𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘞𝘖

(the cursed witch, act two)

CARLISLE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO STAYED CALM. Centuries of experience in the emergency room were evident in his quiet, authoritative voice.

"Emmett, Rose, get Jasper outside."

Unsmiling for once, Emmett nodded. "Come on, Jasper."

Jasper struggled against Emmett's unbreakable grasp, twisting around, reaching toward his brother with his bared teeth, his eyes still past reason.

Edward's face was whiter than bone as he wheeled to stand over her, taking a clearly defensive position. A low warning growl slid from between his clenched teeth. Nina could tell that he wasn't breathing.

Rosalie stepped in front of Jasper, hiding him from the witch's view, keeping a careful distance from his teeth, and helped Emmett wrestle him through the glass door that Esme held open, one hand pressed over her mouth and nose.

Esme's heart-shaped face was ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Nina," She cried as she followed the others into the yard.

"Let me by, Edward," Carlisle murmured.

A second passed, and then Edward nodded slowly and relaxed his stance.

Carlisle knelt beside her, leaning close to examine her arm. Nina could feel her shock frozen on her face. She couldn't even bring herself to compose it.

"Here, Carlisle," Alice said, handing him a towel after leaving Bella's side.

He shook his head. "Too much glass in the wound." He reached over and ripped a long, thin scrap from the bottom of the white tablecloth. He twisted it around her arm above the elbow to form a tourniquet.

The sight of her blood rushing out of her body made her look away.

"Nina," Carlisle said softly. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital, or would you like me to take care of it here?"

"Here, please," She whispered. She didn't want her mother to see her like this, not after the last time.

"I'll get your bag," Alice said.

"Let's take her to the kitchen table," Carlisle said to Edward. Edward lifted her effortlessly, while Carlisle kept the pressure steady on her arm.

"How are you doing, Nina?" Carlisle asked.

"Just dandy, sir." Her eyes widened slightly, "Bella. Where's Bella–"

"I'm here," She could hear the human's voice speak out from behind. "Keeping my distance but here."

Edward's face was like stone.

Alice was there. Carlisle's black bag was already on the table, a small but brilliant desk light plugged into the wall. Edward sat her gently into a chair, and Carlisle pulled up another. He went to work at once.

Edward stood over Nina, still protective, still not breathing.

"I'm fine, Edward," Nina breathed out, looking up at him, trying to ignore the feeling of glass being pulled out of her skin. "You should go outside."

"I can handle it," He insisted. But his jaw was rigid; his eyes burned with the intensity of the thirst he fought.

"You don't need to be a hero," Nina said. "Carlisle can fix me up without your help. Get some fresh air." Nina couldn't hold back her wince when Carlisle pulled out a rather large piece of glass.

Edward shook his head instantly. "I'll stay."

Carlisle decided to intercede. "Edward, you may as well go find Jasper before he gets too far. I'm sure he's upset with himself, and I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now."

Nina nodded. "Go find Jasper."

"You might as well do something useful," Alice added.

Edward's eyes narrowed as they ganged up on him, but, finally, he nodded once and sprinted smoothly through the kitchen's back door. Nina was sure he hadn't taken a breath since she'd sliced her finger.

A numb, dead feeling was spreading through her arm.

Nina glanced over at Bella who was keeping herself firmly against the furthest wall in the kitchen. "I told you I'm really bad at parties."

"I can see that," The human nodded. "Didn't realize your party tricks were this bad though."

She glanced at Carlisle. "How bad is it?"

The blonde man knew she wasn't asking about her own injuries. "Not good, Nina," He sighed. "Glass is all out. You'll need stitches."

The witch nodded soundly, looking away again.

"Alice?"

The brunette vampire stepped closer. "Yes?"

"Can you take Bella home for me?" Nina winced as she felt a needle pierce her skin. "Please?"

Alice nodded, quickly gathering her keys before standing at the door, waiting for the human to follow.

"You sure?" Bella asked, hesitant to leave her bleeding friend but also terrified by the events she had witnessed moments before.

