A/N: Hello again! Here's a light hearted chapter after the pain I put you all though last time. Fair note! Starting here the rating will bump up to M and for good reason. It ain't mature just yet, but I'm sure you all can guess why its gonna be upped by reading this installment. As always replies are at the bottom of the chapter. Review and Enjoy!
Story: Pinky Promise
Rated: T
Parings: BellaxEdward, AlicexOCxJasper (Polyamorous), CarlislexEsme, RosaliexEmmett
Summary: Bella should have asked how to pronounce Santa when she was younger, who would've thought she made a pinkie promise with the devil herself?
Chapter Warning: Suggestive Themes, Blood Mention
Every day is a journey;
And the journey itself is home
-Matsuo Basho
Chapter 14: Safe
Emmett had to get out of the house, he could taste the tension surrounding the family. Alice and Jasper were always out of the house searching for Lilith or hunting. Edward was trying to wheedle out information from Bella and that put a damper on their relationship. He also noticed how even Rosalie was hiding something from him, which made him upset but knowing his wife, he didn't pry.
So that's how Emmett found himself out for a hunt. He had already quenched his thirst on an unsuspecting grizzly and now he was just running for the hell of it. He was near the border from La Push when he caught the familiar stench of the wolf shifters. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Emmett slowed his pace. They were gathered at the border for some reason and if Emmett listened closely he could hear the leader of the pack, Sam arguing with another guy.
"She doesn't smell human, she's a threat."
"She's not even on our side of the borderline and she's hurt. Let one of the leeches find her."
"No! I want to know what she is!"
Emmett was now curious, bracing himself for a tense confrontation, he move throughout the trees and landed in the clearing that designated as the meeting place between the two species of supernatural. As soon as Emmett arrived, he was assaulted by the sound of multiple growls and Sam with the other boy, which Emmett now recognized as Bella's friend Jacob, glared at his arrival. He could've cared less because five feet away from him, was Lilith. She was knocked out, and Emmett could black blood seeping from the wound on the back of her head. Emmett soon found out that when he breathed in to hold his breath, there was no scent to the liquid that was a vampires sustenance.
Besides the worrisome color of her blood what was more concerning was her appearance. A large tunic-like shirt hung off her body and Emmett could tell she hadn't been eating, her hair had also grown a lot from its usual style. What happened was she kidnapped? Emmett quickly stepped forward to pick her up but was halted by the barks of the wolves in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing, leech?" Sam growled.
Emmett put up his hands as a sign of peace and began explaining himself. "I know her, she's Bella's friend, Lilith. We've been looking for her, she's been missing for a week." he spotted a flash of recognition in Jacob's eyes when he mentioned Lilith's name. "It looks like she's hurt pretty bad. We're not breaking any rules here, so I'm just going to take her back to Carlisle and you all won't have to worry about it."
"No." Sam stated. "She's not human. Paul and Embry were patrolling the border when they saw her appear in a flash a fire with this thing, a demon or something."
Emmett's eyes widen at this, Lilith wasn't human? She smelled like one, without the blood lust but Carlisle had just assumed it could be a gift like Bella has with Edward.
"Look." Emmett said. "I don't know what she is either, but she's been here for months, almost a year without harming anyone. She's eaten human food and slept, I doubt she's a danger to the public."
"Sam, Bella says she's known her for years. I've met her and other than the weird smell, she's not a threat. Let her get patched up and then we can interrogate her when she's awake, yeah?" Jacob stated.
Emmett was surprised that Jacob was somewhat siding with him, he didn't even know that Jacob knew Lilith. For a tense moment the two shifters stared at each other, until eventually Same nodded. Turning back to look at Emmett he pointed at him.
"I expect you to make a meeting with us once that girl is awake. There will be repercussions if the meeting is not made immediately, are we clear?"
The burly Cullen resisted the urge to roll his eyes and nodded. "Of course man, I want some answers too. I'll talk to Carlisle once I get home."
