the Chosen One, a firstborn daughter of the Piedmont line, is destined to break the curse with the hand of a cold one the book read.

"It's okay," Reese comforted herself. "I'm sure there's probably plenty of Piedmont daughters."

As if the universe was waiting to prove her theory wrong, she noticed a couple of papers sticking out from the back of the book. Reese pulled them out, easily recognizing her aunt's handwriting. She was confused for only a moment, wondering why her aunt had pages upon pages of names, before the realization that these were the names of the generations of Piedmont firstborns hit her. There were hundreds of them, and as Reese read on the dread that had settled in her stomach began to lift. There were so many Piedmont's, certainly it wasn't Reese. However when Reese turned the page to and reached the newest generation of names, her hopefulness was quickly smashed to pieces. Reese stared at the words, trying to process them, but her brain had been rendered useless from fear. Reese's heart began doing somersaults inside her chest: of the dozens of children, only one of the firstborns were female: her. 

"Fuck," Reese cursed, tossing the papers away from her in an attempt to pretend she didn't see them. While her hope had been crushed with a paragraph, her denial got the best of her. "Elizabeth is wrong, it's not me. It can't be me," Reese comforted herself.

But deep down she knew that her aunt wasn't wrong; she remembered her aunt's visit from her buried memories, how Elizabeth had told Mallory that she'd done as much research as she could and that Reese was the only firstborn daughter. There wasn't a mistake. With that revelation weighing heavily on her, Reese wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground and sob; she felt as if the world had just added a thousand pound stone to her shoulders, piling it on top of the taking-care-of-her-siblings block and the struggling-to-keep-her-depression-at-bay brick. It was all too much. Too much for one seventeen year old girl. "Jesus," Reese rubbed her eyes, wishing all of this would just go away.

As she slowly slid down the slope into the dark part of herself — the part that was home to her repressed emotions and sorrow — her phone buzzed, and Reese quickly answered it when she saw the caller I.D. "Hello?" She whispered.

"Hey," Flynn greeted happily, although when she heard Reese's panicked breathing she grew serious. "Reese, is everything alright?"

"It's my dad's birthday today," Reese confessed, but started talking quickly as to not allow Flynn to have time to pity her. "I was looking through Elizabeth's wedding box trying to find out more about her husband's death—"

"Wait," Flynn interrupted. "Elizabeth was married?"

"That's not the important part, Flynn. There was a book about my family in her box. And I think I found something."

"You did witchy business without me?" Flynn sounded wounded, but Reese didn't have emotional capacity to be gentle on her feelings at that moment.

"Flynn, I found something in this book about the prophecy that would end our curse."

"What did you find?"

"The prophecy for the Chosen One," Reese revealed.

"The Chosen One," Flynn repeated. "Isn't that what your aunt thinks you are?"

"Yeah," Reese said gravely. "And she was right too. The prophecy talked about a firstborn Piedmont daughter who would end our curse and I thought that surely there's got to be dozens of those, but Elizabeth has a record of every kid born in the Piedmont lineage and I'm the only firstborn daughter. And there's more."

"More?" Flynn echoed. "What else is there?"

"It says that the Chosen One will break the curse with the help of a cold one."

"The hell is a cold one?"

"I have no idea," Reese felt a migraine forming. "I thought you might want to help me figure it out."

Reese couldn't see her, but she knew that Flynn was already thrilled at the thought of helping with the so called which witch is which mission. "Flynn O'Connell: total badass, protector of witches and researcher of curses. Yeah, I like the sound of that. Flows right off the tongue. Do you think I could have that written on my tomb stone or is that a little much?"

"A little much, Flynn."

"Yeah you're right," Flynn sighed dramatically. "I think I'll just have total badass."

"Look I'm leaving for your house now," Reese ignored her friend's rant of how total badass written on a grave it a total badass move and quickly tugged on a coat and boots, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas. Flynn hung up with a quick see you soon and Reese rushed down the stairs. She left a note on the counter for her aunt and then bee-lined to her car. The engine humming unhappily from the cold and whined when Reese started it up, she ignored the sound and threw the gear into drive. She spent the ride to Flynn's focusing on her breathing, to keep the panic attack that was causing her heart to pound at bay. She made it in record time, knocking harshly on Flynn's front door, her foot tapping anxiously as she waited for Flynn to reveal herself. The door creaked as Flynn pulled it open grinning widely at her and ushered her inside. The two rushed up the stairs, Reese greeting Beverley who was seated on the love seat with Rufus, the two watching some true-crime TV show. Flynn entered her room and as soon as Reese dropped down on the bed she kicked the door shut.

"Okay," Flynn said eagerly, eyeing the book in Reese's hands as she dropped down onto the bean bag chair she had pushed up in a corner near her closet. Flynn reached into the bag of potato chips resting on her desk, grabbing a handful before offering the bag to Reese who declined. "Let me see it."

Reese tossed the book to her friend. "This is the book I found."

Flynn took it from her, reading the title. "Piedmont Grimoire? Sounds ominous."

"There's all sorts of spells in there," Reese informed her. "I saw one about how to turn a man into a rat!"

"You think it'll work on Newton?" Flynn asked hopefully.

"I think we probably shouldn't even attempt it," Reese shot her a stern look, noticing how enthralled by the spell Flynn was. She reached out and turned the pages for Flynn, stopping on the beetle section. "Read that."