"Yeah," Nina shrugged. "This is a cakewalk for me. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

When the two women walked out of the house, Nina turned to watch Carlisle's face carefully in an attempt to distract her from what his hands were doing.

"I'm really sorry about this, Carlisle."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Carlisle comforted with a chuckle. "It could happen to anyone."

The witch tsked, "It usually happens to me though. I know you all were excited about this though... so I'm sorry I ruined that with a papercut."

His hair gleamed gold in the bright light as he bent over her arm. She could feel the faint stirrings of unease in the pit of her stomach, but she was determined not to let her usual squeamishness get the best of her. There was no pain now, just a gentle tugging sensation that she tried to ignore.

His relaxed calm was only more amazing set in direct contrast with everyone else's reaction. Nina couldn't find any trace of anxiety in his face. He worked with quick, sure movements. The only sound besides their quiet breathing was the sound of a thread being tugged.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer it and I don't mean to be invasive–"

"Ask me anything," Carlisle reassured. "I have been alive long enough to not get offended easily."

She smiled awkwardly. "Edward said that at one time you joined a coven of vampires... in Italy. That's the Volturi, right?"

"Yes," He nodded calmly.

"What... What does the Volturi do exactly? Do they really just..." –she swallowed hard– "Kill?"

"Not entirely. The Volturi is a government of sorts. They are in place to ensure that vampires stay hidden from the world. Their methods in doing that... aren't the most noble however."

Nina nodded. "Did Edward tell you?"

Carlisle nodded softly.

"Does that mean he's a monster?"

"No. I believe that everyone can be redeemed. Your father, Nina... he has done bad things but so have the rest of us. You have redeemed our actions."

"So I shouldn't call him a deadbeat?"

Carlisle smiled, "Oh, no you can still call him that. He is one. No man should leave their family, especially in the way that he did. It is completely understandable if you would never want to see that man."

"What if I don't want to see him? But what if... what if he is the only one who knows how to fix me?"

"Nina, you don't need to be fixed. You aren't broken."

"There is something wrong with me," She stopped him. "Even with all of your research, even with Edward's help... I can't even light a candle now without passing out. Doesn't that make me defective?"

"It makes you special." Carlisle tied off the last stitch and moved back a few inches. "You are not defective, Nina. You are extraordinary."

Nina had never known how to take a compliment. She only blushed softly and changed the subject. "How do you do this?" She glanced at the bowl that held blood-soaked bandages.

"Years and years of practice," He told her. "I barely notice the scent anymore."

"Do you think it would be harder if you took a vacation from the hospital for a long time? And weren't around any blood?"

"Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders. "I've never felt the need for an extended holiday." He flashed a brilliant smile in her direction. "I enjoy my work too much."

"What is it that you enjoy?" She wondered. It didn't make sense to her—the years of struggle and self-denial he must have spent to get to the point where he could endure this so easily.

His dark eyes were calm and thoughtful as he answered. "Hmm. What I enjoy the very most is when my... enhanced abilities let me save someone who would otherwise have been lost. It's pleasant knowing that, thanks to what I can do, some people's lives are better because I exist. Even the sense of smell is a useful diagnostic tool at times." One side of his mouth pulled up in half a smile.

"You try very hard to make up for something that was never your fault. What I mean is, it's not like you asked for this. You didn't choose this kind of life, and yet you have to work so hard to be good."

"I don't know that I'm making up for anything," He disagreed lightly. "Like everything in life, I just had to decide what to do with what I was given."

"That makes it sound too easy."

"I'm sure all this sounds a little bizarre, coming from a vampire." He grinned. "But I'm hoping that there is still a point to this life, even for us. It's a long shot, I'll admit," He continued in an offhand voice. "By all accounts, we're damned regardless. But I hope, maybe foolishly, that we'll get some measure of credit for trying."

"I don't think that's foolish," Nina mumbled. She couldn't imagine anyone, deity included, who wouldn't be impressed by Carlisle. "And I don't think anyone else would, either."

