The silence after his forgiveness lasted only a few moments before the cold began to set in. He might run at a thousand degrees farenheit, but my body was very much human and the freezing snow was something I hadn't thought about when I apparated. My teeth began to chatter involuntarily as I grasped for my wand to cast a heating charm. Instantly I was enveloped in a pair of strong warm arms again. My lips lifted in a small smile as I finally gripped my wand.

"As nice as this is, I can't cast a heat charm if my arms are glued to my side," I mentioned and he released his hold just long enough for me to cast the charm. My shivering arms and chattering teeth instantly ceased, but Paul didn't let go. He was clinging to me and I had no complaints. I could feel the bond now, feel how taut it had been pulled when we were gone and how it snapped us back together instantly, like a rubber band. I had always known that there was something tugging at the back of my consciousness, but it was now clear that if I listened carefully, it was Paul's presence. I always had my Occlumency shields up since I was used to protecting my mind from Edward, but if I let them down I could feel him. I didn't hear his thoughts or see what he saw, but I could just feel his presence in my soul. I took a sharp breath of air in, pressing my ear to his chest as I listened to his heartbeat sync up with mine.

"Let's never be apart again," he murmured. I nodded silently, but I knew our happy reunion couldn't last forever. We would be okay eventually, sure, but there was still a lot of shit hanging in the air.

"When was the last time you were home?" I asked, eyeing his filthy hair and dirt-stained feet. He grimaced in thought.

"I went home the next day and told my mom I was going to college, packed up a bag and drove my car away. She was so excited she didn't even question me. I haven't been home since. I left my car and my bag somewhere not too deep in the forest on the edge of the Res," he answered. I lifted an eyebrow.

"And where are we know?"

"You don't know?" Paul asked, shocked. "I thought you had to know where you were going to do that fancy appearing places thing."

"Usually, but I had no idea where you were. I just…I needed to be with you so I just thought of you and hoped for the best," I shrugged.

"Oh well I've been camping out here in far northern Canada. Lots of larger game to hunt here and no need to leave wolf form for any reason," he explained carefully. His eyes were trained on my face the whole time, waiting for some kind of reaction. I nodded slowly. We were both treading on egg shells, not wanting to set the other off.

"Paul, I'm not going to be upset with you for how you reacted. You did what you could to forget the pain," I told him softly. His face wrinkled in a frown, but he didn't respond. "Let's do this: get home, see your mom, and for Merlin's sake please shower and cut that hair. I'll go home and shower and change," I paused as I glanced down at the Salem uniform that Dean Bishop had put me in. "And then we can meet up and talk about it all…with no tempers allowed."

"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled softly. "But please be quick. I don't think I'm going to be able to be apart from you for any amount of time in the near future," he practically pleaded. I nodded swiftly, wrapping my arm in his and apparating into the cove on first beach that I always apparated to. It wouldn't take him long to get to his house.

"We'll meet here in half an hour," he said. I pressed a kiss to his lips firmly in response, before apparating into my living room once more. Bella looked up, startled from her seat on the couch.

"How did you?-

"Magic, Bella. You said you didn't want to be hidden from it anymore. I do that a lot. It's called Apparating and I can get anywhere I want on the continent instantly. I can't talk now, I need to shower and change," I said quickly before dashing down the stairs to my room. It only took me a half hour to shower and change before I was darting back up my stairs, Noah charging along at my heels. His tail was wagging furiously as he nudged his head into my legs. I guess he missed me afterall.

"Seriously, Bianca, stop," Bella demanded as I made my way toward the front door. "You can't just meet with some random stranger in a pencil skirt, disappear for an hour, reappear out of thin air—literally—and then leave the house again without explaining. What the hell is going on? You've been like a zombie for the past 2 months and now you're bouncing around like you've got some kind of urgent business to attend to. What is so important?" I took a deep breath, because I had promised myself that I wasn't going to get angry and worked up before talking to Paul. Bella was right, to some extent, I did owe her an explanation. She seemed more reasonable than she had been two months before.

