𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘞𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘠-𝘖𝘕𝘌

(the cursed witch, act one)

WHEN NINA WOKE UP SHE WAS CONFUSED. Her thoughts were hazy, still twisted up in dreams and nightmares; it took her longer than it should have to realize where she was.

She sat up quickly, the rough sheets falling down her legs from the quick movement as she looked around the room. It was too bland to belong anywhere but in a hotel. The bedside lamps, bolted to the tables, were a dead giveaway, as were the long drapes made from the same fabric as the bedspread, and the generic watercolor prints on the walls.

Nina couldn't remember getting there. She could only assume she had passed out from the exhaustion of her three hour long panic attack.

Her eyes glanced out the window and saw mountain tops in the horizon, the sun peaking above them. The yellow light, streaking across the cloudless sky, stung her eyes. But she couldn't close them; when she did, the images that flashed all too vividly, like still slides behind her lids, were unbearable.

Natalie's broken expression — Edward's brutal snarl, teeth bared — the keen-eyed scrutiny of the tracker — the dead look in Edward's eyes after he kissed her the last time... Nina couldn't stand to see them. So she fought against her weariness and the sun rose higher.

She wasn't shocked to see they had made the two day journey in only one. She slowly got out of the bed and perched herself by the window, staring blankly at the wide, mountainy expanse laid in front of her.

Nina recognized where they were, they were on the main street just by the Yukon River. She and Natalie had stayed there once when Nina first set their kitchen on fire. It was the Eldorado, if she remembered correctly.

Down a little further, she could see the Klondike shop, a place she had loved to frequent. It was a jewelry store, but they had hundreds of pictures framed across the walls showing the history of the Klondike, something Nina had always enjoyed learning about.

Then of course, right next to it was the Klondike ice cream factory – she had loved that place even more. Down from that was a whole row of bakeries, from sourdough to cheesecakes to anything sweet. Then there was the store where she had gotten her first cd.

It was a bright day, brighter than any day she had ever seen in Forks. The sun hadn't even fully risen and yet it was already strong. She knew it wouldn't be warm, but the sun still felt incredibly comforting as it danced along her burning skin.

Nothing could hide in these shadows. It was a small town, the streets open and colourful. Almost all the buildings were connected, leading to no dark alleys and street lamps were posted every 45 meters apart.

She looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. The red numbers claimed it was 6 o'clock, but they gave no indication if it was night or day. She could only assume it was 6am with how the sun came over the mountain peaks.

Nina took a glance at herself in the mirrored dresser. She was still wearing Rosalie's clothes. The shirt fit fine, almost a little tight in the chest area while the pants went down past her toes and were most definitely a tripping hazard.

Glancing around the room again, she hopped up and grabbed her duffle bag that had been on top of a side chair that looked thirty years old at least. She was searching through it when a light tap on the door made her jump.

"Can I come in?" Alice asked.

Nina took a deep breath. "Sure."

She walked in, and looked the witch over cautiously. "You look like you could sleep longer," She said, taking in the witch's' red, puffy eyes and tear-stained face.

Nina just shook her head. Alice drifted silently to the curtains and closed them securely before turning back to her.

"We'll need to stay inside," She told her.

"Okay." Nina's voice was hoarse; it cracked.

"Thirsty?"

"I'm okay. How about you?"

"Nothing unmanageable." She smiled. "I ordered some food for you, it's in the front room. Edward reminded me that you have to eat a lot more frequently than we do."

She was instantly more alert. "He called?"

"No," She said, and watched as her face fell. "It was before we left." She took Nina's hand carefully and led her through the door into the living room of the hotel suite. She could hear a low buzz of voices coming from the TV. Jasper sat motionlessly at the desk in the corner, his eyes watching the news with no glimmer of interest.

Nina sat on the floor next to the coffee table, where a tray of food waited, and began picking at it without noticing what she was eating. Alice perched on the arm of the sofa and stared blankly at the TV like Jasper.

The witch ate slowly, watching her, turning now and then to glance quickly at Jasper. It began to dawn on her that they were too still. They never looked away from the screen, though commercials were playing now. She pushed the tray away, her stomach abruptly uneasy. Alice looked down at her.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Nina asked with hesitance.

"Nothing's wrong." Her eyes were wide, honest... and Nina didn't trust them.

"What do we do now?"

"We wait for Carlisle to call."

