𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘐𝘟𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕

(the cursed witch, act two)

NINA SLEPT FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT. When she did finally wake, her body was stiff, as though she hadn't moved an inch since she hit Bella's soft mattress.

Her mind was dazed and slow; strange, colorful dreams—dreams and nightmares—swirled dizzily around the inside of her head. They were so vivid. The horrible and the heavenly, all mixed together into a bizarre jumble. There was sharp impatience and fear, both part of that frustrating dream where your feet can't move fast enough... And there were plenty of monsters, red-eyed fiends that were all the more ghastly for their genteel civility. The dream was still strong—she could even remember the names. But the strongest, clearest part of the dream was not the horror. It was the angel that was most clear.

It was hard to let him go and wake up. This dream did not want to be shoved away into the vault of dreams she refused to revisit. Nina struggled with it as her mind became more alert, focusing on reality. She couldn't remember what day of the week it was, but she was sure Bella or school or work or something was waiting for her. She inhaled deeply, wondering how to face another day.

Something touched her arm, making her eyes open slowly.

"Good. You're alive," A voice above her spoke. "I was beginning to think you were dead."

She glanced up. "Oh. Hey, Chief."

"Hey, kiddo. Are you feeling okay? Bella said you decided to stay at your place, but then you just showed up here the other day and passed out on the couch."

"I did?" Nina asked, trying to remember. She didn't remember getting to the Swan home, nevermind falling asleep on the couch. She didn't even remember staying at her own home.

"Yeah... Are you alright?"

She nodded slowly, sitting up as she rubbed her forehead. "Yeah. Just some crazy dreams, I guess. Is, uh, is Bella home?"

"She's at school right now."

"Oh. What day is it?"

"Friday..." When she kept staring at him, he continued. "The 21st of March..."

"Right," Nina muttered. "When will school be over?"

"Not for a few hours. Hey, did you hear about where your new history teacher went? He disappeared last week and hasn't been back since."

The witch shrugged. Then, as her mind cleared, her eyes widened a fraction. Mr. Erikson... Dad...

"I, um, I'm gonna head out for a bit, Chief. I've gotta take a walk and get some fresh air."

He nodded, taking a step back. "Sure, sure... Maybe take a shower first, though."

Nina lifted her arm to her nose and took a sniff. She grimaced. "Thanks for the tip."

After showering and changing into a clean set of Bella's clothes, Nina wandered out of the Swan's home. She found her car, back where it should be, in the driveway.

It wasn't real; she realized. The car solidified that it was all a nightmare.

"Well, that's disappointing," Nina muttered.

She walked stiffly down the street, trudging up her driveway and up the porch to the handless door. She pushed it open gently, or as gently as she could muster, before walking inside.

"I should probably fix that... How do you fix a doorknob?"

She retreated back to the Swan house a few minutes later to get her car before driving down to the only hardware store in the small town.

"Okay, so I just install these things? And then these things? And then I just shove the doorknob in?" She asked the poor worker, who clearly was annoyed by her questions.

"Yes," They grumbled in response.

Minutes later, Nina was back at her house, screwdriver in hand as she sat on the ground, trying to fix the handle herself.

"Piece of shit," She muttered when she accidentally dropped one of the pieces on her foot.

"Are you seriously fixing a doorknob right now?" A voice called from the end of her driveway.

Nina glanced up, seeing the person before looking back at the handle. "Hey, Bells!" She called, before sticking her tongue out as she continued to mess around with the handle.

"I think this thing is defective," She muttered before the screwdriver fell out of her hand. "For fuck's sake."

"Nina. Seriously. What are you doing here?" Bella asked again.

"Fixing my door..." Nina replied, confused by why the human was so persistent. "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"School finished half an hour ago. Charlie told me to check on you because you apparently went for a walk six hours ago and never came back."

"Oh. Sorry, I probably should have told him I'd be awhile."

Bella slowly moved to sit beside her before her hand came up to hold Nina's jaw. She twisted the witch's head from side to side before staring into her eyes. "Are you alright? Are you in shock?"

"Why would I be in shock? I'm fixing a doorknob, not building a rocket ship."

"Do you... not remember?"

"Remember what? Shit, did we have a test today?"

"No. Do you not remember running off to Italy to save your dumbass of a mate?"

"What?" Nina asked, her eyes widening. "How did you know that? That was in my dream last night."

"It wasn't a dream, Neens! He's back. And so is the rest of his pale ass family! And they've all been trying to be friends with me and it's freaking me out!"