"Look I'm sorry I just can't have a long conversation with you right now. I haven't seen Paul in months and we really need to clear the air. I promise you, me, a thick fuzzy blanket and some snacks will have a long conversation soon, okay?" I implored her, reaching out to grab both her hands in my own. She sighed, but smiled softly and met my eyes. For the first time in a really long time, I saw a glimmer of that sisterly love we so lacked. I smiled brightly and kissed her on the cheeks.

"Thanks!" I shouted as I ran out the door, only to be met with a 5 ft force of nature. Alice stood in my driveway, arms crossed and foot tapping rapidly against the ground.

"I saw Bella and you having some kind of girl's night tomorrow which seemed odd to me since you've been all Walking Dead since you and Paul broke up. But then I come over here and you look just fine to me. Looks like you've even abandoned the sweats," she said impatiently.

"There are so many things wrong with what you just said. And the fact that you said Paul and I broke up—like we were just some high school couple that could just break up like no big deal—just tells me how much our friendship must have meant to you. I should've known better than to get attached to immortal creatures who see humans come and go. Of course you wouldn't get too invested in my life when I'm disposable to you. But you know what? I don't owe you a conversation right now. My sister is one thing, but you're not my sister," I spat harshly before turning on my heel and apparating again. I found myself once more in the little cove at the beach. I used my Legilimency to reach out into the nearest mind. It was Mrs. Lahote, who was musing giddily about having Paul back for the weekend. Lucky for me, it happened to be Friday and it made sense for Paul to randomly show up at home when he was supposed to be away at college. From Brenda's mind I could tell that Paul was in his room changing. I watched in her mind as he came down the hallway, looking all clean, but his hair still to his shoulders.

"So what do you want for dinner?" Brenda asked with a smile.

"Sorry mom, can't stay. I've got to go meet up with the guys and Bianca at Sam's. I haven't seen them in months either! Plus Emily's going to cut my hair. It got crazy long again and you know I hate it like this," he charmed his mom, coming over to pull her into a hug. I didn't need to be in her head to know she was upset.

"You can't spend tonight with your own mother? The boys and Bianca can wait until tomorrow," she reasoned. Paul's gaze hardened as he looked down at his small mother.

"Mom, you know it was hard for me to leave them all in the first place. I'll probably crash at Sam's place with the rest of the guys and I'll be back first thing for breakfast," he lied before kissing her on the forehead and dashing out the door. I left her head, not needing to hear the grumpy musings I knew were bound to start any moment. I made my way out of the little cove and just onto the beach, sitting on a hollowed log. It wasn't more than a minute before I felt Paul sit beside me. I breathed deeply, eyes closed and appreciated the relief that flooded my senses being near him again.

"We have to talk about this some time," he broke the silence and I opened my eyes slowly, turning to face him. I raised my eyes to meet his only to be met by determined brown eyes. I nodded.

"I know. And the sooner the better….I just don't know where to start," I confessed.

"How about what you did while I was away?" he suggested casually. I could tell he was itching to ask a different question, but I scoffed.

"What do you think I did? Not really much of anything. I got up, went to school, came home, BS'd my homework, and went to bed. Sometimes I ate, sometimes I didn't, but the days kind of flew past. They didn't mean much anymore," I told him earnestly. He grimaced in actual pain as he took my hand in his and squeezed gently.

"Please Bianca, no matter what happens between us in the future, you have to take better care of yourself. You can't just stop eating and caring about life," he begged.

"It doesn't matter because this isn't gonna happen again," I insisted. I could have argued that he'd been doing the same thing, but it was a moot point. I didn't want to argue anymore and I don't think he did either. But his wolf was probably raging strong within him still after months of having complete control of him.

"So while I was running around Canada…were the Cullens there to support you? You said they were like family to you," he probed further, though his tone was still carefully calm. My jaw hardened and I looked down, fighting the shame so that it didn't show in my face. How could I tell him that our fight and our separation and our pain had been for nothing? That the Cullens hadn't supported me in my need like I thought they would? That they had never understood our relationship like I thought they had?

