𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘌𝘕

(the cursed witch, act one)

"IF SOMEONE WERE TO REARRANGE YOUR ENTIRE BEDROOM WHILE YOU WERE UNCONSCIOUS, WOULD YOU CALL THAT WEIRD?" NINA ASKED BELLA WHEN SHE GOT INTO THE PASSENGER SEAT OF HER TRUCK.

"I would... call the cops, Nina."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Who exactly rearranged your room in the middle of the night?" Bella asked curiously as she drove through the small town, remembering the directions she had followed through the last few weeks.

"Edward..."

Bella stomped on the breaks. Luckily they were at a red light. Unluckily, Nina's head almost smacked against the dashboard.

"Bella!"

"No! You invited Edward Cullen into your room!? He slept in your room!? Do you think he went through your underwear drawer?"

Nina's brows furrowed, "No, gross... Wait– what if he did?"

"Sleep with you or go through your underwear?"

"Underwear. I know he slept with me," The witch replied, bracing herself this time as the brunette slammed on the breaks once again.

"You slept with him!?"

"Not like that. He slept on one side of the bed and I slept on the other and by the time I woke up, breakfast was made, my room was completely rearranged, and he was gone."

"Did you cuddle?" Bella asked, completely disregarding anything her friend had said other than the fact that they had slept in the same bed.

"No? I mean, I was unconscious so if we did, I don't know."

When they had reached the school, Bella crookedly parked before both girls got out of the car.

Mike and Jessica had greeted them at the door before they were quickly bombarded with questions from the girl.

"So what did Edward Cullen want yesterday?" Jessica asked almost immediately.

"I honestly don't even know," She answered. "He never really got to the point."

"You looked kind of mad," She fished.

"He seems to bring that emotion out of me."

"You know, I've never seen him sit with anyone but his family before. That was weird."

"Oh yeah, he's fucking weird," Nina agreed.

Jessica seemed unsatisfied; she flipped her dark curls impatiently — Nina guessed she'd been hoping to hear something that would make a good story for her to pass on and luckily for her, it seemed like neither Mike or Kit had told her about their blood typing mishap.

The worst part about Friday was that, even though she knew he wasn't going to be there, a nagging part of her had still hoped. When she walked into the cafeteria with Kit, she couldn't keep from looking at his table, where Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper sat talking, heads close together.

She couldn't help herself from feeling a pang of disappointment.

Sitting at her usual table, with Kit at one side and Bella at the other, everyone was full of plans for Saturday's beach trip.

Mike was animated again, putting a great deal of trust in the local weatherman who promised sun tomorrow. Bella had muttered something about having to see that before she believed it. But it was warmer today — almost sixty. Maybe the outing wouldn't be completely miserable for Bella.

Nina didn't really care about the weather, no matter what it was, it wasn't like she would be swimming. She had mostly planned on stealing whatever food Mike would be bringing and eating it all in the warmth of Mike's suburban. 

As Nina was going to leave the school, she was stopped by someone calling her name. It was a feminine voice.

Looking back, she told Bella to warm up the truck before waiting for the figure to join her.

It was Alice, she recognized when the girl got closer through the busy hall.

"Hi?" Nina greeted in a questioning tone, unsure of why the Cullen had chosen to speak with her.

Alice smiled, "Edward's always saying how beautiful you are, I guess he was telling the truth."

A blush coated the witches face, as she stared at Alice.

"Sorry, was that too forward? I'm not the best at speaking with new people. My brothers always say I say too much."

"It's fine," Nina told her before pausing. "Edward talks about me?"

Alice grinned widely, "All the time. Rosalie almost throttled him this morning."

"What did he say?..." Nina hoped he hadn't said anything about their impromptu sleepover. She wasn't sure if she would ever live that down if more people than Bella found out.

"Something poetic and dramatic. My brother... he likes you more than he likes most people which is strange because he doesn't like anyone – I mean, sometimes I don't even think he likes us, but that is besides the point. He likes you and you very clearly like him–"

"Very clearly?"

