𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙑𝙀
ミ★ ( bewitched, act one ) ★彡

     A few days later, Edward texted Lilith to dress warmly. He was going to pick her up soon to go hang out with his family again and Lilith quickly rushed to get changed. It's nice being romanced by him and she can feel herself falling hard and fast for him—she can't tell why, other than the fact that he's sweet, funny and caring. It's all things she would look for in a partner, and it helps that he's also very handsome. Dating seems easy with him, even though they're not exactly official yet. Her smile dropped when she realised that he had sent another message saying that he wanted to meet her parents. She had to quickly remind him that she wasn't really speaking to them still.

EDWARD: That's okay, I don't mind.

     She groaned as she read the text, knowing that the already awkward situation was going to be much more awkward now.

     Edward knocked on the door and Oliver opened it, his eyes looking at him in confusion as to why his colleague's son was at his front door, "Dr. Bailey." Edward greeted, "I want to formally introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen."

     "I understand that, but, why are you here?" He was still confused as to why he was introducing himself when they had already met before.

     "Because he's important to me." Lilith answered as she walked down the stairs, holding Dakota and went towards Edward's side, placing the black cat down and watched as she ran over towards her food bowl before entwining Edward's hand with hers.

     Oliver looked down at their hands and his jaw went slightly slack before looking back up at his daughter and Edward after realising what was going on, "Lilith won't be out too late tonight. She's just gonna play baseball with my family."

     Oliver's eyebrows rose, "Baseball?" He asked. "Our uncoordinated Lilith is going to play baseball with a bunch of vampires?" Lilith narrowed her eyes at her father.

     Edward tried to read his mind to see what he was thinking, but, couldn't get past the mental wall he had up. Carlisle had explained that witches had the ability to have one with magic, but, some of them never realised they had it up in the first place like Lilith. But, since Oliver knew of the Cullens and their abilities, he had his up, "Yes, sir, that's the plan." He responded to her father.

     "Lilith's gonna play baseball." He chuckled to himself, "Well, good luck with that. I'm sure I'll probably see you both in the emergency room this evening."

     Edward let out a small laugh knowing he couldn't get hurt, but Lilith would somehow roll an ankle just by standing still, "I'll take care of her. I promise."

     "It's not you I'm worried about." Oliver said nervously and Lilith narrowed her eyes at him again before pulling Edward away from her father.

     Lilith and Edward got into the car and Edward made sure her seatbelt was on as he explained the field they were going to was a little off-road and the ride was going to be a little bumpy.

     When they did get there, the rest of the Cullens were already there warming up and it made Lilith excited to watch—as there was no way she was going to play with a bunch of vampires. She was already bad enough playing with humans, she knew she was going to be absolutely horrible playing with a species that was incredibly fast and strong with reflexes no match to hers.

     Edward helped her out of the car and gave her a baseball t-shirt to put over her jacket that said 'Cullen' on the back of it. "Cute." She commented as Edward placed a baseball cap on top of her head, "And since when do vampires even like baseball?"

     Edward starting to fix the cap and make sure it was on straight and there was no hair in her face as he responded, "Well, it's the American pastime and there's a thunderstorm coming. It's the only time we can play." He said and looked at the confused look on her face, "You'll see why." He said vaguely.

     The two began to walk towards the family who met them halfway and greeted them excitedly. Lilith giggled as she saw Rosalie and Emmett playfully fighting over one of the bats.

     "Glad you're here. We need an umpire." Esme said to her as she lead Lilith towards a particular spot.

     "She thinks we cheat." Emmett said sarcastically, rolling his eyes dramatically, "How offensive is that, munchkin?"

     "You'd definitely cheat." Lilith joked and Emmett made a face of shock and placed a hand over his heart.

     "Rose, Lilith is being mean to me!" He yelled out at his wife who was standing not too far away from them.

     "Only because you cheat and she knows it!" Rosalie yelled back jokingly with her arms out as she walked over towards the batting plate, "Call them as you see them, Lilith! And make sure you keep an eye on Emmett, I'm on a winning streak and I'm not about to lose it!"

     Rosalie winked as she got towards her and Lilith smirked evilly, "You got it."

