𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙔 𝙊𝙉𝙀
ミ★ ( bewitched, act three ) ★彡
After spreading Lilith's scent everywhere, Edward, Lilith, Seth and Jacob were up at the campsite. It was high up in the mountains and far from the fight, but, not too far so that Lilith's magic would be able to continuously contain the newborns at the field that was further below. Edward had set up tents by the time everyone got there; giving everyone time to get settled in. Jacob stayed to give Lilith and Edward a connection to the pack link to make sure everyone was okay, along with giving Seth company while the storm went through the night as he knew that the teen shapeshifter would prefer it, but, would leave in the morning before the fight. Seth wasn't exactly happy to be missing the action, but, everyone agreed that it was best to keep him out of trouble.
It wasn't long until the storm did hit their campsite and the strong winds nearly blew the tents away before Lilith spelled them to keep them in place, along with keep them warm for her and soundproof them so she wouldn't have to hear the howling winds throughout the night.
Edward was scowling at himself for not choosing a site lower down when he saw Lilith shivering, but, was assured not to when she fixed the problem—which amazed him at her abilities and made him feel guilty that she was planning on giving all of that up to become a vampire.
Edward laid by Lilith's side, the blonde witch cuddling up to him inside of the sleeping bag while Edward looked up at the ceiling of the tent, "When I thought I had lost you—when I thought you were gone—there were no words to explain how I couldn't cope." Edward started to speak, making Lilith tilt her head to look up at him, "But, the fact that you're here; beside me, amazes me in ways you'll never know."
"I'm not going anywhere." She reassured him, "Never again." She added. It nearly killed them the last time that they were apart, and she wouldn't wish it on anyone to feel that way. It felt good to have finally forgiven him and to be back to way they were, but, Lilith wanted to be sure that it was going to be for real this time:
"I never did know what it was like for you when I was gone." Edward remembered. No one had told him anything about what happened to her during that time until Rosalie had told him about her jumping off of the cliff.
"Some days were better than others. And by better, I meant I didn't feel like complete garbage from screaming all night." Lilith said as she pressed her cheek back onto his chest and wrapping her arms around his torso, "I felt like I couldn't breathe a lot, especially with my magic gone. I couldn't keep any food down for a while. I couldn't sleep because of nightmares. In simple terms; my life sucked." Edward listened intently, he hated how much damage he caused to her, but, he had to ask. They had to talk about it themselves in order for them to move on, "But, Bella and the pack looked after me, they made sure that I was okay and I was getting better. They made sure that I knew that I wasn't worthless and unloveable. Eventually I started to get better."
"I'll never be able to say sorry enough for this." Edward shook his head.
"I'm not telling you so you can feel guilty about the past. What's done is done, and I've forgiven you for it. Just promise me that you'll never do it again." Lilith told him.
"I promise you that nothing would ever make me do that to you ever again." Edward said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "It took me this long to be able to touch you and kiss you, I refuse to give this up again." Lilith couldn't help but chuckle. She missed his touch and his kisses also, it hurt to have to push him away but she wanted to heal.
"I'm sorry it took so long for me to let you in again." Lilith couldn't help but feel the need to apologise. She wanted to forgive him sooner, but she was stubborn and afraid of being hurt, even when Edward had shown her no reason for him not to forgive him again.
"Don't be." Edward insisted, "I understand why you took the time that you did." Edward understood how hard it was for someone to trust people after they've been hurt, but, he also knew how hard it was for someone to trust themselves after their gut and convictions undermined.
Lilith loved him—and he loved her—but, he had told her horrible and false things with such sincerity that she had no reason not to believe it. Which meant she trusted her gut to fall in love with him, and he ripped that up in front of her. Lilith had to forgive herself first for believing that her gut was wrong and she was as well for trusting him, and then she had to accept the fact that she was right all along and that Edward had lied to her about the things that he said. She had to try and find her sense of reality again, and she was constantly trying to find proof that she wasn't completely disconnected from real life by constantly questioning things about herself and the people around her, along with trying to figure out what Edward had said to her was real or fake.
Not to mention that she also had to come to terms with the fact that the high priest was after her and her whole life had practically been a lie, along with the newborn army and Victoria coming to kill her. Her trying to forgive him didn't need to be high on her priority list when those things were happening to her. Edward would wait for her, all he had was time anyway.
"I love you." Lilith muttered before closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep.
