Ten-year-old Sam Uley boredly watched his best friend, Andrew Lahote, chase after their friends at the beach. Leah Clearwater and Rebecca Black ran away from Andrew because he held a crab that he found in his grasp.
" Look! Look! Isn't it cool," Andrew widely smiled while chasing after Leah and Rebecca.
" Leave us alone, Lahote!" Rebecca snapped at Andrew.
" Yeah! Throw that crab away! It gives me the creeps!" Leah looked at Andrew in slight disgust.
" But it's cute!" Andrew shows off the crab to Rebecca and Leah.
" Paul! Tell your idiot of a brother to leave us alone!" Rebecca turns her gaze to Andrew's eight-year-old younger brother, Paul Lahote.
Paul ate a slice of watermelon with his best friend, eight-year-old Jared Cameron. He hears his name and turns to see his older brother chasing after Rebecca and Leah with a crab.
" Why me?" Paul asked.
" Because you are his brother!" Leah shouts in response. The trio was now running around in circles.
Paul turns his gaze to Sam.
" Sam! Can you?" Paul asked.
Sam sighed. He looked at his surroundings and frowned when he saw that the person he was looking for hasn't come to the bonfire.
" Sam!" Paul called out.
Sam looks away, and he turns his gaze to Andrew.
" Hey, Andrew! Leave the girls alone and put on the music! The bonfire is getting boring already!" Sam shouts.
Andrew stops running, causing Rebecca and Leah to sigh in relief.
Andrew looked at the crab, then at Sam, and back at the crab. " Goodbye, my friend!" He frowned, throwing the sea creature back to the ocean.
" Dramatic ass," Leah muttered when she saw Andrew dramatically run from the beach to the stereo as though he broke up with his lover.
Andrew turns on the stereo, and the first song that started playing was All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You by Heart. Everyone turned to stare at him.
" What kind of music is that, Andrew? This party is a Summer BonFire, not a Sad Feast," Rebecca annoyingly rolled her dark brown eyes, which caused Leah to giggle.
" Okay! Okay! I'll change it," Andrew changed the music, and an upbeat melody started playing. The song was U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer.
" What about this?" Andrew asked.
" Now it's a party!" Rebecca grabbed Leah's hands, and the two females started to dance.
" Hey! The Almost Birthday Boy wants to dance with you ladies," Andrew runs, slides to the girls, and starts to dance with them.
" My brother is so embarrassing," Paul murmured to his best friend. Jared snickered, finding Andrew so cool.
" Isn't your birthday on the 27th of this month?" Rebecca asked while dancing.
" Yup! Today is the 20th, which means seven days left to me being the big 1 O," Andrew responded while doing a dance, which resembled a crab.
" Today is the 14th, Andrew! That means your birthday is thirteen days away," Leah reminded while staring at Andrew amusingly.
Andrew stopped dancing, and his dark brown eyes widened in horror.
" Gahh!!" Andrew falls to his knees and screams dramatically.
" Idiot," Rebecca facepalmed while Leah giggled.
" Hey, everyone!" Two feminine voices called out.
Everyone turned their gaze and saw Annalise and Rachel stepping out of the forest and running towards them. Sam stands up, looking and feeling happy to see Annalise.
" I cannot believe you guys started the party without us!" Rachel shouts, faking a sad expression.
Paul brightly smiles when he sees his older brother's friend and Rebecca's older twin sister, Rachel, arriving at the party.
" Rachel!" Paul happily calls out. " I saved you a slice!" He grabs a watermelon slice and holds it to Rachel.
Rachel softly smiled when she saw her friend's younger brother. " Aww. Thanks, Paul. You are so sweet," She grabs the watermelon slice and takes a bite of it.
Paul bashfully stared at Rachel.
" Hey, Annalise!" Sam waved when he saw Annalise approaching him.
" Hey, Sammy!" Annalise kindly smiled, looking and feeling happy to see Sam.
Sam opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped when he saw Annalise's bright blue eyes looked a bit red. He also noticed tear-stained marks on her cheeks.
" Hey. Is everything alright?" Sam asked, his voice becoming softer so the others wouldn't hear.
Annalise sadly stared at her feet.
" It's my sister," Annalise murmured. " I don't know why but she hates me. She called me a Bastard child and said that my Dad isn't my Dad," She frowned.
Sam's dark brown eyes narrowed, feeling angry that Annalise's younger sister would say that to her.
" What is a Bastard child anyways? My teacher hasn't taught the class that word yet," Annalise lifts her head and stares at Sam.
Sam hummed in response. He remembered seeing his mother, thirty-one-year-old Allison Uley, look upset earlier in the morning. He saw her take her wedding ring off, throw it at his father's face, and kick his father out of the house.
That morning Sam found out from overhearing and seeing his mother cry that his father slept with another woman and had a bastard child with said woman.
" Mom. What do you mean by Dad has a bastard child?" Sam asked his mother.
Allison slowly turns her gaze to her son, and she stares at him sadly.
" A bastard child is a child born to parents who are not married to each other," Allison explained. " You are now a big brother, Samuel—to your father's son at least," She lovingly rubbed her son's cheek.
" I have a brother?" Sam asked, looking and sounding confused yet slightly happy.
Allison nods her head in response.
" Yes. Your father's lover stopped by our house yesterday. Your father wasn't home. She confessed that she and your father fell in love on a business trip and that they had a child together. I even met the child. He seems like a sweet boy—unaware of what his parents have done. She said that his name was Embry Call. He is currently six. So, he is four years younger than you," Allison responded.
" Can I be friends with my brother? I have always wanted a baby brother," Sam asked, looking and feeling excited.
