Seaside, California March 16, 2013
Scott
NOBODY said that this was going to be easy. While these past few months have been peaceful, it had not been without some struggles. It was easy to win over Laura, she was thrilled with the fact that her daughter was finally happy.
I could see how happy Lily had become, though I knew she was still recovering from what Isabel had done to her. She wouldn't talk about it, but that distant look she would get was enough to tell me.
And all I could do was be there to comfort her and help her get through it.
What hadn't been easy, was her family's acceptance of her dating a vampire.
Her father at least acknowledged me, though he would always find an excuse to go do something when I came over. To say it didn't bother me would be a lie, but I couldn't help what I was.
Nor could he forget how he was raised.
Last December, when I came for Christmas, I had the pleasure of seeing Celesta's father again. I didn't know how Zach could get along with him, apparently, they became pretty close since he was going to dinner there almost every evening.
The moment I set foot in that living room, let's just say pleasant words were not exchanged. It got to the point that Laura finally told him to leave her house and to forget about being welcome back. I don't know if that caused a drift between Lily and Celesta's mother or not.
Celesta did tell me not to even worry about it since her father hated vampires, and seeing a witch be with one would in her words, "give him an aneurysm". I guess it's a good thing Zach was a werewolf and not a bloodsucking demon.
We had another problem yet to face though, Lily's decision to join her family's coven in a few days.
Her parents had rejoined months ago as enforcers, so they were gone often. And when they were gone she was with me at my house. Just like we were tonight.
You could tell she practically lived here now. I always kept the house clean, but I noticed it was now too clean. Everything was straightened, dusted, vacuumed, mopped; you name it. My fridge was no longer filled with just blood, but now had every vegetable and fruit you could think of in it.
She also found some photos I kept locked away of my family and when I was younger. She had me hang those on the wall. And the one we took at my surprise birthday party.
I still don't know how that many balloons fit in that house.
She was curled up beside me on the couch, though she passed out not long ago.
I couldn't find anything interesting on the television. Finally fed up with it, I just turned it off and sighed.
Then, a vibrating noise was coming from the coffee table. It was Lily's phone.
Moving as carefully as I could to not wake her up, I reached over and looked at the screen. An interesting photo of Celesta with her eyes crossed flashed across it.
Answering it, I started laughing. "You know she has a nice photo of you on here."
"What?" Celesta gawked. "Oh God, she still has that photo of me on the caller ID?"
"Yup," I replied and glanced down at Lily. "She's asleep right now, so I can take a message if you want."
I learned to never wake that woman from a nap.
"Well tell her that something is up with the coven, my father just left here in a hurry sounding pissed off," Celesta revealed. "He was hollering something about her parents and Francis, I just wanted to let you all know."
"Okay? Why do we need to know or care about that?" I questioned.
"Because," Celesta stressed, "I just had a vision of someone coming to your house, I just couldn't see their face."
I felt my body turn cold; my eyes were now locked on the front door.
"Scott?" I heard Celesta ask, though her voice was faint as I focused on listening outside the house.
I wiggled my way free from under Lily, trying my best to not wake her.
"Hello?! Did you guys die?" I heard Celesta yell now.
"No!" I hissed, "I'm trying to listen and see if someone is outside."
"Look I will head over there as soon as I can okay? I got to go, my mother is yelling for me downstairs," Celesta muttered and hung up.
Frowning, I put Lily's phone in my pocket and opened the front door. Peering out, the road was empty of cars, the only thing I noticed moving were the annoying gnats around the street lights. That and the crashing of the waves behind the house.
I walked toward the end of the porch and looked over at the side of the house, still seeing nothing. I was starting to wonder if Celesta was hallucinating things because there was no one here except me and Lily who was snoring inside.
I sped to the back of the house and headed past the dunes to where the beach was, it was empty of people too. Not many people ventured out on the beach after dark.
After that was a complete waste of time, I went back to the house. As I was coming around to the front, I heard Lily calling for me. And what I did next wasn't the best thought-out plan.
Because when I materialized right in front of her, trying to tell her I was right there, she instantly reacted and all I saw was a flash of glowing eyes before I was sent flying.
I crashed through the railing of the porch, shattering it and I finally ended up in the bushes. I heard her run frantically over to me, the porch creaking as she did.
I sat up slowly and looked at just how much damage that did to the railing. That entire section was practically gone.
I saw her peer down at me, her face etched with panic.
"I am so sorry!" Lily yelped, and quickly jumped down and started throwing the splintered wood off of me.
I just stared at her, dumbfounded. I was shocked at how quickly she reacted.
Lily glanced at me and grabbed both of my shoulders. "Are you okay? Please say something!"
"I am fine," I assured her.
Lily just looked at me glumly. "Are you sure you are fine? Look at your leg."
