Bound || A Twilight Fanfic

Prologue

Certain mysteries in the universe had always been unexplainable. Further than the existence of vampires and werewolves, witches and wizards, hybrids, and more, one thing remained too complex to understand–even to the most brilliant of minds.

Soulmates.

The intricacy of how two souls were bound together by the universe boggled everyone. The only certain thing was that there was a word for it that spread across languages, cultures, and even species. But all of them concorded in one thing, this particular bond linked you to a person for the rest of your life.

Yet, it was almost unheard of for this connection to transcend species. Unheard of, yes, but not impossible. And it was those unique cases that crumbled any understanding there was about soulmates. Those exceptions that broke every single rule.

Esther Haight and Samuel Leighton were one of those exceptions. A witch and a vampire, natural-born enemies selected to be paired for eternity. And they had decided to answer the calling with love.

The girl was a descendant of a Salem witch that had fled North during the trials, forced to hide her magic and live in seclusion amidst the forests. Esther had been taught her wiccan roots under candlelight and whispered spells. She spent her entire childhood living in fear, looking over her shoulder. But as time went on she grew used to concealing her true self. There was no need to listen to the shadows, she could feel their energy before they ever neared. Despite her fear, she grew strong and powerful.

But there was something always missing.

"I understand not, mother," she had asked one day. "I hast all's I could possibly crave, yet I still feel empty. There's something inside me that is lacking."

"Worry not, my child," her mother had answered with a smile. "What thou are feeling is the tug of thy bound soul."

"What is a bound soul, mother?"

"When we are born and reborn, fragments of our souls scatter and sink into the lives of others," the woman continued, running her fingers through her daughter's long hair. "It tethers 'em to us. Those are our soul mates. Thou might meet some of 'em as thou grow, or thou might meet none. Yet no connection shall aye be as firm-set as the bonded soul.

Not many are thrifty enough to find 'em 'i one lifetime, for't is not a primrose feat to discover the other half of thy heart. Yet the thrifty few that doth experience a love like no other. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of love"

That phrase had stuck in Esther's heart. A once-in-a-lifetime sort of love; the kind of love poets wrote about. She dreamed of that love and wondered if she would be one of those lucky few. Though, as time dwindled on she feared there would be no chance.

One year, then two, then four. Years and years with no sign of her bound soul. Yet, that wasn't a startling realization as the fact that her face had remained the same throughout that time. Esther saw as her mother's hair started to pepper with white curls, how the wrinkles by her eyes deepened, how the woman's body grew weaker. And still, she remained in the same skin as her twenty-two-year-old self.

"Yet, mother, how could this be?" Esther worried on what was supposed to be her thirtieth birthday. "I am witness to thy age and yet, I hast not changed a day 'i years now. Is't a curse?"

"I warrant thou, mine dear, that no dark magic hath been bestowed upon thou," the woman cooed. "Although I never hast an explanation for what is happening thee, I say to thou that there hath been no harm thee"

"What if this continues, then, mother? What would I doth would I lost thou?"

"Mortality is not something to be afeared of, mine child," she said with a smile. "We all return to Mother Earth one day. And would she so allows it, we shall walk amongst her children once more."