The good thing about parties was that people were always too caught up in their own shit to care about what other people were doing around them.
With the door locked and the rest of the world blocked out behind it, Lilith and Miles quickly fell back into old habits. Every kiss and every touch seemed to set Lil’s body more on fire. Completely caught up in the moment, the young woman had temporarily forgotten her problems.
Suddenly, Lilith felt an overwhelming, gut punching sensation that took her breath away. Quickly pulling back from Miles, Lilith quickly climbed off of his lap, making sure to readjust her clothes as she did so.
”I- sorry. Somethings wrong,” she stated, clearly worried as her brow furrowed. ”I don’t know how to explain it, but I just -” As she inhaled sharply through her teeth, Lilith wrapped her arms around her stomach, doing her best to hold herself together. It was taking all of the willpower that the brunette had to keep herself standing. Goosebumps formed on her skin as a chill ran up her spine. Nails now digging into the fabric of her shirt, Lilith’s whole body appeared to be shaking. ”Something… I… can you help me outside? Please?”
Miles let himself get completely lost in the moment. There was a sweetness in their moment, in every touch, in every breath, a sweetness he only craved more with every second. He forgot about the party. For now it was just them, they could have still been 17 for all he knew.
It all came to a halt as Lilith jumped off of his lap, claiming something was wrong. Miles gave a sigh, trying his hardest not to seem disappointed, was it truly just the alcohol that led to this moment? Was her confession all an alcohol-fuelled lie? Had this all just led Lil to not feel the same way he had? Thoughts swam around and around his head. "Li… I'm sor-" his eyes moved to look at her to find her shuttering. "Are you okay?"
At her request he nods and goes to her side, straightening his shirt as he did so, and slips an arm around her. He pulls her arm over his shoulders. "Which outside?"
Wrapping her left arm around Miles’s waist, Lilith the best that she could to look up at him and make eye contact. ”It’s a me thing - not a you thing - you’re fine. More than fine. Just -” Reaching for the door knob, the young woman drunkenly fumbled with the lock in frustration with her spare hand. ”Outside, Kane. The real one. With the grass and trees and shit.”
It's not you, it's me, sure it wasn't said that way but damn those words hurt, even if the order wasn't quite that. As Lilith fumbled with the lock and somewhat chastised him, Miles chuckled. Kane, man, he hadn't heard that nickname in forever. "Ok, ok, the outside with the trees," he chuckles, helping her fumble with the door and leading her out.
As the pair meandered through the crowd, Lilith grabbed onto Miles’s shirt, making a small fist. The uncomfortableness in her body had all but subsided, making it slightly easier for her to walk. Pulled towards the back door of the Coven House by some invisible force, Lilith was met by the sight of a panicked Aurora. Pushing her way past the blonde, Lilith could have sworn that she had heard Aurora mumble Carlisle’s name under her breath.
Stepping outside, Lilith felt an uneasiness in the air. People’s emotions were running wild with anger, happiness, and everything in between. Still though - there was another energy there that wasn’t welcome. Something that felt like… fear.
Looking up at the night sky, it didn’t take long for the young Montgomery to realize that the faint familiar blue hue of Tanners barrier no longer seemed to exist.
”Miles,” she panicked, managing to grip onto him even tighter as she stared up in awe. ”Miles, the barrier is gone.”
The sudden realization was enough for Lilith’s natural anxiety to grow as she scanned the veranda, looking for where the negative emotions were coming from. Allowing her powers to guide her, Lilith followed the source of the energy towards the left lower end of the veranda, doing her best not to drag Miles along as she picked up her pace.
As Lilith tightened her grip on his shirt Miles' eyes were drawn to the sky. The brilliant blue hue that usually masked the sky was gone, Lilith was right, the barrier was down. "That's not good," he mumbles, his eyes lingering on the sky a little longer. Unlike Lilith, the experience wasn’t as sobering for Miles and he soon found himself stumbling at Lilith's fast pace, this time she was dragging him along. He tried his best to slow his breathing as the hour or so of bourbon threatened to escape him.
Walking over, Lilith could see that Daniel and Victor were hovered around someone on one of the benches. A few steps closer, and Lilith was able to make out the worried expressions on either of the young men’s faces. Upon closer examination, Lilith silently made out the features of her best friend frozen in sadness.