"Bianca? What's wrong, are you alright?" he asked urgently, gently cupping my face in his warm hand and bringing it up to meet his. I pulled my face from his grasp and ran my own hands over it in an attempt to compose myself.

"I was wrong about them. They left me alone, mostly, because apparently Alice-

"Which one is that?"

"The shorter female, the newest one. She can see glimpses of the future and apparently she foresaw that Bella is going to Edward's mate one day. I told them I wouldn't stand for it and they chose to stand up for the future Edward might possibly get instead of the friendship they already had with me. I made it obvious I wanted nothing to do with them and they stayed away. My dad was worried, but you know how he is…he didn't know how to deal with it and he didn't know how to find you. So he just left it alone for a while, ya know?" I let my volume fade after a bit and my eyes drifted to Paul. In this sort of tense environment, I didn't expect him to say 'I told you so' persay. I did expect a certain smugness though, and a possessiveness that would draw me closer to him and further from the Cullens. I watched him open and close his mouth several times before words actually began to form.

"I'm gonna…no…I already hate myself for even thinking this, but bare with me: is it possible that Bella has a bond with the leech," he shuddered, "similar to our imprint bond?"

"Two months ago you couldn't even stand the thought of me going to their house long enough to have a calm conversation and now you're just ready for them to marry into my family?" I screwed my face up in response. I was angry at the Cullens, not looking for logic or reason. Paul was never the person I went to for a reasonable opinion. I usually went to Edward or Esme or Carlisle for those…

"Babe, that's not what I'm saying at all. You know that I'll never accept those monsters into my life. And if they ever hurt you, or your sister, or anyone for that matter…I wouldn't hesitate to kill them all," he seethed, trembling for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"But two months ago you were ready to break our bond over your friendship with them. That taught me two things: one that our bond isn't breakable and it's not something we can just opt out of and two that you really care about the Cullens, on some deep level that I'll never be able to understand. I know your upset and I know you're hurting over this…and trust me, if the treaty allowed, I would have kicked all of their asses long ago," he assured me. "But because I love you, I want you to think about how you really feel."

"That's bullshit. If they cared about me as much as I thought they did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation," I spat in return, crossing my arms across my chest. Paul raised his hands in surrender.

"You won't hear anymore complaints from me," he murmured as we lapsed into silence once more. This time the quiet was more settled. We didn't have a thousand unspoken words hanging in the air, but that didn't stop my mind from whirring at a million miles an hour. As much as I tried to fight it, Paul's words really stuck with me. Had I been too hasty to judge the Cullens? Did they stay away because they respected me and my wishes? I had told them, rather hostily, to stay away. Even my own dad had stayed out of my way. No one had really known what to do, so maybe I was too quick to blame them.

I shook those thoughts out of my head right away. The Cullens weren't ordinary people. They had lived long lives and Edward, who claimed to know me so well, should have known that the worst thing for me was to be left alone. Jasper could quite literally feel my pain. If anything, he should have explained it to the rest of the family. And vampires might bond with their mates, but it was nothing like the piece of ancient magic that I could now feel tying Paul and I together. It couldn't be.

"Hey, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," Paul said softly, pulling me into his side and pressing a firm kiss on my forehead.

"I know," I agreed.

"So don't worry about it. I'm back and right now, that's all that matters," he affirmed.

"Truer words were never spoken."

"Is there something else you wanted to talk about? Something else that maybe was bothering you that night?" he nudged me gently. I bit my lip, feeling the awkward nerves jumbling around in my stomach once more.

"We've already talked about it," I said simply.

"But it's still bugging you," he pressed. He knew what it was about. Why did he need me to say it so bad?

"It's just that since the boys don't know…since I hid the memory from the Pack and didn't tell them…they just make comments sometimes," I said evasively. I felt Paul tense, but I immediately pressed myself further into him and he calmed instantly.

