𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍;
BOUND BY DEATH

— REESE LOGAN SAT IN BED, her mind playing an endless rerun of a nightmare that plagued her dreams at night: a woman with rope wrapped around her neck and a cruel smile on her lips as she passed a curse onto her family. The curse that ultimately caused the deaths of her parents, that brutal fire taking everything from her. A curse that Reese either had to break or was doomed to watch any man she falls in love with die. Reese laid there, tangled in her sheets, sweating profusely as she felt the flames lick at her skin as if she had been in the house; her body burned with a fever and she stomach churned uneasily. As she fought back the urge to vomit, Reese Logan decided that she hated Morgana Piedmont. She hated the way her thin finger pointed at the villagers as she called upon the powers that flowed through her, shouting at them that any man involved with a Piedmont descendant would face a horrific death. Most importantly, Reese hated that she was given the burden of fixing this shit.

Reese Logan was many things: a caring older sister, a loyal friend, the star athlete at her old school and an all around happy person — well, she was —, but a witch? Reese wasn't sure that she could be that. Apparently, her witch ancestors thought differently. And so did Flynn. Every day after school, between the hours before Beverley and Rufus got home from work, Reese would sit at the O'Connell's kitchen table with her friend fidgeting behind her as they read through the old leather bound book Reese found in her closet — and took without telling her aunt — with spells created by a Piedmont witch in every generation, searching for the one that would finally end their problems. And Reese was tired. She was tired of reading the list of names the curse had snatched up greedily and she was tired of having dreams of Morgana Piedmont hanging from an oak tree and watching the villagers — who wore faces of those taken by her words — fall silently to the ground as flames erupted from the ground and swallowed them.

In the weeks that had passed since Reese discovered the prophecy and shared it with Flynn, they'd come up with nothing. No cold one was ever mentioned and so far there wasn't one helpful incantation or potion that could break a curse of this severity. So, basically, they were stuck and Reese was sick and tired of this weight getting heavier with no end in sight. So, Reese stayed in bed as her clock slowly ticked down the minutes until she was sure to be late for school. Elizabeth had come to check on her, but after setting a hand on Reese's sweating forehead she'd called the school saying that the eldest Logan was sick and wouldn't be coming in that day. Reese was happy to sit there and do nothing, but that allowed her time to think. And thinking was dangerous; it meant that she was forced to remember that her sibling's lives literally were in her hands and they would either a. die or b. watch the one's they loved die. Reese couldn't bear it, so she threw back her blankets and shivered at the cold air that was slithering in through an open window.

Reese stumbled around her room in search of a clean pair of pants, her overheated brain causing the task to be more difficult than it should have been. Eventually, she snatched up some jeans that had been thrown over her desk chair — not particularly caring that she'd already worn them — and tugged the jeans up over her hips. The material clung to her thighs, partially because she was sweating even in the cold but also because the stress of being a witch had caused her to gain a few pounds. Reese had just buttoned her pants when her door was pushed open and Flynn O'Connell's head poked in. Reese sent the girl an odd look as she walked in and flopped down on the unmade bed.

"Ooh," Flynn curled up into the blankets. "It's warm."

"I just got up," Reese croaked, her sore throat flaring up in protest as her vocal chords vibrated. "What are you doing here, Flynn? You should be at school."

"So should you."

"I'm sick," Reese defended herself, motioning towards the garbage full of used tissues and the empty bowl of soup Elizabeth had given her before she left for work.

"Sick shmick," Flynn waved her hands in the air in a dismissive manner. "Anyway, I'm here on important business that couldn't wait."

"You have a study hall, don't you?" Reese deadpanned, an eyebrow raised as Flynn shrugged.

"Yes, I do, but that's not the point," she sat up in the bed and stared at Reese with wide eyes. "So I didn't sleep last night—"

"How unfortunate?"

"Reese," Flynn whined. "So, instead, I spent all night thinking—"

"That's dangerous," Reese snickered and Flynn threw a pillow at her in retaliation.

"You sound like my brother," she pouted. "But anyway, I was thinking about this Chosen One slash cold one business. And I started googling."