Same grunted and then shifted with Jacob following suit, soon the pack of wolves dispersed into the wilderness, leaving Emmett by himself once again. Walking over to Lilith he crouched down and gently picked her up bridal style, making sure to support her head. He frowned at how light she was as well as the abrasions and bruises that covered her body. When Emmett figured out who or what did this to her, he was going to rip them limb from limb. Shaking his head to clear it, Emmett focused on the task at hand and sped through the forest toward his house.
He almost collided into Esme when he reached the front door. The woman dropping her garden basket in shock when she saw who was in Emmett's arms. She sped back in the house and immediately retrieved first aid supplies. Emmett followed suit and the other occupants who were in the house made their way to see what the ruckus was all about. A sharp inhale was heard and Jasper was standing in front of Emmett in an instant.
"Lilith?" He whispered. Narrowing his eyes he looked at his brother. "What happened?"
Emmett shook his head in disbelief "According to the wolves of La Push, she just appeared in a flash of fire. She has a head wound and is knocked out pretty cold."
"What is she wearing? Where was she?" That was Emmett's mate, who was covered in grease, Rosalie was in the garage.
"I don't know." Looking at Jasper's worried expression he gently handed the limp woman to Jasper. "I'm just as confused as you are."
"Why is her blood black?" Esme whispered in slight horror. She had a wet cloth in her hand and while Lilith was in Jasper's arms, she wiped the offending substance away from Lilith's head. "Jasper get her upstairs and run some bath water. Not too hot. Rosalie, call Alice and Edward and tell them to cut their hunt short. Carlisle has too much going on at the hospital so we'll have to handle this ourselves."
Nodding, the respective vampires Esme assigned went to complete their tasks. "Emmett," Esme continued. "Could you go pick up Bella?"
"Sure thing, Ma. Let me just change shirts and I'll be on my way." Esme took a good look at her son and nodded, dirt, blood, and grime covered his clothing, it would be best for him to changed. Speeding off to his room, Esme made her own way upstairs to Jasper. She could hear the bath still running and knowing Jasper, being the southern gentleman he is, made sure Lilith was comfortable as she peeked into his room where Lilith was laying down on his bed. That meant Jasper was in the bathroom checking the water.
Picking up Lilith, Esme entered the large bathroom that accompanied the bedroom. She saw Jasper running a hand through his blonde locks and face grim with contemplation. He looked up when he saw Esme entered and nodded, knowing he would have to leave for this next step. Jasper took an unnecessary breath and walked over to place a gentle kiss on Lilith's forehead before leaving. Once the door was closed, Esme began to undress the unconscious woman. Her shirt went first and Esme had to hold back a gasp at the sight of Lilith's back. She and the family knew that Lilith had an array of scars, she rarely wore short sleeves or tanks, but when she did evidence of the marred skin showed.
When asked about them, Lilith would brush them off as accidents and how she was a very clumsy person. Of course they didn't push her about them, they weren't self inflicted by the looks of them, but this...it was worrisome. Two large and jagged vertical scars were parallel to each other on her back. They started from the tops of her shoulder blades to the middle of her back. These were the more prominent ones that stood out, atop of them were the raised and scarred tissue of whip and slash marks in an array of directions. Taking a shaky breath, Esme shook her head and removed the other articles from Lilith. She tested the water and with a maternal gentleness, lowered the woman into the tub.
She was halfway finished washing Lilith when Alice burst through the door, nearly taking it off its hinges.
"What happened? How is she?"
"She'll be alright Alice." Esme spoke quietly "Could you get some clothes laid out for her?" She watched as Alice bit her lip and nodded blurring off to do her task. Confident that Lilith was clean Esme wrapped a towel around her and walked out the bathroom, fining Alice with a pair of flannel pajamas laid on Jasper's bed. Judging by the size she assumed they were his. Alice helped Esme get Lilith into some fresh clothes and while putting on the shirt, Esme saw Alice freeze and watched as her eyes darkened when she eyed the scars, Esme viewed earlier.
Making sure Lilith was laying down comfortably, Esme watched as Alice laid beside her taking Lilith's hand in comfort. A quick moment after, Jasper came in and followed his wife's actions laying on the other side of Lilith and wached her shallow breathing. Emse took this as her sign to leave and walked out of the room and downstairs back to the rest of the family.