"I…I would kick their asses, but I couldn't tell them why without explaining and I know you weren't ready to talk about that. And Bianca., it seriously doesn't matter. It's none of their business," he insisted. I stood up, throwing my hands up in the air in frustration.

"But it does! I wish that I could be normal so badly so that I could give you what a girlfriend or an imprint or whatever is supposed to give you. I don't want you to spend your life deprived just because I don't want to have sex. I know now that we're bonded and that nothing can change that. I get that, now, but that doesn't make it any easier. I need you to know that it's okay if you need to…go elsewhere for that kind of stuff. I wish that I could do it for you, but I just can't," I rambled anxiously, pacing as I stumbled over the words. Everything about this conversation was so uncomfortable, but it was what he asked for. Paul stood wordlessly, placing a hand on each of my shoulders and easing me back down to sit on the log. He tenderly brushed the hair out of my face before smiling widely.

"You're funny, you know that?" he chuckled. My jaw dropped.

"What?"

"You're funny. You said you finally grasped the imprint thing, but I don't think you did," he replied.

"How can you be laughing about this, seriously?" I snapped, irritated.

"Because you're still not getting that it's NO BIG DEAL," he expressed. "The imprint bond doesn't just mean we are stuck together. It means that I was made for you and vice versa. Some ancient magic made sure we were compatible. I don't need or want any of that because we were made to be a perfect match. I just didn't make a big deal out of it like you did," he shrugged. My head tilted to the side as I tried to grasp what he was saying.

"Are you telling me you are also asexual?" I tried to clarify. He shrugged.

"What's the point in labeling it when it doesn't affect anyone? Point is, I don't feel like I'm missing out and I would never look at any other girl like that. So relax, okay Bee?" he wrapped his arm around me once more and I nodded, still in shock.

"Okay. But you could have said something earlier, you jerk."

"And she's back!"

BB*BB*BB*BB*BB*BB

As much as we wanted to lay together and never be apart, we were still technically teenagers with parents who very much disapproved. Dad was incredibly happy to have me back to me and after a firm talk with both of us about honesty, trust, and responsibility, he told Paul to go home and spend the night with his mother who called to voice her disapproval earlier that evening. Very reluctantly, Paul had left. If I was a normal teenager, it would have been easy to sneak him back into my room when my dad was asleep. But my dad was a wizard and highly observant, just like my sister. So I promised Paul we would spend the whole weekend together and headed downstairs to my bedroom to find Bella waiting on my bed. I stopped short before remembering my promise to put it all out on the table for her. She sat expectantly, snacks laid out and all cuddled up in a soft blanket. She flashed me a real, genuine smile and patted the bed. We both chuckled as Noah took the place she had patted, but I sat on the bed with them anyway.

"I don't know where you want me to start," I admitted to my sister as she snuggled into my pile of pillows. She shrugged and nudged my leg with her knee gently.

"Well where were you running off to so quickly?" she asked.

"I told you. Paul and I had a huge fight two months ago and we finally promised to talk about it so I needed to do that," I said cautiously. I knew she would be more curious and I didn't know how much information would appease her. I physically couldn't tell her about the pack or the imprint bond. I was under gag order, same as the boys. My dad was excluded, but my Muggle sister was not.

"Bianca, you don't check out of your life for two entire months over some boy. Paul is special, isn't he?" she pushed quietly. I was shocked by her response, having expected something a little more pushy.

"Yeah," I affirmed with a nod. "He is."

"Okay. I can tell that you're not going to tell me much else about that, so I'll take it…for now. But only because I have a thousand other questions to ask you," she insisted. I sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few moments before releasing it slowly.

"Alright, shoot."

"Tell me about school! What's it called? Where is it? Is it really an academy with fancy uniforms and stuff? Who was that woman who came to the door?" she started excitedly and I put my hands up to stop her. She blushed lightly and nodded, leaving enough time for me to start actually responding.