"He's back... Oh my god. He's back!"

"Go, dumbass! I'll fix your door."

Nina stood up quickly, about to run, but stopped to kneel down and hug Bella's shoulders tightly.

"Love you, Bella!" She called out before running down the driveway and shoving herself into her car.

"Love you too, Moron!"

Nina drove quickly through the green streets of Forks, speeding down the highways till she turned on a weathered, hidden sidestreet. She couldn't see any tire marks, but she didn't lose hope just yet.

Bella wouldn't lie to her.

She drove as far as the thin road would take her till she stopped at the familiar house.

Parking her car, she got out slowly and glanced up at the house. It didn't look any different from the last time she had seen it.

She sighed, her hope diminishing by more than a few notches.

Her feet carried her to the front door and raised her hand, ready to knock. She hesitated, however, trying to prepare herself for disappointment.

"Fuck it," She muttered before rapping her hand twice against the wood-framed glass door.

She waited, leaning against the wall of the porch, her eyes glued to her hands.

She heard a crack behind her and before she could turn; she felt herself being picked up by a pair of burly arms.

"Nini!"

Nina smiled wider than she had in months. He was real. He was back.

"Griz!"

She felt herself being spun around and giggled softly.

"I missed you, little witch," Emmett said with a smile as he set her back down on the ground.

"I missed you too, Em."

He glanced over her shoulder, and his smile dimmed slightly. "Oh, come on, man! Give me five minutes with my witch!"

Nina turned, and her smile grew, if that were even possible.

"Have a nice nap?" His velvety voice asked as he walked toward her.

She didn't answer. Instead, she tore off into his arms, tackling him into a hug. A shocked noise fell past his lips before he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hi," She smiled into his neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne.

"Hey, Darling." She felt him smile into her own shoulder, his face buried in her hair.

"Seriously, man! Give me five minutes before you steal her from me!"

"Never gonna happen, Emmett–"

"Actually, Edward... Can he stay for a few minutes?"

Edward loosened his hold on her slightly so that he could see her face. "Why's that, darling?"

"Actually, is your whole family home? It'd probably be easier to just... say it all at once and be done with it."

"Of course," He nodded. "They all had manners, unlike Emmett." He threw a glare his brother's way and earned a middle finger from the burly vampire.

Leading her into the home that was once been clouded in dust, she found herself in the living room on the second floor. To her surprise, the rest of the Cullen's were already waiting for her.

"Good afternoon, Nina," Carlisle was the first to greet her, making her smile slightly.

"What's up?" She scrunched her nose. "Sorry. I'm really nervous. Um... Hi."

They all smiled at the witch. She had to convince herself they were real for a moment. Edward's hand at the small of her back helped her confirm it.

"What did you want to tell us, sweetheart?" Esme's kind voice asked, gesturing for her and Edward to take a seat on one of the couches in the room. Edward led her again, feeling her body stiffen in his arms.

"Where to start?" Nina laughed awkwardly, rubbing her hands on her jeans as she got herself comfortable on the couch. It felt like she was doing a presentation. She hated doing presentations.

Alice watched her with knowing eyes and sent a discreet look at Jasper.

Nina felt a small wave of calm wash over her. "Thanks, Jasper," She muttered, earning a smile.

"How about the beginning," Esme suggested.

"Sure. Sure. When you all left... Well, nothing really happened for a while there. I made some friends... shockingly. My personality usually throws people off, but they actually liked me. I think... I mean, I hope they do. It'd be really awkward if they don't and I spent like every hour of every day with them–"

"Nina, you're rambling," Emmett cut her off, an amused smirk on his lips.

"Right. Sorry. Well, after a few months, I started building motorbikes with a few of those friends and then I found out I can see ghosts and then I crashed and bashed up my head–"

"Hold up!" Emmett held up his hand. "Ghosts?"

"You're a vampire. Is it really that much of a stretch?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fine! They weren't ghosts. I was actually just going slightly insane and seeing hallucinations from not sleeping for more than two hours every night." She saw their worried stares. "Moving on... We got a new history teacher. Turns out, he's my dad."

"The Volturi guy?" Emmett interrupted again.

"Yes. What other guy?"

He shrugged.

"Yeah. So, he came back. Didn't know he was my dad though at the time. If anything, I just thought he was a possible child predator from how often he tried to talk to me about my problems."

"Little bit after that..." She glanced at Edward. "I went on a date with Kit. Please don't kill him."

"I'll think about it," Edward grumbled.

"It didn't go well. Haven't really talked to him since."

