Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

Beta'd by cupcakeriot. Without her, this would have been impossible.

Last time on Augury:

As I enter my house, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out to find an unknown number calling me. Wondering who it could be, I answer it.

"Bella?" Edward's unmistakable voice calls out.

"Edward?" I ask, bewildered.

"I can't here you anymore."

Augury Chapter Fifteen

It doesn't take long for me to realize that I'm staring at the back of my eyelids. I'm very much aware of the ticking of my bedside clock, and I know I will have to wake up very soon when the alarm will go off, but the swirl of colors forming behind my eyelids are incredibly fascinating, so I keep my eyes shut. I intently watch as my subconscious mind morphs and changes the colors to form a very familiar, yet alien view. There's green everywhere. The thick canopy, the mosses on the bark of hundred-year-old trees, the dew covered grass - it's mesmerizing. Somewhere above me, mockingbirds sing a song. However, what makes this sight breath taking is the clear stream that flows through all the green.

I hesitantly put one foot in the creek and instantly the water clouds up with sand and gravel. The water is frigid and, as soon as my other foot hits the water surface, a chill shoots up my spine. It's unsettling, but I take a few steps into the stream just to feel the frosty water rush through my toes. Icy ribbons wrap around my feet and dampen the end of my jeans, but I still stand my ground. When sensation completely leaves my toes, I decide to wade back to the bank but as soon as I turn, the dry earth seems to be a million miles away. Panic strikes me and all of a sudden I am no longer standing in the middle of a creek, but swimming in the middle of a wide ocean and the water isn't clear anymore - it's blood red. Corpses with marred faces surround me; one wears my brother's favorite T-shirt, while the other stares at me with dead emerald eyes, unblinking and unresponsive. My own feet are suddenly too heavy for me and I start shooting my limbs haphazardly to keep myself afloat. The last thing I see before going down is a set of scarlet eyes reminding me of how little time I have left.

The alarm rings just as my eyes fly open. My forehead is clammy and my feet feel ice cold. I slowly sit up and try to wriggle my toes awake. Nightmares are no strangers to me; they come to me frequently, but seldom make any sense. This nightmare, however, is not one of my usual ones. I recognize that creek. I've been there. Yet no matter how hard I try, I can't place it. It's still alien to me- foggy and incomprehensible.

I pull at my hair and rub my eyes. Wanting nothing more than to remain cocooned in the warmth of my blanket, I pull my purple blanket up to my face and attempt to cover the exposed parts of my body, but the sight of the sun peeking out from the clouds force me to fling my covers back. In my hurry to start getting ready for the day, I forget that my feet are still half-asleep and lose my balance as soon stand up. The edge of my bedside table meets my forehead and cuts right across my forehead.

They say all it takes is a single moment to turn your life inside-out and upside-down.

In this moment, mine does.

My hands, which are suddenly not mine anymore, shoot up to cup my forehead.

An anguished cry bursts of my mouth-a cry, which I did not let out, even though I felt like doing it.

A single drop of blood trickles down my cheek and hits the floor.

The mirror opposite to me reflects the truth, which I already know.

Golden eyes stare back at me, agonized.

It takes a while for my mind to register someone calling my name. I recognize the voice as one I've grown up hearing. Strong arms wrapped around my body surprise me. They will me to move, but I can't. He won't let me.

"Bella, honey, can you hear me? Come back to me, Bella. Please come back to me," a soft voice whispers in my ear.

"I don't know how to," I whisper back.

…

I've always loved watching driftwood burn. The brilliant blue flame never ceased to fascinate me, but I have to admit that the view beyond the fire is even more fascinating. A sliver of orange sun peeks out from the horizon and colors the sky a mysterious blend of mauve and ruby. The brown sea stretched out in front of the horizon is calm and there are a few boats hobbling up and down, probably anglers returning home. The sharp crackle of the fire draws my attention back to the small gathering of people sitting around me.

"Do you have any more information, Charlie?"

My father looks up, his face void of emotion. "No, gentlemen, I don't."

"You've got nothing? At least give us an estimated time frame to prepare or the number of opponents we'll have to face!" A man shouts. Others nod their agreement.

"Mark, I only know what you know, nothing more and nothing less," my father says in a grave voice.

"Well, what about Bella?" Another man inquires.

"What about her?" Em questions, shuffling closer to me. Ever since my catatonic incident this morning, he refused to leave my side. I raise a hand to my forehead and lightly sweep my hand over the band-aid. It feels real but I'm still unable to come to terms with it. I know a break-through occurred again. Whether it was me doing the breaking in or him, I'm not sure. All I'm sure about is that the small cut on my forehead hurt more than it should. It hurt so much that it weakened me against him and, when the shock from whatever happened in that moment wore off, he trapped me again. And this time I gave into unconsciousness.