"Considering he never came home until 5 am this morning, I would say you like him–"

"We didn't–"

"I know. He doesn't get a good sleep very often, he hasn't in quite a few years, but when he came home he looked more refreshed than I've ever seen him." Alice paused, letting Nina think over her words. "What I'm trying to say is, don't let him push you away."

"That might be a little difficult. He seems to be pretty good at being a jerk."

"That's just part of his charm. You'll learn to love his dramatics one day," She reassured before glancing over Nina's shoulder, "Looks like your friend is waiting for you."

Nina looked behind her and saw Bella had pulled her truck up to the entrance. "Right... I should get going... It was nice talking to you, Alice."

"We're going to be great friends," Alice said, smiling before walking away.

"How'd that go?" Bella asked when Nina swiftly got into her passenger seat.

"That family confuses me more than my bi awakening."

Nina had stayed at the Swan home that night. After telling Bella she would be alone once again, the Swan immediately swerved and drove directly to her own home, insisting on letting the witch stay, her reasoning being that if you are alone for a certain period of time, you'd go insane.

It was true... just not for 10 hours.

Nina knew not to argue with the Swan, however. It was safer that way.

"Do you think Mike would mind if I invited a friend to the beach?" Bella asked as they walked into her home.

"Probably. He's got a pretty obvious crush on you, Bells..." Nina trailed off when she saw Charlie sitting in the kitchen reading a newspaper. "My favourite cop!"

The man perked up instantly as he spun around to face the girl, a smile falling onto his lips as he took the witch in for a quick hug. "The only friend of Bella's I don't despise!" He greeted joyfully before turning his attention onto his daughter. "Hey, Bells. How was your day?"

"Good. Long."

"We had no one to complain about today," Nina told him as she sat beside him.

"Cullen was out?"

"Yes! He went camping with his brother. I had no one to bother during Chem. I had to sit in silence and deal with Kit making sad eyes at me."

"He still upset that you said no?"

"He says he isn't but he definitely is. I mean, I feel bad, you know? He's so nice. Like 'care bear' nice. And yet, I feel zip about him."

"Because you're focused on someone else?" Bella spoke up.

"Yes!... No... I don't know. You are confusing me."

Bella sat down beside her, "What's there to be confused about? You like Granny Cullen and Granny Cullen likes you."

"Granny Cullen?" Charlie questioned.

"He talks like an old person," Bella explained to her father, before her eyes turned back to her friend. "On Monday you gotta talk to him."

"Why not tomorrow?"

"He'll still be camping. Said he was going to a place called... Goat Rocks? I don't know. I wasn't really listening to him–"

"Because you were gazing into his eyes–"

"Charlie!"

"What? I've seen his father."

Bella laughed, "So you were gazing into Dr. Cullen's eyes when you worked on that case together?"

Charlie blushed. "That's not what I meant. Go to your room and take the annoying one with you."

His daughter laughed but stood nonetheless, holding her hand out to Nina who sighed, "I take it I'm the annoying one?"

Nina was by no means a morning person. She wasn't a night owl, either though. If she could, she would wake up every day at 10 and go to bed at 9. She preferred sleep to anything else.

So when Bella Swan woke her up overjoyed by the sun, Nina, without thought, magically through a pillow in her face.

Pain instantly flooded through her, making her cuddle back into the covers. "Worth it. So worth it," She murmured tiredly, though the warmth of pain that passed through her hands was slowly waking her up.

"Regret it yet?" Bella asked humorously as she watched the witch bury herself in a heap of blankets, holding them tightly in her burning firsts.

"Burn in hell."

"Not yet," She smiled, grabbing the end of the comforter before yanking on it, making the witch become exposed to the cold air.

Nina glared at her, "If I wasn't in pain I would set you on fire."

"No, you wouldn't. I'm your only friend. If you killed me, you'd have no one to complain to."

"I have Eeyore, now, actually."

"So you consider him a friend now?"

"Mhm."

"A friend you'd like to fuck?"

Another pillow was magically thrown into the human's face.

"You just proved my point!" Bella spoke triumphantly, holding out her arms in excitement. "I knew you liked him!"

