𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙊𝙉𝙀
ミ★ ( bewitched, act five ) ★彡

Bella can't help but plead her friend as soon as she got out of the car at the treaty line, "Promise me, no more surprises after this."

"I'm always full of surprises, remember?" Lilith teased as she helped her daughter get out of the car before she let the toddler run over to her human aunt figure, who bent down to pick her up and place her on her hip. "Thank you for looking after her today."

With due day coming closer, the vampires wanted to focus more on their training and would be sparring with each other before they would go to hunt all day in hopes to power up for the battle, and Lilith didn't want Diana to accidentally wander over and get hurt. Not to mention, Bella, Leah and Emily were dying to spend time with her anyway so Lilith thought it was the perfect time to do so.

"Don't worry, I know you have your important errands to run." Bella said as she bounced Diana on her hip, causing her to giggle. "We're all just gonna have a fun day today to take her mind off of things." Bella was informed about Lilith and Diana's small conversation the night before, and Bella took it up as her duty to fix things since she couldn't do anything else in the meantime. She knew it must've been hard for Diana to be around all of that when it was supposed to be a time of fun and bliss while she grew, and she could tell it was putting a damper on Lilith's conscious as she couldn't give that to her and had to focus on keeping them alive. She then looked around, noticing that the witch that was apparently by her side constantly since her arrival to Forks was not there, "Where's Lorelei?" She asked.

Lilith shrugged, "She's gone to see Ryker and sort a few things out before the possible battle." She answered.

   Bella nodded her head and shrugged, "Shame. We're all still waiting to meet her."

Lilith rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, she'll show up sooner or later." She assured her friend before walking towards her car, "And thank you again, I love you!"

"Love you too, Lil," Bella said as she and Diana began to wave at the blonde vampire. "I'm going to be the favourite by the time you get back."

"We'll see about that." Lilith winked before closing the car door and turning on the car to drive off and head towards Seattle where her next destination was.

Lilith parked the white Mercedes on the side of the road once she reached her destination in Seattle. After the family's discussion the night before, Jasper and Alice had given everyone another sense of hope in regard to keeping Diana and Bella safe at all costs—and Jasper's contact, J. Jenks, was hopefully the key.

The newborn vampire placed the car into park before checking the rear view mirror to ale sure her coloured contacts were correctly in place before exiting the car, not rushing to get out of the rain like she normally would have before entering the building that she had been looking for from the address that Jasper had given her.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness in the building, due to it being close to Christmas time, the lights and decorations had been covering the indoor furniture and building design, making Lilith's improved eyesight take a moment before moving it elsewhere.

She continued through the building until she found the sign outside of one of the restaurants that she was looking for, signalling that she had arrived to the meeting place given by J. Jenks.

Lilith made eye contact with the host of the restaurant, taking a step forward and saying, "I'm meeting Mr. Jenks." She told him, hoping that he was already there and waiting for her so she wouldn't be alone at the table with her thoughts and nerves; and instead could get right to it.

"Right this way." The host told her before leading her to a private area of the restaurant that held tables that were surrounded by sheer curtains for a subtle amount of privacy.

The host held open the curtain for Lilith to step inside and the man waiting for her—supposedly J. Jenks—stood up to shake her hand, "Mrs. Cullen." He greeted her before helping Lilith take off her coat to reveal her red dress underneath.

     "Lilith is fine, thank you." She told him when he pushed in the chair for her.

J. Jenks then sat across from her with a nervous yet bright smile on his face, "I was very happy to hear from you guys." He admitted to her, "I always meet my private clients here. It's more comfortable than the office."

"And it's more public." She observed, looking around at all of the unaware people that were dining not too far away from them.

"Ah." J chuckled at her. "Even with Jasper's reassurance about your immense self control, you can never be too careful." He explained and Lilith nodded her head understandingly at him.

Somewhere down the line, something might've went wrong with one of this 'private clients' and now he had to make sure that he was careful at all times—which meant always meeting them in public so they could never attack him like they could in private.

"So what type of work do you do, J?" Lilith questioned him, genuinely curious about what he did, how he knew Jasper and how he came about to work for them.

"Oh, you know, this and that." He vaguely answered her question, but was happy that she was engaging in conversation with him instead of it just being business. "It's always different, which makes it interesting."

"I'm glad you feel that way." She responded. "Have you known Alice and Jasper long?" She asked him again.

"I've been working with them for more than twenty years. And my late partner knew Jasper fifteen years before that." J told her and Lilith raised an eyebrow, not knowing that Jasper had known of him for that long, piecing together that the man sat across from her most likely helped the Cullens move around the country with ease undetected for so long. "He is, uh... unusually well-preserved."

Lilith snorted at his commented, "That's one way to put it." She agreed.

J then reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a yellow envelope, "Usually Jasper gives me some time with these sorts of things, but nevertheless, an order will never be late—especially not his." He told her, sliding the yellow envelope across the table for Lilith to gently grab and open it while J looked around to make sure no one was looking. Lilith pulled out the contents of the envelope to reveal three passports and plane tickets. The vampire opened the passports to see the pictures of Lorelei, Bella and Diana—and how professional and real they all looked despite the short notice. The sinking feeling dropped into her stomach, realisation settling in that she might have to send her daughter away in order to survive. J noticed the look on her face, "There a problem?" He asked her, dropping the drink from his lips.

"No." Lilith shook her head. "My husband and I wanted to join them on their travels, but, there were some unforeseen circumstances that came up and we aren't able to go. I guess I was just feeling a little overwhelmed."