"Actually, you're the very first one to agree with me."

"The rest of them don't feel the same?" Her thoughts went to one person.

Carlisle guessed the direction of her thoughts again. "Edward's with me up to a point. God and heaven exist... and so does hell. But he doesn't believe there is an afterlife for our kind." Carlisle's voice was very soft; he stared out the big window over the sink, into the darkness. "You see, he thinks we've lost our souls."

"That's why he didn't let me change in the spring."

Carlisle spoke slowly. "I look at my son. His strength, his goodness, the brightness that shines out of him—and it only fuels that hope, that faith, more than ever. How could there not be more for one such as Edward?"

Nina nodded in fervent agreement.

"But if I believed as he does..." He looked down at her with unfathomable eyes. "If you believed as he did. Could you take away his soul?"

If he'd asked her whether she would risk her soul for Edward, the reply would be obvious. But would she risk Edward's soul?

"You see the problem."

"It was Edward's mother who made up my mind." Carlisle's voice was almost a whisper. He stared unseeingly out the black windows.

"His mother?" Whenever she'd asked Edward about his parents, he would merely say that they had died long ago, and his memories were vague. She realized Carlisle's memory of them, despite the brevity of their contact, would be perfectly clear.

"Yes. Her name was Elizabeth. Elizabeth Masen. His father, Edward Senior, never regained consciousness in the hospital. He died in the first wave of the influenza. But Elizabeth was alert until almost the very end. Edward looks a great deal like her—she had that same strange bronze shade to her hair, and her eyes were exactly the same color blue."

"His eyes were blue?" She murmured, trying to picture it.

"Yes...." Carlisle's ocher eyes were a hundred years away now. "Elizabeth worried obsessively over her son. She hurt her own chances of survival trying to nurse him from her sickbed. I expected that he would go first, he was so much worse off than she was. When the end came for her, it was very quick. It was just after sunset, and I'd arrived to relieve the doctors who'd been working all day. That was a hard time to pretend—there was so much work to be done, and I had no need of rest. How I hated to go back to my house, to hide in the dark and pretend to sleep while so many were dying."

"I went to check Elizabeth and her son first. I'd grown attached—always a dangerous thing to do considering the fragile nature of humans. I could see at once that she'd taken a bad turn. The fever was raging out of control, and her body was too weak to fight anymore."

"She didn't look weak, though, when she glared up at me from her cot. 'Save him!' she commanded me in the hoarse voice that was all her throat could manage. 'I'll do everything in my power,' I promised her, taking her hand. The fever was so high, she probably couldn't even tell how unnaturally cold mine felt. Everything felt cold to her skin."

"'You must,' she insisted, clutching at my hand with enough strength that I wondered if she wouldn't pull through the crisis after all. Her eyes were hard, like stones, like emeralds. 'You must do everything in your power. What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward.'"

"It frightened me. She looked at me with those piercing eyes, and, for one instant, I felt certain that she knew my secret. Then the fever overwhelmed her, and she never regained consciousness. She died within an hour of making her demand."

"I'd spent decades considering the idea of creating a companion for myself. Just one other creature who could really know me, rather than what I pretended to be. But I could never justify it to myself—doing what had been done to me."

"There Edward lay, dying. It was clear that he had only hours left. Beside him, his mother, her face somehow not yet peaceful, not even in death."

Carlisle saw it all again, his memory unblurred by the intervening century. Nina could see it clearly, too, as he spoke—the despair of the hospital, the overwhelming atmosphere of death. Edward burning with fever, his life slipping away with each tick of the clock... The witch shuddered again, and forced the picture from her mind.

"Elizabeth's words echoed in my head. How could she guess what I could do? Could anyone really want that for her son?"

"I looked at Edward. Sick as he was, he was still beautiful. There was something pure and good about his face. The kind of face I would have wanted my son to have. After all those years of indecision, I simply acted on a whim. I wheeled his mother to the morgue first, and then I came back for him. No one noticed that he was still breathing. There weren't enough hands, enough eyes, to keep track of half of what the patients needed. The morgue was empty—of the living, at least. I stole him out the back door, and carried him across the rooftops back to my home."

