𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄;
ANSWERS

— FLYNN PACED BACK AND forth, working a hole into Elizabeth's carpet. She was muttering to herself and would pause every once in a while to bounce a comment off Reese before continuing to ruin the soft material that her aunt had just gotten professionally cleaned. Reese waited for her friend to wrap her mind around the whole Emmett-Cullen-is-a-vampire drama, contently perched on the arm of the sofa as Flynn mumbled some incoherent gibberish.

"So," Flynn finally stopped moving and turned to face Reese. "Emmett's a vampire?"

"Seems like it."

"And you know this because you had some witchy vision when he touched you?"

"Yup."

"And you think he's the cold one the prophecy was talking about?"

"Ding, ding, ding, got it in one."

"Well," Flynn mused. "Could be worse."

"And how exactly could it be worse?" Reese questioned, raising an eyebrow as she waited for Flynn's explanation. "Is it not bad enough that I have multiple classes with the guy and have gotten rides to school with him and his vampire sister? You're right, nothing could possibly be worse than that!"

"I mean, at least he's cute," Flynn shrugged her shoulders and dodged a throw pillow Reese flung at her. "At least you're not destined to die by the fangs of an ugly vampire. See what I did there? I said fangs, ya know, because he's a vampire! Okay, I'll stop," she slumped down onto the leather cushions of the love seat and wrapped her fingers around her chin in thought. "You're absolutely sure it was him? I mean, things could get pretty awkward between you guys if you outed him as a supernatural creature and it wasn't even him."

"It's him," Reese assured her. "When he touched my hand it was like I was seeing his memories."

"Emmett Cullen's greatest hits," Flynn waved her hands in a I can see it now manner. "Now that's a show I would watch!"

"Flynn, this is serious—"

"I know, I know, but humor is my defense mechanism and I'm freaking out because I've totally shit talked Edward's parking job and knowing that he heard me makes me fear for my life," her hands wrapped around her throat protectively. "Do you think he'll try and suck my blood? Because as kinky as that sounds, I'm totally not up for that."

"I think you're safe, Flynn," Reese couldn't help the eye roll that came as a side dish to her words. "He's probably put off by the smell of your shampoo."

"Hey!" Flynn cried, frowning at her. "I told you Seamus bought the wrong kind, and I didn't make clean laundry into a soap! If anything, you should blame Suave."

"I'll remember that the next time I have a problem," Reese resisted the urge to snicker. "Now, can we please get back on the subject of the fact that Emmett Cullen is a freaking vampire!"

"Right, I forgot about that," Flynn folded her hands together in her lap. "So, what did you see? Him doing the dirty with, like, Marilyn Monroe?"

Reese shook her head, forcing herself to remember what exactly she had seen. Her brain fought back, sending flares of pain through her temples as she dug up Emmett's memories. She recounted to Flynn exactly what she'd witnessed, because while they'd barely touched for a second she was hit with a lifetime of shit starting with a young boy in a wooden cabin:

Emmett must have been about fourteen, wearing a wrinkled white shirt and black slacks held up by a pair of suspenders, a cap placed neatly on his slicked back hair. A pretty woman was fawning over his appearance, tucking a loose part of his shirt into his pants as she spoke quickly about how it was okay to be sad. Reese knew — just because their minds were linked for a moment — that this was his father's funeral. William had been killed by a bear while hunting, only twenty feet from his teenage son. Emmett stared up at his mother, noting how strong she was being even though she had just lost her husband and mimicked her actions. He held his head high as he stepped out of the house and walked towards the cemetery that they were burying his father in. As he stepped up to stare at the body of the man who had raised him, the memory changed.

Emmett was now a full grown man with lively brown eyes and a dangerous smile that had the ladies swooning over him. He was in the woods, hiking up a mountain that was known for it's bear activity. The depression was in full swing and with woodworking not bringing much money home and his mother stuck in bed from a brutal case of the flu he had no choice but to hunt for his food and hope that he could sell the left overs to any one willing to pay just about anything. His shotgun was held out in front of him as he carefully avoided dry leaves and branches that were littered on the forest ground. In front of him was a large bear, her black eyes watching after her two cubs that were rolling in a patch of moss, completely unaware of the hunter stalking them. Emmett's finger barely grazed the trigger when the wind changed directions, alerting the mother of his presence. She spun around and raised up on her back legs, her mouth opening as she let out was battle cry and charged him. Emmett shot at her, but the bear kept coming. As he struggled to reload, her claws sliced through him like a knife through butter. His cries bounced off the surrounding trees, but he was alone. As he was mauled, he could only think of his mother and how she would take care of herself. Without Emmett there and his brothers grown and moved on, there was no one to provide any food or take care of her; she, much like him, was alone. As he laid there, drowning on his own blood, a gorgeous woman with blonde hair like silk and eyes that rivaled a block of gold grabbed the bear and fought it off with ease, her lithe body evading the claws that had ravaged him. He stared at her with wonder as she pulled him off of the ground as if he weighed nothing and ran through the trees that melted together. As she called out for a man, the memory changed again.

