𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙄𝙁𝙏𝙔 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉
ミ★ ( bewitched, act four ) ★彡

Lilith had gotten used to the high priest's teasing glances, as if his face was letting her know that he knew something she didn't, and he was getting a kick out of watching her scratch her head at his riddles.

    "So, how's the pregnant life treating you?" The high priest questioned with a teasing glance, to which Lilith simply responded with a glare. She knew she looked terrible, and he knew it, too. She knew she looked extremely skinny and pale like a ghost, she had eye bags that made her look as if she hadn't slept for years, her hair was dead and there would be chunks falling out whenever it was brushed or washed. She was hungry constantly but could never keep anything down for long enough. Despite all of this, however, she was too stubborn to give up on her child when she was so close to the end and when there was a chance that she could turn her health back around.

"I'm constantly craving chocolate and fruit, but can't even smell it without wanting to puke up my insides, how do you think I feel?" Lilith deadpanned, "I can't even have water without vomiting it straight up—and it's water."

"You really haven't figured out the answer to what I told you, have you?" The high priest looked amused.

    Lilith couldn't help but groan, "I'm constantly suffering from this thing called pregnancy brain. It's a real thing and you should read up on it."

The high priest simply rolled his eyes, he had gotten used to her pregnancy mood swings and her snarky responses during their time together in her mind, sometimes he wanted to shake her about until she dropped the attitude but he just put up with it knowing that he only would have a month left until it would all be over.

If she even makes it that far.

"Lilith, this is your health we are talking about here, you should really make that your first priority." He scolded her and she groaned again. Ever since she became pregnant, he began acting like her second father—not as if she didn't already have one, or Sam at one point in her life.

"Well, I'm trying, you're not exactly giving me any straight answers; and to be honest with you, I still don't trust you." Lilith admitted to him, "Like, I don't even know your real name—do you even have a name?"

She watched as the high priest let out a dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes at her. She could tell he had been trying to get her to trust him for months now, but, after everything she had been told about him she was hesitant to agree to it so blindly especially since she had so much to lose now. She was even still hesitant talking to him in her dreams, but, was still taking the steps to do it since if she would need his help, he would have to somewhat like her for him to want to do it.

"Fine." He huffed. "After Magda informed me of your location in Forks, she pledged her loyalty to me and my old cause and went a step further by getting in contact with Victoria. Victoria came to me and wanted to form an alliance and tried to strike a deal; she told me her plan and asked that she gets to kill Edward, and that she will be willing to hand you over to me in return for me to drop your cloaking spell." He confessed and Lilith's eyes widened.

She always did wonder how Victoria was able to find them up in the mountains during the battle and if she did get in contact with a witch, she wondered how she got them to agree to going against their own kind considering most witches hated vampires due to their rocky history together.

Not to mention, he said 'old cause'. Did that mean he no longer wanted a relationship with her and for her to become a dark witch? She hoped he still didn't want a relationship considering she was married and pregnant with another man's baby, but, you never know the desperations people would go to for people that they wanted.

"I knew that Victoria's plan wouldn't work out for her and I sent her on her way because I knew she wouldn't come out of it alive and it would've been a waste of power and time. I knew she was going to be a pain in my behind later on in the future and I wanted to get rid of her before she did; I don't exactly like having my time wasted by those sorts of people." He finished explaining causing Lilith to make a face in shock, "And my name is Ryker, by the way."

Ryker. The name literally meaning superior strength. It suited him but she would've never have guessed that to be his name. She quite liked it, and she liked that he trusted her enough to tell her his name—or at least trust her enough to tell her a name, even if it wasn't his real one. She wasn't even sure if people knew what his name was as she's only ever heard people refer to him as the high priest', and it was most likely going to take her a while for her brain to link him to the name instead of his alias.

"So you basically helped me without me even knowing." Lilith squinted her eyes, "Why wouldn't you tell me this? It would've made things a lot easier and I would've been more inclined towards coming to you."

"Because you were afraid of me and what I represented." He answered her, "Your whole life you were taught to fear me, even much so after you believed I wanted to take you for myself, if I told you that I had helped in my own strange way, you would only think I did so for my own selfish gain."

"So... you don't want me in that way?" Lilith asked slowly, her mind not comprehending what was being said.

"Seriously?" Ryker deadpanned, pointing at her large belly which caused her to cross her arms protectively over it and pout, "I wouldn't be going through all of this trouble to help you and your child if I wanted to marry you."

"Then why did you? I'm like a million years younger than you." She responded and he scowled at her for her comment.

