Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

77 - ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙᴇɢɪɴꜱ

THE DAY before the battle arrived quicker than the morning and Athena took a leisurely stroll through the forest just before dark. She stopped at her tree, the gorgeous tree with all the curling branches, and climbed up to a comfy spot. She lay there, hand covering her eyes when it needed to be as she half-watched the sun go down and half read the book on her lap while listening to the calmest of music. The final book in her final list of novels she wanted to read before death and just as darkness made it more difficult to see, she turned the very last page and finished the story.

Her legs felt heavier the closer she got to the house and by the time she walked through the door, she felt as if she was moving through tar. Tar which got slightly more bearable as she entered the room to a laughing bunch of people. The laughter and happiness of the evening fell as they all headed out to the forest, hidden in the trees near where Alice said the battle would occur before she disappeared. Everyone stood around awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do with themselves as time ticked on. Renesmee was tucked up in bed, sleeping soundly and Athena wished she could do the same. To shut her brain off for a while, letting it recharge itself in case what she had planned for tomorrow needed to happen. The action would literally drain all of her energy at once, making her thirst so strong that her body would only look for something to eat. Human or animal. She just hoped she wouldn't have to use it, having not practised it before it could go all different shapes of wrong.

Jake interrupted her depreciating thoughts by throwing a pile of logs into the middle of a half-circle. Benjamin, with an eased flick of his hand, lit the logs on fire and a bonfire bloomed in front of them. The air smelled heavenly now, not of worry and anticipation. "Pre battle bonfire, sharing war stories," Jake smiled softly as he sat down on a log, closely followed by Benjamin, Tia and Athena who all looked pleased with the dancing flames. "Or just standing there like fricken statues," he chuckled to himself, having dropped his voice to a whisper even though he knew he could still be heard. Their est of the vampires looked like trees themselves, some not even talking and staring out into the deep depths of the forest.

"Name any American battle, I was there," Garrett, who had just run over to the campfire with the biggest flurry of excitement, said as he sat down around the fire.

Jake, who quite frankly looked rather interested by the proposition, thought for a moment before he replied, "Little big horn."

"Came this close," Garrett replied with a cocky smirk, gesturing with his fingers.."To biting Custer but the Indian's got him first."

"I'll be back," Athena whispered to Tia as she stood up from the log, smiling away Tia's concern before she wandered deep into the forest. So deep that no one could hear her. Athena once again climbed up into the trees, this time going so high that when she lay on the branch, all she could see was the night sky. The thousands of stars above her and the moon, shining so brightly down on her face that glitter crossed her chee when she moved out of the shadows. She lay there for a moment, at peace with the Earth before something she had been dreading doing for weeks popped into her mind. She had to do it now, there was no other opportunity to do it another time. So she fished her phone out of her pocket and prayed to Lucifer that he wasn't sleeping.

"Billy..." she whispered down the phone as soon as he picked it up, heart beginning to feel as if it was being strangled.

"Don't you dare say it," he replied back sternly, voice not wavering in the slightest.

"I have to," she spoke softly, looking up to the moon. "I'll feel better if I do, please?"

He was silent for a moment, perhaps reading himself for what was about to come or just clinging onto the final hope that she would not have said the one thing that meant her life was really at risk."Okay," he whispered back, unable to say it any louder.