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AS THE PARTY WINDED down, Alice had gathered everyone, including Jacob, Quil, and Embry, in the living-room. Magnolia stood in between Rosalie and Emmett, arms crossed and focused. "They'll be here in four days," Alice explained.

Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose. "This could turn into a blood bath," He shook his head.

"Who's behind it?" Edward questioned.

"I didn't see anyone I recognized," Alice shook her head. She paused, thinking. "Maybe one."

Edward's eyes narrowed as he read her mind. "I know his face. He's local. Riley Biers. He didn't start this." He shook his head.

"Whoever did is staying out of the action," Alice huffed.

"They must be playing with the blind spots in your vision," Carlisle concluded.

"You can do that?" Magnolia looked at Alice.

She nodded. "If they play their cards right, they can stay hidden from my foresight." Magnolia knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Either way," Jasper piped up. "The army is coming and there aren't enough of us to protect the town." His eyes briefly connected with Magnolia's. He knew what she would suggest.

"We'll help," It was as expected. The young sorceress stepped forward. "It's what we're bred to do." Jasper clenched his jaw, resisting to urge to object.

"Wait, wait, hold up!" Jacob held up his hands, looking around the vampires frantically. "What damn army?"

"Newborns. Our kind," Carlisle explained.

"What are they after?" Quil piped up.

Alice paused momentarily. "They were...passing around Bella's scent," Magnolia felt herself tense up. If worrying about her best friend being killed wasn't enough, now she had to deal with the newborn army attacking Bella? "A red blouse."

"They're after Bella?" Jacob panicked. "What the hell does this mean?"

"It means an ugly fight. With lives lost," Carlisle spoke gravely.

Jacob clenched his jaw and paused, looking over at Quil and Embry, supposedly using their pack connection to discuss. He turned back to the group. "Alright, we're in."

"No," Bella finally spoke. "You'd get yourselves killed. No way."

Jacob tilted his head, unamused. "I wasn't asking for permission."

"Edward?" Bella looked to the vampire next to her in hopes of him agreeing with her.

Edward paused, thinking. He stared at Jacob. Slowly, he looked down at Bella, his eyes softening. "It means more protection for you." Magnolia watched her closely. She wondered why Bella didn't say anything about her volunteering to fight? Was it because she knew it was no use arguing? Or did she simply care for Jacob more?

"Jacob," Carlisle grabbed the wolf's attention. "Do you believe Sam would agree to an...understanding?"

Jacob shrugged. "As long as we get to kill some vampires,"

"Jasper?" Carlisle said.

Magnolia's eyes snapped to the vampire in question. "They'll give us the numbers," Their eyes connected and again he resisted objectifying to Magnolia being there. "Newborns won't know they even exist," He peeled his eyes away to look at Carlisle. "It'll give us an edge."

Carlisle sighed. "We'll need to coordinate."

Bella stood up. "Carlisle," She objected. "They're gonna get hurt...Magnolia will get hurt."

So now I'm important? Magnolia laughed in her head. She ignored the look Edward gave her. Carlisle shook his head. "We'll all need some training. Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has," He looked between Jacob and Magnolia. "You're both welcome to join us."

Jacob looked smugly at Bella. "Alright. Name the time and place."

"Jake," Bella said softly. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Bella," Jacob sighed. "This is what we do. You should be happy," Magnolia wanted to slap the condescending tone right out of his mouth. "Look at us, working together. You are the one who wanted us to get along, remember?" Oh, how Magnolia wanted to set him on fire.

After figuring out a time and place for the training, Edward walked up next to Magnolia. "I agree with you," He said plainly.

Magnolia looked up at him, confused. "What?"

He chuckled and lowered his voice. "Set him on fire," His face turned serious suddenly. "And he is not more important than you to her," His eyes looked lovingly over at Bella. "Don't doubt yourself."

Magnolia raised a brow. "Since when do you give me advice?" She laughed. "Is the world coming to an end?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "We'll see you and your parents tomorrow afternoon," He walked away, stopping to talk to Bella.

Magnolia sighed. She looked over to see Jasper watching her. She smiled softly. "Drive me home?"

He nodded. "Of course,"  They walked to the garage and Jasper gestured to his motorcycle. Magnolia frantically shook her head. He laughed. "Noted," They took Emmett's Jeep instead. For the majority of the car ride, they were silent. Magnolia was more terrified than ever, she had never been in a fight this big before. "You'll be fine," Jasper spoke up, watching her from the corner of his eye.

Magnolia crossed her arms. "I know I will," Jasper laughed quietly. "But Bella and Elton..." She trailed off, sliding further into her seat.

Without taking his eyes off the road, Jasper reached over and softly touched her thigh. She ignored the burning of her cheeks and look at him. "I know you won't let anything happen to them," He squeezed lightly and turned to meet her gaze. "And I won't let anything happen to you,"

She nodded and took a deep breath. The car slowly came to a stop and Magnolia felt herself resisting the urge to stay with him. "See you tomorrow," She quickly got out of the Jeep and rushed to her front door. She could hear the dormant engine of the car waiting for her to get in safely — Jasper waiting. She fumbled with her keys until the door opened. "I'm home!" She called. She couldn't see her parents anywhere. The most likely option was that they had gone to bed, it was late, after all. She slowly crept upstairs to her room, keeping her eyes away from where Elton should be sleeping.

