𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘖𝘕𝘌

(the cursed witch, act one)

NINA FELT HER MOTHER'S FINGERS RUN THROUGH HER HAIR SO GENTLY AS IF SHE WERE STRUMMING THE CHORDS OF HER GUITAR. Her dark auburn hair was wet and dripped down her back, but the coldness soothed her aching soul as she closed her eyes and basked in the feeling of her mother's touch.

Natalie was everything to Nina, she wasn't just a mother, but a best friend. Being a witch, it was hard making friends, especially when you moved towns every few months to find your deadbeat dad. But Natalie was a constant in Nina's life, the only constant there ever was.

That was why Natalie was more of a best friend than a mother. And Nina wouldn't have it any other way.

Her eyes opened slowly, a clash of blue and green as she leaned her head back in her mother's hands to meet her stare. "Do we have to do this again? We aren't going to find him."

Natalie let out a soft breath of air as she stared down at her seventeen-year-old daughter, "We will find him, honey. We just have to be patient."

Instead of starting a pointless argument, Nina nodded silently and closed her eyes once more. Her ears listened to the soft symphony of the music that flowed out of her speaker that sat across her bedroom – it was the last item that needed to be packed before they left the small town wedged deep inside New Brunswick.

They had lived there a few months now, reaching just over four, before evidently deciding it was time to move once more. For a while, they had stuck to towns close by, reaching just a few provinces over until now, when they decided to take a rather large leap and move to America.

She hoped it would be warmer there, at least by a few degrees. It was doubtful considering they were moving to what was considered to be the wettest place in the continental US. Nina didn't mind the rain; it was better than snow, especially when it turned to slush and got covered in dirt after the first few snowfalls.

Forks would be nice, though. It was small and Google said it was one of the safest places to live so it had to be great. Google was never wrong... Except for when it was. Which was all the time but that was beside the point.

Her father had supposedly grown up in the small town as well, according to Natalie, which made it an even bigger chance of them finding him. Maybe he had been homesick and chosen to move there. Or he was just a shit dad, but Nina digressed.

She had made an oath to herself that she would keep her hopes low – don't have any expectations or else you would only find yourself disappointed. Expectations were dangerous and they had only led to her heart being broken.

Nina believed her supernatural abilities also had some effect when it came to her 'have no expectations' motto and that it wasn't just how shit her parental guidance was on her father's end.

There was a silver lining to being a witch without magic. It was easier to be normal. She didn't have to worry about accidentally setting fire to Natalie's car again or almost killing the entire high school population in Prince Edward Island. Not that the population was that high in general, but it was still a rather large fine if she had done it.

Which she hadn't... Kind of. There were only a few minor injuries, nothing that important. No one hears about PEI's drama anyway. The only place people around the world cared about in Canada was Toronto and occasionally Vancouver, the rest of the country didn't really matter.

"Maybe you will make some friends this time," her mother said in an attempt to cheer Nina up. The teen smiled as she slowly nodded, not wanting to dim her mother's happiness, "Maybe."

She glanced out the window and took in the snow for what was probably the last time, for at least four months. It was March, and luckily, it had snown the night before which left a pure white view for Nina.

She watched silently as her young neighbour, Thomas, built a snowman across the road with his new baby brother watching in their father's arms from the porch. She could hear their laughter through her frosted window and a soft smile graced her face as the sounds flowed through her ears. She wished she had that – a dad who even though knew he had to go to work all day, still made time to just be happy with his kids.

Her eyes closed again, and her head turned away from the window. She didn't want to give herself some sense of false hope by seeing how good some fathers could be.

Moving to Forks would be a good thing, she hoped.

Nina Evans had a hole in her chest, metaphorically, of course, otherwise, she would be dead. That metaphorical hole brought endless pain that vibrated through her veins and left her feeling like a ghost.

It was an endless pain, but there were ways to ease it, the most predominant being no magic. When she didn't use any magic, the force of the pain was bearable, she could breathe and live with it. But if she were to utter a simple spell, the pain would bring her to her knees.

When Nina turned fifteen, it was then that they learned the severity of her pain. It was then that they learned she had a timer on her back, one that slowly counted down the seconds until her inevitable end.

It was then that not using her magic became less of a choice and more of a survival tactic. You don't use your magic for a month, you get an extra couple of days added on. You use your magic once; you get a week taken off.

"Nina," her mother spoke from beside her, waking her up from her state of sleep.

A groan escaped the teenager's pink lips as her eyes squeezed shut. "No," she muttered groggily as she moved her arm up to cover her suffering eyes. The sun was bright as it shone through the car window.

"Seriously, Nia? We're in Forks, the sun practically doesn't exist here. It can't be that bright."

"Well, to me it is," Nina argued with a small grin on her lips that she hid by looking out the window.

Natalie laughed from beside her in the driver's seat. Even though she hated Nina's father, she sure did miss his humour and was rather thankful that it had carried over into Nina. "Alright, drama queen."

Her blue eyes glanced down from the seal of the window to look through the trees that were moving quickly before they saw a large sign on the side of the road.

'Welcome to Forks. Population: 3120'

An exasperated sigh left Nina's lips as she read the population. "I'm never going to find friends here. People don't even exist here, Mom. It's probably a bunch of old senile people that think they can judge you just because they are going to die soon anyway."

"Nina," Natalie scolded as she held back a grin.

She shrugged yet again.

"It's not that much of a difference from the last town."

"It's a seventeen thousand difference. I think that's a decent amount of difference."

The older woman grinned as she took a glance at her daughter. "At least it isn't eighteen thousand. And besides, you won't be the only new kid. The sheriff's daughter is starting tomorrow too."

Nina chuckled as she nodded, "Great. We can suffer together then."

Natalie and Nina had both chosen their newest home that they would reside in for the next few months. It was on the smaller side, only having two bedrooms and one bathroom, but it was perfect for the pair.

The bedrooms were adjacent to each other in case Nina needed her in the night and since it was a bungalow, there were no stairs, which made it even better for Nina's condition.

Nina's bedroom window overlooked the forest that almost surrounded them. To her surprise, there was even a window seat which conveniently had a bookshelf placed right next to it.

The walls were a warm beige and matched the comforter on her double-sized bed that had a burnt orange blanket tossed haphazardly on top of it. It was Nina's favourite blanket, one because it was heated and two because it was the softest thing in existence.

Across from the window, there was a desk which she had thrown one of her bags on top of when she entered the room for the first time.

And in the middle of the room, stood Nina, who looked around the room with a small frown on her lips. The room was beautiful, perfect in her opinion, but it wasn't home. She wasn't even sure what home was anymore.

For a while she had thought that Dawson City, Yukon had been home. She was born there so she immediately thought that it was home. Soon enough, she learned she was wrong.

Rain pattered softly against the glass window, and she watched as each drop slowly fell before dripping off the casing before falling onto the ground below where a small garden sat. In that garden, sage and lavender and various other herbs would soon begin to sprout thanks to Natalie.

Rain was one thing she had always found comfort in. The simplicity of watching it fall from the sky, feeling it kiss your skin and sink into your clothes. Her mother had thought her love for the dreary weather was strange but ever since she was a small child, even when she was a baby, the rain never ceased to calm her.

Tomorrow would suck. Nina could feel it in her bones.

i'm honestly so excited to write something that isn't tvd so i really hope you all like it!

-meg<3