A/N: Whew! Long time no see guys! Sorry about the long wait! Life gets in the way but good things come to those who wait. I'm glad to still see people reviewing and favoriting this story! Each time I get an email alert I get more of a push and drive to finish this project! I love all you guys who've been with me since the beginning and those who've just joined! With out further distractions here is the next chapter to Pinky Promise, as always leave a review and enjoy!

Story: Pinky Promise

Rated: M

Parings: BellaxEdward, AlicexOCxJasper (Polyamorous), RosaliexEmmett, CarlislexEsme

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?

"Your thoughts are transparent."
― Wayne Gerard Trotman, Veterans of the Psychic Wars

Chapter 23: Musings

Mastema doesn't remember that last time he's heard Lilith's joyous laugh, or seen her beaming smile. As the man watched his friend interact with the Cullens, he could feel her aura, it did not hold the heavyweight of guilt and sorrow as it once did. Now it was lighter, more relaxed and somewhat content. Mastema was glad to see his queen opening to heart to love once more. It was good for her.

He sighs as he remembers a darker time, one where Lilith's heart was filled with vengeance. He remembers the anger she carried and the blood she craved to be shed from the one who took her family away so violently. Mastema rises from his seated position, he needed some fresh air. Expertly, he slides out of the vampire household and sets out to find a place of solace. The fallen angel breathed in deep, the the cool air tickled the back of his throat and the last few rays of warmth of the setting sun prickled at his skin.

It was times like these Mastema missed walking the Earth. It's beauty and worth was awe-inspiring at times. How nature shifted and changed, it adapted even if destruction was in its wake, somehow it would find its way to persevere. There was an inspiring mood to the thought, and as Mastema found his way through the tall trees of the forest and into a clearing with a rather large boulder, he couldn't help but smile.

He sat there for a while, meditating on the situation that brought him here. A foolish man craving for power, endlessly seeking an unbalance between good and evil and causing all the more trouble for it. Lilith was smart to start gathering allies, but how long would it take before this resistance they were building to attract attention? Trivial concepts swarmed Mastema's mind, taking serenity away and replacing it with worry.

Soon, the snapping of twigs alerted him to the other presence walking towards him and breaking him out of his stupor. It was Lilith, with curiosity alighting her eyes and a wry smile placed upon her face.

Out of thousands of years of habit, Mastema makes his way to a slight bow as Lilith approaches, returning the woman's wry smile with one of his own.

"I'm glad to see that you've found happiness once again my queen." Mastema states.

Lilith laughs softly, and shakes her head in what seems to be exasperation. She lets her hand rest on Mastema's shoulder as she replies. "Please Mast, you know I hate that title amongst friends," she proceeds to take a seat on the boulder that lies beside them. She pulls her knees up to her chin, making herself seem small and drawn into herself. Mastema frowned at this action. He goes to take a seat beside her, and acting in a familial gesture, raises a dark, withered wing to place around her shoulders.

They sit there in silence for a while, the brisk northern air and the cloud-covered skies seeming to mellow out Lilith's good mood. She breaks the static and breaths out, the cool mist appearing from her lips at the contrasting temperatures.

"What if this is all for nothing Mast?" the woman squeezes her eyes shut, hands gripping at the material of the sweatpants that adorn her body. "What if I'm being a fool, and hoping for the best outcome? For all we know this can be a complete disaster and I lose the ones I love, all over again?" Lilith's voice shakes and her eyes become distant, she was beginning to relive and old memory, and not a good one. Mastema releases a soft growl, this would not do with his queen. He would not let his friend ponder at the would-be's.

"Lilith, look at me. Look at me." Mastema snaps and sharp grey eyes meet black. "You and I have lived a thousand lifetimes, half of them in the Kingdom of Heaven and the other in the fiery Depths of Hell. Far and few in between can claim that and not be insane. We have fought a war that spanned generations, and we have lost our loved ones to a terrible fate." Mastema places his hand over his heart. "Unlike me, you did something! Instead of letting the whispers of doubt and selfishness consume your mind, you sought for justice and rectification!"

Lilith looked away, eyes wet with unshed tears, Mastema wasn't sure if it was from gratitude or shame. He grabs Lilith's shoulder, shifting his body so he could face her. "You are stronger than you know, and I'll be damned if I let this earth fall into Azza's hand. We're in this together Lilith, don't forget that."

The former queen sighs and takes Mastema's hand and squeezes it tight. There were no other words shared between them the rest of that afternoon, but seeing the grateful look in Lilith's eyes was all the thanks that Mastema needed.

