Ch 10: Lilith's Truth

The knife twists and as I twist the blade, all the while I wear a dark grin on my face. Fear and confusion grow on Lilith's face with each passing moment. She wants to take it out, but she is no match for my strength.

Sisters are walking by in the hallway, but they can't see us easily behind the pillar. They would have to turn out of their way and peer directly into the shadows to see our silhouettes. None do.

Finally, Lilith loses her nerve and opens her mouth to call for help. I clap my hand over her lips and shove her up against the wall. She struggles in my grasp, my blood now soaking into her uniform. What a mess I'm making! Yet I have to prove a point and find out the truth. If she will just talk to me without causing much if a scene!

"I'm only going to tell you once." I say, my eyes glowing. <Grace, resonate something scary for me.>

<You're terrifying when you want to be, know that?> Grace says.

I don't answer as Grace resonates a floating spike; it is aimed directly at Lilith's eye. The changes, other spikes forming from the shaft. They snake forward, each point going towards pressure points all over her body.

Tears flows down Lilith's face, and she struggles more than ever. I hold her in place easily.

<Okay, that's close enough Grace.> I say. Then I add, <I think you're the terrifying one.>

<Well thank you.>

I put pressure on Lilith's jaw to the point where I know I'm hurting her a little. "Like I said, I'm only going to say this once." I bring my lips to her ear and whisper. "Don't scream, or it will be the last and most painful scream of your life. Blink once if you understand, Lilith."

She blinks. I acknowledge this with a slight nod of my head.

"Now, I'm going to tell the system to stand down. I'm going to remove my hand and then I'm going to pull out your knife. Blink if you understand." I say.

She blinks. "Okay. Grace, stand down."

<Poor thing, I think you've scarred her for life.> Grace says as she makes the spikes disappear.

<You're not helping. I already feel terrible.> I say.

I remove my hand from Lilith's mouth slowly. She sniffles softly as she cries, but does not scream, for which I am grateful. I let her on the ground where she collapses to her knees and stifles her sobs with her sleeve. I really am terrible.

I grab the hand of the knife and grimace as I slide out the blade. Grace's restoration protocol kicks in immediately. The wound heals from the inside out, the tissue and damaged flesh regenerating in the blink of an eye.

All traces of my blood vanish and soon the only evidence of my wound is a hole in my clothes. This is remedied soon enough when Grace creates new cloth and fixes the hole. I move my shoulder, relieved not to be in pain anymore. No matter how many times my body gets stabbed or pierced or maimed in any way, I never really get used to it. It's just not a good time.

Lilith is a sobbing mess. I get the feeling it is more than her recent brush with my darker side. I can tell there is something on her mind. I need to calm her down so we can talk.

<Grace, I need a private space> I say. <Make it a soothing place that she will feel at ease.>

<I think I have something. Give me a moment.> Grace says.

A few moments later, she begins resonating a small dimension illusion around us.

The church disappears and we are now in a sunny meadow that stretches for miles and miles of rolling country. The sky has small, white and fluffy clouds. I can even feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. That is how real the illusion feels.

Lilith looks up, noticing the change. She gasps as she realizes that her surroundings are different. She immediately panics.

"Where have you taken me?" she screams.

I smile down at her. "Don't worry, Lilith. This is a safe place. No one will disturb us here. Here is only peace."

Lilith looks around, scared. "But where are we?"

"We are still in the church" I say. "I used the system to create a space for us to talk without being disturbed."

Her eyes go wide, unbelieving. "This is an ancient, lost technology!" she is clearly impressed.

"Lost to this world, yes." I say. "It used to be quite common in my time, however. More importantly, let's get down to why you attacked me."

Lilith lowers her eyes, but not before I see the fury return. Yet there is something else as well. Somehow, I can tell that she's conflicted. I wait for her to speak, and it takes some time before she finally begins to talk.

"I can never forgive you." She says, clenching her fists. "But-."

There is a pregnant pause as she struggles with her next words. They are shaky when they come.

"But… I can't hate you."

I say nothing, knowing there is more. I patiently wait for her to continue. She needs to this weight that she's been carrying off her chest.

"I never joined Ulyssa's sect for the reasons the others did. I'm not like the rest of her flock. Still, I joined so that one day I could face you. I wanted you to know what you had done to me. Also, I wanted you to know what you had done… for me."

After another pause, she continues.

"You probably don't remember. Thirty years ago, you came upon a burning house. It was under attack by defectors. They were killing us for not joining them. My brother was fighting them off. He was enraged because our other family was already murdered."

"When you came on the scene, the fighting was still going on. You entered the building and began killing defectors.

"My brother, he didn't see you until you came around the corner. He attacked you out of ignorance and instinct. I watched as you killed him in an instant, his body exploding from your overpowered arsenal."

She breaks down into angry tears and slams her fist on the ground. "He was just trying to protect me! I tried to scream out. I tried to stop him. I saw you coming. I knew who you were. I was pinned underneath a fallen beam. My leg was broken, I was bleeding. My throat was dry from the smoke and heat. I couldn't call out."

"Brother! Brother! Stop! Please stop!' I wanted to call out." She sobs harder. "Please, just stop."

All the while, Grace was showing me a replay of the event thirty years ago on a holographic display that only I can see. I did remember the incident, but I also wanted a refresher. A lot of things happened that awful night.

I sit down on the grass. I brush my hand against the grass, knowing it isn't real but enjoying the blades sliding across my skin. I breathe in the fresh scent, all so real.