"Okay, I'll try to tackle that word vomit as actual questions…my school is called Salem Academy of Magic. And yes, it's located in Salem, Massachussets and yes, it was created in response to the Salem Witch Trials you guys are all so obsessed with. It's really an academy with fancy uniforms, like the one you saw me wearing earlier. Just like a boarding school, we have to sleep in gender and age separated dorms. If you think about a fancy private boarding school for rich kids, it's basically like that. The woman that came to the door was our Dean, Allison Bishop. She's basically the principal, but more powerful," I rambled, trying to touch on everything she had asked, but not spending to much time on anything.

"Slow down please," she requested quietly. "Bianca, I really want to know about you. I want to understand, but you're sort of rushing through things." I paused and took a good look at my sister. With a deep breath I nodded and began again.

"Magic is complicated and no one is completely sure how it gets passed down or how it works, though they've been studying for centuries. There are still several countries and areas that fully reject Muggle advancements in science and technology because they insist that we don't need the Muggle ways of life when we have magic. Luckily, most areas in America are better about embracing Muggle culture. We know now that magic and technology don't actually clash, it's just an old wives tale that old witches and wizards used to scare their kids away from mingling with Muggles," I explained.

"And the word Muggle…you've explained it before, but explain it to me one more time?" Bella asked, tilting her head.

"Muggle is the general term we use for anything not-magical. In America we used to use 'non-mag', but it didn't roll off the tongue well enough so we adopted the European word Muggle."

"So I'm a Muggle?"

"Well…technically, I guess. It's a little complicated. Like I sorta mentioned earlier, nobody has really figured out why some people have magic and others don't. It's definitely somewhat hereditary. There are plenty of pure-blood families who only marry within the magical community so that they can guarantee their blood doesn't mix, like royalty or aristocracy. That's mostly out of fashion in North America these days because people were becoming severely inbred and it was just weird. When families are mixed with magical and Muggle blood, it's never for sure that children will be magical," I tried to explain the complicated rules to her, but I failed miserably as she just continued to furrow her brow in confusion.

"So that's like with us, right? Dad is a wizard, but Mom is a Muggle so we both had a 50/50 chance of being magical?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Maybe? Like I said, not a lot of people have put research into the hereditary qualities of magic because it's just too close to Muggle science. Hopefully in the future people will be able to better understand it. I think that would really help families like ours. Still, there are cases that don't fall into either category. Sometimes a kid is born to a completely Muggle family, but develops magic as they get older. And sometimes a kid is born to a completely magical family and never develops any powers…those kids are called Squibs. So I'm not sure whether you'd be called a Muggle or a Squib, but I think just a Muggle," I pondered.

"And you're just a witch?"

"I'd like to think so, but if people are going to be technical about it, I'm a half-blooded witch. Not pure because my mom is a Muggle, but that doesn't mean I have any less magic," I clarified.

"Okay I think I understood that. But why do you have to go to a special school? If you're powers are just kind of there and you can study spells from a book, why did you have to go away so much?" Bella asked quietly, her gaze dropping in shame. I scooted closer to her on the bed, nudging my knee against hers.

"Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't around as much. I know it was tough being so separated from us. All magical children have to be trained and the easiest way is to immerse yourself. Especially because when we're young, we have a hard time controlling our powers. They're strongly linked to our emotions and during your childhood and teenage years when you're emotions are running rampant, you can imagine that it could be a really big disaster. There's a lot of different elements to practicing magic. There's regular charms and hexes that you memorize, but there's also potions and creatures and astronomy and divination. Plus transfiguration…THAT is a fun one," I smiled, thinking of all the hilarious mishaps when people only got their transfigurations part way.

"You're rushing again: you said hexes. Are charms harmless and hexes the bad spells? Do they teach you the bad spells?" Bella questioned anxiously. I opened my mouth, but closed it after a few moments. I sat in thoughtful silence for a few more seconds before shaking my head.