This time, Emmett was burning. Not literally, but his veins felt like their were pumping gasoline and his heart was lighting a flame with every beat. He wanted to cry out, but his jaw was sealed shut and no words could escape, he was locked inside his own thoughts. The pain seemed to last forever, burning every nerve ending and ripping through his bones more painfully than the bear that had attacked him. He felt his skin melt back together and his muscles get tougher, before eventually the fire was nothing more than an itch. When his eyes opened he was subjected to a new world, with four sets of golden eyes staring down at him. They told him what he was, and Emmett was okay. He left behind his human family with nothing more than a bag of money to ensure their survival. Flashes of the years passed through Reese's mind with nothing about him changing but the clothing he wore, ending with their arrival in Forks, Washington where his gold gaze locked on her.

"The last memory you saw was him looking at you?" Flynn cooed at her. "Awe, how cute."

Reese blushed. "Shut up."

Flynn stared at her slack jawed before snickering. "Dude you're crushing on, like, an eighty year old dude."

"I'm not crushing on anyone," Reese denied.

"You totally are!" Flynn laughed. "Reese and Emmett sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g," Reese launched another pillow at her, but Flynn continued her song. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!"

"Oh my God," Reese pressed her hands over her ears, desperate to ignore Flynn's taunts. "Get out of my house."

"Don't be like that, Reese," Flynn stopped singing, looking at Reese with crinkled blue eyes. "But seriously dude, this prophecy thing is spot on; you're going to trust a vampire and break this curse like the badass witch you are!"

"You're forgetting one minor detail," Reese reminded her.

"What's that?"

"I have to die."

Flynn's smile slipped off her face. "Oh, right, that."

After spending a few hours in the school library, Reese had come to the unfortunate conclusion that she was going to die. On her eighteenth birthday, fate would have her die in order to rid their blood line of a curse that had taken hundreds of lives over the years. And, at first, Reese had been horrified; I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't be? She had time to process it since then, and after a long inner monologue that consisted of her arguing with her own subconscious, Reese Logan decided that she was okay with the clock ticking down until she took her last breath. She was okay with dying.

Since her parent's deaths, and as morbid as it was, Reese just wanted to be with them. She wanted to watched Sunday cartoons with Paul and sing to Christmas songs in August with Mallory. Reese missed her mother and father more than words could describe, and she would give just about anything to be with them again. As sucky as leaving her siblings would be, Reese knew that it was for the best: with her final breaths, there would be safety for Annmarie and Taylor, vengeance for all of those who were taken by Morgana Piedmont's selfishness and peace for Reese. With the end of Reese Logan a new start for witches in her family would begin; like rebirth after a fire — ignore the irony. She would die using a spell that would free them from chains that's sole purpose in life was to make them suffer.

"I'm okay, Flynn," Reese reassured her friend, in a soft voice. "Really. I'm fine."

Flynn stared at her with teary eyes. "How can you say that? How can you be okay with this?"

Reese heaved out a painful sigh, letting her sad green eyes meet Flynn's. "I'm tired, Flynn. I'm tired of feeling like the world in going to crumble under my feet with every step I take. I'm tired of having to pretend like the world is all sunshine and rainbows for the twins. I'm tired of hearing Elizabeth sob herself to sleep at night because she doesn't know what to do. I'm tired of seeing the deaths of every person this curse has taken when I sleep. I'm tired of being here, so, yeah, I'm okay with how this will all play out. Dying to save my siblings from the same fate our parents and ancestors suffered, seems like a pretty good way to go out, don't you think?"

"No," Flynn argued. "No, I don't think that seems like a good way to go out! A good way is when you're old and senile and sitting in a rocking chair in a nursing home with me, and we're looking back on the life we lived. Reese, you're only seventeen, you've barely had a taste of what's out there and now you're okay with just letting it pass you by?"

"What more am I supposed to experience?" Reese asked honestly. "I've buried my parents, I've raised two kids, I made a friend who means the world to me. I've checked off all the important boxes, Flynn, what else is there?"

"Prom, graduation, college, love!" Flynn's eyes were watery. "You're going to miss out on all of that because you won't even look for something else! It's right there in front of you, the answer we need is right there and you're pretending you can't see it!"

"And what's that, Flynn? Turning into a vampire? Because I told you, that won't stop anything," Reese shook her head. "No, I know what I need to do. When when I die, I'm going to use my magic to save my family."

