Lilith sat seething next to Fenris, who looked rather happy just to have survived. If vampires could spontaneously combust, she certainly would have, such was the level of her anger. “What the hell was that?”
“It was a well-planned defense,” Fenris replied. None but a few of their pack had survived and now there was no war to mount as they had no soldiers. “You can’t blame them, you know.”
“Shut up, Fenris. Romeo Traverse played me for a fool and I will have my revenge on him.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “You have no chance of besting the Delta pack, especially now. All of our warriors were killed in one fell swoop. How exactly do you plan to destroy them now?”
Lilith knew only one way to have the army she needed and it’d cost her everything she was to get it. “What do you know of the black magic, Fenris?”
“Only that it will strip you of your very soul, given enough time.”
“True,” she smiled. “But it’s worth it to see those two and their entire pack grovel at our feet.”
Lilith knew Fenris probably didn’t agree, but she didn’t care. She was the queen and that little trollop Romeo ran with would pay for her insolence. And there was nothing more vicious than a woman who’d been scorned. Romeo had no idea who he was toying with. He would soon enough though, of that she was certain.
Finding the ancient texts that included the black magic, Lilith spent hours poring through them, studying them. She’d be ready the next time she faced Romeo and he’d have a hell of a time stopping her then. Lilith knew she’d been angry and foolish this last time, of that she could readily admit. But this next time, she’d wait until the perfect moment and she’d strike when he least expected it.
She already knew she wanted Amanda Traverse to suffer at Lilith’s own hands. That conniving bitch had it coming to her for the lives she took today. Lilith didn’t care how long it took her, as she’d have all the time in the world, until it was done. She knew firsthand what hell looked like and she’d not only seen it, but survived. Selling her soul shouldn’t be too difficult, as the man in charge seemed to prefer it that way. No fuss when someone died, she guessed. That night Lilith dreamed for the first time since coming back to herself.
***
The woods where she walked were dark as fog rolled over like waves in the ocean. Thick and heavy, Lilith found it increasingly hard to breathe. She called out, but no one came, not that she’d truly expected anyone to. The earth beneath her feet began to soften, holding her feet like vices. She sank down into the muck, screaming as it pulled her down past her chest and neck. When her face became covered, she knew instantly that she was dying, would die this time with no chance of having her revenge.
The lower she went, the more screaming she heard. It wasn’t the excited screams of love and joy, but rather the terrified, horrid screams of pain and fear. They clawed at her own resolve as heat permeated her bones but didn’t kill her. Her joints shrieked as she fell deeper and deeper into this pit of darkness with only the continuous screeching of others to keep her company.
Finally, a light illuminated the area where she was and Lilith came face to face with the reality of hell. Countless souls of people who’d once lived mostly decent lives mourned their very existence in perpetual terror. Their pain, every level of it, was almost permanently etched on their faces. Everywhere she turned, they begged her to take them back with her, anything to escape this eternity. The stench of death saturated her senses so that breathing made her want to vomit.
“Lilith,” she heard as she continued to sink down. “Why, Lilith?”
“Who are you?”
“Oh, come now. You know who I am. Everyone knows who I am. I’m the things nightmares are made of,” came the singsong voice that stretched her nerves. Light was everywhere, a misty, hazy light that made her skin crawl. “Why now, when I gave you exactly what you asked for?”
She knew instantly who she was talking to now. The Devil had come to collect his debt and she’d have to pay it. She loathed the very idea, but she had sold her soul. One could hardly escape from that, now could they? “You’re a liar. I didn’t get what I wanted. I only got the illusion of it.”
His laughter bubbled out, making her body scream in pain, its edge sharpened to the point of killing without death. “Deceit is my best and favorite attribute, you know. I’m so glad you noticed. Do you think I amassed this kingdom by being righteous? No, darling. I’ve roamed the Earth for thousands of years, plucking and picking those I wanted. Thankfully as generations passed and time moved quickly onward, the plucking and picking became more like harvesting. Instead of a few souls to take, I found humanity sinking further and further into depravity, making my job all the easier. Now I simply sit back and wait for your puny, insignificant lives to snuff out and down you fall.”
“Not everyone,” Lilith said, almost as a defense.
“Oh no,” he sighed. “There are still those who are and will probably forever be unreachable. Pure souls that seek the light and forsake the darkness. However, given how things have turned out for me, I don’t mind them so much. The darkness has overcome the light in your world now and I bathe in the wickedness of the times, such as they are. The more evil prevails up there, the more residents I get down here, so you can see now why I’m an extremely tolerant host.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Oh now,” he said, grinning, the sound echoing in her ears. “Only what you sold to me, of course.”
“I never promised you my soul,” Lilith spat, anger boiling to the surface.
“Oh, sweetheart. I beg to differ.” said the Devil.
Lilith writhed as she sank impossibly deeper. The dank smell of rotten flesh was all around her, inescapable as her feet touched a murky surface.
“Come Lilith and I’ll remind you of what you promised me.”
He grabbed her hand, a faceless being she could only feel and memories poured through her mind, like reels on a projector.
Please. I only want my revenge. These wolves have laughed in my face, spit on my accomplishments. I want them to know the queen I truly am. Let me have my revenge on them. Let me see them grovel and I’ll forever serve you.
Remembering the way his fingers had been made into triangles, with his forefingers tapping gently together, the way his pleasant face had been, Lilith wondered what had happened to him. “I’m still the same Lilith. Of that do not worry.”
When his face appeared to her, she sighed. He was a very enigmatic and handsome man. “Your thoughts are not your own, you know. I can read them like a novel and you, my dear, have a very dirty mind. Has sex always been in the forefront of everything you do?”
“No,” Lilith said, a soft chuckle escaping. “Not until I hit puberty anyway. There were so many handsome men in the world. It was like living at a buffet. All the food looked lovely, how could I not sample all of it?”
His laughter came again, scraping her raw with pain. “You’ll have to forgive me,” he said soothingly. “Laughter, mine in particular, makes them writhe in pain and I rather enjoy that.”
“Why are there so many levels here?”
“Mostly to fulfill their fantasies. You see, some of them, especially those near the surface are so deluded that they actually think they can escape eternity here. They claw endlessly, hoping to reach the world in which you live, to have one more chance to do it all right. I’ve been here since my fall and I can tell you that none of them has made it yet. But, I indulge them if for nothing more than the entertainment value. The ones in the middle layers were decent folks in life. They lived what you’d call good lives. They failed to realize, however, that it wasn’t that which mattered.”
“What mattered?” Lilith asked, curious now.
“Nothing,” the man said, obviously uninterested in elaborating. “In the end, nothing matters. Humans will live forever thinking they can escape this, but in the end, they’ll realize there is no escape from this eternity. I rule all after life.”
“Well, then give me the chance to have my revenge, to have the life I envision. Let Romeo Traverse and his family suffer for the evil they’ve done to me.”
“Alright,” the handsome man said. His smile spread slowly across his face, but never reached his dark, evil eyes. “I like you, Lilith. You’re a practical being, one who knows what she wants and will see it through to the end. You have obviously weighed the cost and decided it’s worth your soul.”
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Lilith said, as if she wasn’t conversing with the Devil himself.
“Oh, but I do. Trust me. It’ll be everything you’ve dreamed of.”
Lilith had the sneaking suspicion that the man in the nice suit was lying, but she didn’t challenge him. “Thank you,” she said adding a smile for charm.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he grinned. “You don’t know how it is that I take a soul from a body.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Not really,” he exclaimed. “Indulge me, won’t you?”
“Sure,” she said, knowing she wasn’t really in a place to deny him.
“In your world, how depraved is sexuality?” he said with a pointed arch of his brow.
“Well there are your holy-rollers, we’ll call them, who believe sex was designed for marriage and outside of that it’s a sin. Then you have those who are in monogamous relationships without being married, both heterosexual and homosexual couples. It can get extremely depraved if you delve down into pedophiles,” Lilith said, stopping when he held up a hand.
“Oh,” he chuckled. “I bet that grates on the nerves of a lot of folks huh? The innocent children? Don’t they realize that even children aren’t innocent? Children lie, cheat and steal just like their older counterparts. Take a child who’s raised in a good home and leave the discipline alone for a little while. Let that child learn for himself and I can guarantee you that he will lie, cheat and/or steal by the age of seven. You don’t have to teach them, it’s innate to their nature.”
“Parents often discipline their children for such acts,” she said, feeling the need to remind him.
“With little result,” he added dryly. “I want you to sacrifice a child to me, a newborn infant, one that isn’t what you are.”
“You mean a human baby?”
“Yes, now that you mention it,” he laughed. “I want a purely human infant sacrificed to me in exchange for what you requested. Your soul will be attached to that baby and I’ll give you exactly what you asked for.”
Lilith sat back, shocked at the price he asked. She’d considered taking one of the Traverse-Duscene twins if need be to make them suffer. But to snatch a baby from its cradle while its parents slept was another level altogether. “I can’t do it,” she sighed, defeated. “I can’t snatch a newborn baby just to kill it.”
“Weak constitution?” he said with elation, radiating pain down her nerves with his laughter so that her body shook as if she’d been tased. “Alright, then take the lives of the Duscene twins. Make it vicious, Lilith or your dreams will fizzle and I’ll still have your soul.”
“Why children, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“What better way to drag their parents down into my realm? Children might be the future of the human race, but in my world they are the key to ruling the human heart. Now wake!”