"She has a connection to Volturi, right? Why can't she get the information?"

I snap out of my inner monologue to look at the man wearing thick, black-rimmed spectacles. A moment of silence passes and then everyone starts talking all at once.

"No way, it's too risky," Em's voice booms.

"That's a brilliant idea. She could be our only way in," a wizard says, looking at me speculatively.

Other witches and wizards discuss this newfound idea while Em keeps shaking his head vigorously and Jake looks like he is minutes away from shape shifting. Someone comes and takes a seat beside me on the driftwood and I look up to find Edward sitting there, staring murderously ahead.

After a few minutes, it all quiets down and Dad finally speaks. "What do you think?" he asks me directly.

I did not expect that. I keep opening and closing my mouth, desperately trying to find a few words to form a sentence but Em beats me to it.

"Are you fucking mad?" he bellows, standing up.

"You will speak respectfully to your father, boy," a coven member says severely.

"Shut up! You people don't know anything! Do you have any idea how Bella looks when the connection occurs? She looks tortured! She looks so fucking scared and I can't do anything but just stand there and watch her."

My eyes tingles with unshed tears as I hear Em's voice waver for the first time.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm sure you wouldn't be so keen on extracting information if it was one of your own children in Bella's place."

"What do you suggest we do then, boy? Just stand there and wait for the Volturi to come and finish us off? You're naïve if you think that we can win this war with our fighting skills and powers alone." The man stands up and walks to where Em is standing, his eyes wide with fury.

Instinctively, my shield stretches to cover him. I feel Edward tense beside me and in my peripheral vision, I see Dad stand up.

"Enough! Emmett, go and sit down. I'll deal with you later. Vladimir, please sit down. I apologize for my son's behavior."

Em huffs and stomps to reclaim the seat beside me, and Vladimir nods at my father before taking his seat.

"I'll talk to Bella regarding what you have suggested in private, if you don't mind. Because she is my daughter and I would never want any harm to befall her if I can avoid it." When the coven member hum in accordance, my father continues, "Now I would like to discuss some other important details, like the safety of the humans. I don't want any more innocent blood spilled. Also, we have to make sure that during the war, they are safely locked inside their homes, seeing nothing and hearing nothing."

"So we'll have to hypnotize them?" Jazz asks.

"Yes, we'll use Obsuru charm. It will take effect the second the Volturi steps within the boundary of this town."

"But Charlie, this town has a population above three thousand. How are we going to manage hypnotizing all these people?" Rose asks, horrified.

"Yes, I know it's a lot of work but your Dad has everything ready to go. We have split you into groups of three and given each group a list of families they'll have to spell cast. If all goes according to plan, the entire town will be under our enchantment by the end of this month," Dad finishes.

Peter stands, clutching a stack of papers in his hand and speaks, "Now when I speak your name, please come to me and collect the name of families that are your responsibility. Also, spell casters, if you don't know the Prisucsozu and Obsuru charm by heart, come to me after the meeting and I'll give you the verses."

Stefan… Vladimir… Garrett…

I watch the wizards called upon, get up and collect their share of family names.

James… Victoria… Laurent…

My mind wanders back to this morning as the name call continues.

I was the one who got hurt, but then why was he screaming?

Unconsciously, I raise a hand to my wound again.

I got hurt because of an accident. But he didn't.

The pain on my forehead didn't feel like I had a quick accident. It felt as if someone was purposefully drawing a knife across my head. Like the skin was tearing on it's own.

As my vision starts to blur, I clutch down on the driftwood for fear I won't be in control of my body the next second.

But the two things that happens the next second completely leave me out of breath.

First, I see my reflection on a mirror. Not mine, but mine. My face stares back at me, terrified, and my forehead bearing a bloody, unhealed cut.

Second, Peter's voice calling out my name, "Bella, Nathan and Edward, please come forward to collect your papers."

-X-

A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed it.

angelari7- How's this?

Snippets of Whimsy- Thankyou! Hope you liked the chapter.

Camilla10- I'm sorry but I honestly don't have the time to do a re-cap on the entire story. I hope you understand.

heartstrings13- Thanks for reading and reviewing!

sujari6- Yup. He sure will. ;)

dinotopian- Thank you too!

jbrjaw27- My Edward is a perfect gentleman. Okay, maybe he's a bit cocky. And a bit of a jerk.

debslmac- :D

Edward's spouse- Thank you!