"No. Hexes aren't 'bad' persay, though they're definitely different from charms. The really bad spells, there aren't many of them, are curses. Curses come in many different forms. There's cursed objects and the more sort of stereotypical stuff, but there's also curses that come in spell form and they're illegal. Officially they're dubbed "Unforgivable Curses" because they intentionally harm others and historically were used by some of the worst wizards and witches," I said slowly. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea about magic when she was just learning about it. She pulled back a little.

"But you know these curses?"

"I know what they're called, because I was taught why they were bad. Wizards and witches are no different than Muggles. They're mostly normal, good people. Some are rotten, but there's only a few truly horrible, evil ones out there. Hitler was a muggle and look what he could without magic. There have only been 1 or 2 wizards like that in our history, and most of that took place in Europe because they've had established societies long before we had them," I assured her.

"So if you know the name of a spell, you can do it?" Bella asked again, coming closer toward me once more.

"Once you have a basic understanding of spells and you have a good handle on your own powers, yes. But with the Unforgiveable Curses, you have to have the intent as well. Not all spells are so intense. I mean, just earlier I charmed a pen to write my English essay for me," I laughed. Bella rolled her eyes.

"I had a feeling you weren't acing all your classes during your comatose months without any help," she giggled in response. I shrugged, ignoring her jab on my intelligence.

"Okay so what about all the other things you said? Divination?"

"Anything from palm-reading to full on prophecies…all the voodoo type stuff," I summarized.

"Like Alice seeing the future?"

"No, well sort of I guess. The problem with Witches and Wizards is that sometimes they take things literally or assume that one interpretation of a prophecy is the only way the future will happen. Alice's visions are more accurate," I said shortly. I didn't want to talk about the Cullens at all and luckily, Bella seemed to pick up on that.

"Okay what about all the magical creatures? You definitely said creatures!" Bella squealed.

"Yes, there are dragons and pixies and trolls and so so much more. There are more magical creatures than I could ever explain. I'll let you read my books some time, though. You'll love it. At least you will if you love animals as much as I do," I smiled, running my fingers through Noah's fur as I leaned down to give him a big kiss. Bella nodded seriously and did the same. Noah's tail wagged furiously as he sat up to lick both of us once before snuggling back down.

"And transfiguration and potions?" Bella continued.

"Transfiguration is changing things from one thing to another. It can be as simple as changing cup to a bowl or as complex as changing yourself into an animal. That's something special that I've been working on. It's sort of an honors project. It's called being Animegus. Everyone has the ability to shift into one specific animal and it's a tough process to master, but once you have it, you register with the government so they know, and then you're just free to shift back and forth. It's really cool. Our Transfiguration Professor can turn herself into Bald Eagle. She always waits for her first class that way and freaks them out when she shifts into her human form," I giggled hysterically and Bella tried to catch on, but she didn't seem to understand the concept.

"So you're trying to turn yourself into an animal? What animal? Does that affect you? How do you even do it?" she rambled.

"I won't know what animal until I achieve it. It's a very spiritual sort of process. You have to fully empty your mind and try to reach into yourself to find it. And it gets easier once you've made the connection once. I haven't had much time to work on it lately, but I'll start working on it again now that things are starting to go back to normal. I'll have complete control over myself in either form and I'll still be me, human me, inside an animal body. I'll just get access to the physical form and senses and stuff," I tried to explain. Bella nodded and then lifted her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn.

"I think you've had enough for tonight. We'll keep talking, I promise," I told her, standing to go turn off the light.

"Wait, could you help me put my necklace back on? I took it off because I was mad at you, but I want to wear it again now that we're talking," Bella asked. I smiled widely.

"Sure, where is it?"

