𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

Chapter One: Mean Snickerdoodle

"An amethyst crystal?" I laughed as I opened the small but decorative box containing the rock. Celine rolled her eyes, swiftly grabbing the crystal and placing it in my hands. "It's not an amethyst—god forbid that human baloney. This is lepidolite; a rare stone that helps with emotional balance and inner peace."

I examined the lepidolite—I could use some emotional balance, but crystals pushed it. 

"It's almost time to leave. Unless you wanna enjoy a cross-country road trip to Forks, Washington?" Mom reminded. This was the worst part of leaving my home—the place I had spent seventeen years learning and growing up in. Moving never really meant losing all touch from sunny California, but you would think we would be moving somewhere it didn't rain all the time. 

The town in question Forks, was a sixteen-hour drive from San Francisco. No one wanted to drive that far—no one just meant my mother and me, but anything would have been better than apparating. 

Apparition—a form of appearing, in which a person traveled instantly from one location to another, without traversing the space in between. As easy and efficient as it may seem, there is a reason it is very uncommon and rarely used. 

Apparating from place to place is a very tricky process. It requires complete focus and even the slightest mistake could cause chaos, which is why this is only used by advanced-level witches and wizards. Even if you do get it completely right, the procedure is so fast that the users often experience whiplash and motion sickness for days at a time. 

"All your stuff's been shipped through the Network. I'm gonna miss you guys." Celine and Jieza were sad. They'd been moping around the whole weekend when I'd told them I was moving away. "Cali's just plane away. I promise I'll be back before you know it."

"Ready, Lina?" Mom's voice questioned again. I hugged both my cousins goodbye, knowing I would miss them a lot when I reach Forks. I held my mother's hand just like I always did before every important event of our lives, before whispering.

"Apparate."

***

"It's a nice house—quite big for the two of us, but it'll work out." Mom sipped her tea heartily. She was an Elder Witch—one of the respected Wiccans who have been trained their whole lives to build up a tolerance towards magic. On the other hand, I was throwing up at five-minute intervals and my neck was so stiff it could break glass.

"As these things should. I didn't think I could ever live in a place like this, but it's not that bad." Esme told my mother. The Cullen house was very elegant—glass interiors and minimalist decorations. A vampire's way of living did not require much of what humans do.

"Esme, you may be a vampire, but you make a mean snickerdoodle."

Esme smiled warmly. She was like my second mother—my first mother's close friend. I was raised by the Cullens; they were there when I was in diapers to my first words, first day at school, got me my first wand—cedar wood with a dragon core—fights, heartbreaks, and so many other things. They were my family—people I would take a bullet for even though it wouldn't kill them.

"As you may know, Edward recently found his mate in a human girl, Bella Swan. While protecting her, we were attacked by James and Victoria, and we killed James leaving Victoria mateless. To continue keeping Bella and our treaty safe, we left for Ithaca, New York.

There was an attempt to kill her which the wolves had rescued her from—said person was Laurent, an ally of Victoria's. The only thing we know is that Victoria is planning something—to take her revenge as soon as possible. If she reaches here and succeeds, she will have taken not on Bella's, but also this entire town's lives."

I was huddled up on the couch, Rose and Emmett by my sides. Edward getting a girlfriend meant a lot of unwanted trouble. Human-vampire relationships were strictly prohibited—a law set by The Volturi in 1783 when the vampire Dravin was forced to kill his human lover Anasta because she starved and lured him to his death. 

I have learned a lot about vampires as part of my training, but also because I was surrounded by them.

"The situation looks bad from every angle. Victoria could have who knows how many allies within her reach. Even if you do win, which we can make sure will happen, the pressure of turning Bella will be put down by The Volturi, and this decision will be deeply resented by the Quileute tribe and might affect your treaty."

"Never thought I'd be the one saying this but, this is too much information to process in one day." Mom rubbed her temple as she stared at the whiteboard with various drawings of stick figures on it. "I think you should meet Billy."

"Billy Black?" I mumbled in response to Carlisle's words. He nodded before continuing. "Billy and Sam might be the only ones who will speak with you rationally. The others...I am not so sure about."

"Then it is settled: we will meet with the tribe tomorrow." Mom declared. I immediately stood up, horrified at that decision. 

"Woah, you mean you will meet the tribe and I will read a book at home, maybe a walk if I'm feeling up for it."

Mom laughed. "Like you're getting out of this. Fine, you don't have to meet Billy, but you have to meet Bella. Her house could use some protection."

"I'll check my schedule." I smiled, noticing Alice's eyes go blank.

A vision.

***

"Are you sure this is where you saw her?" Carlisle asked. Alice was concentrating hard on Victoria's movements. Mom insisted I go—I was still being punished for something I did which may have involved fireworks and a church. 

"She's almost here," Alice answered. It was very dark out, nightfall arriving closer by the minute. We were spread out in the middle of the forested area awaiting Victoria's arrival. Alice foresaw her coming into our territory, and Victoria probably knew we would be involved in a game of cat and mouse. 

"Homenum Revelio."

A bright red light glowed from afar, but it got closer with every second. "On your left!"

 Emmett ran first, followed by Rosalie and the rest of the Cullens. I tried running, but my legs gave out after five seconds. I was weak and God knew I was, thus he blessed me with powers beyond my imagination. 

"Accroître Momentum."

Victoria was much closer to me now, perhaps I was closer to her, but I couldn't care about anything other than grabbing her monstrous red hair. Emmett grabbed her shoulder, only to be tossed out onto the sidelines. 

"Stop! She's in their territory now." Carlisle held an arm in front of me as Victoria jumped. We ran along the edge, watching her as the wolves took over the chase. She ran faster than ever before jumping towards us again. 

We pursued her with more vigor and determination, but she was keen on losing us. That's when Emmett made a huge mistake. He jumped after Victoria into the Quileute land, and in an attempt to save him, I misfired a hex.

"Levicorpus!"

The wolf that had pushed Emmett off the land was grabbed by one of his ankles and helplessly dangled in the air, floating higher and higher. His wolf buddies growled at us and Esme gave me a pleading look. "Reverse the spell and we'll return."

I nodded at Carlisle's hushed words. 

"Liberacorpus."

The wolf fell to the ground without breaking so much a bone. 

Wish I could say the same about myself.