Once the pair was outside of the dining room, Lilith struggled with her words for a moment. Quickly working up the courage to speak, Carlisle quickly blurted out what he had to say first. His comment about her fishnets made Lilith roll her eyes, close them, and then take a deep, heavy sigh.
Looking back at Carlisle, the dark haired girl crossed her arms before speaking.
”What are you planning to do with the book from the Library?” she asked, her piercing gaze staring into his.
There was no reason to beat around the bush. Lilith knew what she had seen in her vision - it was only a matter of had it happened already, or was it something soon to come. For Carlisle sake, Lilith hoped that he hadn’t gone through with whatever plan was stuck in his head. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure that her hopes would be quickly thrown to the side.
”What book? I haven’t been to the library yet today??? I had planned to go later to check up on a hunch.”
Carlisle was a little confused as to where Lilith was going with this. If it was anyone else, he would dismiss them, but Lilith had proven that she was extremely good at seeing future portents. Even if it meant no sense right now.
”Why am I going to do something?”
”I don’t know,” she nearly shouted, throwing her hands up by her sides in defeat. ”That old, duty and leathery book that I told you not to touch - did you take it, or do you have some thought rattling around in that skull of yours about taking it?”
As she spoke, Lilith became more and more aggressive, not even meaning to do so. While part of her cared that her words may sting a little, the other half of her that didn’t care was winning right now.
”I had considered it, but after you said not to, I didn’t plan to. I value your input too much to start fucking around with your visions”
Carlise would take a step back to give Lilith some space. Clearly she was agitated over something, but he would guess that even she didn’t fully understand why. Which was fine. Carlisle had spent enough time around Lilith over the past few years to understand when to shut up and just do as she says.
”I am guessing that you know something, I don’t?”
”I always know things everyone else doesn’t,” she retorted, a sliver of arrogance showing through her tone.
Lilith took a moment to center her thoughts. She couldn’t call Carlisle a liar for a multitude of reasons, and he had never lied to her before. But even still, Lilith’s visions only worked if people had true intentions to carry out whatever scene she was shown.
”I know what you’re not lying… but that only confuses me more.” As she spoke, Lilith looked at Carlisle from head to toe before finally making eye contact once more. ”You know how my visions work; I only get shown things when people have true intent to act on their thoughts and such. I was getting in my car to drive here, and I saw you pull the book from the shelf.”
Carlisle would take a moment to think and understand every word that Lilith spoke. It was true that Lilith’s visions required someone to have the intention to act, but in this case, Carlisle didn’t have the intention.
”Okay… We are missing something here. Perhaps my intent hasn’t materialised yet? Maybe you are getting so good with your visions that you can now see consequences beyond a simple action? Now you can see things that require multiple decisions?” It wasn’t the best explanation in the world, but it was the only one that Carlisle could summon. His knowledge of divination wasn’t the best, but he was trying his best to learn to help Lilith.
Halfway through Carlisle speaking, Lilith began to shake her head furiously in protest. She let him say his piece while she focused on her breathing. This conversation was getting her way more worked up than she realized, for a reason that she didn’t know.
”No… if I had that ability, me and my guides would have discussed it. It would be a thing that they would have realized too. They know what they can and cannot show me, and if they were going to force more information into my brain because I unlocked more superpowers - they would tell me. But they haven’t been telling me shit here lately -”
Fists balled at her side, Lilith felt her nails digging into the palms of her hands. ”I’ve been freaking the fuck out since like three this morning and I have no idea why.” As the young woman spoke, the words flew from her mouth quickly.
”My body doesn’t really feel like it’s mine right now. I keep having nightmares. I saw you take the book, Carlisle. None of this is making any sense.”
Carlisle noticed her balled fists, seeing the edges of the nails digging into the skin. A frown covered his face, quickly transitioning into a look of worry; panic gripping the edges of his state. He would lift his arms up to hold her shoulders, making sure that his touch was gentle and reassuring rather than domineering.