"And should he have called by now?" She could see that she was near the mark. Alice's eyes flitted from hers to the phone on top of her leather bag and back. 

"What does that mean?" Nina's voice quavered, and she fought to control it. "That he hasn't called yet?"

"It just means that they don't have anything to tell us." But her voice was too even, and the air was harder to breathe.

Jasper was suddenly beside Alice, closer to Nina than usual.

"Nina," he said in a suspiciously soothing voice. "You have nothing to worry about. You are completely safe here."

"I know that."

"Then why are you frightened?" He asked, confused. He might feel the tenor of her emotions, but he couldn't read the reasons behind them.

"You heard what Laurent said." Her voice was just a whisper, but she was sure they could hear her. "He said James was lethal. What if something goes wrong, and they get separated? If something happens to any of them, Carlisle, Emmett... Edward..." She gulped. "If that wild female hurts Esme or Rosalie ..."

Her voice had grown higher, a note of hysteria beginning to rise in it. "How could I live with myself when it's my fault? None of you should be risking yourselves for me —"

"Nina, Nina, stop," He interrupted her, his words pouring out so quickly they were hard to understand. "You're worrying about all the wrong things, Nina. Trust me on this —none of us are in jeopardy. You are under too much strain as it is; don't add to it with wholly unnecessary worries. Listen to me!" He ordered, for she had looked away. "Our family is strong. Our only fear is losing you."

"But why should you —" Alice interrupted this time, touching Nina's cheek with her cold fingers. "It's been almost a century that Edward's been alone. Now he's found you. You can't see the changes that we see, we who have been with him for so long. Do you think any of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you?"

Her guilt slowly subsided as she looked into her dark eyes. But, even as the calm spread over her, she knew she couldn't trust her feelings with Jasper there.

Nina sighed and stood up, walking out of the room before coming back a moment later, this time carrying an old book.

The two vampires stared at her strangely.

"If I'm going to just sit here, I'm going to try to help," Nina explained as she sat down after grabbing a few candles and placing them around her. She looked at Alice, "Can you get me a bowl of water?"

She nodded, standing with ease as she flickered out of the room before appearing a second later with a bowl in her hands. "What's this for?" She asked, placing the bowl down, also handing her a packet of matches.

Nina lit a match and began lighting the six candles she had found. "Since I haven't been near Edward in a few hours, I need something else to draw power from. Fire and water are two of Earth's strongest elements and there is a forest just nearby so I can draw from the earth as well."

"What are you going to do?" Jasper asked.

The witch flipped through her book. "I'm still figuring that out."

She flipped through it until she stopped on a page, running her finger down the words, she stood again. "Chalk... Chalk," She muttered, searching through her bag that she had eventually pulled into the room, almost throwing her clothes out of it. She had only hoped it had gotten thrown in with her and Edwards haste.

"Good..." She muttered when she found it and threw it on the floor by her book before running into the kitchen and finding a few spice packets. Hastily searching through them, she found a small packet of sage. Moving over, she grabbed a map that was offered by the hotel as well as a knife and a cloth.

Sitting down, she pulled off her necklace, draping it over her middle and ring finger as she held it above the map.

Nina glanced up at them as she grabbed the knife. "You might want to leave for this one."

Jasper quickly walked out of the room, telling them he would wait far down the hall while Alice only moved further across the room.

"You sure?" Nina asked, pressing the knife against her palm.

"I'll be alright," Alice reassured her.

Nina didn't waste another second. Slicing her palm open, she let her blood fall into rain-like droplets onto the map. She sent another look at the vampire and she seemed to be handling it well. Grabbing the cloth she had brought in, she wrapped it around her bleeding skin.

She grabbed the chalk with her non-bleeding hand and began to draw against the hard-wood floor. She drew a large circle surrounding her along with a symbol in the middle that Alice couldn't recognize.

"What spell is this?" Alice asked when Nina finished drawing.

"Astral projection... Hopefully. I don't have everything I need so I'm not sure if it will work but... technically when I do this, if I do it right, it will make it look like I am running with Edward, Rosalie, Emmett and Carlisle. My scent will be stronger and it will be better than Rosalie wearing my clothing."

"That's... amazing. You can do that?"

"I guess we'll see."

Nina didn't tell her she wasn't sure how much magic she had, nor how much time she had. She knew the vampire would stop her immediately if she knew the spell would take off at least three years off her lifespan.