Reese's interest was piqued. "Find anything worth reporting?"

"Actually, I did," Reese pulled a book out from her backpack she'd dropped on the floor. "I saw this recommended book on the list about mythology and supernatural stuff and then I remembered that Seamus' girlfriend had the same one so I got up at the crack of dawn and went to her house to get it. She wasn't happy, ya know, because it was like five o'clock, but here it is," she flipped open to a page that was marked with an old gum wrapper. "Reese, do you know what a cold one is?"

"I don't know," Reese grunted, rubbing her eyes as a migraine pulsed behind her eyes. "A cold person?"

"Nice try, but no cigar," Flynn read a highlighted passage. "The cold one is a term used in old Quileute legends to describe what other cultures often refer to as moroi, baka but most frequently called a vampire. In most versions, they were said to be humans that died and came back to life and preyed on human victims. Historical documents claim they have heightened senses with incredible speed and strength."

Reese swallowed thickly. "So, now there are vampires?"

"Yes!" Flynn seemed far more excited about this than Reese was. "Dude, what a trip! So witches are real, the sixteenth century holy rollers are turning in their graves with that revelation, but now vampires! I mean, what else do you think is out there?"

"Flynn, this isn't time for jokes," Reese felt her blood pressure rise and ripped open a package of cigarettes and quickly lit one up, the nicotine helping her relax even though her liquid filled lungs protested. "The prophecy says I do this with a cold one! So I'm expected to team up with a vampire? No thank you."

"I think it'd be pretty cool," Flynn shrugged.

"Yeah, real cool, until he tries to suck my blood!"

"Maybe he's a nice vampire," Flynn tried to reassure her. "I mean, it says he helps you so I don't think he'd try to kill you."

Reese plopped down on her desk chair and cradled her head in her hands. "Why me?" Tears blurred her vision. "Was losing my parents and then learning that I'm a witch and that all of this is some bitter bitch's fault not enough? What more do these people want from me?"

Flynn rolled off the bed and crossed the space towards her crumbling friend, letting her grip on Reese's hand anchor her to the world. "We'll figure this out, Reese; together."

"Why am I even doing this?" Reese muttered, sucking in a deep breath of her cigarette. "I should just ignore this stupid prophecy. My mother's spell is protecting the twins and as long as neither of them figures out what they are, the curse can't hurt them. I should just leave this bullshit for the next Chosen One to deal with, someone who can at least do magic."

Flynn stared at her blankly and then her arm reached out and she slapped Reese Logan across the face; hard. "How dare you!"

Reese clutched her cheek, her eyes widening in surprise. "The hell was that for!"

"For being selfish, Reese!" Flynn shouted at her. "How dare you even think about giving up! The whole premise this curse is that it kills someone you love whether you're aware of the spell or not; it tore through your subconscious and forced you to remember everything your mother took from you! Annmarie and Taylor will figure out what they are whether you die or not! And who's going to tell them what is going on and that everything will be alright? Elizabeth? She already lost her sister to this shit, and now you expect her to just wait another generation for a new Chosen One because you didn't feel like trying? You do whatever you want, Reese. Whatever helps you sleep at night, but don't you dare think that the twins will out of this unscathed, because they won't!"

"I get it!" Reese hissed, holding her throbbing cheek. "They'll figure out they're witches—"

"No, Reese," Flynn interrupted, groaning as she rubbed her face in frustration. "That's not the point I'm making here. What I'm saying is that if you give up, all hope is lost. Reese Logan you are the only person who can save your family and I'll be damned if I let you lay there and roll over because it's too hard. You are so selfish to believe that you're the only one who this effects! Because you're not!" Flynn was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling quickly. "But, you are the only one who can end this."

