twenty-one.
::blow me (one last kiss)::

"want back my ignorance and bliss
i think i've had enough of this"
—pink

.•°* .•°* .•°* .•°*

"How was she able to do that?" Bella let out in shock, rushing over to Edward. Helping her boyfriend up as she looked over him worried. She was aware how strong vampires were but her sister seemed to take Edward down without any problem.

Althea was still seething, looking between the two. All she wanted to do was grab onto Bella's hair and toss her across the yard too but clearly Edward wouldn't allow that to happen. He didn't want to see the two girls fight which was why he tried to diffuse the situation. But he ultimately learned a bigger lesson in that moment. He had known that Althea was not someone to be messed with. And now he has become more aware that he really shouldn't get in her way when she was angry. Somehow she was able to toss him around like he was all but a pebble you throw in a pond.

"You have no right to tell me to calm down," Althea pointed at Edward.

Goodness she wanted to punch him.

"I had to deal with your mess. Did you not remember what I told you the day that you left? I meant it Edward. I never wanted to see you again because I knew what would happen. How Bella would be. And now I see she was quick to run back to you. Bella, you consider the thing between the two of you love. But a person who loves you wouldn't leave you like that. I don't even know why you idolize the idea of being a vampire so much?!" Althea's voice cracked slightly.

Did Althea mean nothing to her?

Did any of them mean something?

"Look around you, Bella. The Cullens didn't have a choice. Do you think any of them originally wanted this life for themselves? No. They were put into a position where it was between dying or becoming what they are. You have been given such a gift to just be alive and experience things that they can't because that was ripped away from them. You're being so selfish right now!"

All of the vampires felt those words hit them harshly. It was the truth. They weren't given the choice. And now there were so many things they would never get to have because of what they had to become in order to be there now. The families of their own they could've had. Not having to constantly move around all the time. They were stuck outliving so many people they had met in their lifetime because they were vampires. Each one of them wished they could go back in time to get a do-over but they knew it was impossible.

None of them had ever thought to voice out loud their thoughts of being stuck in their places. But here Althea was being a voice for them. Calling out her sister who seemed to think being a vampire was the best thing in the world. The girl who wasn't thinking about anything else but staying alive forever. Bella was ignoring Edward's pleas of her staying human. Living a long human life with him. And Carlisle was rather against her being turned but all he wanted was his son to be alive and he knew the two Swan girl's were the only thing keeping him around. Then there was Rosalie who briefly explained to Bella that she was against her turning because she wished she had someone advocating for her once upon a time. The rest of the Cullens had gone along with the older Swan girl wanting to be turned because they just wanted Edward to be happy. Though deep down they knew Bella being turned wasn't going to be that factor that made him happy, it was the next best option at the moment. But each one of them still had that little voice in the back of their heads that yearned for their past human lives.

Althea only wanted her sister to be alive. To live. To not be selfish and think about the others around her for once. But it clearly seemed like it would never happen. Being with Edward was the only thing she cared about. She felt hurt. Hurt that her and Charlie weren't even in Bella's mind when considering this drastic action. Her anger had flourished into a pained sadness.

"Althea, can you please just be there for me and support my decision? I need you," Bella begged.

She shook her head, "No. I don't think I can support you with this. You have so much life left to live. If it was different circumstances I would be by your side. But Bella, you're perfectly healthy right now and you're not even picking up on everybody else's feelings on this decision."

"I know you don't like it. I don't either, but you said it yourself to me one time. Bella's persistent, Althea. It's in her nature. This would inevitably happen," Edward said. Though he was kicking himself knowing that if Bella never came to Volterra, the Volturi would never had put the pressure on the Cullen's to turn her. It was his fault. Sadly, something he wouldn't admit, deep down he was happier that it was Bella under the watchful eye of the vampire council than Althea.

"Yeah, maybe. But not this soon!" Althea snapped. Yes Bella wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. It's how she was brought up. It was why everyone around her gave in to it all. That was one of the factors that lead Althea to where she was today. On a completely different path than she was the moment Bella moved to town. Now on a completely different side than Edward Cullen. A boy she had cared about.

"Please think about it. You don't want to waste this time now with Bella that you could be spending together before she turns. You'll regret it, Thea," Edward brought up. Althea shook at his words. Her eyes flashing silver. He was irking her. And the way he said her nickname made her eyes twitch. All of her emotions were jumbled and she couldn't take it. The way he said her nickname made her sad and angry.

"Althea," Carlisle stepped out, calling out to the girl to take her attention off the couple she looked like she was about to kill with her bare hands. "Maybe, you can come inside with Rosalie and I for a little. Take a little moment away from these two."

