A whirlwind of emotions swirled through my mind, too many to focus on just one. Above all, I was shocked. His suggestion felt completely unreal. At some point, the idea of eternity with him and the others by my side had crossed my mind. But I quickly pushed it away before it could take hold. My life was tied to being a witch, connected to nature and feeling its presence all around me.

I took a shaky breath, staring out at the forest from my vantage point on the balcony. My arms were wrapped around myself, seeking some form of comfort. Every time I blinked, the scene replayed in my mind—Emmett's suggestion, the pain he felt imagining me dead. I didn't want to die—I wanted to live. But if the cost of living meant losing my magic, I couldn't bring myself to make that choice.

I sensed a presence behind me as soft footsteps approached, closing the distance. Bella settled beside me, and I didn't need to look to know it was her. Silence enveloped us both, and it was clear she didn't know what to say to make things better. But really, what could she say?

"Is he upset?" I asked after a few moments of silence, finally breaking it. She knew who I was referring to.

"He loves you so much, he'd do anything to protect you," Bella replied softly. "Even if it means turning you," I nodded briefly, knowing she was right.

"Then my kind will truly be gone," I replied, finally turning to meet her gaze. "The Volturi wins, and I won't let that happen," I said, clenching my jaw as the words left me. As long as one witch remained in this world, their power would always be threatened. "Even if it costs me my life," I said with conviction. Bella knew me well enough to understand that I meant every word.

"It won't come to that," Bella responded quickly, her voice firm, clearly unwilling to even consider the thought of me dying.

"Violence and blood are all the Volturi understand," I said softly, giving Bella a knowing look. Though she had only encountered them twice, her expression told me she knew I was right. "I pray to God, they see Renesmee the way we do, and not as an Immortal Child. But for me..." My voice trailed off, knowing their hunt for witches was far from over, though it was nearing its end.

"You can't think like that, Charlotte," Bella said, narrowing her eyes. She clearly hated the dark thoughts running through my mind.

I took a deep breath through my nose, remaining silent as I turned my body back toward the forest, savouring the scent of pine and the chill in the air.

"Just promise me one thing," I said, breaking the silence as I continued to gaze at the natural world around me, feeling my deep connection to it. "If anything does happen to me. Please, look after Emmett and make sure he doesn't blame himself," I said, my voice trembling as tears streamed down my cheeks, despite my efforts to hold them back.

A moment of silence fell as Bella absorbed my words. Finally, she nodded and said, "I promise." I half-expected to see Emmett burst through the doors, knowing he was likely listening to our conversation. Probably all of them were—it was hard for them not to be. They thought of me as family, and that meant more to me than anything.

My lip quivered and my breath came in heavy gasps, but I fought back the urge to sob. The anger I felt was overshadowed by the deep sadness I was feeling. My animosity toward them was so profound that it felt like the forest itself should be ravaged by it. Yet, nothing seemed to change, leaving me even more puzzled. Something was off, and I could tell Emmett was aware of it too...

"Send him out," I said, turning to see Bella already by the door. She glanced back at me, noticing my red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, but gave a reassuring nod. I lifted my hand to wipe away the tears, trying to compose myself.

I leaned against the balcony railing, finishing the task of wiping my tears onto my sleeve as my hands fell slowly from my face. I watched as Emmett strolled into view, his eyes immediately locking onto me as soon as he saw me. He pressed down on the handle, pushed the door open, and stepped out into the fresh air.

His footsteps echoed on the wooden floor as he approached, his expression soft and full of concern. Seeing him lightened my mood, if only slightly.

"Guess you heard," I said as he stopped just a few inches away, nodding in acknowledgement. "I need you to be honest with me, Emmett. What were you going to tell me earlier?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest, our eyes locked in a stalemate.

"I can't, Charlotte. I promised," his voice resonated in my ears, but I couldn't accept that. If it concerned me, I knew he would tell me.

I studied his face, searching for any sign of the truth. "If it's about me, I need to know," I said, my voice steady but edged with urgency. His expression spoke volumes, and I could sense it was connected to me. "Is it my Grams? Did she say something to you?" My voice rose with anxiety, my hands falling from my chest as I took a step closer.

Emmett shook his head, not in disagreement but out of an inability to reveal what he knew. "I'm doing this to protect you, Charlotte," he said, his voice rising with emotion. I could see that his actions were driven by love, nothing more.

"From what?!" I shouted, my frustration boiling over as I struggled to contain my emotions.

Emmett hesitated for a moment, his gaze softening with a mix of regret and concern. "I can't explain everything right now," he said quietly, "but I promise you, it's for your safety."

My anger flared, and I took a step closer, my voice trembling. "You have to tell me the truth. I need to understand why you're keeping this from me!" The silence between us grew heavy, his eyes pleading for me to trust him, but I was overwhelmed, desperate for answers. My Grams wouldn't reveal it; she'd take the secret to her grave. If it was to protect me, that was just how she was.

"I'm sorry," I choked out, my breath catching as tears streamed down my cheeks once more. His expression softened, and he attempted to step forward to comfort me, but his lower half remained frozen. It seemed as though his legs were betraying him, refusing to move despite his desperate effort to command them. He glanced down, confusion and frustration etched on his face as he tried again, but the stubbornness of his limbs persisted.

His head slowly lifted, locking eyes with me. The flash of pain in his golden orbs made my lip quiver and the tears flow faster.

