𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔
ミ★ ( bewitched, act three ) ★彡

Lilith Bailey ran for her life, looking back over her shoulder as she tried to see where her attacker was in the distance after hearing the sound of swooshing air throughout the dark corridor. Her heart beat racing and thumping in her chest from the large multitude of exercise, fear and adrenaline that was fuelling her to get away from whoever—or whatever—was chasing her. There was something about the place she was in that looked familiar, almost as if she had been there before, but her mind couldn't pin point when or where or how. She shook her head at herself, it wasn't important at that moment, she was being chased. She was being hunted. She took a sharp turn and bounced back when her body ran into something, falling back to the ground from the amount of force she had ran into it. The girl held onto her head from pain, looking up at what she had ran into and scolding herself for not paying attention and noticing it before hand.

When Lilith looked up, her heart stopped as she gasped when she saw the glowing red eyes in the darkness and before she could move to get away, the thing lunged at her.

"No!" Lilith screamed out, flinching awake, panting to see her in her own room. The girl let out a sigh of relief when she realised it was all just a dream—a really bad and scary dream that felt all too real.

"You're okay." Someone said, causing her to flinch and move her head to see who it was, her wide eyes turning to slits when she saw Edward standing at her doorway.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned him, Dakota hissing at him from her side. Lilith turned her back towards Edward and put the covers over her again to try and warm her up after the chill she had gotten down her back from the cold weather and the nightmare. She hadn't spoken to him in weeks since they returned from Italy, and that was the way she wanted it. After Italy, it made her realise a few things, and she was not too happy at how Edward wanted her to just accept him back in her life with open arms... like nothing had happened and he didn't cause her pain for months.

She would be the first to admit that she was being childish and petty when it came to her recent actions towards him because she wanted him to grovel, but, she just couldn't help it. She was angry and hurt.

"Your parents let me in." He answered her question, "I had to beg them for an hour to try and let me see you, but, they refused to put the barrier down." He didn't care how desperate or pathetic he looked standing at that doorway begging her parents to let him in just to talk to her when he was only met with glares, all he cared about was trying to beg for forgiveness.

"They put the barrier up to stop people like you and Victoria entering my home without an invitation." She said bluntly. It was put up shortly after they returned from Italy and Lilith had woken up to Edward trying to speak with her in the middle of the night—which caused a huge argument between everyone and Lilith had finally told him that she didn't want to see him for a little bit and she wanted space after everything.

Italy had confused her and she was trying to put the pieces together and she was conflicted when she had found out about Edward lying to her about how he truly felt to 'protect her'. Then there was the revelation from Alice of her being a vampire in the future that made her feel physically ill.

"Yeah, they let me in once your nightmare started. Then they were all too eager to let me in so I could see the damage I caused you when I left." He admitted.

Petty, she thought to herself. He took a step inside the room and walked over towards her bed and sat down, the girl flinching away from him not so subtly and she didn't miss the look that flashed across Edward's face from the action but he understood that he was the reason why and he couldn't be offended or argue about it, "What are you doing here, Edward?" She asked bluntly.

"Lilith, please, it's been weeks. I haven't seen you or spoken to you for weeks, I tried to give you space to think, but, I can't just stay away from you." He pleaded with her.

"You've done it before." She reminded him, throwing those months back in his face, refusing to look into his honey coloured eyes knowing if she did, she would forgive him almost right away.

Edward sighed and put his head in his hands, "And I'll forever regret that decision more than you'll ever know." He told her, turning his head towards her to see her look away from him once again. The tension in the air was thick and heavy, and Edward didn't need to have Jasper's gift to sense the resentment she felt towards him and the betrayal and hurt. He could feel it coming from her all on his own.

No one spoke for a while, the silence was loud enough as it was clear to Edward how badly he had messed up and he would have a lot of work ahead of him to make things somewhat okay.

Lilith swallowed a sob, "You left me." She muttered in a hushed tone, her voice expressing the pain loud enough to the point that Edward had just wished she had kicked and screamed at him, but, he knew she would never do something like that.