She nodded her head, not wanting to argue with the man. Rosalie grabbed onto Althea's forearm gently before guiding her inside behind Carlisle.

"That was kinda badass," Rosalie commented, Emmett came around the corner with a smirk on his face.

"If popcorn didn't taste like dirt to me, I would've prepared some for that little show," Emmett chimed in, Althea shook her head as a small chuckle escaped past her lips.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you in my office, Althea? I suppose there is much we need to catch up on," Carlisle brought up.

"I think you're right about that," Althea mumbled.

"Esme and I will make you something to eat," Rosalie informed Althea.

"Oh, I don't know how much longer I'll be here," Althea began.

"Nonsense. Your dog can patiently wait," Rosalie snickered, Althea shot her a glare that made the vampire stop. "Sorry."

Carlisle ushered Althea into his office, the girl looked around. It had been months since she had been in this room. The last time was when Bella got hurt on her birthday. The moment Althea had become aware that her own conspiracies were correct when it came to the Cullen family. The night that soon led to a rough few months for the Swan household.

Althea took a seat in one of the chairs while Carlisle leaned against his desk with his arms crossed over his chest. He waited for Althea to get situated in her place before he began to bring up the first important thing that was on his mind. The older vampire took note though of how she uncomfortably moved around in her chair. It reminded him of when he taught his family how to blend in with the humans. It was a peculiar thing.

"While we were away, I was made aware that you were put in quite a scary position," Althea shifted her weight slightly.

"Which scary position do you mean? Learning that shifters were real? Though I wouldn't say that's a scary thing. I kinda already had guessed that one too. Oh, then there's the fact Victoria is after me because she knows it would not just impact your entire family? Or the wildest thing, I died and came back to life?" Althea listed off the options to the man.

"I was meaning more of you dying," Carlisle looked at her in concern. "But Victoria is also after you?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Althea nodded her head, "Yup. Laurent tried to do the honors but the wolves took care of him. I guess Victoria knows that if she really wants to hit you all where it hurts the most. Going for me would do the most damage. She still is hellbent on killing Bella since she blames her for her little boyfriend's death, but I suppose she found out where your weakness really is."

"I'm sorry you have been dragged into this," Carlisle apologized.

"There's nothing much we can do to fix that. The only thing now is to find her and stop her," Althea said.

"That is something I agree with. I promise you we won't let any harm come to you because of our own mistakes," Carlisle told her.

"Don't make promises to me, please. This life is way too messy and complicated to make promises of protecting people when you don't know what could happen."

Carlisle let out a small sigh, understanding where she was coming from. The world was unpredictable.

"I'm truly sorry for what things have come to. But how are you, honestly?" He wondered.

"Honestly. I don't know. I've just been so confused," Althea admitted.

"I can only imagine," Carlisle looked at the girl. "Could you walk me through what happened?"

"I haven't shared it with really anyone. I don't want to be looked at like I'm crazy, Carlisle. I know I'm not crazy. It was all just so real and vivid. It's just hard to understand," Althea rambled.

She was truthfully still scared at what she had seen. Not knowing what any of it meant. She was nervous to even bring it up to Paul. Sure it had been a few days since it had all occurred. But Althea didn't know how to explain what she saw. She was scared that he would see her as a complete nut job and leave her.

"I can tell you this, I won't judge you, Althea. Begin where you feel is best," Carlisle encouraged her.

Althea nodded her head, giving in. Maybe Carlisle would know. She hoped Billy had known something or even Sam but if they did, they weren't very keen on sharing with her their ideas. So maybe Carlisle could help give her clarity.

"I had this bad feeling. Like Bella was going to do something stupid. Call it what you want. Intuition or just knowing that my sister makes idiotic decisions all the time so I know her too well. But I pulled over and headed through the woods to get to her since she was looking down off the cliff," Althea began to explain to the man. Starting from the beginning that eventually led up to the moment she was swallowed into darkness. "I tried to talk Bella out of jumping. Especially from that high up. I always went on about how Jacob and Embry had a death wish when they jumped off the cliffs. Sam and the rest of the pack did it for fun. For the thrill. I never found it entertaining at all. And with how bad the water was that day, I knew something bad was on the horizon. But she wouldn't listen to me. Then I felt it. Victoria was getting closer and so were the wolves."

"You decided the best option at that moment was to jump?" Carlisle pieced together.

Althea hummed in response, "It was to jump or let the red-head find Bella and I on that cliff. I just wanted to protect Bella, it totally went over my head that it was both of us that could get hurt by her. My focus was on Bella and my body subconsciously took over in that moment. I pulled her with me and we landed in the water. Bella seemed to be more than thrilled that she got to do what she wanted while I was still on high alert. I told her to start making her way towards the shore but then a big wave came crashing in. I went under. I began to struggle against the water, then I saw Victoria. I went into fight or flight mode."

