Rewrite: Kind but Scary

Chapter 22: The Unseen Future and the Hybrid's Curse

Chapter 22: The Unseen Future and the Hybrid's Curse

The grand spires of Volterra faded into the distance as the entire extended family—Jasmine, Severus, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Neville, Luna, Blaise, Lara, Pansy, Sofie, and Ace—returned to Italy to support the Volturi coven. As the leaders of the vampire world, the Kings and Queens had duties to attend to, and their newfound wixen family stood proudly by their side.

One quiet afternoon, Jasmine stood on the stone balcony of the grand suite she shared with Athenodora, Theo, and Caius. The warm Italian breeze ruffled her hair just as her mobile phone began to ring. Seeing Alice's name on the screen, she answered immediately, catching the instant, sharp attention of her three mates.

"Hello? Alice, what's wrong?" Jasmine asked, her brow furrowing.

"Jasmine, you need to come back to Forks immediately," Alice's voice came through, thick with panic. "I don't know what is going on, but... I can't see Bella's future anymore. It's completely gone."

Hearing those words, Jasmine didn't hesitate. With a sharp, elegant flick of her wrist, her magic flared through the room. Clothes, trunks, and travel gear belonging to her and her mates packed themselves in a blur of motion. Within minutes, she had side-along apparated her group directly to the private runway where the family's jet stood ready. The rest of the wixen family, having felt the urgent pulse of her magic, met them at the steps, and they boarded without delay.

Upon arriving at the Cullen manor in Forks, the tension in the living room was thick enough to cut with a knife. The Cullens stood in a protective semi-circle, looks of sheer bewilderment on their faces.

"Guys, what is going on?" Jasmine asked, stepping into the room.

Rosalie and Alice silently stepped aside. Rosalie gently helped Bella stand up from the sofa. Jasmine gasped, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of Bella's heavily swollen, rounded abdomen. It was impossibly large for the short time that had passed. Jasmine glanced at Luna, hoping her unique sight could pierce the fog, but Luna merely offered a solemn, slow shake of her head.

While the vampires in the room began to argue frantically over the impossibility of the situation, Jasmine drew Severus aside.

"Papa, is there a way to check on Bella and the child without causing her physical harm?" Jasmine whispered.

"I believe so," Severus murmured, his dark eyes analyzing the maternal shape. "But it will be a delicate, lengthy process. We will need several days to monitor the magical and biological signatures."

A sudden thought struck Jasmine. She grabbed her father's sleeve and hurried back up the stairs into the main room. "Hold on, everyone. A quick question—can you hear anything inside Bella's stomach?"

The vampires in the room nodded in unison.

"Yes," Pansy answered, her nose twitching slightly. "I hear a heartbeat from the womb. It sounds like a baby, but... different."

Blaise nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it feels strange. Jas, didn't you and I read something about this back in the library of the wizarding world? I swear we saw a text on supernatural anomalies."

That caught the attention of everyone in the room. Realization suddenly washed over Jasmine, and she gasped loudly, a brilliant smile breaking across her face.

"Of course! Bella, you are carrying a hybrid child—half-human, half-vampire!"

Blaise snapped his fingers. "Exactly! How could I have forgotten that text?"

With a flick of her wand, Jasmine summoned a heavy, leather-bound tome on ancient magical and non-magical cross-species to her hand. She sat down on the sofa next to Bella, flipping through the parchment pages until she found the correct passage.

"Listen to this," Jasmine said, reading aloud:

"Once the human woman is impregnated, the fetus inside her grows at an exponential rate, far exceeding human development, and will grow extremely strong over time. Should it cause too much trauma to her body before birth, it can easily destroy its own existence by killing the mother. If the fetus is not consistently nourished with blood, it will involuntarily deteriorate its mother's health, making the chances of survival incredibly slim.

The fetus reaches full term approximately one month after conception, and will utilize its own physical strength and teeth to break its way out. This will, however, result in the death of the mother, as the physical damage is too great for a mortal body to endure. The only known method to save the mother after the birth is by injecting vampire venom directly into her heart to initiate the transformation."

A hush fell over the room as the gravity of the words sank in. Jasmine turned the page, continuing to read about the nature of the child:

"They are beings of immense beauty. Due to their physical perfection and superhuman abilities, they can easily be mistaken for immortal children from a distance. They possess well-developed physiques and flawless skin, paler than a human's but lacking the stark, marble quality of a vampire's.

Unlike full vampires, they possess a functioning heart with blood flowing through their system, beating at a rapid pace. They are capable of sleep and can gain nourishment from both human food and blood, though they heavily prefer the latter. Their body temperature is unusually warm, resting just below that of shape-shifters."

Jasmine looked up, noting the fascination in the eyes of the Volturi guard, though the worry for Bella's safety remained paramount.

"It also says here," Jasmine added, "that their skin shows a faint, beautiful illumination in sunlight rather than a dazzling sparkle, allowing them to blend in easily with humans. They possess a balanced scent, combining the sweetness of a vampire with the appeal of a human. Furthermore, because their chromosomes differ from both humans and vampires, they represent a complete blind spot in Alice and Luna's visions until they are born. Once they reach physical maturity—around seven years of age—their aging ceases completely, granting them the immortality of a full vampire."