Bella honestly thought it was an absolute drag that she still had to go to school with all the supernatural business going on. She believed that she would've been more useful with Lilith rather than almost falling asleep in her math class. Although, it was an opportune time to relax, no matter how contradictory that thought was. Her boyfriend's house was getting a bit crazy with all the random demons spawning around the property. It also did give her a chance to interact with her human friends.

She was glad Angela was doing better months after the whole terror demon incident. Her smile and laugh once again graced the lunch table, and Bella could breathe easy at that. Jessica was the same, rambling on and on about different gossip topics in the school, trying to weed out information on Bella's non existent sex life with Edward, the usual. Lauren though, she seemed more hostile lately. It was a bit weird. Bella always knew that Lauren had a slight disdain towards her since she had gotten together with Edward, but really she didn't pay any mind. Now, Lauren would give her scathing looks and snide remarks that are pretty hurtful.

Regardless, she hasn't let her emotions show, until today that is.

"Bella."

The brunette groans softly into her locker, before shutting it and turning to face Lauren. The blonde already had a sneer plastering her face and Bella braced herself for whatever rude comment was going to come out of her mouth in the next five minutes.

"I see your boyfriend and his weird sister isn't here today."

Bella idly, glances at the sunlight peeking through the school windows, of all the days for it to be sunny in Forks….

She simply nods stiffly, holding her gathered books close to herself out of comfort and protection. "Yeah….you should know by now that the Cullens take their family trips whenever its sunny, you're the one who told me that last year, remember?"

"Hm."

Bella watched as Lauren looked at her manicured nails uninterestedly. Honestly, Bella thought Rosalie could pull of the uncaring look ten times better, but who was she to comment? In fact, that thought was halted once Lauren began running her mouth.

"And they didn't think to take their little slut with them?"

Bella felt her jaw drop. The shock of the comment having her stand still in the hallway.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Oh please, everyone here knows what you're doing. No one has gotten close to the Cullens until you. The only obvious explanation is you spreading to legs for everyone in that family."

Bella didn't know what came over her, she ignored the constant buzzing of her phone in her back pocket, she also ignore the throbbing pain that suddenly appeared on her right hand. All Bella could focus on was the roaring in her ears and seeing red.

She didn't come to until cool air hit her in the face. Someone had led her outside. Bella squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden sunlight and hissed.

"Bella? Bella! You okay?" That was Angela's voice.

The brunette grunted, hissing when she extended and flexed her fingers. Opening her eyes she glanced down at her right hand that was the instigator to the slug she gave to Lauren. Her knuckles were red and swollen, and Bella could already tell she was going to be sporting a mean bruise in the next few days, great. Angela told her that she was able to pull her away from Lauren before any teachers came. She said they were lucky it was the end of the school day, so barely anyone was in the hall, most students had left already.

"Thanks." Bella sighed. "I just...I don't know what came over me. Sorry Angela."

Angela shook her head and gave Bella a kind smile. "Don't worry about it Bella, I'm sure whatever Lauren said to you, she deserved it. I think she'll think twice about it after this. The black eye you gave her is not going to be easy to cover with makeup."

Bella released a breathy laugh and then suggested they get out of here before more trouble erupts for the day. She slid into her truck, melding comfortable into the old seats. Her mind was muddled in confusion, just what was all that about? Lauren made snide remarks here and there, but just being outright hostile? Unlikely. Bella huffed, starting her truck up and became determined to start her drive to the Cullens. She needed to vent, preferably to someone who'd not condone her immediately for resorting to violence.

Emmett guffawed and mindful of his strength, clapped Bella on her back in a congratulatory manor for her achievement. "You punched her right in that rotten mouth of hers huh? Nice!"

Bella hissed as Alice dabbed some disinfectant across reddened skin. The diminutive vampire 'tsked' whilst applying first aid. She seemed to attempt at being stern, but the amusement in her voice gave away her true feelings. "Hmph, you need to be more careful, you could've ruined the manicure I just gave you the other day."

Bella snickered as she caught wind of Emmett rolling his eyes at Alice's comment and continued to interrogate the human. "So what made you finally snap 'lil sis? Lauren step on your toe or somethin'?"

Alice was now finished bandaging up Bella's hand. Bella in turn flexed her hand testing its movement and mobility while she responded.

"It's really nothing-" she started.

"Bull." Alice quipped.

Bella groaned and ran her uninjured hand through her hair. "Lauren was just being more of a bitch than she already is. She just said some things that really ticked me off." The brunette furrowed her brow, thinking back on the encounter. "It was quite out of the blue though. I mean Lauren hasn't always been the best girl to hang out with, but she'd at least give you the decency of letting you know why you've become a name on her shit list."

Emmett scratched his cheek and shrugs. "Teenage humans are weird."