"I was being honest about the fire," Nina threatened, lifting her hand displaying her glowing fingertips.

Bella stared at Nina's hand. It practically lit up her room with how bright it was glowing – there was not a single flame emitting from her skin and yet, it glowed brighter than any fire she had ever seen. "Should I start calling you sunshine?"

The Newtons ' Olympic Outfitters store was just north of town. Bella had said she had seen the store, but never stopped there — not having much need for any supplies required for being outdoors over an extended period of time. In the parking lot Nina recognized Mike's Suburban, Tyler's Sentra and Kit's Subaru. As Bella pulled up next to their vehicles, they could see the group standing around in front of the Suburban. Eric and Kit were there, along with two other boys they had class with; she was fairly sure their names were Ben and Conner. Jess was there, flanked by Angela. Three other girls stood with them, including one Bella remembered falling over in Gym on Friday. That one gave Bella a dirty look as she got out of the truck, and whispered something to Jessica.

"I could set them on fire?" Nina asked when she saw the scornful looks being thrown Bella's way.

"You really like fire, don't you?"

"My Grandfather was an arsonist."

"Really?"

"No. He was a compulsive liar, though."

Bella nodded along, "That makes sense... At least Mike and Kit are happy to see us."

That turned the witches attention back to the group where both boys stood with large smiles as they waved them over.

"You came!" Mike called, delighted. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"

"I told you I was coming," Bella reminded him. "Though I had thought we would be late with how much convincing it took to get Neens out of the bed."

"I was so comfortable!"

Kit wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Must have been a traumatic morning. Do you need a quick therapy sesh? I charge by the hour."

Nina grinned up at him, "We might be here for a while. I don't know if my pockets will make it."

"We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha... unless you invited someone," Mike added, making Nina and Kit look away from each other.

"I invited someone. He's gonna meet us there, if that's alright," Bella spoke softly, unsure of how Mike would react. Nina didn't mention how she had invited Edward, she knew he wouldn't show so there would be no point in stirring the pot with Kit.

Mike looked somewhat disappointed with the Swan's answer, making Kit stand up straighter, "You three riding in my car? It's that or Lee's mom's minivan."

"Sure." Mike smiled blissfully. It was so easy to make Mike happy. "You can have shotgun," He promised Nina, making her grin knowing that would mean Bella had to sit beside him.

Luckily for Bella, more people had shown which meant every seat was necessary. She had been stuck in the window seat, Mike on the other while Jessica was crammed in the middle. It was incredibly entertaining for both Nina and Kit as they watched Jessica practically sit on Mike's lap while the blonde blushed madly.

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. Nina was glad she had the front seat.

Bella had told her about the beaches around La Push and all the times she had visited them. It was still breathtaking, just as Bella had said. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs.

The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.

There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

They trudged their way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like theirs before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy Nina thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Kit asked her. They were sitting on one of the driftwood logs, knees just touching as Nina looked around, admiring her surroundings.

When she heard the sound of a lighter, she looked back at him and saw him lighting a smaller stick.

"No," She said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.

"You'll like this then — watch the colors." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

"It's blue," She said in surprise as the flames grew.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by her.

The rest of the group had walked off, some going down to the water with wetsuits on while the rest played soccer and talked. Nina could see Bella walking around the shoreline with Mike following after her.

"He just doesn't give up, does he?" Kit asked, following Nina's eyeline and seeing the pair.

Nina looked over to him, "You don't either, do you?"

Shrugging, he let out a soft breath of air, "Not really. Why'd you lie to get out of the dance?"

She held up her finger, "Technically I didn't lie. I just wasn't specific. Bella told you?"

"I figured it out when I saw you staring at Edward Cullen and then when your eyes moved to Maya from sixth period with the same look."

"Have you seen her? She's gorgeous."

"What's stopping you?" Kit asked, suddenly making her head tilt questioningly. "Maya has had a crush on you since you borrowed her pencil after you snapped yours in half when Mr. Matthews said you would have to present."

"She likes me?"

"Besides the point, Nina. What is stopping you from running over to her?"