"And you decided to stay instead of getting away. That was a very risky thing to do, Althea."

"I know that. But all I knew was she was faster than me, I wouldn't have gotten away if I tried. And it was like my body filled with so much rage when I looked at her. I don't know how it happened but I broke her arm. She was in actual pain but it also made her angry too. She shoved me with force to get away from me but I hit my head. And then it all went black," Althea told him.

Carlisle looked at her, his entire attention dedicated to every word she was saying.

"I died in that water. But I was still there."

"You were still there?" Carlisle asked in slight confusion.

"My vision was void of anything. I was met with total darkness until the light blinded me. Then suddenly I was on the beach again. But I wasn't necessarily alone. There was this woman there. She was beautiful, Carlisle. And then I heard the bird. A crow in the distance. She whispered into my ear something I can't even remember which is frustrating. But once she whispered, I was met with more whispers that filled my ears. It was so overpowering and unbearable," Althea described her experience.

Carlisle didn't give her a look that said he thought she was crazy.

No.

He made her feel understood at that moment. He was skeptical of what she was describing, but it made him more curious.

"What did you do before you woke up?" Carlisle questioned, Althea furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What?"

"What did you do? Before you were back on the beach with everyone around you? You said the whispers were unbearable, so what did you do to stop them?" Carlisle asked her in curiosity.

She paused for a moment, thinking it all over. Remembering exactly how it felt with all the voices whispering to her. They felt like they were never going to stop. Then the sound of the crow continued to echo her mind in that spirit world. She did the only thing she could do.

"I screamed," She breathed out.

Carlisle seemed to have a small glimmer in his dead eyes, his hand on his chin, "Fascinating."

He moved around the room, Althea's eyes stayed on him while he went to his book shelf. His hand glided over the different books before he pulled one out. He flipped through the pages before stopping on a specific one.

"By chance, did the woman you had seen while you were in your out of body experience look like this?" Carlisle pulled the book down to show Althea. She looked over the page to see a painted image of a woman in a green dress and crown on her head with a crow on her arm.

Althea was at a loss for words. It was the woman she had seen when she died. The same one who whispered to her. Althea glanced up at the older vampire.

"Who is she?"

"She is known as the Mórrígan. She's from the Irish-Celtic Mythology," Carlisle answered.

"She's a myth? So I am going crazy?" Althea let out, Carlisle chuckled at the girl beginning to jump to the conclusion.

"Althea, myths always begin from somewhere. Afterall, didn't you once believe the Quileute legends were just made-up bedtime stories?" Carlisle pointed out. "Mórrígan used to be a very powerful woman. She was seen as a warrior-queen goddess. Many referred to her as the phantom queen. I have friends from an Irish clan who would know more of her backstory that I could ask about. But from what I remember, she was associated with fate and war. Some would even say the banshee was based off of The Mórrígan. She was a great warrior, but she was also a protector of supernatural creatures. I don't think she would've visited you in the spirit world for nothing. I don't think you're crazy, Althea," Carlisle explained.

"But then what am I? If she visited me, it clearly was for something," Althea felt a little hopeless.

"We've always known you were special, Althea. You made us all feel alive. We never have been attracted by your blood. And we have always felt a need to keep you safe since the moment we met you. Perhaps you were always meant to know about us and our world. You and the Mórrígan have to be connected, she must have chosen you from the moment you were born," Carlisle told her.

"Chosen me for what?"

"To be her reincarnation. Do what she has always done. Fight. Protect," Althea now looked at the vampire like he had a few screws loose of his own.

"Reincarnation? If I was her reincarnation, why didn't it happen the moment I was born? Why did I only see her when I died?" Althea questioned.

"Maybe she already knew what you were destined to do when you were born. But in order for everything to happen and be set in stone, you had to die."

"So I was destined to be another version of her when I was born but I was meant to die first for that to happen? That sounds ridiculous," She couldn't grasp that idea. It couldn't be true at all. Maybe in death you're just able to hallucinate and that's what happened. She hallucinated until she was brought back. No, that sounded even more stupid.

Carlisle could tell that she was pondering it all now. "I could be wrong, of course. But I really do believe that you saw her for a reason when you died. Also having to point out that you did throw my son, who is a vampire, into a tree. And you broke Victoria's arm. This sudden kind of strength doesn't just come out of nowhere."

A wolf howling in the distance echoed throughout the woods surrounding Cullen's house. Entering through the open window as it met Althea's ears. She let out a sigh, her hands falling to her lap.

