Burning Star: A Twilight FanFic

Ch 1- A Personal Quest

There was my confirmation. The records on this coven were meticulous, especially since they were powerful, and had been in a recent conflict with the Volturi. I was already pretty sure that I knew who I was looking for, but now it was crystal clear.

I headed back to the front of the Archives. Al and Olly must've been elsewhere, because they weren't by the entrances. I'd have to thank them another time. There wasn't really any need to rush, but excitement and nerves buzzed through me, and that energy made me eager to get to work. I was so close to my goal; it would be perfect if I could make this work.

With the hope that I was correct, I'd already packed a suitcase with clothes appropriate to the weather for Forks and booked a rental car. I wanted to be prepared to leave as soon as possible. I snagged the red suitcase and my satchel bag from the reading area where I'd left them, and headed over to the exits.

The Archives' actual location was top secret information, and though I was one of the nine people who knew where it was, and how to get up to the residence above, I knew better than to do that. Not even Al, Olly, or their nieces and nephew ever left through the actual front doors of their home. Instead, they used The Archives' magic gateways- portals to different locations around the world. All you had to do was use the right code to select a city and a target point with in the destination. There were iPads next to each gate with a list of codes for all the available locations. I thought it was a little frivolous to use iPads instead of paper, but Al decided that she might as well use her near infinite bank accounts.

I walked up to the North American gateway and tapped the iPad next to it to wake it up. It was already open to the search page for codes. I typed in Seattle, the closest location to Forks. Using projection magic, I placed the number in front of the gateway. When it glowed blue, I stepped though, and felt the momentary jolt that came with traveling magically.

Suddenly, I found myself in a family bathroom in a tucked away in a quiet part of the Seattle airport. To any human trying to get in, it would seem like there was always someone in this bathroom. The door would always be locked and a spell caused them to automatically move on and ignore it. Unlocking the door required magic, or a special key. Leaving through this gateway was also a tricky feat, even for most witches. There was another one in this airport that was more commonly used. This one had links to private and secret locations, so it could really only be used by high-level officials.

When I exited, I looked around at the signs to figure out where I needed to go. I'd never been to Seattle, so I couldn't find my own way to the rental car area. It seemed I was close. Pulling my suit case behind me, I followed the signs to my destination. Technically, I wasn't old enough to rent a car, but I had a few false identities for situations like this. 

A little while later, I was sitting in the front of a plain sedan, plugging in the address of a hotel in Forks. There was a four hour drive ahead of me, so I put on the news radio to keep the back of my mind occupied. I wasn't up to date on human news, and I didn't want to seem like a dumb blonde if someone asked me a question.

My main focus was on my mission. I was trying to give my grandfather a gift of answers. Well, really of closure. I didn't think he'd want to know exactly what happened to his big sister. But the knowledge that she was okay would certainly be a relief. I was a little worried about how he'd react to seeing her. She'd look similar to her past self, and much younger than someone her age should. He knew not to ask questions about age though. Throughout the years, he'd met several people who never changed, my brother and his wife included. Chris was seven years older than me, but we could pass as twins now. He'd stopped aging at 25, when he was appointed to his position as Witch High Council Enforcer.

This was going to be more jarring than the others he had seen. Many of those he'd seen had been hundreds, or even thousands of years old, yet he'd only known them for a few years. But his sister looking as young as she had all those years ago? That was bound to be a different kind of weird. I just hoped it wasn't too much, that he could accept that reality.

As time drifted by, my mind filled with worries. How would I explain this? I'd have to explain to a whole world to the Olympic Coven that they never knew of just to make my story believable. And I didn't know if they could even accept that. My only hope was that the mind reading Edward would be able to confirm the validity of my words.

On top of the revelation that witches existed, I'd also have to convince my long-lost great aunt to travel to Northern California in two weeks. I knew very little about her personality. Only what little was in the archives, and what my grandfather had told me about her as a human. Would she be willing to come? I knew that many vampires forgot their human lives over time. Would she even remember my grandfather enough to care?

Four hours later, I sat in front of the hotel. I parked by the main entrance and headed inside to check in. It was winter, so there were very few cars in the parking lot- tourist season was months away. I hurried through the doors to get out of the cold.

"Hello! Welcome to Forks!" the woman at the front desk said. "Checking in?"

"Yes. The reservation is under the last name Lee," I responded. It wasn't technically my last name, but it was possible the people of Forks had heard my real one before. They might ask questions.

She pulled up my reservation and gave me my room key. I thanked her, followed her directions to the elevator, and went up. My room was at the end of the second floor hallway. One king bed and a bathroom; I didn't need anything else. It was midday here, and I decided to just get my ordeal over with. The necessary hike would be suspicious at night, anyway. I changed into a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and my brown boots. My hair went up into a ponytail, and I slipped my coat back on.

I checked my satchel bag over, making sure it had everything I needed- the photo album, the invitation, and the three stacks of letters. It was all there. So I set my suitcase down, put my room key in my wallet, and headed back out to find the Cullens.