"I wasn't sure what had to be done. I settled for recreating the wounds I'd received myself, so many centuries earlier in London. I felt bad about that later. It was more painful and lingering than necessary."

"I wasn't sorry, though. I've never been sorry that I saved Edward." He shook his head, coming back to the present. He smiled at her. "I suppose I should take you home now."

"I'll do that," Edward said. He came through the shadowy dining room, walking slowly for him. His face was smooth, unreadable, but there was something wrong with his eyes – something he was trying very hard to hide.

Nina shook her head softly. "It's alright. Carlisle can take me." The black fabric of her dress was wet with blood that was beginning to dry on her skin.

"I'm fine." Edward's voice was unemotional. "You'll need to change anyway. You'd give Natalie a heart attack the way you look. I'll have Alice get you something." He strode out the kitchen door again.

Nina looked at Carlisle anxiously. "He's very upset."

"Yes," Carlisle agreed. "Tonight is exactly the kind of thing that he fears the most. You being put in danger, because of what we are."

"It's not his fault."

"It's not yours, either."

Nina disagreed but knew better than to voice her opinions. It seemed as though Natalie had informed the blonde vampire of Nina's feelings about herself which had led to him being very against any negative thing she said about herself.

She would have been angry at her mother but it was also kind of nice... to have someone that isn't blood related actually care.

Carlisle offered her his hand and helped her up from the table. She followed him out into the main room.

Esme had come back; she was mopping the floor where Nina had fallen—with straight bleach from the smell of it.

"Esme, let me do that."

"I'm already done." She smiled up at her. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Nina assured her. "Carlisle sews faster than any other doctor I've had." They both chuckled.

Alice and Edward came in the back doors. Alice hurried to her side, but Edward hung back, his face indecipherable.

"C'mon," Alice said. "I'll get you something less macabre to wear."

She found her a dress of her own that was similar to what she had already been wearing. Luckily for her, the top was adjustable. Alice was much smaller than her in that department.

Nina glanced down at herself. It was the most cleavage she had ever had. "Do you have a sweater by any chance?" She asked, crossing her arms over herself.

Alice was already holding a black cashmere sweater and Nina smiled small.

"Alice?"

"Yes?" She kept her voice low, too, and looked at Nina curiously, her head cocked to the side.

"How bad is it?" Nina couldn't even say the words above a whisper.

Her face tensed. "I'm not sure yet."

"How's Jasper?"

She sighed. "He's very unhappy with himself. It's all so much more of a challenge for him, and he hates feeling weak."

"It's not his fault. You'll tell him that I'm not mad at him, not at all, won't you?"

"Of course."

Edward was waiting for her by the front door. As she got to the bottom of the staircase, he held it open without a word.

"Take your things!" Alice cried as Nina walked warily toward Edward. She scooped up the two packages, one half-opened and pressed them into Nina's good arm. "You can thank me later, when you've opened them."

Esme and Carlisle both said a quiet goodnight. Nina could see them stealing quick glances at their impassive son, much like she was.

Edward led her toward the Mercedes that was now hers, opening the door for her before getting in himself.

"Please say something," Nina begged him as he drove too fast down the dark, serpentine lane.

"What do you want me to say, Nina? That you were right? That I should trust you more?"

Nina looked at her lap. "Just tell me you aren't mad at me. Please." Her voice was quiet and she couldn't stop the shake in her words. It was a fatal flaw of hers. She had always found herself crying in stressful situations.

She tried to blink away her tears, keeping them at bay as they flooded her bloodshot eyes.

"Mad at you? For what?"

"If I'd been more careful, nothing would have happened."

"Nina... You gave yourself a paper cut – that hardly deserves the death penalty."

"It's still my fault." Her words opened up the floodgate.