"I thought I was protecting you." He defended himself and his actions, "I had to keep you safe from Victoria. I thought if I lead her away from you or made her think I didn't care about you that she would leave you alone and you wouldn't live a life of fear—"

"I'm not afraid." She interrupted him, looking up into his eyes as every candle in the room lit up with her words. Now that she had her magic back, it was hard to control once again and it began to flare at the most emotional of times. And while Lilith wasn't afraid of many things—and Victoria was unfortunately one of those things—she knew she would of had nothing to fear if Edward was by her side like her promised he would always be.

"I know that now." He said solemnly, "I thought that if I left I could give you somewhat of a normal, happy life."

"But, you know I'm not normal and I never will be. I have no idea why you would think that you could give me that." She sniffled, wiping away the tear that fell down her cheek, "It was so easy for you to say those things to me, and it was so easy for you to leave; when the thought of me doing that to you makes me sick to my stomach."

"Leaving you was the hardest thing I've done in a hundred years." He admitted.

"I'm sorry, but, I just don't believe that anymore." She admitted again, turning over to no longer face Edward and pulling the covers up to her chin and closing her eyes, hoping that it'll give him the hint to leave. After everything that he had said to her and the pain that it caused her, it was too hard to believe anything else. There had been too much damage caused for Lilith to trust Edward right off of the bat and she couldn't believe that he was asking for it so easily without even thinking of how it would make her feel. Then again, it didn't really seem like he cared about how she would feel when he left her in the first place.

Edward sighed and stood up, "I swear... I will never fail you again. I'm so sorry." Lilith didn't respond, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to hold in the sob that was making it was up, "I know your parents aren't going to forgive me any time soon, and neither will you, but, I hope that you will forgive me one day; because I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to live without you."

Lilith didn't respond once again, and Edward took the hint before disappearing, leaving the girl alone once again.

"How are you feeling?" Bella asked as she and Angela sat on the edge of Lilith's bed the next day, "You know... since he's back."

Lilith shrugged as she wrote down the next paragraph for her English final, "I don't know how I feel about it. He's tried to speak to me a couple of times, but, I don't want to talk to him."

"At least he's trying." Angela managed, not really wanting to overstep too much even though she's wanted them to get back together.

"He is trying, but, I can't forget how he dumped me in the middle of the woods for no particular reason and how he disappeared without a trace for months." She grumbled back.

"You're right, don't worry too much about what everyone else thinks about your relationship. Take your time." Angela then backtracked, "Just because he gave you those puppy dog eyes and asked for forgiveness doesn't mean you should just give it to him."

"Now she gets it." Bella joked and Angela lightly shoved her.

"Sorry, I just saw how happy you two were and how cute you were together, and I want that for you again. Whether that be with Edward or if we have to help you move on and find someone new." The girl defended, "I just don't want you to be in that state again." Her eyes softened.

Lilith gave her a meek smile, "I know, and I'm sorry I put you guys through that."

"Don't apologise." Bella shook her head, "Seriously, don't."

"I have to. I practically distanced myself from all of you and cut you out of my life because I didn't know how to handle my emotions, and it wasn't right." The blonde groaned.

"Exactly, you didn't know how to process your emotions and you did what you thought was best for yourself." Angela said while stroking Dakota's fur, "No one blames you for it and no one is holding that against you. We see that you're better now—which is great—but... we just worry for you."

"You don't have to worry, I don't think Edward and I are going to get back together anytime soon." Lilith stated as she pulled her knees up to her chest, "It's just too soon for me, and I know the scars he left me with are still healing. I don't want to jump into something when I still hold resentment towards him."

"Like Angela said: take your time." Bella spoke as she continued to write on her notebook, her and Angela having more written down than Lilith, "Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, and if that means never speaking to him again, then by all means, do that."

"I unfortunately can't do that either." Lilith then groaned, "I'm so confused. It's like I want to be with him, but, I want him to work for it more."

"Give yourself more time to figure it out, it's only been a couple of weeks since he's been back." Angela reminded her, "Sometimes you just have to really think about if this first love is one that you need to let go or one you can let back in, and you've had a lot on your mind lately so I'm not surprised you haven't been thinking about it too much." Angela's phone then beeped and she looked at the text, cursing lightly, "Sorry, I have to go, my mom just texted me and told me that we have guests coming over and I was supposed to help out with dinner."

"Go, it's okay." Lilith smiled as Angela began to pack up her things, shooting Lilith an apologetic look, "We'll probably finish up soon anyway and I'll try and finish this later."