When arriving, she saw Bella sitting next to Edward on the loveseat and Emmett and Rosalie on the couch across from them.
"Esme." Bella spoke up, her voice was tired and weary. Apparently Edward had told them she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past week, fretting over Lilith. "How is she?"
Esme sighed and rubbed her hands together. "I may not be a doctor like my husband, but Lilith should be fine, I cleaned the wound on the back of her head and it seems to be already healing at a fast rate. I'm not sure how long she'll be out of it."
Bella nodded and sighed with relief.
"Bella?" Emmett asked.
"Yeah Em?"
"Lilith isn't human, is she?"
Bella shook her head in confirmation. "No she's not."
"Then what is she?"
Bella had a feeling that Alice and Jasper were also listening to this conversation from upstairs. "It isn't my place to tell you. When Lilith wakes you can ask her."
"But-"
"Sorry Emmett, I can't." Bella became silent after this, curled up next to Edward with her thoughts going a mile a minute.
The family went back to a tense routine, the only two absent were Alice and Jasper who were upstairs watching over her. Carlisle came home and Esme quickly filled him in on the situation. He proceeded to go upstairs and check on Lilith, however when he came back own confusion was laced on his face.
"Esme, you said their was a gash like wound on the back of her head, correct?"
"Yes? Why?"
"It's entirely healed."
Save for Rosalie and Bella, the rest of the family were befuddled at the situation. So for now they would wait. It was a Saturday night so after a quick call to Charlie about a sleepover with Alice, Bella was set to stay incase Lilith woke up. The night held suspense and a crippling sense of caution and the family found themselves at a loss.
When Lilith opened her eyes she immediately regretted the action.
'Too bright.' she thought. Lilith groaned softly, her head was killing her. She assumed someone had got a good whack in during her escape. As she breathed in, the familiar smell of the forest didn't tickle her senses and as she began to become more aware of her surroundings she noticed a few other things. She was clean, thank goodness for that, and in some type of pajamas. As she breathed in again, she caught the comforting scent of vanilla and old parchment.
'Jasper.'
Gasping Lilith shot up from her prone position and hissed at the throbbing rush that took over her head afterwards. As she rubbed her forehead to try and sooth the oncoming headache, she looked around the room she was in. Before she could gather anymore of her bearings, Lilith heard the door open and a small, cold hard body slammed into hers.
"Lilith! You're okay!"
Lilith wheezed as she felt the air being squeezed out of her. "Alice...air!" The embrace she was in lessened considerably but Alice did not pull back. Looking over the spiky mess of black hair, Lilith caught the sight of Jasper with a relieved smile on his face. Lilith chuckled softly as she felt tears burn in her eyes. "Get over here Jazz, you probably need this hug just as much as Alice does."
With those words Jasper strode over to the two girls and with large harms engulfed the two in a hug.
"We've been worried sick, darlin'. What happened to you?" Jasper murmured into her hair, he now took note of how long it grew, like she had been gone for months.
"I'm sorry." Lilith whispered "I got caught up in some bad business." In the embrace, Lilith's head was laying against Jasper's chest, her ear pressed against it as if she was listening to his non-existent heartbeat. Lilith felt Alice shake her head atop of her own chest and shivered when Alice's face nuzzled against her neck.
"Are you going to tell us what really happened?"
Lilith's mind seemed to stall as she took in what she was feeling. Jaspers hand had somehow, wormed its way under the borrowed shirt she wore and cold hands traced her lower back and sides. She could feel Alice's lips close to her pulse point, her mouth ghosting across her neck making feather light kisses. What were they doing? Lilith's breathing became shallow and now she was aware how close the two bodies against her really were.
"Lilith?" Alice's inquired softly in her ear and Lilith blinked out of her trance to answer her previous question.
"It seems like I don't have a choice, do I?" She murmured. Lilith closed her eyes, basking in their embrace. "I'd rather tell the whole family then, I'm tired of the lying and deceiving. And I'm sure Bella is about to blow a gasket for keeping things secret for so long."