"It's in my room, on my dresser. If you go grab it, I'll take Noah out on one last potty break," she said, standing and stretching. I nodded in agreement and dashed up the stairs onto the main level and then up one more flight to the second floor bedrooms. My dad was in his bedroom watching the news, I could hear the TV murmuring and a bag crinkling as he snacked on popcorn in his bed. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle as I entered Bella's room. Sure enough, the simple diamond necklace was carefully laid out on her dresser. I made a quick grab for it, but the second my fingers touched it, I felt a sharp sting and heard an audible hiss. I recoiled my hand immediately, but a cloud of dark gray smoke began to envelope the necklace.

"DAD!" I shouted, backing out of the room quickly. The cloud of smoke was emitting a low hiss intermixed with what sounded like voices chanting over and over again: Temermi. Anima del male. Temermi. Anima del male.

My dad rushed out of his room, wand at the ready and stopped in his tracks beside me.

"Stay back," he warned in a low voice.

"Daddy what is that?"

"Whatever it is, it's dark magic. Conjure your patronus, send it to DC. We need an expert in curses here, now," he instructed me, his voice eerily calm as he placed a strong protection shielding charm, sealing Bella's room off from the rest of the house so that the dark cloud of magic wouldn't spill past. It continued to grow as I conjured my patronus, which was unsprisingly a smaller version of Paul's wolf, and instructed it to bring someone back from Department of Magical Protection. I heard Bella's footsteps and Noah's furious barking as she dashed up the stairs, hearing the commotion.

"Bella, honey, stay back! Bianca, go with her," my Dad shouted, not moving his focus from the growing cloud in Bella's room.

"What the hell is that?" Bella demanded from the top of the stairs. I shook my head furiously, ushering her and Noah back down the stairs and casting another shielding charm to assist my dad. He nodded his thanks as I descended the stairs to follow Bella.

"I don't know, but it's dark magic. Bella, I'm so sorry I brought that thing into our lives and put it on your neck. I had no idea. I don't think I ever touched it before, just it's package. I had no idea it had dark magic inside it," I rambled, my voice shaking in panic.

"What do you mean my neck? Is that coming from the necklace you bought me? Is that why I felt so angry and irrational that whole time I was wearing it?" she accused. I shook my head helplessly.

"I don't know, probably. I swear, Bella, I had no idea. I told you, I only know about dark magic in theory. It's illegal. It's not something any of us just know how to do. Please, I promise I didn't do this on purpose," I pleaded. Bella began pacing furiously, entangling her fingers in her long brown hair. Noah followed her, whining consistently. A few tense moments later, several men in suits started to apparate into our living room. My patronus appeared moments later and I dismissed it with a thankful nod.

"Upstairs," I told them and they rushed upstairs. I followed close on their heels and watched as they stopped to stare at the room which was now completely filled with the dark smoke. The murmurs were now a loud roar, which thankfully were being contained within the room so they were muted.

"Temermi. Anima del male," one of the men stated.

"That's Italian, right?" I gasped.

"Yes. It means Beware. Evil Soul. I didn't think we'd ever encounter something like this, but I think it's a Horcrux and a damn powerful one at that," the man murmured. We all gasped.

"Those are banned universally," my dad stated angrily. "How the hell did one get in my house? I thought you people tracked all of them down years ago when You-Know-Who was finally defeated."

"We did. But this one must have been very well masked. I want to know how it just put up it's defenses now," the same man stated, eyes moving to me warily. He was tall, maybe 6 foot 2 or something and he was built. It was definitely an intimidating gaze.

"I bought it for my sister at a pawn shop months ago. She's been wearing it daily, but took it off a week or so ago. I came upstairs to get it for her and the second I touched it, the magic exploded. My sister's a Muggle, so maybe she didn't set off it's defenses? They told us in school that there are very few things that can kill Horcruxes. Do you guys even have a way to do that?" I panicked. The man's glare hardened even more.

"Basilisk venom is the only known substance. We always carry a small vial in case of emergencies. It's lethal to everything. White, you have it with you?" he questioned one of his colleagues, who stood beside him. The man nodded and dug in his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a small vial of clear liquid.

"Where is the item located? It's impossible to see through all the smoke. I'll need clear directions," the man asked me again. My mind came to a blank, but my eyes were caught on that little vial.