"I love you more." Edward told her as he ran a hand through her hair soothingly, sending her to sleep quickly, "More than you'll ever know." He added minutes later once he heard the steady breaths coming from her, meaning she was sound asleep.
The next morning, Jake had checked the woods to see if they were clear before he came back to say goodbye and Lilith made sure to tell him to be careful. It wasn't more than ten minutes later after Jake had left that Seth came over towards Edward and began to growl, trying to communicate with him. The bronze haired vampire looked into Seth's mind, hearing what he was trying to say, "It's starting." Edward told Lilith and her breath got caught in the back of her throat.
While she seemed to be calm about everything, the anxiety of it all was suddenly starting to make its presence known, "Let me know when they're all in the field, then I'll begin the spell to keep them there." She said to Edward and Seth, who both nodded their heads.
It was minutes that seemed to be like hours before Edward told her that the wolves were there, including Jacob and the witch immediately went into the tent, beginning the spell to trap them all there. She began mumbling the spell precisely and as quickly like she had practiced so many times in preparation for the battle; she wanted to make sure she could do the spell correctly so she could protect them as much as they were protecting her.
She smiled as she realised that it was complete, already sensing the border there and surrounding the entire field. Lilith would miss this part about being a witch; she would miss feeling accomplished and proud whenever she completed a complex spell or potion. But, then again, she would give that up in a heartbeat to make sure that she couldn't be a threat to the people she loved and cared about.
The witch moved out of her tent and stepped outside, she took two steps before she gasped and her eyes glazed over when a vision flashed before her eyes. A flash of bright, fiery red hair making their way up the mountain and towards their location, "She found us." Lilith announced.
"I know. She's close, I can hear her thoughts." Edward told her, confirming her vision, "Seth, go." He ordered the wolf who whined at them, before leaping up and going behind the rocks and trees. Lilith was at Edward's side in a second from him rushing to her, "She knew we weren't there, but, she caught my scent." Edward explained to his girlfriend about Victoria's thought process.
"But, how?" Lilith questioned, "I spelled us so that she wouldn't be able to do that." Something was definitely not adding up to her; and she would have to get to the bottom of it considering she had done that spell correctly and there was no way that anyone should of been able to find their location.
"It doesn't matter, I'm not letting her touch you." Edward said sternly, he then froze, "She's not alone." He realised.
Soon enough, footsteps through the thick snow were heard as Riley Biers made his presence known. His blood red eyes were trained onto Lilith with his lip curled, causing Edward to slightly put Lilith behind him protectively.
"Riley, listen to me." Edward began as Riley continued to make his way closer towards them. "Victoria's just using you to distract me. She knows I'll kill you." Victoria suddenly appeared in one of the trees, landing one of the thick branches, causing Lilith to gasp, her eyes snapping towards the red head's, "In fact, she'll be glad she doesn't have to deal with you anymore." Edward continued, his speech being fed by Victoria's inner thoughts causing Riley to stop in his tracks.
Lilith doesn't even know about Victoria's intentions anymore. She doesn't know if Edward's words are true in order to switch Riley's loyalty, or if that's the way she truly feels and he's only playing messenger for her thoughts.
"Don't listen, Riley." Victoria said calmly to the newborn vampire, "I told you about their mind tricks."
"I can read her mind. So, I know what she thinks of you." Edward explained to him, continuing to keep Lilith behind him by placing an arm in front of her that she gripped tightly.
"He's lying." Victoria objected, placing on a soft tone for Riley to make it more convincing to him that she was right.
"She only created your and this army to avenge her true mate, James." Edward continued and he watched as Riley slowly turned confused as to the possibly that what he was saying could be true, "That's the only thing she cares about. Not you."
Riley turned his head towards Victoria, who was slowly starting to look slightly worried that she was going to be caught in a lie and her chance to kill Edward and Lilith would be gone, "There's only you." She lied, "You know that."
"Think about it." Edward pressed, "You're from Forks. You know the area. That's the only reason she chose you." Riley started to become visibly angry as he began shaking, struggling to keep his growls in, "She doesn't love you."
"Riley..." Victoria called softly, making Riley turn his head to face her. The red headed vampire's eyes were soft, "Don't let him do this to us. You know I love you."
Riley's jaw clenched as he looked at the ground before looking back at Edward and Lilith, taking a step towards them, "You're dead." He simply stated before baring his teeth and then and lunging.