"A dumb, pasty white boy orphan with anger issues and probably has fleas in his stupid pea coat?"

"I was gonna say Edward, but yeah, that works too."

She laughed softly, shaking her head as she looked down at the sand beneath her feet.

"And hey, if you ever need someone to make him jealous, I'm all ears."

"Oh yeah? And what exactly would you do?"

"Well, I don't think I'd have to do much. You seem to already have him wrapped around your finger," He answered with a playful smirk.

She shook her head defensively. "No way. He practically hates me."

"You are the only person I have seen him speak to in the last three years that isn't a member of his family. I think that means something."

"I mean, for a while I thought it was because he wanted to murder me."

Kit's lips pursed as he thought it over. "That's also a possibility... I never considered that but now it makes a lot of sense. I would protect you but I have really weak arms."

"Not up to being my knight in shining armour?"

"Not really. I'd definitely lose and I can't take that kind of hit on my ego. I'll write you a real good eulogy though."

"Charming," She smiled, bumping her shoulder against his, earning a laugh. With her head turned away from him, she saw Bella down by the beach staring at her with a look that said 'save me'. She was with another guy, one Nina didn't recognize.

"Think I should help her?"

Kit glanced over at Bella's awkward state, "A good friend would."

"I'm so comfortable though," Nina groaned, making Kit smile as he stood and held out his hands to her, beckoning her to stand. "Come on. Bella needs you to save her."

Groaning, she took his hands and let him pull her up to stand.

"I hate you!" She told him as she walked away from the warmth of the fire.

"No you don't!"

After tripping on the sand three times and almost toppling down a small hill, Nina reached Bella. "It's so cold I'm about to freeze my tits off. Can we go home?" Nina asked Bella, ignoring the boy beside her as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Bella smiled, taking off her scarf and wrapping it around the auburn haired girl's neck. "That better?"

"Mhm. Thanks, babe." Nina only then looked at the boy, smiling slightly when she saw Bella's face turn red at the pet name, "And who are you?"

"Jacob... Jacob Black. I'm Bella's friend from when we were kids."

Nina's grin widened suddenly, "You're Jacob?" She looked at Bella, "This is Jacob?"

Bella nodded, a blush still present on her face.

"Well I gotta have the best friend talk now. Mind if I steal him for a bit?"

"Don't hurt him too much," Bella warned her as she watched Nina grab Jacobs arm and begin to pull him toward her.

"Nonsense. I won't hurt him... Maybe a little."

"Should I be worried?" Jacob asked when she let go of his arm.

"Most definitely," She replied, smiling menacingly.

After a few minutes of walking, and more than a few threats on Nina's part, Jacob was shaking. The witch may be tiny, something Edward had begun to tease her about, but she sure was scary.

It wasn't till one of his friends joined him that he gained an ounce of dignity and stood slightly straighter.

"Jake, hey man! You disappeared."

"I was stolen," Jacob said, looking between Nina and the boy who looked at least a few years older than them.

He smiled, "I see. I'm Sam."

"Nina," She replied.

Sam's eyes widened, "You're Nina? As in, Natalie's daughter?"

She frowned slightly in confusion but nodded nonetheless. It didn't make sense for him to know her mother, Natalie hardly even had time to see her own daughter, let alone someone who didn't even live in Forks.

"That's awesome. Your mom comes down here all the time to see the pa– the fam..."

If Nina heard his stutter in words, she didn't comment on it. She was more focused on his biceps. Can you blame the girl? He had Chris Hemsworth level biceps.

Before she could consider asking him to snap her in half, Sam smiled again. "You should come down with her sometime. I'm sure you could learn a lot."

"I'll think about it..." Nina trailed off as she stared at him. Something about him was oddly familiar. It was almost like she knew him from somewhere.

Sam nodded, smiling before saying a quick goodbye as he left down the beach toward his other friends.

"Bella said you invited Cullen," Jacob said suddenly, taking the witch's attention off of Sam's fleeting figure.

Nina sighed, "Just to be nice."

"She said you were pretty bummed that he wasn't coming."

If Bella was next to her, Nina would have slapped her.