When she told her parents his plan of skipping the graduation party for an impromptu trip to Seattle, they were furious she let him go. She may have accidentally burst some water pipes at the accusation but she was sure they got her point that she tried, Elton just didn't listen, nor care. As she passed her parents' bedroom, she could hear hushed and hurried whispers. "Mom? Dad?" She knocked on their door and the voices stopped. She prepared a flame in case it wasn't her family.

Taking a deep breath, she reached for the handle and opened the bedroom door. Her parents were in there, but so was someone else. "Grammy?" The last person she expected to see at a time like this was her grandmother. Elizabeth Siren was her fathers' mother and lived in Australia, so seeing her in Forks was strange. "Is everything okay?"

Elizabeth shook of the shocked look on her face and moved towards her granddaughter with open arms. "Magnolia, my dear! How are you?" She enveloped the young girl in a hug, which Magnolia returned hesitantly. Don't get it wrong, she was happy to see her grandmother.

"Uh...I'm good!" She looked over the older woman's shoulder at her father. "Just shocked that you're here!"

"She won't be staying long," Timothy huffed and his eyes narrowed at his mother. That's new, Magnolia thought, raising a brow.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, hush. I want to spend time with my grandchild before she leaves for college," She sighed and turned to Magnolia. "Don't mind your father. I'm sure you've had a long night, go get some sleep."

Magnolia paused. "Before I do...can I talk to them for a moment. It's important."

"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of your grandmother," Ariana crossed her eyes and tilted her head.

Magnolia looked between her parents, wondering if they were serious. When they showed no signs of changing their minds, however, she sighed. "If you're sure. The newborn army is coming here in four days. Carlisle proposed a few days of training to practice. I volunteered us, and the pack will be there as well. Tomorrow afternoon."

All three of their eyes widened. "Newborns..?" Her grandmother spoke slowly. "An army?" She snapped to her son. "What the hell is going on here? I thought you said the vampire situation was under control!"

"It is, mum!" Timothy argued back, and a yelling match ensued. Magnolia stood awkwardly in the door, unable to understand a word of what they were saying as their accents thickened amongst the arguing.

Ariana huffed. "Enough!" She shot a flame at the floor and crossed her arms. Timothy and Elizabeth stopped and looked at her. "Tim, did you not explain to your mother our...unique, situation?" Timothy shook his head and lowered his gaze from his angered wife. "Typical," She spat.

"Who is this Carlisle, and why is there a newborn army coming to little Forks, Washington?" Elizabeth sighed, looking between the three of them.

Ariana paused, gathering her thoughts on a way to explain this to Timothy's vampire-hating mother. "Carlisle is the leader of the vampire coven that lives here, the reason we are in Forks in the first place," Elizabeth was silent, but nodded. "And we've been investigating a recent string of murders in Seattle that we all concluded was connected to vampires, and newborns at that."

Elizabeth froze. "You're...working, with vampires?" Her eyes snapped to Magnolia. "And why was she the one to tell you this? Was she with them?"

Magnolia gulped and nodded slowly. "They held a graduation party at their house for the entire graduating class."

"Unbelievable!" Elizabeth scoffed. "Things have gotten way out of hand if the vampires and humans of this town are that close. And how could you let Magnolia in there with them?"

"They're not like other vampires!" Magnolia found herself speaking before she could stop herself.

"How so? Mmm?" Elizabeth crossed her arms, unconvinced.

Magnolia signed. "They call themselves vegetarians. They don't drink human blood, only animals. Their leader, Carlisle, is the first vampire to do it consistently and as his family grew, they took up the diet as well."

Everyone in the room fell silent. Elizabeth stared at Magnolia, processing the words she had said. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Does the High Council know about any of this?"

"Of course not," Timothy spat. "They would never understand."

"And we were hoping you would," Ariana added.

Elizabeth looked to the ceiling. "Do you know what could happen to you if the Councilmen find out about this? What could happen to Magnolia? She will never experience life, never find her soulmate. She will be forced to work as a slave until she's too frail and old to even stand!"

Magnolia felt a familiar pit form in her stomach. She never realized how much her parents didn't tell her grandmother. "Grammy?" She ignored the looks her parents gave her, warning her not to say anything, but she needed to. Keeping her in the dark was ten times worse than how she could react. "I have found my soulmate."

Elizabeth's eyes winded, suddenly looking joyful. "Who are they? One of us? A human?" Magnolia shook her head. "A shapeshifter? A centaur?" She kept throwing out options until she realized and her all the colour drained from her face. "No...."

"Yes, Grammy. He's a vampire." Magnolia hung her head.

AUTHORS NOTE
another chapter so fast? I'm proud of myself. Anyway, we're starting to get into what I've wanted to write about since Magic — The Sorcerer High Council! I have a whole document about them and the history of sorcerers and I am so excited to share it with you all!

And we just met that bridge from the tiny world of Forks to the bigger expanded universe, Magnolia's grandmother! She shows what the majority of sorcerers are like, vampire-hating killers. ;D