"Are you forgetting about the part where you get help from a vampire?" Flynn asked, desperate to find a way to make Reese change her mind. "A couple of hours ago you were totally repulsed by the idea, but now you're suddenly on board?"

"So what, Flynn!" Reese felt her heart pumping erratically behind her ribs. "So what if I need his help! I still die! There's no way around it!"

"What about me!" Flynn wailed. "You're the first friend I've had since I moved to this shit town and now I have to just wait for you to die?"

"You'be fine, Flynnie," Reese wiped at her own tears and moved from her spot on the sofa to the love seat where Flynn was shaking. Reese let her arms wrap around her hysterical friends as the girl cried into her shoulder. "And in a few years when you're off to college and dominating in keg stands, I'll just be a memory in the back of your mind. A new girl who moved to your school and you befriended. You'll move on, everyone will."

Flynn lurched away from Reese's comforting hold and leaped off the couch. "No! I won't forget you, and I won't let you die! As your designated protector, I absolutely will not allow you to die. So, while you're okay with dying at eighteen, I'm not! I don't care what you say, Reese, I'm not going to stop looking until I find a way to save you!"

"I need to die, Flynn. For my parents. For Annmarie. For Taylor," Reese's lips twitched upward in a sad semi-smile. "My death will save people, Flynn."

Flynn glared at her. "You want to die don't you?"

Reese blanched. "What? Why would you say that—"

"It's written all over your face!" Flynn shouted. "You don't actually believe about finding another option because you want to die! I've been blind to it because I thought you were getting better, but you're not! You haven't let yourself mourn your family and you're so blinded by grief that you think dying is the best way, because it's what you want! Well, I don't care what you say about the prophecy and that you're okay with this! Because I'm not! You mean nothing to those witches who made some bullshit prophecy that ends with you dying, but you're my best friend! You're Annmarie and Taylor's only reminder of parents they barely knew! So go ahead, Reese, pick the best flowers for your funeral and pick your venue but I'm going home and I'm going to find another way, because I'm Flynn fucking O'Connell and I'm stubborn as all hell and when I say you're not dying on me, I mean that shit!"

Flynn snatched her jacket from the chair is was hanging on and stormed out of the house, leaving Reese alone with her thoughts. She flipped through the pages of the book that predicted her death and let out a little cry. Her body rumbled as the series of sobs she'd been holding in left her mouth, the tears causing her vision her blur and her lungs to contract from the lack of oxygen. Reese Logan was going to die; on January third she was going to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Flynn couldn't see it, too blinded by the idea of loosing her friend, but Reese knew that what she was doing was right. Her siblings would never have to know about the tainted magic that ran through their veins, her aunt would know that her husband was avenged and Reese would finally be with her parents. So yeah, maybe Flynn was onto something; maybe Reese did wish for death — the same thing she'd been hoping for since she saw the flames burning through the house on Sunrise Street — and maybe she didn't mind that this prophecy would end with her buried six feet under. Reese Logan was okay, truly. With no reason to cry, she wiped her eyes, stuck a cigarette in her mouth and lit it up.

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □

— REESE DREADED GOING TO school that morning for many reasons: first and foremost, her fight with Flynn had occurred barely twenty-four hours previous and she was still ignoring Reese, there was also the Emmett Cullen issue what with him being a vampire and sitting next to her in history. It took maximum effort to roll out of bed and begin getting ready. Rain was pounding on her window and Reese glared at the clouds. She missed the sun and it warmed her tired bones and fought back some of the darkness that surrounded her. She grumbled under her breath angrily as she stepped into her rain boots and stomped down the stairs.

Elizabeth was fluttering around the kitchen in a frenzy, her mug of coffee threatening to splash onto her white tiled floor. Reese watched her in confusion, not making her presence known yet. Elizabeth dropped down her her knees, shrieking as Poppy licked at her face. "Where is it!" Elizabeth hissed, sticking an arm under the counter and reaching for something.

"Aunt Elizabeth?" Reese called causing her aunt to jump and hit her head on the cabinets. "Are you okay?"

Elizabeth blew a strand of hair out out of her face and shot her niece an unconvincing grin. "Fine. Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You're on the floor," Reese deadpanned. "In your favorite pants."

Her aunt let the faux grin slip and a worried expression replaced it. "I lost the grimoire."

"The what?" Reese asked, playing dumb.

"It's a book of spells that gets passed down from witch to witch with each generation," Elizabeth explained. "It belonged to your mother, but she trusted it with me after you were born. I usually keep it in the box with my wedding album, but I must have moved it because I can't fine it."

Reese knew what she was talking about, it was the book she gave to Flynn for safe keeping. She swallowed her guilt, not wanting her aunt to know that she'd taken it. Because then Reese would be forced to go into the details of what she'd found out about the chosen one and the prophecy and her imminent death. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for it."