Reese blinked, Flynn's words hit harder than her open palm; in her sickened and stressed state she truly convinced herself that ignoring the curse for another generation would somehow be easier. Maybe Reese just didn't want to come to grasps with the fact that the fate of her entire lineage relied on her — and surly another Piedmont would make a much better Chosen One — but then Flynn had a point too: Mallory's magic had been broken and Reese was thrust headfirst into a world where death was hovering over her shoulder waiting for her to look at someone and know that they held part of her heart in their hands before it ripped them away from her. And Reese didn't want her siblings to feel this, this horrible feeling of dread that Reese felt every damned day. But maybe, Reese Logan didn't want to fix the curse in the hopes that it would get her — maybe Reese just simply wanted to die. To leave the life that was cursed from the start and see her parents, to have Mallory tell her that it was okay that she failed, that she didn't expect her to fix the mess a bitter witch had gotten them into. Then again, deep down, Reese knew that her mother wouldn't wipe her tears and tell her it was alright; Mallory would rage, she would yell and she would cry, because how could Reese leave the siblings that she vowed to protect and take care of to face this mess on their own.

"Okay," Reese sniffled and forced her tears back. "Okay, you're right."

Flynn sunk into the bed, her anger dissipating. "So I don't need to smack you again?"

"No, no, I'm good," Reese straightened up, trying to convince her friend of her lie. "It's just so hard, Flynn, and I feel so alone. And I'm so angry; angry at Morgana for this curse and angry at Elizabeth for not telling me and I'm so angry that my mother knew what could happen to her and my dad and never told me, and then they left. I don't know how I'm supposed to do this without her. My aunt even told me that Mallory Logan was the best witch in their generation. Elizabeth can barely do a summoning spell and mom could stop death."

Flynn held up the grimoire Reese had trusted her with. "We figure it out with this. Because every Piedmont firstborn battled this curse, and they left clues on how to break it. The cold one is only part of it, it says that they'll help you to break it, Reese, but it doesn't depend on them. You can do this on your own because you're a badass Piedmont witch, first born in one of the most ancient covens and your magic is powerful, even if you don't know it's full potential. And you're not alone, Logan, you have me. So let me in and let me help."

Reese sucked in a breath, her green eyes narrowing in determination as her gaze set on the leather bound book. "Let's do this."

"That's what I like to hear," Flynn smirked, and opened to the first page. "Now let's figure out how to break a curse."

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □

— REESE LOGAN SAT IN the school library, a journal from a witness to the witch trials placed in front of her. The school day had ended over an hour ago, but the library was open until five and Reese was going to stay until then. She technically wasn't supposed to be out of bed, given her one hundred and one degree fever, but she needed to learn as much as she could about Morgana. The book that Flynn promised to watch over had a lot, but not exactly what Reese needed; it didn't have the exact words of the hanging woman. This, on the other hand, did. 

Reese scanned the page, noting a few minor sentences before finding the one: and the witch cried out "any man to love a daughter of mine will face my wrath, death shall have him like this rope will have me". Reese swallowed back the urge to vomit in the garbage can next to her as Thackeray Smith recounted the curse that Morgana cast and Reese continued on to the next line, her mind not being able to process what she was reading. "This curse be bound by death, as my skin grows colder your sons will feel the breath of the reapers from my daughters mouths. Death shall have them. Jesus Christ," Reese muttered, letting her head drop onto the hard table. 

Reese pulled her phone out of her bag and sent a quick text to Flynn telling the girl that she'd found something important, quoting bound by death in all caps. Reese felt sick; Morgana had bound the curse by death, and from what Reese had read in her family's grimoire that meant that only dying could break it. Reese wasn't dead, her blood pumped through her veins and color reddened her cheeks. As soon as the message sent, her phone rang and Reese quickly answered it.

"What the fuck," Flynn shouted from the other line, clearly as distressed as Reese. "What do you mean bound by death?"

"Its means the chosen one has to die to break it," Reese whispered. "When I die, the curse breaks."

"You're not dying, Reese," Flynn argued. "We'll find another way."

"But me dying ends this," Reese reminded her and she was scared that part of her was relieved to know that this ended with her buried six feet under beside her parents. "Think about everything else we've read, Flynn, it says that a cold one will help. Maybe they'll be the one to kill me or something."

"What about the whole circle of ash at midnight thing?"

Reese thought about it and then it clicked. "Fire."

"What?"