Even with Carlisle being someone familiar to her, Lilith had to fight the natural instinct to shove his hands away. Still though, she remained as calm as she could, even if she did flinch ever so slightly,
”Okay… Okay…” Carlisle bit his lip. He wanted to speak, but he was holding back, until a deep sigh left his lights and he began to speak quietly. ”So… Something is happening around here. I have been feeling it. The wards around Tanner feel…off. I was the first to notice it, and my mother has been looking into it. Next thing I know, her and the rest of the council are recalling everyone. This isn’t retirement. It is something else. I don’t know what is happening, but I would be willing to bet how you are feeling is somehow connected. I can’t give you the answers, but I promise that whatever is going on, I won’t let it harm you.”
Lilith took time to ponder the information, and held back every urge in her body to scoff. While she knew that Carlisle meant every word in true sincerity, a small part of Lilith was always offended when people assumed that she needed protection.
Eyebrows narrowed in frustration, Lilith asked him once more about the book. ”So you didn’t take anything from the Library?”
”No, I didn't take the book from the library.” He then realised that he hadn’t fully answered the question. ”I have taken a book from the library, but not the one that you explicitly told me to take” He would take his hands off her shoulders now, while he was filled with worry, he knew that projecting that onto Lilith, wasn’t wise when she was wound up.
Eyes now flashing with fire, Lilith felt every drop of anxiety and anger in her body rush to the surface. ”Carlisle!” she shrieked, throwing her hands up again before letting them fall back at her sides. ”Withholding information from me is just as bad as lying to me, and you should know that by now!”
Arms now crossed, Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she took another deep breath in a weak attempt to steady herself.
”Two questions: What book and why?”
A sinking feeling appeared in Carlisle’s chest. While he had been truthful, he had misunderstood what Lilith had been trying to get at, and that meant that he had screwed up.
”Okay, so the book was a book on divination magic. I had been trying to read up on your abilities and how it interacts with you. I had been looking at how divination and wards interact with each other as well. But that book you pointed to me at the restricted section, I have never, ever touched. I promise. I really, really promise.”
A multitude of questions ran through Lilith’s mind as Carlisle tried to explain. Why was he studying her powers? Could Divination actually help re-strengthen the Wards? If Carlisle hadn’t taken the book in question, why did her guides show her what they had?
Looking at her feet as she often did, the young woman blinked a few quick times to clear her headspace before looking back at Carlisle. She wasn’t angry, and she wasn’t sad, nor happy - and you could see the sudden indifference to the situation nearly radiating from Lilith’s body. She couldn’t afford to care about every little move that everyone made - especially if she was supposed to maintain her own sanity.
”Just put the book back, please. And don’t touch anything else from that section. Ever.”
”I will put it back. That vision is so confusing though. Still, I am sure we will figure it out as we carry on…” Carlisle felt a little bad. Despite not knowing about her vision, he still felt at fault. ”We have some coven stuff to do this afternoon, but how about after that, why don’t I get you a Taco Bell? My treat.”
Now looking down at her hands, Lilith was picking at the skin around her nails - a nervous habit. She knew good and well what the vision had meant; Carlisle should have never taken anything from the Forbidden section of the Coven Library - that’s why it was Forbidden after all. Still though, Lilith couldn’t truly be mad at Carlisle. The young man had good intentions, but he still needed to learn how to think before he acted.
Her overall demeanor now somewhat relaxing, Lilith laughed weakly at the mention of her favorite fast food.
”That would be lovely,” she agreed. ”Now can we get this meeting over with? You know how this building gives me the fucking creeps.”
With a soft smile, Carlisle also relaxed. Listening to her final remark, he nodded and drew a breath. Rather than speak, he decided to simply walk over to the door back to the house and open it, signalling he was more than ready to get this shit over and done with. He would leave the door open for Lilith as he walked on through and saw that in the time they had spoken, more people had entered the house.
”Ah, more peeps! Welcome!”
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