"It's not because of you. The Cullen's just don't come around here."

"Why's that?" Nina asked curiously. Maybe Jacob would be able to give her some answers as to why Edward constantly pushed her away.

He glanced back at her, biting his lip. "I'm not really supposed to say anything about that."

"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." She tried to make her smile alluring, not caring if she was laying it on too thick. She needed some answers if she was going to catch up to Edward. He already knew what she was, it wasn't fair for her not to know about him.

He smiled back, though. "I guess, if you're Natalie's daughter it's safe for me to tell you..." His voice turned deep as he looked down at her, "Do you like scary stories?"

"I love them," Nina lied. The last time she watched a scary movie she screamed so loud every light bulb in the house exploded – it was something Natalie soon banned and teased her endlessly about.

Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while she sat beneath him on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his broad lips. Nina could see he was going to try to make this good. She focused on trying not to create a tsunami if he scared her too much.

"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" He began.

"Not really," She admitted.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood —supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show her how little stock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them... Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower.

"The cold ones?" Nina asked, a hint of recognition floating through her mind.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.

It was clear he didn't believe the stories, Nina however, knew how true they could be. If she existed, how far off was it that shapeshifters could too.

"Your great-grandfather?" She encouraged, getting more interested by the minute.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one." She stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise her impatience as interest. "So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces."

"If they weren't dangerous, then why...?" Nina tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously she was considering his ghost story.

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into his tone.

"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"

"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead."

Nina nodded slowly, "So how does it fit in with the Cullen's? Are they like the cold ones your great grandfather met?"

"No." He paused for dramatic effect – something Nina would have smiled at if it were different circumstances. "They are the same ones."

He must have thought the expression on her face was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued. "There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even arrived." He was fighting a smile.

"And what are they?" She finally asked. "What are the cold ones?"

He smiled darkly. "Blood drinkers," He replied in a chilling voice. "Your people call them vampires."

Nina stared out at the rough surf after he answered, not sure what her face was exposing. "You have goose bumps," He laughed delightedly.

"You're a good storyteller," She complimented him, still staring into the waves. It was possible, so possible Nina actually believed him.

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't give you away."

"I guess I just violated the treaty," He laughed.

Nina shook her head, shivers still running down her spine as she threw a smile on her face, "I'll take it to the grave."

Her eyes moved back to his after she found the will to pull them from the ocean. "Do you think they are dangerous? If it's true?"

Jacob shrugged, "If it is, I know there have been a lot of whispers about them. Some of us are even refusing to go to the hospital now that Carlisle is there. That's gotta mean something... Right?"

She nodded slowly. She knew the logical thing to do would be to ask Edward himself about it. But she preferred not being his dinner... maybe his desert– Bad Nina.

And then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other warned us that someone was approaching. Their heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike, Kit and Bella about fifty yards away, walking toward them.

"There you are, Neens," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head. "I thought you drowned and I'd have to rescue you."

Nina laughed as she stood from the driftwood, "With those little arms? We'd both be gonners."

"Bitch," Mike muttered, rolling his eyes at her while Kit wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Don't call my best friend a bitch, Michael."

"Yeah, Michael. Go chase a stick."

While Nina and Kit teased Mike, Jacob joined Bella's side. "Is that your boyfriend?" He asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike's stare. Bella was surprised it was so obvious. "No, definitely not."

"So when I get my license..." He began. "You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime," Bella smiled eagerly up at him.

"We were just packing up to leave," Kit told Nina, his arm still wrapped around her. "How are you still so warm? God, you're like a furnace, Nina," He muttered, pulling her closer to his side in an attempt to warm himself up.

"I run hot," Nina lied. It was easier than telling him it was from a buildup of magic that she was constantly struggling to contain.

"Don't even need a fire when you're around," He teased. "Should've just kept you with me this whole time."

"Cute," She teased.

"I know. I'm adorable." He tugged her gently, "Now lets go before Jessica attacks Bella for Mike looking in her direction."

"That'd be fun to watch though."

"I take it back. You're a terrible friend."

"Bella would win. With the right motivation."