Holding out the necklace, she chanted softly in latin. Alice watched as the witch's blood travelled along the map. She soon realized it had landed exactly where Edward and the others had run too.

"Demitte moi, demitte moi." The wind around them grew strong, strong enough that it blew open one of the windows but the two supernatural's ignored it. Leaves blew into the room and back out, but Nina kept her eyes closed.

"Demitte moi..."

She opened her eyes and suddenly, she was no longer in the hotel room. Instead, she was in a vast forest, trees surrounding her every side.

"What the hell?" A voice suddenly spoke, making her look back. It was Emmett.

"You can see me?" The witch asked.

Emmett stared at her for a moment. "Edward! Carlisle! Rose! You're gonna want to see this," He called, his eyes staying on her.

A moment later, the three vampires appeared.

Nina raised her hand and awkwardly waved. "Hey... How's the weather?"

Their eyes all simultaneously widened, though Edward recovered the fastest and went to run toward her, but instead ran directly through her. "What is this?" He asked, slowing down to stand in front of her, his hand reaching up to hold her cheek only to go through her again.

"Just a little magic. I figured it might help if I'm with you... To keep the tracker away from where I actually am."

"You're safe then?" He asked.

"Alice is watching me like a hawk."

He nodded.

"We should start running again," Carlisle told them, walking toward them. "Can you keep up?"

She shrugged. "I'll just latch onto Sparkles."

The blonde man chuckled at the nickname she had crafted for his first son.

Over seven hours had passed. Nina was exhausted from the magic and Edward could tell from the way her body flickered in and out. It had worked though, the tracker had stayed on their trail.

They had stopped again just by the South American border.

Nina climbed off of his back, leaning against a tree as she closed her eyes. "Anyone else feel a little like they went on a rollercoaster after eating six donuts?"

She glanced down at her hands and saw that her fingers had begun to turn black. She quickly hid them behind her back.

Her movements were too slow though and the three vampires noticed without struggle.

"Nina? What was that?" Edward asked cautiously.

"Hm?" The witch hummed, her head lulling to the side as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Your hands, Nini..." Emmett commented, concern written all over his face.

"New look I'm trying. Is it not any good?"

"What's going on, Nina? You can tell us," Carlisle spoke in a calming voice.

She was so tired, she felt compelled to tell them.

"I didn't want to tell you like this... I'm slightly cursed."

"Cursed?" Rosalie asked, trying to hide her concern for the witch. "What kind of curse?"

Nina's head drooped slightly against her will. "The kind where I get a little closer to death each time I use my magic..."

Their eyes widened again.

"It's okay though!" Nina reassured them, holding out her hands. "What's a few years taken off the ol' lifetime?"

"How many years do you have left?" Carlisle asked, knowing his children couldn't possibly find the words.

"My mom figures I'll live till I'm 35."

And the bomb dropped.

"What?" Edward yelled. "You have to stop the spell–"

"I can't. Once I take it down, the tracker will know it was fake."

He stepped closer to her. "I'm not going to let you die from this."

"You're not letting me die. It's just... making 35 turn into 32."

"You're not helping your case, Nini."

"I agree with Edward," Rosalie suddenly spoke, making them all look at her in surprise. "What? I am just beginning to tolerate her. Besides, I don't want to deal with Edward's moping for another century when she croaks."

"I'm calling Alice," Edward told her. "I'll have her stop the spell–"

"Don't," Nina interrupted. "Leave me here. Keep running. It will buy us more time."

"He'll find you. I'm not leaving you unprotected."

"He can't hurt me in this form," She reminded him. "If he tries to touch me, his hands will go right through me. I'll stop the spell when he finds me."

"He's only half an hour out," Carlisle informed them. "Can you hold it that much longer?"

Nina shrugged, moving to plant herself down on the ground, leaning her back against the tree. "I'll be fine. I'll just hang out with the birds for a bit. It'll be like I'm cosplaying as snow white."

"Not the time," Edward sighed, unable to smile at her strange metaphor, his mind clouded with her creeping death. He figured they had time. Not that they only had 15 years left. A 15 years that could continue dwindling down with each use of magic.

He knew there was no stopping her though. She was headstrong, much like himself. Kneeling down in front of her, he tested it once again, his hand slipping through her. "The second he gets to you, you stop the spell. He'll start coming for you. He'll know it was a trick."

"I know."