     The rest of the family walked over towards their spots as they prepared to play. Alice was pitching, Rosalie was batting and the rest of them were spread out along the field. Lilith looked over at them trying to analyse everyone's special move and what they were going to do next, but, couldn't help but make a face when Emmett starting to hype himself up by fighting the air, "Don't mind him, he's just trying to distract me by making me laugh." Rosalie scoffed.

     Emmett had figured out the best way to throw Rosalie off of her game was to make her laugh, and the couple were extremely competitive after they had made a bet on who's team would have won the most amount of games in a year and Rosalie was determined to win. Edward watched as he could see the excitement on Lilith's face thinking how adorable she looked in her clothes and how he loved how accepting his family members were towards her. He couldn't wait to ask her to finally be his girlfriend.

     Thunder then rumbled and the sound spread across the field. Alice smirked as she announced, "Its time."

     Rosalie nodded at her with a smirk that matched her adoptive sister's letting her know she was ready for her to swing. Alice pitched the ball and right as the bat met with the ball, the thunder cracked, concealing the loud sound that would've come from the bat. Rosalie didn't waste a second as she dropped the bat and ran for the next plate, "Okay, now I see why you need the thunder." Lilith realised. She saw Edward beginning to run to get the ball that went far into the thickness of the trees as Rosalie ran across second base, "That's gotta be a home run, right?"

     "Edward's very fast." Esme responded as she heard the whooshing of the ball being thrown back to them from a distance from Edward. She caught the ball just as Rosalie was about to reach home, she slid down hoping her foot would touch it before Esme placed the ball on the plate.

     Rosalie and Esme looked at Lilith expectantly and Lilith winced a little, "Don't hate me, Rose, but... you're out." She announced.

     "Out! Whoo!" Emmett cheered from a distance. He saw his wife's glare at him as she got up from the ground and Emmett's demeanour changed instantly. "Babe, come on. It's just a game."

     Rosalie walked away and playfully nudged the small blonde witch, "I'll allow it... this time, but, only because you're so cute." She said to her as she walked towards Carlisle.

     Carlisle patted her on the back, chuckling as he said, "Nice kitty." Edward emerged from the trees, making his way back onto the field, smirking at Lilith who was clapping excitedly for him and giving him a thumbs up.

     Carlisle was next to bat and Alice threw the ball right at him, and like last time, the ball hitting the bat and the thunder cracking matched perfectly before Carlisle began to run, hoping to get to home. Both Emmett and Edward looked up at the ball and both jumped to reach for it at the same time, only to bump into each other and fall to the ground laughing at each other as Carlisle made it to home.

     Jasper batted next, hitting the ball far across the field and Lilith watched in amazement as Emmett quickly ran and climbed one of the trees nearby to to catch it on the full before jumping down and throwing it back to Esme, "My monkey man." Rosalie said proudly.

     The game continued and Rosalie's team was winning—like expected—the teams had switched over as to who was fielding and who was batting before it was back to the other way around again. Rosalie was up to bat again and she hit the ball and began to run before Alice's face dropped, seeing a vision of three vampires headed their direction. She turned and her face was filled with worry as she yelled out, "Stop!"

     The Cullens looked at her, their expressions the same as they heard people coming towards them and smelling their vampire scents. Edward read her mind as his stomach dropped as he ran to Lilith's side along with the rest of the family, "They were leaving. Then they heard us." She explained to Edward.

     Edward grabbed onto Lilith's hand and began to pull her towards the car, "Let's go."

     "It's too late." Carlisle informed him, having heard the crunching of the leaves underneath the vampires feet get closer and closer.

     Edward's eyes widened as he turned to Lilith, "Get your hair down and stay behind me." He ordered her and pushed her lightly behind him as his grip on her hand stayed tight.

     The Cullens watched expectantly as they awaited the unwanted guests, Lilith's heart pounding with anxiety as she had no idea what was going on and why everyone was freaking out, "What's going on?" She questioned Edward.

     "I shouldn't have brought you here. I'm so sorry." He apologised to her, kissing her head and making sure he stood in front of her to conceal her from whoever was headed their way.

     "What? What are you..."