Angela was out within minutes after saying goodbye to both Bella and Lilith and then Lilith's parents downstairs before running to her car and driving home, leaving Bella and Lilith alone again.

"You said you had to tell me something?" Bella hesitantly asked, recalling the message she had gotten from Lilith a few hours before she was supposed to arrive.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure who to ask or who to turn to with this." Lilith gulped as she moved her schoolwork away and crossed her legs, Bella doing the same, "When we were in Italy, I met the rulers of the vampire world when I had to save Edward and I have no idea what to make of this."

"What do you mean?" Bella questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Alice mentioned that she had a vision... of me being a vampire." She admitted and Bella's eyes went wide, "And I don't know how to feel about it which is also why I've been so hesitant to let Edward back into my life." She felt if she distances herself from Edward, that the vision of her becoming a vampire would change; because she wouldn't be around them a lot or be involved with any vampire situations for it to result in her accidentally becoming a vampire. She loved being a witch and she couldn't think of wanting to be anything else.

"Woah." The human girl muttered, "Do you know the circumstances of you changing into one?" She remembered the last time that Lilith almost became a vampire and she hoped that it wouldn't be like that again.

"No, I have no idea. Which also scares me." She answered, "I haven't told anyone else either because I don't know what to think of it." She knew Edward was heavily against the idea and so were her parents as she remembered when James had bitten her, they both were trying to not let the change happen to her.

"I wouldn't know what to make of that either." Bella admitted, "But, I know that if you wanted to be one that I'd support your decision all the way."

"But, being a vampire means giving up my magic." Lilith weighed out the cons for Bella, "My magic is everything to me—even if I don't use it that much—it's who I am and I was lost without it for those months that it disappeared on me."

"You are a lot more than just your magic." Bella pointed out, "Even when you didn't have it, you still had everything else. The people we go to school with love you and they have no idea you have it, which proves how amazing you are."

"Thanks." Lilith sighed, "It's just weird to think about me as a vampire. I've always been a witch and I never thought of being anything else because I didn't want to be. I love it too much."

"Well, here's hoping that you don't have to think about that for a long time, because who knows how far into the future that vision even was—if it would even happen in the first place since they can always change." Bella reminded her, "I think you should just focus on getting to a good place with yourself."

"And Edward?" Lilith raised an eyebrow.

Bella shrugged, "You can focus on getting to a good place with him too, but, you need to take care of yourself first and foremost." She said as she began to pack up her things as well, "You've nearly died for me three times now, and you just went out of your way to save Edward from killing himself. When are you going to look out for yourself?"

"Being a witch means I protect those who can't protect themselves against the supernatural. Witches are the balance of nature and we are protectors, it's not something I can change." Lilith responded.

"Unless you turn into a vampire, then that responsibility no longer falls onto you." Bella winked, "I have to go home soon, Dad grounded me after he found out that I played a part in helping you go to Italy without your parents permission."

Lilith chuckled, "I'm sorry about that." She apologised, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Do you have a spell to get me ungrounded?" Bella asked. Charlie had lost his mind when he had found out that his daughter had tried to lie and say that Lilith was with them when she had ran off to Italy and ended up grounding her for the longest time possible. She understood, but it was harsh.

The witch could only scrunch her nose and shake her head, laughing a little bit at her friend, "No, sorry. Otherwise I wouldn't be grounded either."

"It's okay, we'll figure it out for next time." Bella said, opening her arms up for a goodbye hug which Lilith got up and gave her before she lead Bella to her truck that was parked out the front of her home.

After Bella left, Lilith went back up to her room and sighed as she looked at her watch seeing as it was getting fairly late and she wanted to be pretty well rested for another new week of school.

She quickly walked over to her closet and got out her pyjamas along with the outfit she was going to wear the next day before going to get changed, halting when she felt like she could feel someone staring at her through the window, her eyes looked outside, looking for any sign of movement or if she could just see anyone to begin with for a moment before she shook her head at herself.

"There's no one there, you're just freaking yourself out for no reason." She told herself before walking over to the windows, locking them and then closing the curtains just to be safe.

She quickly walked over to her bed to see Dakota sitting there waiting for her and Lilith looked at her before she got under the covers and closed her eyes.