"I'm a teenage human Em." Bella quirks a brow.

"Yeah, you're also best friends with Satan, while dealing with the stressors of AP history."

This time the human huffs and crosses her arms. "It's not my fault everyone I know is a walking compendium. Those history textbooks are practically fiction as you and I both know."

"Weirdo~" Emmett sing-songs fondly.

Bella pushes Emmett, who playfully pretends that Bella actually has the strength to move him at all and stumbles.

"Seriously tho," Emmett begins. "If she gives you any more trouble, big bro Em will handle it."

Alice gives a pointed look to the McCarty man, she quickly speeds around Bella and pokes him in the chest. "Absolutely not, did you forget about the Disaster of 1978?"

Bella blinks. "I'm sorry, the what?" Her inquiry however, goes unanswered as Emmett's loud groan overshadows her question.

"Ali-cat, it was just a harmless prank."

"It wasn't harmless if we had to immediately pack up and leave town, do you know how upset Esme was? She didn't even finish decorating the house!"

As the two siblings begin to harmlessly argue back and forth, Bella takes it as her queue to leave. She makes sure to shoot a sappy romantic text to Edward before she starts driving, and sets her mind on other things, such as what she's going to make for dinner tonight.

When Bella pulled up in her driveway, she was surprised to see Jake of all people sitting on the stairs of her front porch, looking like he hadn't slept in days. As Bella steps out of her truck she grins and sits next to him, bumping shoulders together. "Hey stranger." she says. "What's the deal with all those bags under your eyes?"

Jake's form is hunched, hair tousled and head rested in his hand. He turns to look at his friend, the expression on his face consumed with the tell-tale signs of questions that he's afraid to ask. "H-how did you cope...with the fact that everything you've been taught about your faith, what's good and whats evil is false or rather somewhat true in one form or another?"

Ah, he was having an existential crisis, much like the others had when Lilith revealed her true nature. Bella had to dwell on Jake's question for a while. As they sat in silence rolling thunder could be heard from miles away and the smell of rain permeated the atmosphere.

"You know, I really can't say." Bella shrugs and looks up to the sky. "I mean, I practically grew up with Lilith, she can be considered a good source for all of life's questions...but," Bella pauses and furrows her brow. "She never pushed anything on me. My faith is still my own, whether it be me being catholic, buddhist, a satanist." She gets a chuckle out of Jake on the last option. "What brought this on?"

Jake sighs and rubs the back of his head, "I dunno, it's just overwhelming ya know? First I figure out my ancestors turned into wolves by some sort of fucked up puberty and now I learn that a higher power actually exists?"

Bella hums in agreement. "It is jarring," she stands up and offers a hand to Jake. "But I've been where you are and so have the Cullens." Jake growls at the mention of the vampires as he's pulled up and in response Bella flicks him on the nose with her free hand.

"Hey!"

The human laughs softly and squeezes Jake's hand that's still grasped with hers. "Come on, let's get you out of this theological crisis with some food. I'll tell you all about how Edward freaked when I bribed Icarus to scare him shitless."

Jake cracked a smile as he was led into Bella's house, the sound of rain beginning to pattern onto the ground. "You know I can never say no to food these days."

Codex Entry: Bella's Theological History Presentation ft. Lilith

Lilith (לִילִית) is a figure in Jewish mythology, developed earliest in the Babylonian Talmud (3rd to 5th century AD). Lilith is often envisioned as a dangerous demon of the night, who is sexually wanton, and who steals babies in the darkness. "This is what you're presenting to your history class? I'm flattered." Lilith may be linked in part to a historically earlier class of female demons (lilītu) in ancient Mesopotamian religion, found in cuneiform texts of Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, and Babylonia.

In Jewish folklore, Alphabet of Sirach (c. 700–1000 CE) onwards, Lilith appears as Adam's "Ew, no." first wife, who was created at the same time (Rosh Hashanah) and from the same clay as Adam—compare Genesis 1:27. (This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs: Genesis 2:22.) The legend developed extensively during the Middle Ages "Of course it was, back then mortals believed anything back then, still do.", in the tradition of Aggadah, the Zohar, and Jewish mysticism. For example, in the 13th-century writings of Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she had coupled with the archangel Samael. "The stench of misogyny is burning my nose."

"Lilith would you let me finish my presentation to you?"

"No, because only ¼ of what you're reading is true and I hate it. I told you to let me do this report for you."

"Lilith, the last time I let you help with my history projects I got a D for sourcing "insane conspiracy theories."

"Not my fault they can't handle the fucking truth."

"My freshman teacher joined a cult because of you!"

"At least he expanded his horizons!"