     "Just please be quiet and stay behind me." He begged her and the look in his eyes made Lilith quiet instantly as she realised the intensity of the situation and how worried and stressed he was.

     Within a second, three people—two men and one woman—arrived onto the field and made their way towards the Cullens who met with them halfway. Lilith looked down to see their feet completely barefoot and her mind began to make connections. Her parents and the police had said that there were bare footprints that they found on the murder scenes. Were these the vampires that killed those innocent people? Would they try to kill her?

     The one in the middle held up the baseball that got hit by Rosalie, "I believe this belongs to you." He said and threw it towards Carlisle who caught it with ease, "I am Laurent." He said and motioned to the woman beside him, "And this is Victoria, and James." He said motioning at the blonde haired vampire on the other side of him. Lilith looked at all of them seeing that Laurent's eyes were red and Victoria and James' eyes were black, and from what Edward had explained to her, when a vampire's eyes were red it meant they fed on human blood, and when they were black it meant they were hungry and hadn't fed which made her anxiety tremble as she gripped harder onto Edward's hand.

     "I'm Carlisle." He said, "This is my family." Carlisle didn't introduce names as he wanted to keep as much disconnect between them and not make any personal connections between them. The nomads seemed to be observing them also as they saw their eyes be a golden colour which meant that they didn't feed on human blood like them, "I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us." Carlisle stated to them as they had to keep their vampirism on a tighter leash in case they got outed.

     "Our apologies." Laurent said, "We didn't realise the territory had been claimed."

     "Yes, well, we maintain a permanent residence nearby." Carlisle explained.

     "Really?" Laurent smirked slightly amused at how well the coven in front of him had blended in with the humans, "Well, we won't be a problem anymore. We were just passing through."

     Victoria smirked, "The humans were tracking us, but we led them east." She explained before she lowered her voice to a whisper, "You should be safe." The dots in Lilith's mind were definitely connected now as she had realised that they were definitely the perpetrators of the 'animal attacks'.

     "Excellent." Carlisle nodded stiffly.

     Laurent then smiled, "So, could you use three more players?" He asked and the Cullens turned to Carlisle for his response when no one replied, "Come on. Just one game."

     Carlisle sighed lightly, knowing it would be the quickest and easiest way to get rid of them without starting a fight, "Sure. Why not?" He agreed, "A few of us were leaving. You could take their place. We'll bat first."

     Carlisle threw the ball back to the nomads and Victoria caught it with a smirk, "I'm the one with the wicked curveball." She said.

     "Well, I think we can handle that." Jasper smirked and the mood began to lighten as Laurent made a noise of excitement while the rest of them went into their positions.

     "We shall see." Victoria stated, her tone no longer threatening as she was excited to play as well.

     James kept his eyes on Edward and Lilith as he was observing them. He had seen how Edward was looking at him and how even the girl had looked at him also and he was curious to try and figure out the dynamic.
Just as James turned around to go to his spot, a gust of wind blew and Lilith's scent caught his nose. Breathing it in, he looked at the girl with a cunning smile, "You brought a snack."

     Edward instantly snarled as he put Lilith behind him and the rest of the Cullens pushed their way in front of her also as they snarled at him also. Lilith freaked as she saw the other two join James' side and she put her hands up and instantly created a barrier between them so they couldn't come any closer towards the Cullens, protecting them.

     "A witch?" Laurent gasped as he observed the forcefield in front of him.

     "The girl is with us." Carlisle stated stiffly, "I think it's best if you leave."

     Edward didn't take his eyes off of James as he stared at him also. He wanted to jump at him for the thoughts he was having but he knew that it was no use and he wouldn't be able to get to him as the forcefield wasn't just to keep nomads away from the Cullens and Lilith, it was to keep them away from the nomads also.

     "I can see the game is over." Laurent realised, "We'll go now." He said with his hands up as he began to slowly walk away. James and Victoria didn't move from their spot as they were waiting for the moment for the barrier to drop to pounce. "James." Laurent called and both of them snapped out of it and began to walk away, but, they kept their eyes on Edward and Lilith.

     "Get Lilith out of here." Carlisle said to his adoptive son, "Go!"