"The word partnership can be so misconstrued sometimes." He groaned while sitting down across from her and placing his feet on the coffee table in front of him, "Me giving you a lot of power as a baby would've helped me a lot once you grew older when it came to me needing help looking after our people because I would've wanted you to take over from me. Since all of the responsibility wouldn't just fall on me, I would have more time to actually get things done instead of having to use my dark witch followers. And believe it or not, I wouldn't want to marry a baby—definitely not my thing."

"Well, that's a relief then." Lilith couldn't help but feel bad now, she was giving up her magic and her power that was given to her to help him with his responsibilities. The high priest only ever had followers, it wasn't exactly much of a monarchy even if he was like a king to witches, so all of the problems and responsibility fell straight onto him and he had to sort it out himself. But, the fact that everything she had been told was such a huge misunderstanding that she couldn't help but wonder if it had been told that way on purpose. Sure he had his psychopathic tendencies that came out every once in a while—which Lilith now believed to be the cause from stress—but, everything he has done so far was to help her out.

Even thought she felt sympathy and guilt towards Ryker, she still couldn't risk being tempted into becoming a dark witch because of her power that she had. Ryker wouldn't of been able to become one with his power because of his sovereignty basically forcing him to be in a grey area that never made him too power hungry, but, it wouldn't enable people to walk all over him because he was too pure. It wouldn't be like that for Lilith, and she wouldn't be able to handle the temptation after a while before she ultimately ruined everything including herself. She wouldn't be able to do it. She knew that, he knew that and everybody else knew that.

"What are you going to do instead then?" She asked nervously as she fiddled with her fingers.

Ryker just sighed, "I will have to figure something out, but, I would most likely take you up on your previous offer eventually." Ah, the one where she practically offered herself up on a silver platter for him. She wondered what things he would make her do in order to help him out, she would admit that she was intrigued about it now after seeing this new side of him, "I'm sure my sister will be willing to help out also." He added and Lilith's eyes widened at the mention of him having a sister. Another piece of information that he was trusting her with.

Allof the twists and turns were beginning to make the dream room spin as she clutched the arm rest of the sofa and clenched her eyes shut hoping it would pass. Her sickness never really made its way into her dream reality, and it was quite alarming to feel it coming through this time. It took a few moments before she opened them to see Ryker sending her a sympathetic look, "I believe that is enough for today." He told her, "Try to get some nutrients into you before you whither away. A lot of iron would do the trick." He said with a smirk before the room began to fade away.

"Washing driving in the red zone. Almost stripped of the ball. He stood up and Calvin finally..." The TV narrated the game that was currently being played live, but the Cullens, the Bailey parents, along with Bella, Jake, Seth and Leah couldn't hear a word over their worry as they watched Lilith stir and groan in her sleep before gasping awake and leaning over the side of the sofa. Edward quickly jumped and grabbed the bucket beside him and placed it in front of Lilith while she panted and whimpered for something to at least come out and rid herself of her nausea while Rosalie rubbed her back soothingly.

"We need to find a way to get some food into her system." Esme told the room, not being able to handle watching Lilith suffer for much longer.

"If only you would let me see the foetus—" Alice began.

Lilith interrupted her with narrowed eyes, "The baby." She corrected her.

"Maybe I could figure out what it wants." Alice finished, her tone pleading Lilith for her to let Alice see her and her baby's future in order to help her.

Lilith looked up at Edward who was sharing the same look as Alice. Lilith pursed her lips. Ryker said to get some iron into her and that she needed to remember who her child was and where it came from. Edward huffed as he heard Lilith's train of thought and suddenly piecing it all together, "I can't believe we didn't figure this out earlier. It's so obvious." He said as he stood up, "The baby is half vampire, it probably wants blood."

"You really didn't put that together earlier?" Jake asked as he figured that they would've already known this but thought it didn't work and that was why they didn't try it earlier.

"I had pregnancy brain, I couldn't think straight." She defended herself as she rolled her eyes.

"It's a thing. Trust me." Both Esme and Sierra agreed, having both experienced the same thing in the past when they were with child also.

Jake and Leah scowled from the corner, "Like it's dad, it's already looking for someone to sink its teeth into." Jake muttered and Leah sent him a not-so-subtle kick to the shin, "Sorry." He mumbled.

"She's thirsty." Lilith realised, laying back down against the comfy pillows and looking up at Edward. Her pregnancy brain had really missed the mark on that one and she couldn't believe that it was practically staring them in the face this whole time. Her baby was half witch, but, she was half vampire also. Her child was starving this whole time because she wasn't getting any blood which was all she needed and that was why it was taking it out of Lilith in return.