She could hear and feel Alice giggle at the statement and Jasper hummed in confirmation. And by the River Styx, they were still touching her. Lilith wanted to tell them to stop, ask them why they were being so intimate with her. Was it for comfort? Solidarity? The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she found she couldn't speak. Lilith was touch starved and oh, how she wished Jasper's hand would reach a little higher and for Alice's lips to touch her own. The moment was interrupted by a loud rumble from Lilith's stomach and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. However, the action seemed to break the two vampires out of their trance and their embrace broke apart.
"Can you walk Lilith? If not we can bring your food up here." Alice asked.
There it was, everything back to semi-normalcy, as if the intimate moment never happened. Lilith found herself a little breathless as she shook her head. "I'm fine, I think I can handle stairs you two, I'm a little concussed, not crippled."
Nevertheless, Jasper and Alice made sure to stay close to her when they walked down to the first floor of the home. Lilith could feel herself tearing up at the smell of Esme's cooking and the sound of her soft humming filling the kitchen. To everyone here on Earth, it might have only been a week that Lilith was gone, but for Lilith it felt like months, almost an entire year since she was in that damned cell.
Esme turned and wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. Seeing Lilith up and about, Esme gasped and made a beeline towards her. Lilith laughed softly in delight as she was embraced in motherly arms. Pulling back Lilith said "Hi, Esme."
"Oh, Lilith we were so worried, you've been out of it for a couple days. We weren't sure when you were going to wake up. How are you feeling?"
If Lilith was honest with herself, she felt horrible. As of now she could barely stand, if she wasn't leaning part of her weight on Jasper she'd probably collapse. Physically, she hurt all over, she was still tired even though she apparently slept for days. Mentally, she was worse. She most likely had what the humans called battle fatigue, or PTSD. She had failed and there were the constant reminders of her failure that appeared in her dreams, and worse her hallucinations. She was weak, unworthy to hold the title of Satan. What was the point anymore? How could she-
"Lilith? Are you alright?" Esme's voice snapped Lilith out of her spiraling thoughts,
"Sorry Esme, kind of faded out the for a second." She reached up run a hand through her hair and slightly scowled at the length of it.
"It's alright, would you like to sit down and try to eat something? It looks like you've lost some weight dear." Lilith founded herself nodding at the inquiry and made her way to sit down at the island with a little help from Jasper, who noticed how she was moving more sluggishly. Alice sat in the other bar stool next to her and Jasper leaned against the counter. Esme placed a bowl of soup and crackers to test Lilith's appetite and Lilith smiled in thanks. She could feel two pairs of eyes watching her as she ate slowly, her heart ached feeling the concern Alice and Jasper had for her.
"Woah Lils! Rocking the afro!"
Emmett appeared in the kitchen and winked at Lilith, who laughed softly at his antics.
"Hey, Emmett."
"How are ya feeling, sleepy head?"
Lilith shrugged at Emmetts question and nibbled on a cracker. "My head still feels like it's been stepped on an elephant, but it could be worse." Emmett snickered at that and gave Lilith a thumbs up.
"Right on."
Lilith playfully rolled her eyes at him and continued eating. Everyone seemed to be here except Edward and Carlisle, the latter being at work and former at school. At that Lilith blinked and turned her head to look at Alice, who was still watching her.
"Alice?"
"Hm?"
"Why aren't you at school?"
The pixie vampire tilted her head in a cute manner and furrowed her brow "I couldn't leave you. Jasper and I wanted to be there in case you woke up. Carlisle wrote me some doctors note and it's only been three days, I should be fine."
Lilith bit her lip at that statement. They waited by her side? They were too good for her and Lilith felt sick all of a sudden. She would have to tell them who-no what she was. Would they think differently of her? Or be upset that she kept this secret from them for so long?
"Thank you for the meal Esme. I'm sorry I couldn't eat too much." It was true, the bowl of soup wasn't even halfway empty and only one cracker was missing from the five Esme placed on a plate. Lilith didn't fail to notice the glances she gave to Alice and Jasper in worry, but Esme's golden gaze flickered back to Lilith.
