There's Witches In Those Mountains

e l e v e n

*****************AUTHOR'S NOTE*****************

Here's a link to a playlist that accompanies this entire story, updated DAILY.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40fNHonHOnIPYwby75jhmH

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~~~TWELVE P.M.~~~

Lydia opened her locker and emptied the textbooks from the first part of the day from her backpack and put the second half of the day's books into it. She pulled her phone back out of her pocket to check it again. A voicemail popped up. It was Jacob! She smiled and closed her locker then called him.

After a couple of minutes, Jacob answered, "I was wondering when you'd see my message, love."

Lydia smiled as she walked down the hallway. "I'm sorry, I haven't looked at it since this morning. I've missed you a lot here, Jake. It's been too long." She turned the corner and walked toward the cafeteria. "How was your hunting trip?"

"It went really well," he answered. Lydia heard doors shutting on his end of the phone. "We taught Ambrosia how to hunt for the first time and she really seems to have a knack for it. I'm excited to go hunting with her again. She really keeps things entertaining."

Lydia couldn't help but laugh at the image in her head of a six year old hunting. It was precious. "I sincerely need to meet your family soon."

There was a pause on his end before he replied, "I know, Liddy, and I'm trying to get everyone on board with it. But you have to understand their worry about having a human in a house full of vampires. We may drink animal blood, but we aren't completely immune to the idea of...you know."

Lydia sighed. "Yeah, I know. But at least you're able to be honest about who I am to your parents. I haven't even been able to truly tell my grandparents about you. My MawMaw still thinks you only had a negative energy attached to you and that simply cleansing you will erase the fact that you're-"

"Lydia, I get it." he interrupted, knowing she was just about to accidentally announce to the world that Jacob was a vampire. He sighed and said, "I better let you get back to your friends. It's probably lunch time for you,"

Lydia smiled as she approached the table where Miriam and Willow are sitting. They both smiled and cleared the table for her. "Yeah, it is. I'll text you after while. Love you, Jake."

"I love you too."

Lydia hung up, sat her bag on the table, then went through the line to get lunch. When she came back, she sat down beside Willow and opened her milk box.

"I take it you were talking to Jacob?" Willow asked, digging in to her pasta.

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, he got back from his hunting trip this morning. I'm really excited to see him soon." Lydia took a bite of her pasta. "But, anyway, which one of you two wants to give me a ride home today? I have a couple of things to pick up from the store and it's gonna be too big to put on my back."

Miriam smiled. "If Willow is too busy, I'll give you a ride! Mom wants me to pick up a few things for her too before I drive over tonight. It'll be environmentally friendly to carpool anyway."

Lydia smiled. "You okay with that, Will?"

Willow nodded. "Dad wanted me to stop by the house anyway to get some things straightened out so it works out perfectly."

Lydia smiled. "Perfect." She turned back to Miriam. "Thank you so much, you don't know how much I appreciate it."

Miriam smiled and kept eating. "You know I'd do anything for you, Liddy."

Lydia smiled and looked down at her phone and started scrolling through Twitter. As she was reading a thread about poverty in America, she got a text from Jacob: "Hey, sneak off to the library. Make it look natural :)"

Lydia tucked her phone away. "Hey, I have to take a book to the library that I forgot I had. I won't remember to take it there today if I don't do it now." Lydia stood up and grabbed her plate and backpack.

Willow looked up at her and smiled. "OK, we'll see you before we head out."

Lydia smiled. "Alright, I'll see you later, y'all."

Lydia practically sprinted from the cafeteria and ran down the hall, turning the corner into the library quickly. As she turned, she slammed into someone hard, so hard that she should've hit the ground. But she didn't hit the ground.

She looked up to see a smiling Jacob looking back at her, his arms wrapped around her tight. She giggled then pulled away from him.

Jacob shook his head. "You were supposed to make it look natural, Liddy. You were about as natural as a plastic bottle out there."

Lydia gave him a confused look. "How did you know?"

Jacob tapped his head. "You forget that I can read minds. You weren't so far from me that I couldn't read it."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I was just so excited to see you."

Jacob laughed and wrapped his arm around her and lead her into the library. She followed beside him and sat down at a table. "I wanted to see you before your friends come over for the night. I have a present for you." He pulled out a box and pushed it over to her. "Here, open it."

Lydia smiled and opened the box. Inside were numerous crystals and candles, and even the skull of an animal that had been cleaned really well. Her heart grew with love; this man really knew the exact things she would love to receive as a gift. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Jacob.

Jacob smiled. "We stopped in Morgantown on our way back and I couldn't help but pick some things up for you. Do you like them?"

Lydia nodded and reached for his hand. She grabbed it and kissed the top of it. "I absolutely love it. Thank you so much for this."

Jacob nodded. "You're absolutely welcome." The bell rang, signifying that it was time to get back to class.

"I better get back to it," Lydia said, standing up.

Jacob stood up and walked around the table. He gave her a hug and kissed her head. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Do you want me to drive you to school? Because you know I will."

She looked up at him. "Actually, one of the girls will probably drive me, since they are spending the night with me.

Jacob pulled away and smacked his forehead. "Duh, of course. I forgot."

Lydia smiled, and kissed his cheek, then said goodbye and walked to her next class.