"Good."

"Shouldn't have said that, Nini. Now you're never gonna see him again when Eddy's done with him."

"Can you stop with the commentary?" Alice asked, annoyed by Emmett.

"What? Someone's gotta get the juicy gossip out of her," Emmett defended.

"What happened on the date?" Edward asked, still not having moved on. "Did he kiss you? Did he touch you?"

"No. Oh my god. Calm yourself. Dramatic... He tried to, but I moved out of the way. And then he got mad, and he said a few things."

"What kind of things?"

"Nothing important." Nina shook her head.

"After that..." She chewed on her lip. "I went on a hike... with my mom." Her voice trembled slightly as her eyes moved down to her hands. "We went to this meadow where the sun peaked out through the clouds."

Nina swallowed hard. She couldn't meet their gazes, but she could feel them burning her skin.

"Laurant showed up. He was looking for me as a favour to Victoria. But I guess he couldn't help himself. My mom jumped in front of me before he could get to me. And then I heard her scream. I didn't even think about what I was doing before I ran to him... Long story short, I killed him and now I'm an almost orphan."

"Nina..." She couldn't tell whose voice it was, but she shook her head.

"I'm not done."

"After that," She continued. "I went back to those friends I was telling you about. Turns out they were werewolves. Bit of a shock there."

She kept her mind blocked, not warning Edward to see the memories.

"Werewolves are terrible company," Rose muttered and Nina chuckled.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say that. Alice said the same thing."

"I've since changed my mind," Alice cut in, smiling small at the witch.

"Why? They're hairy and they smell bad–"

"Not all of them. Please continue, Nina."

"After I found out about them being wolves, they brought me back to Emily's house. She's Sam's fiancé... the guy who found me in the woods..." She spoke the last sentence quickly. "He's also a wolf. And turns out, his mother knew my father before I was born."

"So, when they found out I had killed a vampire and they already knew who my dad was, Sam brought me to a building... in the woods... And he warned me that shits about to go down, you know... and that I had 11 days to prepare myself."

"I think I ate like seven tubs of ice cream during that time," She murmured. "After those days passed, I had to go back to the building and chain myself up. Sounds really kinky, but it wasn't, I promise."

"Alice saw most of it from there. Except it wasn't someone breaking my bones. My bones broke on their own. About... Four hours into it, I think, Sam had to leave to chase off Victoria with the rest of the pack and someone else walked in. It was my dad. He let me out of the cement box, which honestly, was kind of stupid of him because I could have killed everyone on site but..."

"Long story short, you saw someone killing me and breaking all my bones. What really happened is my bones broke on their own because I was... turning into a wolf..."

"Alright, end of story." She stood up. "See you next year," She went to leave only to be grabbed by Edward.

"Not so fast." He forced her to sit back down beside him.

"I could break your hand," She warned him.

"Go ahead. You're not leaving, pup."

"Dick." She glanced back at his family. "Questions?"

"Why didn't you turn into a wolf before? When we were here?" Carlisle asked a sensible question.

"Why don't you smell bad?" Emmett asked before Nina could answer.

"Emmett, hun, we'll leave your questions to the end," Rosalie smiled, patting his head.

"I'm a different kind of wolf. We aren't descended from the Quileute tribe. So, instead of having to be exposed to vampires, we have to kill one."

Carlisle nodded.

"Are you still a witch?" Asked Esme.

Nina nodded at the woman's question. "Yeah. Bit of a gift from my dad's side. He's actually a wolf and a vampire hybrid, which is kind of cool. But I guess now I'm a hybrid too."

She held out her hand far away from Edward and a fire formed on her fingertips.

Edward went to stop her, worried it would hurt her, but she shook her head. "Now that I'm a hybrid, I can do magic on my own. And with Edward back, I can do it without pain."

The fire in her palm turned to a block of ice before it fell to the ground in a mass of flurries.

"What about your magic taking years off your life?" Rosalie asked, trying to conceal her worried stare.

"That's paused now too. It isn't getting any shorter. I've got thirteen years left now."

"Let me guess, the only thing to stop you from dying is to turn you," Alice spoke, moving to sit beside the witch.

"Yup..." Nina nodded awkwardly. "And now with the Volturi on my ass... that 13 years might be a lot shorter if we don't do anything about it."

"What would you be, then? If one of us turned you into a vampire?"

"She'll be more powerful than all of you combined," A voice spoke from the staircase, making them all stand up.

Nina sighed. "Relax. That's just my dad."