"I know the feeling." Emmett said sombrely and Lilith looked over at him seeing him gulp loudly. She then noticed how each of the Cullens' eyes were pitch black—a sign that they hadn't fed for a while and they were hungry also. The animals were on a shortage and Lilith didn't know how much longer she would be able to keep the border up. They hadn't been able to feed for days now and it was quite worrying since Bella was staying with them.

"If she's craving, she's not gonna want animal blood or blood from the supernatural." Edward noted as he wondered what to do next.

Lilith looked over at Bella who seemed nervous, most likely thinking that they were going to use her blood to help Lilith out since the wolves and the Bailey parents were out of the question. Lilith also knows Bella has a fear of blood, so her reaction could go either way, "I have some O-negative laid aside for Lilith." Carlisle said as he made his way towards the kitchen fridge while Bella let out a sigh of relief.

Jasper's head snapped up towards his adoptive father in shock. He was afraid of what he might do once he smelled the blood due to his hunger and while the bracelet that Lilith had gifted him was still on his wrist, he was worried that it wouldn't be strong enough to calm him down since he had gone so long without blood, "Walk with me." Alice ordered Jasper as soon as she saw him accidentally losing control once Carlisle ripped open the blood bag, she stood up and simply grabbed onto his hands and began to lead him away from the room. She needed to get him as far away from it as possible to keep him at bay.

Rosalie and Emmett made eye contact and she sent him a nod that she would be okay where she was and that she needed to stay with Lilith, but, if he felt uncomfortable she would be okay for him to go also. Emmett was then next to stand up and walk out of the room, following after Alice and Jasper and leaving Rosalie and Esme with the rest of the family.

Carlisle walked over as he poured the blood bag into a glass, squeezing the plastic to get as much blood into it as fast as he could without spilling it.

"Wait, wait, wait." Jake shook his hands, "You're gonna make her drink that?" He asked in disbelief as he pointed to the glass of blood in Carlisle's hands.

"It's the fastest way to test the theory." Oliver told Jake. As much as he didn't like it either, they had to at least try something to get Lilith to get better.

Edward looked at his wife, "Only if you're comfortable with it." He added. He didn't want her to do something she didn't like.

"I'll try anything." She responded with a weak voice. This had to be the solution they were looking for. This had to be it, it was the only thing that made sense and if it wasn't she was going to be severely disappointed.

Edward then stood up and grabbed the glass out of his father's hands and began to place it into a styrofoam cup to hide the actual blood from Lilith, knowing it would most likely disgust her and it would make it easier for her to drink if she couldn't see it.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Bella turned her nose up, moving away from her friend as she watched Edward come closer and Lilith sent her a glare before turning back to her husband who handed the cup to her, crouching down in front of the sofa.

"It might make it a little easier to take." He told her and reached for the bucket, placing it nearby in case he needed to grab it quickly, "And if it doesn't work, I've got the bucket right here, okay?"

With most things that they had tried, she had vomited it back up within seconds or minutes so they knew it was best to keep the bucket nearby after having to clean up several times in the past.

"Thank you." The witch whispered with a smile as she took the styrofoam cup out of his hands. Everyone watched intently as Lilith took in a deep breath and brought the straw up to her lips slowly. She began to suck on the straw, the red metallic liquid reaching her mouth and she swallowed a small amount, holding her hand at her mouth to help her swallow it down. She licked her teeth before looking at Edward who was still wearing the look of worry on his face, "I will admit it's not my favourite thing to drink, but, I guess I better get used to it." She chuckled before taking a deep breath and going in for more. The metallic taste was something she wasn't a fan of, but, she was sure that once she was changed that she would love every aspect of the taste, and she could tell her child loved it even more as she felt her already getting better.

Oliver sat beside his daughter and held onto her wrist, feeling for her pulse as she continued to drink, "Your pulse is already getting stronger." He announced and Edward let out a happy sigh, feeling relieved that his wife was going to be okay and they had finally found the solution.

"And the border is also getting stronger." Sierra noted from standing by the window and looking outside, sensing the strength of it intensifying almost immediately once Lilith began to drink the blood.

"It's working." Esme said with relief, Rosalie also smiling as she ran a hand up and down Lilith's back.

The only issue that they faced now was how long and how much blood would Lilith need in order to stay healthy until it was time to give birth, and if what they had would be enough until that time.