Elizabeth eyed her suspiciously. "You took it didn't you."

Reese paled. "No?"

"It's okay if you did, Reese," Elizabeth let out a calm breath. "It technically belongs to you."

"It does?"

Her aunt nodded. "The book goes to the first born of each generation, it was Mal's but now, it's yours."

"Oh," Reese ignored the way the darkness fed off of the sadness that came along with knowing that she owned the book now because the other first born was gone. "Um, I found it a couple days ago. Sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want you to be mad."

Elizabeth hauled herself off the floor and leaned against the counter. "What made you take it?"

Reese was dreading this moment. "I was looking for things about the Chosen One prophecy."

"Find anything useful?"

"Nothing exactly," Reese mumbled. "I better get going, don't want to be late."

"I'm going to be working late tonight," Elizabeth called, cleaning up the papers that were littered across the table from her search. "I'll leave money on the table so you can take the kids out for dinner. Paula's Diner is just down the road and has a mean milkshake."

"Thanks," Reese slung her backpack over her shoulder and pulled the hood of her raincoat up over her head. "Have a nice day."

"You too, kid."

Reese pulled open the front door, but before she could make herself leave her body turned back on it's own accord and her mouth started moving against her wished. "Aunt Elizabeth," she waited for the older blonde to look at her before she continued. "Do you know if there's a way for witches to use their magic after they die?"

Elizabeth frowned. "That's an odd question, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Reese muttered, playing with the strings on her jacket. "But do you?"

"I suppose elemental magic would allow a witch to do that," Elizabeth said after a moment of thinking. 

"Elemental magic?" Reese echoed.

"The magic we're born with comes from our souls," Elizabeth explained, pausing to take a sip of her coffee before continuing. "But the more magic we use the more it burns up our souls, especially the more powerful spells. But, there are records of some witches who were able to transfer their soul magic into nature, allowing them to cast as much as they wanted without any repercussions. And I suppose that without their magic connected to their life source, the witch could, in theory, use magic after death."

"Why don't more witches do that?" Reese asked. 

"Because it's an incredibly painful process," Elizabeth said. "Like splitting your soul in half. Not to mention, if it's not done carefully by a seasoned witch then death is almost certain."

"Thanks, that was really helpful," Reese replied after a moment, processing her aunt's words carefully.

"Reese," Elizabeth shouted before she could make the mad dash from the door to her car. "Why are you asking me this? Is there something I should know?"

Reese let her question sink in, thinking it over; she could tell Elizabeth everything and find a way around it with the help of someone who actually knew the craft, but there was also the fact that if Reese couldn't find a way around the whole bound by death shit then Elizabeth would have to go through the rest of her life knowing that Reese was going to die and that she couldn't stop it. Reese decided to give her aunt the mercy of being in the dark and shook her head. "No, I was just curious."

With that she slammed the front door shut behind her and sprinted to her car. She sat there for a second, letting the heat that was blasting from the vents dry the rain from her face before she pulled out of the drive way and headed towards the school. The roads were empty, most people avoiding the torrential down pour for as long as they could. Reese made good time, whether that was because of her lead foot or because she hit every green light she didn't know, but it wasn't long before she rolled into the Fork's High School parking lot.

She was early, with only a few cars spread across the pavement, the drivers sitting in their cars dreading when the bell would ring and they would be forced out into the weather. Reese turned into her spot and tried to ignore the massive Jeep that was beside her. She stared at the tinted window, wondering if Emmett was in there. She leaned forward, trying to get a better view when a knock on her window caused her to lurch backwards and let out a surprised scream. Reese slowly glanced over, her heart beating painfully in her chest as she spotted Emmett watching her with furrowed eyebrows. He motioned for her to roll the window down, and Reese let the glass slide down just enough so she could hear him.

"Hey," he sent her a sad smile. "We need to talk."

"Sure," Reese nodded. "I'm listening."

He frowned at her. "Not here," he motioned towards the school that was void of people. "Please, Reese."

Reese thought it over and then shrugged. If she was going to die any way, then what was the harm in following a vampire into an empty building. So, Reese rolled up her window, did her best to keep her hair from getting wet and kicked open her door. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and trailed behind Emmett's large build into building three, closing the door behind him. Her green eyes stared into his gold ones, not shying away.

"Well, let's talk."

authors note: wowowowow is this a second update in a matter of two days ???? i believe it is,, so these past two chapters are kind of shitty and i'm not sure if i like them but don't worry it'll get better next time, but reese while being okay with death is trying to find another way for flynn's sake,,we love two (2) best friends and also emmett is about to tell reese what she already knows and homegirl is like you're a vampire, tell me something i don't know !!! here's my thank you to kara for putting up with me telling her literally everything and for doing a crossover with me,,i don't deserve you bby ((':