Edward moved a fraction of an inch to let her see him.

"God. You're all protective for people that left for six months."

"Hey. At least we didn't leave for 18 years, am I right?" Emmett's laugh faded as he earned glares.

Nina moved to her father's side. "Dad... meet the Cullen's. Cullen's... this is Peter Evans."

Carlisle glared at the man, as did Esme.

"As I was saying, before you all got your fangs in a twist. My daughter here will be the Volturi's worst nightmare when I turn her into a vampire."

"Who said anything about you turning her?" Alice asked, glaring at the man.

"Because I want her to be cool like me and not cold with no blood like you."

"You have blood?"

"Of course, I do. I'm a real vampire." His fangs extended, his eyes turning red as veins appeared under his eyes before he bit into his wrist.

"No!" Nina yelled. "Not again, please."

"Relax, kid. Vampire blood is different from human blood." Peter glanced over at Jasper. "See? Your friend is fine."

She smacked his arm after it healed. "You dick! Give me a warning next time! The last time someone bled here, I got abandoned... AGAIN!"

"Will you ever let up that fact?"

"Will you ever not be an absent father?"

"Stop arguing with me and let me continue my story–"

"Fuck your story! And fuck you too!"

"Fight! Fight!" Emmett shouted. "I got fifty grand on Nini!"

Rosalie held her hand on Emmett's lips, shutting him up. "Shut up, Em. This is just starting to get good."

"Maybe we should give you two a few minutes alone," Esme suggested.

"I'm not leaving her alone with him," Edward disagreed. "But if you do fight him, darling, I'm betting on you winning."

Nina smiled at him, "Thanks, Sparkles."

"Can I finish my story now?" Peter asked her.

"Fine," Nina grumbled. "Get on with it."

"As I was saying, when Nina is turned by me and only me, she will become all three."

"So what... she'll be a tribrid?" Edward tried to find the right word.

"Sounds like a cool name," Peter shrugged.

Nina nodded. "Actually, yeah. That sounds really cool. Although... I would kind of like to wait until my frontal lobe fully develops... No offence," She glanced at the Cullen's, "But currently only one, possibly two, out of seven of you have it and it kind of shows..."

Esme grinned at Nina while the rest grumbled.

"We can probably make that work," Peter agreed. "It is nice having a developed brain–"

"I was talking about Esme and Carlisle. You're a moron; developed brain or not."

"All is right in the world," Emmett smiled. "Nini is making fun of everyone near her again and Edward is smiling as though he doesn't hear a single thing. This is great. If I was a human, I'd be mowing down a bag of popcorn right about now–"

"Popcorn?" Both Evans' asked.

"And there's the family resemblance," Jasper chuckled.

"You can eat?"

"Of course I can," Peter grinned. "I'm better than all of you."

"I wouldn't say that," Carlisle disagreed. "We aren't absent parents."

Nina smiled at him.

In a second, she felt herself being pulled into a pair of cold arms.

"Oh!" She gasped in shock. She smiled then as she looked up and saw Edward behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to that again."

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"I'm stealing her for a few hours," He announced to his family.

"Don't break the bed frame!" Emmett called after them.

"That's my kid! Don't touch her!"

Their voices grew muffled, at least, to Nina they did. Edward led her out to the backyard of the Cullen home, leading her to sit on the steps before he sat beside her.

"Are you alright?" He asked after a moment of silence.

She shrugged. "I'm fine. A little hungry, I guess, but... That's not what you meant, is it?"

He shook his head.

"I'll be okay," She reassured him. "After some time. It's only been a few weeks. I don't really know how to feel, I guess." She looked up at the sky above them, watching as the sun peaked out in small rays. "It's been really confusing. Nothing changed. The house is still there, her car is still there, all of her things are still there... and yet she is gone."

"I'm so sorry, Nina–"

"Don't be," She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. Laurant would have been after me, with or without you here."

She started picking her nails anxiously, only to feel his hand grasp them before she could break the skin.

"If you don't mind," She murmured, looking back at him. "I don't know if I'm ready to be with you again. I just, I've got a lot of other things to figure out right now. I've got to sell the house and plan a funeral and I've also got this whole wolf thing to deal with... I just think I need some time..."

"Take all the time you need. And even in the end, if you still don't want to be with me, it'll be okay. But just know, I will always be here for you, Nina. I'm never leaving you again."

She leaned into his side, and his arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her closer.

"Thank you," She whispered.

"I love you," Edward said softly, kissing her head.

Nina smiled. "I love you too."