"Then, you saved me." Lilith finally says. "You came and lifted off the beam and you healed me as you carried me out of that burning house. The house that me and my family grew up in. The one where they were all buried, becoming ashes."

"You were so gentle and kind to me. You were nothing like the stories I had heard the church tell us over the years. I knew that day that you were not what they said, but that they weren't wrong about everything either."

"I held that anger for so long. I have relived that night every night for the past thirty years." She turns her teary eyes up at me. "Now that I have finally faced you, will the nightmares stop? Please tell me that it's finally over and my brother and my family can rest in peace."

<Grace. Resonate a sedative.>

<Sure thing, Leon.>

Flowers grow from among the grass. The bulbs bulge on the ends of the stems and then bloom into vibrant lavender petals. The air becomes incensed with their aroma and the effect on Lilith is immediate.

Her eyes lose their sharp intensity. Her sobbing slows and almost comes to a complete stop. Her breathing slows until it is steady and normal. Her hands stop shaking.

I reach over to her, and she gives me a nervous look, but does not resist as I grab her and pull her close, closing her in my arms. She leans her head against my chest and then, out of sheer exhaustion, I eventually hear her snoozes.

I hold her, rocking her in my arms as she enjoys her first peaceful sleep in three decades. Sometimes she calls out in her sleep.

"Brother, sister, father, mother. I am free."

Hours later, Lilith opens her eyes. We are still in the illusion. She rubs her eyes and looks up at me. She gives a shy smile. I smile back. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep."

I lift her into my arms and stand. She wraps her arms around my neck, laying her head in the crook of my neck. She's like a docile child now.

"Lilith." I say.

"Hm?" she says in a groggy voice.

"I do remember." I say, feeling a little guilty since Grace is the one who sharpened my memory. "Your brother's name, it means 'Guardian'. He died wrongly and he lived to the end with his honor. I will make amends in the next life. He will not be the only one that I must beg for forgiveness."

Lilith sniffles, her tears happy instead of sad. "Thank you, Apollyon. Thank you." Then she adds, "And I'm sorry."

"Not at all. I will take you to your room, if you want to be alone for a while." I say.

She shakes her head, rubbing my face with her hand and looking into my eyes. "That's very kind of you. You don't have to carry me; I can walk on my own."

"Allow me, please. I have a feeling that we are both heading to the same place anyhow." I say.

She raises her eyebrow at me and then blushes. "I see. So, you have chosen your first lover and wish to go to her bed."

I am thrown back by that. "No, no. I was invited by Sophie to your common room to tell her about the time before the Children of Eden left the world. Or more specifically, when demons roamed the earth."

Lilith rolls her eyes. "Sophie is… a strange one. She's obsessed with nothing but demons."

I shrug. "Everyone needs a hobby, I guess."

"I guess."

"So, where is this dormitory of yours?" I say.

"I would show you the way, but I can't see anything with your resonance." Lilith says, gesturing to the illusion of the green field underneath the blue sky.

"Right." I say. "Let me clear that up for you right away."

<Grace, give us a view.>

Grace makes a window in the illusion. We can see the church again.

"This way." Lilith says, pointing down the hallway.

I follow Lilith's instructions. We go through the church, and back to the outside. No one notices us since my presence is completely masked. Short of actually touching me, no one would be able to tell I was there.

I take her up a street, northbound, coming to a block not far north of the church. She turns me towards a house.

"This one." She says.

I go into an alleyway safe from prying eyes. I have Grace release the resonance and then I set Lilith down.

"It's best that you go in without me." I say.

She nods and turns to leave, then turns back to me. To my surprise, she jumps a little and kisses me briefly on the cheek. I look at her and she is giving me a shy smile.

"I'm not really ready quite yet, but maybe someday."

I blink at her. "Ready for what?"

"To want to be with you." She says, unable to meet my gaze. "You know, the way the others do."

"I thought you said you would never forgive me." I say.

She shakes her head. "It's not about forgiveness. It's about duty. I see now that you are not a monster of evil." she gives me a sad look. "You are a monster of necessity. I understand what Ulyssa is doing and still I choose to follow her. I will do my duty. I'm just not ready yet."

Then she runs out of the alley, crossing the street and disappears inside the dorm. I stay behind for a few moments. It's almost 1900h. I blow out a sigh and decide it won't do to be late. I quell my anxiety and head out into the street, coming to the door.

I don't knock, instead I just let myself right in. I figure I'm expected, so it will be alright.

I stop in my tracks as soon as I open the door. Sophie is in the common room, smiling at me. Behind her, the room is packed with other sisters, also smiling.

That is not all. Every single one of them is dressed in the most enticing lingerie that one may imagine!

I grasp the doorknob and am about to run out of their but a nod from Sophie sends two sisters into action from either side of the doorway. They slam the door shut before I can escape and bar my way.

I turn towards Sophie, a pained smile on my face. I feel like I'm going to explode with all these exposed, nubile bodies pressing in on me from every side.

Sophie leans forward, giving me a little wink. That little minx!

"Welcome to the girls' dormitory, Apollyon." She says in a husky voice. "We're ready for that story now."

Every other girl also leans in, their eyes shining with primal instinct. Stories seem like the last thing on these little vixens' minds!

All I can manage to get out is, "I-I am a-at y-your s-service." In my head I think, oh please have mercy and please for the love of all, be gentle with me!! This is too much!