"We'll be there soon..." He wished he could touch her – to hold her cheek and feel her warmth. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm the smart one in this relationship so..."

Emmett chuckled.

"We need to go now," Carlisle told them softly.

Edward stood, sending one last look at her before he, Emmett, and Rosalie disappeared.

Carlisle stayed for a moment, looking down at the witch.

"The bravest witch I've ever known," He smiled, before he too disappeared.

It wasn't long till the tracker showed. Less than the thirty minutes Carlisle had assumed.

He stalked toward the witch who was entirely focusing on keeping herself visible.

"They left you, huh? Must not be all that important," He taunted before he flashed toward her. Nina held her breath and the second he tried to touch her, she disappeared.

Gasping loudly, she opened her eyes and saw Alice and Jasper staring at her with worried looks. She was back in the safety of the hotel room.

Alice rushed to her side, dropping the book she had been mindlessly reading as a distraction. "Nina?"

It was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

"Her hands, Alice..." Jasper murmured.

Up to her wrists, Nina's hands were black.

Alice gasped. "Oh my god."

"Something's changed."

Alice's voice suddenly woke Nina out of her sleep-like coma. Her voice was urgent.

She reached the door at the same time Jasper did, both walking quickly into the bedroom while he led Alice to sit on the bed.

"What do you see?" He asked intently, staring into her eyes. Her eyes were focused on something very far away.

Nina sat close to her, leaning in to catch her low, quick voice.

"I see a room. It's long, and there's a stage. The floor is wooden. He's in the room, and he's waiting. There's gold... a gold striped banner across the stage."

"Where is the room?"

"I don't know. Something is missing — another decision hasn't been made yet."

"How much time?"

"It's soon. He'll be in the stage room today, or maybe tomorrow. It all depends. He's waiting for something. And he's in the dark now."

Jasper's voice was calm, methodical, as he questioned her in a practiced way. "What is he doing?"

"He's watching TV... no, he's running a VCR, in the dark, in another place."

"Can you see where he is?"

"No, it's too dark."

"And the stage room, what else is there?"

"Just the stage, and the gold. There's a... piano in the centre of it. And there's a black table with a big stereo, and a TV. He's touching the VCR there, but he doesn't watch the way he does in the dark room. This is the room where he waits."

Her eyes drifted, then focused on Jasper's face.

"There's nothing else?"

She shook her head. They looked at each other, motionless.

"What does it mean?" Nina asked. Neither of them answered for a moment, then Jasper looked at her.

"It means the tracker's plans have changed. He's made a decision that will lead him to the stage room, and the dark room."

"But we don't know where those rooms are?"

"No."

"But we do know that he has stopped tracking them." Alice's voice was bleak.

"Should we call?" Nina asked. They traded a serious look, undecided. And the phone rang.

Alice was across the room before she could lift her head to look at it. She pushed a button and held the phone to her ear, but she didn't speak first.

"Carlisle," She breathed. She didn't seem surprised or relieved, the way Nina felt.

"Yes," She said, glancing at Nina. She listened for a long moment.

"I just saw him." She described again the vision she'd seen. "Whatever made him get on that plane... it was leading him to those rooms." She paused.

"Yes," Alice said into the phone, and then she spoke to Nina.

"Nina?" She held the phone out toward her.

Nina ran to it. "Hello?" She breathed.

"Nina," Edward said.

"Oh, Edward! I was so worried."

"Darling," He sighed in frustration, "I told you not to worry about anything but yourself." It was so unbelievably good to hear his voice again. She felt the hovering cloud of despair lighten and drift back as he spoke.

"Where are you?"

"We're outside of Vancouver. Nina, I'm sorry — we lost him. He seems suspicious of us — he's careful to stay just far enough away that I can't hear what he's thinking. But he's gone now — it looks like he got on a plane. We think he's heading back to Forks to start over."

"I saw him," Nina whispered, though she knew every vampire could hear her. "I don't think he's going to Forks."

"Where do you think he's going?"

"He's coming here. I can sense it."

"Give the phone back to Alice," He ordered and the woman quickly took it.

She listened to him for a moment before she soon hung up. "Jasper? Can you pack Nina's things? We're leaving."

"Where's the nearest airport?" Jasper asked as he threw her belongings back into the duffle bag.

"There's one nearby. It's on 694 Klondike Highway... About 15 kilometers out."