I noticed that it did hurt slightly. One look told me it was dislocated from my knee.
I grabbed it and snapped it back in place and winced, as did Lily.
"See? Good as new," I grinned. "But the porch, however—"
"I will fix it!" Lily blurted out and stood up, her back facing me. "My mother and Cynthia were able to fix windows, I should be able to do the same!"
I looked around anxiously as wooden shards started to float up around us, some of which were very sharp.
"Lily—" I cautioned but was met with a glowing green glare from her.
She started to mutter something under her breath, but then all the wood fell to the ground as she sighed in defeat. She reached up toward her face and wiped something, all it took was a second to smell it.
Her nose was bleeding.
"I am getting sick of this," Lily sighed and sat back on the ground defeated. "Cel can channel magic just fine, why can't I?"
"I don't know," I murmured, "But let's get you back inside and get some tissues for your nose."
Lily glanced at me worryingly, "Is the blood bothering you? I'm sorry."
"No, it's not—"
"Your eyes say otherwise," Lily interjected.
"You know I can't help that," I sighed and got up off the ground.
"I know," she said softly. "I'm just making sure you are okay. I did blast you off the porch."
Grinning now, I just pulled her into an embrace and kissed her forehead gently.
"You are going to have to do a lot more than that to hurt me you know," I teased.
Lily suddenly pushed me away angrily and slapped me on the arm.
"None of this is funny!" she fumed. "I just destroyed part of your house!"
"It can be fixed," was all I said as she started picking up the debris and tossing it onto the porch.
"Well, what happened here?" a voice shot out from behind us, I saw none other than Francis looking at us with amusement.
I felt my eyes shift to black again, but Lily clamped her hand around mine quickly.
'I'll handle this," I heard her say but her voice echoed through my head.
"Uh, nothing?" Lily jeered aloud.
"Well it certainly looks like something," Francis observed. "Is this how the two of you bicker? It seems a little extreme."
"We were not fighting, he accidentally spooked me," Lily admitted.
"Yes, and now I know not to do that again either," I chuckled.
Lily just gave me a pointed look.
Turning away from her glaring, I eyed Francis with scrutiny. "Now not to sound like an asshole, but why the hell are you here at my house? The last time wasn't pleasant."
"No it was not," Francis admitted. "I only came here to talk to both of you, to warn you about things stirring up in the coven."
"Which is?" Lily questioned.
"Celesta's father called a meeting tonight of the entire coven," Francis put forth. "Your parents asked me to come to talk to the two of you because a choice must be made tonight."
"What choice?" Lily remarked. "If they want me to end my relationship with Scott then the coven can all go to hell, I won't join."
"That is just it, your parents and I suspect that is the reason, but knowing Jeffery Moone, who knows what may go down tonight," Francis sighed. "But there are things I want to discuss with the both of you, if we may go inside?"
That last part was directed to me.
"Sure," I replied through clenched teeth.
He has proven several times that he wasn't an enemy or a threat, but I still couldn't trust him completely.
Unlike Lily.
The last few months along with her parents, he had been helping her learn magic. And to try and control it. But the closer we had gotten to her birthday, her magic has been getting stronger and more difficult for her body to handle.
At least finally, her parents told her the truth about why she got her magic early in January. She didn't seem too surprised. She did want to kill Celesta and me for not saying anything to her sooner.
That was another topic we needed to discuss, and I'm sure Francis knew the answer.
ALL three of us sat around the kitchen table. Lily had both of her hands wrapped around mine tightly as Francis gave us the answer we did not want to hear.
"Lillian, the reason why witches join covens is to ground their power," Francis murmured. "With Adelaide's and your magic flowing through you, it could kill you."
"So why did the coven decide to put a centuries-old hybrid's magic into a mortal?" Lily snapped. "Which still doesn't explain why Celesta can handle it just fine."
"People are born with different constitutions, yours is just—" Francis wouldn't even finish his sentence.
Lily's face fell. "You can say it, I'm just weak."
"You are not weak," I snapped but Francis raised his hand up.
"You are not, Celesta was raised by a madman and was taught to control and harness her magic in different ways," Francis explained. "Yours is just heavily tied to emotion. Just like tonight, you were frightened to death and used more magic than you should have."
"Sure, you can say that," Lily mumbled, not believing either of us and folded her arms together across her chest.
"What I don't understand is why me?" Lily suddenly cried out. "Why did your daughters have to die and give their magic to Celesta and me?"
Francis froze, caught off guard by Lily's question. I asked him that myself six months ago, and wondered if what he had said was the truth.
Would he lie to Lily?
"There is much I want to tell you Lillian, but for the sake of your wellbeing I will not," Francis lamented. "I just want you to live a long happy life, with whomever you please, and how you wish to live it."
Lily's eyes started to well up with tears as Francis continued.