"In my history book, it said something about how people used to burn parts of their farms so that their crops would be reborn," her heart squeezed at the words. "It didn't mean literal fire, it means that where I die and, therefore burn, will be a circle of ash. And from my sacrifice, everything with be reborn; better than it was."

"You're not dying, Reese," Flynn argued.

"Well, I don't think I have much of a choice in that matter."

Flynn was quit for a second before she uttered her next words. "What if you're wrong?"

"This doesn't leave much room for interpretation, Flynn—"

"No," Flynn cut her off, and Reese could hear her flipping pages through the phone. "I mean what if your ancestors found a loophole to the whole bound by death thing, I don't think they'd want any of your kind to just die otherwise this would have been broken a long time ago because obviously you're not the first to try, but what if you're the only one who can get near a vampire?"

"I don't like where you're going with this."

"Just," Flynn heaved out a sigh. "Hear me out. What if the cold one doesn't help you kill yourself, what if they change you?"

"Like emotionally?" Reese asked stupidly. "Because I don't know if I'm up for a therapy session with a blood sucking monster!"

"I mean like into one of them? I've been reading up on vampires and when you turn you're technically dead, like Morgana needs. But what if you can still do magic, that in itself is a loophole because you're still dead but can still break it!"

"That wouldn't work," Reese denied. "Magic is natural, all the books say it's linked to the soul of a witch and if I'm dead then I can't do magic. If that's what they were thinking then these witches are dumber than I think."

"We have a few months, Reese, we're going to figure a way around this."

Reese coughed into the phone and ignored Flynn's cries of disgust. "Yeah, well, I'm listing that under problems future Reese can deal with because I'm sick and I'm tired of reading this shit. I'm going home to eat some soup and ignore all my life issues and pretend like I don't have a clock ticking down my death date."

"But, Reese," Flynn whined. "The quicker we figure this witchy business out the quicker we can find a way to kill you with you coming back to life—"

"Goodbye, Flynn," Reese hung up on her friend before the girl could argue that their time was better spent on trying to work through this bump in the road to freedom. 

She gathered up her items and hastily made her way to the exit, her mind still reeling from the information she'd just learned. Only a few hours ago she was thinking about how it might be better to just die so she could pretend none of this mattered, but even death wasn't safe anymore. Because death was part of the equation. Even death couldn't be peaceful.

She was too busy wishing that her parents had never even met to notice Emmett Cullen and his blonde sister turning the corner, and it by the time she realized she was going to hit him it was too late. Her body slammed into his, and as she fell to the ground one of his arms reached out with speed Reese had never seen any one else use and grabbed her had stopping her from slamming into the hard tiled floor. Reese opened her mouth to thank him, but before the words could get out a blinding pain surged behind her eyes and she was hit with various images ranging over the last couple decades. Reese stared at him with wide, fearful eyes and tore her hand back and she sprinted for the door that led to the parking lot. Emmett called out to her, asking if she was alright but Reese didn't turn back. Her heart pounded in her chest as she locked her car door and fumbled around for her phone before eventually managing to dial Flynn.

"You do know it's rude to hang up on people," Flynn mused. "Especially those who are trying to literally save your life."

"Flynn, shut up!" Reese shouted, fear forcing her to throw her car into drive and tear out of the lot before Emmett and his sister could get outside. "I touched Emmett—"

"Ooh, where?"

Flynn couldn't help the blush that crept up her neck. "Not like that, I was leaving the library and I bumped into him he stopped me from falling and I saw something."

"Like a vision?" Flynn sounded far more excited than Reese wanted her to be.

"I don't know, maybe," she slowed for a yellow light, turning on her left blinker. "But I figured out who it is?"

"Who who is?"

"The cold one, vampire whatever you want to call it," her lungs were struggling for air as Reese panicked. "It's him, Flynn. It's Emmett Cullen."

"Oh fuck."

authors note: sooooo this is shitty but here we are !!! so reese figured out what emmett is and also how she's supposed to break the curse which is awesome but also not,,also me and kara have finally got our plots all figured out for the most part so be ready for the most epic crossover ever, like seriously you aren't ready !!!! but in the next episode of reese fucking hates her life we figure out the curse, vampires and everything in between so stay tuned !!!