Allison's gaze softened, and she fondly stared at her son. Despite being furious for what her husband, thirty-three-year-old Joshua Uley, did to her. She didn't have the heart to separate the two newly found brothers.
" You can. I will talk to Embry's mother and see if she is okay with the two of you hanging out and getting to know one another," Allison hugs her son. She lovingly kisses his forehead. " I love you, Sweetheart," She whispers.
" I love you too, Mommy!" Sam happily responded.
" Promise me that when you find a special someone, you will always and forever cherish them and never hurt their feelings?" Allison asked. She lets go of her son, and she stares at him intently.
" I will!" Sam nods his head.
" Sammy!" Annalise calls out, which brings Sam back to reality. " So, do you know what is a Bastard child?" She asked, looking and sounding curious.
" Please don't cry when I tell you the meaning," Sam asked. " I will never forgive myself if you cry! I promised my Mommy!" He looked at Annalise in the eyes.
Annalise raised an eyebrow, looking and feeling confused.
" A bastard child is a child born to parents who are not married to each other," Sam whispered.
Annalise stood there. Her bright blue eyes widened when she heard the definition of a bastard child.
' If Bella calls me a bastard child and tells me that my Dad isn't my Dad. That must mean my Dad is someone else, and my Mommy didn't want me?' Annalise internally asked.
" Anna?" Sam calls out. " Annalise?" He frowned when he didn't get a response. " Anna! Anna, please speak to me," He begins to tear up, looking and feeling scared.
" My Mommy," Annalise whispered.
Sam's dark brown eyes blinked.
" My Mommy didn't want me," Annalise tried her best not to cry since she promised Sam.
" That's right! Mommy told me that she wished you never existed!" A familiar feminine voice called out.
Everyone turns and sees Annalise's younger half-sister, eight-year-old Bella Swan, and the twins' younger brother, six-year-old Jacob Black, stepping out of the forest and walking towards them.
" Jake! What are you doing here?" Rebecca asked, looking and feeling annoyed at seeing her younger brother. Leah looked relieved that her baby brother wasn't like Rebecca's brother.
Rachel runs up to Annalise, and she immediately stands next to her when she sees Bella approaching them.
" How did you know where to go?" Rachel asked.
" Your brother helped me," Bella points to Jacob, who was happily nodding.
Rachel frowned, looking and feeling disappointed in her younger brother.
" Great! Babies have ruined our party," Andrew mumbled, looking and sounding disappointed.
Annalise silently stared at her younger half-sister.
Bella looked at her older half-sister, and she glared at her with hatred.
" You are the reason why my Daddy and Mommy are not together!" Bella shouts.
Annalise's bright blue eyes intently stared at her younger half-sister's chocolate brown eyes.
" Hey! Don't speak to Annalise that way!" Sam snapped at Bella.
" My life would have been so much better if you didn't exist!" Bella sneered.
Annalise held her breath, looking at her younger half-sister with mixed emotions.
" Anna," Rachel looked at Annalise with a concerned gaze since she noticed that her pale skin was turning pinkish as though she was getting a sunburn.
" Even if he isn't my Dad, at least he wanted me!" Annalise shouts with tears falling from her bright blue eyes, feeling hot.
Rachel, who has her hand on Annalise's shoulder, immediately pulls it back since her best friend's skin burned her. She looked at her best friend with a concerned gaze.
Bella grabs some rocks, thinking about throwing them to her older half-sister.
" My Daddy would have wanted me if you didn't exist! Why don't you die! That way, my life can go back to normal! Like how it supposed to be!" Bella cries out while throwing rocks at her older half-sister.
" Watch out!" Sam shouts. He went to stand in front of Annalise and let the rocks hit him instead. He winced a little when some of them scratched his face and arms since the stones were sharped.
Annalise's bright blue eyes narrowed when she saw Sam getting hurt. Her whole body started to shake, looking and feeling furious.
Rachel hummed when she saw a natural reddish hue appear on Annalise's brown hair. She also saw steam come out of her best friend's body.
" Everyone! Step back! Becky, get Jake!" Rachel shouts while grabbing Sam and pulling him to safety.
Rebecca immediately runs towards Jacob, who is standing next to Bella. She grabs her younger brother's hand and drags him away from the two sisters.
Andrew sensed massive tension between the two sisters. He turns his gaze to Leah, seeing her standing next to him. He grabs her hand and takes her to a nearby boulder.
" Paul! Jared! Get your asses here! Now!" Andrew shouts when he sees his younger brother and Jared near the sisters.
" Coming!" Paul shouts. He and Jared stood up and started running towards Andrew and Leah towards the nearby boulder.
" Leave us alone!!!" Annalise furiously screams. Everyone froze when they saw her whole body combusted in flames.
Bella's chocolate brown eyes widened, looking and feeling scared. The explosion hit her, causing her to get sent flying. Her back got slammed against a tree, and the impact caused her to fall to the ground.
Rachel looked at Annalise with a concerned gaze. She didn't feel scared. Because Rachel was more worried about her best friend, she didn't want her to get hurt.
" Rebecca," Rachel calls out, causing her younger twin sister to stare at her.
" Take Jacob to Mom and Dad. Tell them to get Uncle Charlie and to bring him to the beach. And tell them that something is happening to Annalise and that we need their help," Rachel firmly speaks.
Rebecca nods her head in response. She grabs Jacob's hand, and the two siblings run towards the path that will take them to their home.
Sam slowly lifts his head, and he froze when he saw Annalise.
" Anna," Sam whispered when he saw Annalise consumed in flames. He didn't know why, but seeing her up close and surrounded by fire reminded him of a fairy tale character. His great-grandfather, Levi Uley, used to tell him of a legend when he was younger—The Legend of the Mythical Phoenix.