"My daughters died to ensure our family's safety. Claire had predicted the two of them would have been killed by an ancient foe of our coven. Instead hey sacrificed themselves to empower the next generation of witches. You and Celesta were foretold to lead our coven to greatness. But how and when we do not know," Francis admitted.
"I guess I have no choice but to join the coven, this magic was placed in me for a reason to aid the coven," Lily muttered.
"I wouldn't say you don't have options," Francis put forth. "Your parents may have come up with a solution, I don't know what it is but we will find out when we go tonight."
"I don't know what solution they can come up with," Lily laughed sarcastically. "Clearly I am destined to join."
"We do not know that," Francis assured. "I just hope you get to live a life of your choosing, I will do everything in my power to support you, even by going against the coven if need be."
"You would go against everything you stand for just for her?" I asked, completely astounded at his revelations.
"I would for both of you," Francis confessed. "I have failed many in this life, mostly my daughters. I will not fail them again. Nor will I fail you again."
"Francis, what are you saying?" Lily asked.
She reached across the table and grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it with assurance. "You have never failed me, you've always been there for me and my cousins growing up."
Francis's eyes glassed over, and the way he was looking at Lily now caused a sharp pain through my chest. He looked at her like he would his child, an unconditional love that knew no boundaries.
Or lifetimes.
The unsaid truth that I have been denying since I met her. Even when he said that Lily wasn't Adelaide he was right. She wasn't her.
She had been reborn.
"I need some air," I spoke up and rose from my chair suddenly.
"Scott?" Lily inquired, her eyes widening in confusion. "What—"
"It's nothing," I assured. "You two finish talking."
I left a kiss on her forehead and left without another word. I walked to the edge of the porch and put my hands in my pockets and stared out at the street.
I tried mentally processing everything Francis said tonight and how the obvious truth had been in front of me the entire time. It wasn't just a coincidence Lily came back into my life.
Fate had a funny fucking way of doing things. And again the universe was doing everything in its power to rip us apart again.
It could try all it wanted. The only reason I would leave Lily is if she wanted me to.
A few moments later, I heard the front door open and I was joined by Francis.
"She's upstairs getting ready," Francis murmured to me before I even spoke.
"Did you not realize I would find out the truth?" I asked him angrily.
Francis went silent.
I turned to him, more anger flaring up in me.
Then I felt that lingering presence in my mind, and knew Francis was seeing and feeling every thought that was going through my mind.
"Do you think that maybe," Francis began, "That this is the best option for her? You knew my daughter, you knew how weighted down she was at the end of her life."
"I wonder why that was," I remarked. "It was because of family. Because of you and Claire forcing her to sacrifice herself. And for what? Because to me and seems like Celesta and Lily will go through the same thing."
"They will not!" Francis thundered loudly. "Adelaide wasn't forced either, she wanted to protect her descendants. She always knew what would happen."
"So you are saying she lied to me then," I laughed in disbelief.
"Adelaide didn't want to leave you," Francis sighed. "She knew her fate, yet she decided to spend the last few months of her life loving you. I warned her to not form attachments, but she always went against everything I said."
Francis stepped closer to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "The question is now, will you tell her?"
I stared ahead, millions of thoughts swirling through my mind, outcomes of me telling Lily the truth and things going to complete hell. And I knew I could never do that to her.
"Just like you said Francis, why burden her with the past?" I mourned. "She isn't Adelaide."
Francis gave me one more reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before releasing me.
I heard the bedroom door closing upstairs and the quick pace Lily made down the staircase. As she got closer, I could hear her heartbeat racing at a thousand miles an hour. When she came out the front door, she looked completely out of breath.
Had she heard Francis and I? I couldn't know how she could hear us from the bedroom upstairs.
"Lillian, are you alright? You look petrified," Francis asked her with concern.
"I am not," Lily admitted. She glanced over to me, her eyes frantic.
Without a word, I was at her side instantly. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tightly against my chest.
"Lily, what is it?" I asked calmly. I could feel her body shaking slightly now.
She raised her head up at me, her green eyes watery. "I'm scared about tonight, who knows what Celesta's father will say or do next? I just want them to leave us the hell alone."
"He will do nothing," Francis assured. "If he does, well then I guess tonight things will turn quite ugly."
Lily shuddered and looked away from Francis, her face telling me she was deep in thought now.
"Let's just get going," I interjected.
The longer we droned on about the impending hell we were walking into, the more Lily was at risk of losing it completely tonight.
"I suggest we go by foot, we will get there quicker," Francis noted.
"Good, I just want this night to be over with," Lily sighed.
After locking the door to the house and making sure Lily was secure on my back, the three of us were gone.
I followed closely behind Francis; within minutes we were on the outskirts of Seaside.