"Sorry, it's faster this way," I shouted, grabbing the vial and rushing into the smoke before anyone could grab me. I briefly heard my dad curse loudly, but the second it only took me a half a second to find the dresser. I opened the vial and quickly poured it onto the necklace. There was a terrible, deafening screech before a loud hiss and then all the smoke and the roar of the words was gone. I let myself sink to the floor, back against the dresser as my heart continued to thud in my chest. The men rushed in, retrieving the necklace carefully and my Dad grabbed me and pulled me into a powerful hug.

"Don't ever be that stupid again, Bianca," he spoke into my hair, never releasing me from his iron hold. I nodded.

"I'm sorry. I panicked. I swear I wasn't trying to be stupid-brave. I just wanted it to end and I'm so sorry I brought that thing into our house," I cried, the tears finally breaking through the adrenaline. My sister joined our hug a moment later and my Dad and I both pulled her into our hold, our arms all an intertwined mess.

"I don't mean to break this up. I know it's been a harrowing experience for all of you, but we need to take this necklace in as evidence. We need to figure out whose Horcrux this was. I'm Agent Sims, that's Agent White. If you need us, please don't hesitate to contact our office again. We'll be contacting you in the next few days if we have any follow up questions." The buff agent instructed before swiftly apparating. At that moment, nobody cared that they left us with a million questions. We just clung to each other, happy to be alive. Moments later the house phone began to ring nonstop. Bianca let it ring and go to voicemail 3 full times before she broke away from their family moment and answered it with annoyance.

"Hello?"

"Oh my god Bianca! Are you alright? What's going on there? I just had a ton of crazy visions and they didn't make sense. Please tell me you're all alright," came Alice's panicked voice from the other end. I heaved a sigh. I was mad at the Cullens, but I wasn't heartless.

"Yes, we're all okay. Something was wrong with that necklace we bought Bella a few months ago. It was cursed," I said, not wanting to go into details on the whole horcrux business.

"That would explain why my visions were so weird. Anything involving magic is usually fuzzy. Thank god you're okay. Bianca we can't keep going on like this," she started.

"I'm not having this conversation right now. See you at school," I said shortly, hanging up and rejoining my father and sister who were now seated on my sister's bed, sitting in silence.

"We'll deal with this tomorrow. Tonight, let's just…rest," my Dad stated finally. We all nodded in agreement and did exactly that.

50 miles away in the industrial part of Seattle, a pale-skinned, raven haired woman screamed in agony. Whether her agony was rooted in frustration or pain, the young blonde man beside her couldn't tell. The slender woman whipped her head to face her companion. He shrunk under her scarlett gaze.

"What are you?" he stuttered.

"Your future," she answered simply before grabbing him in a blur of movement and sinking her shark teeth into his neck. The young man emitted a sound which echoed the one she had made only moments before. She dropped his body to the ground with a thud and watched as he writhed in pain. She tilted her head slowly, running her thumb across her bottom lip and licking the blood off it.

"Oh Riley," she purred, waving her hand casually. Instantly, his screams were silenced, though he continued to thrash violently.

"I think you'll make a fine little monkey for me to order around. You just sit tight," she leaned over him, tying his arms and legs together tightly with steal cables. "I'll be back in a few days when you're all done. For now, I need to go find the little witch that destroyed my Horcrux," she snarled and turned on her feet, disappearing into thin air in an instant.

Author's Note: So! I'm alive and still writing. And wasn't that just the most thrilling ending to a chapter ever? I hope you'll notice this chapter is significantly longer than the others have been. I'm trying to write longer chapters to make up for the fact that it takes me months to write one. I really hope you guys enjoyed it, though. This story is starting to get exciting. I have a lot planned for this story and it only gets more thrilling from here on out. PLEASE REVIEW. Honestly I have no idea if anyone is still even reading this story, so make sure to let me know if you're enjoying it!

MWA!