"Your fault? If you'd cut yourself at Kit Vanderburg's house, with Jessica there and Angela and Bella and your other normal friends, the worst that could possibly have happened would be what? Maybe they couldn't find you a bandage? If you'd tripped and knocked over a pile of glass plates on your own—without someone throwing you into them—even then, what's the worst? You'd get blood on the seats when they drove you to the emergency room? Kit Vanderburg could have held your hand while they stitched you up —and he wouldn't be fighting the urge to kill you the whole time he was there. Don't try to take any of this on yourself, Nina. It will only make me more disgusted with myself."

"How the hell did Kit end up in this conversation?"

"Kit ended up in this conversation because Kit would be a hell of a lot healthier for you to be with," He growled.

"You do realize we are mates right? I don't know if that means something different to you than it does to me but to me that means it's you or nothing. I look at Kit and I see nothing. I look at Mike and I see nothing. I look at anyone else on this fucking planet and I see nothing. You can't expect me to just ignore that."

He didn't answer. He glared through the windshield, his expression black.

She racked her brain for some way to salvage the evening. When they pulled up in front of her house, she still hadn't come up with anything. He killed the engine, but his hands stayed clenched around the steering wheel.

"Will you stay tonight?" She asked hopefully.

"I should go home."

"For my birthday..." She muttered.

"You can't have it both ways—either you want people to ignore your birthday or you don't. One or the other." His voice was stern, but not as serious as before.

She breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Okay. I've decided that I don't want you to ignore my birthday. I'll see you inside."

She hopped out, reaching back in for her presents.

He frowned. "You don't have to take those."

"I want them," She responded automatically, and then wondered if he was using reverse psychology.

"No, you don't. Carlisle and Esme spent money on you."

"I'll survive." She tucked the presents awkwardly under her good arm and slammed the door behind her.

He was out of the car and by her side in less than a second. "Let me carry them, at least," He said as he took them away. "I'll be in your room."

Nina smiled. "Thank you."

"Happy birthday," He sighed, and leaned down to touch his lips to hers. Nina reached up on her toes to make the kiss last longer when he pulled away.

He smiled her favorite crooked smile, and then he disappeared into the darkness.

"Nia?" Natalie called from the living room when Nina walked in the doorway.

"Hey, Mom," Nina said as she came around the corner. She held her arm close to her side. The slight pressure burned, and she wrinkled her nose. The anesthetic was apparently losing its effectiveness.

"Did you have fun?"

"Had a blast," Nina couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What'd they get you?"

Nina sighed. "A car."

Natalie's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. Did you say thank you?"

"A few times, yeah... I'm gonna call it a night. I'm really tired."

"Alright... What happened to your arm, honey?"

Nina fumbled for her words. "Nothing! I tripped. You know how clumsy I am."

"Nina," She sighed, shaking her head.

"Goodnight, Mom."

She hurried down the hall toward the bathroom and peeled off the dress Alice had leant her. She covered her arm in a plastic bag before she quickly got into the shower, intending only to wash off the dried blood.

Nina watched silently as the water pooled in the porcelain tub turning red.

It only took a few minutes before it all cleared. She hurried again, putting on the pajamas she kept in the drawer for nights like this. She shrugged the space launch shirt over her head, struggling slightly with her arm before pulling up the gray sweatpants.

She washed her face one-handed, brushed her teeth and then walked cautiously back to her room.

He was sitting in the center of her bed, toying idly with one of the silver boxes.

"Hi," He said. His voice was sad. He was wallowing.

Nina went to the bed, pushed the presents out of his hands, and climbed into his lap.

"Hi." She snuggled into his stone chest. "Can I open my presents now?"

"Where did the enthusiasm come from?" He wondered.

"You made me curious." She picked up the long flat rectangle that must have been from Carlisle and Esme.

"Allow me," He suggested. He took the gift from her hand and tore the silver paper off with one fluid movement. He handed the rectangular white box back to her.

"Are you sure I can handle lifting the lid?" She muttered, but he ignored her.