"It's alright dear, we'll just have to get your appetite back up." Esme gave Lilith a small smile to which Lilith returned it with a hesitant one of her own.
"When's Carlisle coming home?" Lilith found herself asking. She wanted to get this confession done and over with.
"Should be in a few hours." Jasper said. The man then proceeded to help Lilith out of her chair, he caught her as she stumbled and gave him a nervous laugh before stating she was fine. Alice was adamant on her getting back into bed, but Lilith couldn't lay down for another minute. She told Alice she had been resting for the past five days. Alice rolled her eyes in exasperation at Lilith's explanation and begrudgingly agreed for them to just sit in the living room.
So that's how Lilith wasted time before the inevitable 'family meeting', sitting between Jasper and Alice on the couch with some program about penguins on the television. However it was just dull background noise to Lilith. Her head was leaning against Jasper's shoulder and her eyelids were drooping as she felt Alice's cool and nimble fingers rub the back of her neck.
Lilith didn't even realize that she fell asleep, until a gentle nudge of Jasper's shoulder shook her awake. Lilith rubbed her eyes to regain a sense of awareness and froze when she realized that everyone, including Bella was sitting in the living room. Lilith looked at Alice with a confused expression lace on her face. Alice looked miffed, if that was even possible for her.
"I told them to let you sleep, but we all need to talk." Alice stated. Lilith sighed and nodded. She sat up and breathed out slowly before speaking.
"So, what do you all want to know?"
Carlisle was the first to question her. "I suppose the first question would be, what are you? You look like and smell like a human, without the blood lust of course. But you've always put off a rather odd aura." Lilith could see the doctor's gears turning in his head, trying to figure it out. She nodded again, a sensible and reasonable question.
"Well to answer your question Carlisle, I have to ask you one." The patriarch of the Olympic coven incline his head, giving her permission. "Are you a religious man, Carlisle?"
Carlisle tilted his head in confusion, but answered. "Not as much as I was before I was turned. I was a pastor in my human life long ago."
Lilith nodded. "So you believe that there is a Heaven and Hell, with angels and demons?" Out of the corner of her eye she could see Edward aptly paying attention, this conversation was leading right up his alley.
"Why do you ask?"
"If vampires and werewolves exist, why can't angels and demons?"
Being the intelligent man he was, Carlisle put two and two together and his brow reached to his hairline in disbelief. "You're an Angel?" He asked breathlessly.
Lilith released a bitter laugh before responding in a hollow tone. "In part." She was highly aware of all the eyes staring at her. "I was an Angel, once upon a time. But even Angels lose faith in their Lord and question their purpose. So I fell." The pained cries of her child filled her mind and the image of an impaled Tonie flashed briefly. "I was something more, but now I'm not."
Silence reigned over the household and Edward took over the questioning. "What do you mean, 'something more'?"
Lilith swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. "Before me, Lucifer was the King of Hell." She could see everyone's eyes, besides Rosalie and Bella, widen in shock.
"Wait." Emmett said. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" his tone was incredulous as if what he was hearing was impossible.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself." Lilith stated quietly. "My name is Lilith, former Queen and Ruler of Hell and holder of the title of Satan."
"Wait, former, Lilith what do you mean?" All eyes turned to Bella, who was frowning in confusion.
"Remember what I taught you Bells."
Bella did just that and starting mouthing to herself, Lilith could tell she was remembering the crash course on rules in Hell she gave her. Bella's lips paused and she sucked in a breath before covering her mouth with her hands and staring at Lilith in shock. "No…" she whispered.
Lilith hummed and continued her confession to the Cullens, she would talk to Bella later. "As I said former, my job consisted of assigning damned souls to their eternal suffering. It's why I was gone for a week with no trace. I was in Hell." she sighed and wrung her wrists together. "I'm not up to explain the politics or how it works right now, but that's the jist of it."
"D-do we have souls?" Ah, that was Edward, the ever melancholy man. Lilith had to chuckle at his question, it was another reasonable one.