"Jasper said that only three would be travelling. His instructions were very clear." He told her, the vampire sensing his fear that he had done his job incorrectly and that she might take it out on him.

Lilith shook her head, "No, you've done everything correctly, I'm just being silly." Lilith felt as J's fear decreased and he relaxed almost immediately, she gave him a smile and stood up, "Thank you for your time, J. I appreciate it." She said.

   J nodded his head, "Anytime."

Lilith then turned around and walked away back towards her car, making sure that she could get back to Diana as soon as possible in case the next few days were the only time she might have left with her. Because while Diana would indeed have a future, Edward and Lilith might not be apart of it according to Alice's vision.

Even if they did escape, Lilith and Edward would have to spend the rest of eternity making sure the Volturi never got close to her and she knew that they would be tracking them at every turn; which could unintentionally lead them right to her.

And Lilith refused to let them ever get near her after their encounter ever again.

That night, after returning from Seattle and picking up Diana from the Quiluete territory, Lilith immediately began to pack some things for Diana. Bella had called her in a frenzy on her way back after Jake had told her what might happen; the human didn't want to leave and run away, but she wanted to stay and fight in whatever way she could. It was hard for Lilith to remind her friend that she was only human and she couldn't fight against them, and the only way she could stay safe was to run when needed—not to mention, Lilith was tasking her with protecting the most important person on her life for possibly the rest of her days, which proved more than brave than trying to stand up against a bunch of vampires.

She grabbed a small backpack, but large enough to carry a change of clothes, some necessities, cash and the passports and plane tickets given to her by J. Jenks before grabbing a piece of paper and beginning to write on it if she didn't get to say her last goodbyes.

'My dearest Diana, I thought we were have forever together. But, forever isn't as long as I'd hoped, even though I will cherish every moment we have shared together. Know that everything that I have done was to keep you safe.

Everything you, Lorelei and Bella will need is in this pack. Lorelei and Bella will protect you and love you like family, so you know that my heart will be with them close by also.

Your father and I love you with our entire soul and being, and we will find our way back to you one day.

— Your mother, Lilith.'

She looked at the note sadly for a moment, drinking in the words before placing it into the bag along with the other things she had packed for her.

"It's a romantic notion, isn't it?" She heard Alistair speak from the doorway. "That a righteous few can defy a great evil." He said as he played with some of the trinkets on the table next to him. Lilith looked up at him, "I must admit, you even had me believing." He told her, making her raise an eyebrow. "For a moment." He added with a chuckle.

"No one is going to force you to fight for something you don't believe in, Alistair." She told him. "The vampires out there aren't here to fight for me and Diana, they're here to fight for themselves and their own freedom to live—and if you don't want that, that's fine."

Alistair looked at the backpack before looking back towards the newborn vampire, "So, they're laying down their lives for your cause, and you're running away?" He assumed.

"I do not run." She denied. "My priority is my daughter's safety, which is why we're in this mess to begin with, and I am trying to keep her safe—and if that means I have to send her away, then that is what I will have to do."

He half-smirked at her, "I am amazed at how far you are willing to go with this." He told her. "You would fight for her against the Volturi and you would send her away with someone you once considered your enemy. Most people wouldn't do things like that at all."

"It's not just for anyone; it's for my daughter." She reminded him. "And I'm sure there's someone out there that you'd do the same for also." Her eyes softened, trying to relate to him in anyway. She knew nothing about Alistair besides him being a nomad. She had no idea if he had a mate, friends or even past coven members—or even if he had been alone all of his immortal life. Lilith was sure that Carlisle had maybe even offered him a place in his coven, but the vampire probably would not want to resort to the vegetarian lifestyle that Carlisle would make him take part in.

"There was." Alistair mumbled begrudgingly. "Once." He added, thinking back to his past with his family and how he was changed, Lilith only catching flashes of it before turning off Edward's gift because she didn't want to intrude.

Alistair was most definitely a lone vampire, who cared a lot about his self preservation considering he had been used and betrayed by the people he cared about most—and Lilith didn't blame him for wanting to stay alive and keep out of the Volturi's bad books. She could see that even though he thought about the possibility of going towards the Volturi to save himself, but she also saw how he cared about Carlisle too much to betray him and his trust like that when he considered him a friend—albeit one that he only ever sees once every few centuries much to Carlisle's dismay.

"Well, even if you do decide that you want to leave, whoever it is that you think so special of would still think of you greatly for trying." Lilith acknowledged his attempts for trying, but she could see how overwhelmed he was with fear of his own life and how the Volturi would not accept the situation and find another way to eliminate them all. She wanted to make sure it was known that she appreciated him being there anyway, even though they did not talk much as he spent most of his time alone in the attic—but he still came to help her and her family, which is more than she could of ever asked.

"And you?" Alistair questioned.

   Lilith raised an eyebrow, quite shocked that he was interested in her opinion, "And I would think the exact same. Bravery isn't always being there for the fight, you know."

Alistair chuckled, "I'm not worried about not being brave." He told her.

Lilith smiled, "I know." She responded. Alistair was brave—he brooded a lot—but, he was brave. And he cared about his moral image to Carlisle, he cared about how he would be seen if he fled, and Lilith needed to let him know that no one would think of him any differently because of it.

Alistair then huffed, giving one last look around the room before saying, "Well, good luck to you. You're gonna need it."

Lilith smiled again knowing that it was his way of telling her to be careful, "Good luck to you, too. Hopefully we'll meet again in less unfortunate circumstances."

"I doubt it. Cheers, Lilith." He finally said to her before walking around the corner and disappeared from her eyesight.