"I must be going. I think he figured out a while ago that I'm no longer at home like I said I'd be," Althea stood up from her chair.

"One of your friends?" Carlisle couldn't help but asked.

"Boyfriend, actually," Althea responded. It took Carlisle a moment to realize. It all clicked in the next second.

"You've been imprinted on."

"Yeah. I haven't explained it to anyone else yet. Bella's still skeptical as to why I'm still with him since he's a wolf and has a temper. She just doesn't understand yet," Althea said.

"An imprint bond is strong. That's why you got more angry with her earlier, because she doesn't understand. The only thing that truly matters is that you know how you feel. Your sister, well, she's in a world of her own. It would be difficult for her to take it all in that others have feelings too. Feelings stronger than any that she has," Carlisle told her, Althea chuckled at his words.

"I'm sorry about her. How she hasn't stopped to really think about what your actual opinions would be on her turning. You just want what's best for Edward so you would agree with her wishes. But it must be difficult with her dangling around her humanity with no care in the world when it comes to losing it," Althea apologized.

"You don't need to say sorry. It's not you doing any of that. I do however apologize for the mess we made in your life and now for your sister wanting to throw her entire life away without thinking about your family. I never meant for any of it to turn out like this. If I'm honest, for a while I thought you'd be with my son. You made him and all of my children happy. But there's no telling where fate will take you, as you have learned. I'm just glad we were able to get to have you in our lives, Althea," Carlisle informed her. She smiled at the vampire. "Now I'll let you go. We don't need the treaty to be broken now that it's back up again."

Althea nodded her head, laughing slightly. Knowing deep down that Paul would in fact break the treaty line if she didn't head home soon enough. He had felt her anger when she first was dealing with Edward and Bella. So when he checked the Swan household and found her gone, he realized she wasn't there like she said she would be. And he caught her scent across the treaty line which made him grow irritated. But if she didn't show up soon, the hot-headed wolf would cross the treaty line without a care in the world to check on his imprint.

Rosalie came around the corner, with a container of food. A slight scowl on her face.

"I heard the dog, so I figured I would give this to you now," Rosalie explained.

"I appreciate the food. And Rose, please be nice. I promise you he isn't horrible. I wouldn't be with him if he was," Althea said.

"I can... try." She sighed. To make sure Althea was happy, she could try. "Edward went on a walk with Bella so you won't have to deal with running into them on the way out."

"Thanks. I assume Alice and Jasper are out right now too. But thank Esme for the food for me. And tell your big buffoon that just because you guys left doesn't mean he won't be paying for that blanket he was supposed to get me," Althea told Rosalie, the blonde vampire laughed.

"Oh, I'll be sure to let him know," Rosalie pulled Althea into a hug before the girl headed out of the house. Going to her car and preparing herself to deal with Paul Lahote.

🐺🐺🐺

"Where were you?" he questioned with his arms crossed the moment Althea stepped out of the car. He stood there in his cut-off shorts and sneakers. An annoyed and concerned look on his face.

"I went to Cullen's house. Had to deal with my sister for a moment," Althea told him. A low growl emitted from him when he heard her say the Cullens.

"It's not safe there. Why would you go?" Paul was quick to ask.

"Paul, calm down. I was fine. Rosalie came here to check on me because she was still worried after my little... moment. I had to also deal with Bella and her stupid ideas. I got a little mad. And then I talked with Carlisle. It's not that deep," Althea brushed him off as she headed into the house with him trailing behind her.

"They're dangerous."

"They care about me too. Rosalie has been one of my closest friends. Yes, I was gutted when she left and I'm still mad about it. But I'm not going to stop being friends with her, Paul. You have to understand that they are also a part of my life. And they're sticking around now so it's something that we're all going to have to get used to," Althea told him.

"I don't want you seeing them," Paul voiced.

"And that's not your decision to make. Please, Paul, don't start a fight with me right now," Althea begged. The boy's shoulders dropped slightly, staring into the girl's eyes. He instantly brought her into his embrace. Both of them felt a calmness settle over them.

"I was worried. I felt your emotions and then all the sudden you were gone. I got scared that somehow the red-headed leech got past us," Paul admitted.

"Not this time. It was just Bella being an idiot and pissing me off. Which then led to Edward pissing me off and me throwing him into a tree," Althea nonchalantly shrugged. Paul paused and looked down at the girl in surprise.

"You threw a vampire into a tree?" Paul raised his eyebrow.

Althea nodded, "Yeah, it was kinda fun the more that I think about it. He had it coming if I'm being honest. I really do still have a need to kick his ass though." He chuckled at his imprint.

"That's my girl."

—————

trying to keep y'all fed a little bit.

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Until next update...
—cait