"We'll head out in an hour," Alice told them. She and Jasper were bent over the table, Alice sketching something out on a piece of paper.

Nina leaned on the back of the couch, looking over her shoulder. She drew a room: long, rectangular, with a thinner, square section at the back. The wooden planks that made up the floor stretched lengthwise across the room. At the end of the room, she could see the outline of the stage along with the single piano.

"It's a music studio," Nina said, suddenly recognizing the familiar shapes.

They looked at her, surprised.

"Do you know this room?" Jasper's voice sounded calm, but there was an undercurrent of something Nina couldn't identify. Alice bent her head to her work, her hand flying across the page now, the shape of an emergency exit taking shape against the back wall, the stereo and TV on a low table by the front right corner.

"It looks like a place I used to go for piano lessons — when I was five or six. It was shaped just the same."

She touched the page where the square section jutted out, narrowing the back part of the room. "That's where the bathrooms were — the doors went through to the dance studio. But the stereo was here" — She pointed to the left corner — "it was older, and there wasn't a TV. There was a window in the waiting room — you would see the room from this perspective if you looked through it."

Alice and Jasper were staring at her. "Are you sure it's the same room?" Jasper asked, still calm.

"No, not at all — I suppose most music studios would look the same — the stage..." She traced her finger along the stage until her eyes landed on the banner above it. She recognized it instantly. It had a familiar design, an outline of the old buildings formed on the mainstreet in black lines, and a little bit of text in the centre.

The Klondike Music Festival... She remembered performing with her 1st grade class. She had played the piano, not very well of course, but she remembered it vividly. She had performed in that very room.

"Would you have any reason to go there now?" Alice asked, breaking her reverie.

"No, I haven't been there since. I was a terrible piano player— they always turned the microphone down near me," She admitted.

"So there's no way it could be connected with you?" Alice asked intently.

"No, I don't even think the same person owns it. I'm sure it's just another music studio, somewhere."

"Where was the studio you went to?" Jasper asked in a casual voice.

"Not far from here. Just around the corner from where I used to live. I used to walk there after school..." She said, her voice trailing off. She didn't miss the look they exchanged.

"Here in Dawson, then?" His voice was still casual.

"Yes," She whispered. "Just beside the Firefighter Museum on 2nd avenue."

They all sat in silence, staring at the drawing.

"Alice, is that phone safe?"

"Yes," She reassured her. "The number would just trace back to Washington."

"Then I can use it to call my mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Edward said she'll forgive me. I just need to explain to her what's going on..." She sighed. "I don't want something to go wrong all for it to have ended in a fight between us."

She was thinking about something Edward had said, about the red-haired female at Natalie's house, at the school, where her records would be.

"Jasper?" Alice asked.

He thought about it. "I don't think there's any way it could hurt."

The witch reached eagerly for the phone and dialed the familiar number. It rang four times, and then she heard her mother's soft voice telling her to leave a message.

"Mom," She said after the beep, "it's me. Listen, I need you to do something. It's important. As soon as you get this message, call me at this number." Alice was already at her side, writing the number for her on the bottom of her picture. Nina read it carefully, twice.

"Please don't go anywhere until you talk to me. Don't worry, I'm okay, but I have to talk to you right away, no matter how late you get this call, all right? I love you, Mom... I'm sorry."

Nina leaned back against the couch, squeezing her eyes shut as she rubbed her forehead. She had done well at ignoring the burning pain for a while but it was all hitting harder now.

Alice's hand reached to hold her hand, but pulled it back quickly. "You're really hot..." She muttered, moving her hand back to touch her forehead, Nina's skin almost burning her. "Jasper?"

"I'm fine," Nina reassured them. "It's just from the magic."

"This is normal to you?" Jasper asked, his voice similar to Alice. He could feel the heat she radiated now that he stood slightly closer.

"It'll go away soon." She stood, fumbling over her feet as she attempted to walk back into the bedroom. Alice quickly caught her before she could fall.

"I just need some more sleep..." Nina trailed off before she fainted in the vampire's arms. 

a/n

check back on christmas day for a special gift :) 

i mean that in a completely non dirty way. why do i sound like one of those weird insta dms you get where its like... 'hot moms in your area'...

that got slightly awkward. is it just me that gets the hot mom ones?

anyways... since i've gotten a few questions, i just wanted to let you know the current updating schedule for this book is every sunday at 12am est.