Inside the box was a long thick piece of paper with an overwhelming amount of fine print. It took her a minute to get the gist of the information.

"These are plane tickets?" She was excited. She had never been on a vacation. What also made her smile was that there were two, one for her and one for him.

"Where too?"

He shrugged. "Anywhere you want."

"We'll have to go somewhere like Ireland, right? Somewhere where there isn't much sun? Where is it best for you to go?"

"Anywhere you want," He repeated.

"We can't go to an Island. It's sunny. You'd have to stay inside all day and you hate staying inside.

"I think I can handle it," He said, and then frowned. "If I'd had any idea that you could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme. I thought you'd complain."

"Well, of course it's too much. But I get to take you with me!"

He chuckled. "Now I wish I'd spent money on your present. I didn't realize that you were capable of being reasonable."

She would have rolled her eyes at his comment but instead chose to reach for his present and handed it to him, letting him unwrap it like the first one.

He handed back a clear CD jewel case, with a blank silver CD inside.

"What is it?" Nina asked, perplexed. He didn't say anything; he took the CD and reached around her to put it in the CD player on the bedside table. He hit play, and they waited in silence.

Then the music began. She listened, speechless and wide-eyed. She knew he was waiting for her reaction, but she couldn't talk. Tears welled up, mostly due to her still being overwhelmed from the night, and she reached up to wipe them away before they could spill over.

"Does your arm hurt?" He asked anxiously, his cool hand reaching up to hold her skin just under the bandage.

"No, it's not my arm. It's beautiful, honey. You couldn't have given me anything I would love more. I can't believe it."

Her voice trailed, so she could listen. It was his music, his compositions. The first piece on the CD was her lullaby.

"I didn't think you would let me get a piano so I could play for you here," He explained.

She smiled softly. "You're right."

"How does your arm feel?"

"Just fine."

She hadn't even thought to hide her thoughts from him. She was so distracted by the beautiful symphony he had crafted just for her.

The wound was starting to blaze under the bandage. She wanted ice. She would have settled for his hand, but that would have given her away.

"I'll get you some Tylenol."

"I don't need anything," She protested, but he slid her off his lap and headed for the door.

"My mom," Nina whispered. Natalie wasn't exactly aware that Edward frequently stayed over. In fact, she would have a stroke if that fact were brought to her attention. But she didn't feel too guilty for deceiving her. It wasn't as if they were up to anything she wouldn't want her to be up to.

Edward and his rules...

"She won't catch me," Edward promised as he disappeared silently out the door and returned, catching the door before it had swung back to touch the frame. He had the glass from the bathroom and the bottle of pills in one hand.

Nina took the pills he handed her without arguing. Her arm really was starting to bother her.

Her lullaby continued, soft and lovely, in the background.

"It's late," Edward noted. He scooped her up off the bed with one arm, and pulled the cover back with the other. He put her down with her head on the pillow and tucked the quilt around her. He lay down next to her and put his arm over her. Nina leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed happily.

"Thank you for tonight. I know it didn't go how you wanted it too but I really appreciate the effort you all put into it."

"We do care about you, you know? We are capable of that."

She chuckled against his arm. "Really? Never would have guessed... But seriously... It was nice to feel cared about."

Edward nodded.

It was quiet for a long moment as she listened to her lullaby drift to a close. Another song began. She recognized Esme's favorite.

"Can I ask you something?" Nina's voice was soft.

"Anything."

"What does it feel like for you? The... mate thing?"

"It feels like I'm dying when I'm away from you, if that's what you're asking."

"And when I'm with you?"

"I feel powerless." She frowned. "In the best way possible. I feel like I'm not what I am. You make me feel human."

She smiled against his cool skin.

"Try to sleep, Nina."

She nodded soundly, knowing she would regret it in the morning if she didn't fall asleep soon.

She felt him kiss her head softly and wrap his arms tightly around her.

"I love you," He whispered as she fell unconscious. 

a/n

first chapter of 2025!