”What the actual fuck,” she whispered under her breath, now letting go of Miles to throw her hands up in defeat. A short sarcastic laugh escaped from the girl's throat. ”I hate being right all the time.”
Lil seemed to make out the scene before Miles could, he couldn't even make out the nearby faces. Yet Lilith dragged Miles closer still and he could soon make out his friend, frozen in place.
"Wha… What?!" Miles exclaimed in shock. At that moment Lilith let go resulting in Miles stumbling forward. He catches himself on his hands and knees and turns his head up to look at his friend frozen in place on the bench.
"C…Car?" Miles attempts to hold back his tears, even more so to suppress his emotions. He knew the last thing Lil needed right now was his fear, confusion and sadness right now, yet it was so hard to hold in. A single tear rolled down his face as he turned to Lil. "Is he dead?"
Watching Miles's reaction was interesting for Lilith as she felt the emotional roller coaster he was on. Looking back and forth between the small group in front of her, Lilith found herself in a very familiar position as her brain scrambled to form some plan of action.
Tearing her eyes away from Miles, Lilith reached a single arm as she reached out and placed a single hand on Carlisle's frozen form. Careful not to look at the painful expression now stuck on his face, the young woman took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief moment as she focused her concentration.
Envisioning Carlisle in her mind, Lilith sought for any spark of light coming from the mental image of him in her head. Sadly, Carlisle appeared just as dead and lifeless on the inside as he did the outside. Refusing to give up that easily, she took another moment to really focus - trying to force the alcohol she had consumed to evaporate from her body. This time, Lilith was able to spot a very small glow, centered on the top of Carlisle's head.
Taking a deep breath, Lilith opened her eyes and looked back down at Miles.
"His spirit is still intact… but barely. I can't speak for his body," she responded, her voice thick with worry.
Miles watched Lilith with eagerness as he worked, scrambling to his feet. He stumbled and swayed as he stablised himself. "So… we just gotta bring the spirit back somehow? Shock it back into the system?” he asks.
Shrugging her shoulder, Lilith sighed. "Something like that, I guess. I'll know more after I sober up and go through some of the books in the library."
"Shock it back into the system…" Miles muses, an idea coming to him. Was it a bad idea? Probably but he was way too inebriated for that information to cross his mind. He positions himself in front of his friend. "Sorry bud," he says under his breath as he squares up. He then punches his friend in the cheek as hard as he could.
Absolutely bewildered with Miles's drunkenly actions, Lilith didn't really know rather to laugh or glare at him - though it had seemed that the later had won. Pulling him backwards by his shirt tail, she began to scold him.
"Miles Price, I adore you, but if you don't get it the fuck together -"
"Hey, I was trying to help” slurs defensively as he’s dragged away from Carlisle’s body. As she chastises him, Miles couldn’t help but let the goofiest smile spread across his face. "You adore me?" he slurs, looking her in the eyes.
Crossing her arms across her chest and shaking her head for clarity, Lilith looked back up at Daniel and Victor, as her brain went into full problem solving mode.
"First thing is first - Daniel, please go stop Aurora before she starts a mass panic. Victor - I'm pretty sure Rowan wasn't that far behind you but -" Looking over at the other side of the veranda, Lilith could clearly see that Rowan and Erin were preoccupied with Delaney - but that didn't stop her from waving the whole group over. "Vic, I'm going to need you, Rowan and Miles to help me take this zombie bastard upstairs - or I can banish him to make sure he's safe. After Carlisle is safe, we need to get the barrier back up. I don’t know whats going on or why its down - all I known is that it ain't natural and it ain't right. "
As she spoke, more and more realizations came to mind while the adrenaline kicked in.
"And by we… I guess I mean me. I can't bring it all the way back up without Car, but I know I can do something, and that has to be better than nothing."
Looking back and forth between the small crowd of faces in front of her, Lilith did the best that she could to keep from panicking.
"Right?" she questioned, her voice small as her forehead wrinkled with worry.
Miles waited as Lilith unfolded a plan. At her request for reassurance Miles stared blankly at her for a while as he processed her words. "Oh, yeah. Right," It likely sounded unconvincing between the slurred speech and alcohol-influenced delay but it was a good plan really. Miles turned to Victor and Rowan. "I'll take the shoulders?"