Dusk - A Twilight Reimagining

3 - A Witch's Favor

"Ah, so you can't shut up. Thank you for answering my question with your endless blabbering," he clicked his tongue at the end and waved her off with a flick of his wrist. "Now go back to the sweat pool of students you came from."

His taunts went in one ear and swiftly out the other as Bella stormed up the steps to stand right in front of him. Her each footstep echoed like a war drum against Edward's skull, his nose scrunching as she closed in. Fate locked in as Edward's body refused to move and Bella's hand reached out. She snatched him by the front of his jacket and tugged the shocked boy down to her eye level, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"You've got a really punchable face, Cullen. Go on, say that again. Fuck around and find out," she hissed. Her warning boiled in the space between them as her free hand curled into a tight fist.

Like a winter beast, Edward released a smokey breath of cold. His eyes hardened as the angered boy leaned in menacingly. Neither of them would ever know what he was about to say, thanks to the startling noise that sent them flying apart. Metal rang in their ears and shook their skulls as their desperate palms flew up to shield themselves from the violent attack. When the jarring noise stopped, their eyes drew upward to its source. 

A young woman quietly stood quietly at the top of the stairs, her pale fingers cradling a smooth black stone. Her silver hair glistened like starlight in the unusually direct sun. Wise silver eyes—silver like the full moon—bore into them one by one. She started with Edward, who received nothing more than a critical glance. Next in her line of attack stood Bella, but the student's gaze was swept over with the tide. Disapproving silver turned soft and comforting, the woman giving her a slow nod.

Edward's skin constricted around his bones, growing itchy as his feet were compelled by the urge to run. Like the proudest trees kneeling to the wind's strength, the boy bowed his head and turned on his heels. He strode off without another word, disappearing into the monochrome school hallways.

"What just happened?" She couldn't wrap her head around it, feeling the hushed realization of something beyond herself brush the back of her ears. Bella Swan stepped into territory she wasn't familiar with.

The weird part? She wasn't entirely sure this new world was familiar with her either. 

When Bella turned her gaze back to the woman, she was standing a mere few steps above her. She jumped back three steps, startled by their sudden proximity. Bella waited for her to speak first, to explain herself, but her fellow student just watched her. 

Her hair was as silver as her eyes, shimmering strands of spun satin in the sunlight. Freckles dusted her nose like stars across the night sky, those silver eyes her two moons. She wore an elegant purple crop top over what looked like a fishnet shirt, the base tucked into her long black skirt and thick silver belt. Her sneakers were purple, hand embroidered with grey thread depicting the lunar phases, and worn down from years of use.

Bella cleared her throat. "Thanks for diffusing the situation back there," she said, scratching the back of her head to try and find a socially appropriate thing to say. "I'm Bella. What's your name?" 

Realization flickered across the woman's eyes as she lifted her fist to her chest, rubbing in a quick circular motion before digging through the pockets of her skirt. Bella's eyebrows arched, and she instinctually leaned in.

She watched as the woman pulled out a notepad and flung it open, sliding her pencil out of its holder as she began to write. When she was done, she flipped the notepad around and showed Bella. Her handwriting was neat and big, with cute little loops around her y's and a's.

My name is Cyra. Sorry for the confusion, I'm mute.

"Oh, I see. Do you sign?"

Yes. Do you?