He finally stopped at the edge of a clearing. Before us was a large gothic-looking church. It was nestled in the middle of the forest. I didn't even think we were but a few miles from Zachary's house.
How has no one come across this place?
A long driveway led the way to the entrance, it was lined with several vehicles.
Lily hopped off my back and stood beside me, her heart rate picking up again as she stared ahead nervously.
"Don't worry we got this," I whispered to her and grasped her hand in mine.
Lily just looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "Sure we do," she mumbled.
Francis just smiled at us and motioned for us to follow him.
As we got closer, I noticed Celesta lingering toward the front door alone, she seemed to be waiting for someone.
She finally saw us coming and came barreling toward us.
Lily ran up to her and the two embraced one another.
"There you guys are!" Celesta exclaimed. "I was coming over but my mother told me you guys would be here."
"Yeah, apparently your father still has an issue with my love life," Lily remarked.
Celesta just sighed and released her. "I know, this whole meeting is just bullshit."
"Girls!" I heard a voice yell.
An older woman with blonde hair stood in the entryway, by the looks of it it had to be Lily's grandmother. She had a striking resemblance to Laura. Her pale green eyes held nothing but anger in them.
"Nana?" Lily gawked. She looked at the woman in bewilderment.
"Lydia, I'm surprised to see you here," Francis drawled. "Is this matter that serious?"
"Yes, it is," Lydia addressed then glanced at Lily and Celesta. "You two get inside now."
Lily's eyes darted to me, but I just gave her a reassuring smile to go ahead. Celesta pulled her with her and the two left.
"Now if you don't mind, you two need to leave," Lydia ordered. "This is witch business."
"Am I not a part of this coven?" Francis remarked, getting pissed. "Besides, this meeting involves Scott does it not?"
"It does, but I am not inviting a vampire into a coven meeting, it is against our covenant, you know that," Lydia replied, her face a mask of calm.
"I understand the rules, but this meeting was called because of an issue that has nothing to do with our coven," Francis went on. "This whole thing is absurd."
"It is not absurd," Lydia clarified. "My granddaughter has a duty to her coven Francis. Behind her mother, she will lead us one day."
"What does her personal life have to do with her leading the coven?" Francis snapped.
"You know she must carry on the line," Lydia put forth. She turned to me, her eyes now with malice in them. "What future can you give her but death?"
I felt my hands ball into fists, and just for a split second, I thought about tossing the crone off a cliff.
"Happiness," Francis answered before I could say something I would regret. "You haven't seen Lily since she was thirteen Lydia. Yet you think you know what is best for her?"
"I will not argue with you Francis," Lydia sighed. "You and I both know what can happen to witches who get entangled with vampires. It never ends well."
And with a turn of her heel, she was gone.
Francis glared after her, his eyes giving off a faint glow.
"That woman has some nerve doesn't she?" I heard a voice laugh from behind us.
Of course, it was fucking Orion.
"I may have been the coven's leader at one time Orion, but I have nothing to do with their affairs any longer," Francis snapped. "You know that."
"Unfortunately I do, but it was your brilliant idea to let Adelaide's son take the reigns," Orion noted.
Hearing her name again made my chest ache. I just looked away from the two of them.
"You are awfully silent," Orion noted. "After all this meeting is about you and Lily's relationship. Perhaps you could make it easier for her and just let her go."
"How about you mind your own Goddamn business?" I hissed.
"Scott—" Francis cautioned but I was done with everyone's bullshit tonight.
"No," I snapped and felt my eyes shift black. "I am sick of people saying what they think Lily should do, she can make her own decisions."
"Even if they are wrong?" Orion drawled as his eyes bled black. "I could do her a favor and kill you, I should have the night you fed on her."
Before he even lunged at me, Francis darted in front of me and forced Orion back with a wave of his hand.
Just as Orion recovered from getting blasted away, Francis glanced at me, looking shocked at Orion's revelation.
"Francis you know you can't do anything to stop me from killing him," Orion asserted.
Francis turned to Orion. "Then you must know I can not stop Lillian from killing you. Now do us all a favor and leave."
"Very well, but we both know I am right," Orion replied nonchalantly and slipped back into the darkness.
Francis stared at where Orion was for a long hard moment before he came back over to me.
"I will not ask what happened that night, but has it happened since?" Francis asked quietly, his voice eerily calm.
"No," I admitted, guilt flooding through me at the reminder of it.
"Well, let us not dwell on the past then," Francis announced then promptly took a seat on the ground. "Let's listen in on this meeting then, shall we?"
I raised a brow at him. "I'd say we just crash it and tell them all to go fuck themselves but sure."
Francis just grinned at that, fangs and all. "That is a brilliant idea, but we would be killed instantly."
"It is worth a shot," I muttered and sat on the ground beside him.
Then we both went silent, just as the chaos unfolded within.