"Yes, you are still technically living. You all have thoughts and morals, consciousness in a physical form, thus you still have a soul."
Lilith knew if Edward was physically able to cry he most likely would be doing so. He seemed relieved and it looked like a giant weight was relieved from his shoulders.
"Rose," Emmett said "You seemed to be relatively calm about all this."
"I already knew."
"What?"
"Mhm, figured it out when she answered her door with an half sewn stab wound in her gut." Rosalie eyed her nails as she leaned against Emmett.
"What?!" Lilith winced at Alice's exclamation and seemed to shrink into herself as she gained a disapproving but concerned look from Carlisle and Esme. Alice on the other hand pushed Lilith into Jasper's side and lifted up her shirt to look at her stomach.
"Alice! Wh-I'm fine now!" Sure Lilith was embarrassed at the situation but she was also relieved. Judging by their reactions, Lilith's revelation didn't deter them. In fact Lilith could feel all the unanswered questions wanting to spew from the family's lips.
"Hold on, Bella-bear, how in the world did you become best friends with Satan?"
Alice paused her probing and the others looked at Bella expectantly. Now being the center of attention, the human blushed and averted her eyes. "I uh, kind of made a deal with the devil when I was five."
Now Jasper was intrigued and also amused. Looking down at Lilith with a raised brow, Lilith knew what the southern man was trying to ask.
"It was Christmas and like any other religion, Satan has followers," Lilith began explaining. "I ignored the usual fanatic satanists praying for me to bring the end of all times. You know the usual." Rosalie actually laughed at her nonchalant attitude. "That's when I felt it, a little girl calling to me. Bella here, being the cute little human she is, was pronouncing Santa wrong, thus calling me wishing that she could have a baby doll for Christmas."
Bella was covering her face in embarrassment and Edward along with Emmett and Alice were snickering in amusement. While Esme, Carlisle, and Jasper looked at Bella like she had grown a second head.
"Love, how did you not know how to pronounce S-"
"I was five!"
Lilith smiled and continued. "Anyway, I appear in the dark. Realizing that this is a mistake I go to leave, when Bella out of the blue asks me to be her friend. If I recall it was second on her list below the doll." She gave a pointed look at Bella who glared playfully at her. "I couldn't say no to a little girl on Christmas, I've always had a soft spot for children." Lilith's voice seemed to lower into a quiet tone as she said this. Shaking her head she finished her story. "So I said yes, and then Bella said we had to pinky promise on it and next thing I know I made a deal with a little girl. The rest is history."
"Oh man Bella, you have to have some crazy stories when you were younger." Emmett noticed how tired Lilith looked, she was worn out and each passing word that came from her turned more breathless and a little slurred. He caught sight of his brother and sister looking at each other in silent communication, wondering what to do with their mate. So Emmett took control and deflected the attention to Bella, they would have plenty of time to ask her questions once Lilith recovered. He saw Jasper give a grateful look at him for the action and and he nodded in acknowledgement.
Lilith felt exhaustion taking over her once more as she listened to Bella explain how she got her hellhound. ("Hellhounds exist? And you have one? Shit that's awesome!" "Emmett! Language!") She found herself breathing easier being surrounded like this. For now she could just be in the moment. The Cullens didn't hate her or shun her, they just went on about the night as if the bombshell revelation of having a Fallen Angel in their home didn't effect them. So Lilith drifted off to sleep, knowing she was safe and knowing she was home.
Codex Entry: Daniel the Faithful
Daniel the Faithful is known for his compassion and devotion to his Lord. As an Archangel he is part of the Council a mixed group of Elders and Archangels who enforce the rules and keep order in the kingdom of Heaven. Daniel is well known for his valiant efforts in The Rebellion of Satan and fought side by side with one of his bonded soul mate Lilith.
Replies!
Blackcat711: Spot on! I love TLOU, such a great game filled with such emotion. Always a go to when I feel like crying my eyes out the 100th time I play it.
HeartlessVampireGirl: Ha! Sorry for making you cry! But you were right about being it another Cullen who found her! Bravo! I'm so happy you're enjoying the story!