He didn't get very far as Seth pounced, snarling, and took Riley to the ground, causing Victoria's eyes to widen while she watched Seth throw Riley around with his teeth into the vampire's neck. Seth lifted the vampire up before knocking him into the rock, a clinking sound was heard as Riley's body hit the rock and the vampire let out a large roar of pain as he held up his arm to show his hand had snapped off.
Victoria leaped off of the tree, landing into the ground before she began to run and Lilith acted quickly, letting out a small gasp and holding up a hand catching Victoria in her tracks and causing her to freeze while the sounds of Riley's screams and Seth's snarls were heard.
She wasn't going to let Victoria get another chance like this again; she wasn't going to let her have the opportunity to attack her or the people she cared about. She wasn't going to let her make Lilith live in fear for the rest of her life.
It was going to end today.
"You want me?" Lilith asked. "You want Edward to feel the pain you felt when he killed James? You're going to have to come and get it yourself."
Victoria's nostrils flared as she was still stuck in her place; her eyes angry as she stared down Lilith and Edward who was taking steps towards her, "You want me to feel the way you did when I tore James to pieces." Edward stated, reading her angry thoughts on all the ways she would kill Lilith and then Edward, "You want me to know how it felt when I turned him into ash. When I turned him... into nothing." Lilith smirked as she watched Victoria shake more and more violently, her teeth curled as she struggled against the spell that was holding her down, "Let her go." Edward told her and Lilith let Victoria go, the red head not hesitating to lunge at Edward, taking him down to the snowy ground, the two flying backwards.
Victoria tried to get up to lunge at Lilith, but the witch sent her flying backwards towards Edward who caught her and sent her into the tree. The red head grabbing onto the branches and beginning to climb up. Edward watched her and turned his head to see Riley grunting out as he struggled to keep Seth away, "Help Seth!" Edward ordered her and Lilith nodded and ran towards them while Edward began to shove the tree down with Victoria jumping off.
Victoria leaped in front of Lilith, stopping her in her tracks before the witch sent her towards Edward once again so she was out of her way, the Cullen vampire tackling her to the ground once more. Lilith ran towards Seth who was slowly beginning to lose his fight with Riley after getting kicked into the rock that had broken the vampire's hand off.
Riley ran towards Edward but didn't make it very far as Lilith caught him, mumbling a quick spell to weaken him while Edward continued to keep Victoria down while the blonde tried to focus on projecting that same spell over towards Victoria also.
Seth got up just as Lilith picked up Riley using her magic and threw him over towards the rocks; the vampire grunting out as his back hit the hard surface. Seth appeared behind him and grabbed him by the neck once again, digging his teeth into the cold stone-like flesh and began to drag him away.
"Victoria!" Riley shouted out to his supposed girlfriend. Victoria didn't make any steps towards him to save him from Seth, "Victoria!" He called out again and she turned away to look at Edward and Lilith as Seth continued to drag him away completely to finish him off, now feeling how weak he was from Lilith's spell.
Victoria kept her eyes on Lilith and she let out a loud roar; beginning to make her way towards her. Edward stepped in front and threw a punch, the red head leaning back to block it along with the other hit he threw at her before grabbing him by the throat and throwing him and trying to throw him backwards while Edward tried to knock her grip off of him.
He eventually got her hand off of his throat and grabbed both of her arms, twisting them around so she was facing the other way and grabbed her neck from the back, pushing her body against his for leverage.
Victoria grunted as cracklings sounds we're being made from becoming injuries before she flipped herself over Edward's shoulder. Edward grabbed her by the throat once again before she could land and pinned her face into the snow to blind her momentarily before bringing her back up and biting harshly into her neck and ripping away, tearing her head clean off with a grunt.
Victoria's body fell to the ground like a loose toy, a clashing sound following after it as Edward stared at it and turning to face Lilith who ran at him, embracing him into a tight hug filled with relief.
It was finally over.
Lilith looked over as Seth came back from behind the rocks with a low growl, "Thank you, Seth." Lilith whispered at him from her hug with Edward, the grey and brown wolf nodding his head at her. Seth then let out another growl when Edward let go of the blonde witch, "What's wrong?" She questioned.
"The Volturi are coming. Alice needs us to go." Edward answered, "Now."
Lilith looked at Victoria's body one last time before she let out a sigh, feeling like most of the worst was behind her before she lit her body on fire with magic. She wanted to be safe when it came to disposing of the body and she made sure that they didn't leave until Victoria was ash.
And when she was; they left and they didn't look back.