"The Chosen One, a first born daughter from the Piedmont line, will be the bringer of peace. On the night of her eighteenth birthday, the descendant of Morgana Piedmont will cast a spell that will rid the Piedmont witches of the curse that has successfully caused numerous deaths throughout the centuries," Flynn stared at Reese with a slack jaw, before turning the page, and reading the singular line. "At exactly midnight, together the Chosen One and a cold one will end the curse."

Sensing her friend's oncoming question, Reese pointed to the paper in the back. Flynn read through the names, her eyes growing wider as she went down the list. 

"I'm the only first born daughter," Reese told her meekly, feeling the migraine pulse beneath her skin again. "The prophecy is talking about me."

"You're the chosen one," Flynn breathed out. "I can't believe it, Reese. You're the Harry Potter of your family!"

"Flynn," Reese tried not to cry, but the emotion in her voice was present. "How am I supposed to do this? I don't know anything about magic or witches or this curse! I didn't even know I was a witch until a few days ago! And suddenly, I'm expected to save everyone?"

"Reese," Flynn let the book fall off her lap as she moved from the chair to her bed to comfort her friend. "I know how worried you are, but you have to do this. For you and for your siblings. I mean, look at your mom," Reese shot her pained look. "I'm sorry, but it's true. You saw what happened to them because of this, and if you don't fix this the same thing will happen to you and your siblings."

"Not if I don't fall in love," Reese answered indignantly. "If I never fall in love then it won't hurt anyone."

"What about Annmarie," Flynn replied fiercely. "Or Taylor? Do you expect them to just accept the fact that they can never love any one? That if they do they'll die some horrible death? And how do you think they'll feel when someone they love more that anything in the world dies and they learn that their own sister could have fixed it?"

"I get it!" Reese fired back.

"You turn eighteen soon, Reese," Flynn reminded her. "We have to figure out what the book means by cold one and learn the spell you have to cast. We have two months to prepare, because if you don't end this curse then they'll have to wait until the next generation of Piedmont's."

Reese didn't reply, deep down she knew that Flynn was right. No matter how much she could argue that it wasn't her and that she couldn't do this, Reese was her family's only hope. She was the Chosen One; the girl destined to end a curse that had wreaked havoc on her ancestors and their children. The curse that had caused her to become an orphan and her aunt a widow. A curse that she was going to break.

"Okay," Reese finally said, determination clear in her voice. "Let's do this."

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □

— REESE SPENT THE NEXT couple hours at Flynn's, the two girls researching everything they could about the prophecy and the cold one it mentioned in the book and on the internet. When the sun had dropped below the mountains, turning the sky an inky black, Reese finally decided that she needed to go home. Reese left Flynn with the book (You're the only one I trust with this, she told her friend who puffed her chest proudly. I need you to see if you can find anything about the spell or the cold one and their roll in the whole thing) and made the short trip back to her aunt's house.

The front light was on, when Reese pulled into her driveway. She sat in the car for a while, letting it run. She contemplated telling Elizabeth about the prophecy and her learnings, but then remembered what she'd said to Flynn; you're the only one I trust with this. Elizabeth had lost her sister and her husband from this curse and while Elizabeth knew that Reese was the Chosen One already, she was afraid how much her aunt would bury herself in texts and articles trying to find the spell the book mentioned, so Reese promised herself that she would keep the information between Flynn and herself.

After a while, Reese finally turned off her car and made her was into the house. She took the key out from it's hidden place under the ceramic frog and unlocked the front door. Unsurprisingly, given the fact that it was well after eleven on a school night, the house was dark. Reese kicked off her muddy boots and made her way deeper into the house, snatching an apple out of the fruit bowl before heading up to her bedroom.

She had just reached the twins' room when she heard whispers and giggles. With furrowed brows, Reese pushed their door open, and didn't bother to hide the shock on her face when she spotted Elizabeth positioned between the twins on their floor with Poppy resting on the bed as they played a friendly game of Candy Land. Annmarie was in the lead, followed shortly behind by Taylor with Elizabeth taking up the rear.

"Reesey!" Annmarie shouted, leaping up from the ground and sprinting towards her sister. Taylor mimicked her actions, shouting her name as well.

"What are you two doing?" Reese asked, pressing soft kisses to their heads as they gripped her hands and pulled her towards the board.

"It's daddy's birfday," Taylor reminded her the word coming out funny due to his missing front teeth. He plopped down on the carpet and picked up a card with two purple squares. "Auntie Elizabeth asked what we wanted to do."

"Daddy liked Candy Land," Annmarie piped up. "We always play. Do you want to play?"

Reese forced the tears back, she wasn't sure that the twins would even remember how they celebrated Paul's birthday, but the fact that they did made the organ in her chest ache sadly. She wondered how much they remembered of their parents. "Of course I want to play."

"You can be yellow," Annmarie told her, handing her the yellow gingerbread man as Elizabeth moved the players back to the start. "You're always yellow."

The little family — though broken in many ways — laughed and cheered together as they won and lost, and even ate slivers of cake Elizabeth had bought from the store for the occasion. They played until the sun rose up from the horizon and the twins had fallen asleep curled around their stuffed toys. Elizabeth and Reese cleaned up, both planning on taking the day off to reminisce about the people they had lost and missed dearly. Reese bid her aunt goodnight — well good morning actually — and as she turned into her bed room, all thoughts of being the Chosen One had fled her mind, being replaced with the smiling face of Paul Logan.

authors note: sooo a little chapter before school starts for some of y'all (not me, but some of you) but here's a little insight into the chosen one and reese's roll into everything,,, also emmett's roll in the whole thing (hello cold one lolololol) sorry this is kinda short but i tried, hope you enjoyed the happy little family bonding at the end ((((: