Lilith stood face to face with the beast. That for which she’d feigned apathy towards exposed. It’s reaction to the truth behind her façade was surprisingly wise and gentle. She did not need to ask for its help, it understood.
12. Coming Soon >>
As darkness fell away and the chamber’s light exposed her, it became evident this was no ordinary woman. Hair as red as fire framed her florid face. Green eyes revealing glimpses of anger and sadness as she peered back at the beast. She was adept at shielding those emotions, but It could reach into her soul.
She moved gracefully, despite an underlying fear. Where others burst forth stammering loquaciously, her approach was careful, reserved.
The beast would listen, but it wouldn’t matter. It was already bound to her.
Lilith fretted. She was comfortable skirting the periphery. Biding her time and studying the beast. Plotting how to best secure its loyalty. She needed it to support her primary mission.
Years had faded since she last saw him but not her memories. His captivating charm, the lost hours and waking up disoriented. His voice mocking as she stumbled dazed and half-naked into the corridor.
He was the real predator, worse than this unholy beast. Still, she clung to her script, leaving the dark recesses unprepared could prove severely disastrous.
“Show yourself,” the beast snarled. Slowly the shadow woman emerged.
The bartender set the whiskey glass down in front of him.
“Make it a double,” he said, watching the pretty young thing at the end of the bar.
“Cheers,” he whispered raising the glass in her direction. She smiled back. It was preposterous how easy it was to slip into this skin.
Several drinks and she was on the roof. She watched, paralyzed as he place his hand on her thigh before everything went black.
“I need a drink,” Charlton said, leaving the courthouse as the wind swept through his hair. “What a shitshow — care to join me?”
“No, and stay out of trouble,” his solicitor responded.
“What, are you beginning to doubt me? One of the tenets of lawyering is that you must believe your client.”
“Whatever Charlton, just don’t get into any trouble!”
Charlton grimaced every time the plaintiffs’ lawyers referred to him as “Good-Time Charlie” while assassinating his good character. He’d been cleared criminally, so what if it was on a technicality, he’d done nothing wrong. All this acrimony towards him was nothing more than regret, a way to rationalize a sordid past and leave it behind.
Lilith remained obscured in the shadows. Studying the creature for a tell, anything to gain advantage. Watching as doomed suitors offer wealth and sacrifice in exchange for favour. Each left retreating, begging for mercy in the flashes before receiving a final, brutal verdict.
She expected something sinister in its fiery red eyes. Instead, she glimpsed something she understood, a loneliness shrouded behind the beast’s perpetually shifting facade.
Disarmed for a moment, it sensed her in the darkness. She wasn’t ready, but it was time…
Gaze averted, her eye catches something engraved in the brimstone.
A beast indebted offers servitude,
A stitch of time and don’t be rude.
Securing the beast’s loyalty would be a momentous feat, she thought as she entered its lair, but weeks of ruminating over every detail wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t choke back her screams…
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