"Charlotte," he said, and the way he spoke my name was almost too painful to bear. It hurt deeply, and though his words could persuade me in other ways, but they didn't reveal the truth he was holding back.

"By thought and mind," I started the spell, my voice trembling. Emmett's desperate pleas to stop echoed around me, but I shut them out. "The truth reveal, through magic's thread, make secrets unseal." As the final word left my lips, darkness enveloped me, pulling me into a black abyss, where the light began to fade.

Suddenly, my surroundings snapped into focus as though I had just opened my eyes. I found myself in the forest surrounding the Cullen's house. It was night, and a tingling energy filled the air—a Nexus Vorti. Even through memories, I could recognize this powerful aura. It was the night Renesmee was born.

Voices echoed around me as I carefully made my way toward the source. In no time, I found myself seeing that night from an entirely new perspective. I watched as my memory self stood encircled by flames, and Grams stood nearby.

I noticed the dark, jagged veins creeping along her skin, vivid and unsettling. Seeing it now with my own eyes was eerie—unnerving, even. It looked as if I had been overtaken by something far more sinister than I could ever imagine like darkness itself had possessed me. The way the veins pulsed beneath my skin, twisting and branching out like a network of shadows, sent a chill down my spine. It was as though the very essence of darkness had rooted itself deep inside me, threatening to consume everything that made me who I was.

"I have the power," my past self shouted, the fire roaring higher in response. Even from where I stood, I could feel the heat of the flames. "I have the darkness," she continued, lifting her hand, dark veins pulsing beneath her skin.

I edged closer to Grams, close enough to hear her chant. "By light's pure force and shadow's end," her words flowed effortlessly. From this angle, I realized the spell was in English, something I hadn't noticed before. "Darkness within, now swiftly mend. Let shadows flee, pure light restore. In peace and light, be dark no more," As soon as she finished the spell, my past self was thrown off her feet in an instant. The roaring circle of fire vanished, snuffed out along with the fierce winds that had raged moments before.

I watched as Emmett hurried over to catch my past self, pulling her into his arms just as her eyes fluttered shut, slipping into unconsciousness. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something unsettling. My gaze dropped to the ground where shadows crept swiftly toward my Grams. She stood still, unflinching, as I moved to face her directly. The dark tendrils slithered up her body, seeping into her skin as though she were absorbing the darkness itself.

Her veins turned pitch black, spreading rapidly up her arms and across her body, engulfing her in darkness. Within seconds, the dark tendrils reached her face, a clear sign that she had absorbed the darkness that once plagued me.

"What did you do?" Carlisle's voice cut through the silence, as the others gathered around, their eyes fixed on my Grams' transformed appearance.

"Saved her," my Grams answered, her voice steady. The dark veins on her skin began to fade, not retreating, but disappearing, as if they were sinking beneath the surface, hiding in plain sight, invisible to the naked eye. "I absorbed her darkness," she said firmly, her voice filled with conviction. "She will not be tempted by this blight." My Grams had witnessed its effects firsthand, knowing just how destructive it could be.

My mind spun, leaving me unsteady on my feet. She had used her own magic to shield me, to save me from the darkness that would fester inside my heart. Suddenly, I was yanked back down into that abyss, tumbling through nothingness. Fleeting glimpses of what followed surged through my mind—her instructing them not to tell me. They all knew.

My vision snapped back to the balcony. The weight of what I had learned made me stagger, and I stumbled against the railing for support. My breathing was heavy, my chest heaving, my eyes darted across the floor, and I couldn't focus on anything.

"You've been lying to me," I choked out, lifting my gaze to meet his. The pain in his eyes revealed just how much it had hurt him to keep the truth from me. "All of you, for months... I trusted you," I said, my voice trembling as my heart shattered.

"We did it to protect you," Emmett responded quickly, still unable to move. "Your Grams did it so you wouldn't have to carry that darkness with you all the time. She wanted you to be happy."

"She's treating me like a child who can't handle the real world!" My voice rose with frustration.

Emmett's gaze softened with sorrow as he struggled to find the right words. "She only wanted to shield you from the darkness she knew would be too much to bear," he said gently.

"But she underestimated me," I snapped, my voice trembling. "I'm not a scared little girl anymore," I shouted, my voice breaking. "I can make my own decisions, and she took that away from me!"

Emmett's gaze softened, but my heart felt like it was sinking into an abyss. The weight of the truth was overwhelming, and all I wanted was to escape, to run away from the painful reality. In a blink of an eye, I found myself back in my bedroom at my Grams' house. The familiar, quiet darkness of the room enveloped me as I stood alone, surrounded by the heavy silence.

I sank to the ground, my hands tangling in my hair as tears streamed down my face once more. She made a choice that wasn't hers to make, no matter how much she was trying to protect me. I understood her intentions, but it didn't justify her actions. She had always warned me about the difficulty of closing oneself off from darkness once it was embraced, and now she bore its weight herself. I had no idea how much she might be suffering or how deeply the darkness had affected her.

A loud thump resonated in my ears as I lowered my hands from my head, my gaze falling on the Book of Shadows in front of me. The book began to open on its own, pages flipping rapidly before gradually slowing down. It stopped halfway through, landing on a page I had never seen before.

The page read "To Retrieve Darkness." It was as if the book was offering me a way to reclaim that darkness, to experience the same pain and burden my Grams must be enduring. I would do anything for her, and this was it...

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